{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_60852/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_60852","id":"gutenberg_60852","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60852","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Journals","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Theosophy -- Periodicals"],"text":"------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n                          Transcriber\u2019s Note:\n\nThis text is a compilation of the six numbers of the first Volume of\nLUCIFER, spanning September 1887 through February 1888.\n\nThis version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects.\nItalics are delimited with the \u2018_\u2019 character as _italic_. Certain\nheadings were printed in a blackletter font, indicated with a \u2018=\u2019\ndelimiter.\n\nFootnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are\nreferenced. They have been resequenced for uniqueness across the text.\n\nMinor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please\nsee the transcriber\u2019s note at the end of this text for details regarding\nthe handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation.\n\n                                LUCIFER\n                   =A Theosophical Magazine,=\n\n      DESIGNED TO \u201cBRING TO LIGHT THE HIDDEN THINGS OF DARKNESS.\u201d\n\n                               EDITED BY\n\n                   H. P. BLAVATSKY AND MABEL COLLINS.\n\nTHE LIGHT-BEARER IS THE MORNING STAR OR LUCIFER, AND \u201cLUCIFER IS NO\n  PROFANE OR SATANIC TITLE. IT IS THE LATIN LUCIFERUS. THE\n  LIGHT-BRINGER, THE MORNING STAR, EQUIVALENT TO THE GREEK \u03c6\u03c9\u03c3\u03c6\u03bf\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 ...\n  THE NAME OF THE PURE PALE HERALD OF DAYLIGHT.\u201d\u2014YONGE.\n\n\n\n\n                              _VOLUME I._\n\n                     SEPTEMBER 1887-FEBRUARY 1888.\n\n                             --------------\n\n                            =London=:\n\n               GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.\n\n\n\n\n                         KELLY & CO., PRINTERS\n         1 & 3, GATE STREET, LINCOLNS INN FIELDS, LONDON, W.C.\n                  AND MIDDLE MILL, KINGSTON-ON-THAMES.\n\n\n\n\n                               CONTENTS.\n\n     Astrological Notes                                   158, 512\n\n     Auto-Hypnotic Rhapsody, An                                472\n\n     Birth of Light, The                                        52\n\n     Blood Covenanting                                         216\n\n     Blossom and the Fruit, The. The True       23, 123, 193, 258,\n     Story of a Magician                                  347, 443\n\n     Brotherhood                                               212\n\n     Buddhism, The Four Noble Truths of                         49\n\n     Christian Dogma, Esotericism of the                       368\n\n     Christmas Eve, A Remarkable                               274\n\n     Correspondence                             76, 136, 228, 311,\n                                                          412, 502\n\n     Emerson and Occultism                                     252\n\n     Evil, The Origin of                                       109\n\n     Fear                                                      298\n\n     Freedom                                                   185\n\n     Ghost\u2019s Revenge, A                                    63, 102\n\n     God Speaks for Law and Order                              292\n\n     Gospels, The Esoteric Character of the          173, 299, 490\n\n     Hand, The \u201cSquare\u201d in the                                 181\n\n     Hauntings, A Theory of                                    486\n\n     Healing, The Spirit of                                    267\n\n     Hylo-Idealism and \u201cThe Adversary\u201d                         507\n\n     Infant Genius                                             296\n\n     Interlaced Triangles, The Relation of                     481\n     Colour to the\n\n     Invisible World, The                                      186\n\n     Lady of Light, The                                         81\n\n     Lama, The Last of a Good                                   51\n\n     Law of Life, A: Karma                                  39, 97\n\n     Let Every Man Prove His Own Work                          161\n\n     \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d Comments on              8, 90, 170, 379\n\n     Literary Jottings                                     71, 329\n\n     Love with an Object                                       391\n\n     \u201cLUCIFER\u201d To the Archbishop of                            340\n     Canterbury Greeting, 241; To the Readers\n     of\n\n     Luniolatry                                                440\n\n     Morning Star, To the                                      339\n\n     Mystery of all Time, The                                   46\n\n     Mystic Thought, The                                       192\n\n     Paradox, The Great                                        120\n\n     Planet, History of a                                       15\n\n     Quest, The Great                                     288, 375\n\n     Reviews                                    143, 232, 395, 497\n\n     Science of Life, The                                      203\n\n     Signs of the Times, The                                    83\n\n     Soldier\u2019s Daughter, The                                   432\n\n     Some Words on Daily Life                                  344\n\n     Theosophical and Mystic Publications             77, 156, 335\n\n     Theosophist, A True (Count Tolstoi)                        55\n\n     Theosophy, Thoughts on, 134; and                          282\n     Socialism\n\n                     Three Desires, The       476\n     Twilight Visions                                     365, 461\n\n     Unpopular Philosopher, From the                  80, 160, 238\n     Note-Book of an\n\n     What is Truth?                                            425\n\n     What\u2019s in a Name? Why is the Magazine                       1\n     called \u201cLUCIFER\u201d?\n\n     White Monk, The                                      384, 466\n\n     1888                                                      337\n\n                                LUCIFER\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n          VOL. I.     LONDON, SEPTEMBER 15TH, 1887.     NO. 1.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                           WHAT\u2019S IN A NAME?\n                 WHY THE MAGAZINE IS CALLED \u201cLUCIFER.\u201d\n\n\nWhat\u2019s in a name? Very often there is more in it than the profane is\nprepared to understand, or the learned mystic to explain. It is an\ninvisible, secret, but very potential influence that every name carries\nabout with it and \u201cleaveth wherever it goeth.\u201d Carlyle thought that\n\u201cthere is much, nay, almost all, in names.\u201d \u201cCould I unfold the\ninfluence of names, which are the most important of all clothings, I\nwere a second great Trismegistus,\u201d he writes.\n\nThe name or title of a magazine started with a definite object, is,\ntherefore, all important; for it is, indeed, the invisible seedgrain,\nwhich will either grow \u201cto be an all-over-shadowing tree\u201d on the fruits\nof which must depend the nature of the results brought about by the said\nobject, or the tree will wither and die. These considerations show that\nthe name of the present magazine\u2014rather equivocal to orthodox Christian\nears\u2014is due to no careless selection, but arose in consequence of much\nthinking over its fitness, and was adopted as the best symbol to express\nthat object and the results in view.\n\nNow, the first and most important, if not the sole object of the\nmagazine, is expressed in the line from the 1st Epistle to the\nCorinthians, on its title page. It is to bring light to \u201cthe hidden\nthings of darkness,\u201d (iv. 5); to show in their true aspect and their\noriginal real meaning things and names, men and their doings and\ncustoms; it is finally to fight prejudice, hypocrisy and shams in every\nnation, in every class of Society, as in every department of life. The\ntask is a laborious one but it is neither impracticable nor useless, if\neven as an experiment.\n\nThus, for an attempt of such nature, no better title could ever be found\nthan the one chosen. \u201cLucifer,\u201d is the pale morning-star, the precursor\nof the full blaze of the noon-day sun\u2014the \u201cEosphoros\u201d of the Greeks. It\nshines timidly at dawn to gather forces and dazzle the eye after sunset\nas its own brother \u2018Hesperos\u2019\u2014the radiant evening star, or the planet\nVenus. No fitter symbol exists for the proposed work\u2014that of throwing a\nray of truth on everything hidden by the darkness of prejudice, by\nsocial or religious misconceptions; especially by that idiotic routine\nin life, which, once that a certain action, a thing, a name, has been\nbranded by slanderous inventions, however unjust, makes _respectable_\npeople, so called, turn away shiveringly, refusing to even look at it\nfrom any other aspect than the one sanctioned by public opinion. Such an\nendeavour then, to force the weak-hearted to look truth straight in the\nface, is helped most efficaciously by a title belonging to the category\nof branded names.\n\nPiously inclined readers may argue that \u201cLucifer\u201d is accepted by all the\nchurches as one of the many names of the Devil. According to Milton\u2019s\nsuperb fiction, Lucifer is _Satan_, the \u201crebellious\u201d angel, the enemy of\nGod and man. If one analyzes his rebellion, however, it will be found of\nno worse nature than an assertion of free-will and independent thought,\nas if Lucifer had been born in the XIXth century. This epithet of\n\u201crebellious,\u201d is a theological calumny, on a par with that other slander\nof God by the Predestinarians, one that makes of deity an \u201cAlmighty\u201d\nfiend worse than the \u201crebellious\u201d Spirit himself; \u201can omnipotent Devil\ndesiring to be \u2018complimented\u2019 as all merciful when he is exerting the\nmost fiendish cruelty,\u201d as put by J. Cotter Morison. Both the\nforeordaining and predestining fiend-God, and his subordinate agent are\nof human invention; they are two of the most morally repulsive and\nhorrible theological dogmas that the nightmares of light-hating monks\nhave ever evolved out of their unclean fancies.\n\nThey date from the Medi\u00e6val age, the period of mental obscuration,\nduring which most of the present prejudices and superstitions have been\nforcibly inoculated on the human mind, so as to have become nearly\nineradicable in some cases, one of which is the present prejudice now\nunder discussion.\n\nSo deeply rooted, indeed, is this preconception and aversion to the name\nof Lucifer\u2014meaning no worse than \u201clight-bringer\u201d (from _lux_, _lucis_,\n\u201clight,\u201d and _ferre_ \u201cto bring\u201d)[1]\u2014even among the educated classes,\nthat by adopting it for the title of their magazine the editors have the\nprospect of a long strife with public prejudice before them. So absurd\nand ridiculous is that prejudice, indeed, that no one has seemed to ever\nask himself the question, how came Satan to be called a _light-bringer_,\nunless the silvery rays of the morning-star can in any way be made\nsuggestive of the glare of the infernal flames. It is simply, as\nHenderson showed, \u201cone of those gross perversions of sacred writ which\nso extensively obtain, and which are to be traced to a proneness to seek\nfor more in a given passage than it really contains\u2014a disposition to be\ninfluenced by sound rather than sense, and an implicit faith in received\ninterpretation\u201d\u2014which is not quite one of the weaknesses of our present\nage. Nevertheless, the prejudice is there, to the shame of our century.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n  \u201cIt was Gregory the Great who was the first to apply this passage of\n  Isaiah, \u201cHow art thou fallen from Heaven, Lucifer, son of the\n  morning,\u201d etc., to Satan, and ever since the bold metaphor of the\n  prophet, which referred, after all, but to an Assyrian king inimical\n  to the Israelites, has been applied to the Devil.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nThis cannot be helped. The two editors would hold themselves as\nrecreants in their own sight, as traitors to the very spirit of the\nproposed work, were they to yield and cry craven before the danger. If\none would fight prejudice, and brush off the ugly cobwebs of\nsuperstition and materialism alike from the noblest ideals of our\nforefathers, one has to prepare for opposition. \u201cThe crown of the\nreformer and the innovator is a crown of thorns\u201d indeed. If one would\nrescue Truth in all her chaste nudity from the almost bottomless well,\ninto which she has been hurled by cant and hypocritical propriety, one\nshould not hesitate to descend into the dark, gaping pit of that well.\nNo matter how badly the blind bats\u2014the dwellers in darkness, and the\nhaters of light\u2014may treat in their gloomy abode the intruder, unless one\nis the first to show the spirit and courage he preaches to others, he\nmust be justly held as a hypocrite and a seceder from his own\nprinciples.\n\nHardly had the title been agreed upon, when the first premonitions of\nwhat was in store for us, in the matter of the opposition to be\nencountered owing to the title chosen, appeared on our horizon. One of\nthe editors received and recorded some spicy objections. The scenes that\nfollow are sketches from nature.\n\n                                    I.\n\n  _A Well-known Novelist._ Tell me about your new magazine. What class\n  do you propose to appeal to?\n\n  _Editor._ No class in particular: we intend to appeal to the public.\n\n  _Novelist._ I am very glad of that. For once I shall be one of the\n  public, for I don\u2019t understand your subject in the least, and I want\n  to. But you must remember that if your public is to understand you, it\n  must necessarily be a very small one. People talk about occultism\n  nowadays as they talk about many other things, without the least idea\n  of what it means. We are so ignorant and\u2014so prejudiced.\n\n  _Editor._ Exactly. That is what calls the new magazine into existence.\n  We propose to educate you, and to tear the mask from every prejudice.\n\n  _Novelist._ That really is good news to me, for I want to be educated.\n  What is your magazine to be called?\n\n  _Editor._ Lucifer.\n\n  _Novelist._ What! Are you going to educate us in vice? We know enough\n  about that. Fallen angels are plentiful. You may find popularity, for\n  soiled doves are in fashion just now, while the white-winged angels\n  are voted a bore, because they are not so amusing. But I doubt your\n  being able to teach us much.\n\n                                   II.\n\n  _A Man of the World_ (_in a careful undertone, for the scene is a\n  dinner-party_). I hear you are going to start a magazine, all about\n  occultism. Do you know, I\u2019m very glad. I don\u2019t say anything about such\n  matters as a rule, but some queer things have happened in my life\n  which can\u2019t be explained in any ordinary manner. I hope you will go in\n  for explanations.\n\n  _Editor._ We shall try, certainly. My impression is, that when\n  occultism is in any measure apprehended, its laws are accepted by\n  everyone as the only intelligible explanation of life.\n\n  _A M. W._ Just so, I want to know all about it, for \u2019pon my honour,\n  life\u2019s a mystery. There are plenty of other people as curious as\n  myself. This is an age which is afflicted with the Yankee disease of\n  \u2018wanting to know.\u2019 I\u2019ll get you lots of subscribers. What\u2019s the\n  magazine called?\n\n  _Editor._ Lucifer\u2014and (_warned by former experience_) don\u2019t\n  misunderstand the name. It is typical of the divine spirit which\n  sacrificed itself for humanity\u2014it was Milton\u2019s doing that it ever\n  became associated with the devil. We are sworn enemies to popular\n  prejudices, and it is quite appropriate that we should attack such a\n  prejudice as this\u2014Lucifer, you know, is the Morning Star\u2014the\n  Lightbearer,...\n\n  _A M. W._ (_interrupting_). Oh, I know all that\u2014at least I don\u2019t know,\n  but I take it for granted you\u2019ve got some good reason for taking such\n  a title. But your first object is to have readers; you want the public\n  to buy your magazine, I suppose. That\u2019s in the programme, isn\u2019t it?\n\n  _Editor._ Most decidedly.\n\n  _A M. W._ Well, listen to the advice of a man who knows his way about\n  town. Don\u2019t mark your magazine with the wrong colour at starting. It\u2019s\n  quite evident, when one stays an instant to think of its derivation\n  and meaning, that Lucifer is an excellent word. But the public don\u2019t\n  stay to think of derivations and meanings; and the first impression is\n  the most important. Nobody will buy the magazine if you call it\n  Lucifer.\n\n                                   III.\n\n  _A Fashionable Lady Interested in Occultism._ I want to hear some more\n  about the new magazine, for I have interested a great many people in\n  it, even with the little you have told me. But I find it difficult to\n  express its actual purpose. What is it?\n\n  _Editor._ To try and give a little light to those that want it.\n\n  _A F. L._ Well, that\u2019s a simple way of putting it, and will be very\n  useful to me. What is the magazine to be called?\n\n  _Editor._ Lucifer.\n\n  _A F. L._ (_After a pause_) You can\u2019t mean it.\n\n  _Editor._ Why not?\n\n  _A F. L._ The associations are so dreadful! What can be the object of\n  calling it that? It sounds like some unfortunate sort of joke, made\n  against it by its enemies.\n\n  _Editor._ Oh, but Lucifer, you know, means Light-bearer; it is typical\n  of the Divine Spirit\u2014\u2014\n\n  _A F. L._ Never mind all that\u2014I want to do your magazine good and make\n  it known, and you can\u2019t expect me to enter into explanations of that\n  sort every time I mention the title? Impossible! Life is too short and\n  too busy. Besides, it would produce such a bad effect; people would\n  think me priggish, and then I couldn\u2019t talk at all, for I couldn\u2019t\n  bear them to think that. Don\u2019t call it Lucifer\u2014please don\u2019t. Nobody\n  knows what the word is typical of; what it means now is the devil,\n  nothing more or less.\n\n  _Editor._ But then that is quite a mistake, and one of the first\n  prejudices we propose to do battle with. Lucifer is the pale, pure\n  herald of dawn\u2014\u2014\n\n  _Lady_ (_interrupting_). I thought you were going to do something more\n  interesting and more important than to whitewash mythological\n  characters. We shall all have to go to school again, or read up Dr.\n  Smith\u2019s Classical Dictionary. And what is the use of it when it is\n  done? I thought you were going to tell us things about our own lives\n  and how to make them better. I suppose Milton wrote about Lucifer,\n  didn\u2019t he?\u2014but nobody reads Milton now. Do let us have a modern title\n  with some human meaning in it.\n\n                                   IV.\n\n  _A Journalist_ (_thoughtfully, while rolling his cigarette_). Yes, it\n  is a good idea, this magazine of yours. We shall all laugh at it, as a\n  matter of course: and we shall cut it up in the papers. But we shall\n  all read it, because secretly everybody hungers after the mysterious.\n  What are you going to call it?\n\n  _Editor._ Lucifer.\n\n  _Journalist_ (_striking a light_). Why not _The Fusee_? Quite as good\n  a title and not so pretentious.\n\nThe \u201cNovelist,\u201d the \u201cMan of the World,\u201d the \u201cFashionable Lady,\u201d and the\n\u201cJournalist,\u201d should be the first to receive a little instruction. A\nglimpse into the real and primitive character of Lucifer can do them no\nharm and may, perchance, cure them of a bit of ridiculous prejudice.\nThey ought to study their Homer and Hesiod\u2019s Theogony if they would do\njustice to Lucifer, \u201c_Eosphoros and Hesperos_,\u201d the Morning and the\nEvening beautiful star. If there are more useful things to do in this\nlife than \u201cto whitewash mythological characters,\u201d to slander and blacken\nthem is, at least, as useless, and shows, moreover, a narrow-mindedness\nwhich can do honour to no one.\n\nTo object to the title of LUCIFER, only because its \u201cassociations are so\ndreadful,\u201d is pardonable\u2014if it can be pardonable in any case\u2014only in an\nignorant American missionary of some dissenting sect, in one whose\nnatural laziness and lack of education led him to prefer ploughing the\nminds of heathens, as ignorant as he is himself, to the more profitable,\nbut rather more arduous, process of ploughing the fields of his own\nfather\u2019s farm. In the English clergy, however, who receive all a more or\nless classical education, and are, therefore, supposed to be acquainted\nwith the _ins_ and _outs_ of theological sophistry and casuistry, this\nkind of opposition is absolutely unpardonable. It not only smacks of\nhypocrisy and deceit, but places them directly on a lower moral level\nthan him they call the apostate angel. By endeavouring to show the\ntheological Lucifer, fallen through the idea that\n\n             \u201cTo reign is worth ambition, though in Hell;\n             Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven,\u201d\n\nthey are virtually putting into practice the supposed crime they would\nfain accuse him of. They prefer reigning over the spirit of the masses\nby means of a pernicious dark LIE, productive of many an evil, than\nserve heaven by serving TRUTH. Such practices are worthy only of the\nJesuits.\n\nBut their sacred writ is the first to contradict their interpretations\nand the association of Lucifer, the Morning Star, with Satan. Chapter\nXXII. of _Revelation_, verse 16th, says: \u201cI, Jesus ... am the root ...\nand the bright and _Morning Star_\u201d (\u1f40\u03c1\u03b8\u03c1\u03b9\u03bd\u1f78\u03c2 \u201cearly rising\u201d): hence\nEosphoros, or the Latin Lucifer. The opprobrium attached to this name is\nof such a very late date, that the Roman Church found itself forced to\nscreen the theological slander behind a two-sided interpretation\u2014as\nusual. Christ, we are told, is the \u201cMorning Star,\u201d the _divine_ Lucifer;\nand Satan the _usurpator_ of the _Verbum_, the \u201cinfernal Lucifer.\u201d[2]\n\u201cThe great Archangel Michael, the conqueror of Satan, is identical in\npaganism[3] with Mercury-Mithra, to whom, after defending the Sun\n(symbolical of God) from the attacks of Venus-Lucifer, was given the\npossession of this planet, _et datus est ei locus Luciferi_. And since\nthe Archangel Michael is the \u2018Angel of the Face,\u2019 and \u2018the Vicar of the\n_Verbum_\u2019 he is now considered in the Roman Church as the regent of that\nplanet Venus which \u2018the vanquished fiend had usurped.\u2019\u201d _Angelus faciei\nDei sedem superbi humilis obtinuit_, says Cornelius \u00e0 Lapide (in Vol.\nVI. p. 229).\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n  Mirville\u2019s Memoirs to the Academy of France, Vol. IV., quoting\n  Cardinal Ventura.\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n  Which paganism has passed long milleniums, it would seem, in _copying\n  beforehand_ Christian dogmas to come.\n\n-----\n\nThis gives the reason why one of the early Popes was called Lucifer, as\nYonge and ecclesiastical records prove. It thus follows that the title\nchosen for our magazine is as much associated with divine and pious\nideas as with the supposed rebellion of the hero of Milton\u2019s \u201cParadise\nLost.\u201d By choosing it, _we throw the first ray of light and truth_ on a\nridiculous prejudice which ought to have no room made for it in this our\n\u201cage of facts and discovery.\u201d We work for true Religion and Science, in\nthe interest of fact as against fiction and prejudice. It is our duty,\nas it is that of physical Science\u2014professedly its mission\u2014to throw light\non facts in Nature hitherto surrounded by the darkness of ignorance. And\nsince ignorance is justly regarded as the chief promoter of\nsuperstition, that work is, therefore, a noble and beneficent work. But\nnatural Sciences are only one aspect of SCIENCE and TRUTH. Psychological\nand moral Sciences, or theosophy, the knowledge of divine truth,\nwheresoever found, are still more important in human affairs, and real\nScience should not be limited simply to the physical aspect of life and\nnature. Science is an abstract of every fact, a comprehension of every\ntruth within the scope of human research and intelligence.\n\u201cShakespeare\u2019s deep and accurate science in mental philosophy\u201d\n(Coleridge), has proved more beneficent to the true philosopher in the\nstudy of the human heart\u2014therefore, in the promotion of truth\u2014than the\nmore accurate, but certainly less deep, science of any Fellow of the\nRoyal Institution.\n\nThose readers, however, who do not find themselves convinced that the\nChurch had no right to throw a slur upon a beautiful star, and that it\ndid so through a mere necessity of accounting for one of its numerous\nloans from Paganism with all its poetical conceptions of the truths in\nNature, are asked to read our article \u201cThe History of a Planet.\u201d\nPerhaps, after its perusal, they will see how far Dupuis was justified\nin asserting that \u201call the theologies have their origin in astronomy.\u201d\nWith the modern Orientalists every myth is _solar_. This is one more\nprejudice, and a preconception in favour of materialism and physical\nscience. It will be one of our duties to combat it with much of the\nrest.\n\n\n\n\n                             --------------\n\n\n\n\nOccultism is not magic, though magic is one of its tools.\n\nOccultism is not the acquirement of powers, whether psychic or\nintellectual, though both are its servants. Neither is occultism the\npursuit of happiness, as men understand the word; for the first step is\nsacrifice, the second, renunciation.\n\n\n\n\n                             --------------\n\n\n\n\nLife is built up by the sacrifice of the individual to the whole. Each\ncell in the living body must sacrifice itself to the perfection of the\nwhole; when it is otherwise, disease and death enforce the lesson.\n\n\n\n\n                             --------------\n\n\n\n\nOccultism is the science of life, the art of living.\n\n                    COMMENTS ON \u201cLIGHT ON THE PATH.\u201d\n\n                             BY THE AUTHOR.\n\n       \u201cBefore the eyes can see they must be incapable of tears.\u201d\n\n\nIt should be very clearly remembered by all readers of this volume that\nit is a book which may appear to have some little philosophy in it, but\nvery little sense, to those who believe it to be written in ordinary\nEnglish. To the many, who read in this manner it will be\u2014not caviare so\nmuch as olives strong of their salt. Be warned and read but a little in\nthis way.\n\nThere is another way of reading, which is, indeed, the only one of any\nuse with many authors. It is reading, not between the lines but within\nthe words. In fact, it is deciphering a profound cipher. All alchemical\nworks are written in the cipher of which I speak; it has been used by\nthe great philosophers and poets of all time. It is used systematically\nby the adepts in life and knowledge, who, seemingly giving out their\ndeepest wisdom, hide in the very words which frame it its actual\nmystery. They cannot do more. There is a law of nature which insists\nthat a man shall read these mysteries for himself. By no other method\ncan he obtain them. A man who desires to live must eat his food himself:\nthis is the simple law of nature\u2014which applies also to the higher life.\nA man who would live and act in it cannot be fed like a babe with a\nspoon; he must eat for himself.\n\nI propose to put into new and sometimes plainer language parts of \u201cLight\non the Path\u201d; but whether this effort of mine will really be any\ninterpretation I cannot say. To a deaf and dumb man, a truth is made no\nmore intelligible if, in order to make it so, some misguided linguist\ntranslates the words in which it is couched into every living or dead\nlanguage, and shouts these different phrases in his ear. But for those\nwho are not deaf and dumb one language is generally easier than the\nrest; and it is to such as these I address myself.\n\nThe very first aphorisms of \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d included under Number\nI. have, I know well, remained sealed as to their inner meaning to many\nwho have otherwise followed the purpose of the book.\n\nThere are four proven and certain truths with regard to the entrance to\noccultism. The Gates of Gold bar that threshold; yet there are some who\npass those gates and discover the sublime and illimitable beyond. In the\nfar spaces of Time all will pass those gates. But I am one who wish that\nTime, the great deluder, were not so over-masterful. To those who know\nand love him I have no word to say; but to the others\u2014and there are not\nso very few as some may fancy\u2014to whom the passage of Time is as the\nstroke of a sledge-hammer, and the sense of Space like the bars of an\niron cage, I will translate and re-translate until they understand\nfully.\n\nThe four truths written on the first page of \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d refer\nto the trial initiation of the would-be occultist. Until he has passed\nit, he cannot even reach to the latch of the gate which admits to\nknowledge. Knowledge is man\u2019s greatest inheritance; why, then, should he\nnot attempt to reach it by every possible road? The laboratory is not\nthe only ground for experiment; _science_, we must remember, is derived\nfrom _sciens_, present participle of _scire_, \u201cto know,\u201d\u2014its origin is\nsimilar to that of the word \u201cdiscern,\u201d \u201cto ken.\u201d Science does not\ntherefore deal only with matter, no, not even its subtlest and obscurest\nforms. Such an idea is born merely of the idle spirit of the age.\nScience is a word which covers all forms of knowledge. It is exceedingly\ninteresting to hear what chemists discover, and to see them finding\ntheir way through the densities of matter to its finer forms; but there\nare other kinds of knowledge than this, and it is not every one who\nrestricts his (strictly scientific) desire for knowledge to experiments\nwhich are capable of being tested by the physical senses.\n\nEveryone who is not a dullard, or a man stupefied by some predominant\nvice, has guessed, or even perhaps discovered with some certainty, that\nthere are subtle senses lying within the physical senses. There is\nnothing at all extraordinary in this; if we took the trouble to call\nNature into the witness box we should find that everything which is\nperceptible to the ordinary sight, has something even more important\nthan itself hidden within it; the microscope has opened a world to us,\nbut within those encasements which the microscope reveals, lies a\nmystery which no machinery can probe.\n\nThe whole world is animated and lit, down to its most material shapes,\nby a world within it. This inner world is called Astral by some people,\nand it is as good a word as any other, though it merely means starry;\nbut the stars, as Locke pointed out, are luminous bodies which give\nlight of themselves. This quality is characteristic of the life which\nlies within matter; for those who see it, need no lamp to see it by. The\nword star, moreover, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon \u201cstir-an,\u201d to\nsteer, to stir, to move, and undeniably it is the inner life which is\nmaster of the outer, just as a man\u2019s brain guides the movements of his\nlips. So that although Astral is no very excellent word in itself, I am\ncontent to use it for my present purpose.\n\nThe whole of \u201cLight on the Path\u201d is written in an astral cipher and can\ntherefore only be deciphered by one who reads astrally. And its teaching\nis chiefly directed towards the cultivation and development of the\nastral life. Until the first step has been taken in this development,\nthe swift knowledge, which is called intuition with certainty, is\nimpossible to man. And this positive and certain intuition is the only\nform of knowledge which enables a man to work rapidly or reach his true\nand high estate, within the limit of his conscious effort. To obtain\nknowledge by experiment is too tedious a method for those who aspire to\naccomplish real work; he who gets it by certain intuition, lays hands on\nits various forms with supreme rapidity, by fierce effort of will; as a\ndetermined workman grasps his tools, indifferent to their weight or any\nother difficulty which may stand in his way. He does not stay for each\nto be tested\u2014he uses such as he sees are fittest.\n\nAll the rules contained in \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d are written for all\ndisciples, but only for disciples\u2014those who \u201ctake knowledge.\u201d To none\nelse but the student in this school are its laws of any use or interest.\n\nTo all who are interested seriously in Occultism, I say first\u2014take\nknowledge. To him who hath shall be given. It is useless to wait for it.\nThe womb of Time will close before you, and in later days you will\nremain unborn, without power. I therefore say to those who have any\nhunger or thirst for knowledge, attend to these rules.\n\nThey are none of my handicraft or invention. They are merely the\nphrasing of laws in super-nature, the putting into words truths as\nabsolute in their own sphere, as those laws which govern the conduct of\nthe earth and its atmosphere.\n\nThe senses spoken of in these four statements are the astral, or inner\nsenses.\n\nNo man desires to see that light which illumines the spaceless soul\nuntil pain and sorrow and despair have driven him away from the life of\nordinary humanity. First he wears out pleasure; then he wears out\npain\u2014till, at last, his eyes become incapable of tears.\n\nThis is a truism, although I know perfectly well that it will meet with\na vehement denial from many who are in sympathy with thoughts which\nspring from the inner life. _To see_ with the astral sense of sight is a\nform of activity which it is difficult for us to understand immediately.\nThe scientist knows very well what a miracle is achieved by each child\nthat is born into the world, when it first conquers its eye-sight and\ncompels it to obey its brain. An equal miracle is performed with each\nsense certainly, but this ordering of sight is perhaps the most\nstupendous effort. Yet the child does it almost unconsciously, by force\nof the powerful heredity of habit. No one now is aware that he has ever\ndone it at all; just as we cannot recollect the individual movements\nwhich enabled us to walk up a hill a year ago. This arises from the fact\nthat we move and live and have our being in matter. Our knowledge of it\nhas become intuitive.\n\nWith our astral life it is very much otherwise. For long ages past, man\nhas paid very little attention to it\u2014so little, that he has practically\nlost the use of his senses. It is true, that in every civilization the\nstar arises, and man confesses, with more or less of folly and\nconfusion, that he knows himself to be. But most often he denies it, and\nin being a materialist becomes that strange thing, a being which cannot\nsee its own light, a thing of life which will not live, an astral animal\nwhich has eyes, and ears, and speech, and power, yet will use none of\nthese gifts. This is the case, and the habit of ignorance has become so\nconfirmed, that now none will see with the inner vision till agony has\nmade the physical eyes not only unseeing, but without tears\u2014the moisture\nof life. To be incapable of tears is to have faced and conquered the\nsimple human nature, and to have attained an equilibrium which cannot be\nshaken by personal emotions. It does not imply any hardness of heart, or\nany indifference. It does not imply the exhaustion of sorrow, when the\nsuffering soul seems powerless to suffer acutely any longer; it does not\nmean the deadness of old age, when emotion is becoming dull because the\nstrings which vibrate to it are wearing out. None of these conditions\nare fit for a disciple, and if any one of them exist in him, it must be\novercome before the path can be entered upon. Hardness of heart belongs\nto the selfish man, the egotist, to whom the gate is for ever closed.\nIndifference belongs to the fool and the false philosopher; those whose\nlukewarmness makes them mere puppets, not strong enough to face the\nrealities of existence. When pain or sorrow has worn out the keenness of\nsuffering, the result is a lethargy not unlike that which accompanies\nold age, as it is usually experienced by men and women. Such a condition\nmakes the entrance to the path impossible, because the first step is one\nof difficulty and needs a strong man, full of psychic and physical\nvigour, to attempt it.\n\nIt is a truth, that, as Edgar Allan Poe said, the eyes are the windows\nfor the soul, the windows of that haunted palace in which it dwells.\nThis is the very nearest interpretation into ordinary language of the\nmeaning of the text. If grief, dismay, disappointment or pleasure, can\nshake the soul so that it loses its fixed hold on the calm spirit which\ninspires it, and the moisture of life breaks forth, drowning knowledge\nin sensation, then all is blurred, the windows are darkened, the light\nis useless. This is as literal a fact as that if a man, at the edge of a\nprecipice, loses his nerve through some sudden emotion he will certainly\nfall. The poise of the body, the balance, must be preserved, not only in\ndangerous places, but even on the level ground, and with all the\nassistance Nature gives us by the law of gravitation. So it is with the\nsoul, it is the link between the outer body and the starry spirit\nbeyond; the divine spark dwells in the still place where no convulsion\nof Nature can shake the air; this is so always. But the soul may lose\nits hold on that, its knowledge of it, even though these two are part of\none whole; and it is by emotion, by sensation, that this hold is loosed.\nTo suffer either pleasure or pain, causes a vivid vibration which is, to\nthe consciousness of man, life. Now this sensibility does not lessen\nwhen the disciple enters upon his training; it increases. It is the\nfirst test of his strength; he must suffer, must enjoy or endure, more\nkeenly than other men, while yet he has taken on him a duty which does\nnot exist for other men, that of not allowing his suffering to shake him\nfrom his fixed purpose. He has, in fact, at the first step to take\nhimself steadily in hand and put the bit into his own mouth; no one else\ncan do it for him.\n\nThe first four aphorisms of \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d refer entirely to\nastral development. This development must be accomplished to a certain\nextent\u2014that is to say it must be fully entered upon\u2014before the remainder\nof the book is really intelligible except to the intellect; in fact,\nbefore it can be read as a practical, not a metaphysical treatise.\n\nIn one of the great mystic Brotherhoods, there are four ceremonies, that\ntake place early in the year, which practically illustrate and elucidate\nthese aphorisms. They are ceremonies in which only novices take part,\nfor they are simply services of the threshold. But it will show how\nserious a thing it is to become a disciple, when it is understood that\nthese are all ceremonies of sacrifice. The first one is this of which I\nhave been speaking. The keenest enjoyment, the bitterest pain, the\nanguish of loss and despair, are brought to bear on the trembling soul,\nwhich has not yet found light in the darkness, which is helpless as a\nblind man is, and until these shocks can be endured without loss of\nequilibrium the astral senses must remain sealed. This is the merciful\nlaw. The \u201cmedium,\u201d or \u201cspiritualist,\u201d who rushes into the psychic world\nwithout preparation, is a law-breaker, a breaker of the laws of\nsuper-nature. Those who break Nature\u2019s laws lose their physical health;\nthose who break the laws of the inner life, lose their psychic health.\n\u201cMediums\u201d become mad, suicides, miserable creatures devoid of moral\nsense; and often end as unbelievers, doubters even of that which their\nown eyes have seen. The disciple is compelled to become his own master\nbefore he adventures on this perilous path, and attempts to face those\nbeings who live and work in the astral world, and whom we call masters,\nbecause of their great knowledge and their ability to control not only\nthemselves but the forces around them.\n\nThe condition of the soul when it lives for the life of sensation as\ndistinguished from that of knowledge, is vibratory or oscillating, as\ndistinguished from fixed. That is the nearest literal representation of\nthe fact; but it is only literal to the intellect, not to the intuition.\nFor this part of man\u2019s consciousness a different vocabulary is needed.\nThe idea of \u201cfixed\u201d might perhaps be transposed into that of \u201cat home.\u201d\nIn sensation no permanent home can be found, because change is the law\nof this vibratory existence. That fact is the first one which must be\nlearned by the disciple. It is useless to pause and weep for a scene in\na kaleidoscope which has passed.\n\nIt is a very well-known fact, one with which Bulwer Lytton dealt with\ngreat power, that an intolerable sadness is the very first experience of\nthe neophyte in Occultism. A sense of blankness falls upon him which\nmakes the world a waste, and life a vain exertion. This follows his\nfirst serious contemplation of the abstract. In gazing, or even in\nattempting to gaze, on the ineffable mystery of his own higher nature,\nhe himself causes the initial trial to fall on him. The oscillation\nbetween pleasure and pain ceases for\u2014perhaps an instant of time; but\nthat is enough to have cut him loose from his fast moorings in the world\nof sensation. He has experienced, however briefly, the greater life; and\nhe goes on with ordinary existence weighted by a sense of unreality, of\nblank, of horrid negation. This was the nightmare which visited Bulwer\nLytton\u2019s neophyte in \u201cZanoni\u201d; and even Zanoni himself, who had learned\ngreat truths, and been entrusted with great powers, had not actually\npassed the threshold where fear and hope, despair and joy seem at one\nmoment absolute realities, at the next mere forms of fancy.\n\nThis initial trial is often brought on us by life itself. For life is\nafter all, the great teacher. We return to study it, after we have\nacquired power over it, just as the master in chemistry learns more in\nthe laboratory than his pupil does. There are persons so near the door\nof knowledge that life itself prepares them for it, and no individual\nhand has to invoke the hideous guardian of the entrance. These must\nnaturally be keen and powerful organizations, capable of the most vivid\npleasure; then pain comes and fills its great duty. The most intense\nforms of suffering fall on such a nature, till at last it arouses from\nits stupor of consciousness, and by the force of its internal vitality\nsteps over the threshold into a place of peace. Then the vibration of\nlife loses its power of tyranny. The sensitive nature must suffer still;\nbut the soul has freed itself and stands aloof, guiding the life towards\nits greatness. Those who are the subjects of Time, and go slowly through\nall his spaces, live on through a long-drawn series of sensations, and\nsuffer a constant mingling of pleasure and of pain. They do not dare to\ntake the snake of self in a steady grasp and conquer it, so becoming\ndivine; but prefer to go on fretting through divers experiences,\nsuffering blows from the opposing forces.\n\nWhen one of these subjects of Time decides to enter on the path of\nOccultism, it is this which is his first task. If life has not taught it\nto him, if he is not strong enough to teach himself, and if he has power\nenough to demand the help of a master, then this fearful trial, depicted\nin Zanoni, is put upon him. The oscillation in which he lives, is for an\ninstant stilled; and he has to survive the shock of facing what seems to\nhim at first sight as the abyss of nothingness. Not till he has learned\nto dwell in this abyss, and has found its peace, is it possible for his\neyes to have become incapable of tears.\n\nThe difficulty of writing intelligibly on these subjects is so great\nthat I beg of those who have found any interest in this article, and are\nyet left with perplexities and doubts, to address me in the\ncorrespondence column of this magazine. I ask this because thoughtful\nquestions are as great an assistance to the general reader as the\nanswers to them.\n\n                                                                   \u0394\n\n                          (_To be continued_.)\n\n\n\n\n                             --------------\n\n\n\n\nHarmony is the law of life, discord its shadow, whence springs\nsuffering, the teacher, the awakener of consciousness.\n\n\n\n\n                             --------------\n\nThrough joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure, the soul comes to a knowledge\nof itself; then begins the task of learning the laws of life, that the\ndiscords may be resolved, and the harmony be restored.\n\n                           ------------------\n\nThe eyes of wisdom are like the ocean depths; there is neither joy nor\nsorrow in them; therefore the soul of the occultist must become stronger\nthan joy, and greater than sorrow.\n\n                        THE HISTORY OF A PLANET.\n\n\nNo star, among the countless myriads that twinkle over the sidereal\nfields of the night sky, shines so dazzlingly as the planet Venus\u2014not\neven Sirius-Sothis, the dog-star, beloved by Isis. Venus is the queen\namong our planets, the crown jewel of our solar system. She is the\ninspirer of the poet, the guardian and companion of the lonely shepherd,\nthe lovely morning and the evening star. For,\n\n                    \u201cStars teach as well as shine.\u201d\n\nalthough their secrets are still untold and unrevealed to the majority\nof men, including astronomers. They are \u201ca beauty and a mystery,\u201d\nverily. But \u201cwhere there is a mystery, it is generally supposed that\nthere must also be evil,\u201d says Byron. Evil, therefore, was detected by\nevilly-disposed human fancy, even in those bright luminous eyes peeping\nat our wicked world through the veil of ether. Thus there came to exist\nslandered stars and planets as well as slandered men and women. Too\noften are the reputation and fortune of one man or party sacrificed for\nthe benefit of another man or party. As on earth below, so in the\nheavens above, and Venus, the sister planet of our Earth,[4] was\nsacrificed to the ambition of our little globe to show the latter the\n\u201cchosen\u201d planet of the Lord. She became the scapegoat, the _Azaziel_ of\nthe starry dome, for the sins of the Earth, or rather for those of a\ncertain class in the human family\u2014the clergy\u2014who slandered the bright\norb, in order to prove what their ambition suggested to them as the best\nmeans to reach power, and exercise it unswervingly over the\nsuperstitious and ignorant masses.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n  \u201cVenus is a second Earth,\u201d says Reynaud, in _Terre et Ciel_ (p. 74),\n  \u201cso much so that were there any communication possible between the two\n  planets, their inhabitants might take their respective earths for the\n  two hemispheres of the same world.... They seem on the sky, _like two\n  sisters_. Similar in conformation, these two worlds are also similar\n  in the character assigned to them in the Universe.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nThis took place during the middle ages. And now the sin lies black at\nthe door of Christians and their scientific inspirers, though the error\nwas successfully raised to the lofty position of a religious dogma, as\nmany other fictions and inventions have been.\n\nIndeed, the whole sidereal world, planets and their regents\u2014the ancient\ngods of poetical paganism\u2014the sun, the moon, the elements, and the\nentire host of incalculable worlds\u2014those at least which happened to be\nknown to the Church Fathers\u2014shared in the same fate. They have all been\nslandered, all bedevilled by the insatiable desire of proving one little\nsystem of theology\u2014built on and constructed out of old pagan\nmaterials\u2014the only right and holy one, and all those which preceded or\nfollowed it utterly wrong. Sun and stars, the very air itself, we are\nasked to believe, became pure and \u201credeemed\u201d from original sin and the\nSatanic element of heathenism, only after the year I, A.D. Scholastics\nand scholiasts, the spirit of whom \u201cspurned laborious investigation and\nslow induction,\u201d had shown, to the satisfaction of infallible Church,\nthe whole Kosmos in the power of Satan\u2014a poor compliment to God\u2014before\nthe year of the Nativity; and Christians had to believe or be condemned.\nNever have subtle sophistry and casuistry shown themselves so plainly in\ntheir true light, however, as in the questions of the ex-Satanism and\nlater redemption of various heavenly bodies. Poor beautiful Venus got\nworsted in that war of so-called divine proofs to a greater degree than\nany of her sidereal colleagues. While the history of the other six\nplanets, and their gradual transformation from Greco-Aryan gods into\nSemitic devils, and finally into \u201cdivine attributes of the _seven eyes_\nof the Lord,\u201d is known but to the educated, that of Venus-Lucifer has\nbecome a household story among even the most illiterate in Roman\nCatholic countries.\n\nThis story shall now be told for the benefit of those who may have\nneglected their astral mythology.\n\nVenus, characterised by Pythagoras as the _sol alter_, a second Sun, on\naccount of her magnificent radiance\u2014equalled by none other\u2014was the first\nto draw the attention of ancient Theogonists. Before it began to be\ncalled Venus, it was known in _pre_-Hesiodic theogony as Eosphoros (or\nPhosphoros) and Hesperos, the children of the dawn and twilight. In\nHesiod, moreover, the planet is decomposed into two divine beings, two\nbrothers\u2014Eosphoros (the _Lucifer_ of the Latins) the morning, and\nHesperos, the evening star. They are the children of Astr\u0153os and Eos,\nthe starry heaven and the dawn, as also of Kephalos and Eos (_Theog:_\n381, _Hyg: Poet: Astron_: 11, 42). Preller, quoted by Decharme, shows\nPhaeton identical with Phosphoros or Lucifer (_Griech: Mythol_: 1. 365).\nAnd on the authority of Hesiod he also makes Phaeton the son of the\nlatter two divinities\u2014Kephalos and Eos.\n\nNow Phaeton or Phosphoros, the \u201cluminous morning orb,\u201d is carried away\nin his early youth by Aphrodite (Venus) who makes of him the night\nguardian of her sanctuary (_Theog:_ 987-991). He is the \u201cbeautiful\nmorning star\u201d (_Vide_ St. John\u2019s _Revelation_ XXII. 16) loved for its\nradiant light by the Goddess of the Dawn, Aurora, who, while gradually\neclipsing the light of her beloved, thus seeming to carry off the star,\nmakes it reappear on the evening horizon where it watches the gates of\nheaven. In early morning, Phosphoros \u201cissuing from the waters of the\nOcean, raises in heaven his sacred head to announce the approach of\ndivine light.\u201d (_Iliad_, XXIII. 226; _Odyss:_ XIII. 93; Virg: _\u00c6neid_,\nVIII. 589; _Mythol: de la Gr\u00e8ce Antique_. 247). He holds a torch in his\nhand and flies through space as he precedes the car of Aurora. In the\nevening he becomes Hesperos, \u201cthe most splendid of the stars that shine\non the celestial vault\u201d (_Iliad_, XXII. 317). He is the father of the\nHesperides, the guardians of the golden apples together with the Dragon;\nthe beautiful genius of the flowing golden curls, sung and glorified in\nall the ancient _epithalami_ (the bridal songs of the early Christians\nas of the pagan Greeks); he, who at the fall of the night, leads the\nnuptial _cort\u00e8ge_ and delivers the bride into the arms of the\nbridegroom. (_Carmen Nuptiale._ See _Mythol: de la Gr\u00e8ce Antique_.\nDecharme.)\n\nSo far, there seems to be no possible _rapprochement_, no analogy to be\ndiscovered between this poetical personification of a star, a purely\nastronomical myth, and the _Satanism_ of Christian theology. True, the\nclose connection between the planet as Hesperos, the evening star, and\nthe Greek Garden of Eden with its Dragon and the golden apples may, with\na certain stretch of imagination, suggest some painful comparisons with\nthe third chapter of Genesis. But this is insufficient to justify the\nbuilding of a theological wall of defence against paganism made up of\nslander and misrepresentations.\n\nBut of all the Greek _euhemerisations_, Lucifer-Eosphoros is, perhaps,\nthe most complicated. The planet has become with the Latins, Venus, or\nAphrodite-_Anadyomene_, the foam-born Goddess, the \u201cDivine Mother,\u201d and\none with the Ph\u0153nician Astarte, or the Jewish Astaroth. They were all\ncalled \u201cThe Morning Star,\u201d and the Virgins of the Sea, or _Mar_ (whence\nMary), the great Deep, titles now given by the Roman Church to their\nVirgin Mary. They were all connected with the moon and the crescent,\nwith the Dragon and the planet Venus, as the mother of Christ has been\nmade connected with all these attributes. If the Ph\u0153nician mariners\ncarried, fixed on the prow of their ships, the image of the goddess\nAstarte (or Aphrodite, Venus Erycina) and looked upon the evening and\nthe morning star as _their_ guiding star, \u201cthe eye of their Goddess\nmother,\u201d so do the Roman Catholic sailors the same to this day. They fix\na Madonna on the prows of their vessels, and the blessed Virgin Mary is\ncalled the \u201cVirgin of the Sea.\u201d The accepted patroness of Christian\nsailors, their star, \u201c_Stella Del Mar_,\u201d etc., she stands on the\ncrescent moon. Like the old pagan Goddesses, she is the \u201cQueen of\nHeaven,\u201d and the \u201cMorning Star\u201d just as they were.\n\nWhether this can explain anything, is left to the reader\u2019s sagacity.\nMeanwhile, Lucifer-Venus has nought to do with darkness, and everything\nwith light. When called _Lucifer_, it is the \u201clight bringer,\u201d the first\nradiant beam which destroys the lethal darkness of night. When named\nVenus, the planet-star becomes the symbol of dawn, the chaste Aurora.\nProfessor Max M\u00fcller rightly conjectures that Aphrodite, born of the\nsea, is a personification of the Dawn of Day, and the most lovely of all\nthe sights in Nature (\u201cScience of Language\u201d) for, before her\nnaturalisation by the Greeks, Aphrodite was Nature personified, the life\nand light of the Pagan world, as proven in the beautiful invocation to\nVenus by Lucretius, quoted by Decharme. She is _divine_ Nature in her\nentirety, _Aditi-Prakriti_ before she becomes Lakshmi. She is that\nNature before whose majestic and fair face, \u201cthe winds fly away, the\nquieted sky pours torrents of light, and the sea-waves smile,\u201d\n(Lucretius). When referred to as the Syrian goddess Astarte, the\nAstaroth of Hieropolis, the radiant planet was personified as a majestic\nwoman, holding in one outstretched hand a torch, in the other, a crooked\nstaff in the form of a cross. (_Vide_ Lucian\u2019s _De Dea Syri\u00ea_, and\nCicero\u2019s _De Nat: Deorum_, 3 c.23). Finally, the planet is represented\nastronomically, as a globe _poised above the cross_\u2014a symbol no devil\nwould like to associate with\u2014while the planet Earth is a globe with a\ncross _over it_.\n\nBut then, these crosses are not the symbols of Christianity, but the\nEgyptian _crux ansata_, the attribute of Isis (who is Venus, and\nAphrodite, Nature, also) \u2640 or \u2640 the planet; the fact that the Earth has\nthe _crux ansata_ reversed, \u2641 having a great occult significance upon\nwhich there is no necessity of entering at present.\n\nNow what says the Church and how does it explain the \u201cdreadful\nassociation.\u201d The Church believes in the devil, of course, and could not\nafford to lose him. \u201c_The Devil is the chief pillar of the Church_\u201d\nconfesses unblushingly an advocate[5] of the _Ecclesia Militans_. \u201cAll\nthe Alexandrian Gnostics speak to us of the fall of the \u00c6ons and their\nPleroma, and all attribute that fall _to the desire to know_,\u201d writes\nanother volunteer in the same army, slandering the Gnostics as usual and\nidentifying _the desire to know_ or occultism, magic, with Satanism.[6]\nAnd then, forthwith, he quotes from Schlegel\u2019s _Philosophie de\nl\u2019Histoire_ to show that the seven rectors (planets) of Pymander,\n\u201ccommissioned by God to contain the phenomenal world in their seven\ncircles, lost in love with their own beauty,[7] came to admire\nthemselves with such intensity that owing to this proud self-adulation\nthey finally _fell_.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n  Thus saith Des Mousseaux. \u201cM\u0153urs et Pratiques des Demons.\u201d p. X.\u2014and\n  he is corroborated in this by Cardinal de Ventura. The Devil, he says,\n  \u201cis one of the great personages _whose life is closely allied to that\n  of the Church_; and without him ... the fall of man could not have\n  taken place. If it were not for him (the Devil), the Saviour, the\n  Redeemer, the Crucified would be but the most ridiculous of\n  supernumeraries and the Cross an insult to good sense.\u201d And if so,\n  then we should feel thankful to the poor Devil.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n  De Mirville. \u201cNo Devil, no Christ,\u201d he exclaims.\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n  This is only another version of Narcissus, the Greek victim of his own\n  fair looks.\n\n-----\n\nPerversity having thus found its way amongst the angels, the most\nbeautiful creature of God \u201crevolted against its Maker.\u201d That creature is\nin theological fancy Venus-Lucifer, or rather the informing Spirit or\nRegent of that planet. This teaching is based on the following\nspeculation. The three principal heroes of the great sidereal\ncatastrophe mentioned in _Revelation_ are, according to the testimony of\nthe Church fathers\u2014\u201cthe Verbum, Lucifer his usurper (see editorial) and\nthe grand Archangel who conquered him,\u201d and whose \u201cpalaces\u201d (the\n\u201chouses\u201d astrology calls them) are in the Sun, Venus-Lucifer and\nMercury. This is quite evident, since the position of these orbs in the\nSolar system correspond in their hierarchical order to that of the\n\u201cheroes\u201d in Chapter xii of _Revelation_ \u201ctheir names and destinies (?)\nbeing closely connected in the theological (exoteric) system with these\nthree great metaphysical names.\u201d (De Mirville\u2019s _Memoir_ to the Academy\nof France, on the rapping Spirits and the Demons).\n\nThe outcome of this was, that theological legend made of Venus-Lucifer\nthe sphere and domain of the fallen Archangel, or Satan before his\napostacy. Called upon to reconcile this statement with that other fact,\nthat the metaphor of \u201cthe morning star,\u201d is applied to both Jesus, and\nhis Virgin mother, and that the planet Venus-Lucifer is included,\nmoreover, among the \u201cstars\u201d of the seven planetary spirits worshipped by\nthe Roman Catholics[8] under new names, the defenders of the Latin\ndogmas and beliefs answer as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cLucifer, the jealous neighbour of the Sun (Christ) said to himself in\nhis great pride: \u2018I will rise as high as he!\u2019 He was thwarted in his\ndesign by Mercury, though the brightness of the latter (who is St.\nMichael) was as much lost in the blazing fires of the great Solar orb as\nhis own was, and though, like Lucifer, Mercury is only the assessor, and\nthe guard of honour to the Sun.\u201d\u2014(_Ibid._)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n  The famous temple dedicated to the Seven Angels at Rome, and built by\n  Michael-Angelo in 1561, is still there, now called the \u201cChurch of St\n  Mary of the Angels.\u201d In the old Roman Missals printed in 1563\u2014one or\n  two of which may still be seen in Palazzo Barberini\u2014one may find the\n  religious service (_officio_) of the seven angels, and their _old_ and\n  occult names. That the \u201cangels\u201d are the pagan Rectors, under different\n  names\u2014the Jewish having replaced the Greek and Latin names\u2014of the\n  seven planets is proven by what Pope Pius V. said in his Bull to the\n  Spanish Clergy, permitting and encouraging the worship of the said\n  seven spirits of the stars. \u201cOne cannot exalt too much these _seven\n  rectors_ of the world, _figured by the seven planets_, as it is\n  consoling to our century to witness by the grace of God the cult of\n  these _seven ardent lights_, and of these _seven stars_ reassuming all\n  its lustre in the Christian republic.\u201d (_Les Sept Esprits et\n  l\u2019Histoire de leur Culte_; De Mirville\u2019s 2nd memoir addressed to the\n  Academy. Vol. II. p. 358.)\n\n-----\n\nGuards of \u201cdishonour\u201d now rather, if the teachings of _theological_\nChristianity were true. But here comes in the cloven foot of the Jesuit.\nThe ardent defender of Roman Catholic Demonolatry and of the worship of\nthe seven planetary spirits, at the same time, pretends great wonder at\nthe coincidences between old Pagan and Christian _legends_, between the\nfable about Mercury and Venus, and the _historical truths_ told of St.\nMichael\u2014the \u201cangel of the face,\u201d\u2014the terrestrial double, or _ferouer_ of\nChrist. He points them out saying: \u201clike Mercury, the archangel Michael,\nis the _friend_ of the Sun, his Mitra, perhaps, for Michael is a\n_psychopompic_ genius, one who leads the separated souls to their\nappointed abodes, and like Mitra, he is the _well-known adversary of the\ndemons_.\u201d This is demonstrated by the book of the _Nabatheans_ recently\ndiscovered (by Chwolson), in which the Zoroastrian Mitra is called the\n\u201c_grand enemy of the planet Venus_.\u201d[9] (_ibid_ p. 160.)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n  Herodotus showing the identity of Mitra and Venus, the sentence in the\n  _Nabathean Agriculture_ is evidently misunderstood.\n\n-----\n\nThere is something in this. A candid confession, for once, of perfect\nidentity of celestial personages and of _borrowing_ from every pagan\nsource. It _is_ curious, if unblushing. While in the oldest Mazdean\nallegories, Mitra conquers the planet Venus, in Christian tradition\nMichael defeats Lucifer, and both receive, as war spoils, the planet of\nthe vanquished deity.\n\n\u201cMitra,\u201d says Dollinger, \u201cpossessed, in days of old, the star of\nMercury, placed between the sun and the moon, but he was given the\nplanet of the conquered, and ever since his victory he is identified\nwith Venus.\u201d (_\u201cJudaisme and Paganisme,\u201d Vol. II., p. 109. French\ntransl._)\n\n\u201cIn the Christian tradition,\u201d adds the learned Marquis, \u201cSt. Michael _is\napportioned in Heaven the throne and the palace of the foe he has\nvanquished_. Moreover, like Mercury, during the palmy days of paganism,\nwhich made sacred to this _demon_-god all the promontories of the earth,\n_the Archangel is the patron of the same in our religion_.\u201d This means,\nif it does mean anything, that _now_, at any rate, Lucifer-Venus is a\n_sacred_ planet, and no synonym of Satan, since St. Michael has become\nhis legal heir?\n\nThe above remarks conclude with this cool reflection:\n\n\u201cIt is evident that paganism has _utilised beforehand_, and most\nmarvellously, all the features and characteristics of the _prince of the\nface of the Lord_ (Michael) in applying them to that _Mercury_, to the\nEgyptian _Hermes Anubis_, and the _Hermes Christos_ of the Gnostics.\nEach of these was represented as the first among the divine councillors,\nand the god nearest to the sun, _quis ut Deus_.\u201d\n\nWhich title, with all its attributes, became that of Michael. The good\nFathers, the Master Masons of the temple of _Church_ Christianity, knew\nindeed how to utilize pagan material for their new dogmas.\n\nThe fact is, that it is sufficient to examine certain Egyptian\n_cartouches_, pointed out by Rossellini (_Egypte_, Vol. I., p. 289), to\nfind Mercury (the double of Sirius in our solar system) as Sothis,\npreceded by the words \u201c_sole_\u201d and \u201c_solis custode, sostegnon dei\ndominanti, e forte grande dei vigilanti_,\u201d \u201cwatchman of the sun,\nsustainer of dominions, and the strongest of all the vigilants.\u201d All\nthese titles and attributes are now those of the Archangel Michael, who\nhas inherited them from the _demons_ of paganism.\n\nMoreover, travellers in Rome may testify to the wonderful presence in\nthe statue of Mitra, at the Vatican, of the best known Christian\nsymbols. Mystics boast of it. They find \u201cin his lion\u2019s head, and the\neagle\u2019s wings, those of the courageous Seraph, the master of space\n(Michael); in his caduceus, the spear, in the two serpents coiled round\nthe body, the struggle of the good and bad principles, and especially in\nthe two keys which the said Mitra holds, like St. Peter, the keys with\nwhich this Seraph-patron of the latter opens and shuts the gates of\nHeaven, _astra cludit et recludit_.\u201d (_Mem_: p. 162.)\n\nTo sum up, the aforesaid shows that the theological romance of Lucifer\nwas built upon the various myths and allegories of the pagan world, and\nthat it is no _revealed_ dogma, but simply one invented to uphold\nsuperstition. Mercury being one of the Sun\u2019s _assessors_, or the\n_cynocephali_ of the Egyptians and _the watch-dogs of the Sun_,\nliterally, the other was _Eosphoros_, the most brilliant of the planets,\n\u201c_qui mane oriebaris_,\u201d the early rising, or the Greek \u1f40\u03c1\u03b8\u03c1\u03b9\u03bd\u1f78\u03c2. It was\nidentical with the _Amoon-ra_, the light-bearer of Egypt, and called by\nall nations \u201cthe _second born_ of light\u201d (the first being Mercury), the\nbeginning of his (the Sun\u2019s) ways of wisdom, the Archangel Michael being\nalso referred to as the _principium viarum Domini_.\n\nThus a purely astronomical personification, built upon an occult meaning\nwhich no one has hitherto seemed to unriddle outside the Eastern wisdom,\nhas now become a dogma, part and parcel of Christian revelation. A\nclumsy transference of characters is unequal to the task of making\nthinking people accept in one and the same trinitarian group, the \u201cWord\u201d\nor Jesus, God and Michael (with the Virgin occasionally to complete it)\non the one hand, and Mitra, Satan and Apollo-Abbadon on the other: the\nwhole at the whim and pleasure of Roman Catholic Scholiasts. If Mercury\nand Venus (Lucifer) are (astronomically in their revolution around the\nSun) the symbols of God the Father, the Son, and of their Vicar,\nMichael, the \u201cDragon-Conqueror,\u201d in Christian legend, why should they\nwhen called Apollo-_Abaddon_, the \u201cKing of the Abyss,\u201d Lucifer, Satan,\nor Venus\u2014become forthwith devils and demons? If we are told that the\n\u201cconqueror,\u201d or \u201cMercury-Sun,\u201d or again St. Michael of the _Revelation_,\nwas given the spoils of the conquered angel, namely, his planet, why\nshould opprobrium be any longer attached to a constellation so purified?\nLucifer is now the \u201cAngel of the Face of the Lord,\u201d[10] because \u201cthat\nface is mirrored in it.\u201d We think rather, because the Sun is reflecting\nhis beams in Mercury seven times more than it does on our Earth, and\ntwice more in Lucifer-Venus: the Christian symbol proving again its\nastronomical origin. But whether from the astronomical, mystical or\nsymbological aspect, Lucifer is as good as any other planet. To advance\nas a proof of its demoniacal character, and identity with Satan, the\nconfiguration of Venus, which gives to the crescent of this planet the\nappearance of a cut-off horn is rank nonsense. But to connect this with\nthe horns of \u201cThe Mystic Dragon\u201d in _Revelation_\u2014\u201cone of which was\nbroken\u201d[11]\u2014as the two French Demonologists, the Marquis de Mirville and\nthe Chevalier des Mousseaux, the champions of the Church militant, would\nhave their readers believe in the second half of our present century\u2014is\nsimply an insult to the public.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n  \u201cBoth in Biblical and pagan theologies,\u201d says de Mirville, \u201cthe Sun\n  has its god, its defender, and its sacrilegious usurper, in other\n  words, its Ormuzd, its planet Mercury (Mitra), and its Lucifer, Venus\n  (or Ahriman), taken away from its ancient master, and now given to its\n  conqueror.\u201d (p. 164.) Therefore, Lucifer-Venus is quite _holy_ now.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n  In Revelation there is no \u201chorn broken,\u201d but it is simply said in\n  Chapter XIII., 3. that John saw \u201cone of his heads, as it were, wounded\n  to death.\u201d John knew naught in his generation of \u201ca horned\u201d devil.\n\n-----\n\nBesides which, the Devil had no horns before the fourth century of the\nChristian era. It is a purely Patristic invention arising from their\ndesire to connect the god Pan, and the pagan Fauns and Satyrs, with\ntheir Satanic legend. The demons of Heathendom were as hornless and as\ntailless as the Archangel Michael himself in the imaginations of his\nworshippers. The \u201chorns\u201d were, in pagan symbolism, an emblem of divine\npower and creation, and of fertility in nature. Hence the ram\u2019s horns of\nAmmon, of Bacchus, and of Moses on ancient medals, and the cow\u2019s horns\nof Isis and Diana, etc., etc., and of the Lord God of the Prophets of\nIsrael himself. For Habakkuk gives the evidence that this symbolism was\naccepted by the \u201cchosen people\u201d as much as by the Gentiles. In Chapter\nIII. that prophet speaks of the \u201cHoly One from Mount Paran,\u201d of the Lord\nGod who \u201ccomes from Teman, and _whose brightness was as the light_,\u201d and\nwho had \u201c_horns_ coming out of his hand.\u201d\n\nWhen one reads, moreover, the Hebrew text of Isaiah, and finds that no\nLucifer is mentioned at all in Chapter XIV., v. 12, but simply \u05d4\u05b5\u05d9\u05dc\u05b5\u05dc,\n_Hillel_, \u201ca _bright_ star,\u201d one can hardly refrain from wondering that\n_educated_ people should be still ignorant enough at the close of our\ncentury to associate a radiant planet\u2014or anything else in nature for the\nmatter of that\u2014with the DEVIL![12]\n\n                                                            H. P. B.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n  The literal words used, and their translation, are: \u201c_A\u00efk Naphelta\n  Mi-Shamayim Hillel Ben-Shachar Negdangta La-Aretz Cholesch El-Go\u00fcm_,\u201d\n  or, \u201cHow art thou fallen from the heavens, Hillel, Son of the Morning,\n  how art thou cast down unto the earth, thou who didst cast down the\n  nations.\u201d Here the word, translated \u201cLucifer,\u201d is \u05d4\u05d9\u05dc\u05dc, Hillel, and\n  its meaning is \u201cshining brightly or gloriously.\u201d It is very true also,\n  that by a pun to which Hebrew words lend themselves so easily, the\n  verb _hillel_ may be made to mean \u201cto howl,\u201d hence, by an easy\n  derivation, hillel may be constructed into \u201chowler,\u201d or a devil, a\n  creature, however, one hears rarely, if ever, \u201chowling.\u201d In his\n  Lexicon, Art. \u05d4\u05dc, Parkhurst says: \u201cThe Syriac translation of this\n  passage renders it \u05d0\u05d9\u05dc\u05dc \u2018howl\u2019; and even Jerome observes that it\n  literally means \u2018to howl.\u2019\u201d Michaelis translates it, \u2018Howl, Son of the\n  Morning.\u2019 But at this rate, Hillel, the great Jewish sage and\n  reformer, might also be called a \u201chowler,\u201d and connected with the\n  devil!\n\n-----\n\n\n\n\n                  =THE BLOSSOM AND THE FRUIT=:\n\n                      _A TALE OF LOVE AND MAGIC_.\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                           BY MABEL COLLINS,\n\n Author of \u201cTHE PRETTIEST WOMAN IN WARSAW,\u201d &c., &c., And Scribe of \u201cTHE\n       IDYLL OF THE WHITE LOTUS,\u201d and \u201cTHROUGH THE GATES OF GOLD.\u201d\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                             Only\u2014\n                       One facet of the stone,\n                       One ray of the star,\n                       One petal of the flower of life,\n But the one that stands outermost and faces us, who are men and women.\n\n_This strange story has come to me from a far country and was brought to\nme in a mysterious manner; I claim only to be the scribe and the editor.\nIn this capacity, however, it is I who am answerable to the public and\nthe critics. I therefore ask in advance, one favour only of the reader;\nthat he will accept (while reading this story) the theory of the\nreincarnation of souls as a living fact._\n\n                                                             _M. C._\n\n                             INTRODUCTION.\n\n                Containing two sad lives on earth,\n                And two sweet times of sleep in Heaven.\n\n                              A LIFETIME.\n\nOverhead the boughs of the trees intermingle, hiding the deep blue sky\nand mellowing the fierce heat of the sun. The boughs are so covered with\nwhite blossoms that it is like a canopy of clustered snow-flakes, tinged\nhere and there with a soft pink. It is a natural orchard, a spot\nfavoured by the wild apricot. And among the trees, wandering from shine\nto shade, flitting to and fro, is a solitary figure. It is that of a\nyoung woman, a savage, one of a wild and fierce tribe dwelling in the\nfastnesses of an inaccessible virgin forest. She is dark but beautiful.\nHer blue-black hair hangs far down over her naked body; its masses\nshield the warm, quivering, nervous brown skin from the direct rays of\nthe sun. She wears neither clothing nor any ornament. Her eyes are dark,\nfierce and tender: her mouth soft and natural as the lips of an opening\nflower. She is absolutely perfect in her simple savage beauty and in the\nnatural majesty of her womanhood, virgin in herself and virgin in the\nquality of her race, which is untaught, undegraded. But in her sublimely\nnatural face is the dawn of a great tragedy. Her soul, her thought, is\nstruggling to awake. She has done a deed that seemed to her quite\nsimple, quite natural; yet now it is done a dim perplexity is rising\nwithin her obscure mind. Wandering to and fro beneath the rich masses of\nblossom-laden boughs, she for the first time endeavours to question\nherself. Finding no answer within she goes again to look on that which\nshe has done.\n\nA form lies motionless upon the ground within the thickest shade of the\nrich fruit trees. A young man, one of her own tribe, beautiful like\nherself, and with strength and vigour written in every line of his form.\nBut he is dead. He was her lover, and she found his love sweet, yet with\none wild treacherous movement of her strong supple arm she had killed\nhim. The blood flowed from his forehead where the sharp stone had made\nthe death wound. The life blood ebbed away from his strong young form; a\nmoment since his lips still trembled, now they were still. Why had she\nin this moment of fierce passion taken that beautiful life? She loved\nhim as well as her untaught heart knew how to love; but he, exulting in\nhis greater strength, tried to snatch her love before it was ripe. It\nwas but a blossom, like the white flowers overhead: he would have taken\nit with strong hands as though it were a fruit ripe and ready. And then\nin a sudden flame of wondrous new emotion the woman became aware that\nthe man was her enemy, that he desired to be her tyrant. Until now she\nhad thought him as herself, a thing to love as she loved herself, with a\nblind unthinking trust. And she acted passionately upon the guidance of\nthis thing\u2014feeling\u2014which until now she had never known. He, unaccustomed\nto any treachery or anger, suspected no strange act from her, and thus,\nunsuspicious, unwarned, he was at her mercy. And now he lay dead at her\nfeet. And still the fierce sun shone through the green leaves and\nsilvern blossoms and gleamed upon her black hair and tender brown skin.\nShe was beautiful as the morning when it rose over the tree tops of that\nworld-old forest. But there is a new wonder in her dark eyes; a question\nthat was not there until this strange and potent hour came to her. What\nages must pass over her dull spirit ere it can utter the question; ere\nit can listen and hear the answer?\n\nThe savage woman, nameless, unknown save of her tribe, who regard her as\nindifferently as any creature of the woods, has none to help her or stay\nin its commencement the great roll of the wave of energy she has\nstarted. Blindly she lives out her own emotions. She is dissatisfied,\nuneasy, conscious of some error. When she leaves the orchard of wild\nfruit trees and wanders back to the clearer part of the forest beneath\nthe great trees, where her tribe dwells, when she returns among them her\nlips are dumb, her voice is silent. None ever heard that he, the one she\nloved, had died by her hand, for she knew not how to frame or tell this\nstory. It was a mystery to her, this thing which had happened. Yet it\nmade her sad, and her great eyes wore a dumb look of longing. But she\nwas very beautiful and soon another young and sturdy lover was always at\nher side. He did not please her; there was not the glow in his eyes that\nhad gladdened her in those of the dead one whom she had loved. And yet\nshe shrunk not from him nor did she raise her arm in anger, but held it\nfast at her side lest her passion should break loose unawares. For she\nfelt that she had brought a want, a despair upon herself by her former\ndeed; and now she determined that she would act differently. Blindly she\ntried to learn the lesson that had come upon her. Blindly she let\nherself be the agent of her own will. For now she became the willing\nslave and serf of one whom she did not love, and whose passion for her\nwas full of tyranny. Yet she did not, she dared not, resist this\ntyranny; not because she feared him, but because she feared herself. She\nhad the feeling that one might have who had come in contact with a new\nand hitherto unknown natural force. She feared lest resistance or\nindependence should bring upon her a greater wonder, a greater sadness\nand loss than that which she had already brought upon herself.\n\nAnd so she submitted to that which in her first youth would no more have\nbeen endured by her than the bit by the wild horse.\n\nThe apricot blossom has fallen and fruit has followed it; the leaves\nhave fallen and the trees are bare. The sky is grey and wild above, the\nground dank and soft with fallen leaves below. The aspect of the place\nis changed, but it is the same; the face and form of the woman have\nchanged; but she is the same. She is alone again in the wild orchard,\nfinding her way by instinct to the spot where her first lover died. She\nhas found it. What is there? Some white bones that lie together; a\nskeleton. The woman\u2019s eyes fasten and feed on the sight and grow large\nand terrible. Horror at last is struck into her soul. This is all that\nis left of her young love, who died by her hand\u2014white bones that lie in\nghastly order! And the long hot days and sultry nights of her life have\nbeen given to a tyrant who has reaped no gladness and no satisfaction\nfrom her submission; for he has not learned yet even the difference\nbetween woman and woman. All alike are mere creatures like the wild\nthings; creatures to hunt and to conquer. Dumbly in her dark heart\nstrange questionings arise. She turns from this graveyard of her\nunquestioning time and goes back to her slavery. Through the years of\nher life she waits and wonders, looking blankly at the life around her.\nWill no answer come to her soul?\n\n                                  ---\n\n                        AFTER SLEEP, AWAKENING.\n\nSplendid was the veil that shielded her from that other soul, the soul\nshe knew and of which she showed her recognition by swift and sudden\nlove. But the veil separated them; a veil heavy with gold and shining\nwith stars of silver. And as she gazed upon these stars, with delighted\nadmiration of their brilliance, they grew larger and larger, till at\nlength they blended together, and the veil became one shining sheen\ngorgeous with golden broideries. Then it became easier to see through\nthe veil, or rather it seemed easier to these lovers. For before the\nveil had made the shape appear dim; now it appeared glorious and ideally\nbeautiful and strong. Then the woman put out her hand, hoping to obtain\nthe pressure of another hand through the shining gossamer. And at the\nsame instant he too put out his hand, for in this moment their souls\ncommunicated, and they understood each other. Their hands touched; the\nveil was broken; the moment of joy was ended and again the struggle\nbegan.\n\n                                  ---\n\n                              A LIFETIME.\n\nSitting, singing, on the steps of an old palace, her feet paddling in\nthe water of a broad canal, was a child who was becoming more than a\nchild; a creature on the threshold of life, of awakening sensation. A\ngirl, with ruddy gold hair, and innocent blue eyes, that had in their\nvivid depths the strange startled look of a wild creature. She was as\nsimple and isolated in her happiness as any animal of the woods or\nhills\u2014the sunshine, the sweet air with the faint savour of salt in it,\nher own pure clear girlish voice, and the gay songs of the people that\nshe sang\u2014these were pleasure enough and to spare for her.\n\nBut the space of unconscious happiness or unhappiness which heralds the\nreal events of a life was already at an end. The great wave which she\nhad set in motion was increasing in volume ceaselessly; how long before\nit shall reach the shore and break upon that far off coast? None can\nknow, save those whose eyesight is more than man\u2019s. None can tell; and\nshe is ignorant, unknowing. But though she knows nothing of it, she is\nwithin the sweep of the wave, and is powerless to arrest it until her\nsoul shall awake.\n\n\u201cMy blossom, my beautiful wild flower,\u201d said a voice close beside her. A\nyoung boatman had brought his small vessel so gently to the steps she\nhad not noticed his approach. He leaned over his boat towards her, and\ntouched her bare white feet with his hand.\n\n\u201cCome away with me, Wild Blossom,\u201d he said. \u201cLeave that wretched home\nyou cling to. What is there to keep you there now your mother is dead?\nYour father is like a savage, and makes you live like a savage too. Come\naway with me, and we will live among people who will love you and find\nyou beautiful as I do. Will you come? How often have I asked you, Wild\nBlossom, and you have never answered. Will you answer now?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the girl, looking up with grave, serious eyes, that had\nbeneath their beauty a melancholy meaning, a sad question.\n\nThe man saw this strange look and interpreted it as clearly as he could.\n\n\u201cTrust me,\u201d he said, \u201cI am not a savage like your father. When you are\nmy little wife I will care for you far more dearly than myself. You will\nbe my soul, my guide, my star. And I will shield you as my soul is\nshielded within my body, follow you as my guide, look up to you as to a\nstar in the blue heavens. Surely you can trust my love, Wild Blossom.\u201d\n\nHe had not answered the doubt in her heart, for he had not guessed what\nit was, nor could she have told him. For she had not yet learned to know\nwhat it was, nor to know of it more than that it troubled her. But she\nput it aside and silenced it now, for the moment had come to do so. Not\ntill she had learned her lesson much more fully could the question ever\nbe expressed even to her own soul, and before this could be, the\nquestion must be silenced many times.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she said, \u201cI will come.\u201d\n\nShe held out her hand to him as if to seal the compact. He interpreted\nthe gesture by his own desire, and taking her hand in his drew her\ntowards him. She yielded and stepped into the boat. And then he quickly\npushed away from the steps, and, dipping his oars in the water, soon had\ngone far away down the canal. Blossom looking earnestly back, watched\nthe old palace disappear. In some of its old rooms and on its sunny\nsteps her child-life had been spent. Now she knew that was at an end.\nShe understood that all was changed henceforth, though she could not\nguess into what she was going, and she waited for her future with a\nstrange confidence in the companion she had accepted. This puzzled her\ndimly. Yet how should she lack confidence, having known him long ago and\nthrown away his love and his life beneath the wild apricot trees, having\nseen afterwards the steadfastness of his love when her soul stood beside\nhis in soul life?\n\nA long way they went in the little boat. They left the canals and went\nout upon the open sea, and still the boatman rowed unwearyingly, his\neyes all the while upon the beautiful wild blossom he had plucked and\ncarried away with him to be his own, his dear and adored possession. Far\naway along the coast lay a small village of fishermen\u2019s cots. It was to\nthis that the young man guided his boat, for it was here he dwelled.\n\nAt the door of his cot stood his old mother, a quaint old woman with\nwrinkled, rosy face, wearing a rough fishwife\u2019s dress and coarse shawl;\nher brown hand shaded her eyes as she watched her son\u2019s boat\napproaching. Presently a smile came on her mouth. \u201cHe\u2019s gotten the\nblossom he\u2019s talked of so often in his sleep. Will he be happy now, the\ngood lad?\u201d\n\nHe was truly a good lad; for his mother knew him well, and the more she\nknew him the deeper grew her love. She would do anything for his\nhappiness. And now she took to her arms the child, the Blossom, and\ncherished her for his sake. Before many days had passed the fishing\nvillage made a _f\u00eate_ day for the wedding of its strongest boatman. And\nthe women\u2019s eyes filled with tears when they looked at the sad, tender,\nquestioning face of the beautiful Wild Blossom.\n\nShe had given her love without hesitation, in complete confidence. She\nhad given more; herself, her life, her very soul. The surrender was now\ncomplete.\n\nAnd now, when all seemed done and all accomplished, her question began\nto be answered. Dimly she knew that, spite of the husband at whose feet\nshe bowed, spite of the babes she carried in her arms till their tiny\nfeet were strong enough to carry them down over the shore to the marge\nof the blue waters, spite of the cottage home she garnished and cleansed\nand loved so dearly, spite of all, her heart was hungry and empty. What\ncould it mean, that though she had all she had none? Blossom was grown a\nwoman now, and there were some lines of care and of pain on her\nforehead. Yet, still, she was beautiful and still she bore her\nchild-name of Blossom; but the beauty of her face grew sadder and more\nstrange as the years went by, the years that bring ease and satisfaction\nto the stagnant soul. Wild Blossom\u2019s soul was eager and anxious; she\ncould not still the mysterious voices of her heart, and these told her\n(though perhaps she did not always understand their speech) that her\nhusband was not in reality her king; that he heard no sound from that\ninner region in which she chiefly existed. For him contentment existed\nin the outward life that he lived, in sheer physical pleasure, in the\nexcitement of hard work, and the dangers of the sea, in the beauty of\nhis wife, the mirth of his happy children. He asked no more. But Wild\nBlossom\u2019s eyes had the prophetic light in them. She saw that all this\npeace must pass, this pleasure end; she recognised that these things did\nnot, could not, absolutely satisfy the spirit; her soul seemed to\ntremble within her as she began to feel the first dawn of the terrible\nanswer to her sad questioning.\n\n                                  ---\n\n                        A deeper dream of rest;\n                        A stronger waking.\n\nMany a long year later, a solitary woman dwelled in that fisherman\u2019s\ncottage on the shore of the blue sea. She was old and bowed with age and\ntrouble. But still her eyes were brighter than any girl\u2019s in the\nvillage, and held in them the mysterious beauty of the soul; still her\nhair, once golden, now grey, waved about her forehead. The people loved\nher and were kind to her, for she was always gentle and full of generous\nthought. But they never understood her, for they were long ages behind\nher in her growth. She was ready now for the great central test of\npersonal existence; the experience of life in civilization. When the old\nfishwife lay dead within her cottage, and the people came to grieve\nbeside her body, they little guessed that she was going on to a great\nand glorious future; a future full of daring and of danger. When her\neyes closed in death, her inner eyes opened on a sight that filled her\nwith absolute joy. She was in a garden of fruit trees, and the blossom\nof the trees was at its full. When her eyes fell on this white maze of\nflowers and drank in its beauty, she remembered the name she had borne\non earth and dimly understood its meaning. The blossoms hid from her the\nsky and all else until a soft pressure on her hand drew her eyes\ndownwards; and then she saw beside her that one whom she had loved\nthrough the ages, and who, side by side with her, was experiencing the\nprofound mystery, and learning the strange lesson of incarnation in the\nworld where sex is the first great teacher. And with each phase of\nexistence that they passed through, these two forged stronger and\nstronger links that held them together and compelled them again and\nagain to meet, so that together they were destined to pass through the\nvital hour; the hour when the life is shaped for greater ends or for\nvain deeds.\n\nHere within this sheltered place, where blossoms filled the air with\nsweetness and beauty, it seemed to them, that they had attained to the\nfull of pleasure. They rested in perfect satisfaction, drinking deep\ndraughts of the joy of living. To them existence seemed a final and\nsplendid fact in itself; existence as they then had it. The moment in\nwhich they lived was sufficient, they desired none other, nor any other\nplace, nor any other beauty, than those they had. None knows and none\ncan tell what time or age was passed in this deep contentment and\nfulfilment of pleasure. At last Wild Blossom\u2019s soul woke from its sleep,\nsatiated; the hunger returned to gnaw at her heart; the longing to know\nreasserted itself. Holding tight the hand she held in hers, she sprang\nfrom the soft couch on which she lay. Then, for the first time, she\nnoticed that the ground was so soft and pleasant, because there, where\nshe had lain, had drifted great heaps of the fallen fruit blossoms. The\nground was all white with them, though some had begun to lose their\ndelicate beauty, to curl and wrinkle and turn dark. Then she looked\noverhead and saw that the trees had, with the loss of the delicate\npetals, lost their first fairness, the splendour of the spring. Now they\nwere covered with small, hard, green fruit, scarce formed, unbeautiful\nto the eye, hard to the touch, acid to the taste. With a shudder of\nregret for the sweet spring time that was gone, Wild Blossom hurried\naway from the trees, still holding fast that other hand in hers. She was\ngoing to face new, strange experiences, perhaps terrible dangers: her\ntask was the easier for that tried companionship, for the nearness of\nthat other who was climbing the same steep ladder of life.\n\n                          END OF INTRODUCTION.\n\n                               CHAPTER I.\n\nIn a masked ball there is an element of adventure that appeals to the\ndaring of both sexes, to the bright and witty spirits. Hilary Estanol\nwas just such an one as the hero of a bright revel should be. A\nbeautiful boy, with a lovely face, and eyes that had in them a deep\nsadness. In repose his face was almost womanish in its softness; but a\nchill brilliance was in his smile, a certain slight cynicism coloured\nall his speech. Yet Hilary had no reason to be a cynic, and he was not\none who adopted anything from fashion or affectation. The spring of this\nuncalled-for coldness and indifference lay in himself.\n\nTo-night he was the centre of attraction in Madame Estanol\u2019s\ndrawing-rooms. This _bal masqu\u00e9_ was to celebrate his coming of age, and\nHilary had never looked so womanish as when he stood among his friends\nreceiving their congratulations and admiring their gifts. He wore the\ndress of a troubadour, and it was one which became him well, not only in\nits picturesqueness as a costume, but in the requirements of the\ncharacter. He had the faculty of the improvisatore, his voice was rich\nand soft, his musical and poetic gifts swift and versatile. Hilary was\nadored by his friends, but disliked, indeed almost hated, by his one\nnear relation, his mother. She was standing near him now, talking to a\ngroup who had gathered round her. She was one of the cleverest women of\nthe day, and, still beautiful and full of a charming pride, held a court\nof her own. Her dislike for Hilary was founded on her estimate of his\ncharacter. To one of her intimate friends she had said, not long before\nthis night, \u201cHilary will disgrace his name and family before there is\none grey thread in his dark hair. He has the qualities that bring\ndespair and ensure remorse. God will surely forgive me that I say this\nof my son; but I see it before me, an abyss into which he will drag me\nwith him; and I wait for it every day.\u201d\n\nA guest, just arrived, approached Madame Estanol with a smile, and after\ngreeting her affectionately, said, in a whisper, \u201cI have brought a\nfriend with me. Welcome her in her character as a fortune-teller. She is\nvery witty, and will amuse us presently, if you like.\u201d\n\nShe moved aside a little, and Madame Estanol saw standing behind her a\nstooping figure, an old haggard crone, with palsied head, and hand that\ntrembled as it grasped her stick.\n\n\u201cAh, Countess! it is impossible to recognise your friend under this\ndisguise,\u201d said Madame Estanol. \u201cWill you not tell me who she is?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am pledged to say nothing but that she is a fortune-teller,\u201d said the\nCountess Bairoun. \u201cHer name she herself will reveal only to one person;\nand that person must be born under the star that favoured her own\nbirth.\u201d\n\nThe fortune-teller turned her bent head towards Madame Estanol, and\nfixed a pair of brilliant and fascinating eyes on hers. Immediately\nMadame Estanol became aware of a strong charm that drew her towards this\nmysterious person. She advanced and held out her hand to assist the old\nwoman in moving across the room.\n\n\u201cCome with me,\u201d she said, \u201cI should like to introduce you to my son. He\nis the hero of this scene to-night, for the ball is held in honour of\nhis coming of age.\u201d\n\nThey went together through the maskers that were now beginning to throng\nthe large drawing-rooms, and everyone turned to look at the strange\nfigure of the tottering old crone. Hilary Estanol was leaning against\nthe high carved oak mantel frame of the inner drawing-room, surrounded\nby a laughing group of his intimate friends. He held his mask in his\nhand, and as he stood there smiling, his dark curls falling on his\nforehead, his mother thought, as she approached him, \u201cMy boy grows\nhandsomer every hour of his gay young life.\u201d When Hilary saw his\nmother\u2019s strange companion he advanced a step, as if to welcome her, but\nMadame Estanol checked him with a smile. \u201cI cannot introduce our visitor\nto you,\u201d she said, \u201cfor I do not know her name. She will tell it to but\none person, who must have been born under the same star as herself.\nMeantime, we are to greet her in her character as the fortune-teller.\u201d\n\nThis announcement was welcomed by a murmur of amusement and interest.\n\n\u201cThen will our kind visitor perhaps exercise her craft for us?\u201d asked\nHilary, gazing with curiosity at the trembling head and grey locks\nbefore him. The old woman turned her head sideways, and gave him a look\nfrom those strange brilliant eyes. He, too, like his mother, felt the\ncharm from them. But he felt more. Something suddenly wakened within\nhim; a rush of inexplicable emotions roused him into amazement; he put\nhis hand to his forehead; he was bewildered, almost faint.\n\nThere was a small drawing-room which opened out of the room they were\nin. It was so tiny that it held but a table covered with flowers, a low\ncouch and an easy-chair. The laughing group that surrounded Hilary went\neagerly to convert this room into the sanctum of the prophetess. They\nlowered and softened the shaded light; drew close the blinds and shut\nthe doors, locking all but one. Here was placed a guardian who was to\nadmit grudgingly and one by one those who were fortunate enough to speak\nalone with the sybil, for she would only see certain of the guests whom\nshe selected herself from the throng, describing their appearance and\ndress to the guardian of her improvised temple. These were all ladies of\ngreat position. They entered laughing and half defiant. They came out,\nsome pale, some red, some trembling, some in tears. \u201cWho can she be?\u201d\nthey whispered in terrified tones to one another, and in that terror\nshowed how she had penetrated their hearts and touched on their secret\nthoughts.\n\nAt last the guardian of the door said that Hilary himself was to enter.\n\nWhen Hilary went in, the young man, as he closed the door on the fortune\nteller and her new guest, turned with a laugh to the group behind him.\n\n\u201cAlready she has startled him,\u201d he said, \u201cI heard him utter almost a cry\nas he entered.\u201d\n\n\u201cCould you see in?\u201d asked one, \u201cperhaps she has taken off her disguise\nfor her host!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I saw nothing,\u201d he answered. \u201cCan none of you who have been in\nguess who she is?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered a girl who had come out from the ordeal with white and\ntrembling lips. \u201cIt is impossible to guess. She knows everything.\u201d\n\nIt was as they had supposed. She had taken off her disguise for her\nhost. The staff, the large cloak, the wig and cap lay on the ground.\nWith the swift use of a cosmetiqued kerchief she had removed from her\nfair skin the dark complexion of the ancient sybil. When Hilary entered\nshe had completed this rapid toilette and sat leaning back in a low\nchair. She was dressed in a rich evening costume; she held a mask in her\nhand ready for use. But now her face was uncovered; her strange and\nbrilliant eyes were fixed on Hilary; her beautiful mouth wore a half\nsmile of amusement at his surprise. It was more than surprise that he\nexperienced. Again that rush of inexplicable emotion overpowered him. He\nfelt like one intoxicated. He regarded her very earnestly for a few\nmoments.\n\n\u201cSurely,\u201d he said, \u201cwe have met before!\u201d\n\n\u201cWe were born under the same star,\u201d she answered in a voice that\nthrilled him. Until now he had not heard her speak. The sense of some\nstrong link or association that united them, was made doubly strong by\nthe sound of that voice, rich, strong and soft. Suddenly he recognised\nthe meaning of his emotion. He no longer struggled against it, he no\nlonger was bewildered by it.\n\nHe approached her and sat down upon the couch at her side. He regarded\nher with wonder and adoration, but no longer with awe or surprise. For\nhe understood that the event which he had imagined would never come was\nalready here\u2014he was in love.\n\n\u201cYou said you would disclose your name to the one who was born under the\nsame star as yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you not know me?\u201d she said with a slight look of surprise. She\nfancied everyone knew her at least by sight.\n\n\u201cI do not,\u201d he answered, \u201cthough indeed I am perplexed to think I can\never have lived without knowing you.\u201d\n\nFlattery produced no effect upon her, she lived in an atmosphere of it.\n\n\u201cI am the Princess Fleta,\u201d she answered. Hilary started and coloured a\nlittle at the words, and could ill control his emotion. The Princess\nFleta held a position in the society of the country, which can only\nbelong to one who stands next to a throne that rules an important\nnation. She was a personage among crowned heads, one to whom an emperor\nmight, without stooping, offer his love; and Hilary, the child of an\nofficer of the Austrian army, and of a poor daughter of a decayed\naristocratic family, Hilary had in the swift stirring of love at first\nsight, told his own heart that he loved her! It could never be unsaid,\nand he knew it. He had whispered the words within himself, the whisper\nwould find a hundred echoes. He must always love her.\n\nThe Princess turned her wonderful eyes on him and smiled.\n\n\u201cI have done my work for to-night,\u201d she said. \u201cI have amused some of the\npeople, now I should like to dance.\u201d\n\nHilary was sufficient of a courtier not to be deaf to this command,\nthough his whole soul was in his eyes and all his thoughts fixed on her\nbeauty. He rose and offered her his arm, she put on her mask and they\nleft the room. When Hilary appeared among the crowd that hung round the\ndoor of the fortune teller\u2019s sanctum, accompanied by a slender, graceful\nwoman, whose face was hidden save for the great dark eyes, there was an\nirrepressible murmur of excitement and wonder. \u201cWho can she be?\u201d was\nrepeated again a hundred times. But no one guessed. None dreamed this\ncould be the Princess Fleta herself; for there were but few houses she\nwould visit at, and no one imagined that there could be any inducement\nto bring her to Madame Estanol\u2019s. The mystery of her presence she\nexplained to Hilary while they danced together.\n\n\u201cI am a student of magic,\u201d she said, \u201cand I have already learned some\nuseful secrets. I can read the hearts of the courtiers who surround me,\nand I know where to look for true friends. Last night I dreamed of the\nfriend I should find here. Do you care for these mystic occupations?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know nothing of them,\u201d said Hilary.\n\n\u201cLet me teach you then,\u201d said the Princess, with a light laugh. \u201cYou\nwill be a good pupil, that I know. Perhaps I may make a disciple of you!\nand there are not many with whom that is possible.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd why?\u201d asked Hilary. \u201cSurely it is a fascinating study to those who\ncan believe in the secrets.\u201d\n\n\u201cScepticism is not the great difficulty,\u201d answered the Princess, \u201cbut\nfear. Terror turns the crowd back from the threshold. Only a few dare\ncross it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd you are one of the few,\u201d said Hilary, gazing on her with eyes of\nburning admiration.\n\n\u201cI have never felt fear,\u201d she answered.\n\n\u201cAnd would it be impossible to make you feel it, I wonder,\u201d said Hilary.\n\n\u201cDo you desire to try?\u201d she answered, with a smile at his daring speech.\nIt did not sound so full of impertinence as it looks, for Hilary\u2019s eyes\nand face were all alight with love and admiration, and his voice\ntrembled with passion.\n\n\u201cYou can make the attempt if you choose,\u201d she said, glancing at him with\nthose strange eyes of hers. \u201cTerrify me if you can.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot here, in my own house, it would not be hospitable.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome and see me, then, some day when you think it will amuse you. Try\nand frighten me. I will show you my laboratory, where I produce essences\nand incenses to please the gnomes and ghouls.\u201d\n\nHilary accepted this invitation with a flush of pleasure.\n\n\u201cTake me to the Countess,\u201d she said at last. \u201cI am going home. But I\nwant her first to introduce me to your mother.\u201d\n\nThe Countess was delighted that the Princess had made up her mind to\nthis. She hardly thought Madame Estanol would be pleased to discover\nthat the great lady had been masquerading in her drawing-room, and had\nnot cared to throw off her disguise even for her hostess. And the\nCountess valued the friendship of Madame Estanol; so she was glad the\nwilful Princess had decided to treat her with politeness.\n\nMadame Estanol could scarcely conceal her surprise at learning what the\ndignity was which had been hidden under the disguise of the old\nfortune-teller. The Princess did not remove her mask, and, with a laugh,\nshe warned Madame Estanol that some of her guests would not be pleased\nto discover who the sybil was who had read their hearts so shrewdly.\n\nWhen she had gone, Hilary\u2019s heart and spirits had gone with her. It\nseemed as if he hardly cared to speak; his laughter had died away\naltogether. His thoughts, his very self, followed the fascinating\npersonality that had bewitched him.\n\nMadame Estanol saw his abstraction, his flushed eager look, and the new\nsoftness of his eyes. But she said no word. She feared the Princess, who\nwas well known to be full of caprice and wilfulness. She feared lest\nHilary should be mad enough to yield to the charm of the girl\u2019s beauty\nand confident manner; the charm of power, peculiar, or rather, possible\nonly to one in a royal place. But she would say no word; knowing Hilary\nwell, she knew that any attempt to influence him against it would only\nintensify his new passion.\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\nTwo days later Hilary nerved himself to pay the visit to the Princess.\nHe thought she could not consider it to be too soon, for it seemed to\nhim two months since he had seen her.\n\nShe lived in a garden-house some two or three miles away in the country.\nHer father\u2019s palace in the city never pleased her; she only came there\nwhen festivities or ceremonials made her presence necessary. In the\ncountry, with her chaperone and her maids, she was free to do as she\nchose. For they were one and all afraid of her, and held her\n\u201claboratory\u201d in the profoundest respect. None of them would have entered\nthat room except to avoid some dreadful doom.\n\nHilary was taken to the Princess in the garden, where she was walking to\nand fro in an avenue of trees which were covered with sweet scented\nblossoms. She welcomed Hilary with a charming manner, and the hour he\nspent with her here in the sunshine was one of the wildest intoxication.\nThey began openly to play the pretty game of love. Now that no eyes were\non them the Princess let him forget that she belonged to a different\nrank from his own. When she was tired of walking, \u201cCome,\u201d she said, \u201cand\nI will shew you my laboratory. No one in this house ever enters it. If\nyou should say in the city that you have been in that room you will be\nbesieged with questions. Be careful to say nothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would die sooner,\u201d exclaimed Hilary, to whom the idea of talking\nabout the Princess and her secrets seemed like sacrilege.\n\nThe room was without windows, perfectly dark but for a softened light\nshed by a lamp in the centre of the high ceiling. The walls were painted\nblack and on them were drawn strange figures and shapes in red. These\nhad evidently not been painted by any artisan hand; though bold in\ntouch, they were irregular in workmanship. Beside a great vessel which\nstood upon the ground, was a chair, and in this chair a figure upon\nwhich Hilary\u2019s attention immediately became fastened.\n\nHe saw at once that it was not human, that it was not a lay figure, that\nit was not a statue. It resembled most a lay figure, but there was\nsomething strange about it which does not exist in the mere form on\nwhich draperies are hung. And its detail was elaborated; the skin was\ntinted, the eyes darkened correctly, the hair appeared to be human.\nHilary remained at the doorway unable to advance because of the\nfascination this form exercised upon him.\n\nThe Princess looked back from where she stood in the centre of the room\nbeneath the light; she saw the direction of his gaze and laughed.\n\n\u201cYou need not fear it,\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cIs it a lay figure?\u201d asked Hilary, trying to speak easily, for he\nremembered that she despised those who knew fear.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she answered, \u201cit is my lay figure.\u201d\n\nThere was something that puzzled Hilary in her tone.\n\n\u201cAre you an artist?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she answered, \u201cin life\u2014in human nature. I do not work with a\npencil or a brush; I use an agent that cannot be seen yet can be felt.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d asked Hilary.\n\nShe turned on him a strange look, that was at first distrustful, and\nthen grew soft and tender.\n\n\u201cI will not tell you yet,\u201d she said.\n\nHilary roused himself to answer her lightly.\n\n\u201cHave I to pass through some ordeal before you tell me?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she answered gaily, \u201cand already an ordeal faces you. Dare you\nadvance into the room or no?\u201d\n\nHilary made a great effort to break the spell that was on him. He went\nhastily across the room to where she stood. Then he realised that he had\nactually passed through an ordeal. He had resisted some force, the\nnature of which he knew not, and he had come out the victor. Realising\nthis brought to him another conviction.\n\n\u201cPrincess,\u201d he said, \u201cthere is some one else in this room besides you\nand me. We are not alone.\u201d\n\nHe spoke so suddenly, and from so great a sense of startled surprise,\nthat he did not pause to think whether his question were a wise one or\nnot. The Princess laughed as she looked at him.\n\n\u201cYou are very sensitive,\u201d she said. \u201cCertainly we were born under the\nsame star, for we are susceptible to the same influences. No, we are not\nalone. I have servants here whom no eyes have seen but mine. Would you\nlike to see them? Do not say yes hastily. It means a long and tedious\napprenticeship, obtaining mastery over these servants. But unless you\nconquer them you cannot often see me; for if you are much near to me\nthey will hate you, and their hate is greater than your power to resist\nit.\u201d\n\nShe spoke seriously now, and Hilary felt a strange sensation as he\nlooked at this beautiful girl standing beneath the lamp light. He\nexperienced a sudden dread of her as of someone stronger than himself;\nand also an impassioned desire to serve her, to be her slave, to give\nhis life to her utterly. Perhaps she read the love in his eyes, for she\nturned away and moved towards the figure in the chair.\n\n\u201cI know this distresses you,\u201d she said. \u201cYou shall see it no longer.\u201d\nShe opened a large screen which was formed of some gold coloured\nmaterial covered with shapes outlined in black. She arranged this so\nthat the figure was altogether hidden from view and also the great\nvessel which stood beside it.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d she said, \u201cyou will breathe more freely. And I am going to shew\nyou something. We did not come out of the sunshine for no purpose. And\nwe must be quick, for my good aunt will be terrified when she finds I\nhave brought you in here. I believe she will hardly expect to see you\nalive again.\u201d\n\nShe opened a gold vessel, which stood upon a cabinet, while she spoke,\nand the air immediately became full of a strong sweet perfume. Hilary\nput his hand to his forehead. Was it possible that he could be so\nimmediately affected, or was it his imagination that the red shapes and\nfigures which were on the black wall moved and ordered and arranged\nthemselves? Yet, so it was; to his eyes the forms mingled and again\nbroke up and re-mingled. A word was formed and then another. It was\nunconsciously imprinted on Hilary\u2019s memory before it changed and\nvanished; he noticed only the mysterious occurrence which was happening\nbefore his eyes. Suddenly he became aware that a sentence had been\ncompleted; that words had been written there which he would never have\ndared to utter; that on the wall before him had appeared in letters as\nof fire the secret of his heart. He staggered back and drew his eyes\nwith difficulty from the wall to fix them in amazement and fear upon the\nPrincess. Her face was flushed, her eyes were bright and tender.\n\n\u201cDid you see it?\u201d he asked in a trembling voice.\n\nFor a moment she hesitated then she answered, \u201cYes, I saw it.\u201d\n\nThere was a brief silence. Hilary looked again at the wall, expecting to\nsee the thought in his mind written there. But the shapes were returning\nto their original appearance, and the perfume was dying out of the air.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d said the Princess suddenly, \u201cwe have been here long enough. My\naunt will be distressed. Let us go to her.\u201d\n\nShe led the way from the room, and Hilary followed her. In another\nmoment they were in a large drawing-room, flooded with sunshine and\nfragrant with flowers; the Princess\u2019 aunt was busied with silks which\nshe had entangled while at her embroidery; the Princess was on her knees\nbeside her, holding a skein of yellow silk upon her hands. Hilary stood\na moment utterly bewildered. Had he been dreaming? Was that black room\nand its terrible atmosphere a phantasy?\n\nHe had stayed long enough, and he now took his leave reluctantly. The\nPrincess, who would have no ceremony at the Garden House, rose from her\nknees and said she would open the gate for him. Hilary flushed with\npleasure at this mark of kindness.\n\nThe gate she took him to was a narrow one that stood in a thick-set\nhedge of flowering shrubs. When he had passed through he looked back,\nand saw the Princess leaning on the gate, framed in gorgeous blossoms.\nShe smiled and held out her hand to him. The richness of her presence\nintoxicated him, and he lost all sense of the apparently impassable gulf\nbetween them.\n\n\u201cYou read the words,\u201d he said, \u201cand you give me your hand in mine?\u201d\n\n\u201cI read the words,\u201d she answered, in a soft voice that thrilled him,\n\u201cand I give you my hand in yours. Good-bye!\u201d\n\nShe had touched his hand for an instant, and now she was gone. Hilary\nturned to walk through the flowering hedges to the city. But his heart,\nhis thought, his soul remained behind. She had read the words, and she\nwas not angry. She knew of his love for her and she was not angry. She\nhad read his heart and had not taken offence. What might he not hope\nfor?\n\nThen came another thought. She had read the words. Then that black room\nwas no phantasy, but a fact as actual as the sunshine. What were the\npowers of this strange creature that he loved? He knew not; but he knew\nthat he loved her.\n\n                  *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *\n\nAn overpowering desire carried him daily on that road between the\nflowery hedges to the Garden House. Only sometimes had he the courage to\nenter. Most often he lingered at that narrow gate, embosomed in flowers\nand looked longingly over it. The first time that he entered after this\nvisit, in which his secret was written before his eyes, he found the\nPrincess standing within the gate. She held out her hand to him saying\nsimply, \u201cI knew you were coming. I have prepared something, and I have\npersuaded my aunt that no terrible thing will happen if you are in my\nlaboratory for a little while. So come with me.\u201d\n\nIt was brilliantly lit, this black walled room she called her\nlaboratory. The great vessel stood in the midst of the floor beneath the\nlamp, and from it rose flame and smoke. A strong and vivid perfume\nfilled the air, and the upper part of the high room was clouded with\ngrey blue smoke, that shone in the light like silver.\n\nIn the chair beside it sat a figure: it was that of a beautiful woman. A\nstrange mixture of emotions overpowered Hilary. At the first glance he\nfelt that this figure was the same he had seen the other day; at the\nsecond he recognised his mother. He rushed forward to her and became\naware that she was lifeless; then he turned passionately upon the\nPrincess with anger and horror in his face.\n\n\u201cWhat have you done? What have you done?\u201d he cried.\n\n\u201cNothing,\u201d she said, with a smile. \u201cI have done no harm. Do you not see\nthat is only an image? My lay figure, as I told you.\u201d\n\nHe gave a long look at the inanimate shape that was so perfect a\nrepresentation of his mother, and then he turned upon the Princess a\nlook of more intense horror than before.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d he asked, in a low voice.\n\n\u201cNo harm!\u201d she answered lightly. \u201cYour mother hates and fears me. I\ncannot endure that. I am making her love me. I am making her desire your\npresence here with me.\u201d\n\nFor a while they stood in silence by the side of the vessel and its\nflaming contents; then suddenly Hilary cried out: \u201cI cannot bear it! Put\nan end to this terrible spell!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the Princess, \u201cI will, but not to its results.\u201d\n\nShe drew the screen before the seated figure, and threw something into\nthe vessel that instantly quenched the flame.\n\nThen she led Hilary from the room, and they walked up and down beneath\nthe trees, talking of things as lovers talk\u2014things that interested\nthemselves but none other.\n\nWhen Hilary returned home his mother rose from her couch and held out\nher hand to him. She drew him to sit beside her.\n\n\u201cHilary,\u201d she said, \u201csomething tells me you have been with the Princess\nFleta. It is well, and I am glad. She is a good friend for you; ask her\nif I shall come to see her.\u201d\n\nHilary rose without replying. The dew stood on his brow. For the first\ntime he was conscious of actual fear, and the fear he felt was of the\nwoman he loved.\n\n                          (_To be continued._)\n\n                         A LAW OF LIFE: KARMA.\n\nThere is nothing more common to those who know anything about Theosophy\nthan to be asked:\u2014What is Karma? Karma is a Sanskrit word which has to\nbe used by those who discuss the idea it conveys, simply because there\nis no English word to correspond to it. That is very easy to answer.\nThen comes the question:\u2014What is the idea which it conveys? Than this\nthere is nothing more difficult to answer, and the reason why this is\nthe case is not far to seek. Let it once be granted that the\nconstitution of man is complex and complicated, and that the soul has\nexisted for ages that seem like an eternity, and existed, moreover, in a\ngarb of flesh which has been changed thousands of times in the course of\nthose ages. Let this be granted, and, in addition, that no action is\nwithout its effect in the physical, moral, and spiritual worlds, then,\nit will be seen, that the answer to the question: \u201cWhat is Karma,\u201d is\nvery difficult, if not well-nigh impossible. Still, some endeavour may\nbe made to give a general idea, though the details of any individual\ncase can hardly be calculated.\n\nGranting the principle of reincarnation, Karma is the _working_ of the\ngreat law which governs those incarnations; but, taken in its wider\nsense, Karma may be defined as a manifestation of the One, Universal,\nDivine Principle in the phenomenal world. Thus, it may be further\ndefined as \u201cthe great law of Harmony\u201d which governs the Universe.\n\nBut it may be replied that Harmony is not the great law of Nature, but,\non the contrary, lack of harmony and discord. And what proof is there\nthat Harmony is the law?\n\nWhen such proof is required, the answer is at once made:\u2014Too short a\nview of life and the universe has been taken. The man who denies the\nexistence of harmony in the universe has transgressed the law and is\nexperiencing the punishment. He does this unconsciously to himself,\nbecause the law of harmony forms an unconscious impulse to its\nre-adjustment when it has been broken. No better illustration can be\ngiven than in the definition of a fugue, which is:\u2014\u201cA musical\ncomposition in contrapuntal style, in which a subject is proposed by one\npart, and then responded to by the others according to certain rules.\u201d\nAgain, in musical chords, the composing notes, if taken by twos and\nthrees, will be found in discord, but, when taken altogether, produce a\nharmony. Harmony is then the just adaptation of things to each other,\nand the universe, the personal element of man being eliminated, is\nessentially an evidence of harmony; otherwise it could not exist, for it\nwould fall to pieces and no longer be a universe. To those who find only\ndiscord around them, the note to Rule 5, in the second part of \u201cLight on\nthe Path,\u201d may convey a meaning. No other words can express it better.\nOne reason for the apparent disharmony may be given. The desires of man\nare, as a rule, devoted to the gain of what may be called his\npersonality. While such is the case in any man, to the exclusion of\nother interests, that man cannot dive deep into his own heart and\nperceive the real underlying harmony. He is incapable of understanding\nor even of perceiving it, because his attention is solely devoted to\nthat which produces discord. Naturally, then, to him all things seem out\nof joint, the reign of discord is ever present, and he cries out\nperpetually against the injustice of the world he lives in. But if he\nwill but turn his attention from his personality to the greater span of\nhis life, and endeavour first to see evidence of harmony in those around\nhim and then in himself, he will find that harmony; and his way will be\nmade plain to him.\n\nGranting, then, that it is the Great Law of Harmony or Karma which\ngoverns the Universe, and which is the Divine principle under one aspect\nmanifested in Nature, then it is easy to understand that any action in\nviolation of Nature\u2019s laws will produce a deviation from the straight\nline of harmony; consequently the law of harmony will produce an\nadjusting effect. Now, who is to produce that effect? Nature, or the man\nwho committed the action? Both, or rather, the latter under the\ninfluence of the former. The latter most certainly, unless man is to be\nregarded simply as a blind puppet. It is possible to compare the\nsituation to that of a man whose progress is contingent upon an exact\nbalance being preserved on a pair of scales in front of him. If his\nactions disturb the balance of those scales and add weight to one side\nor the other, it is necessary immediately to add a counter-balancing\nweight on the opposite side and so restore the balance or harmony. (Of\ncourse this is a physical illustration, and can hardly be carried very\nfar on the moral plane.) That is to say that the one Divine principle is\ndivided by man\u2019s actions into two opposing forces of good and evil, and\nman\u2019s progress depends on the exertion of his will to preserve harmony\nand prevent deviation to one side or the other. Evil only exists in\ncontradistinction to good, and the preservation of such harmony as we\nhave and the advance towards Universal Harmony\u2014the abstract divinity\u2014is\nwhat all right-minded persons theoretically aspire to.\n\nIt has been thought that, in consequence of the attention paid to the\nclassics in education, the word Nemesis would replace Karma with\nadvantage. So perhaps it might have done, had the earliest traditions of\nGreek mythology been preserved. But the fatal tendency towards\nanthropomorphism set in very strongly even in the palmy days of Greece,\nand in consequence Nemesis only pourtrayed the personification of a\nhuman passion. Originally the balancing power, independent of Zeus and\nall the Olympian gods, who carried out her decrees, Nemesis became\nsimply the avenging deity; so much was this the case that in a general\nsense she might have been called the tutelary deity of those envious of\ntheir neighbour\u2019s happiness. Between these points Nemesis appears as the\npersonification of the moral reverence for law, of the natural fear of\ncommitting a wrong action, and hence the personification of conscience.\nIt was after this period that Nemesis was said to direct human affairs,\nwith a view to restore the balance between happiness and unhappiness.\nBut, in earlier times, the idea of Nemesis was divided into those of\n_Nemesis_ and _Adrasteia_ (or what Orientalists would call good and evil\nKarma), for even then the idea of evil was beginning to be attached to\nNemesis.\n\nBut Nemesis was closely linked to both the _Moirae_ (Fates) and the\n_Eumenides_ (Furies), who were all the children of Zeus and Night. The\n_Moirae_ appear generally as divinities of fate in a strict sense, and\nact independently at the helm of necessity. They direct fate, and watch\nthat the fate assigned to every being _by eternal laws_ shall take its\ncourse (_Aesch_: _Prometheus Vinctus_, 511-515). Zeus, as well as gods\nand men, submits to them. They assign their proper functions to the\nErinnyes who inflict the punishment, and are sometimes called their\nsisters (_Aesch_: _Eumen_: 335, 962; _Prometheus_ 516, 696, 895). These\nlatter were always considered to be more ancient than the Olympian gods,\nand were therefore not under the rule of Zeus, though they honoured and\nesteemed him. The crimes which they especially punished were (1),\nviolation of the respect due to old age; (2), perjury; (3), murder; (4),\nviolation of the law of hospitality; (5), improper conduct towards\nsuppliants; and the punishment was inflicted not only after death but\nduring life. (It is somewhat curious that these \u201ccrimes\u201d are also those\nactions which entail the heaviest Karma.) No prayers, sacrifices, or\ntears could move them or protect the object of their persecution. When\nthey feared that he would escape, they called in _Dik\u00e8_ to their\nassistance, with whom they were closely connected, as justice was said\nto be their only object.\n\nNow when the meaning of all these \u201cminor\u201d Greek deities is considered,\nand further, if it is considered in connection with the definition of\nKarma, it will be seen that all are so many personifications of the main\ndivisions of the law of ancient Nemesis or Karma. But the one word\ncannot, in popular estimation, replace the other; for, as said above,\nNemesis has lost its original meaning, and is almost invariably\nassociated with the idea of vengeance. Karma, however, has never lost\nits essential connection with the law of Harmony, though even in this\ncase there is some tendency to confine it to the law of cause and\neffects, and to consider what is called evil Karma solely in relation to\nhuman life. This is almost inevitable, while the human personality takes\nthe foremost place in the consideration of each man, and his own\nwelfare, in time and eternity, is the goal of his endeavours. As said\nabove, while this is the case man cannot regard the great laws of the\nUniverse, nor recognise himself as part of it, and thus his life is\nconfined to the world of effects, and can never enter that of causes.\nThus it is ignorance of the law of Harmony that leads him to struggle in\nvain, in this world, for the apparent advantage of surpassing his\nneighbour, and\u2014worse\u2014to instinctively carry the struggle beyond death,\nand attempt to advance in favour in the so-called heavenly kingdom.\n\nThis is the result of the pernicious doctrine of reward and punishment\nafter death, in heaven or in hell. Nothing could have been found more\ncalculated to circumscribe the view of life as a whole, and concentrate\nman\u2019s attention on temporary matters. It is inevitable that man should\nregard his soul as something fashioned after his struggling personality,\nand very similar to it; and this view of his personality was not\ncalculated to agree with the loftiness of the ideas about the soul. From\nthis point of view he either rejected the idea of soul as altogether\nworthless, or else he transferred his interest to the soul\u2019s welfare in\nHeaven\u2014in either case concentrating his attention on what is inevitably\ntransient. It is as though a man lost sight of the fact of respiration\nin its component parts of inspiration and expiration; that is to say,\nthat one respiration is taken as the whole, and the millions of other\nrespirations in the course of a human life are lost sight of and\nforgotten. Thus the man who adapts his life to the ordinary views, with\nregard to life on earth and life in Heaven, fixes his thoughts and\naspirations on what is transient, and desires to intensify that. No\ntruer words were ever spoken than by Christ when he said:\u2014\u201cWhat shall it\nprofit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul.\u201d It is a\nloss which man will inevitably experience if he pursues this purblind\ncourse of endeavour, for he will lose sight of his _real_ soul\naltogether, and he\u2014as _he_, that is\u2014will never regain it. He follows a\nflickering Will-o\u2019-the-Wisp, and finds his way only into a treacherous\nmarsh; the result being that the whole of that incarnation is wasted,\nand a stumbling block, perhaps, placed in the way of the next. This\ndanger is, as said, due to neglect or ignorance of the idea of Karma,\nand to the purblind view consequently taken of the great scope of human\nlife.\n\nIn the _Theosophist_, of July, 1887, Mr. Subba Row deals with the\ndoctrine of Karma as contained in the Bhagavadgita. His lecture contains\none of the clearest elucidations of the metaphysical side of the\nquestion which it is possible to put in language, so far as the Kosmic\naspect of Karma is concerned. In it, and the previous lectures, Mr.\nSubba Row dealt with three main bases or vehicles[13] (states of matter)\nthrough which the light of the spirit is reflected into the phenomenal\nworld. These vehicles, when traced to their origin, lead to _prakriti_,\nor matter; as opposed to _purusha_, or spirit.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n  Sanskrit Upadhi.\n\n-----\n\n  \u201cSo Krishna says that all Karma is traceable to Upadhi, and hence to\n  _Prakriti_. _Karma_ itself depends upon conscious existence. Conscious\n  existence entirely depends upon the constitution of man\u2019s mind....\n  _Upadhi_ is the cause of individual existence. Existence itself, I\n  mean living existence, is, however, traceable to this light (of the\n  Logos). All conscious existence is traceable to it, and, furthermore,\n  when spiritual intelligence is developed, it directly springs from\n  it.... Now it is through the action of this _Karma_ that individual\n  existence makes its appearance. On account of this _Karmae_ individual\n  existence is maintained, and it is on account of _Karma_ that man\n  suffers all the pains and sorrows of earthly existence. Birth, life,\n  and death, and all the innumerable ills to which human nature is\n  subject, are endured by mankind owing to this _Karma_.... Thus\n  _Karma_, being the inevitable result of _Prakriti_, and _Prakriti_\n  continuing to exist as long as you are a human being, it is useless to\n  try to get rid of _Karma_.... When you renounce this desire (desire to\n  do Karma other than from a sense of duty), _Karma_ will become weaker\n  and weaker in its ability to affect you, till at last you arrive at a\n  condition in which you are not affected by _Karma_ at all, and that\n  condition is the condition of _Mukti_.\u201d[14]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n    Liberation or Nirvana.\n\n-----\n\n  \u201cThose philosophers who want to reject all _Karma_ pretend to renounce\n  it altogether. But that is an impossible task. No man, so long as he\n  is a human being, can ever give up _Karma_ altogether. He is at least\n  bound to do that which the bare existence of his physical body\n  requires, unless, indeed, he means to die of starvation, or otherwise\n  put an untimely end to his life.\u201d\n\n  \u201cSupposing you do give up _Karma_\u2014that is abstain from it in action,\n  how can you keep control over your own minds? It is useless to abstain\n  from an act, and yet be constantly thinking of it. If you come to the\n  resolution that you ought to give up _Karma_, you must necessarily\n  conclude that you ought not even to think about these things. That\n  being so, let us see in what a condition you will then place\n  yourselves. As almost all our mental states have some connection with\n  the phenomenal world, and are somehow or other connected with _Karma_\n  in its various phases, it is difficult to understand how it is\n  possible for a man to give up all _Karma_, unless he can annihilate\n  his mind, or get into an eternal state of _Sushupti_ (_dreamless_\n  slumber). Moreover, if you have to give up all _Karma_, you have to\n  give up good _Karma_ as well as bad, for _Karma_, in its widest sense,\n  is not confined to bad actions. If all the people in the world give up\n  _Karma_, how is the world to exist? Is it not likely that an end will\n  then be put to all good impulses, to all patriotic and philanthropic\n  deeds, that all the good people, who have been and are exerting\n  themselves in doing unselfish deeds for the good of their fellow men,\n  will be prevented from working? If you call upon everybody to give up\n  _Karma_, you will simply create a number of lazy drones, and prevent\n  good people from benefiting their fellow beings.\u201d\n\n  \u201cAnd furthermore, it may be argued that this is not a rule of\n  universal applicability. How few are there in the world who can give\n  up their whole _Karma_, and reduce themselves to a condition of\n  eternal inactivity. And if you ask these people to follow this course,\n  they may, instead of giving up _Karma_, simply become lazy, idle\n  persons, who have not really given up anything. What is the meaning of\n  the expression, to give up _Karma_? Krishna says that in abstaining\n  from doing a thing there may be the effects of active _Karma_, and in\n  active _Karma_ there may be no real Karmic results. If you kill a man,\n  it is murder, and you are held responsible for it; but suppose you\n  refuse to feed your old parents and they die in consequence of your\n  neglect, do you mean to say that you are not responsible for that\n  _Karma_? You may talk in the most metaphysical manner you please, you\n  cannot get rid of _Karma_ altogether.\u201d\n\n  \u201cTaking all these circumstances into consideration, and admitting the\n  many mischievous consequences that will follow as the result of\n  recommending every human being to give up _Karma_, Krishna adds all\n  that is to be found in the teaching that makes the Logos the means of\n  salvation, and recommends man\u2014if he would seek to obtain immortality\u2014a\n  method by following which he is sure to reach it, and not one that may\n  end in his having to go through another incarnation, or being absorbed\n  into another spiritual being whose existence is not immortal.\u201d\n\n  \u201cThe recommendation to practice and obtain self-mastery, Krishna\n  accepts. But he would add to it more effectual means of obtaining the\n  desired end\u2014means sufficient in themselves to enable you to reach that\n  end. He points out that this practise of self-mastery is not only\n  useful for training in one birth, but is likely to leave permanent\n  impulses on a man\u2019s soul which come to his rescue in future\n  incarnations.\u201d...\n\n  \u201cKrishna, in recommending his own method, combines all that is good in\n  the five systems, and adds thereto all those necessary means of\n  obtaining salvation that follow as inferences from the existence of\n  the _Logos_, and its real relationship to man and to all the\n  principles that operate in the cosmos. His is certainly more\n  comprehensive than any of the theories from which these various\n  schools of philosophy have started, and it is this theory that he is\n  trying, in the second six chapters of the Bhagavadgita,to inculcate.\u201d\n\nIn the above quoted lecture Karma was considered in its Kosmic and\nuniversal aspect, but no attempt was made to consider it in its\nindividual aspect as applied to the various great sections of Being on\nthis planet. The first approach to this is seen in the animal kingdom.\nDoubtless, the mineral and vegetable kingdoms are under the law of\nHarmony with Nature; it could not possibly be otherwise for they are\ncloser to what is known as nature and much less individualised. But\nthere is so little individualisation in these kingdoms that it is hardly\npossible to consider them in relation to the law of harmony, or to that\nof Cause and Effect on the plane of objectivity. But to anyone who has\nthought about the question it is plain that the animal kingdom, in its\nindividuals, does come at least under the law of cause and effect. This\nmay practically be called the working of Karma on the physical plane and\nby some has been called the law of Compensation, this being a term\nexpressive of mechanical and physical energy. The word Karma had better\nbe retained to express the working of the law of harmony on that plane\nwhere moral responsibility begins, and where \u201cthe law of compensation\ncan be modified by will and reason,\u201d and where therefore personal merit\nand demerit exists. To quote from an article in the Theosophist on the\nKarma of animals:\u2014\n\n  \u201cA piece of iron is attracted to a magnet without having any desire in\n  the matter. If it is exposed to air and water, it may become rusty and\n  cannot prevent it. A plant or a tree may be straight or crooked on\n  account of circumstances over which it has no control. An animal\n  usually follows the instincts of its nature without any merit or\n  demerit for so doing, a child or an idiot may smilingly kick over a\n  lamp which may set a whole city on fire; the cause will have its\n  effect, but the child or the idiot cannot be held responsible for it,\n  because they have not sufficient intelligence to fully control their\n  actions or to judge about the consequences. A person can only be held\n  responsible according to his ability to perceive justice and to\n  distinguish between good and evil. The power to discriminate properly\n  is an attribute of the human mind, and the higher that mind is\n  developed the more it becomes responsible for the effects it produces.\n  A cat may kill a mouse or an ox gore a man; and to hold them morally\n  responsible for it would be an act of injustice, cruelty and\n  stupidity. Whether or not a dog may have sufficient reason to incur\n  any moral responsibility is a matter of opinion, and no emphatic\n  affirmation or denial will decide the case: but it is reasonable to\n  suppose that a dog, though he may have sufficient reason to know what\n  is good or bad for himself or for those to whom he is attached, has no\n  moral responsibility.\u201d\n\nThus, though animals may be under the law of compensation, and under the\nlaw of harmony or Karma, they _are not_ under the law of compensation,\nor the law of harmony or Karma in the same way as it applies to human\nbeings. With humanity, a fresh element has been introduced\u2014the\nintellectual, reasoning, and discriminating power. Consequently, while\nthe universal law of harmony or Karma governs the whole Universe, the\nlaw of Harmony should be applied to the Universe as a whole, and its\nmanifestations, the laws of Karma and Compensation, should be applied to\nman and animal respectively.\n\nIt is more possible, perhaps, to consider the question in relation to\nthe various grades of humanity so far as we can conceive of it and them.\nIt would be better to commence with the highest and proceed downwards.\n\nAll Theosophists, and many who are not, have heard of Mahatmas, and many\nhave speculated very wrongly about them. In this magazine, and in this\narticle, it may be possible to write about them without disrespect,\n_because_ only through these speculations is it possible to understand\nthe law of harmony and its relation to man as Karma, and to divinity as\nharmony. The word Karma as limited above does not apply to the Mahatma.\n\n  \u201cGazing only upon the eternal the Mahatma feels neither good nor ill,\n  nor does either good or ill come to him. Personally, he cannot either\n  suffer or rejoice, and is incapable of emotion, because he is\n  indifferent to circumstances. But as he developes, his sympathies\n  increase, until at last his sympathies enter into all beings, and with\n  them he rejoices and suffers until they also pass beyond the sense of\n  joy or pain.\u201d\n\n  \u201cThey do not have good or evil Karma. The glory and good fortune and\n  happiness, these go to the good men who look for temporary joys. Karma\n  produces pleasure or pain by the ordering of circumstances. The\n  Mahatma does not feel pleasure and pain, and is not affected by\n  circumstances, therefore he is Karmaless. The law of cause and effect\n  is only called Karma when it concerns temporary and changing\n  circumstances. The acts of the Mahatma generate spiritual energy which\n  goes to create the power that shall be his when he is no longer man,\n  and consequently form an eternal factor in his future; thus, the\n  Mahatma, being without personal desire, is outside the operation of\n  the law of Karma.\u201d\n\nIn his real condition he is in harmony with Nature, and its agent, and\nhence outside Karma. His physical body is however still within its\nlimits of action. But to him this is a very small matter.\n\n                                           ARCHIBALD KEIGHTLEY, M.B.\n\n                        (_To be continued._)\n\n\n\n\n                        THE MYSTERY OF ALL TIME.\n\nThe inner light which guides men to greatness, and makes them noble,\nis a mystery through all time and must remain so while Time lasts\nfor us; but there come moments, even in the midst of ordinary life,\nwhen Time has no hold upon us, and then all the circumstance of\noutward existence falls away, and we find ourselves face to face\nwith the mystery beyond. In great trouble, in great joy, in keen\nexcitement, in serious illness, these moments come. Afterwards they\nseem very wonderful, looking back upon them.\n\nWhat is this mystery, and why is it so veiled, are the burning\nquestions for anyone who has begun to realise its existence. Trouble\nmost often rouses men to the consciousness of it, and forces them to\nask these questions when those, whom one has loved better than\noneself, are taken away into the formless abyss of the unknown by\ndeath, or are changed, by the experiences of life, till they are no\nlonger recognisable as the same; then comes the wild hunger for\nknowledge. Why is it so? What is it, that surrounds us with a great\ndim cloud into which all loved things plunge in time and are lost to\nus, obliterated, utterly taken from us? It is this which makes life\nso unbearable to the emotional natures, and which developes\nselfishness in narrow hearts. If there is no certainty and no\npermanence in life, then it seems to the Egotist, that there is no\nreasonable course but to attend to one\u2019s own affairs, and be content\nwith the happiness of the first person singular. There are many\npersons sufficiently generous in temperament to wish others were\nhappy also, and who, if they saw any way to do it, would gladly\nredress some of the existing ills\u2014the misery of the poor, the social\nevil, the sufferings of the diseased, the sorrow of those made\ndesolate by death\u2014these things the sentimental philanthropist\nshudders to think of. He does not act because he can do so little.\nShall he take one miserable child and give it comfort when millions\nwill be enduring the same fate when that one is dead? The inexorable\ncruelty of life continues on its giant course, and those who are\nborn rich and healthy live in pleasant places, afraid to think of\nthe horrors life holds within it. Loss, despair, unutterable pain,\ncomes at last, and the one who has hitherto been fortunate is on a\nlevel with those to whom misery has been familiarised by a lifetime\nof experience. For trouble bites hardest when it springs on a new\nvictim. Of course, there are profoundly selfish natures which do not\nsuffer in this sense, which look only for personal comfort and are\ncontent with the small horizon visible to one person\u2019s sight; for\nthese, there is but little trouble in the world, there is none of\nthe passionate pain which exists in sensitive and poetic natures.\nThe born artist is aware of pain as soon as he is aware of pleasure;\nhe recognises sadness as a part of human life before it has touched\non his own. He has an innate consciousness of the mystery of the\nages, that thing stirring within man\u2019s soul and which enables him to\noutlive pain and become great, which leads him on the road to the\ndivine life. This gives him enthusiasm, a superb heroism indifferent\nto calamity; if he is a poet he will write his heart out, even for a\ngeneration that has no eyes or ears for him; if he desires to help\nothers personally, he is capable of giving his very life to save one\nwretched child from out a million of miserable ones. For it is not\nhis puny personal effort in the world that he considers\u2014not his\nlittle show of labour done; what he is conscious of is the\nover-mastering desire to work with the beneficent forces of\nsuper-nature, to become one with the divine mystery, and when he can\nforget time and circumstances, he is face to face with that mystery.\nMany have fancied they must reach it by death; but none have come\nback to tell us that this is so. We have no proof that man is not as\nblind beyond the grave as he is on this side of it. Has he entered\nthe eternal thought? If not, the mystery is a mystery still.\n\nTo one who is entering occultism in earnest, all the trouble of the\nworld seems suddenly apparent. There is a point of experience when\nfather and mother, wife and child, become indistinguishable, and\nwhen they seem no more familiar or friendly than a company of\nstrangers. The one dearest of all may be close at hand and\nunchanged, and yet is as far as if death had come between. Then all\ndistinction between pleasure and pain, love and hate, have vanished.\nA melancholy, keener than that felt by a man in his first fierce\nexperience of grief, overshadows the soul. It is the pain of the\nstruggle to break the shell in which man has prisoned himself. Once\nbroken then there is no more pain; all ties are severed, all\npersonal demands are silenced for ever. The man has forced himself\nto face the great mystery, which is now a mystery no longer, for he\nhas become part of it. It is essentially the mystery of the ages,\nand these have no longer any meaning for him to whom time and space\nand all other limitations are but passing experiences. It has become\nto him a reality, profound, indeed, because it is bottomless, wide,\nindeed, because it is limitless. He has touched on the greatness of\nlife, which is sublime in its impartiality and effortless\ngenerosity. He is friend and lover to all those living beings that\ncome within his consciousness, not to the one or two chosen ones\nonly\u2014which is indeed only an enlarged selfishness. While a man\nretains his humanity, it is certain that one or two chosen ones will\ngive him more pleasure by contact, than all the rest of the beings\nin the Universe and all the heavenly host; but he has to remember\nand recognise what this preference is. It is not a selfish thing\nwhich has to be crushed out, if the love is the love that gives;\nfreedom from attachments is not a meritorious condition in itself.\nThe freedom needed is not from those who cling to you, but from\nthose to whom you cling. The familiar phrase of the lover \u201cI cannot\nlive without you\u201d must be words which cannot be uttered, to the\noccultist. If he has but one anchor, the great tides will sweep him\naway into nothingness. But the natural preference which must exist\nin every man for a few persons is one form of the lessons of Life.\nBy contact with these other souls he has other channels by which to\npenetrate to the great mystery. For every soul touches it, even the\ndarkest. Solitude is a great teacher, but society is even greater.\nIt is so hard to find and take the highest part of those we love,\nthat in the very difficulty of the search there is a serious\neducation. We realise when making that effort, far more clearly what\nit is that creates the mystery in which we live, and makes us so\nignorant. It is the swaying, vibrating, never-resting desires of the\nanimal soul in man. The life of this part of man\u2019s nature is so\nvigorous and strongly developed from the ages during which he has\ndwelt in it, that it is almost impossible to still it so as to\nobtain contact with the noble spirit. This constant and confusing\nlife, this ceaseless occupation with the trifles of the hour, this\nreadiness in surface emotion, this quickness to be pleased, amused\nor distressed, is what baffles our sight and dulls our inner senses.\nTill we can use these the mystery remains in its Sphinx-like\nsilence.\n\n\n\n\n                           ------------------\n\n\n\n\nWhen the unit thinks only of itself, the whole, which is built of\nunits perishes, and the unit itself is destroyed.\n\n\n                           ------------------\n\n\nSo it is throughout nature on every plane of life. This, therefore,\nis the first lesson to be learnt.\n\n\n                           ------------------\n\n\nWhat the _true_ occultist seeks, is not knowledge, or growth, or\nhappiness, or power, for himself; but having become _conscious_ that\nthe harmony of which he forms part is broken on the outer plane, he\nseeks the means to resolve that discord into a higher harmony.\n\nThis harmony is Theosophy\u2014Divine or Universal Wisdom\u2014the root whence\nhave sprung all \u201creligions,\u201d that is all; \u201cbonds which unite men\ntogether,\u201d which is the true meaning of the word religion.\n\nTherefore, Theosophy is not _a_ \u201creligion,\u201d but religion itself, the\nvery \u201cbinding of men together\u201d in one Universal Brotherhood.\n\n\n\n\n                   THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS OF BUDDHISM.\n\n\nWhen a man immersed in the darkness of modern civilization awakens,\nhowever slightly, to the hollowness of his every-day life, he\nbecomes sensible of a feeling of despair, for he is mentally brought\nface to face with what appears to him to be a meaningless yet cruel\ndestiny. Now to any one so circumstanced, no truer source of\nconsolation and encouragement can be offered than that which is to\nbe found in a proper consideration of the \u201cFour Noble Truths\u201d of\nBuddhism. But to give this proper consideration to the Truths, or\nindeed to promote even a preliminary enquiry into their nature is by\nno means an easy task, because the fundamental ideas which they\nembody have scarcely any vitality in the present generation; nay\nmore, they involve for the most part a complete inversion of maxims\ncommonly accepted as axiomatic in current thought.\n\nIt is, however, in the hopes of doing something towards the\nelucidation of the matter, that the present exposition is attempted.\n\nThe first Noble Truth relates to human suffering. It proclaims that\nthe conscious, separated, life of individual existence necessarily\nimplies pain, sorrow and misery; that so long as a man feels that he\nis possessed of an _isolated self_, or so long as he regards himself\nand his fellow men as _detached personalities_, having antagonistic\nor even independent interests, so long must he suffer and be subject\nto trouble, grief and disappointment.\n\nThis first Noble Truth gives utterance to one aspect of an\ninexorable law of universal application, a law from whose operations\nno man can, or has, or ever will escape, until he has learnt and in\nthe fullest sense realized the four Noble Truths.\n\nThe first Truth may also be thus expressed: individual existence\nnecessitates and involves change of state, whether manifested as\nbirth growth, decay or death, and all changes of state are\naccompanied by pain in one form or another on some plane of being;\nwhile those who seem in their own eyes to have escaped from pain, or\nthose who imagine that others escape from it, are alike deluded, for\nall men are overtaken by it soon or late.\n\nThe second Noble Truth deals with the cause of pain, and partially\nexplains its meaning. According to this Truth, it is the desire or\nthirst for the continuance of individual life, with its various\nsensations and experiences, that constitutes the true basis of all\nsuffering, whatever the outward form it may assume, and to whatever\nplane of consciousness it may belong. This thirst for life, called\nin the Sanscrit language Tanha, gives rise in the mind of man to a\ndelusive belief in the _permanence_ and _reality_ of that separate\npersonality, which, according to Buddhism, is no more than an\nephemeral mode of individual existence; it further leads him to\nsuppose that the numerous mental states which in their aggregate\nmake up the personality, are, in themselves _real_; and hence grows\nthat rooted belief in the absolute reality of the manifold objects\nof sense, and that longing for their possession, that insatiable\nlonging for the enhancement and for the multiplication of the\nexperiences associated with these objects.\n\nThe second Truth, like the first, presents an aspect of the\nuniversal law already referred to.\n\nThis law, the Sanscrit name for which is Karma, is the governing and\ncontrolling power, ordering all individual existence, and by virtue\nof which Tanha operates.\n\nThe third Noble Truth announces the fact that, as the individual man\ngrows strong in spiritual knowledge and charity, so Tanha is\ngradually dissolved, and there is for him a consequent cessation of\nsorrow and of pain. The individuality becoming proportionately freed\nfrom the bondage of Karma, Tanha is indeed a quite necessary adjunct\nof man\u2019s incipient growth, for it represents the _creative_ power\nwhich forces the individuality through the earlier stages of its\ndevelopment, yet, while performing this most useful function, being\nin fact indispensable to the lower nature of man, Tanha, at the same\ntime, forges those Karmic fetters from which the spiritual self\nstruggles desperately to get free.\n\nAs the man\u2019s spiritual nature is evolved, the unconscious creative\nenergy, in form of Tanha, is gradually replaced by the newly\ndeveloped powers of the higher self, the _will_ becomes more and\nmore completely associated with the spirit, while the man himself,\nendowed with true Faith, true Hope, and true Love, becomes a\nconscious co-worker with the Universal or Macrocosmic Will, the\n\u201cGreat Builder.\u201d\n\nThe fourth Noble Truth assures us that there is a way by which all\nmen may, if they only choose, rapidly accomplish this displacement\nof Tanha by true Love; this way is called the Noble Eight-fold Path\nleading to enlightenment.\n\nThus:\u20141. Right fundamental Belief, _i.e._, the right basis mentally\nand spiritually upon which to establish true knowledge. 2. Right\nIntention, _i.e._, goodwill towards all that lives, singleness of\npurpose, correctness and purity of motive. 3. Right Speech, _i.e._,\nthe use of becoming language, kindly temperate, fair and profitable;\npatient yet vigorous; thoughtful, courageous, honest and\ndiscriminating. 4. Right Behaviour _i.e._, active philanthropy. 5.\nRight means of Livelihood, _i.e._, honest and useful employment of\none\u2019s time, paying adequate attention to one\u2019s own material needs\nand helping others to do the same, yet without care for the morrow.\n6. Right Endeavour, _i.e._, putting one\u2019s heart in one\u2019s work. 7.\nRight Loneliness, _i.e._, self-contained and harmonious within. 8.\nRight Meditation. This is the Sanskrit _Yoga_ and signifies union\nwith the divine by practising the contemplation of the reality of\nbeing. It is the result of a sustained effort to concentrate the\nmind upon the universal, eternal and immutable law of life; the\nfirst stage of such concentration takes the form of an impartial\nreview or survey of all one\u2019s thoughts, actions, desires, sensations\nand experiences from a thoroughly impersonal standpoint. This\nEightfold Path has four stages representing different degrees\nof advancement towards Buddhahood or the state of perfect\nenlightenment. The true Buddha or Tath\u00e2gata is one who has attained\nfinal emancipation from individual existence, whose purified spirit\nis freed from the last vestige of Tanha, one upon whom Karma has no\nmore hold, for he has reached Para Nirvana, the _Eternal_, the\nAbsolute Being.\n\n                                                ST. GEORGE LANE-FOX.\n\n\n                           ------------------\n\n  THE LAST OF A GOOD LAMA.\u2014Whatever may be said against godless\n  Buddhism, its influence, wherever it penetrates, is most\n  beneficent. One finds the Spirit of \u201cLord Buddha ... most pitiful,\n  the Teacher of Nirv\u00e2na and the Law,\u201d ennobling even the least\n  philosophical of the dissenting sects of his religion\u2014the Lam\u00e4ism\n  of the nomadic Kalmucks. The Caspian Steppes witnessed, only a few\n  months ago, the solemn cremation and burial of a Mongolian saint,\n  whose ashes were watered by as many Christian as Lamaic tears. The\n  high priest to the Russian Calmucks of the Volga died December\n  26th, 1886, near V\u00e9tlyanka, once the seat of the most terrible\n  epidemics. The Ghelungs had chosen the day of ceremony in\n  accordance with their sacred books; the hour was fixed\n  astrologically, and at noon on January 4th, 1887, the imposing\n  ceremony took place. More than 80,000 people assembling from all\n  the neighbouring Cossack _stanitzas_ and Calmuck _ooloosses_,\n  formed a procession surrounding the pillar of cremation. The\n  corpse having been fixed in an iron arm-chair, used on such\n  ceremonies, was introduced into the hollow pillar, the flames\n  being fed with supplies of fresh butter. During the whole burning,\n  the crowd never ceased weeping and lamenting, the Russians being\n  most violent in their expressions of sorrow, and with reason. For\n  long years the defunct Lama had been a kind father to all the poor\n  in the country, whether Christian or Lamaist. Whole villages of\n  proletarians had been fed, clothed, and their poll-taxes paid out\n  of his own private income. His property in pasture lands, cattle,\n  and tithes was very large, yet the Lama was ever in want of money.\n  With his death, the poor wretches, who could hardly keep soul in\n  their bodies, have no prospect but starvation. Thus the tears of\n  the Christians were as abundant, if not quite as unselfish, as\n  those of the poor Pagans. Only the year before, the good Lama\n  received 4,000 roubles from a Calmuck _oolooss_ (camp) and gave\n  the whole to rebuild a burned down Russian village, and thus saved\n  hundreds from death by hunger. He was never known during his long\n  life to refuse any man, woman, or child, in need, whether Pagan or\n  Christian, depriving himself of every comfort to help his poorer\n  fellow-creatures. Thus died the last of the Lamas of the priestly\n  hierarchy sent to the Astrakhan Calmucks from beyond the \u201cSnowy\n  Range\u201d some sixty years ago. A shameful story is told of how a\n  travelling Christian pilgrim imposed on the good Lama. The Lama\n  had entrusted him with 30,000 roubles to be placed in the\n  neighbouring town; but the Christian pilgrim disappeared, and the\n  money with him.\n\n\n\n\n                          THE BIRTH OF LIGHT.\n\n _Translated from Eliphas Levis \u201cDogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie.\u201d_\n\n\nThe \u201cLucifer\u201d of the Kabalists is not a proscribed and fallen angel,\nbut the spirit which illuminates and regenerates by fire; he is to\nthe angels of peace what the comet is to the peaceful constellations\nof spring-time.\n\nThe fixed star is beautiful, radiant and calm; she drinks in the\naromas of Heaven, and looks lovingly on her sisters; clad in her\ndazzling garments, and her brow adorned with diamonds, she smiles as\nshe sings her morning and her evening hymn; she enjoys an eternal\nrepose which nothing can disturb, and solemnly she treads the path\nassigned to her among the sentinels of light.\n\nBut the wandering comet, all bloodstained, and her tresses unloosed,\nrushes on from the depths of the sky; she dashes across the track of\nthe peaceful spheres like a chariot of war breaking the ranks of a\nprocession of vestals; she dares to breast the burning sword of the\nguardians of the sun, and, like a lost spouse who seeks the partner\nvisioned in her lonely night watches, she forces her way even into\nthe tabernacle of the King of Day.\n\nThen she rushes out, breathing forth the fires which consume herself\nand leaving in her train one long conflagration; the stars pale\nbefore her approach, the herded constellations, which browse upon\nthe starry flowers in the vast meadows of the sky, seem to flee from\nher terrible breath. The grand council of the stars is called, and\nuniversal consternation reigns. At last the fairest of the fixed\nstars is charged to speak in the name of the heavenly concourse, and\nto propose a truce with the errant messenger.\n\n\u201cMy sister,\u201d she says, \u201cwhy troublest thou the harmony of these\nspheres? What harm have we done thee, and why, instead of wandering\nat hazard, dost thou not, like us, take up thy settled rank in the\nCourt of the Sun? Why dost thou not join with us in chanting the\nevening hymn, attired, like us, in a robe of white clasped above the\nbreast by one pure diamond? Why dost thou allow thy tresses,\ndripping with the sweat of fire, to float across the vapours of the\nnight? If thou wouldst but take thy due place among the daughters of\nHeaven, how far more lovely thy mien! Thy face no more would be\nburnt up by the fatigue of thy unheard-of journeys; thy eyes would\nshine forth clear, and thy features smile with the tints of lily and\nof rose, like those of thy happy sisters; all the stars would\nrecognise in thee a friend, and far from fearing thy transit, they\nwould rejoice at thy approach. For thou wouldst be united to us by\nthe indissoluble ties of universal harmony, and thy peaceable\nexistence would be but one voice the more in the anthem of Infinite\nLove.\u201d\n\nBut the comet replies:\n\n\u201cDeem not, my sister, that I could stray at chance and disturb the\nharmony of the spheres. God has traced for me my path, as thine for\nthee, and if my course appears to thee uncertain and erratic, it is\nbecause thy rays cannot reach so far as to embrace the outlines of\nthe great ellipse which has been given me for my career. My burning\ntresses are the banner of God; I am the messenger of the Suns, and I\nbathe me in their fires that I may distribute them on my path to\nthose young worlds which have not yet sufficient heat, and to the\ndeclining stars that shiver in their solitude. If I court fatigue in\nmy long journeyings, if my beauty is less mild than thine, if my\nattire less virginal, I am no less than thee a worthy daughter of\nthe sky. Leave in my hands the awful secret of my destiny, leave to\nme the horror which encompasses me, and slander me not if thou canst\nnot understand me. None the less, shall I fulfil my appointed task.\nHappy the stars that take their rest and shine like young queens in\nthe stately concourse of the Universe; for me, I am cast out, a\nwanderer, and claim the Infinite as my only fatherland. They accuse\nme of setting on fire the planets which I warm, and of terrifying\nthe stars which I illume. I am reproached with disturbing the\nharmony of the worlds, because I do not revolve round their own\nfixed points, and because I bind them one to the other, setting my\nface alone toward the only centre of all the Suns. So rest assured,\nthou fairest star, I will not deprive thee of one ray of thy so\npeaceful light; the rather, I will squander on thee my warmth and my\nown life. Who knows, but I may vanish from the sky when I have\nconsumed myself? My lot will still have been a noble one! For know\nthat in the Temple of God the fires that burn are not all one. Ye\nare the light of the golden torches, but I, the flame of sacrifice.\nLet each accomplish her own destiny!\u201d\n\nHer words scarce uttered, the comet shakes her tresses loose, covers\nherself with her burning shield, and plunges once more into infinite\nspace, where she appears to vanish for evermore.\n\nIt is thus that Lucifer appears and disappears in the allegories of\nthe Bible.\n\nOne day, so says the book of Job, the sons of God had assembled in\nthe presence of their Lord, and among them came Lucifer.\n\nTo him the Lord said: \u201cWhence comest thou?\u201d\n\nAnd he replied:\n\n\u201cI have journeyed round the world and travelled throughout it.\u201d\n\nThis is how a Gnostic gospel, re-discovered in the East by a learned\ntraveller, explains, in treating of the symbolical Lucifer, the\ngenesis of Light.\n\n\u201cTruth which is conscious of itself is living Thought. Truth is the\nThought which is contained within itself; and formulated Thought is\nSpeech. When the Eternal Thought sought for a _form_ it said: \u2018Let\nthere be Light.\u2019 Therefore this Thought that speaks is the _Word_,\nand this Word says: \u2018Let there be Light, because the word itself is\nthe light of the _spirit_.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe uncreated light, which is the divine Word, sends forth its\nrays because it wishes to be manifest, and when it says, \u201cLet\nthere be light,\u201d it commands the eyes to open; it creates the\n_Intelligences_.\n\nAnd, when God said: \u201cLet there be light,\u201d Intelligence was made and\nlight appeared.\n\nThen, the Intelligence which God had breathed forth, like a planet\ndetached from the Sun, took the form of a splendid Angel and the\nheavens saluted him with the name of Lucifer.\n\nIntelligence awoke and it fathomed its own depths as it heard this\napostrophe of the divine Word, \u201cLet there be Light.\u201d It felt itself\nto be free, for God had commanded it so to be, and it answered,\nraising its head and spreading its wings, \u201cI will not be Slavery.\u201d\n\n\u201cWilt thou be then Sorrow?\u201d said the uncreated voice.\n\n\u201cI will be Liberty,\u201d answered the Light.\n\n\u201cPride will seduce thee,\u201d replied the supreme voice, \u201cand thou wilt\ngive birth to Death.\u201d\n\n\u201cI must needs combat with Death to conquer Life,\u201d said once again\nthe light created.\n\nGod then unloosed from his bosom the thread of splendour which held\nback the superb spirit, and as he watched him dive into the night,\ncutting in it a path of glory, he loved the child of his thought,\nand smiling with a smile ineffable, he murmured to himself: \u201cHow\nfair a thing was this Light!\u201d\n\nAnd Sorrow was the condition imposed upon the free being. If the\nchief of the angels had not dared confront the depths of night, the\ntravail of God had not been complete, and the created light could\nnot have separated itself from the light unrevealed.\n\nPerhaps Lucifer, in plunging into the night, drew with him a shower\nof Stars and Suns _by the attraction of his glory_? * * * * * * *\n\n                          A TRUE THEOSOPHIST.\n\nA very large majority of people have no idea whatever about\nTheosophy, and regard Theosophists as more or less crazy members of\na new sect. They naturally deny any superiority to one new sect\namong so many, and aver that, as a considerable number of sects have\nbeen \u201ctried in the balances and found wanting,\u201d this one is no\nbetter than its predecessors. Theosophists\u2014the real ones\u2014can only\nreply that they are unsectarian and superior to none. They believe\nthat they have found a good road to the discovery of truth, and wish\nto share their discovery\u2014if it can be so called\u2014with others.\n\nThe very assumption of superiority would be a contradiction in terms\nto the name itself. But, while giving this emphatic denial with\nreference to the name \u201cTheosophist,\u201d no attempt is made to assert\nthat all members of the Theosophical Society are also Theosophists.\nTrue indeed, that when they enter that society, they subscribe to\nrules and declare their objects to be such that, were they to carry\nthem out thoroughly, no other name than Theosophists would be\napplicable. Nor does the name imply that, in the studies which\nTheosophists make their own, it is necessary that the sole and best\nplace should be given to studies of Oriental philosophy. That again\nwould be a contradiction, for it has most emphatically been stated\nthat \u201cthere are those who are ignorant of the Eastern wisdom\u201d who\nare nearer to divine wisdom, than some who have devoted their entire\nlives to Oriental studies. It is again the old story that, \u201cthe\nletter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.\u201d\n\nStill while holding to the assertion that the study of Oriental\nwisdom is only one road out of many, it is necessary to remember the\nanalogy which philology may here present to \u201creligion.\u201d Just as\nphilology traces all languages to a common root\u2014the Sanskrit or\nrather pre-Sanskrit\u2014so the religions of the world can also be traced\nto a common root and birth place, identical with the cradle and\nbirth place of the human race, which ethnology locates on the high\nplateaux of Central Asia. Therefore it is, that the study of\nOriental philosophy has something to be urged in its especial\nfavour, because that philosophy has its home nearer to the source of\nthe wisdom religion than any other.\n\nStill more must it be borne in mind, that members of the\nTheosophical Society are not necessarily Theosophists, for a very\nconsiderable number are attracted merely by the name and through\ncuriosity. They either do not understand what they profess, or if\nthey do, they do not practise it. But this is no attempt to run\ncounter to the proverb, that the tree is known by its fruit,\nalthough there is some amount of injustice in it. All that is\nasserted is that, if this argument is used against a Society with\naims and aspirations such as the Theosophical Society has, it can be\nused with even more terrible effect against _all_ religions whether\nChristian, Mohammedan, Buddhist, etc. The real reason why this has\ncome to pass, lies in a few words\u2014the cultivation of the individual;\nand, as a later result of this, in anthropomorphism. It is only\nthose individuals who can \u201cgrasp their whole individuality firmly,\u201d\nand by the force of their \u201cawakened spiritual will, reach out to the\nlife beyond individuality\u201d\u2014it is only they, who can shake themselves\nloose from the curse which has gradually spread over the whole\nworld. It is in consequence of this growth of individualism that the\n\u201cblessings of civilization\u201d have become the curse of mankind, and\nevery religion, originally altruistic, has become inverted, and the\nreign of anti-Christ and hypocrisy has superseded that of Christ and\ntruth. No sweeping accusation is made against the whole world in\nthis statement. A dim and misty veil has been thrown over the face\nof Truth, and it is as though we saw everything outside the\nprincipal focus of a lens, and consequently, under full faith that\nwe see the real image, perceive the inverted image. In the time of\nElizabeth, for instance, men learnt to cultivate the individual\nwithin the circle of the race, and to attempt to unite in patriotism\nfor the benefit of that race or empire. But it is a vain attempt,\nand the dissociating effects of this culture will soon be evident in\nthe impossibility of the attempt. Originally the attempt was to\ncultivate the individual, but only with a view to the increase of\nthat race and with that object as paramount. That is to say, that an\nEnglish soldier would cultivate himself to the uttermost in order\nthat the world should see what English soldiers were. But the time\ncame when the egoistic element appeared in overwhelming force, and\nthe cultivation was devoted to the sole aim of making this or that\nman stronger than any man of his own race, or any other.\n\nAnd now another aim has been substituted for the paramount one of\npatriotism. Mammon has superseded the latter, and the strength of\nthe individual is cultivated and devoted to withstanding the\npressure of life, and to getting a start in the great race to\nworship at the feet of the demon of cupidity. But again, while\ndevoting their own lives and worse\u2014the lives of their neighbours\u2014to\nthis worship, they yet professed to be Christians or members of\nother religions. They tried to worship two gods\u2014Mammon on six days\nof the week and the other divinity on Sunday, or any day set apart\nfor his service. But still, in most cases, it was not the divine\ninstinct of search for the divine in their hearts, but a fear of\nwrath to come. It really was a pharisaical idea of \u201chedging,\u201d to use\na term of racing slang, with reference to the race of life. The end\nof it was that Mammon received the real worship of their hearts, and\nthe other god only lip-service. Thus in the end hypocrisy became\nalmost as paramount as Mammon. Time still passed on, and man almost\nlost sight of any idea of an offended and avenging deity, and any\ngerm of spirituality was very nearly dead from want of cultivation.\nThe material needs held him in complete sway, and the spread of\nphysical science helped him mightily. Losing sight of all the\nsubtler side of nature, he immersed himself in gross matter, and\nutilitarianism was the watchword and rallying cry. In all this\nchange the age of mechanical inventions took no small part. Man can\nhardly be blamed as an individual nor as a whole. It is part of the\ngreat law of evolution, and the working out of the law of the\nsurvival of the fittest.\n\nIt may be asked what this has to do with the subject of the article;\nbut in justification it is averred that a picture is most clearly\nseen by its contrast.\n\nPerhaps the best definition of a Theosophist, is that given by the\nAlchemist, Thomas Vaughan:\n\n\u201cA Theosophist is one who gives you a theory of the works of God,\nwhich has not a revelation, but an inspiration of his own for\nbasis.\u201d\n\n\u201cA man once abandoning the old pathway of routine and entering on\nthe solitary pathway of independent thought\u2014Godward\u2014he is a\nTheosophist, an original thinker, a seeker after the Eternal Truth,\nwith an inspiration of his own to solve the Eternal problems.\u201d\n\nSuch a one as this is the subject of the article. Count Tolstoi, the\nRussian novelist, is a true Theosophist, and his words and actions\nin contradiction and illustration of the foregoing, are taken from\nan interview with him by Mr. George Kennan (_Century_, June 1887).\nThe interview first describes the surroundings amidst which Count\nTolstoi lives, and gives also a description of the Count\u2019s\nappearance.\n\nApparently the first thing which impressed Mr. Kennan was the sight\nof \u201ca wealthy Russian noble, and the greatest of living novelists,\nshaking hands upon terms of perfect equality with a poor, ragged,\nand not over clean droshky driver,\u201d who had been engaged in the\nstreets.\n\nThen follows a description of the rooms, the furniture &c., which\nwas observed during the time that Mr. Kennan\u2019s host had retired\u2014not,\nindeed, to change his coat, but to put one on after a morning\u2019s\nlabour in the fields. Mr. Kennan, it seems, had journeyed through\nSiberia, and had there promised several of the exiles to visit Count\nTolstoi on his return, and to tell him of their condition. In the\ncourse of conversation on these matters, Mr. Kennan asked Count\nTolstoi whether he did not think that resistance to such oppression\nas the exiles had experienced was justifiable?\n\n  \u201cThat depends,\u201d he replied, \u201cupon what you mean by resistance; if\n  you mean persuasion, argument, protest, I answer yes; if you mean\n  violence\u2014no. I do not believe that violent resistance to evil is\n  ever justifiable under any circumstances.\u201d\n\n  He then set forth clearly, eloquently, and with more feeling than\n  he had yet shown, the views with regard to man\u2019s duty as a member\n  of society which are contained in his book entitled \u201cMy Religion,\u201d\n  and which are further explained and illustrated in a number of his\n  recently published tracts for the people. He laid particular\n  stress upon the doctrine of non-resistance to evil, which, he\n  said, is in accordance with both the teachings of Christ and the\n  results of human experience. He declared that violence, as a means\n  of redressing wrongs, is not only futile, but an aggravation of\n  the original evil, since it is the nature of violence to multiply\n  and reproduce itself in all directions. \u201cThe Revolutionists,\u201d he\n  said, \u201cwhom you have seen in Siberia, undertook to resist evil by\n  violence, and what has been the result? Bitterness, and misery,\n  and hatred, and bloodshed! The evils against which they took up\n  arms still exist, and to them has been added a mass of previously\n  non-existent human suffering. It is not in that way that the\n  kingdom of God is to be realised on earth.\u201d\n\n  For a long time I did not suggest any difficulties or raise any\n  objections.... It is one thing to ask a man in a general way\n  whether he would use violence to resist evil, and quite another\n  thing to ask him specifically whether he would knock down a\n  burglar who was about to cut the throat of his mother. Many men\n  would say _yes_ to the first question who would hesitate at the\n  second. Count Tolstoi, however, was consistent. I related to him\n  many cases of cruelty, brutality, and oppression which had come to\n  my knowledge in Siberia, and at the end of every recital I said to\n  him, \u201cCount Tolstoi, if you had been there and had witnessed that\n  transaction, would you not have interfered with violence?\u201d He\n  invariably answered \u201cNo.\u201d I asked him the direct question whether\n  he would kill a highwayman who was about to murder an innocent\n  traveller, provided there were no other way to save the\n  traveller\u2019s life. He replied, \u201cIf I should see a bear about to\n  kill a peasant in the forest, I would sink an axe in the bear\u2019s\n  head; but I would not kill a man who was about to do the same\n  thing.\u201d There finally came into my mind a case which, although\n  really not worse than many that I had already presented to him,\n  would, I thought, appeal with peculiar force to a brave,\n  sensitive, chivalrous man.\n\nThis was a case of most brutal treatment of a young girl who was\nexiled to Siberia. At a certain town on her journey the governor\nordered that she was to put on the clothing of an ordinary convict.\nThis she declined to do on the ground that administrative exiles had\nthe right to wear their own clothing. Furthermore the clothing\nsupplied to convicts is not always new, and it is quite possible\nthat it is of the filthiest description and full of vermin. She\nargued that she would have been compelled to change at Moscow had it\nbeen necessary, and again declined. The local governor persisted and\nordered that force should be used to effect the change. Accordingly,\nin the presence of nine or ten men, the change of clothing was\neffected\u2014she was stripped naked, forcibly reclothed, and left\nbleeding and exhausted after ineffectual resistance.\n\n  \u201cNow,\u201d I said, \u201csuppose all this had occurred in your presence;\n  suppose that this bleeding, defenceless, half-naked girl had\n  appealed to you for protection, and had thrown herself into your\n  arms; suppose that it had been your daughter, would you still have\n  refused to interfere by an act of violence?\u201d\n\n  He was silent. Finally, ignoring my direct question as to what he\n  personally would have done in such a case, Count Tolstoi said,\n  \u201cEven under such circumstances violence would not be justifiable.\n  Let us analyse that situation carefully. I will grant, for the\n  sake of argument, that the local governor who ordered the act of\n  violence was an ignorant man, a cruel man, a brutal man\u2014what you\n  will; but he probably had an idea that he was doing his duty; he\n  probably believed that he was enforcing a law of the Government to\n  which he owed obedience and service. You suddenly appear and set\n  yourself up as a judge in the case; you assume that he is not\n  doing his duty\u2014that he is committing an act of unjustifiable\n  violence\u2014and then, with strange inconsistency, you proceed to\n  aggravate and complicate the evil by yourself committing another\n  act of unjustifiable violence. One wrong added to another wrong\n  does not make a right; it merely extends the area of wrong.\n  Furthermore, your resistance, in order to be effective\u2014in order to\n  accomplish anything\u2014must be directed against the soldiers who are\n  committing the assault. But those soldiers are not free agents;\n  they are subject to military discipline and are acting under\n  orders which they dare not disobey. To prevent the execution of\n  the orders you must kill or maim two or three of the soldiers\u2014that\n  is, kill or wound the only parties to the transaction who are\n  certainly innocent, who are manifestly acting without malice and\n  without evil intention. Is that just? Is it rational? But go a\n  step further: suppose that you do kill or wound two or three of\n  the soldiers; you may or may not thus succeed in preventing the\n  completion of the act against which your violence is a protest;\n  but one thing you certainly will do, and that is, extend the area\n  of enmity, injustice, and misery. Every one of the soldiers whom\n  you kill or maim has a family, and upon every such family you\n  bring grief and suffering which would not have come to it but for\n  your act. In the hearts of perhaps a score of people you rouse the\n  anti-Christian and anti-social emotions of hatred and revenge, and\n  thus sow broadcast the seeds of further violence and strife. At\n  the time when you interposed there was only one centre of evil and\n  suffering. By your violent interference you have created\n  half-a-dozen such centres. It does not seem to me, Mr. Kennan,\n  that that is the way to bring about the reign of peace and\n  good-will on earth.\u201d\n\nMr. Kennan had a manuscript written by one of those prisoners who\ntook part in the desperate \u201chunger-strike\u201d of 1884, with which he\nhad been entrusted to hand on to Count Tolstoi. He read two or three\npages of it, and then, alluding to the Nihilists, condemned their\nmethods most heartily. Mr. Kennan appeared rather to sympathise with\ntheir motives. Count Tolstoi appears only to do so partially, and,\nwhile he earnestly desires a revolution, declines to have anything\nto do with one brought about by violence. Mr. Kennan objected that\nviolence might close the mouth of the peaceable revolutionist and\nprevent his teaching and thoughts from ever becoming public.\n\n  \u201cBut do you not see,\u201d replied the Count, \u201cthat if you claim and\n  exercise the right to resist by an act of violence what you regard\n  as evil, every other man will insist upon his right to resist in\n  the same way what he regards as evil, and the world will continue\n  to be filled with violence? It is your duty to show that there is\n  a better way.\u201d\n\n  \u201cBut,\u201d I objected, \u201cyou cannot show anything if somebody smites\n  you on the mouth every time you open it to speak the truth.\u201d\n\n  \u201cYou can at least refrain from striking back,\u201d replied the Count;\n  \u201cyou can show by your peaceable behaviour that you are not\n  governed by the barbarous law of retaliation, and your adversary\n  will not continue to strike a man who neither resists nor tries to\n  defend himself. It is by those who have suffered, not by those who\n  have inflicted suffering, that the world has been advanced.\u201d\n\n  I said it seemed to me that the advancement of the world had been\n  promoted not a little by the protests\u2014and often the violent and\n  bloody protests\u2014of its inhabitants against wrong and outrage, and\n  that all history goes to show that a people which tamely submits\n  to oppression never acquires either liberty or happiness.\n\n  \u201cThe whole history of the world,\u201d replied the Count, \u201cis a history\n  of violence, and you can of course cite violence in support of\n  violence; but do you not see that there is in human society an\n  endless variety of opinions as to what constitutes wrong and\n  oppression, and that if you once concede the right of any man to\n  resort to violence to resist what he regards as wrong, he being\n  the judge, you authorise every other man to enforce his opinions\n  in the same way, and you have a universal reign of violence?\u201d\n\nCount Tolstoi considers it necessary to labour for and help the poor\nby whom he is surrounded; but he is keenly alive to the danger of\npauperising them. In doing this he runs counter to the ideas of\norganised society and the existing traits of human character. He\ndeclines to regard these as sacred and immutable, and is doing what\nhe can to change them.\n\n  \u201cCount Tolstoi then related with great fulness of detail the\n  history of his change of attitude toward the teaching of Christ,\n  and the steps by which he was brought to see that that teaching,\n  rightly understood, furnishes a reasonable solution of some of the\n  darkest problems of human life. He based upon it not only his\n  opposition to resistance as a means of overcoming evil, but his\n  hostility to courts of justice, established churches, class\n  distinctions, private property, and all civil and ecclesiastical\n  organisation in existing forms. His frequent references to the New\n  Testament, and his insistence on the precepts of Christ as\n  furnishing the only rule for the right government of human\n  conduct, might lead one to regard Count Tolstoi as a devout and\n  orthodox Christian, but, judged by a doctrinal standard, he is\n  very far from being so. He rejects the whole doctrinal framework\n  of the Christian scheme of redemption, including original sin,\n  atonement, the triune personality of God, and the divinity of\n  Christ, and has very little faith in the immortality of the soul.\n  His religion is a religion of this world, and it is based almost\n  wholly upon terrestrial considerations. If he refers frequently to\n  the teachings of Christ, and accepts Christ\u2019s precepts as the\n  rules which should govern human conduct, it is not because he\n  believes that Christ was God, but because he regards those\n  precepts as a formal embodiment of the highest and noblest\n  philosophy of life, and as a revelation, in a certain sense, of\n  the Divine will and character. He insists, however, that Christ\u2019s\n  precepts shall be understood\u2014and that they were intended to be\n  understood\u2014literally and in their most obvious sense. He will not\n  recognise nor tolerate any softening or modification of a hard\n  commandment by subtle and plausible interpretation. If Christ\n  said, \u2018Resist not evil,\u2019 he meant resist not evil. He did not mean\n  resist not evil if you can help it, nor resist not evil unless it\n  is unbearable; he meant resist not at all. How unflinchingly Count\n  Tolstoi faces the logical results of his system of belief I have\n  tried to show.\u201d\n\nCount Tolstoi\u2019s views as to his own action and practice have been\nrecently published in an authorised interview which appeared in a\nRussian journal. He said:\n\n  \u201cPeople say to me, \u2018Well, Lef Nikolaivitch, as far as preaching\n  goes, you preach; but how about your practice?\u2019 The question is a\n  perfectly natural one; it is always put to me, and it always shuts\n  my mouth. \u2018You preach,\u2019 it is said, \u2018but how do you live?\u2019 I can\n  only reply that I do not preach\u2014passionately as I desire to do so.\n  I might preach through my actions, but my actions are bad. That\n  which I say is not preaching; it is only an attempt to find out\n  the meaning and the significance of life. People often say to me,\n  \u2018If you think that there is no reasonable life outside the\n  teachings of Christ, and if you love a reasonable life, why do you\n  not fulfill the Christian precepts?\u2019 I am guilty and blameworthy\n  and contemptible because I do not fulfill them; but at the same\n  time I say\u2014not in justification, but in explanation, of my\n  inconsistency\u2014Compare my previous life with the life I am now\n  living, and you will see that I am trying to fulfill. I have not,\n  it is true, fulfilled one eighty-thousandth part, and I am to\n  blame for it; but it is not because I do not wish to fulfill all,\n  but because I am unable. Teach me how to extricate myself from the\n  meshes of temptation in which I am entangled\u2014help me\u2014and I will\n  fulfill all. I wish and hope to do it even without help. Condemn\n  me if you choose\u2014I do that myself\u2014but condemn me, and not the path\n  which I am following, and which I point out to those who ask me\n  where, in my opinion, the path is. If I know the road home, and if\n  I go along it drunk, and staggering from side to side, does that\n  prove that the road is not the right one? If it is not the right\n  one, show me another. If I stagger and wander, come to my help,\n  and support and guide me in the right path. Do not yourselves\n  confuse and mislead me, and then rejoice over it and cry, \u2018Look at\n  him! He says he is going home, and he is floundering into the\n  swamp!\u2019 You are not evil spirits from the swamp; you are also\n  human beings, and you also are going home. You know that I am\n  alone\u2014you know that I cannot wish or intend to go into the\n  swamp\u2014then help me! My heart is breaking with despair because we\n  have all lost the road; and while I struggle with all my strength\n  to find it and keep in it, you, instead of pitying me when I go\n  astray, cry triumphantly, \u2018See! He is in the swamp with us!\u2019\u201d\n\nIn this report of Count Tolstoi, it is impossible not to recognise\nthe generous, just, and sympathetic man\u2014the true Theosophist. He may\nbe mistaken, but he is endeavouring to carry out the precepts of\nChrist. Not indeed, doctrinal Christianity, but to put in practice\nthe actual precepts of the Master he follows. He does this as far as\nhe can; and even with this little (as he says) he is accused of\nquixotism, and is obliged to stay his hand in order to keep up the\nexample he affords. Why is this. For fear of interested relatives\nand the lunatic asylum. Here we have a man endeavouring to carry out\n\u201cunder an inspiration of his own,\u201d the precepts laid down by the\nlast of the world\u2019s great teachers. What is the result of his\nendeavours? That he is in danger of the same fate that the author of\n\u201cModern Christianity a civilized Heathenism,\u201d threatened Christ\nwith, were he to return in the XIXth century\u2014the lunatic asylum.\nNothing is so intolerable to modern minds as an example of what they\n(unconsciously to themselves) recognise as that which they ought to\nfollow, but do not. Therefore it has to be put out of sight. Since\nmadness has been defined as a mental state which is in contradiction\nto the average mental state, it is evident that all religious\nreformers ought to be put away in a lunatic asylum.\n\nIt is quite possible to recognise what an extraordinary effect Count\nTolstoi\u2019s principle of non-resistance to evil would have. Still it\nis a strictly Christian one. Christ went further, and ordained that\nthe other cheek should be offered to the man who smites. It might be\nargued that this would result in a tacit acquiescence in evil. But\nif it be so, the whole of the Count\u2019s life is a contradiction to\nthis, and a standing protest against the existence of those who\ncreate, or rather perpetuate, this evil. Every reform, this\nincluded, is a protest against doing at Rome what Romans do, or the\n_laisser aller_, which is the indolent curse of human progress.\nCount Tolstoi desires to see the reign of Christ on Earth, and in\nthis accords well with the Theosophists who desire \u201cUniversal\nBrotherhood.\u201d But neither of these can be effected save by the\ncultivation of the inner and spiritual man, so that it shall shine\nthrough and form the guide to the outer and physical man. But\nunfortunately the welfare of the latter is taken as the standard at\npresent and humanity, without the spiritual man as a guide, is left\nto flounder in the ditch into which it has fallen.\n\nThose who desire to follow Count Tolstoi, or to become real working\nTheosophists, may find something to think about in comparing his\nwords with his actions. He endeavours to \u201cgo about doing good,\u201d and\nto help his fellow men on the hard path of life. When it is followed\nit will be found that to run counter to the spirit of the age, and\ninstead of the indolent _laisser aller_, to work not for self, but\nfor humanity at large, is the hardest task ever set to men. Mankind\nas a rule does not want an example or to be worked for; both are\nrude awakenings from the lotus-eating state they desire to be left\nin. \u201cLet us alone,\u201d is their cry, and they resist with violence any\nattempt to rouse them.\n\nBut those who desire a greater unity than that which any race or\nnation can afford\u2014the unity of the human race\u2014the Universal\nBrotherhood\u2014cannot leave them alone. There is a power which impels\nCount Tolstoi to protest against the reign of violence, and he truly\nreplies, that the readiest means of continuing this reign is to meet\nviolence by violence. Therefore he, by his writings, and his words\nand life, endeavours to place before men the noblest philosophy of\nlife that he recognises, in answer to the appeal which is silently\nuttered from the hearts of many men and women in the world.\n\nIt is a cry of despair at the ignorance which surrounds them and to\nwhich the Theosophical Society, _according to its avowed aims_, is\nan answer. It is best described in the words of Tennyson\u2014\n\n                  An infant crying in the night,\n                  And with no language but a cry.\n\n                                                            A. I. R.\n\n\n\n\n                           A GHOST\u2019S REVENGE\n\n\nEarly in the year 187\u2014, the singular and distressing attacks of\nmental depression from which Sir Selwyn Fox had long been a\nsufferer, increased in frequency.\n\nHis son Gaston (twenty-four years of age, of medicine by calling and\nletters by choice), whose devotion to his father was intense, urged\nhim to go to London and procure that skilled medical advice which\nwas not to be had in the neighbourhood of the baronet\u2019s country\nseat, in Northumberland. But Sir Selwyn was inflexible in his\ndetermination to see no doctor. Affectionate as his manner always\nwas with Gaston, he even showed impatience when pressed on this\npoint; and Gaston, forced to abandon it, fell back on his own skill\nin an endeavour to assign some tangible cause for his father\u2019s\nmalady. But in this he was hopelessly baffled.\n\nNothing in Sir Selwyn\u2019s present state, no circumstance of his past\nhistory which was known to Gaston (who had rarely been apart from\nhim since boyhood), excused or explained in any degree the\nmelancholy which clouded his existence. His great fortune placed him\nbeyond suspicion or suggestion of pecuniary embarrassment. All the\nsurroundings of his home were well calculated to administer to the\nrefined pleasures of a man widely known as an amateur of books and\nart. No entanglement of the affections could be supposed seriously\nto trouble the peace of one who had passed his meridian, and who,\nmoreover, cherished still the memory of the wife he had long lost.\nHe had friendships which, while they attested his worth, would have\nbeen sufficient in themselves to endear most men to life. Yet for\nmonths he had worn the air of a man to whom life was fast becoming\nan unendurable burden.\n\nHis own skill and experience failing to open to Gaston any method of\ncoping with a disease whose hidden source and origin he could not\ndivine, he was on the point of writing to a leading London physician\nof his acquaintance, when a circumstance occurred which saved him\nfrom the necessity of this step.\n\nSir Selwyn was alone in his room one evening when Gaston, who was\nreading in a room immediately beneath, heard sounds overhead which\nat once sent him upstairs to learn the cause. He had fancied that\nhis father was speaking in a tone of troubled remonstrance to some\nunwelcome visitor, though he felt persuaded that no one, unless a\nservant of the house, could be with him at that hour. Hastening to\nhis father\u2019s room, his footsteps were arrested on the threshold by\nthe spectacle which the half-opened door revealed to him. Sir Selwyn\nsat motionless and rigid in his chair; his face was colourless, and\nall the features stiff, while the eyes, dilated and staring, seemed,\nthough they were fixed on space, to hold within their vision some\nobject not perceptible to Gaston. This was the more remarkable that\nGaston stood directly in his father\u2019s line of sight, though it was\ncertain that Sir Selwyn neither looked at him nor saw him. In a\nword, it was the gaze of a man who sees, or believes that he sees,\nan apparition.\n\nGaston took a step forward; the sound fell on the baronet\u2019s ear and\nbroke the spell which held him.\n\nHis first look was one of inexpressible shame, succeeded immediately\nby one of indescribable relief. If detection were painful, as it\nclearly was, it appeared as though the pain were almost lost in the\nnecessity now forced upon him of disclosing the secret of his\nmisery. Gaston was at his father\u2019s side in a moment.\n\n\u201cWhat is it, father?\u201d he cried. \u201cWhat is it? You have seen\nsomething. Tell me what it is.\u201d\n\nSir Selwyn, in whose expression exhaustion and pain were mingled,\nfixed his eyes for a while on his son\u2019s face before he replied:\n\n\u201cIf I should tell you, Gaston, you would not believe it. I do not\nbelieve it myself. And yet I see it, and know that it is there.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall believe whatever you tell me, father,\u201d answered Gaston.\n\n\u201cGaston,\u201d began the baronet, \u201cyou are a doctor, and have read, read\nwidely in all branches of science. Tell me, do you believe that we\nwho are in the body may see and know a spirit from the dead?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou believe, father, that you have seen such a spirit?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe whole force of my reason cannot persuade me otherwise,\u201d\nanswered his father. \u201cAll the powers of my mind compel me to deny\nit, and yet the thing is there before my eyes.\u201d\n\nThe baronet had by this time regained his usual calm of manner, and\nhis voice was resolute and quiet.\n\n\u201cIs it here now, father?\u201d asked Gaston.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Sir Selwyn.\n\n\u201cWhere, father? Point to me the place where it stands.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt stands now at my elbow, side by side with you.\u201d\n\nGaston started involuntarily, the baronet\u2019s tone bespoke such\nabsolute conviction. He moved a step, and placed himself immediately\nat his father\u2019s elbow.\n\n\u201cDo you see it now, father?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cNo, for you have taken its place. Yes! I see it again. It is on\nthis side now, exactly opposite to you.\u201d\n\nThere was in all this so little of the tone and manner of the mere\nspectre-ridden visionary, that Gaston could not but be impressed,\nand his alarm for his father\u2019s state increased proportionately.\n\nHe began to question him in the direct matter-of-fact style of a\ndoctor with his patient, inquiring into the particular nature of the\nvision, how often and in what circumstances it presented itself,\nwhether his father were able to connect it with any event of his\nlife, or whether it seemed to be causeless, a mere fabric of the\nimagination.\n\nHis object in this was to bring his father to exert his reason upon\nthe matter, that so, if possible, he might end by convincing himself\nthat he was haunted merely by some spectre of the brain. He was,\nhowever, only partially successful, and for this reason, that his\nfather, while denying\u2014and with perfect honesty of convincement\u2014the\nreality of his vision, remained nevertheless persuaded that his\nbodily eye beheld it.\n\n\u201cI cannot well remember,\u201d went on Sir Selwyn, \u201chow many years it is\nsince this spectre first began to haunt me. In the beginning I\nthought little of it; my health was more robust then than it has\nbeen in late years, and leading a more active life at that time than\nI am able to do at present, I had greater strength, both of mind and\nbody, to assist me in banishing it from my thoughts and presence.\nIndeed, I could then at any time rid myself of the vision by a mere\nexertion of will; but I can do so no longer. It torments me now as\nit pleases. I am powerless against it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoes the form resemble that of anyone whom you have ever known?\u201d\nasked Gaston.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Sir Selwyn, after a moment\u2019s pause.\n\n\u201cAnd the person whose spirit you believe this to be is now dead,\nfather?\u201d\n\n\u201cDead many years,\u201d answered Sir Selwyn.\n\n\u201cAnd what is there in the vision that troubles you so greatly,\nfather?\u201d asked his son.\n\n\u201cIts presence is tormenting,\u201d replied Sir Selwyn, \u201cbecause I feel\nthat there is evil in it; it is malignant, and seems continually to\nthreaten me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it here still, father?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, since we have been speaking it has vanished. I shall see it no\nmore to-night; but it will return to-morrow, and in the end it will\nkill me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, father, no,\u201d said Gaston affectionately, but gravely. \u201cLet me\nentreat you not to give way. You see how this vision, whatever it\nmay be, vanishes when you begin to reason upon it. The mere fact of\nour having discussed it together will enable you to combat it more\nresolutely. Do this, and the same power will revive by which you\ndispelled the vision when first it troubled you.\u201d\n\nIndeed, the closing words of Sir Selwyn\u2019s confession,\nnotwithstanding the quiet assurance with which they were spoken, had\npractically convinced his son that the case was one of\nhallucination. They continued talking on the subject until, at the\nbaronet\u2019s usual hour of retiring, they separated for the night, when\nGaston was so far satisfied that his arguments appeared at last to\nhave given his father a somewhat increased measure of\nself-confidence.\n\nAt breakfast the next day, Sir Selwyn assured his son that he had\nslept well, and both in speech and look he was more cheerful than\nGaston had seen him during a considerable period. It seemed, in\nshort, as though the effect of their conversation the previous night\nhad already begun to bear out the son\u2019s prediction; nor, at the end\nof a week, did this good effect appear to have been in any degree\ndissipated. \u201cI have not seen it once,\u201d said Sir Selwyn, in answer to\na question from Gaston. Another week passed, and a third, and the\nbaronet declared that there had been no recurrence of the visions.\nHe became very reticent upon the subject, and it was evident that he\nnow shrank from any allusion to it. Gaston, on his side, was only\ntoo willing to avoid its mention.\n\nIt was at this time that Sir Selwyn received a letter from an old\nfriend of his college days, now holding a high place in the Indian\nGovernment, reminding him of a long-promised visit, and begging him\nto fulfil his word without further delay.\n\nA better invitation, thought Gaston, could not have arrived at a\nmore opportune moment. Their pleasant English home had become\ncharged for the baronet with associations which were wholly painful;\na new scene and fresher interests would assist to push to completion\nthe recovery which could not but be long delayed in his present\nsituation. Sir Selwyn himself was of the same mind, and decided at\nonce to accept his friend\u2019s invitation.\n\nThen arose in Gaston\u2019s mind the question whether, in the\ncircumstances, it were well or advisable that his father should make\nthe journey alone. He thought it not advisable at all, and without\nplainly telling this to his father, begged that he might accompany\nhim. But Sir Selwyn showed a strong reluctance to accede to this\nrequest, which was the more marked that father and son had never yet\nbeen separated on any tour of pleasure. Gaston continued to press\nhis point, until he perceived, or thought that he perceived, what\nwas his father\u2019s reason for wishing to take this journey alone.\n\nThe thing which Sir Selwyn had striven for years to hide from his\nson he had just been forced to reveal to him. It was the sorrowful\nsecret of his life, a secret which, to the baronet, had something of\nshame in it, and the revelation had been beyond measure painful to\nhim. If, in one sense, the confession which had been wrung from him\nhad brought father and son more closely together, it had, in another\nsense, placed a certain something between them of which the presence\nof Gaston was a constant reminder. With Gaston at his father\u2019s side,\nthe secret too was there. When Gaston\u2019s delicate intuition had\nrealised this for him, his entreaties to accompany his father were\nat an end. It was decided that Sir Selwyn should go to India alone,\nand in a fortnight from the receipt of his friend\u2019s invitation he\nwas on his way.\n\nGaston was desolate at home, and at the end of ten days or so he\nwent to Paris, intending to stay a week there and return to England;\nbut the weather was pleasant, and from Paris he began to wander, in\nleasurely fashion, southwards; and before he had quite made up his\nmind as to where he wanted to go, he found himself in Rome. Rome was\nchilly, and he had lighted on a bad hotel, so he remained but a few\ndays, and went on to Naples. He would wait to see Rome, he said,\nuntil his father was with him.\n\nAfter a fortnight in Naples, he was on the point of returning home,\nwhen he received a cable message from his father, forwarded with\nletters from England. Sir Selwyn had reached India safely and in\ngood health, and thought it probable that his stay would be of\nsomewhat longer duration than his arrangements on leaving England\nhad contemplated.\n\nThe prospect of five or six solitary months in the castle in\nNorthumberland had no relish for Gaston, so he resolved to extend\nhis tour by an excursion to Sicily. Accordingly, he took steamer one\nevening from Naples to Palermo: the beautiful old city where the\ntraces yet linger of Saracen and Norman; with the tideless sea in\nfront, and the purple hills behind, and between the hills and the\nsea the little lovely plain of the Shell of Gold. Naples is\nbeautiful, but brutal; a paradise peopled by savages: an Oriental\nlanguor softens the life of Palermo, as it tinges with melancholy\nthe national songs; and the rural element which enters so largely\ninto the character of the whole Sicilian people makes them something\nof Arcadians in a modern Arcady.\n\nGaston felt the charm of the place in an hour; the sense of want of\ncompanionship which had gone with him in his listless wanderings in\nItaly, here deserted him; he plucked ripe oranges in the garden of\nthe hotel, and they became his lotos fruit, for he resolved that his\nwanderings should end in Palermo. He would remain here until his\nfather returned from India.\n\nBut it chanced that there were few foreign visitors in Palermo that\nseason, and within a week of Gaston\u2019s arrival the hotel at which he\nstayed was emptied of all its guests, except himself and an old\nGerman baron, and the baron waited only for a steamer to take him to\nMalta, on his way to Egypt. An empty hotel in a foreign land is as\ncheerful an abode as a catacomb, and Gaston cast about for a change\nof quarters.\n\nStrolling one day in a slumbrous corner of the town, where cypress\ntrees stood sentinels at rusty iron gates, and the air smelled of\nlemon groves and roses, he was struck by the aspect of a tenantless\nand apparently deserted villa, walled within a garden, which,\nuntended as it was, retained a certain monastic trimness. A\nweather-stained board over the iron gate, which was of fine\nworkmanship, announced that the villa was to let. Gaston tried the\ngate, but it was locked. A broad-hatted priest who was passing at\nthe moment, observing Gaston\u2019s interest in the villa, stopped, took\na pinch of snuff, and said that if the signor desired to have\nparticulars of the place, he might obtain them from such a person in\na street close at hand, which he indicated. Gaston thanked the\nfather for his courtesy, and went to inquire if he could see the\nvilla, with a view to hiring it for a short time.\n\nAt dinner that evening, the baron said that he expected to sail for\nMalta on the following day, and expressed his regret at leaving\nGaston alone in the hotel. Gaston replied that he should be sorry to\nlose the companionship of the baron, but that he also was about to\nleave the hotel, and had taken a villa for the remainder of his stay\nin Palermo. He described the villa, and the baron, who spoke English\nwell, exclaimed with a laugh:\n\n\u201cSo! Is that the place? The Villa Torcello then has found a tenant\nat last!\u201d\n\n\u201cHas it been long without one?\u201d\n\n\u201cNearly thirty years.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what is the reason?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow! Did they not tell you? The Villa Torcello is the famous\nhaunted house. Yes, I assure you, a real ghost! Are you not\ndelighted? You may be able to make a story about it, you know, you\nwho write novels.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd whose is the ghost?\u201d inquired Gaston, whose associations with\nthis subject were by no means pleasant.\n\n\u201cThey ought to have told you about it,\u201d answered the baron. \u201cSome\npeople do not like ghosts. I do not like them myself, though to be\nsure I have never seen a ghost. The house, as you know, is called\nthe Villa Torcello, but that was not its original name. Years ago it\nwas called the Villa Verga, after its first owner, Signor Udalrico\nVerga, a young Sicilian of good family, who was well known and very\npopular in Palermo. He lived there all alone, and was much visited\nby a priest, a very handsome young man, a little older than himself,\nwith whom he was on terms of great affection. One morning, thirty\nyears ago\u2014I believe it was in this very month\u2014the gardener of the\nSignor Verga found his master lying dead in the garden, with a\nbullet-hole in the temple. There seemed no reason in the world why\nhe should have killed himself, and as no weapon was found near the\nbody, or in any part of the garden, it was concluded that he had\nbeen murdered. Suspicion fell on the priest, though for no cause\nexcept that he had been more intimate with the Signor Verga than\nanybody else. They were never known to have had a quarrel, and as\nfor evidence, not a scrap could be produced against the priest, who,\nthey say, showed the deepest grief for his friend. Indeed he died,\nin great distress of mind, six months afterwards. Some people, who\nwould always regard him as the murderer, said that remorse for his\ncrime killed him; but though I have heard this story many times\nsince I first visited Palermo, I could never see that there was any\nreason whatever to suspect the priest.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd the murder was never brought home to anyone?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt has remained a mystery from that day to this,\u201d replied the\nbaron. \u201cA year or two after the death of Verga, his brother went to\nlive in the Villa, changing its name to that of a property of his\nown in Calabria, the name which it still bears. But he could not\nstay in it, for he said that he saw the spirit of his brother\nwalking in the garden in the evenings, on the path where the body\nwas found. Since he left it, the house has never been occupied. As\nto the ghost, many stories are told, but the favourite one is that\nit haunts the place seeking someone to avenge the murder. That is a\nstrange notion, don\u2019t you think, Herr Fox?\u201d\n\nThe baron added no more to the story, and as he was busy with his\nletters during the rest of the evening, Gaston only saw him again to\nbid him good-bye on the following morning.\n\nA day or two afterwards, Gaston settled himself in the Villa\nTorcello. His coming there created a momentary flutter of excitement\nin the quarter where the villa was situated; but this was not known\nto Gaston, who had neither friends nor acquaintances in the town.\n\nHe wrote to tell his father of his new residence, and to ask him\nwhether he had visited Palermo in the tour he had made in Italy a\nfew years before Gaston\u2019s birth. One morning, the post from England\nbrought him some flattering notices of a book he had published\nshortly before leaving, which made him think that it was time to set\nto work upon a new story. But the idea he was seeking did not come\nto him, and the indolent charm of his surroundings favoured no\nsevere exertion of the intellect.\n\nHe walked in the town until it grew familiar to him; its avenues,\nand terraces by the sea, its deep shadowy gardens, its groves of\norange trees and lemon; its narrow streets and the multiplied\nvariety of the houses, with their odd and glaring contrasts of\ncolour; its churches, where the religion of the west seems out of\nharmony with the architectural and decorative fashions of the east.\n\nSometimes he hired a carriage and drove out into the country, and\nthese excursions were usually prolonged throughout the day. On one\nsuch occasion, he was returning late in the afternoon, and the\nvetturino was guiding his horses in lazy fashion in and out amongst\na straggling file of mule-carts laden with wine, in a narrow lane on\nthe outskirts of the town.\n\n\u201cWhat place is this?\u201d called out Gaston presently, pointing to an\nold, discoloured building of considerable extent, which lay on the\nleft of the road.\n\n\u201c_Il Convento de\u2019 Cappuccini, signor_,\u201d replied the driver, and\n(never rejecting a chance to rest) pulled up his horses, adding:\n\u201cThe signor no see Il Convento? _Ma, \u00e8 molto curioso, signor_ (but\nit\u2019s a queer place).\u201d\n\nGaston got down from the carriage, and at that moment a sandalled\nand brown-robed monk appeared at the entrance to the monastery.\n\n\u201c_Ecco il padre, signor!_\u201d (There\u2019s the father), said the driver,\npointing to the Capucin, who bowed to Gaston with a courteous\nindication of readiness to receive him.\n\nGaston went across, and was presently following the monk through an\nouter chamber of the monastery, empty and cold, with bare walls and\na dark stone floor.\n\nThe monk stopped at a heavy wooden door, and taking a key from his\ngirdle, turned to Gaston and said, in a mixture of Italian and\nbroken English, which is here translated:\n\n\u201cThe signor probably wishes to see our subterranean chambers. Many\nforeigners come here to see them. It is a very curious sight; we\nkeep here the bodies of the wealthy Palermitans, whose relatives and\nfriends assemble every year, on the Feast of All Souls, to visit\nthem.\u201d\n\nWhile he was speaking he unlocked the door, which led into a vaulted\npassage with a flight of stairs beyond. A faint, sickly smell\npervaded the corridor, which became stronger and more offensive as\nthey began to descend the steps.\n\nThey went down to a dusky place, around which Gaston\u2019s eyes wandered\nfor a few moments with no certain gaze, until they grew accustomed\nto the dimness. The daylight, such feeble daylight as filtered into\nthat dismal magazine of mummies, was fading fast.\n\nThe monk took a bit of candle from a ledge and lighted it; at once a\nstrange and weird effect was produced.\n\nThousands of corpses, and skeletons, and horrible hooded figures\nwhich were of neither state, seemed in some manner to be awakened,\nseemed to rouse themselves, and take cognisance of Gaston and his\nguide.\n\n                                                      TIGHE HOPKINS.\n\n                  (_To be concluded in our next._)\n\n                           ------------------\n\nNOTE.\u2014The Editors regret that they are unable to publish, as\nannounced, the translation of the \u201cDeath of Ivan Ilyitch,\u201d by Count\nTolstoi, a complete translation having just been issued by Messrs.\nVizetelly.\n\n\n\n\n                       =LITERARY JOTTINGS=\n\n\n\u201cBUDDHISM IN CHRISTENDOM, OR JESUS THE ESSENE,\u201d by Arthur Lillie,\netc.\u2014A queer and rather thickish volume, of a presumably scientific\ncharacter, by an amateur Orientalist. Contents:\u2014Familiar theories,\nbuilt on two sacred and time-honoured names, which the author\nenshrines between garlands of modern gossip and libels on his\ncritics, past and present. A true literary sarcophagus inhuming the\ndecayed bodies of very old, if occasionally correct, theories\njumbled up together with exploded speculations.\n\nThe volume\u2014title and symbology\u2014is pregnant with the atmosphere of\nthe sacred poetry attached to the names of Gautama the Buddha, and\n\u201cJesus the Essene.\u201d To find it sprinkled with the heavy drops of\npersonal spite, is like gazing at an unclean fly fallen into the\ncommunion-wine of a chalice. One can but wonder and ask oneself,\nwhat shall be the next move in literature? Is it a new \u201cSacred Book\nof the East,\u201d in which one will find the evidence by Policeman\nEndacott against Miss Cass welcomed and accepted as an historical\nfact? Or shall it be the Pentecostal tongues of fire examined in the\nlight of the latest improved kerosene lamp?\n\nBut a well-informed chronicler at our elbow reports that the author\nof _Buddhism in Christendom, or Jesus the Essene_, is a strong\nmedium who sits daily for spiritual development? This would account\nfor the wonderfully mixed character of the contents of the volume\nreferred to. It must be so, since it reads just as such a joint\nproduction would. It is a curious mixture of \u201cspirit\u201d inspiration,\npassages bodily taken from the reports of the Society \u201cfor\n_Spookical_ Research,\u201d as that misguided body was dubbed\u2014for once\nwittily\u2014by the _Saturday Review_, and various other little\ndefamatory trifles besides. The \u201cspirit guides\u201d are proverbially\nrevengeful and not always wise in their generation. A former work by\nthe same medium having been three or four years ago somewhat\npainfully mangled by a real Sanskrit and Buddhist scholar in India,\nthe \u201cSpirit Angel\u201d falls foul now of his critics. The wandering\nSpook tries to run amuck among them, without even perceiving the\npoor, good soul, that he only blots and disfigures with the\ncorrosive venom of his spite the two noble and sacred characters\nwhom his medium-author undertakes to interpret before ever he has\nlearned to understand them....\n\nThis places \u201cLucifer\u201d under the disagreeable necessity of reviewing\nthe pretentious work at length in one of its future numbers. As the\nsame mistakes and blunders occur in \u201cBuddhism in Christendom\u201d as in\n\u201cBuddha and Early Buddhism,\u201d the magazine must make it its duty, if\nnot altogether its pleasure, to check the volume of 1883 by that of\n1887.\n\n                                  ---\n\nIt is rumoured that \u201cA CATECHISM ON EVERY-DAY LIFE,\u201d by a\nTheosophical writer, is ready for press. Let us hope it will contain\nno special theology or dogmas, but only wise advice for practical\nlife, in its application to the ordinary events in the existence of\nevery theosophist. The time has come when the veil of illusion is to\nbe pulled aside entirely, not merely playfully, as hitherto done.\nFor if mere members of the theosophical body have nothing to risk,\nexcept, perhaps, an occasional friendly stare and laugh at those\nwho, without any special necessity, as believed, pollute the\nimmaculate whiteness of their respectable society skirts by joining\nan unpopular movement, real theosophists ought to look truth and\nfact right in the face. To become a true theosophist\u2014_i.e._ one\nthoroughly imbued with altruistic feelings, with a willingness to\nforget self, and readiness to help his neighbour to carry the burden\nof life\u2014is to become instantaneously transformed into a public\ntarget. It is to make oneself a ready thing for heavy \u201cMrs. Grundy\u201d\nto sit upon: to become the object of ridicule, slander, and\nvilification, which will not stop even before an occasional criminal\ncharge. For some theosophists, every move in the _true theosophical\ndirection_, is a forlorn-hope enterprise. All this notwithstanding,\nthe ranks of the \u201cunpopular\u201d society are steadily, if slowly\nincreasing.\n\nFor what does slander and ridicule really matter? When have fools\never been slandered, or rich and influential men and women\nostracised, however black and soiled in their hearts, or in their\nsecret lives? Who ever heard of a Reformer\u2019s or an orator\u2019s course\nof life running smooth? Who of them escaped from being pelted with\ndirt by his enemies?\n\nGautama Buddha, the great Hindu Reformer, was charged by the\nBrahmins with being a demon, whose form was taken by Vishnu, to\nencourage men to despise the Vedas, deny the gods, and thus effect\ntheir own destruction.\n\n  \u201cSay we not well thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?\u201d said the\n  Pharisees to Jesus. \u201cHe deceiveth the people.... Stone him to\n  death!\u201d\n\n             \u201cHe who surpasses or subdues mankind,\n             Must look down on the hate of those below,\u201d\n\nsays the great English poet. The latter is echoed in prose by the\nking of French poets. Writes Victor Hugo:\n\n  \u201cYou have your enemies; but who has not? Guizot has enemies,\n  Thiers has enemies, Lamartine has enemies. Have I not been myself\n  fighting for twenty years? Have I not been for twenty years past\n  reviled, betrayed, sold, rended, hooted, taunted, insulted,\n  calumniated? Have not my books been parodied, and my deeds\n  travestied? I also am beset and spied upon, I also have traps laid\n  for me, and I have even been made to fall into them. But what is\n  all that to me? I disdain it. It is one of the most difficult yet\n  necessary things in life to learn to disdain. Disdain protects and\n  crushes. It is a breast plate and a club. You have enemies? Why,\n  it is the story of every man who has done a great deed, created a\n  new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything which\n  shines. Do not trouble yourself about it. Do not give your enemies\n  the satisfaction of thinking that they cause you any feeling, be\n  disdainful.\u201d (_Choses Vues._)\n\n                                -------\n\n      \u201cTHE LATEST ROMANCE OF SCIENCE,\u201d Summarized by a Frenchman.\n\nIf the Atomo-mechanical Theory of the Universe has caused\nconsiderable embarrassment to our materialists, and brought some of\ntheir much beloved scientific speculations to grief (see \u201cConcepts\nof Modern Physics,\u201d by Stallo), the layman must not be ungrateful to\nthe great men for other boons received at their hands. Through the\nindefatigable labours of the most famous biologists and\nanthropologists of the day, the mystery which has hitherto\nenshrouded the origin of man is no more. It has vanished into thin\nair; thanks to the activity of the _officina_ (workshop, in Queen\u2019s\nEnglish), in Haeckel\u2019s brain, or, as a Hylo-Idealist would say, in\nthe _vesiculo neurine of his hemispherical ganglia_[15]\u2014the origin\nof mankind has to be sought in _that_ scientific region, and nowhere\nelse.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n  Dr. Lewins, the Hylo-Idealist, in his appendices to \u201cWhat is\n  Religion?\u201d by C. N.\u2014\u201cOn the Brain Theory of Mind and Matter, the\n  Creed of Physics, Physic and Philosophy.\u201d W. Stewart & Co.\n\n-----\n\nReligiously read by the \u201cAnimalists\u201d in its English translation in\nProtestant and Monarchical England, the \u201cPedigree of Man\u201d is now\nwelcomed with shouts of joy in Roman Catholic Republican France. A\nsummary has just been compiled of it by a French _savant_, who\nrejoices in the name of Topinard. The summary on that \u201cquestion of\nquestions\u201d (as Mr. Huxley calls it), is more interesting in reality\nthan the \u201cPedigree of Man\u201d itself. It is so deliciously fantastic\nand original, that one comes almost to regret that our numerous and\nfrolicsome ancestors in the Zoological Gardens of Europe and America\nseem to show no intention of getting up a subscription list among\nthemselves, for the raising of a lasting monument to the great\nHaeckel. Thus, ingratitude in man must surely be a phenomenon of\n_atavism_; another suggestive point being thus gained toward further\nproof of man\u2019s descent from the ingrate and heartless, as well as\ntailless, pithecoid baboon.\n\nSaith the learned Topinard:\u2014\n\n  \u201cAt the commencement of what geologists call the _Laurentian\n  period_ of the Earth, and the fortuitous union of certain elements\n  of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, under conditions which\n  _probably_ only took place at that epoch, the first albuminoid\n  clots were formed. From them, and by spontaneous generation,[16]\n  the first cellules or cleavage masses took their origin. These\n  cellules were then sub-divided and multiplied, arranging\n  themselves in the form of organs, and after a series of\n  transformations, fixed by Mr. Haeckel at nine in number,\n  originated certain vertebrata of the genus _Amphioxus\n  lanceolatus_. The division into sexes was marked out, the spinal\n  marrow and _chorda dorsalis_ became visible. At the tenth stage\n  the brain and skull made their appearance, as in the lamprey; at\n  the eleventh, the limbs and jaws were developed ... the earth was\n  then only in the _Silurian_ period. At the sixteenth, the\n  adaptation to terrestrial life ceased. At the seventeenth, which\n  corresponds to the _Jurassic_ phase of the history of the globe,\n  the genealogy of man is raised to the kangaroo among the\n  marsupials. At the eighteenth, he becomes a lemurian; the\n  _Tertiary period_ commences. At the nineteenth, he becomes\n  Catarrhinian, that is to say, an ape with a tail, a Pithecian. At\n  the twentieth he becomes an anthropoid, continuing so throughout\n  the whole of the _Miocene period_. At the twenty-first he becomes\n  a man-ape, he does not possess language, nor in consequence the\n  corresponding brain. Lastly, at the twenty-second, man comes forth\n  ... in his inferior types.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n  Mark well: when a theosophist or an occultist speaks of\n  \u201cspontaneous generation,\u201d because for him there exists no\n  inorganic matter in Kosmos\u2014he is forthwith set down as an\n  _ignoramus_. To prove the descent of man from the animal, however,\n  even spontaneous generation from dead or inorganic matter, becomes\n  an axiomatic and scientific fact.\n\n-----\n\nHappy, privileged man! Hapless evolution-forsaken baboon! We are not\ntold by science the secret why, while man has had plenty of time to\nbecome, say a Plato, a Newton, a Napoleon, or _even_ a Haeckel, his\npoor ancestor should have been arrested in his growth and\ndevelopment. For, as far as is known, the rump of the cynocephalus\nseems as blue and as callous to-day, as it was during the reign of\nPsammetichus or Cheops; the macacus must have made as ugly faces at\nPliny 18 centuries back, as he does now at a Darwinian. We may be\ntold that in the enormous period of time that must have elapsed\nsince the beginning of evolution, 2,000, or even 10,000, years mean\nvery little. But then, one does not find even the Moneron any better\noff for the millions of years that have rolled away. Yet, between\nthe gelatinous and thoughtful hermit of the briny deep and man,\nthere must have elapsed quite sufficient time for some trifling\ntransformation. That primordial protoplasmic creature, however,\nseems to fare no better at the hands of evolution, which has\nwell-nigh forgotten it.\n\nBy this time, one would suppose that this ancestor of ours of stage\n_one_, ought to have reached, to say the least, a higher\ndevelopment: to have become, for instance, the amphibian \u201csozura\u201d of\nthe \u201cfourteenth stage,\u201d so minutely and scientifically described by\nMr. Haeckel, and of which De Quatrefages so wickedly says in \u201cThe\nHuman Species\u201d (p. 108), that \u201cit (the sozura) is _equally unknown\nto science_.\u201d But we see quite the reverse. This tender-bodied\nlittle one, has remained but a moneron to this very hour: so much\nso, that Mr. Huxley, fishing him out from the abysmal ocean depths,\ntook pity upon him, and gave him a father. He baptized our archaic\nancestor, and named him _Bathybius Haeckelii_....\n\nBut all these are mysteries that will, no doubt, be easily explained\nto the full satisfaction\u2014of science, by any biologist of Haeckel\u2019s\nbrain power. As all know, no acrobatic feats, from the top of one\ntree to another top, by the swiftest of chimpanzees, can ever\napproach, let alone equal, the rapid evolutions of fancy in his\ncerebral \u201cofficina,\u201d whenever Haeckel is called upon to explain the\ninexplicable....\n\nThere is one trifle, however, which seems to have the best of even\nhis capacity for getting out of a scientific dilemma, and this is\n_the eighteenth stage_ of his genealogy, in the \u201cPedigree of Man.\u201d\nMan\u2019s evolution from the Monera, _alias_ Bathybius _Haeckelii_, up\nto tailed and then tailless man, passes through the marsupials, the\nkangaroo, sarrigue, etc. Thus he writes:\u2014\n\n\u201c_Eighteenth stage._ Prosimi\u00e6 allied to the Loris (Stenops) and\nMakis (Lemur), without marsupial bones, but _with placenta_.\u201d\n(\u201c_Pedig. of Man._\u201d p. 77.)\n\nNow it may be perhaps interesting to the profane and the innocent to\nlearn that no such \u201cprosimi\u00e6,\u201d with placenta, exists in nature. That\nit is, in short, another creation of the famous German Evolutionist,\nand a child of his own brain. For De Quatrefages has pointed out\nseveral years ago, that:\n\n  \u201cThe anatomical investigations of MM. Alphonse Milne, Edwards and\n  Grandidier ... place it beyond all doubt that the prosimi\u00e6 of\n  Haeckel have _no decidua and a diffuse placenta_. They are\n  _indeciduata_. Far from _any possibility of their being the\n  ancestors of the apes_, according to the principles laid down by\n  Haeckel himself, they cannot even be regarded as the ancestors of\n  the zonoplacential mammals ... and ought to be connected with the\n  pachydermata, the edentata and the cetacea.\u201d (p. 110.)\n\nBut, as that great French _savant_ shows, \u201cHaeckel, without the\nleast hesitation, adds his _prosimi\u00e6_,\u201d to the other groups in the\n\u201cPedigree of Man,\u201d and \u201cattributes to them ... a discoidal\nplacenta.\u201d Must the world of the too credulous innocents again\naccept on faith these two creatures unknown to Science or man, only\nbecause \u201cthe proof of their existence arises _from the necessity of\nan intermediate type_?\u201d This necessity, however being one only for\nthe greater success of their inventor, Haeckel, that Simian Homer\nmust not bear us ill will, if we do not hesitate to call his\n\u201cgenealogy\u201d of man a romance of Science of the wildest type.\n\nOne thing is very suggestive in this speculation. The discovery of\nthe absence of the needed placenta in the so-called _prosimi\u00e6_ now\ndates several years back. Haeckel knows of it, of course. So does\nMr. Ed. B. Aveling, D.Sc., his translator. Why is the error allowed\nto remain uncorrected, and even unnoticed, in the English\ntranslation of the \u201cPedigree of Man,\u201d of 1887? Do the \u201cmembers of\nthe International Library of Science and Free-thought,\u201d fear to lose\nsome of Haeckel\u2019s admirers were these to learn the truth?\n\nNevertheless Haeckel\u2019s scientific \u201cPedigree of Man,\u201d ought to awake\nand stir up to action the spirit of private enterprise. What a\ncharming _F\u00e9erie_ could be made of it on the stage of a theatre! A\n_corps de ballet_, composed of antediluvian reptiles and giant\nlizards, gradually, and stage by stage, metamorphosing themselves\ninto kangaroos, lemurs, tailless apes and anthropoid baboons, and\nfinally into a chorus of German biologists!\n\nSuch a _F\u00e9erie_ would leave \u201cBlack Crook,\u201d and \u201cAlice in\nWonder-Land,\u201d nowhere. An intelligent manager, alive to his\ninterests, would make his fortune were he but to follow the happy\nthought.\n\n_Nota bene_:\u2014The suggestion is copyright.\n\n                                  ---\n\nTHE BOOK OF LIFE, by Sidhartha (also) Vonisa; his discoveries from\n    \u201c6215 to 6240, Anno Mundi.\u201d\n\nA cross between an _octavo_ and _duodecimo_.\n\nThis volume, we see, is highly appreciated by the clergy, by whom,\nat this gloomy day of infidelity, even small favours seem to be\nthankfully received. The author (profane name unknown) hints, when\nhe does not state plainly, that he is a reincarnation of Gautama\nBuddha, or Siddartha, as also of a few other no meaner historical\npersonages. The work is a clever steering between the sandbanks of\nscience and theology. Enough is given in careful agreement with the\nformer to make it ignore the more abundant concessions to the gods\nof the latter\u2014_e.g._, Biblical chronology. The age of the world is\nallowed 6240 years from Adam, \u201cseven hundred years after the brown\nand black races had been created\u201d (p. 53 \u201cChronology\u201d); the date of\nthe earth\u2019s incrustation and globe being left to the imagination of\nthe reader. A chronological table of the principal historical events\nof the world is published on pages 53-56. Among them the birth of\nMoses is placed 1572 B.C. The Vedas are shown compiled in India, and\nthe poems of Homer in Greece, \u201cabout 1200 B.C.\u201d Siddartha or Gautama\nestablished Buddhism in India \u201cfrom 808 to 726,\u201d B.C. we are told.\nLast, but not least, of the world epochs and _divine_ signs of the\ntime, comes the for ever memorable event of March 31st, 1885\u2014namely,\nthe \u201cBook of Life, Vonisa, was completely written,\u201d and it closes\nthe list. The reader is notified, moreover, at the line beginning\nwith A.D. 6240, that the year 1884 C.E. (Christian Era) is the\n\u201cbeginning of Messianic age and close of Christian age,\u201d which might\naccount for the appearance and publication in the year following of\nthe original volume now under review.\n\nThe new Messiah declares that \u201calthough much of the work consists of\ndiscoveries which are original with the author, yet the reader will\nfind in the Analytic Index a few hundred out of the many references\nwhich might be given to eminent authorities which were consulted in\nits preparation.\u201d Among these, it seems, one has to include some\ntheosophic writings, as it is stated in the \u201cBook of Life\u201d that\u2014\n\n  (_a._) \u201cSeven great forces were concerned in these vast movements\n  of early creation.\u201d\n\n  (_b._) \u201cSeven Ages of the Earth.\u201d\n\n  (_c._) \u201cVayomer Elohim\u201d translated \u201caccording to the laws of the\n  Hebrew language,\u201d means that \u201cseven forces were used as three-fold\n  factors,\u201d and\n\n  (_d._) \u201cThat the first human beings were incarnated spirits\u201d (pp.\n  26-27).\n\nThe above four declarations have the approval of theosophy. Whether\nthe sentence that follows, namely, that \u201cthe work of incarnation (of\nthe _spirits_) took place according to law,\u201d and is \u201cthe clearest\nhypothesis _which science has to offer concerning the origin of\nman_,\u201d will meet with the same approval from Messrs. Huxley,\nHaeckel, and Fiske, of the \u201cAtomo-mechanical Theory,\u201d is very\ndoubtful.\n\nNor is it so sure that the Ethnological department in the\nAnglo-Indian Bureau of Statistics is quite prepared to alter its\ncensus returns in accordance with Siddartha\u2019s declaration, on page\n29,that\u2014\n\n\u201cOne branch of the brown race was the Dravidian, _which still holds\nits place in Northern India_.\u201d (?!)\n\n                                  ---\n\nA new book, bearing the title of SPIRIT REVEALED, is nearly ready\nfor press. It is described as an extraordinary work. Its author is\nWm. C. Eldon Serjeant, F.T.S., a writer of articles on the \u201cComing\nReformation,\u201d \u201cSparks from the World of Fire,\u201d &c., &c. The work\nclaims to \u201cexplain the Nature of the Deity, and to discuss His\nmanifestations on every plane of existence, and to show forth the\nform of Christ, whose second coming is expected by Christians, and\nto proclaim the advent of the Messiah according to the belief of the\nJews.\u201d \u201cMany subjects, involving questions of considerable obscurity\nin reference to the Deity, to the Scriptures, to men, to animals,\nand to things generally, are comprehensively treated and explained\nin accordance with the Word of the Spirit declared at various times\nthrough the sons of men.\u201d\n\n                                  ---\n\nPROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH:\n\nThese reports coming out _ad libitum_, without any definite date,\ncannot be regarded as periodical. Depending for their circulation\nchiefly on the consummation of what the learned editors offer as\n_bon\u00e2 fide_ psychic and spiritualistic _expos\u00e9s_\u2014which the public\naccepts as most kind advertisements of the people so attacked\u2014this\npublication occupies a position entirely _sui generis_. The\n\u201cProceedings\u201d offer to the public a very useful _manual_, something\nbetween a text and a guidebook, with practical instructions in\ndiplomatic policy in the domain of the Psychic, in the form of\nscientific letters and private detective information. Sensitives\ndiscern in the \u201cProceedings\u201d (by _telepathic impact_) the\nMachiavelian spirit of aristocratic Bismarck, seasoned with an aura\nstrongly impregnated with the plebeian perfumes of honest\n_mouchards_ on duty, but then they are, perhaps, prejudiced. On the\nother hand, some Russian spiritualistically inclined members of the\nS.P.R. have been heard to say, that the \u201cProceedings\u201d reminded them\nof those of the happily defunct Third Section of the St. Petersburg\nPolice. Thus, the tutelary \u201cguides\u201d of the learned association of\nthe British Psychists, may one day turn out to be the departed\nspirits of Russian _gendarmes_ after all?\n\nOccasionally when the hunting grounds of this erudite body have\nafforded a specially successful chase\u2014after mares\u2019 nests\u2014a\n_Supplement_ is added to the \u201cProceedings,\u201d the magnitude of the\nadded volume being in inverse ratio to the illumination of its\ncontents, which are generally offered as a premium to materialism.\n\nHence, the \u201cProceedings\u201d may be better described as the fluctuating\nand occasional records of a society bent upon giving the lie to its\nown name. For \u201cPsychical\u201d research is surely a misnomer, besides\nbeing a delusion and a snare for the unwary. LUCIFER would suggest\nas a truer title, \u201cSociety for Hylo-_Pseumatical_ Research.\u201d This\nwould give the S.P.R. the benefit of an open connection with Dr.\nLewins\u2019 unparalleled \u201cHylo-Idealism\u201d[17]\u2014while it would enable it to\nsail under its _true_ colours.\n\nWhether LUCIFER\u2019S advice be accepted or not, the profound philosophy\nof the phenomenon baptized \u201ctelepathy\u201d and telepathic impact can\nonly be studied scientifically, in our spasmodic contemporary. This\nnew Greek stranger is the crowning work of the Psychic Fathers of\nour century. It is their \u201cfirst\u201d and \u201conly\u201d offspring, and is a\n_genuine_ discovery as far as its Hellenic name goes. For, bereft of\nits Greek appellation, it becomes like America. The genius who\n_discovered_ the phenomenon, is like Columbus on whom the Northmen,\nand even the Chinamen, had stolen a march centuries before. This\nphenomenon can only seem _new_ when thus disguised under a name\nsolemn and scientific\u2014because incomprehensible to the average\nprofane. Its plain description in English\u2014as transference of thought\nor sensation from a distance\u2014could never hope to have the same ring\nof classical learning in it.\n\nNevertheless, the \u201cProceedings\u201d with the two additional gigantic\nvolumes of the psychic \u201cLeviathan,\u201d called \u201cPhantasms of the\nLiving,\u201d are strongly recommended to invalids. They are priceless in\ncases of obstinate _insomnia_, as the best soporific known.\n_Directions_: The reader must be careful not to light a match in too\nclose proximity to the said works.\n\n                                                    \u201cTHE ADVERSARY.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n  \u03cd\u03bb\u03b7 \u201c_matter_ as opposed to mind\u201d; therefore _Material-Idealism_\u2014a\n  contradiction in terms exactly parallel to the name \u201cPsychic\u201d and\n  the very \u201canti-psychic\u201d work of the Society referred to. _Pseuma_\n  should replace _Psyche_, as it seeks for _frauds_ and not\n  _soul-action_.\n\n-----\n\n                           ------------------\n\nThe following books have been received and will be noticed in early\nnumbers of LUCIFER:\u2014\n\nTHE HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS, by Arthur E. Waite, and THE\nQUABALAH UNVEILED, by S.L. Mac-Gregor Mathers, from Mr. Redway;\nEARTH\u2019S EARLIEST AGES, by G. H. Pember, from Messrs. Hodder and\nStoughton: THE MYSTERY OF THE AGES, by the Countess of Caithness,\nfrom Mr. C. L. H. Wallace; AN ADVENTURE AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS, by\nDr. F. Hartmann, from the Occult Publishing Company, Boston; and\nNINETEENTH CENTURY COMMON SENSE, from the T. B. Lippincott Company,\nBoston, U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\n                        =CORRESPONDENCE=\n\n                    INTERESTING TO ASTROLOGERS.\n                     ASTROLOGICAL NOTES\u2014No. 1.\n\n                    _To the Editor of_ LUCIFER.\n\nWe are told that, before judging a horary figure, we must ascertain\nif it is radical, and to decide this point several rules have been\ngiven. The first is with regard to the number of degrees on the cusp\nof the ascendant. Lilly says a figure is rarely radical if the first\ntwo or last three degrees of a sign ascend. Morrison fixes the limit\nat the first or second and last two degrees. Pearse gives the limit\nas the first and last five degrees, and Raphael as the first and\nlast three.\n\nAll the laws of nature are harmonious and rational; but in the rule\nof the first two authorities, this harmony seems absent. Why should\nthe limit be 1 or 2 degrees at the beginning of the sign and 2 or 3\nat the end?\n\nAgain, as an exception to the above rule, Lilly says that a figure\nmay be radical even when 27\u00b0 or more ascend, if the number\ncorresponds to his age; and when 1\u00b0 or 2\u00b0 ascend, if the querent be\nvery young, and his appearance agrees with the quality of the signs\nascending. And here again there is the same want of harmony. Why\nshould the age of the querent have to correspond accurately in one\ncase and only approximately in the other? Furthermore, no\nastrologers seem to have given a logical explanation of these rules.\n\nOn reflecting on this problem I reasoned thus. In \u264d 29\u00b0 59\u00b4 59\u00b4\u00b4 \u2643\nis absolutely without dignity; in \u2650 0\u00b0 0\u00b4 1\u00b4\u00b4 he is in his house\ntriplicity, and terms, a threefold dignity. Is it conceivable that\nthis great change of power should be so sudden, as to be\naccomplished in less than 2 seconds of space? Analogy shows that it\nis probably otherwise, and that as the planets and cusps of houses\nhave orbs of influence, _so also have the signs_.\n\nIf this be true, it supplies the key to the above problem. If only\nthe first or last few degrees of a sign ascend, then the cusp of the\nascendant is within the orbs of the adjacent signs, and the house is\nnot ruled solely by the planet which is its proper lord, but also\npartly by the planet ruling the adjacent sign; and this must hold\ngood under all circumstances, even when the number of the degrees\nascending agree with the age of the querent, or the ascending sign\nand planets therein describe him.\n\nFurthermore, if this be admitted, it also follows, as a logical\nconclusion, that if the first and last few degrees of a sign are on\nthe cusp of any house, no conclusion can be drawn with certainty\nfrom the aspects of the lord of that house.\n\nThe exact limits of the orbs of the signs must be decided by\nexperience; I am induced to fix the limits at 2\u00b0 30\u00b4 and 27\u00b0 30\u00b4.\n\n                                                               NEMO.\n\n                             --------------\n\n                    _To the Editor of_ LUCIFER.\n\nThe belief in the power and efficacy of talismans and amulets was,\nat one period of the world\u2019s history, universal. Even during the\nXVth century, the latest among the innumerable revivals of\ncivilisation, the majority of learned and cultured men had a\nprofound conviction of their reality. But such ideas are now scouted\nby popular opinion, because the philosophy underlying them is not\nunderstood. LUCIFER, therefore, would certainly confer a boon on\nmany by throwing light on the following points:\u2014\n\n(1). Wherein does the power of a talisman lie? (2). How far does its\nefficacy depend on the signs traced upon it, and how far on the\npower and knowledge of the maker? (3). Granting that will-power and\nknowledge are the main factors in imparting to the talisman its\npower, how does that power remain attached to it after the death of\nthe man who made it.\n\n                                                                   \u03b2\n\n                            =THEOSOPHICAL\n                      AND MYSTIC PUBLICATIONS=\n\n\nThe Theosophist, a magazine of Oriental Philosophy, Art, Literature,\nand Occultism. Conducted by H. P. Blavatsky, and H. S. Olcott,\nPermanent President of the T. S. Vol. VIII., Nos. 94 and 95, July\nand August, 1887. Madras, India. In London, George Redway, 15, York\nStreet, Covent Garden.\n\nThis journal is the oldest of the periodicals of the Theosophical\nSociety, and has a distinct feature of its own: a number of Hindoo,\nBuddhist, and Parsi contributors among the most learned of British\nIndia. No journal is thus more reliable in the occasional\ninformation given in it upon the sacred tenets and scriptures of the\nEast, since it is derived first hand, and comes from native\nscholars, well versed in their respective cults. From time to time\n_The Theosophist_ has respectfully corrected mistakes\u2014sins of\nomission and commission\u2014by Western Orientalists, and will continue\nto perform its proposed task by issuing admirable articles.\n\nAs a marked instance of this, the four \u201cLectures on the Bhagavid\nGita,\u201d by a native scholar, Mr. T. Subba Rao, may be cited. Begun in\nthe February number, they are now concluded in the July issue. No\nbetter, abler, or more complete exposition on that most\nphilosophical, as the least understood, of the sacred books of the\nEast, has ever been given in any work, past or present. In the June\nand July numbers, the \u201cHa-Khoshe-Cah, a Vision of the Infinite,\u201d by\nDr. Henry Pratt, a erudite Kabalist in England, is published.\n\nSome very interesting articles on the \u201cNorse Mythology,\u201d by the\nlearned Swedish scholar, Mr. C. H. A. Bjerregard (the Astor Library,\nNew York), may also be found in the last numbers.\n\n_The Theosophist_ is the journal of the Theosophical Society _par\nexcellence_; the Minutes and records of the Society\u2019s work, being\ngiven monthly in its \u201cSupplements.\u201d\n\nNo evil wisher of the said Society, rushing into publicity with\ndenunciations, and occasionally libellous attacks upon that body,\nought\u2014if he is a fair-minded and _honest_ opponent, of course\u2014to\npublish anything without first making himself well acquainted with\nthe contents of _The Theosophist_, and especially with the\n_Supplements_ attached to that journal.\n\nThis advice is given in all kindness to our traducers\u2014the learned as\nthe ignorant\u2014for their direct benefit, though at an evident\ndisadvantage to theosophy. For, as so many of our critics have been\nlately making fools of themselves, in their alleged _expos\u00e9s_ of our\ndoctrines, it is to the advantage of our Society to let them go on\nundisturbed, and thus turn the laugh on the enemy. Two graphic\ninstances may be cited. In \u201cBuddhism in Christendom; or, Jesus the\nEssene,\u201d by an impolite dabbler in Orientalism, the septenary\ndoctrine of the Occultists is disfigured out of recognition, and is\nmet by the unanimous hearty laugh of those who know something of the\nsubject. Its unlucky author has evidently never opened a serious\ntheosophical work, unless, indeed, the doctrine is too much above\nhis head. As a refreshing contrast one finds, in \u201cEarth and Its\nEarliest Ages,\u201d by G. H. Pember, an author, who has most\nconscientiously studied and understood the fundamental doctrines of\nTheosophy.\n\nThus, notwithstanding his attempt to connect it with the coming\nAntichrist, and show its numerous writers pledged to the work of\nSatan, \u201cthe Prince of the Powers of the Air,\u201d[18] the volume\npublished by that learned and fair-minded gentleman is a true pearl\nin the _anti_-Theosophical literature. The correct enunciation of\nknowledge of the tenets he disapproves, as a sincere orthodox\nChristian, is remarkable; and his language, dignified, polite, and\nentirely free from any personality can but call forth as courteous a\nreply from those he arraigns. He has evidently read, and, what is\nmore, _understood_, what he found in the _Theosophist_, and other\nmystic volumes. It shall, therefore, be the pleasure and duty of\nLUCIFER, who bears no malice for the personal attack, to review this\ninteresting volume in its October issue, hoping to see as kind a\nnotice of \u201cEarth and Its Earliest Ages\u201d in the _Theosophist_ of\nMadras.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n  Spiritualists, mystics, and metaphysical Orientalists need not\n  feel jealous, as they are made to share the same fate, and are\n  raised to the same dignity with the Theosophists. The writers of\n  \u201cThe Perfect Way,\u201d Mrs. Dr. Kingsford and Mr. E. Maitland, stand\n  arm-in-arm with the humble writer of \u201cIsis Unveiled\u201d before the\n  throne of Satan. Mr. Ed. Arnold, of \u201cThe Light of Asia,\u201d and the\n  late Mr. Kenealy, of the \u201cBook of God.\u201d are seen radiating in the\n  same lethal light of brimstone and sulphur. Mr. C. C. Massey is\n  shown stuck deep in Antichristian Metaphysics; our kind Lady\n  Caithness is pointed out in the coils of the \u201cGreat Beast\u201d of\n  Romanism, and charged with \u201cGoddess worship:\u201d and even\u2014ye Powers\n  of mystical Perception!\u2014Mr. Arthur Lillie\u2019s Buddhist Monotheism is\n  taken _au grand serieux_!\n\n-----\n\n                                  ---\n\nThe Path; \u201ca magazine devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity,\nTheosophy in America, and the study of Occult Science, Philosophy,\nand Aryan Literature.\u201d Edited by William Q. Judge. Price ten\nshillings per annum. New York, U. S. A. P. O. Box, 2659, etc. George\nRedway, 15 York Street, Covent Garden, London.\n\nA most excellent and theosophical monthly, full of philosophical\nliterature by several well-known mystics and writers. The best\npublication of its kind in the United States, and one that ever\nfulfils what it promises, giving more food for thought than many of\nthe larger periodicals. Its August number is very interesting and\nfully up to its usual mark.\n\nJasper Niemann continues his excellent reflections in \u201cLetters on\nthe True.\u201d Mr. E. D. Walker, in an article upon \u201cThe Poetry of\nReincarnation in Western Literature,\u201d cites the verses of\nWordsworth, Tennyson, Dean Alford, Addison, H. Vaughan, Browning,\netc., in proof of the fact that these poets were tinctured, if not\nimbued, with the philosophy of reincarnation. B. N. Acle continues\n_Notes on the Astral Light_, from Eliphas Levi. He cites the\nstartling and lurid enunciation of that epigrammatical occultist,\nwho says that \u201cHe who dies without forgiving his enemy, hurls\nhimself into Eternity armed with a dagger, and devotes himself to\nthe horror of eternal murder.\u201d \u201c_The Symbolism of the Equilateral\nTriangle_,\u201d by Miss Lydia Bell, shows how much wisdom can be\nextracted from a little symbol when you know how to look for it\nthere.\n\nS. B. makes some very pertinent remarks upon _Theosophical Fiction_,\nthe growth of which is one sign of the times. \u201cA true picture of\nlife, either real or potential, which is found in a work of fiction,\nmakes such reading one of the best sources of learning.\u201d Thanks to\nthe education which it is receiving from the more solid literature\nof theosophy, the public is becoming more critical, and has already\nformed a \u201cstandard of probability\u201d for marvellous phenomena, which\nacts as a healthy check upon outside writers of fiction, who are\ntherefore no longer able to trust entirely \u201cto their imagination for\ntheir acts, and to their memory for their fancies.\u201d Novel readers\nnow like their supernatural not to be _unnaturally_ supernatural,\neven if they do have to take it in minute doses, disguised in their\nfavourite draught of love, murder and small talk. _The Higher\nCarelessness_ (No. 7 of _Thoughts in Solitude_), by \u201cPilgrim,\u201d is\nfull of deep and beautiful reflections. This writer, like \u201cAmerican\nMystic\u201d whose article on the puzzling question, \u201c_Am I my Brothers\nKeeper_,\u201d comes next, has advanced some way upon the path of\nknowledge, and the thoughts of both of them have a special interest\nfor contemplative and self-examining readers. \u201cAmerican Mystic,\u201d\nby-the-bye, gives a new and striking turn to a phrase too often\nmisunderstood. \u201cResist not evil\u201d he quotes and explains that\nresistance, fierce and personal, to evil befalling oneself, is what\nis meant. _Christianity\u2014Theosophy_, by Mr. Wm. H. Kembal, seeks to\nshow that the fundamental aim of both, namely the Brotherhood of\nHumanity, is the same, and that they can and ought to unite their\nforces.\n\n_Julius_, in _Tea Table Talk_, is as crisp, weird, and\nslyly-sentimental as ever.\n\n                                  ---\n\nLe Lotus: \u201cRevue des Hautes Etudes Th\u00e9osophiques. Tendant \u00e0\nfavorises le rapprochement entre l\u2019Orient et l\u2019Occident.\u201d Sous\nl\u2019inspiration de H. P. Blavatsky (nominally; but edited, in reality,\nby our able brother, F. K. Gaboriau, F.T.S.). Georges Carr\u00e9, 112\nBoulevard St. Germain, Paris. Subscription 15 fr. per annum.\n\nAn excellent monthly, presenting yet another aspect of theosophy;\ninspired by the desire to benefit the struggling masses of humanity,\nand to diffuse the true spirit of solidarity among men. The August\nnumber, besides translations of selected articles from the\n_Theosophist_, of special interest to its French readers, contains a\ncapital article on \u201cFreemasons and Theosophists,\u201d the continuation\nof a series of studies on \u201cInitiation,\u201d and a discussion of the\nmuch-vexed question whether the \u201cWill to Live\u201d spoken of in the\n\u201cElixir of Life\u201d is selfish or not. In the last few pages, the\nserious character of the journal is relieved by those brilliant\nsparkles of French wit to which that language lends itself so\nadmirably.\n\nBrief notes on books, articles in the press, pamphlets, &c., give\nample scope for caustic raillery, as well as appreciative comment,\nand the editor ought to be specially congratulated on this\ndepartment of his review.\n\n                                  ---\n\nL\u2019Aurore: Revue mensuelle sous la direction de Lady Caithness,\nDuchesse de Pomar. George Carr\u00e9, 112 Boulevard St. Germain, Paris.\nSubscription, 15fr. per annum.\n\nThe Mystic and Catholic Journal of Aristocratic France, somewhat\ntinged with humanitarianism, and showing the influence of the higher\nphases of modern spiritualism. The subject of reincarnation is its\nprincipal feature, and a mystical romance, _Amour Immortel_, gives\nits various phases. _L\u2019Aurore_ is admirably conducted. Its articles\nare always in good taste, and perfectly adapted to the special\npublic it appeals to.\n\n                                  ---\n\nThe Occult Word: A monthly journal in the interest of Theosophy.\nMrs. J. W. Cables, 40, Ambrose Street, Rochester, N. Y., U.S.A.\nSubscription, 1 dollar per annum.\n\nBrought out more in the style of a newspaper, this journal is\nanother proof of the vitality of the Theosophic movement. It is more\nChristian in its tone and phraseology, and shows less traces of the\ninfluence of Eastern thought, than the publications already\nmentioned. Some thoughts in it are remarkably good, and its tendency\nmost excellent. A most worthy little periodical.\n\n                                  ---\n\nThe Occultist: A monthly journal of Psychological and Mystical\nResearch. Edited by Mr. J. Thomas, F.T.S. London agent, E. W. Allen,\n4 Ave Maria Lane, E.C. Subscription, 1 shilling per annum.\n\nAs its price indicates, a tiny and unambitious publication of four\npages, but one that contains, from time to time, thoughtful and\nsuggestive articles. Its existence testifies to the devotion of its\nproprietor and editor to the cause of truth.\n\n                                  ---\n\nThe Sphinx: \u201cA monthly journal, devoted to the historical and\nexperimental proof of the supersensuous conception of the world on a\nmonistic basis.\u201d Edited by H\u00fcbbe Schleiden, Dr. J. U. Th. Griebens\nVerlag, Leipzig; and George Redway, London. Subscription, 12s. 6d.\nper annum.\n\nAs its title page implies, a learned and philosophical journal,\ndoing its work with true German thoroughness and permeated with a\nreal spirit of earnest investigation. It appeals, mainly, to\nthinkers and students\u2014a numerous class in Germany, but somewhat\nsparsely represented in England. Dr. Carl Du Prel, the leader of the\nnew school of transcendental philosophy in that country, is its\nleading contributor. But it contains from time to time articles of\ngreat interest to students of occultism.\n\n                                  ---\n\nTRANSACTIONS OF THE \u201cLONDON LODGE\u201d OF THE T. S., NOS. 12 AND 13.\u2014Two\nable and interesting papers by Mr. A. P. Sinnett; the first on\n\u201cBuddha\u2019s Teaching,\u201d the second on \u201cThe Relations of the Lower and\nHigher Self.\u201d Dealing with Buddhism, Mr. Sinnett exposes several of\nthe current misconceptions regarding Buddhist doctrines. Notably\namong these stand the utterly false ideas, current in the West, that\nBuddha recognised no conscious existence for the individual after\ndeath, and that Nervana is synonymous with annihilation. Mr. Sinnett\ndraws a happy comparison between these misconceptions and the\nstrange blindness shown by European scholars in accepting the\nallegorical legend that Buddha\u2019s death was occasioned by eating\nroast _boar_, as a literal fact.\n\nIn his second paper, Mr. Sinnett follows up a line of thought\noriginated by him in an earlier number of the \u201cTransactions.\u201d He\nexplains his views with clearness, and adds considerably to the\ndetails of the outline sketched in his previous paper. But, as\nLUCIFER hopes shortly to deal with this subject at length, it is\nunnecessary to enter into a detailed examination of Mr. Sinnett\u2019s\nviews at present.\n\n                                  ---\n\nThe Esoteric: \u201cA Magazine of Advance and Practical Esoteric\nThought.\u201d Boston, U.S.A. Subscription 6s. per annum.\n\nPrincipal feature\u2014the identification of each issue with one of the\nsigns of the Zodiac, which are held to be \u201cimportant and real\ndivisions of time or states of man\u2019s life.\u201d Contents\u2014eighteen short\narticles, occupying 62 pages, the substance of which has been mainly\ngleaned from various mystic authors, and harmonizes well with some\nTheosophical teachings.\n\n\n\n\n        =FROM THE NOTE BOOK OF AN UNPOPULAR PHILOSOPHER=\n\n     THE ESOTERIC VALUE OF CERTAIN WORDS AND DEEDS IN SOCIAL LIFE.\n\n\nA definition of _Public Opinion_. The gathering of a few fogies\npositively electrified by fanaticism and force of habit, who act on\nthe many noodles negatively electrified by indifference. The\nacceptation of uncharitable views on \u201csuggestion\u201d by \u201ctelepathic\nimpact\u201d (what ever that may mean). The work of unconscious\npsychology.\n\n_Sympathetic grief._\u2014The expression thereof in Society, for one\u2019s\nsorrow, is like a solemn funeral procession, in which the row of\nmourning coaches is long, indeed, but the carriages of which are all\nempty.\n\n_Mutual exchange of compliments._\u2014Expressions of delight and other\nacting in cultured society are the fig-leaves of the civilised Adams\nand Eves. These \u201caprons\u201d to conceal truth are fabricated incessantly\nin social Edens, and their name is\u2014_politeness_.\n\n_Keeping the Sabbath._\u2014Throwing public contumely on, and parading\none\u2019s superiority over Christ, \u201cone greater than the temple\u201d and\nSabbath, who stood for his disciples\u2019 rights to \u201cbreak\u201d the Sabbath,\nfor the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for Sabbath (Matt.\nxii. and Mark ii., etc.).\n\n_Attending Divine Service._\u2014Breaking the express commandment of\nJesus. Becoming \u201cas the hypocrites are,\u201d who love to pray in\nSynagogue and Temples, \u201cthat they may be seen of men.\u201d (Matt.vi.)\n\n_Taking the Oath, on the Bible._\u2014A Christian law, devised and\nadopted to perpetuate and carry out the unequivocal commandment of\nthe Founder of Christianity, \u201cSwear not at all, neither by heaven\nnor by the earth\u201d (Matt. v.). As the heaven and the earth are\nsupposed to have been created _only_ by God, a book written by _men_\nthus received the prerogative over the former.\n\n_Unpopularity._\u2014We hate but those whom we envy or fear. Hatred is a\nconcealed and forced homage rendered to the person hated; a tacit\nadmission of the superiority of the unpopular character.\n\nThe true value of _back-biting and slander_. A proof of the fast\ncoming triumph of the victim chosen. The bite of the fly when the\ncreature feels its end approaching.\n\n         _A Few Illustrations to the Point from Schopenhauer._\n\nSocrates was repeatedly vilified and thrashed by the opponents of\nhis philosophy, and was as repeatedly urged by his friends to have\nhis honour avenged in the tribunals of Athens. Kicked by a rude\ncitizen, in the presence of his followers, one of these expressed\nsurprise for his not resenting the insult, to which the Sage\nreplied:\n\n\u201cShall I then feel offended, and ask the magistrate to avenge me, if\nI also happen to be kicked by an ass?\u201d\n\nTo another remark whether a certain man had abused and called him\nnames, he quietly answered:\n\n\u201cNo; for none of the epithets he used can possibly apply to me.\u201d\n(From Plato\u2019s \u201cGeorgics\u201d)\n\nThe famous cynic, Cratus, having received from the musician\nNicodromus a blow which caused his face to swell, coolly fixed a\ntablet upon his brow, inscribed with the two words, \u201c_Nicodromus\nfacit_.\u201d The flute player hardly escaped with his life from the\nhands of the populace, which viewed Cratus as a household god.\n\nSeneca, in his work \u201c_De Constanta Sapientis_,\u201d treats most\nelaborately of insults in words and deeds, or _contumelia_, and then\ndeclares that no Sage ever pays the smallest attention to such\nthings.\u2014\u201cWell, yes!\u201d the reader will exclaim, \u201cbut these men were\nall of them _Sages_!\u201d\u2014\u201cAnd you, are you then only _fools_? Agreed!\u201d\n\n                                LUCIFER\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n         VOL. I.     LONDON, OCTOBER 15TH, 1887.     NO. 2.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n                           THE LADY OF LIGHT.\n\n                      (_Written for_ LUCIFER.)\n\n             Star of the Day and the Night!\n               Star of the Dark that is dying;\n               Star of the Dawn that is nighing,\n                     Lucifer, Lady of Light![19]\n\n                             *        *\n\n             Still with the purest in white,\n               Still art thou Queen of the Seven;\n               Thou hast not fallen from Heaven\n                     Lucifer, Lady of Light!\n\n                             *        *\n\n             How large in thy lustre, how bright\n               The beauty of promise thou wearest!\n               The message of Morning thou bearest,\n                     Lucifer, Lady of Light!\n\n                             *        *\n\n             Aid us in putting to flight\n               The Shadows that darken about us,\n               Illumine within, as without, us,\n                     Lucifer, Lady of Light!\n\n                             *        *\n\n             Shine through the thick of our fight;\n               Open the eyes of the sleeping;\n               Dry up the tears of the weeping,\n                     Lucifer, Lady of Light!\n\n                             *        *\n\n             Purge with thy pureness our sight,\n               Thou light of the lost ones who love us,\n               Thou lamp of the Leader above us,\n                     Lucifer, Lady of Light!\n\n                             *        *\n\n             Shine with transfiguring might,\n               Till earth shall reflect back as human\n               Thy Likeness, Celestial Woman,\n                     Lucifer, Lady of Light!\n\n                             *        *\n\n             With the flame of thy radiance smite\n               The clouds that are veiling the vision\n               Of Woman\u2019s millennial mission,\n                     Lucifer, Lady of Light!\n\n                             *        *\n\n             Shine in the Depth and the Height,\n               And show us the treasuries olden\n               Of wisdom, the hidden, the golden,\n                     Lucifer, Lady of Light!\n\n                                                      GERALD MASSEY.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n  The reader well versed in symbology and theogony is, of course,\n  aware that every god and goddess of the ancient pantheons is\n  androgynous in his or her genealogy. Thus our Lucifer, the\n  \u201cMorning Star,\u201d being identical with Venus, is, therefore, the\n  same as the Chaldean Istar, or the Jewish Astoreth, to whom the\n  Hebrews offered cakes and buns, addressing her as the Lady of\n  Light and the Queen of Heaven. She is the \u201cgreat star,\u201d\n  _Wormwood_, whom the misanthropical St. John sees falling down to\n  the earth in _Revelation_ (Chapter viii.), as her great rival is\n  _Aima_, the fruitful mother, or the third Sephiroth Binah (IHVH\n  ALHIM, or the female Jah-hovah), the \u201cwoman with child,\u201d in\n  Chapter xii. of the same.\n\n-----\n\n\n\n\n                        THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.\n\n\nIt is intensely interesting to follow season after season the rapid\nevolution and change of public thought in the direction of the\nmystical. The educated mind is most undeniably attempting to free\nitself from the heavy fetters of materialism. The ugly caterpillar\nis writhing in the agonies of death, under the powerful efforts of\nthe psychic butterfly to escape from its science-built prison, and\nevery day brings some new glad tidings of one or more such mental\nbirths to light.\n\nAs the New York \u201cPath\u201d truly remarks in its September issue, when\n\u201cTheosophical and kindred topics ... are made the texts for novels,\u201d\nand, we may add, scientific essays and _brochures_, \u201cthe implication\nis that interest in them has become diffused through all social\nranks.\u201d That kind of literature is \u201cparadoxically proof that\nOccultism has passed beyond the region of careless amusement and\nentered that of serious enquiry.\u201d The reader has but to throw a\nretrospective glance at the publications of the last few years to\nfind that such topics as Mysticism, Magic, Sorcery, Spiritualism,\nTheosophy, Mesmerism, or, as it is now called, Hypnotism, all the\nvarious branches in short of the _Occult_ side of nature, are\nbecoming predominant in every kind of literature. They visibly\nincrease in proportion to the efforts made to discredit the\nmovements in the cause of truth, and strangle enquiry\u2014whether on the\nfield of theosophy or spiritualism\u2014by trying to besmear their most\nprominent heralds, pioneers and defenders, with tar and feathers.\n\nThe key-note for mystic and theosophic literature was Marion\nCrawford\u2019s \u201cMr. Isaacs.\u201d It was followed by his \u201cZoroaster.\u201d Then\nfollowed \u201cThe Romance of Two Worlds,\u201d by Marie Corelli; R. Louis\nStephenson\u2019s \u201cMr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll;\u201d \u201cThe Fallen Idol,\u201d by\nAnstey; \u201cKing Solomon\u2019s Mines\u201d and the thrice famous \u201cShe,\u201d by Rider\nHaggard; \u201cAffinities\u201d and \u201cThe Brother of the Shadow,\u201d by Mrs.\nCampbell Praed; Edmund Downey\u2019s \u201cHouse of Tears,\u201d and many others\nless noticeable. And now there comes a fresh outburst in Florence\nMarryat\u2019s \u201cDaughter of the Tropics,\u201d and F. C. Philips\u2019 \u201cStrange\nAdventures of Lucy Smith.\u201d It is unnecessary to mention in detail\nthe literature produced by avowed theosophists and occultists, some\nof whose works are very remarkable, while others are positively\nscientific, such as S. L. Macgregor Mathers\u2019 \u201cKabbalah Unveiled,\u201d\nand Dr. F. Hartmann\u2019s \u201cParacelsus,\u201d \u201cMagic, White and Black,\u201d &c. We\nhave also to note the fact that theosophy has now crossed the\nChannel, and is making its way into French literature. \u201cLa France\u201d\npublishes a strange romance by Ch. Chincholle, pregnant with\ntheosophy, occultism and mesmerism, and called \u201c_La Grande\nPretresse_,\u201d while _La Revue politique et litteraire_ (19 Feb. 1887,\n_et seq._) contained over the signature of Th. Bentzon, a novel\ncalled _Emancip\u00e9e_, wherein esoteric doctrines and adepts are\nmentioned in conjunction with the names of well-known theosophists.\nA sign of the times!\n\nLiterature\u2014especially in countries free from government\ncensorship\u2014is the public heart and pulse. Besides the glaring fact\nthat were there no demand there would be no supply, current\nliterature is produced only to please, and is therefore evidently\nthe mirror which faithfully reflects the state of the public mind.\nTrue, Conservative editors, and their submissive correspondents and\nreporters, still go on slashing occasionally in print the fair faces\nof mystic spiritualism and theosophy, and some of them are still\nfound, from time to time, indulging in a _brutal_ personal attack.\nBut they do no harm on the whole, except perhaps to their own\neditorial reputations, as such editors can never be suspected of an\nexuberance of culture and good taste after certain ungentlemanly\npersonal attacks. They do good on the contrary. For, while the\ntheosophists and spiritualists so attacked, may view the\nBillingsgate poured upon them in a true Socratean spirit, and\nconsole themselves with the knowledge that none of the epithets used\ncan possibly apply to them, on the other hand, _too much_ abuse and\nvilification generally ends by awakening the public sympathy for the\nvictim, in the right-minded and the impartial, at any rate.\n\nIn England people seem to like fair play on the whole. It is not\n_bashi-boozook_-like actions, the doughty deeds of those who\ndelight in mutilating the slain and the wounded, that can find\nsympathy for any great length of time with the public. If\u2014as\nmaintained by our lay enemies and repeated by some _na\u00eff_ and too\nsanguine missionary organs\u2014Spiritualism and Theosophy are \u201cdead as\na door-nail\u201d (_sic_, _vide_ American Christian periodicals),\u2014aye,\n\u201cdead and buried,\u201d why, in such case, good Christian fathers, not\nleave the dead at rest till \u201cJudgment Day\u201d? And if they are not,\nthen editors\u2014the profane as well as the clerical\u2014why should you\nstill fear? Do not show yourselves such cowards if you have the\ntruth on your side. _Magna est veritas et prevalebit_, and \u201cmurder\nwill out,\u201d as it always has, sooner or later. Open your columns to\n_free_ and fearless discussion, and do as the theosophical\nperiodicals have ever done, and as LUCIFER is now preparing to do.\nThe \u201cbright Son of the morning\u201d fears no light. He courts it, and\nis prepared to publish any inimical contributions (couched, of\ncourse, in decent language), however much at variance with his\ntheosophical views. He is determined to give a fair hearing in any\nand every case, to both contending parties and allow things and\nthoughts to be judged on their respective merits. For why, or what\nshould one dread when fact and truth are one\u2019s only aim? _Du choc\ndes opinions jaillit la verit\u00e9_ was said by a French philosopher.\nIf Theosophy and Spiritualism are no better than \u201cgigantic frauds\nand will-o\u2019-the-wisps of the age\u201d why such _expensive_ crusades\nagainst both? And if they are not, why should Agnostics and\nsearchers after truth in general, help bigoted and narrow-minded\nmaterialists, sectarians and dogmatists to hide our light under a\nbushel by mere brutal force and usurped authority? It is easy to\nsurprise the good faith of the fair-minded. Still easier to\ndiscredit that, which by its intrinsic strangeness, is already\nunpopular and could hardly be credited in its palmiest days. \u201cWe\nwelcome no supposition so eagerly as one which accords with and\nintensifies our own prejudices\u201d says, in \u201cDon Jesualdo,\u201d a popular\nauthor. Therefore, _facts_ become often cunningly concocted\n\u201cfrauds;\u201d and self-evident, glaring lies are accepted as gospel\ntruths at the first breeze of Don Basilio\u2019s _Calumnia_, by those\nto whose hard-crusted pre-conceptions such slander is like\nheavenly dew.\n\nBut, beloved enemies, \u201cthe light of Lucifer\u201d may, after all, dispel\nsome of the surrounding darkness. The mighty roaring voice of\ndenunciation, so welcome to those whose little spites and hates and\nmental stagnation in the grasp of the social respectability it\npanders to, may yet be silenced by the voice of truth\u2014\u201cthe still\nsmall voice\u201d\u2014whose destiny it ever was to first preach in the\ndesert. That cold and artificial light which still seems to shine so\ndazzlingly over the alleged iniquities of professional mediums and\nthe supposed sins of commission and omission of _non-professional_\nexperimentalists, of free and independent theosophists, may yet be\nextinguished at the height of all its glory. For it is not quite the\nperpetual lamp of the alchemist philosopher. Still less is it that\n\u201clight which never shone on sea or land,\u201d that ray of divine\nintuition, the spark which glimmers latent in the spiritual,\nnever-erring perceptions of man and woman, and which is now\nawakening\u2014for its time is at hand. A few years more, and the\nAladdin\u2019s lamp, which called forth the ministering genius thereof,\nwho, making three salutes to the public, proceeded forthwith to\ndevour mediums and theosophists, like a juggler who swallows swords\nat a village fair, will get out of order. Its light, over which the\nanti-theosophists are crowing victory to this day, shall get dim.\nAnd then, perhaps, it will be discovered that what was claimed as a\ndirect ray from the source of eternal truth was no better than a\npenny rush-light, in whose deceitful smoke and soot people got\nhypnotized, and saw everything upside down. It will be found that\nthe hideous monsters of fraud and imposture had no existence outside\nthe murky and dizzied brains of the Aladdins on their journey of\ndiscovery. And that, finally, the good people who listened to them,\nhad been all the time seeing sights and hearing things under\nunconscious and mutual _suggestion_.\n\nThis is a scientific explanation, and requires no black magicians or\n_dugpas_ at work; for \u201csuggestion\u201d as now practised by the sorcerers\nof science is\u2014_dugpaship_ itself, _pur sang_. No Eastern \u201cadept of\nthe _left_ hand\u201d can do more mischief by his infernal art than a\ngrave hypnotiser of the Faculty of Medicine, a disciple of Charcot,\nor of any other scientific _light_ of the first magnitude. In Paris,\nas in St. Petersburg, crimes have been committed under \u201csuggestion.\u201d\nDivorces have occurred, and husbands have nearly killed their wives\nand their supposed co-respondents, owing to tricks played on\ninnocent and respectable women, who have thus had their fair name\nand all their future life blasted for ever. A son, under such\ninfluence, broke open the desk of an avaricious father, who caught\nhim in the act, and nearly shot him in a fit of rage. One of the\nkeys of Occultism is in the hands of science\u2014cold, heartless,\nmaterialistic, and crassly ignorant of the other truly psychic side\nof the phenomenon: hence, powerless to draw a line of demarcation\nbetween the physiological and the purely spiritual effects of the\ndisease inoculated, and unable to prevent future results and\nconsequences of which it has no knowledge, and over which it has,\ntherefore, no control.\n\nWe find in the \u201cLotus\u201d of September, 1887, the following:\u2014\n\n  A French paper, the _Paris_, for August 12th, contains a long and\n  excellent article by G. Montorgueil, entitled, _The Accursed\n  Sciences_, from which we extract the following passage, since we\n  are, unfortunately, unable to quote the whole:\u2014\n\n  \u201cSome months ago, already, in I forget what case, the question of\n  \u2018suggestion\u2019 was raised and taken account of by the judges. We\n  shall certainly see people in the dock accused of occult\n  malpractices. But how will the prosecution go to work? What\n  arguments will it bring to bear? The crime by \u2018suggestion\u2019 is the\n  ideal of a crime without proof. In such a case the gravest charges\n  will never be more than presumptions, and fugitive presumptions.\n  On what fragile scaffolding of suspicions will the charge rest? No\n  examination, but a moral one, will be possible. We shall have to\n  resign ourselves to hearing the Solicitor-general say to the\n  accused: \u2018Accused, it appears from a perquisition made into your\n  brain, etc.\u2019\n\n  Ah, the poor jurymen! it is they who are to be pitied. Taking\n  their task to heart, they already have the greatest difficulty in\n  separating the true from the false, even in rough and ready cases,\n  the facts of which are obvious, all the details of which are\n  tangible and the responsibilities clear. And we are going to ask\n  them on their soul and conscience to decide questions of black\n  magic! Verily their reason will not hold out through the\n  fortnight; it will give way before that and sink into thaumaturgy.\n\n  We move fast. The strange trials for sorcery will blossom anew;\n  somnabules who were merely grotesque will appear in a tragic\n  light; the coffee grounds, which so far only risked the police\n  court, will hear their sentence at the assizes. The evil eye will\n  figure among criminal offences. These last years of the XIXth\n  century will have seen us step from progress to progress, till we\n  reach at last this judicial enormity: a second Laubardemont\n  prosecuting another Urbain Grandier.\u201d\n\nSerious, scientific, and political papers are full of earnest\ndiscussions on the subject. A St. Petersburg \u201cDaily\u201d has a long\n_feuilleton_ on the \u201cBearing of _Hypnotic Suggestions_ upon Criminal\nLaw.\u201d \u201cCases of Hypnotism with criminal motives have of late begun\nto increase in an ever progressing ratio,\u201d it tells its readers. And\nit is not the only newspaper, nor is Russia the only country where\nthe same tale is told. Careful investigations and researches have\nbeen made by distinguished lawyers and medical authorities. Data\nhave been assiduously collected and have revealed that the curious\nphenomenon,\u2014which sceptics have hitherto derided, and young people\nhave included among their evening _petits jeux innocents_,\u2014is a new\nand terrible danger to state and society.\n\nTwo facts have now become patent to law and science:\u2014\n\n (I.) _That, in the perceptions of the hypnotised subject, the\n    visionary representations called forth by \u201csuggestion,\u201d become\n    real existing actualities, the subject being, for the moment,\n    the automatic executor of the will of the hypnotiser; and_\u2014\n\n (II.) _That the great majority of persons experimented upon, is\n    subject to hypnotic suggestion._\n\nThus Li\u00e9beault found only _sixty_ subjects intractable out of the\n_seven hundred_ he experimented upon; and Bernheim, out of 1,014\nsubjects, failed with only _twenty-six_. The field for the\nnatural-born _jadoo-wala_ (sorcery-mongers), is vast indeed! Evil\nhas acquired a play-ground on which it may now exercise its sway\nupon many a generation of unconscious victims. For crimes undreamt\nof in the waking state, and felonies of the blackest dye, are now\ninvited and encouraged by the new \u201caccursed science.\u201d The real\nperpetrators of these deeds of darkness may now remain for ever\nhidden from the vengeance of human justice. The hand which executes\nthe criminal suggestion is only that of an irresponsible automaton,\nwhose memory preserves no trace of it, and who, moreover, is a\nwitness who can easily be disposed of by compulsory suicide\u2014again\nunder \u201csuggestion.\u201d What better means than these could be offered to\nthe fiends of lust and revenge, to those dark Powers\u2014called human\npassions\u2014ever on the look out to break the universal commandment:\n\u201cThou shalt not steal, nor murder, nor lust after thy neighbour\u2019s\nwife?\u201d Li\u00e9beault _suggested_ to a young girl that she should poison\nherself with prussic acid, and she swallowed the supposed drug\nwithout one moment\u2019s hesitation; Dr. Li\u00e9gois _suggested_ to a young\nwoman that she owed him 5,000 francs, and the subject forthwith\nsigned a cheque for the amount Bernheim _suggested_ to another\nhysterical girl a long and complicated vision with regard to a\ncriminal case. Two days after, although the hypnotiser had not\nexercised any new pressure upon her in the interim, she repeated\ndistinctly the whole suggested story to a lawyer sent to her for the\npurpose. Had her evidence been seriously accepted, it would have\nbrought the accused to the guillotine.\n\nThese cases present two dark and terrible aspects. From the moral\nstand point, such processes and _suggestions_ leave an indelible\nstain upon the purity of the subject\u2019s nature. Even the innocent\nmind of a ten year old child can thus be innoculated with vice, the\npoison-germ of which will develop in his subsequent life.\n\nOn the judicial aspect it is needless to enter in great detail.\nSuffice to say that it is this characteristic feature of the\nhypnotic state\u2014the absolute surrender of will and self-consciousness\nto the hypnotiser\u2014which possesses such importance, from its bearing\nupon crime, in the eyes of legal authorities. For if the hypnotiser\nhas the subject entirely at his beck and call, so that he can cause\nhim to commit any crime, acting, so to say, invisibly within him,\nthen what are not the terrible \u201cjudicial mistakes\u201d to be expected?\nWhat wonder then, that the jurisprudence of one country after the\nother has taken alarm, and is devising, one after the other,\nmeasures for repressing the exercise of hypnotism! In Denmark it has\njust been forbidden. Scientists have experimented upon sensitives\nwith so much success that a hypnotised victim has been jeered and\nhooted through the streets on his way to commit a crime, which he\nwould have completed unconsciously, had not the victim been warned\nbeforehand by the hypnotiser.\n\nIn Brussels a recent and sad case is well-known to all. A young girl\nof good family was seduced while in a hypnotised state by a man who\nhad first subjected her to his influence at a social gathering. She\nonly realised her condition a few months later, when her relatives,\nwho divined the criminal, forced her seducer to make the only\npossible reparation\u2014that of marrying his victim.\n\nThe French Academy has just been debating the question:\u2014how far a\nhypnotised subject, from a mere victim, can become a regular tool of\ncrime. Of course, no jurist or legislator can remain indifferent to\nthis question; and it was averred that the crimes committed under\n_suggestion_ are so unprecedented that some of them can hardly be\nbrought within the scope of the law. Hence the prudent legal\nprohibition, just adopted in France, which enacts that no person,\nsave those legally qualified to exercise the medical profession,\nshall hypnotise any other person. Even the physician who enjoys such\nlegal right is permitted to hypnotise a person only in the presence\nof another qualified medical man, and with the written permission of\nthe subject. Public _s\u00e9ances_ of hypnotism are forbidden, and they\nare strictly confined to medical _cliniques_ and laboratories. Those\nwho break this law are liable to a heavy fine and imprisonment.\n\nBut the keynote has been struck, and many are the ways in which this\n_black art_ may be used\u2014laws notwithstanding. That it will be so\nused, the vile passions inherent in human nature are sufficient\nguarantee.\n\nMany and strange will be the romances yet enacted; for truth is\noften stranger than fiction, and what is thought fiction is still\nmore often truth.\n\nNo wonder then that occult literature is growing with every day.\nOccultism and sorcery are in the air, with no true philosophical\nknowledge to guide the experimenters and thus check evil results.\n\u201cWorks of _fiction_,\u201d the various novels and romances are called.\n\u201cFiction\u201d in the arrangement of their characters and the adventures\nof their heroes and heroines\u2014admitted. Not so, as to the _facts_\npresented. These are _no fictions_, but true _presentiments_ of what\nlies in the bosom of the future, and much of which is already\nborn\u2014nay corroborated by _scientific_ experiments. Sign of the\ntimes! Close of a psychic cycle! The time for phenomena with, or\nthrough mediums, whether professional or otherwise, is gone by. It\nwas the early season of the blossoming, of the era mentioned even in\nthe Bible;[20] the tree of Occultism is now preparing for\n\u201cfruiting,\u201d and the Spirit of the Occult is awakening in the blood\nof the new generations. If the old men only \u201cdream dreams,\u201d the\nyoung ones see already visions,[21] and\u2014record them in novels and\nworks of fiction. Woe to the ignorant and the unprepared, and those\nwho listen to the syrens of materialistic science! For indeed,\nindeed, many will be the unconscious crimes committed, and many will\nbe the victims who will innocently suffer death by hanging and\ndecapitation at the hands of the righteous judges and the _too\ninnocent_ jurymen, both alike ignorant of the fiendish power of\n\u201cSUGGESTION.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n  \u201cIt shall come to pass that I will pour out my Spirit upon all\n  flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men\n  shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions\u201d (Joel ii.\n  28).\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n  It is curious to note that Mr. Louis Stevenson, one of the most\n  powerful of our imaginative writers, stated recently to a reporter\n  that he is in the habit of constructing the plots of his tales in\n  _dreams_, and among others that of Dr. Jekyll. \u201cI dreamed,\u201d he\n  continued, \u201cthe story of \u2018Olalla\u2019 ... and I have at the present\n  moment two unwritten stories which I have likewise dreamed....\n  Even when fast asleep I know that it is I who am inventing.\u201d...\n  But who knows whether the idea of \u201cinvention\u201d is not also \u201ca\n  dream\u201d!\n\n-----\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n\n\n\n                            SELF-KNOWLEDGE.\n\nThe first necessity for obtaining self-knowledge is to become\nprofoundly conscious of ignorance; to feel with every fibre of the\nheart that one is _ceaselessly_ self-deceived.\n\nThe second requisite is the still deeper conviction that such\nknowledge\u2014such intuitive and certain knowledge\u2014can be obtained by\neffort.\n\nThe third and most important is an indomitable determination to\nobtain and face that knowledge.\n\nSelf-knowledge of this kind is unattainable by what men usually call\n\u201cself-analysis.\u201d It is not reached by reasoning or any brain\nprocess; for it is the awakening to consciousness of the Divine\nnature of man.\n\nTo obtain this knowledge is a greater achievement than to command\nthe elements or to know the future.\n\n                    COMMENTS ON \u201cLIGHT ON THE PATH.\u201d\n\n                   BY THE AUTHOR; (_continued_).\n\n  \u201cBefore the ear can hear, it must have lost its sensitiveness.\u201d\n\n\nThe first four rules of Light on the Path are, undoubtedly, curious\nthough the statement may seem, the most important in the whole book,\nsave one only. Why they are so important is that they contain the\nvital law, the very creative essence of the astral man. And it is\nonly in the astral (or self-illuminated) consciousness that the\nrules which follow them have any living meaning. Once attain to the\nuse of the astral senses and it becomes a matter of course that one\ncommences to use them; and the later rules are but guidance in their\nuse. When I speak like this I mean, naturally, that the first four\nrules are the ones which are of importance and interest to those who\nread them in print upon a page. When they are engraved on the man\u2019s\nheart and on his life, unmistakably then the other rules become not\nmerely interesting, or extraordinary, metaphysical statements, but\nactual facts in life which have to be grasped and experienced.\n\nThe four rules stand written in the great chamber of every actual\nlodge of a living Brotherhood. Whether the man is about to sell his\nsoul to the devil, like Faust; whether he is to be worsted in the\nbattle, like Hamlet; or whether he is to pass on within the\nprecincts; in any case these words are for him. The man can choose\nbetween virtue and vice, but not until he is a man; a babe or a wild\nanimal cannot so choose. Thus with the disciple, he must first\nbecome a disciple before he can even see the paths to choose\nbetween. This effort of creating himself as a disciple, the\nre-birth, he must do for himself without any teacher. Until the four\nrules are learned no teacher can be of any use to him; and that is\nwhy \u201cthe Masters\u201d are referred to in the way they are. No real\nmasters, whether adepts in power, in love, or in blackness, can\naffect a man till these four rules are passed.\n\nTears, as I have said, may be called the moisture of life. The soul\nmust have laid aside the emotions of humanity, must have secured a\nbalance which cannot be shaken by misfortune, before its eyes can\nopen upon the super-human world.\n\nThe voice of the Masters is always in the world; but only those hear\nit whose ears are no longer receptive of the sounds which affect the\npersonal life. Laughter no longer lightens the heart, anger may no\nlonger enrage it, tender words bring it no balm. For that within, to\nwhich the ears are as an outer gateway, is an unshaken place of\npeace in itself which no person can disturb.\n\nAs the eyes are the windows of the soul, so are the ears its\ngateways or doors. Through them comes knowledge of the confusion of\nthe world. The great ones who have conquered life, who have become\nmore than disciples, stand at peace and undisturbed amid the\nvibration and kaleidoscopic movement of humanity. They hold within\nthemselves a certain knowledge, as well as a perfect peace; and thus\nthey are not roused or excited by the partial and erroneous\nfragments of information which are brought to their ears by the\nchanging voices of those around them. When I speak of knowledge, I\nmean intuitive knowledge. This certain information can never be\nobtained by hard work, or by experiment; for these methods are only\napplicable to matter, and matter is in itself a perfectly uncertain\nsubstance, continually affected by change. The most absolute and\nuniversal laws of natural and physical life, as understood by the\nscientist, will pass away when the life of this universe has passed\naway, and only its soul is left in the silence. What then will be\nthe value of the knowledge of its laws acquired by industry and\nobservation? I pray that no reader or critic will imagine that by\nwhat I have said I intend to depreciate or disparage acquired\nknowledge, or the work of scientists. On the contrary, I hold that\nscientific men are the pioneers of modern thought. The days of\nliterature and of art, when poets and sculptors saw the divine\nlight, and put it into their own great language\u2014these days lie\nburied in the long past with the ante-Phidian sculptors and the\npre-Homeric poets. The mysteries no longer rule the world of thought\nand beauty; human life is the governing power, not that which lies\nbeyond it. But the scientific workers are progressing, not so much\nby their own will as by sheer force of circumstances, towards the\nfar line which divides things interpretable from things\nuninterpretable. Every fresh discovery drives them a step onward.\nTherefore do I very highly esteem the knowledge obtained by work and\nexperiment.\n\nBut intuitive knowledge is an entirely different thing. It is not\nacquired in any way, but is, so to speak, a faculty of the soul; not\nthe animal soul, that which becomes a ghost after death, when lust\nor liking or the memory of ill-deeds holds it to the neighbourhood\nof human beings, but the divine soul which animates all the external\nforms of the individualised being.\n\nThis is, of course, a faculty which indwells in that soul, which is\ninherent. The would-be disciple has to arouse himself to the\nconsciousness of it by a fierce and resolute and indomitable effort\nof will. I use the word indomitable for a special reason. Only he\nwho is untameable, who cannot be dominated, who knows he has to play\nthe lord over men, over facts, over all things save his own\ndivinity, can arouse this faculty. \u201cWith faith all things are\npossible.\u201d The sceptical laugh at faith and pride themselves on its\nabsence from their own minds. The truth is that faith is a great\nengine, an enormous power, which in fact can accomplish all things.\nFor it is the covenant or engagement between man\u2019s divine part and\nhis lesser self.\n\nThe use of this engine is quite necessary in order to obtain\nintuitive knowledge; for unless a man believes such knowledge exists\nwithin himself how can he claim and use it?\n\nWithout it he is more helpless than any drift-wood or wreckage on\nthe great tides of the ocean. They are cast hither and thither\nindeed; so may a man be by the chances of fortune. But such\nadventures are purely external and of very small account. A slave\nmay be dragged through the streets in chains, and yet retain the\nquiet soul of a philosopher, as was well seen in the person of\nEpictetus. A man may have every worldly prize in his possession, and\nstand absolute master of his personal fate, to all appearance, and\nyet he knows no peace, no certainty, because he is shaken within\nhimself by every tide of thought that he touches on. And these\nchanging tides do not merely sweep the man bodily hither and thither\nlike driftwood on the water; that would be nothing. They enter into\nthe gateways of his soul, and wash over that soul and make it blind\nand blank and void of all permanent intelligence, so that passing\nimpressions affect it.\n\nTo make my meaning plainer I will use an illustration. Take an\nauthor at his writing, a painter at his canvas, a composer listening\nto the melodies that dawn upon his glad imagination; let any one of\nthese workers pass his daily hours by a wide window looking on a\nbusy street. The power of the animating life blinds sight and\nhearing alike, and the great traffic of the city goes by like\nnothing but a passing pageant. But a man whose mind is empty, whose\nday is objectless, sitting at that same window, notes the passers-by\nand remembers the faces that chance to please or interest him. So it\nis with the mind in its relation to eternal truth. If it no longer\ntransmits its fluctuations, its partial knowledge, its unreliable\ninformation to the soul, then in the inner place of peace already\nfound when the first rule has been learned\u2014in that inner place there\nleaps into flame the light of actual knowledge. Then the ears begin\nto hear. Very dimly, very faintly at first. And, indeed, so faint\nand tender are these first indications of the commencement of true\nactual life, that they are sometimes pushed aside as mere fancies,\nmere imaginings.\n\nBut before these are capable of becoming more than mere imaginings,\nthe abyss of nothingness has to be faced in another form. The utter\nsilence which can only come by closing the ears to all transitory\nsounds comes as a more appalling horror than even the formless\nemptiness of space. Our only mental conception of blank space is, I\nthink, when reduced to its barest element of thought, that of black\ndarkness. This is a great physical terror to most persons, and when\nregarded as an eternal and unchangeable fact, must mean to the mind\nthe idea of annihilation rather than anything else. But it is the\nobliteration of one sense only; and the sound of a voice may come\nand bring comfort even in the profoundest darkness. The disciple,\nhaving found his way into this blackness, which is the fearful\nabyss, must then so shut the gates of his soul that no comforter can\nenter there nor any enemy. And it is in making this second effort\nthat the fact of pain and pleasure being but one sensation becomes\nrecognisable by those who have before been unable to perceive it.\nFor when the solitude of silence is reached the soul hungers so\nfiercely and passionately for some sensation on which to rest, that\na painful one would be as keenly welcomed as a pleasant one. When\nthis consciousness is reached the courageous man by seizing and\nretaining it, may destroy the \u201csensitiveness\u201d at once. When the ear\nno longer discriminates between that which is pleasant or that which\nis painful, it will no longer be affected by the voices of others.\nAnd then it is safe and possible to open the doors of the soul.\n\n\u201cSight\u201d is the first effort, and the easiest, because it is\naccomplished partly by an intellectual effort. The intellect can\nconquer the heart, as is well known in ordinary life. Therefore,\nthis preliminary step still lies within the dominion of matter. But\nthe second step allows of no such assistance, nor of any material\naid whatever. Of course, I mean by material aid the action of the\nbrain, or emotions, or human soul. In compelling the ears to listen\nonly to the eternal silence, the being we call man becomes something\nwhich is no longer man. A very superficial survey of the thousand\nand one influences which are brought to bear on us by others will\nshow that this must be so. A disciple will fulfil all the duties of\nhis manhood; but he will fulfil them according to his own sense of\nright, and not according to that of any person or body of persons.\nThis is a very evident result of following the creed of knowledge\ninstead of any of the blind creeds.\n\nTo obtain the pure silence necessary for the disciple, the heart and\nemotions, the brain and its intellectualisms, have to be put aside.\nBoth are but mechanisms, which will perish with the span of man\u2019s\nlife. It is the essence beyond, that which is the motive power, and\nmakes man live, that is now compelled to rouse itself and act. Now\nis the greatest hour of danger. In the first trial men go mad with\nfear; of this first trial Bulwer Lytton wrote. No novelist has\nfollowed to the second trial, though some of the poets have. Its\nsubtlety and great danger lies in the fact that in the measure of a\nman\u2019s strength is the measure of his chance of passing beyond it or\ncoping with it at all. If he has power enough to awaken that\nunaccustomed part of himself, the supreme essence, then has he power\nto lift the gates of gold, then is he the true alchemist, in\npossession of the elixir of life.\n\nIt is at this point of experience that the occultist becomes\nseparated from all other men and enters on to a life which is his\nown; on to the path of individual accomplishment instead of mere\nobedience to the genii which rule our earth. This raising of himself\ninto an individual power does in reality identify him with the\nnobler forces of life and make him one with them. For they stand\nbeyond the powers of this earth and the laws of this universe. Here\nlies man\u2019s only hope of success in the great effort; to leap right\naway from his present standpoint to his next and at once become an\nintrinsic part of the divine power as he has been an intrinsic part\nof the intellectual power, of the great nature to which he belongs.\nHe stands always in advance of himself, if such a contradiction can\nbe understood. It is the men who adhere to this position, who\nbelieve in their innate power of progress, and that of the whole\nrace, who are the elders brothers, the pioneers. Each man has to\naccomplish the great leap for himself and without aid; yet it is\nsomething of a staff to lean on to know that others have gone on\nthat road. It is possible that they have been lost in the abyss; no\nmatter, they have had the courage to enter it. Why I say that it is\npossible they have been lost in the abyss is because of this fact,\nthat one who has passed through is unrecognizable until the other\nand altogether new condition is attained by both. It is unnecessary\nto enter upon the subject of what that condition is at present. I\nonly say this, that in the early state in which man is entering upon\nthe silence he loses knowledge of his friends, of his lovers, of all\nwho have been near and dear to him; and also loses sight of his\nteachers and of those who have preceded him on his way. I explain\nthis because scarce one passes through without bitter complaint.\nCould but the mind grasp beforehand that the silence must be\ncomplete, surely this complaint need not arise as a hindrance on the\npath. Your teacher, or your predecessor may hold your hand in his,\nand give you the utmost sympathy the human heart is capable of. But\nwhen the silence and the darkness comes, you lose all knowledge of\nhim; you are alone and he cannot help you, not because his power is\ngone, but because you have invoked your great enemy.\n\nBy your great enemy, I mean yourself. If you have the power to face\nyour own soul in the darkness and silence, you will have conquered\nthe physical or animal self which dwells in sensation only.\n\nThis statement, I feel, will appear involved; but in reality it is\nquite simple. Man, when he has reached his fruition, and\ncivilization is at its height, stands between two fires. Could he\nbut claim his great inheritance, the encumbrance of the mere animal\nlife would fall away from him without difficulty. But he does not do\nthis, and so the races of men flower and then droop and die and\ndecay off the face of the earth, however splendid the bloom may have\nbeen. And it is left to the individual to make this great effort; to\nrefuse to be terrified by his greater nature, to refuse to be drawn\nback by his lesser or more material self. Every individual who\naccomplishes this is a redeemer of the race. He may not blazon forth\nhis deeds, he may dwell in secret and silence; but it is a fact that\nhe forms a link between man and his divine part; between the known\nand the unknown; between the stir of the market-place and the\nstillness of the snow-capped Himalayas. He has not to go about among\nmen in order to form this link; in the astral he _is_ that link, and\nthis fact makes him a being of another order from the rest of\nmankind. Even so early on the road towards knowledge, when he has\nbut taken the second step, he finds his footing more certain, and\nbecomes conscious that he is a recognised part of a whole.\n\nThis is one of the contradictions in life which occur so\nconstantly that they afford fuel to the fiction writer. The\noccultist finds them become much more marked as he endeavours to\nlive the life he has chosen. As he retreats within himself and\nbecomes self-dependent, he finds himself more definitely becoming\npart of a great tide of definite thought and feeling. When he has\nlearned the first lesson, conquered the hunger of the heart, and\nrefused to live on the love of others, he finds himself more\ncapable of inspiring love. As he flings life away it comes to him\nin a new form and with a new meaning. The world has always been a\nplace with many contradictions in it, to the man; when he becomes\na disciple he finds life is describable as a series of paradoxes.\nThis is a fact in nature, and the reason for it is intelligible\nenough. Man\u2019s soul \u201cdwells like a star apart,\u201d even that of the\nvilest among us; while his consciousness is under the law of\nvibratory and sensuous life. This alone is enough to cause those\ncomplications of character which are the material for the\nnovelist; every man is a mystery, to friend and enemy alike, and\nto himself. His motives are often undiscoverable, and he cannot\nprobe to them or know why he does this or that. The disciple\u2019s\neffort is that of awaking consciousness in this starry part of\nhimself, where his power and divinity lie sleeping. As this\nconsciousness becomes awakened, the contradictions in the man\nhimself become more marked than ever; and so do the paradoxes\nwhich he lives through. For, of course man creates his own life;\nand \u201cadventures are to the adventurous\u201d is one of those wise\nproverbs which are drawn from actual fact, and cover the whole\narea of human experience.\n\nPressure on the divine part of man re-acts upon the animal part. As\nthe silent soul awakes it makes the ordinary life of the man more\npurposeful, more vital, more real, and responsible. To keep to the\ntwo instances already mentioned, the occultist who has withdrawn\ninto his own citadel has found his strength; immediately he becomes\naware of the demands of duty upon him. He does not obtain his\nstrength by his own right, but because he is a part of the whole;\nand as soon as he is safe from the vibration of life and can stand\nunshaken, the outer world cries out to him to come and labour in it.\nSo with the heart. When it no longer wishes to take, it is called\nupon to give abundantly.\n\n\u201cLight on the Path\u201d has been called a book of paradoxes, and very\njustly; what else could it be, when it deals with the actual\npersonal experience of the disciple?\n\nTo have acquired the astral senses of sight and hearing; or in other\nwords to have attained perception and opened the doors of the soul,\nare gigantic tasks and may take the sacrifice of many successive\nincarnations. And yet, when the will has reached its strength, the\nwhole miracle may be worked in a second of time. Then is the\ndisciple the servant of Time no longer.\n\nThese two first steps are negative; that is to say they imply\nretreat from a present condition of things rather than advance\ntowards another. The two next are active, implying the advance into\nanother state of being.[22]\n\n                                                                   \u0394\n\n                        (_To be continued._)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n  The correspondence with reference to these \u201cComments\u201d will be\n  found in the Correspondence columns.\n\n-----\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                            WILL AND DESIRE.\n\nWILL is the exclusive possession of man on this our plane of\nconsciousness. It divides him from the brute in whom instinctive\ndesire only is active.\n\nDESIRE, in its widest application, is the one creative force in the\nUniverse. In this sense it is indistinguishable from Will; but we\nmen never know desire under this form while we remain only men.\nTherefore Will and Desire are here considered as opposed.\n\nThus Will is the offspring of the Divine, the God in man; Desire the\nmotive power of the animal life.\n\nMost men live in and by desire, mistaking it for will. But he who\nwould achieve must separate will from desire, and make his will the\nruler; for desire is unstable and ever changing, while will is\nsteady and constant.\n\nBoth will and desire are absolute _creators_, forming the man\nhimself and his surroundings. But will creates intelligently\u2014desire\nblindly and unconsciously. The man, therefore, makes himself in the\nimage of his desires, unless he creates himself in the likeness of\nthe Divine, through his will, the child of the light.\n\nHis task is twofold: to awaken the will, to strengthen it by use and\nconquest, to make it absolute ruler within his body; and, parallel\nwith this, to purify desire.\n\nKnowledge and will are the tools for the accomplishment of this\npurification.\n\n                         A LAW OF LIFE: KARMA.\n\n                           (_Continued._)\n\nIn illustration of the Mahatmic condition, it may be well to quote\nsome extracts from \u201cFive Years of Theosophy,\u201d on pp. 215, _et seq._\n\n\u201cThe principal object of the Yogi is to realise the oneness of\nexistence, and the practice of morality is the most powerful means\nto that end. The principal obstacle to this realization is the\ninborn habit of man of always placing himself at the centre of the\nUniverse. Whatever a man might act, think, or feel, the\nirrepressible personality is sure to be the central figure. This, as\nwill appear on reflection, is that which prevents every individual\nfrom filling his proper sphere in existence, where he only is in\nplace, and no other individual is. The realization of this harmony\nis the practical objective aspect of the \u2018Grand Problem.\u2019.... It\navaileth nothing to intellectually grasp the notion of your being\neverything ... if it is not realized in daily life. To confuse \u2018meum\nand tuum\u2019 in the vulgar sense is but to destroy the harmony of\nexistence by a false assertion of \u2018I,\u2019 and is as foolish as the\nattempt to nourish the legs at the expense of the arms. You cannot\nbe one with Nature, unless all your acts, thoughts, and feelings,\nsynchronize with the onward march of Nature. What is meant by a\nBrahmajnani being beyond the reach of Karma, can be realised only by\na man who has found out his exact position in harmony with the one\nLife in Nature; that man can see how a Brahmajnani can act only in\nunison with Nature, and never in discord with it.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo use the phraseology of old occult writers, the Brahmajnani is a\nreal co-worker with Nature.... Many have fallen into the error of\nsupposing that a human being can escape the operation of the law of\nKarma by adopting a condition of masterly inactivity, entirely\nlosing sight of the fact that even a rigid abstinence from physical\nacts does not produce inactivity on the higher astral and spiritual\nplanes.... Such a supposition is nothing short of a delusion....\nThere is a tendency in every department of Nature for an act to\nrepeat itself. The Karma acquired in the last preceding birth is\nalways trying to forge fresh links in the chain, and thereby lead to\ncontinued material existence. This tendency can only be counteracted\nby unselfishly performing all the duties pertaining to the sphere in\nwhich a person is born. Such a course can alone produce purification\nof the mind, without which the capacity of perceiving spiritual\ntruths can never be acquired.\u201d\n\nSuch a moral standard as this may be considered as the main working\nfactor in the existence of a Mahatma. He exists by, through, and in\nharmony, and, as Mahatma, is harmony itself. It is impossible to\ncarry these speculations further, for beyond the fact that these\nconsiderations are in analogy with the great law of nature, ordinary\nhuman intelligence can gain nothing from them. The Mahatma is a\nMahatma, and only those who have reached that supreme condition can\ndescribe it, and even then it is doubtful whether words would\nexpress it. The word Mahatma has been used with some hesitation, as\nit might possibly require an article of great length to give the\nleast idea of what it means. But some idea of the true position of\nthese exalted beings (known in India and Tibet by this name) may be\ngathered from the foregoing pages if any conception of the\nconnection of humanity with the law of Karma, and also of liberated\nhumanity with the law of harmony, can be obtained.\n\nIn the preceding pages especial reference has been made to the fact\nthat the Mahatma, as such, has no Karma, but it is by no means\nintended to convey the idea that all who enter Occultism, and even\nthose who have progressed a very long way on the Path of Life, are\nMahatmas. Nay, more! There are many of them who are very holy, and\neven exalted, beings, but who are still subject to the law of Karma,\nas applied to ordinary humanity. But they have acquired self-mastery\nto an extraordinary degree, and their whole attention is \u201cfixed on\nthe eternal.\u201d Thus, so far as they are concerned, they generate no\nnew Karma in the restricted sense, but only progress towards\nUniversal Harmony.\n\nTo put it shortly, they exhaust their old Karma of past lives, and\ndevote themselves to the production of Harmony.\n\nIt is important to bear this in mind when the attention is turned to\nthe Karmic condition of ordinary humanity. For we are at once\nbrought face to face with the old and much disputed question between\nfree-will and predestination.\n\nAt this point, therefore, it will be necessary to enter, at some\nlength, on this question, because it has been supposed that the idea\nof Karma is identical, or nearly so, with that of predestination.\nConsequently, it will be necessary to attempt a definition of what\nFree-will and Will are. Will, to the ordinary man, is known\naccording to his experience as the power to do or not to do an\naction. So far, he is perfectly right, but, as usual, man limits the\naction of his will to the physical plane, and takes no account of\neven the mental plane. Even if he does not commit an action, he\ncannot help thinking about it, because he has desired to do it\u2014even\nif he has repressed that desire. Nothing is more common than to hear\nanyone say, \u201cI can\u2019t help my likes and dislikes,\u201d or, in other\nwords, their attractions and repulsions, desires and the reverse.\nConsequently, until a man can control his desires, those desires\ncontrol his will, and, consequently, predestination appears to rule\nthe day. Thus we find that it is desire which impels man onward on\nhis course, and governs that course to a very large extent, and this\nis the principle which is at its highest development in mankind as a\nrule. Now if it be granted that the human personality\u2014a transient\nthing\u2014has been constituted by man\u2019s vanity as the centre of the\nUniverse, it is plain that the combination of this principle of\ndesire with the pronounced personality, will only serve to intensify\nthis personality and bind man fast to it. Man thus constituted is a\nprisoner, and, more often than not, is so attached to his prison\nthat he prefers to flutter his wings against the bars of his cage,\ninstead of endeavouring to escape. But are there any means of\nescape:\u2014it may be asked? Desire binds man fast to his personality,\nand intensifies one personality against another. Hence it is\nproductive of strife and discord, and militates strongly against the\nlaw of universal harmony, or Karma, in this aspect. Thus desire and\nKarma would seem to be in complete opposition, and desire cannot be\nsaid to be a consequence of Karma. But really this is a confusion of\nterms, for all this only exists in the world of effects and not in\nthat of causes. Desire is an effect of the accentuated personality,\nand in its turn produces that personality. This constitutes the\nprison, and the only means of escape from this prison of discord is\nthe endeavour to produce harmony in its place. Thus, therefore, we\nhave a definition of will as being not only that which represses a\ndesire, but also an emanation of the one divine principle, and\nproceeding from the divine in man. In one sense, this will, this\nharmonizer of the discord, is identical with Karma. As a\nconsequence, we can see that Karma produces punishment. That\npunishment arises from the fact that the assertion of both desire\nand will in any man makes him the battle-field of two opposing\nforces\u2014the desire to do anything, and thus gratify the desire, and\nthe will to repress it. Thus man must be a co-worker with nature and\nthe law of harmony. He has to repress the Typhonic principle of\ndesire and dissipate its energy. If he does not, it will bind him\nmore firmly to his \u201cpersonal centre,\u201d accentuate his punishment, and\nhang like a millstone round his neck in the shape of Karmic effects,\nwhich generate fresh tendencies and desires.\n\nThe real function of will is to promote harmony between man and the\ngreat law by repressing desire. Liberation from the _effects_ of\nKarma will come to the man who grasps his whole individuality firmly\n(not merely his personality), and, by the force of his awakened\n_spiritual_ will, recognises this individuality as not himself, but\nas a thing to use in passing beyond the life of the individuality.\n\nThus the direction of will should be towards realizing one\u2019s\naspirations, and so give man \u201ca glimpse into the eternal;\u201d the lower\nconsciousness will mirror these aspirations, even unconsciously to\nitself, and then itself aspires and is elevated if all is in accord.\n\nBut this is not free-will in the ordinary sense of the term; and it\ndoes not seem possible that such should exist in view of the ideas\nof Karmic effects and of reincarnation. It is in these two that lie\nall the objections to free-will, because too short a view has been\ntaken of human life. In the dim vistas of time, and the countless\nincarnations which have taken place in them, it will at once be seen\nthat the individual being has generated innumerable causes, the\neffects of which are still to be experienced. Thus it is free-will\nthat man has, but not in the ordinary sense; it is free-will limited\nby countless other free-wills around him\u2014limited too and\ncircumscribed by his own acts. Man makes himself a prisoner, and\nbelieves himself free. He is right in his belief in a measure, for\nin virtue of the will he is free\u2014to aspire and soar into the sublime\nheights of his own higher nature. He is a prisoner and predestined\nwhen he confines himself to his personality. Karma is at once his\ngaoler and his liberator, and the decision lies in the intensity of\nhis aspirations, and is therefore in his own hands. Thus from the\npersonal view predestination is true, but not from that of the\nspirit, which is free. From the latter view, and to a reasoning\nmind, the Calvinistic doctrine sounds little short of blasphemy. It\nis most certainly a contradiction in terms to speak of God as an\nall-wise, all-powerful and entirely just God, and then to speak of\npredestination as one of his laws, a law which, in face of the above\nqualities, and with that of mercy in addition, dooms countless\nmillions to an eternity of pain and suffering as punishment, and\nthat too before they are even born. When the apparent injustice of\nthe lives of men is viewed and argued, it is because men forget what\nthey have done in previous lives, in which they have violated the\nlaw in a very material direction, which leads them into these\npositions and from which they have to escape.\n\nThus the aspirations of man constitute that which sets man free, and\nwhich therefore represent his free-will. It is then well to\nendeavour to trace these aspirations in man with regard to Karma.\nThe second section of the third part of \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d speaks\non this point with no uncertain voice. The Occultist must pluck and\neat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and step on either the good\nor the evil path. And to do this knowingly produces great Karmic\nresults. The mass of men walk waveringly, uncertain as to their\ngoal, their standard of life is indefinite; the Occultist cannot be\nhalf-hearted, nor can he return when he has passed the threshold.\n\u201cThe individuality has approached the state of responsibility by\nreason of growth; it cannot recede from it.\u201d The one means of escape\nfrom Karma is for the Occultist to live in the Eternal. But below\nthis\u2014the threshold\u2014many men aspire. On this point, we may quote,\n\u201cFive Years of Theosophy,\u201d p. 226.\n\n\u201cThe unintelligent aspiration towards goodness propagates itself and\nleads to good lives in the future; the intelligent aspiration\npropagates itself in the same way, plus the propagation of\nintelligence; and this distinction shows the gulf of difference\nwhich may exist between the growth of a human soul, which merely\ndrifts along the stream of time, and that of one which is\nconsciously steered by an intelligent purpose throughout. The human\nEgo, which acquires the habit of seeking for knowledge, becomes\ninvested, life after life, with the qualifications which ensure the\nsuccess of such a search, until the final success, achieved at some\ncritical period of its existence, carries it right up into the\ncompany of those perfected Egos, which are the fully developed\nflowers only expected from a few of the thousand seeds.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow it is clear that a slight impulse in a given direction, even on\nthe physical plane, does not produce the same effect as a stronger\none; so exactly in this matter of engendering habits which are\nrequired to persist in their operation through a succession of lives\nit is quite obvious that the strong impulse of a very ardent\naspiration towards knowledge will be more likely than a weaker one\nto triumph over the so-called accidents of nature.\u201d\n\nThese considerations bring us to the question of those habits of\nlife which are more immediately associated with the pursuit of\noccult science. It will be quite plain that the generation within\nhis own nature of affinities in the direction of spiritual progress\nis a matter which has very little to do with the outer circumstances\nof a man\u2019s daily life. It cannot be dissociated from what may be\ncalled the outer circumstances of his moral life, for an occult\nstudent, whose moral nature is consciously ignoble, and who combines\nthe pursuit of knowledge with the practice of wrong, becomes by that\ncondition of things a student of sorcery rather than of true\nOccultism.\n\nThus so far traced Karma in one of its aspects is, \u201cthe ethical law\nof causation.\u201d This law descends in its action below the moral\nplane, and is observed as the law of compensation on the physical\nplane. Thus the physical, intellectual and emotional planes, are all\naffected by Karma. The key to the situation is the mind; and, as we\nhave seen, the liberation of the mind must be the most difficult\ntask. If the powers of the mind are concentrated on the attainment\nof the highest ideal, Karma has no basis in which to inhere and\nconsequently the tendency to commit actions from lower motives is\nannihilated. Even repentance, from this point of view, is a mistake,\nas it necessarily draws the mind back to the actions and motives\nrepented of. Consequently by the exertion of free will, in the\naspiration to realize the ideal, man becomes his own Saviour; and\nthe true way to do this is to look neither for reward nor\npunishment; to detach the mind from all considerations below that of\nthe spiritual life, and to live only in the Eternal.\n\n                                           ARCHIBALD KEIGHTLEY, M.B.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n  \u201cThe great watch-word of the True is this:\u2014in last analysis all\n  things are divine.\u201d\u2014(_Jasper Niemand in the \u201cPath\u201d_).\n\n                           A GHOST\u2019S REVENGE.\n\n                          (_Conclusion._)\n\nGaston paused at the entrance to the chamber, and even detected\nhimself in taking an involuntary step backwards, for the singular\nillusion was heightened by the circumstance that many of the figures\nwhich were suspended perpendicularly from the walls, and had fallen\na little forward, looked as though they were trying to let\nthemselves down. But the monk, nothing concerned, went stolidly on\ndown the long narrow chamber, which had other chambers, or\ncorridors, leading out of it in several directions. To speak more\ncorrectly, there was a series of vaults, branching several ways,\nsome of which were shut off from the rest by open-work screens or\ngates of wool.\n\nThe walls on either side were piled high with coffins, the greater\nnumber of which had one of their sides of glass, exposing to view\nthe hideous shrouded tenants. By whatever art it had been sought to\npreserve these bodies from decay, Nature had declared in every\ninstance that it should not be, and no ghastlier assemblage of\nmummified and mouldering corpses could have mocked the grief of the\nrelatives who should have given their dead to the grave. On the\nblackened and distorted faces of some, it was not difficult to read\na look of supplication which the parted and fleshless lips seemed\nstriving to translate in this way: \u201cTake us away from this dreadful\nplace and hide us in the decent earth.\u201d\n\nThey lay there, all of them, in their coffins, in wrappings of\nlinen, silk, and velvet; men, and women, and children, and little\ninfants; priests, nobles, merchants\u2014a world of dead ones; hundreds\nand thousands of them.\n\nUpon the faces of some, decay seemed working with a kind of\nfantastic cruelty: punching a hole in the cheek or forehead; pushing\none eye from its socket, and leaving the other; stripping the skin\nfrom one side of the face, and leaving it like a bit of wrinkled\nparchment on the other.\n\nSome were made to laugh from ear to ear; some had the corners of the\nmouth drawn down and the features twisted, as though pain haunted\nthem in death; others looked defiant, derisive, amazed, indignant.\nThe majesty of death had fled from all of them, mockery and shame\nhad come to take its place. The worms were being avenged on these\nwho should have gone to feed them. Silent and rotting, they had no\npart in either world; and shrinking continually within their\ncoffins, they cried mutely on decay to hasten his work, and give\nthem the boon of nothingness.\n\nAbove the line of coffins, on both sides of the chamber, hundreds of\nclothed and hooded creatures\u2014skeletons in all except the face, which\nfor the most part retained its covering of dried and tarnished\nskin\u2014were suspended from the walls. Each had a ticket pinned to its\ndress, bearing the name and the date of death.\n\nIt was these figures on the walls which gave the chamber its most\ndreadful aspect. Some were suspended by the neck, like suicides left\nthere for an example. Others in various gruesome fashions parodied\nthe attitudes of life. There was a grotesque group composed of three\nfigures which had tumbled together in such a manner that the two on\neither side appeared to whisper into the ears of the third. Some had\nthe neck awry, the head on one side, in a listening or questioning\nattitude; of others the head had sunk forward on the narrow breast.\nThe jaw of some had dropped, and protruded a row of teeth, with a\nsavage or jeering air.\n\nEvery variety of grimace and grin was shown on those appalling\nfaces; and as Gaston passed down the chamber fingers poked at him\nfrom gaping sleeves; he was laughed at, mocked at, scowled at; and\nwhen he looked behind him, all these skeletons were laughing,\nmocking, and scowling at one another. Many of the faces were little\nelse but grinning mouths, and to those whose mouths stood wide open\nhis imagination gave voices, so that the vaults seemed filled with\nthe cries and laughter of the dead.\n\nThe monk went steadily on in front of him, waving his candle to and\nfro; and as the smell was nauseate and oppressed the nostrils, he\nspat occasionally upon the floor.\n\nHis bit of candle burnt itself out before he had taken Gaston\ncompletely round, and he returned to fetch another, leaving Gaston\nin a corner of the vault where the light was a mere glimmer. Right\nopposite to him in this place was a massive coffin with rich\nchasings, whose grisly inmate was wrapped from head to foot in a\nmantle of black velvet. Every particle of flesh had melted from the\nface, the hair had fallen from the head, the eyeless sockets stared\nfrom the depths of the velvet hood. The skeleton was richly dight\nand finely housed; it was Death himself lying in state.\n\nThe monk came up with a fresh candle, and Gaston stooped down and\npeered into the coffin. Above the figure\u2019s head was affixed a\nminiature on ivory, which represented a young man in the first prime\nof life, of a refined and beautiful countenance. In the folds of the\nmantle a card had tumbled, and stooping lower, Gaston read on it the\nname of Udalrico Verga. There was a small round hole in the skull,\njust over the left temple.\n\n\u201c_Ucciso_, signor!\u201d (Murdered!) said the monk, behind him.\n\nThe Italian word sounded softly in the lips of the monk; but there\nwas the tell-tale hole in the forehead.\n\nThis then was the hero and the victim of that old tragedy; this was\nthe end of him! But for his punctured skull, he might have changed\nplaces with any of the least repulsive of his skeleton companions.\nBut his little bullet-hole marked him out from all of them.\nCuriously, the hood had slipped off from the left side of the skull,\nand as this was the side next to the spectator, the bullet-hole\ncompelled attention to itself at once.\n\nThe story of the murder which the baron had told to Gaston, and with\nwhich his thoughts had many times been occupied in the Villa\nTorcello, came before him again; and looking at the stark remains of\nthe victim of that forgotten crime, he felt a sudden and\nirresistible longing to know its secret. If he could win it from the\ncoffin there! But the grim rest within would be disturbed no more.\nAnd the young man pictured there beside the skeleton? Murder had no\nmeaning for him; he had not come to know it when he was pictured\nthus. The face impressed Gaston strangely. He looked at it long,\ntill he began to fancy that behind its delicate beauty he saw the\ntokens of a latent sensuality. But it was a face of singular\nsweetness, and if any evil were there, it existed only in the\ncolourless form of a suggestion.\n\nAnd the priest, who had died a suspect? Was _he_ here, and did death\nwhisper anything against him? No, the monk said; the priest was a\nnative of Syracuse, and after his death his body had been carried\nthere.\n\nGaston had seen enough; the chamber and its horrid tenants had given\nhim a sense of physical sickness; and, above all, some curious\nmalign influence seemed to issue from the coffin of Udalrico Verga,\nwhich was working its way into his brain.\n\nThe words of the Baron came into his mind: \u201cThey say the spirit\nhaunts the place, seeking some one to avenge the murder.\u201d\n\nPlacing a five-franc note in the hand of the monk, he left the\nchamber and the monastery at once; and entering the carriage, he was\ndriven home.\n\nBy morning he had shaken off the morbid effects of his visit to the\nCapucins\u2019; but his imagination had become the seat of a vague and\nindefinable oppression. This, at length, when analysed, resolved\nitself into a certain feeling of injury on account of Udalrico\nVerga. The wonderful amiableness, joined to an almost womanly\nbeauty, of the face he had seen imaged in the coffin, had touched\nhis sympathies; and now the memory of it began to lay hold on his\naffections. For what cause, and by whose hand, had the young\nUdalrico died so brutally?\n\nThe tale of the murder stuck in his mind; it possessed him; it would\nnot be dislodged. And the tale, though begun a whole generation\nsince, was still unfinished. It told that Verga had been murdered;\nbut who had murdered him?\n\nThis question uttered itself again and again; it grew importunate.\nOne evening in particular it became a kind of clamour in his ears;\nwhen, walking by moonlight in the garden of the villa, he was\nsuddenly conscious that a presence other than his own was with him.\nTurning about, he beheld vividly, at a distance from him of twelve\nor fifteen paces, the figure of a young and elegant man. The view of\nthis figure which his eyes took in, and the impression which it made\nupon his mind, were so distinct, that, but for a single\ncircumstance, he would have suspected nothing abnormal in the\nappearance. The features were those of Udalrico Verga.\n\nHis reason still urging him to reject the testimony of his sight,\nGaston advanced nearer to the figure. It remained motionless,\noutlined distinctly in the moonlight, on the path bordered by a row\nof pepper trees where the body of Verga had been found. Again Gaston\nwent forward; he could now by stretching out his hand almost have\ntouched the figure; his eyes looked straight into the eyes of the\nman whom he knew to have lain for thirty years in his coffin. While\ngazing fixedly and with fascination upon this creature from the\ngrave, which, though he knew it to be bodiless, seemed full real to\nhim, Gaston felt his senses being subdued; and, before he could\nexert will enough to repel an influence which flowed in upon him as\nit were waves of blinding light, he was rapt out of himself, and\nheld for the space of a minute or so in what is best described as a\nmagnetic sleep or trance. He remained upright and rigid; his brain a\nwhirl of excitement, with an accompanying painful consciousness; the\nbody of the emotion being a confused and very indefinite feeling of\nfear\u2014whether for himself or for some other person, he did not know.\nThis feeling becoming slightly more definite, he knew that the fear\nhe felt was not for himself, but for another; yet who that other\nwas, he could not tell. It was the same when a voice said plainly in\nhis ear, that what had been begun must be finished; the voice was\npiercing in its clearness, and he knew that it was the voice of one\ndear to him; but whose, he could not divine.\n\nThis curious sleep lasted, as I have said, for about a minute; and\nwhen Gaston awoke he was standing precisely as he had been when\nseized in the trance. He looked for the apparition; it was not\nthere. He moved to the path, placed himself on the very spot where,\nbut a minute before, the form in the likeness of Udalrico Verga had\nstood. There was nothing. He looked round him; from this path he\ncould see over the whole garden; it slept motionless in the\nmoonlight, and his was the only figure in it. Gaston returned to the\nhouse in a condition of extreme nervous excitement.\n\nIn this condition, and almost before he had reached the room in\nwhich he usually sat, the story of the murder was flashed in upon\nhis mind; he read it as plainly as if it were traced in English\ncharacters on the wall before him. Fancying himself still under some\nabnormous influence, which when it passed away would carry the story\nwith it, he at once sat down and committed an abstract of it to\npaper.\n\nAll that night, the story swam in his brain, and rising early next\nmorning, he resolved\u2014or rather was impelled\u2014to commence writing it\nimmediately. He did so, and in the full light of day the wraith of\nUdalrico Verga stood beside him, and he plainly saw it, during the\nwhole time his pen was at work. But the vision had no longer any\nweakening or retarding effect upon his brain; rather its effects\nwere quickening and coercive; and these effects increased, till it\nbecame a certainty to him that from the visible presence of the\nspirit of Verga he drew the main strength of his inspiration. The\nstory grew under his pen to an elaborate romance, upon which,\nsustained throughout by an elation of mind that allowed little\nrepose to the body, he was at work during many weeks.\n\nIn all this time, he never passed beyond the grounds of the villa,\nand when, by-and-bye, his face began to show marks of the mental and\nbodily stress to which his task subjected him, the peasant people of\nthe town, who saw him walking in the garden sometimes of an evening,\nused to say:\n\n\u201cThere is the English signor who went to live in the Villa Torcello\neleven weeks ago; he used to go out every day, but it is nine weeks\nsince he passed the gate. He cannot get out any more. He has seen\nthe ghost of the Signor Verga, and it keeps him there. He grows like\na ghost himself.\u201d\n\nBut the story was finished at length, and Gaston sent the manuscript\nto his publishers in London. The ghost of Verga, which had remained\nvisibly before him during the whole period of composition, vanished\non the day the work was ended, and was never seen by him again. He\nwent out every day as he had done formerly, and exercise brought\nback the colour to his face, and restored the tone of his mind. At\nthis time he thought no more about the story than that it was a\nstrange one, which had come to him in a strange manner, and that it\nought to bring him the fame in fiction which he coveted.\n\nA letter from Sir Selwyn, in which he said that he was on the point\nof starting for home, determined Gaston to return thither at once,\nthat he might have everything in readiness for his father\u2019s coming.\n\nOn the evening before his departure, while sorting a bundle of\npapers, he came upon a portion of manuscript of his story which he\nremembered having set aside as needing to be re-cast. He took it up\nand began to read it.\n\nThe tragedy which formed the climax of the romance, had this\nfeature, that the man who was murdered had (unconsciously, and by a\nsingular operation of fate) planned his own death in planning that\nof the friend whom he falsely believed to have betrayed him in love.\nThe chapter upon which Gaston had lighted, was devoted to a minute\nanalysis of the character of the man whom blind force of\ncircumstance had driven to an act of murder which his affection for\nits victim had rendered abhorrent in the highest degree.\n\nSo remote from the ordinary had been the conditions under which the\nstory was composed, and so small (it had seemed to Gaston) was the\nshare of its inspiration which his own brain could claim, that now,\nwithin a few weeks of its composition, he read it almost as the work\nof another.\n\nThis exotic notion, that his own was not his own, deepened as he\nread further into the chapter, for something was there which\ndisquieted him. Some shadowy unembodied likeness, and yet no\nlikeness, but a faint whispering of resemblance; some voiceless hint\nthat was but the failure of an echo. He turned back, and read again.\nIt was not there, he had deceived himself. He shut the page, his\nmind at ease.\n\nIn a week from this time, he was home again, awaiting the coming of\nhis father. Sir Selwyn landed in England a month later, and Gaston,\nwho received him at the vessel\u2019s side, was shocked at his\nappearance. Sir Selwyn\u2019s handsome face seemed not so much to have\naged as to have withered; the body, too, was shrunken, and\ndesiccated, as though the vital fluids were exhausted. The nervous\nirritation of manner which had characterised an earlier stage of the\ndisease, had given way to a species of torpor, in which even speech\nseemed an effort. It was the mental and bodily paralysis of\nmelancholia in its acutest form.\n\nThe journey home was a sad one. What little Sir Selwyn said, told\nthe story of the renewal of his sufferings, which dated from the day\nthat he had written to Gaston of his intention to return to England.\n\u201cBut I am persuaded,\u201d he said in conclusion, \u201cthat it draws near the\nend.\u201d\n\nStrangely enough, however, as Gaston thought, and quite contrary to\nhis expectations, the sight of his beautiful home revived Sir\nSelwyn\u2019s spirits. They dined together, and the baronet showed a\nbrighter face over his wine. He sent for his bailiff, and spent an\nhour or more discussing the affairs of his estate. Afterwards, he\nwalked with Gaston through the gardens and park, and began, for the\nfirst time, to talk of his travels. Then he questioned Gaston about\nhis Italian tour, and said:\n\n\u201cWhat did you do with yourself all those weeks in Palermo? You\nmentioned no writing; but I am sure your pen was not idle so long.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Gaston. \u201cI wrote a famous story there. I did not mean to\ntell you of it until it was published. It was to be a surprise, for\nthis is the book that is to make me famous.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome, that sounds well!\u201d said Sir Selwyn. \u201cBut you are beginning to\nbe famous already. What could have been better than the reviews of\nyour last book which you sent me?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but this one will do twice as much for me!\u201d laughed Gaston.\n\n\u201cI am glad you feel that. No one could be more delighted than I am\nto hear it. Have you dedicated it to me, Gaston?\u201d\n\n\u201cOtherwise, my dear father, it would be no book of mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, Gaston. You know how dear your fame is to me.\u201d\n\nIn another month, during which Sir Selwyn\u2019s health, with some\nfluctuations, had shown, on the whole, a disposition towards\nimprovement, Gaston\u2019s romance was published.\n\nOn the day on which some copies were forwarded to him from the\npublishers, he had gone on business to the neighbouring town, and\ndid not return until late in the evening.\n\nSir Selwyn\u2019s valet, an old and devoted servant who had been with his\nmaster for many years, met him at the door, pale, and terrified.\n\n\u201cSir Selwyn has been taken strangely ill, sir,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\nnone of us tell what is the matter with him. He rang his bell an\nhour ago, and when I went upstairs he was looking like a ghost,\nsitting up quite stiff in his arm-chair, with one of your new books\nin his hand. It seemed like a dead man speaking when he asked how\nsoon you could return, and said that no doctor was to be sent for.\nHe would not let me stay with him either, and, indeed, though I\u2019ve\nknown Sir Selwyn these forty years, I believe I should have been\nalmost afraid to do so sir, he looked so terrible. I remained close\noutside; but there\u2019s not been a sound in his room ever since, sir.\u201d\n\nFears which, even in thought, he dared not shape, came like a wave\nupon Gaston, as he hurried to his father\u2019s room.\n\nDeath, or his image, sat there, in Sir Selwyn\u2019s chair; or rather,\nthe baronet\u2019s aspect, as Gaston beheld him, grey and rigid, was like\nthe phantom Life-in-Death; as though a corpse had been galvanised\nfor a moment into a ghastly appearance of life. The jaw had begun to\nfall and the eyes were large and glassy; but the regular rising and\nfalling of the breast showed that mechanical life was not yet\nextinct. Open on the ground beside Sir Selwyn lay Gaston\u2019s new\nromance.\n\nThe spirit had all but taken its departure; but when Gaston bent\nover his father and pleaded for recognition, there was a faint\ntwitching of the brow, and a half-convulsive movement of the whole\nbody, as though the spirit were trying to force an entrance again;\nand Sir Selwyn, by an effort, fixed his eyes on his son\u2019s face. His\nvoice struggled in his throat, and he said, with a pause between\nevery word:\n\n\u201cWhen I knelt beside him\u2014for I still loved him\u2014he said: \u2018You have\nkilled me, but I will never leave you, and one day I will come back\nfrom the grave and kill _you_\u2019 He has kept his word. This is not\nyour book, Gaston, _it-is-Udalrico\u2019s_. This is my\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\nThe voice stopped. Sir Selwyn was dead. The Ghost of Udalrico Verga\nwas avenged.\n\n                                                      TIGHE HOPKINS.\n\n                          THE ORIGIN OF EVIL.\n\nThe problem of the origin of evil can be philosophically approached\nonly if the archaic Indian formula is taken as the basis of the\nargument. Ancient wisdom alone solves the presence of the universal\nfiend in a satisfactory way. It attributes the birth of Kosmos and\nthe evolution of life to the breaking asunder of primordial,\nmanifested UNITY, into plurality, or the great illusion of form.\nHOMOGENEITY having transformed itself into Heterogeneity, contrasts\nhave naturally been created: hence sprang what we call EVIL, which\nthenceforward reigned supreme in this \u201cVale of Tears.\u201d\n\nMaterialistic Western philosophy (so mis-named) has not failed to\nprofit by this grand metaphysical tenet. Even physical Science, with\nChemistry at its head, has turned its attention of late to the first\nproposition, and directs its efforts toward proving on irrefutable\ndata the homogeneity of primordial matter. But now steps in\nmaterialistic Pessimism, a teaching which is neither philosophy nor\nscience, but only a deluge of meaningless words. Pessimism, in its\nlatest development, having ceased to be pantheistic, and having\nwedded itself to materialism, prepares to make capital out of the\nold Indian formula. But the atheistic pessimist soars no higher than\nthe terrestrial homogeneous plasm of the Darwinists. For him the\n_ultima thule_ is earth and matter, and he sees, beyond the _prima\nmateria_, only an ugly void, an empty nothingness. Some of the\npessimists attempt to poetize their idea after the manner of the\nwhitened sepulchres, or the Mexican corpses, whose ghastly cheeks\nand lips are thickly covered with rouge. The decay of matter pierces\nthrough the mask of seeming life, all efforts to the contrary\nnotwithstanding.\n\nMaterialism patronises Indian metaphora and imagery now. In a new\nwork upon the subject by Dr. Mainl\u00e4nder, \u201cPessimism and Progress,\u201d\none learns that Indian Pantheism and German Pessimism are\n_identical_; and that it is the breaking up of homogeneous matter\ninto heterogeneous material, the transition from uniformity to\nmultiformity, which resulted in so unhappy a universe. Saith\nPessimism:\u2014\n\n  \u201cThis (transition) is precisely the original mistake, the\n  _primordial sin_, which the whole creation has now to expiate by\n  heavy suffering; it is just that _sin_, which, having launched\n  into existence all that lives, plunged it thereby into the abysmal\n  depths of evil and misery, to escape from which there is but one\n  means possible, _i.e._, by putting _an end to being itself_.\u201d\n\nThis interpretation of the Eastern formula, attributing to it the\nfirst idea of escaping the misery of life by \u201cputting an end to\nbeing\u201d\u2014whether that being is viewed as applicable to the whole\nKosmos, or only to individual life\u2014is a gross misconception. The\nEastern pantheist, whose philosophy teaches him to discriminate\nbetween Being or ESSE and conditioned existence, would hardly\nindulge in so absurd an idea as the postulation of such an\nalternative. He knows he can put an end to _form_ alone, not to\n_being_\u2014and that only on this plane of terrestrial illusion. True,\nhe knows that by killing out in himself _Tanha_ (the unsatisfied\ndesire for existence, or the \u201c_will_ to live\u201d)\u2014he will thus\ngradually escape the curse of re-birth and _conditioned_ existence.\nBut he knows also that he cannot kill or \u201cput an end,\u201d even to his\nown little life except as a personality, which after all is but a\nchange of dress. And believing but in One Reality, which is eternal\n_Be-ness_, the \u201c_causeless_ CAUSE\u201d from which he has exiled himself\nunto a world of forms, he regards the temporary and progressing\nmanifestations of it in the state of _Maya_ (change or illusion), as\nthe greatest evil, truly; but at the same time as a process in\nnature, as unavoidable as are the pangs of birth. It is the only\nmeans by which he can pass from limited and conditioned lives of\nsorrow into eternal life, or into that absolute \u201cBe-ness,\u201d which is\nso graphically expressed in the Sanskrit word _sat_.\n\nThe \u201cPessimism\u201d of the Hindu or Buddhist Pantheist is metaphysical,\nabstruse, and philosophical. The idea that matter and its Protean\nmanifestations are the source and origin of universal evil and\nsorrow is a very old one, though Gautama Buddha was the first to\ngive to it its definite expression. But the great Indian Reformer\nassuredly never meant to make of it a handle for the modern\npessimist to get hold of, or a peg for the materialist to hang his\ndistorted and pernicious tenets upon! The Sage and Philosopher, who\nsacrificed himself for Humanity by _living for it, in order to save\nit_, by teaching men to see in the sensuous existence of matter\nmisery alone, had never in his deep philosophical mind any idea of\noffering a premium for suicide; his efforts were to release mankind\nfrom too strong an attachment to life, which is the chief cause of\nSelfishness\u2014hence the creator of mutual pain and suffering. In his\npersonal case, Buddha left us an example of fortitude to follow: in\nliving, not in running away from life. His doctrine shows evil\nimmanent, _not in matter_ which is eternal, but in the illusions\ncreated by it: through the changes and transformations of matter\ngenerating life\u2014because these changes are conditioned and such life\nis ephemeral. At the same time those evils are shown to be not only\nunavoidable, but necessary. For if we would discern good from evil,\nlight from darkness, and appreciate the former, we can do so only\nthrough the contrasts between the two. While Buddha\u2019s philosophy\npoints, in its dead-letter meaning, only to the dark side of things\non this illusive plane; its esotericism, the hidden soul of it,\ndraws the veil aside and reveals to the Arhat all the glories of\nLIFE ETERNAL in _all the Homogeneousness of Consciousness and\nBeing_. Another absurdity, no doubt, in the eyes of materialistic\nscience and even modern Idealism, yet a _fact_ to the Sage and\nesoteric Pantheist.\n\nNevertheless, the root idea that evil is born and generated by the\never increasing complications of the homogeneous material, which\nenters into form and differentiates more and more as that form\nbecomes physically more perfect, has an esoteric side to it which\nseems to have never occurred to the modern pessimist. Its\ndead-letter aspect, however, became the subject of speculation with\nevery ancient thinking nation. Even in India the primitive thought,\nunderlying the formula already cited, has been disfigured by\nSectarianism, and has led to the ritualistic, purely dogmatic\nobservances of the _Hatha Yogis_, in contradistinction to the\nphilosophical Vedantic _Raja Yoga_. Pagan and Christian exoteric\nspeculation, and even medi\u00e6val monastic asceticism, have extracted\nall they could from the originally noble idea, and made it\nsubservient to their narrow-minded sectarian views. Their false\nconceptions of matter have led the Christians from the earliest day\nto identify woman with Evil and matter\u2014notwithstanding the worship\npaid by the Roman Catholic Church to the Virgin.\n\nBut the latest application of the misunderstood Indian formula by\nthe Pessimists in Germany is quite original, and rather unexpected,\nas we shall see. To draw any analogy between a highly metaphysical\nteaching, and Darwin\u2019s theory of physical evolution would, in\nitself, seem rather a hopeless task. The more so as the theory of\nnatural selection does not preach any conceivable extermination of\n_being_, but, on the contrary, a continuous and ever increasing\ndevelopment of _life_. Nevertheless, German ingenuity has contrived,\nby means of scientific paradoxes and much sophistry, to give it a\nsemblance of philosophical truth. The old Indian tenet itself has\nnot escaped litigation at the hands of modern pessimism. The happy\ndiscoverer of the theory, that the origin of evil dates from the\nprotoplasmic _Am\u0153ba_, which divided itself for procreation, and thus\nlost its immaculate homogeneity, has laid claim to the Aryan archaic\nformula in his new volume. While extolling its philosophy and the\ndepth of ancient conceptions, he declares that it ought to be viewed\n\u201cas the most profound truth _precogitated_ and _robbed_ by the\nancient sages from modern thought\u201d!!\n\nIt thus follows that the deeply religious Pantheism of the Hindu and\nBuddhist philosopher, and the occasional vagaries of the pessimistic\nmaterialist, are placed on the same level and identified by \u201cmodern\nthought.\u201d The impassable chasm between the two is ignored. It\nmatters little, it seems, that the Pantheist, recognising no reality\nin the manifested Kosmos, and regarding it as a simple illusion of\nhis senses, has to view his own existence also as only a bundle of\nillusions. When, therefore, he speaks of the means of escaping from\nthe sufferings of objective life, his view of those sufferings, and\nhis motive for putting an end to existence are entirely different\nfrom those of the pessimistic materialist. For him, pain as well as\nsorrow are illusions, due to attachment to this life, and ignorance.\nTherefore he strives after eternal, changeless life, and absolute\nconsciousness in the state of Nirvana; whereas the European\npessimist, taking the \u201cevils\u201d of life as _realities_, aspires when\nhe has the time to aspire after anything except those said mundane\n_realities_, to annihilation of \u201cbeing,\u201d as he expresses it. For the\nphilosopher there is but one real life, _Nirvanic bliss_, which is a\nstate differing in kind, not in degree only, from that of any of the\nplanes of consciousness in the manifested universe. The Pessimist\ncalls \u201cNirvana\u201d superstition, and explains it as \u201ccessation of\nlife,\u201d life for him beginning and ending on earth. The former\nignores in his spiritual aspirations even the integral homogeneous\nunit, of which the German Pessimist now makes such capital. He knows\nof, and believes in only the direct cause of that unit, eternal and\n_ever living, because the ONE uncreated_, or rather not evoluted.\nHence all his efforts are directed toward the speediest reunion\npossible with, and return to his _pre_-primordial condition, after\nhis pilgrimage through this illusive series of visionary lives, with\ntheir unreal phantasmagoria of sensuous perceptions.\n\nSuch pantheism can be qualified as \u201cpessimistic\u201d only by a believer\nin a personal Providence; by one who contrasts its negation of the\nreality of anything \u201ccreated\u201d\u2014_i.e._ conditioned and limited\u2014with\nhis own blind and unphilosophical faith. The Oriental mind does not\nbusy itself with extracting evil from every radical law and\nmanifestation of life, and multiplying every phenomenal quantity by\nthe units of very often imaginary evils: the Eastern Pantheist\nsimply submits to the inevitable, and tries to blot out from his\npath in life as many \u201cdescents into rebirth\u201d as he can, by avoiding\nthe creation of new _Karmic_ causes. The Buddhist philosopher knows\nthat the duration of the series of lives of every human being\u2014unless\nhe reaches Nirvana \u201cartificially\u201d (\u201ctakes the kingdom of God by\nviolence,\u201d in Kabalistic parlance), is given, allegorically, in the\n_forty-nine days_ passed by Gautama the Buddha under the Bo-tree.\nAnd the Hindu sage is aware, in his turn, that he has to light the\n_first_, and extinguish the _forty-ninth fire_[23] before he reaches\nhis final deliverance. Knowing this, both sage and philosopher wait\npatiently for the natural hour of deliverance; whereas their unlucky\ncopyist, the European Pessimist, is ever ready to commit, as to\npreach, suicide. Ignorant of the numberless heads of the hydra of\nexistences he is incapable of feeling the same philosophical scorn\nfor life as he does for death, and of, thereby, following the wise\nexample given him by his Oriental brother.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n  This is an esoteric tenet, and the general reader will not make\n  much out of it. But the Theosophist who has read \u201cEsoteric\n  Buddhism\u201d may compute the 7 by 7 of the _forty-nine_ \u201cdays,\u201d and\n  the _forty-nine_ \u201cfires,\u201d and understand that the allegory refers\n  esoterically to the seven human consecutive root-races with their\n  seven subdivisions. Every monad is born in the first and obtains\n  deliverance in the last seventh race. Only a \u201cBuddha\u201d is shown\n  reaching it during the course of one life.\n\n-----\n\nThus, philosophical pantheism is very different from modern\npessimism. The first is based upon the correct understanding of the\nmysteries of being; the latter is in reality only one more system of\nevil added by unhealthy fancy to the already large sum of real\nsocial evils. In sober truth it is no philosophy, but simply a\nsystematic slander of life and being; the bilious utterances of a\ndyspeptic or an incurable hypochondriac. No parallel can ever be\nattempted between the two systems of thought.\n\nThe seeds of evil and sorrow were indeed the earliest result and\nconsequence of the heterogeneity of the manifested universe. Still\nthey are but an illusion produced by the law of contrasts, which, as\ndescribed, is a fundamental law in nature. Neither good nor evil\nwould exist were it not for the light they mutually throw on each\nother. _Being_, under whatever form, having been observed from the\nWorld\u2019s creation to offer these contrasts, and evil predominating in\nthe universe owing to _Ego_-ship or selfishness, the rich Oriental\nmetaphor has pointed to existence as expiating the mistake of\nnature; and the human soul (ps\u00fcche), was henceforth regarded as the\nscapegoat and victim of _unconscious_ OVER-SOUL. But it is not to\nPessimism, but to Wisdom that it gave birth. Ignorance alone is the\nwilling martyr, but knowledge is the master of natural Pessimism.\nGradually, and by the process of heredity or _atavism_, the latter\nbecame innate in man. It is always present in us, howsoever latent\nand silent its voice in the beginning. Amid the early joys of\nexistence, when we are still full of the vital energies of youth, we\nare yet apt, each of us, at the first pang of sorrow, after a\nfailure, or at the sudden appearance of a black cloud, to accuse\n_life_ of it; to feel _life_ a burden, and often to curse our being.\nThis shows pessimism in our blood, but at the same time the presence\nof the fruits of ignorance. As mankind multiplies, and with it\nsuffering\u2014which is the natural result of an increasing number of\nunits that generate it\u2014sorrow and pain are intensified. We live in\nan atmosphere of gloom and despair, but this is because our eyes are\ndowncast and rivetted to the earth, with all its physical and\ngrossly material manifestations. If, instead of that, man proceeding\non his life-journey looked\u2014not heavenward, which is but a figure of\nspeech\u2014but _within himself_ and centred his point of observation on\nthe _inner_ man, he would soon escape from the coils of the great\nserpent of illusion. From the cradle to the grave, his life would\nthen become supportable and worth living, even in its worst phases.\n\nPessimism\u2014that chronic suspicion of lurking evil everywhere\u2014is thus\nof a two-fold nature, and brings fruits of two kinds. It is a\nnatural characteristic in physical man, and becomes a curse only to\nthe ignorant. It is a boon to the spiritual; inasmuch as it makes\nthe latter turn into the right path, and brings him to the discovery\nof another as fundamental a truth; namely, that all in this world is\nonly _preparatory_ because transitory. It is like a chink in the\ndark prison walls of earth-life, through which breaks in a ray of\nlight from the eternal home, which, illuminating the _inner_ senses,\nwhispers to the prisoner in his shell of clay of the origin and the\ndual mystery of our being. At the same time, it is a tacit proof of\nthe presence in man of that _which knows, without being told_,\nviz:\u2014that there is another and a better life, once that the curse of\nearth-lives is lived through.\n\nThis explanation of the problem and origin of evil being, as already\nsaid, of an entirely metaphysical character, has nothing to do with\nphysical laws. Belonging as it does altogether to the spiritual part\nof man, to dabble with it superficially is, therefore, far more\ndangerous than to remain ignorant of it. For, as it lies at the very\nroot of Gautama Buddha\u2019s ethics, and since it has now fallen into\nthe hands of the modern Philistines of materialism, to confuse the\ntwo systems of \u201cpessimistic\u201d thought can lead but to mental suicide,\nif it does not lead to worse.\n\nEastern wisdom teaches that spirit has to pass through the ordeal of\nincarnation and life, and be baptised with matter before it can\nreach experience and knowledge. After which only it receives the\nbaptism of soul, or self-consciousness, and may return to its\noriginal condition of a god, _plus_ experience, ending with\nomniscience. In other words, it can return to the original state of\nthe homogeneity of primordial essence only through the addition of\nthe fruitage of Karma, which alone is able to create an absolute\n_conscious_ deity, removed but one degree from the absolute ALL.\n\nEven according to the letter of the Bible, evil must have existed\nbefore Adam and Eve, who, therefore, are innocent of the slander of\nthe original sin. For, had there been no evil or sin before them,\nthere could exist neither tempting Serpent nor a Tree of Knowledge\nof _good and evil_ in Eden. The characteristics of that apple-tree\nare shown in the verse when the couple had tasted of its fruit: \u201cThe\neyes of them both were opened, and _they knew_\u201d many things besides\nknowing they were naked. Too much knowledge about things of matter\nis thus rightly shown an evil.\n\nBut so it is, and it is our duty to examine and combat the new\npernicious theory. Hitherto, pessimism was kept in the regions of\nphilosophy and metaphysics, and showed no pretensions to intrude\ninto the domain of purely physical science, such as Darwinism. The\ntheory of evolution has become almost universal now, and there is no\nschool (save the Sunday and missionary schools) where it is not\ntaught, with more or less modifications from the original programme.\nOn the other hand, there is no other teaching more abused and taken\nadvantage of than evolution, especially by the application of its\nfundamental laws to the solution of the most compound and abstract\nproblems of man\u2019s many sided existence. There, where psychology and\neven philosophy \u201cfear to tread,\u201d materialistic biology applies its\nsledge-hammer of superficial analogies, and prejudged conclusions.\nWorse than all, claiming man to be only a higher animal, it\nmaintains this right as undeniably pertaining to the domain of the\nscience of evolution. Paradoxes in those \u201cdomains\u201d do not rain now,\nthey pour. As \u201cman is the measure of all things,\u201d therefore is man\nmeasured and analyzed by the animal. One German materialist claims\nspiritual and psychic evolution as the lawful property of physiology\nand biology; the mysteries of embryology and zoology alone, it is\nsaid, being capable of solving those of consciousness in man and the\norigin of his soul.[24] Another finds justification for suicide in\nthe example of animals, who, when tired of living, put an end to\nexistence by starvation.[25]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n  Haeckel.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n  Leo Bach.\n\n-----\n\nHitherto pessimism, notwithstanding the abundance and brilliancy of\nits paradoxes, had a weak point\u2014namely, the absence of any real and\nevident basis for it to rest upon. Its followers had no living,\nguiding thought to serve them as a beacon and help them to steer\nclear of the sandbanks of life\u2014real and imaginary\u2014so profusely sown\nby themselves in the shape of denunciations against life and being.\nAll they could do was to rely upon their representatives, who\noccupied their time very ingeniously if not profitably, in tacking\nthe many and various evils of life to the metaphysical propositions\nof great German thinkers, like Schopenhauer and Hartmann, as small\nboys tack on coloured tails to the kites of their elders and rejoice\nat seeing them launched in the air. But now the programme will be\nchanged. The Pessimists have found something more solid and\nauthoritative, if less philosophical, to tack their jeremiads and\ndirges to, than the metaphysical _kites_ of Schopenhauer. The day\nwhen they agreed with the views of this philosopher, which pointed\nat the Universal WILL as the perpetrator of all the World-evil, is\ngone to return no more. Nor will they be any better satisfied with\nthe hazy \u201cUnconscious\u201d of von Hartmann. They have been seeking\ndiligently for a more congenial and less metaphysical soil to build\ntheir pessimistic _philosophy_ upon, and they have been rewarded\nwith success, now that the cause of Universal Suffering has been\ndiscovered by them in the fundamental laws of physical development.\nEvil will no longer be allied with the misty and uncertain Phantom\ncalled \u201cWILL,\u201d but with an actual and obvious fact: the Pessimists\nwill henceforth be towed by the Evolutionists.\n\nThe basic argument of their representative has been given in the\nopening sentence of this article. The Universe and all on it\nappeared in consequence of the \u201cbreaking asunder of UNITY into\n_Plurality_.\u201d This rather dim rendering of the Indian formula is not\nmade to refer, as I have shown, in the mind of the Pessimist, to the\none Unity, to the Vedantin abstraction\u2014Parabrahm: otherwise, I\nshould not certainly have used the words \u201cbreaking up.\u201d Nor does it\nconcern itself much with Mulaprakriti, or the \u201cVeil\u201d of Parabrahm;\nnor even with the first manifested primordial matter, except\ninferentially, as follows from Dr. Mainl\u00e4nder\u2019s exposition, but\nchiefly with terrestrial _protoplasm_. Spirit or deity is entirely\nignored in this case; evidently because of the necessity for showing\nthe whole as \u201cthe lawful domain of physical Science.\u201d\n\nIn short, the time-honoured formula is claimed to have its basis and\nto find its justification in the theory that from \u201ca few, perhaps\none, single form of the very simplest nature\u201d (Darwin), \u201call the\ndifferent animals and plants living to-day, and all the organisms\nthat have ever lived on the earth,\u201d have gradually developed. It is\nthis axiom of Science, we are told, which justifies and demonstrates\nthe Hindu philosophical tenet. What is this axiom? Why, it is this:\nScience teaches that the series of transformations through which the\nseed is made to pass\u2014the seed that grows into a tree, or becomes an\n_ovum_, or that which develops into an animal\u2014consists in every case\nin nothing but the passage of the fabric of that seed, from the\nhomogeneous into the heterogeneous or compound form. This is then\nthe scientific verity which checks the Indian formula by that of the\nEvolutionists, identifies both, and thus exalts ancient wisdom by\nrecognizing it worthy of modern materialistic thought.\n\nThis philosophical formula is not simply corroborated by the\nindividual growth and development of isolated species, explains our\nPessimist; but it is demonstrated in general as in detail. It is\nshown justified in the evolution and growth of the Universe as well\nas in that of our planet. In short, the birth, growth and\ndevelopment of the whole organic world in its integral totality, are\nthere to demonstrate ancient wisdom. From the universals down to the\nparticulars, the organic world is discovered to be subject to the\nsame law of ever increasing elaboration, of the transition from\nunity to plurality as \u201cthe fundamental formula of the evolution of\nlife.\u201d Even the growth of nations, of social life, public\ninstitutions, the development of the languages, arts and sciences,\nall this follows inevitably and fatally the all-embracing law of\n\u201cthe breaking asunder of unity into plurality, and the passage of\nthe homogeneous into multiformity.\u201d\n\nBut while following Indian wisdom, our author exaggerates this\nfundamental law in his own way, and distorts it. He brings this\nlaw to bear even on the historical destinies of mankind. He makes\nthese destinies subservient to, and a proof of, the correctness of\nthe Indian conception. He maintains that humanity as an integral\nwhole, in proportion as it develops and progresses in its\nevolution, and separates in its parts\u2014each becoming a distinct and\nindependent branch of the unit\u2014drifts more and more away from its\noriginal healthy, harmonious unity. The complications of social\nestablishment, social relations, as those of individuality, all\nlead to the weakening of the vital power, the relaxation of the\nenergy of feeling, and to the destruction of that integral unity,\nwithout which no inner harmony is possible. The absence of that\nharmony generates an inner discord which becomes the cause of the\ngreatest mental misery. Evil has its roots in the very nature of\nthe evolution of life and its complications. Every one of its\nsteps forward is at the same time a step taken toward the\ndissolution of its energy, and leads to passive apathy. Such is\nthe inevitable result, he says, of every progressive complication\nof life; because evolution or development is a transition from the\nhomogeneous to the heterogeneous, a scattering of the whole into\nthe many, etc. etc. This terrible law is universal and applies to\nall creation, from the infinitesimally small up to man for, as he\nsays, it is a fundamental law of nature.\n\nNow, it is just in this one-sided view of physical nature, which the\nGerman author accepts without one single thought as to its spiritual\nand psychic aspect, that his school is doomed to certain failure. It\nis not a question whether the said law of differentiation and its\nfatal consequences may or may not apply, in certain cases, to the\ngrowth and development of the animal species, and even of man; but\nsimply, since it is the basis and main support of the whole new\ntheory of the Pessimistic school, whether it is really a _universal_\nand fundamental law? We want to know whether this basic formula of\nevolution embraces the whole process of development and growth in\nits entirety; and whether, indeed, it is within the domain of\nphysical science or not. If it is \u201cnothing else than the transition\nfrom the homogeneous state to the heterogeneous,\u201d as says\nMainl\u00e4nder, then it remains to be proved that the given process\n\u201cproduces that complicated combination of tissues and organs which\nforms and completes the perfect animal and plant.\u201d\n\nAs remarked already by some critics on \u201cPessimism and Progress,\u201d the\nGerman Pessimist does not doubt it for one moment. His supposed\ndiscovery and teaching \u201crest wholly on his certitude that\ndevelopment and the fundamental law of the complicated process of\norganization represent but one thing: the transformation of unity\ninto plurality.\u201d Hence the identification of the process with\ndissolution and decay, and the weakening of all the forces and\nenergies. Mainl\u00e4nder would be right in his analogies were this law\nof the differentiation of the homogeneous into the heterogeneous to\nreally represent the fundamental law of the evolution of life. But\nthe idea is quite erroneous\u2014metaphysically as well as physically.\nEvolution does not proceed in a straight line; _no more_ than any\nother process in nature, but journeys on _cyclically_, as does all\nthe rest. The cyclic serpents swallow their tails like the Serpent\nof Eternity. And it is in this that the Indian formula, which is a\nSecret Doctrine teaching, is indeed corroborated by the natural\nSciences, and especially by biology.\n\nThis is what we read in the \u201cScientific Letters\u201d by an anonymous\nRussian author and critic.\n\n  \u201cIn the evolution of isolated individuals, in the evolution of the\n  organic world, in that of the Universe, as in the growth and\n  development of our planet\u2014in short wherever any of the processes\n  of progressive complexity take place, there we find, apart from\n  the transition from unity to plurality, and homogeneity to\n  heterogeneity a _converse transformation\u2014the transition from\n  plurality to unity, from the heterogeneous to the homogeneous_....\n  Minute observation of the given process of progressive complexity\n  has shown, that what takes place in it is not alone the separation\n  of parts, but also their mutual absorption.... While one portion\n  of the cells merge into each other and unite into one uniform\n  whole, forming muscular fibres, muscular tissue, others are\n  absorbed in the bone and nerve tissues, etc. etc. The same takes\n  place in the formation of plants....\u201d\n\nIn this case material nature repeats the law that acts in the\nevolution of the psychic and the spiritual: both descend but to\nre-ascend and merge at the starting-point. _The homogeneous\nformative mass or element differentiated in its parts, is gradually\ntransformed into the heterogeneous; then, merging those parts into a\nharmonious whole, it recommences a converse process, or\nreinvolution, and returns as gradually into its primitive or\nprimordial state._\n\nNor does Pessimism find any better support in pure Materialism, as\nhitherto the latter has been tinged with a decidedly optimistic\nbias. Its leading advocates have, indeed, never hesitated to sneer\nat the theological adoration of the \u201cglory of God and all his\nworks.\u201d B\u00fcchner flings a taunt at the pantheist who sees in so \u201cmad\nand bad\u201d a world the manifestation of the Absolute. But, on the\nwhole, the materialists admit a balance of good over evil, perhaps\nas a buffer against any \u201csuperstitious\u201d tendency to look out and\nhope for a better one. Narrow as is their outlook, and limited as is\ntheir spiritual horizon, they yet see no cause to despair of the\ndrift of things in general. The _pantheistic_ pessimists, however,\nhave never ceased to urge that a despair of conscious being is the\nonly legitimate outcome of atheistic negation. This opinion is, of\ncourse, axiomatic, or ought to be so. If \u201cin this life only is there\nhope,\u201d the tragedy of life is absolutely without any _raison d\u2019\u00eatre_\nand a perpetuation of the drama is as foolish as it is futile.\n\nThe fact that the conclusions of pessimism have been at last\nassimilated by a certain class of atheistic writers, is a striking\nfeature of the day, and another sign of the times. It illustrates\nthe truism that the void created by modern scientific negation\ncannot and can never be filled by the cold prospects offered as a\n_solatium_ to optimists. The Comtean \u201centhusiasm of Humanity\u201d is a\npoor thing enough with annihilation of the Race to ensue \u201cas the\nsolar fires die slowly out\u201d\u2014if, indeed, _they do die_ at all\u2014to\nplease physical science at the computed time. If all present sorrow\nand suffering, the fierce struggle for existence and all its\nattendant horrors, go for nothing in the long run, if MAN is a mere\nephemeron, the sport of blind forces, why assist in the perpetuation\nof the farce. The \u201cceaseless grind of matter, force and law,\u201d will\nbut hurry the swarming human millions into eternal oblivion, and\nultimately leave no trace or memory of the past, when things return\nto the nebulosity of the fire-mist, whence they emerged. Terrestrial\nlife is no object in itself. It is overcast with gloom and misery.\nIt does not seem strange, then, that the Soul-blind negationist\nshould prefer the pessimism of Schopenhauer to the baseless optimism\nof Strauss and his followers, which, in the face of their teachings,\nreminds one of the animal spirits of a young donkey, after a good\nmeal of thistles.\n\nOne thing is, however, clear: the absolute necessity for some\nsolution, which embraces the facts of existence on an optimistic\nbasis. Modern Society is permeated with an increasing cynicism and\nhoneycombed with disgust of life. This is the result of an\nutter ignorance of the operations of Karma and the nature of\nSoul-evolution. It is from a mistaken allegiance to the dogmas of a\nmechanical and largely spurious theory of Evolution, that Pessimism\nhas risen to such undue importance. Once the basis of the Great Law\nis grasped\u2014and what philosophy can furnish better means for such a\ngrasp and final solution, than the esoteric doctrine of the great\nIndian Sages\u2014there remains no possible _locus standi_ for the recent\namendments to the Schopenhauerian system of thought or the\nmetaphysical subtleties, woven by the \u201cphilosopher of the\nUnconscious.\u201d The reasonableness of _Conscious_ Existence can be\nproved only by the study of the primeval\u2014now esoteric\u2014philosophy.\nAnd it says \u201cthere is neither death nor life, for both are\nillusions; being (or _be-ness_) is the only reality.\u201d This paradox\nwas repeated thousands of ages later by one of the greatest\nphysiologists that ever lived. \u201cLife is Death\u201d said Claude Bernard.\nThe organism lives because its parts are ever dying. The survival of\nthe fittest is surely based on this truism. The life of the superior\nwhole requires the death of the inferior, the death of the parts\ndepending on and being subservient to it And, as life is death, so\ndeath is life, and the whole great cycle of lives form but ONE\nEXISTENCE\u2014_the worst day of which is on our planet_.\n\nHe who KNOWS will make the best of it For there is a dawn for every\nbeing, when once freed from illusion and ignorance by Knowledge; and\nhe will at last proclaim in truth _and all Consciousness_ to\nMahamaya:\u2014\n\n          \u201cBROKEN THY HOUSE IS, AND THE RIDGE-POLE SPLIT!\n            DELUSION FASHIONED IT!\n          SAFE PASS I THENCE\u2014DELIVERANCE TO OBTAIN.\u201d...\n\n                                                            H. P. B.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n  \u201cMan will regain his lost Eden on that day when he can look at\n  every desire in the broad, quiet light of this question:\u2014How can I\n  give desire such vent as shall conduce to the benefit of other\n  men?\u201d\u2014(_Jasper Niemand in the \u201cPath\u201d_).\n\n                           THE GREAT PARADOX.\n\nParadox would seem to be the natural language of occultism. Nay\nmore, it would seem to penetrate deep into the heart of things, and\nthus to be inseparable from any attempt to put into words the truth,\nthe reality which underlies the outward shows of life.\n\nAnd the paradox is one not in words only, but in action, in the very\nconduct of life. The paradoxes of occultism must be lived, not\nuttered only. Herein lies a great danger, for it is only too easy to\nbecome lost in the intellectual contemplation of the path, and so to\nforget that the road can only be known by treading it.\n\nOne startling paradox meets the student at the very outset, and\nconfronts him in ever new and strange shapes at each turn of the\nroad. Such an one, perchance, has sought the path desiring a guide,\na rule of right for the conduct of his life. He learns that the\nalpha and the omega, the beginning and the end of _life_ is\nselflessness; and he feels the truth of the saying that only in the\nprofound unconsciousness of self-forgetfulness can the truth and\nreality of being reveal itself to his eager heart.\n\nThe student learns that this is the one law of occultism, at once\nthe science and the art of living, the guide to the goal he desires\nto attain. He is fired with enthusiasm and enters bravely on the\nmountain track. He then finds that his teachers do not encourage his\nardent flights of sentiment; his all-forgetting yearning for the\nInfinite\u2014on the outer plane of his actual life and consciousness. At\nleast, if they do not actually damp his enthusiasm, they set him, as\nthe first and indispensable task, _to conquer and control his body_.\nThe student finds that far from being encouraged to live in the\nsoaring thoughts of his brain, and to fancy he has reached that\nether where is true freedom\u2014to the forgetting of his body, and his\nexternal actions and personality\u2014he is set down to tasks much nearer\nearth. All his attention and watchfulness are required on the outer\nplane; he must never forget himself, never lose hold over his body,\nhis mind, his brain. He must even learn to control the expression of\nevery feature, to check the action of each muscle, to be master of\nevery slightest involuntary movement. The daily life around and\nwithin him is pointed out as the object of his study and\nobservation. Instead of forgetting what are usually called the petty\ntrifles, the little forgetfulnesses, the accidental slips of tongue\nor memory, he is forced to become each day more conscious of these\nlapses, till at last they seem to poison the air he breathes and\nstifle him, till he seems to lose sight and touch of the great world\nof freedom towards which he is struggling, till every hour of every\nday seems full of the bitter taste of self, and his heart grows sick\nwith pain and the struggle of despair. And the darkness is rendered\nyet deeper by the voice within him, crying ceaselessly, \u201cforget\nthyself. Beware, lest thou becomest self-concentrated\u2014and the giant\nweed of spiritual selfishness take firm root in thy heart; beware,\nbeware, beware!\u201d\n\nThe voice stirs his heart to its depths, for he feels that the words\nare true. His daily and hourly battle is teaching him that\nself-centredness is the root of misery, the cause of pain, and his\nsoul is full of longing to be free.\n\nThus the disciple is torn by doubt. He trusts his teachers, for he\nknows that through them speaks the same voice he hears in the\nsilence of his own heart. But now they utter contradictory words;\nthe one, the inner voice, bidding him forget himself utterly in the\nservice of humanity; the other, the spoken word of those from whom\nhe seeks guidance in his service, bidding him _first_ to conquer his\nbody, his outer self. And he knows better with every hour how badly\nhe acquits himself in that battle with the Hydra, and he sees seven\nheads grow afresh in place of each one that he has lopped off.\n\nAt first he oscillates between the two, now obeying the one, now the\nother. But soon he learns that this is fruitless. For the sense of\nfreedom and lightness, which comes at first when he leaves his outer\nself unwatched, that he may seek the inner air, soon loses its\nkeenness, and some sudden shock reveals to him that he has slipped\nand fallen on the uphill path. Then, in desperation, he flings\nhimself upon the treacherous snake of self, and strives to choke it\ninto death; but its ever-moving coils elude his grasp, the insidious\ntemptations of its glittering scales blind his vision, and again he\nbecomes involved in the turmoil of the battle, which gains on him\nfrom day to day, and which at last seems to fill the whole world,\nand blot out all else beside from his consciousness. He is face to\nface with a crushing paradox, the solution of which must be lived\nbefore it can be really understood.\n\nIn his hours of silent meditation the student will find that there\nis one space of silence within him where he can find refuge from\nthoughts and desires, from the turmoil of the senses and the\ndelusions of the mind. By sinking his consciousness deep into his\nheart he can reach this place\u2014at first only when he is alone in\nsilence and darkness. But when the need for the silence has grown\ngreat enough, he will turn to seek it even in the midst of the\nstruggle with self, and he will find it. Only he must not let go of\nhis outer self, or his body; he must learn to retire into this\ncitadel when the battle grows fierce, but to do so without losing\nsight of the battle; without allowing himself to fancy that by so\ndoing he has won the victory. That victory is won only when all is\nsilence without as within the inner citadel. Fighting thus, from\nwithin that silence, the student will find that he has solved the\nfirst great paradox.\n\nBut paradox still follows him. When first he thus succeeds in thus\nretreating into himself, he seeks there only for refuge from the\nstorm in his heart. And as he struggles to control the gusts of\npassion and desire, he realises more fully what mighty powers he has\nvowed himself to conquer. He still feels himself, apart from the\nsilence, nearer akin to the forces of the storm. How can his puny\nstrength cope with these tyrants of animal nature?\n\nThis question is hard to answer in direct words; if, indeed, such an\nanswer can be given. But analogy may point the way where the\nsolution may be sought.\n\nIn breathing we take a certain quantity of air into the lungs, and\nwith this we can imitate in miniature the mighty wind of heaven. We\ncan produce a feeble semblance of nature: a tempest in a tea-cup, a\ngale to blow and even swamp a paper boat. And we can say: \u201cI do\nthis; it is my breath.\u201d But we cannot blow our breath against a\nhurricane, still less hold the trade winds in our lungs. Yet the\npowers of heaven are within us; the nature of the intelligences\nwhich guide the world-forces is blended with our own, and could we\nrealise this and forget our outer selves, the very winds would be\nour instruments.\n\nSo it is in life. While a man clings to his outer self\u2014aye, and even\nto any one of the forms he assumes when this \u201cmortal coil\u201d is cast\naside\u2014so long is he trying to blow aside a hurricane with the breath\nof his lungs. It is useless and idle such an endeavour; for the\ngreat winds of life must, sooner or later, sweep him away. But if he\nchanges his attitude _in himself_, if he acts on the faith that his\nbody, his desires, his passions, his brain, are not himself, though\nhe has charge of them, and is responsible for them; if he tries to\ndeal with them as parts of nature, then he may hope to become one\nwith the great tides of being, and reach the peaceful place of safe\nself-forgetfulness at last.\n\n                                                            \u201cFAUST.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n  \u201cFear is the slave of pain and Rebellion her captive; Endurance\n  her free companion and Patience her master. And the husband of\n  Pain is Rapture. But the souls are few in whom that marriage is\n  consummated.\u201d (L. S. C.).\n\n\n                  =THE BLOSSOM AND THE FRUIT=:\n\n                _THE TRUE STORY OF A MAGICIAN_.[26]\n\n                           (_Continued._)\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                         BY MABEL COLLINS,\n\n         Author of \u201cTHE PRETTIEST WOMAN IN WARSAW,\u201d &c., &c.,\n And Scribe of \u201cTHE IDYLL OF THE WHITE LOTUS,\u201d and \u201cTHROUGH THE GATES\n                              OF GOLD.\u201d\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n  The sub-title, \u201ca tale of love and magic,\u201d having been\n  simultaneously used by myself, Mr. Joseph Hutton, and another\n  author, I think it best to change mine for one certainly less\n  pretty, but equally descriptive. Is not this simultaneous use also\n  a \u201csign of the times\u201d?\n\n-----\n\n                              CHAPTER III.\n\nIn a chapel of the great Cathedral in the city there was at certain\nhours always a priest who held there his confessional.\n\nTo him went Hilary some days later. In the interim he had not seen\nthe Princess. His soul had been torn hither and thither, to and fro.\nHis passion for the beautiful girl held him fast, while his horror\nof the magician repelled him from her. He went to the Cathedral in\nthe afternoon determined that he would reveal all his distress to\nthe priest. Father Amyot was in his confessional, but some one was\nwith him, for the curtain was drawn. Hilary knelt down at the small\naltar of the chapel there to wait. Presently there was a slight\nsound; he turned his head to see if the confessional was now free.\nThe Princess Fleta stood beside him, her eyes fixed on him; it was\nshe who at this instant only had risen from her knees in the\nconfessional. Hilary, amazed and dumb with wonder, could only gaze\nupon her. She kept her strange and fascinating eyes fixed on his for\na moment and then turned and with swift, soft steps left the chapel.\nHilary remained kneeling motionless before the altar, his mind\nabsorbed in what was hardly so much thought as amazement. Fleta was\nnot then what he thought her. If she were sensitive to religious\nimpressions she could not be the cold magician which she had\nappeared to him to be when he recollected the last scene in the\nlaboratory. Perhaps after all she used her power generously and for\ngood. He began to see her in another light. He began to worship her\nfor her goodness as well as for her strong attractions. His heart\nleaped with joy at the thought that her soul was as beautiful as her\nbody. He rose from his knees and turned instinctively and without\nthought to follow her. As he did so he passed Father Amyot, who\nseeing that no one else came immediately to the confessional, had\nleft it and flung himself at full length upon the ground before the\naltar. He wore a long robe of coarse white cloth, tied at the waist\nwith a black cord; a hood of the same cloth covered his shaven head.\nHe was like a skeleton, perfectly fleshless and emaciated. His face\nlay sideways on the stone; he seemed unconscious, so profound was\nhis abstraction. The eyes were open but had no sight in them. They\nwere large grey blue eyes, full of a profound melancholy which gave\nthem an appearance as if tears stood in them. This melancholy\naffected Hilary strangely; it touched his heart, made thrill and\nvibrate some deeply sensitive cord in his nature. He stood gazing a\nmoment at the prostrate figure, and then with a profound obeisance\nleft the chapel.\n\nThe Princess Fleta had her horse waiting for her. She was a constant\nand daring rider, and seldom entered the city except on horseback,\nto the amazement of the court ladies, who in the city rode in\ncarriages that they might dress beautifully. But Fleta had no vanity\nof this kind. Probably no other girl of her age would have willingly\nadopted the hideous dress of the witch and worn it before so many\ncurious eyes. Her own beauty and her own appearance was a subject of\nbut the slightest thought to her. She would walk down the\nfashionable promenade in her riding habit among the magnificent\ntoilettes of the Court ladies. This she was doing now while a\nservant led her horse up and down. Hilary watched her from a\ndistance, unable to summon courage to approach her in the midst of\nsuch a throng of personages. But presently Fleta saw him and came\nwith her swift light step towards him. \u201cWill you walk with me?\u201d she\nasked. \u201cThere is no one here to be my companion but you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd why is that?\u201d asked Hilary, as with flushed face and eager\nsteps he accompanied her.\n\n\u201cBecause there are none that sympathise with me. You alone have\nentered my laboratory.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut would not any of these be glad to come if you would admit\nthem?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot one would have the courage, except perhaps some few wild\nspirits who would dare anything for mere excitement. And they would\nnot please me.\u201d\n\nHilary was silent. Her words showed him very plainly that he pleased\nher. But there was a chill in his nature which now asserted itself.\nHere in the midst of so many people her hold on him was lessened,\nand he doubted her more than ever. Was she merely playing with him\nfor her own amusement? Her high position gave her this power and he\ncould not resent it, for even to be her favourite for a day would be\naccounted by any man an honour and a thing to boast of. And Hilary\nwas being signalled out for public honour. He felt the envious\nglances of the men whom he met, and immediately a cold veil fell on\nhis heart. He desired no such envy. To his mind love was a thing\nsacred. His scorn of life and doubt of human nature awakened at this\nmoment of triumph. He did not speak, but the Princess answered his\nthought.\n\n\u201cWe will go away from here,\u201d she said. \u201cIn the country you are a\ncreature of passion. Here you become a cynic.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do you know my heart?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cWe were born under the same star,\u201d she answered quietly.\n\n\u201cThat is no sufficient answer,\u201d he replied. \u201cIt conveys no meaning\nto me, for I know nothing of the mysterious sciences you study.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome then with me,\u201d she answered, \u201cand I will teach you.\u201d\n\nShe signed to her servant, who brought her horse; she mounted and\nrode away with merely a smile to Hilary. She knew that in spite of\nthe chill that was on him he would hunger for her in her absence and\nsoon follow. And so he did. The pavements appeared empty though\ncrowds moved over them; the city seemed lifeless and dull, though it\nwas one of the gayest in the world. He turned from the streets, and\nwalking into the country, found himself very soon at the narrow\nwicket gate of the Princess Fleta\u2019s Garden House.\n\nShe was wandering up and down the avenue between the trees. Her\ndress was white now, and very long and soft, falling in great folds\nfrom her shoulders. As she moved slowly to and fro, the dancing\nsunlight playing on her splendid form, it seemed to Hilary that he\nsaw before him not a mere woman, but a priestess. Her late visit to\nthe Cathedral recurred to him; if the religious soul was in her,\nmight she not, indeed, spite of her strange acts, be no magician,\nbut a priestess? He returned to his former humour and was ready to\nworship at her feet. She greeted him with a smile that thrilled him;\nher eyes read his very soul, and her smile brought to it an\nunutterable joy. She turned and led the way to the house and Hilary\nfollowed her.\n\nShe opened her laboratory door, and immediately Hilary became aware\nof the strong odour of some powerful incense. The dim smoke was\nstill in the room but the flame had all died away in the vessel. By\nthe side of the vessel lay a prostrate figure. Hilary uttered a cry\nof amazement and of horror as he recognised Father Amyot. He turned\nsuch a look of dismay upon the Princess that she answered his\nthought in a haughty tone which she had never before used in\naddressing him.\n\n\u201cIt is not time yet to ask me the meaning of what you may see here.\nSome day, perhaps, when you know more, you may have the right to\nquestion me: but not now. See, I can change this appearance that\ndistresses you, in a moment.\u201d\n\nShe raised the prostrate figure, and flung off from it the white\nrobe that resembled Father Amyot\u2019s. Beneath, it was clothed in a\ndull red garment such as Hilary had first seen it in. With a few\nswift touches of her hand the Princess changed the expression of the\nface. Father Amyot was gone, and Hilary saw sitting in the chair\nbefore him that unindividualised form and face which at his visit to\nthe laboratory had affected him with so much horror. The Princess\nsaw the repugnance still in his face, and with a laugh opened the\nscreen with which she had hidden the figure before.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d she said, \u201ccome and sit beside me on this couch.\u201d\n\nBut before she left the great vessel she threw in more incense and\nlit it. Already Hilary was aware that the fumes of that which had\nbeen already burned had affected his brain. The red figures moved\nupon the black wall, and he watched them with fascinated eyes.\n\nThey shaped themselves together not, this time, into words, but into\nforms. And the wall instead of black became bright and luminous. It\nwas as though Hilary and Fleta sat alone before an immense stage.\nThey heard the spoken words and saw the gestures and the movements\nof these phantasmal actors as clearly and with as much reality as\nthough they were creatures of flesh and blood before them. It was a\ndrama of the passions; the chief actors were Hilary and Fleta\nthemselves. Hilary almost forgot that the real Fleta was at his\nside, so absorbed was he in the action of the phantasmal Fleta.\n\nHe was bewildered, and he could not understand the meaning of what\nhe saw, clearly though the drama was enacted in front of him. He saw\nthe orchard full of blossoming trees; he saw the splendid savage\nwoman. He knew that he himself and this Fleta at his side, were in\nsome strange way playing a part under this savage guise; but how or\nwhat it was he could not tell. Fleta laughed as she watched his\nface. \u201cYou do not know who you are,\u201d she cried. \u201cThat is a great\nloss and makes life much more difficult. But you will know by and\nbye if you are willing to learn. Come, let us look at another and a\nvery different page of life.\u201d\n\nThe stage grew dark and moving shadows passed to and fro upon it,\ngreat shadows that filled Hilary\u2019s soul with dread. At last they\ndrew back and left a luminous space where Fleta herself was visible.\nFleta, in this same human shape that she wore now, yet strangely\nchanged. She was much older and yet more beautiful; there was a\nwonderful fire in her brilliant eyes. On her head was a crown, and\nHilary saw that she had great powers to use or abuse\u2014it was written\non her face. Then something drew his eyes down and he saw a figure\nlying helpless at her feet\u2014why was it so still?\u2014it was alive!\u2014yes,\nbut it was bound and fettered, bound hand and foot.\n\n\u201cAre you afraid?\u201d broke out Fleta\u2019s voice with a ring of mocking\nlaughter in it. \u201cSurely you are not afraid\u2014why should I not reign?\nwhy should you not suffer? You are a cynic; is there anything good\nto be expected?\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps not,\u201d said Hilary. \u201cIt may be that you are heartless and\nfalse. And yet, as I stand here now, I feel that though you may\nbetray me by and bye, and take my life and liberty from me, yet I\nlove your very treachery.\u201d\n\nFleta laughed aloud, and Hilary stood silent, confused by the words\nhe had spoken hastily without pausing to think whether they were fit\nto speak or not. Well, it was done now. He had spoken of his love.\nShe could refuse ever to see him again and he would go into the\nouter darkness.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she said, \u201cI shall not send you away. Do you not know, Hilary\nEstanol, that you are my chosen companion? Otherwise would you be\nhere with me now? The word love does not alarm me; I have heard it\ntoo often. Only I think it very meaningless. Let us put it aside for\nthe present. If you let yourself love me you must suffer; and I do\nnot want you to suffer yet. When pain comes to you the youth will go\nfrom your face; you do not know how to preserve it, and I like your\nyouth.\u201d\n\nHilary made no answer. It was not easy to answer such a speech, and\nHilary was not in the humour for accomplishing any thing difficult.\nHis brain was confused by the fumes of the incense and by the\nstrange scenes so mysteriously enacted before his eyes. He scarcely\nknew what Fleta this was that stood beside him. And yet he knew he\nloved her though he distrusted her! With each moment that he passed\nby her side he worshipped her more completely, and the disbelief\ninterfered less and less with his proud joy in being admitted to her\nintimacy.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Fleta, \u201cI want you to do a new thing. I want you to\nexercise your will and compel my servants who have been pleasing us\nwith phantasies, to show us a phantasy of your own creation. You can\ndo this very well, if you will. It only needs that you shall not\ndoubt you can do it. Ah! how quickly does the act follow the\nthought!\u201d She uttered the last words with a little cry of amused\npleasure. For the dim shadows had rapidly masked the stage and then\nagain withdrawn, leaving the figure of Fleta very clearly visible,\nbeautiful and passionate, her face alight with love, held clasped in\nHilary\u2019s arms, her lips pressed close to his.\n\nThe real Fleta who sat beside him rose now with a shake of her head,\nand a laugh which was not all gay. The shadows closed instantly over\nthe stage, and a moment later the illusion was all destroyed and the\nsolid wall was there before Hilary\u2019s eyes. He had become so\naccustomed to witness the marvellous inside this room that he did\nnot pause to wonder; he followed Fleta as she crossed to the door,\nand tried to attract her attention.\n\n\u201cForgive me, my Princess,\u201d he murmured over and over again.\n\n\u201cOh, you are forgiven,\u201d she said at last lightly. \u201cYou have not\noffended, so it is easy for me to forgive. I do not think a man can\nhelp what is in his heart; at all events, no ordinary man can. And\nyou, Hilary, have consented to be like the rest. Are you content?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo!\u201d he answered, instantly. And as he spoke he understood for the\nfirst time the fever that had stirred him all through his short\nbright life. \u201cContent! How should I be? Moreover, is not our star\nthe star of restlessness and action?\u201d\n\nFor the first time, Fleta turned on him a glance of real tenderness\nand emotion. When he said the words \u201cour star,\u201d it seemed as if he\nhad touched her heart.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d she said, \u201cHow sorely I long for a companion!\u201d\n\nThen she turned from him very abruptly, and almost before he knew\nshe had moved she had opened the door, and was standing outside\nwaiting for him. \u201cCome!\u201d she said impatiently. He followed her\nimmediately, for he had no choice but to do so; yet he was\ndisappointed. He was more deeply disappointed when he found that she\nled the way with swift steps into the room where her aunt sat.\nArrived there, Fleta threw herself into a chair, took up a great\ngolden fan and began to fan herself, while she talked about the\ngossip of the Court. The change was so sudden that for some moments\nHilary could not follow her. He stood bewildered, till the aunt\npushed a low chair towards him; and he felt then that the old lady\nwas not surprised at his manner, but only sorry for him. And then\nsuddenly the cynic re-asserted itself in his heart. A thought that\nbit like flame suddenly started into life. Had the bewildered\nemotion that had been, as he knew, visible on his face, been seen on\nothers before; was Fleta not only playing with him, but playing with\nhim as she had played with many another lover? The thought was more\nhateful than any he had ever suffered from; it wounded his vanity,\nwhich was more tender and delicate than his heart.\n\nFleta gave him no opportunity of anything but talk such as seemed in\nher stately presence too trivial to be endured, and so at last he\nrose and went his way. Fleta did not accompany him to the gate this\ntime. She left him to go alone, and he felt as if she had withdrawn\nher favour in some degree; and yet perhaps that was foolish, he told\nhimself, for after all, both he and she had said too much to-day.\n\nFleta was betrothed. She had been betrothed at her christening.\nBefore long her marriage would take place; and then that crown seen\nin the vision would be placed on her head. Had it needed the vision\nto bring that fact to his mind, asked Hilary of himself? If so,\n\u2019twas time, he bitterly added, for Fleta was not a woman who was\nlikely to give up a crown for the sake of love! His heart rose\nfiercely within him as he thought of all this. Why had she tempted\nhim to speak of love? For surely he never would have dared to so\naddress her had she not tempted him; so he thought.\n\nIf he could have seen Fleta now! As soon as he left the room she had\nrisen and slowly moved back to her laboratory. Entered there, she\ndrew away a curtain which concealed a large mirror let deep into the\nwall. She did this resolutely, yet as if reluctantly. Immediately\nher gaze became fixed on the glass. She saw Hilary\u2019s figure within\nit moving on his way towards the city. She read his thoughts and his\nheart. At last she dropped the curtain with a heavy sigh, and let\nher arms fall at her side with a gesture that seemed to mean\ndespair; certainly it meant deep dejection. And presently some great\ntears dropped upon the floor at her feet\n\nNone, since Fleta was born, had seen her shed tears.\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\nFather Amyot on the next morning sent a message to Hilary praying\nhim to come and see him. This Hilary did at once, and in much\nperplexity as to what the reason of such a summons could be. He went\nstraight to the Cathedral, for there he knew the ascetic priest\npassed all his time. He found him, as he expected, prostrate before\nthe altar, and almost in the same attitude he had seen him in\nyesterday. Horribly too it reminded him of the attitude of that\nfigure lying on the floor of Fleta\u2019s laboratory when he had entered\nit. He had to touch Father Amyot to attract his attention; then at\nonce the priest rose and led the way out of the Cathedral into the\ncloisters, which joined it to the monastery close at hand. He went\non, without speaking, his head drooped. Hilary could but follow. At\nlast they reached a bare cell in which was no furniture but a\ncrucifix and a perpetual lamp burning before it, and against the\nwall a bench.\n\nHere Father Amyot sat down, and he motioned with his hand to Hilary\nto sit beside him.\n\nThen he fell into a profound reverie; and Hilary watching him,\nwondered much what was in his mind. Was Fleta even now working her\nspells upon him and moulding his thoughts according to her will?\n\nIt almost seemed like it, for her name was the first word he uttered\n\u201cThe Princess Fleta,\u201d he commenced, \u201cis about to go upon a long and\ndangerous journey.\u201d\n\nHilary started and turned his face away, for he knew that he had\nturned pale. Was she really going to leave the city! How unexpected!\nhow terrible!\n\n\u201cIn a very short time,\u201d went on Father Amyot, \u201cthe Princess will be\nmarried and she has a mission which she desires to accomplish before\nher wedding, and she says that you can assist her in this. It is for\nthe fulfilment of this mission that she is undertaking the journey I\nspeak of; supposing you should agree to help her you would have to\naccompany her.\u201d\n\nHilary made no answer. He had no answer ready. His breath was taken\naway and he could not recover it all in an instant. The whole thing\nseemed incredible; he felt it to be impossible; and yet a conviction\nwas already falling on him that it would take place.\n\n\u201cOf course,\u201d resumed Father Amyot, seeing that Hilary was not\ndisposed to speak, \u201cyou will want to know your errand, you will want\nto know why you are going on this journey. This it will be\nimpossible for you to know. The Princess does not choose to inform\nany one of what her errand is.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot even the person whom she says can help her?\u201d exclaimed Hilary\nin amazement\n\n\u201cNot even you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Hilary rising with a gesture of indignation, \u201clet her\nfind some one else to go blindly in her wake. I am not the man.\u201d\n\nSo saying he walked across the cell to the doorway, forgetting even\nto say good-bye to Father Amyot.\n\nBut the priest\u2019s voice arrested him.\n\n\u201cYou would travel alone, save for one attendant.\u201d\n\nHilary turned and faced the priest in amazement.\n\n\u201cOh, impossible!\u201d he exclaimed, \u201c\u2014\u2014yet it is true.\u201d\n\nTo Hilary the cynic, the thing suddenly assumed an intelligible\nform. Fleta wanted to take a journey in which she would prefer a\ncompanion because of its danger; yet she could not give her\nconfidence to any one. She proposed to herself to use his love for\nher; she offered him her society as a bribe to take care of her, to\nask no questions and tell no tales. The idea did not please him.\n\n\u201cI have heard of princesses risking anything, relying on the power\nof their position; I have heard that the royal caprice is not to be\nmeasured by the reason of other men and women. Perhaps it is so. But\nFleta! I thought her different even from her own family.\u201d\n\nThese were the first thoughts that came into his mind. His ready\nconclusion was that Fleta was willing that he should be her lover if\nhe would be her servant also. But immediately afterwards came the\nfair vision of Fleta herself in her white robes, and with the face\nof a priestess. Her purpose was inscrutable, like herself. He\nconfessed this as he stood there, surging doubts in his mind. And\nthen suddenly a fragrance came across his sense\u2014a strong perfume,\nthat he associated with Fleta\u2019s dress\u2014and next a breath of incense.\nHis brain grew dizzy; he staggered back and leaned against the wall.\nHe no longer appeared to himself to be in Father Amyot\u2019s cell\u2014he was\nin Fleta\u2019s laboratory, and her hand touched his face, her breath was\non his brow. Ah, what madness of joy to be with her! To travel with\nher, to be her associate and companion to pass all the hours of the\nday by her side. Suddenly he roused himself, and, starting forward,\napproached Father Amyot.\n\n\u201cI will go,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cIt will cost you dear,\u201d said the priest. \u201cThink again before you\ndecide.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is useless to think,\u201d cried Hilary. \u201cWhy should I think? I\nfeel\u2014and to feel is to live.\u201d\n\nFather Amyot seemed not to hear his words. He was apparently already\nburied in prayer. Evidently he had said all that he intended to say;\nand Hilary, after a glance at him, turned and left the cell. He knew\nthe priest\u2019s moods too well to speak again, when once that deep\ncloud of profound abstraction had descended on his face.\n\nHe went away, passing back as he had come, through the Cathedral. At\nthe high altar he paused an instant, and then knelt and murmured a\nprayer. It was one he had learned, and he scarce attached any\nmeaning to the familiar words. But it comforted him to feel that he\nhad prayed, be it never so meaningless a prayer. For Hilary had been\nreared in all the habits of the devout Catholic.\n\nThen he went out and took his way towards the Garden House, walking\nwith long strides. He was determined to know the truth, and that at\nonce. Amid all the brilliant men who crowded her father\u2019s Court was\nhe indeed the only one who could touch her heart? An hour ago he\nwould have laughed at any one who had told him he had touched it;\nyet now he believed he had. And what intoxication that belief was!\nFor the first time he began to feel the absolute infatuation of\nlove. And looking back it seemed to him that an hour ago he had not\nloved Fleta\u2014that he had never loved her till this minute.\n\nHe found her standing at the gate, among the flowers. She was\ndressed in white, and some crimson roses were fastened at her neck.\nHer face was like a child\u2019s, full of gaiety and gladness. Hilary\u2019s\nheart bounded with the delight it gave him to see her like this. She\nopened the gate for him, and together they walked towards the house.\n\n\u201cI have been to see Father Amyot,\u201d said Hilary. \u201cHe sent for me this\nmorning.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Fleta, quietly. \u201cHe had a message to you from me.\nAre you willing to undertake a tiresome task for one you know so\nlittle?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy Princess,\u201d murmured Hilary, bending his head as he spoke.\n\n\u201cBut not your Queen,\u201d said Fleta, with a laugh full of the glorious\ninsolence only possible to one who had the royal blood in her veins,\nand knew that a crown was waiting for her.\n\n\u201cYes, my Queen,\u201d said Hilary.\n\n\u201cIf you call me that,\u201d said Fleta, quickly, and in a different tone,\n\u201cyou recognise a royalty not recognised by courtiers.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Hilary simply.\n\n\u201cThe royalty of power,\u201d added Fleta, significantly, and with a\npenetrating look into his eyes.\n\n\u201cCall it what you will,\u201d answered Hilary, \u201cyou are my Queen. From\nthis hour I give allegiance.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe it so,\u201d said Fleta, with a light girlish laugh, \u201cBe ready then,\ntomorrow at noon. I will tell you where to meet me. I will send a\nmessage in the morning.\u201d\n\nSuddenly a recollection crossed Hilary\u2019s mind which had hitherto\nbeen blotted out from it. \u201cMy mother,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Fleta, \u201cI have been to see Madame Estanol. My father goes\ninto the country to-day and she believes you go with him. She is\nglad you should join the Court.\u201d\n\n\u201cStrange,\u201d said Hilary, unthinkingly, \u201cfor she has always set her\nface against it.\u201d Then the smile on Fleta\u2019s face made him think his\nwords foolish.\n\n\u201cIt is as my Queen orders. Seemingly, men and women obey her even in\ntheir inmost hearts.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Fleta, with a sigh, \u201cthat is just what they do not! It is\nthat power which I have yet to obtain. They obey me, yes, but\nagainst the dictates of their inmost hearts. If you really loved me,\nwe could obtain that power; but you are like the others. You do not\nlove me with your inmost heart!\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not!\u201d exclaimed Hilary, in amazement, stunned by her words.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she answered, mournfully, \u201cyou do not. If you really loved me\nyou would not calculate chances and risks, you would not consider\nwhether I am profligate or virtuous, whether I am my father\u2019s\ndaughter or a child of the stars! I tell you, Hilary Estanol, if you\nwere capable of loving me truly, you might find your way to the gods\nwith me and even sit among them. But it is not so with you. You\nvacillate even in your love. You cannot give yourself utterly. That\nmeans grief to you, for you cannot find perfect pleasure in a thing\nwhich you take doubtingly and give but by halves. Still you shall\ntravel with me; and you shall be my companion and friend. There is\nnone other to whom I would give this chance. How do you think you\nwill reward me? Oh, I know too well. Go now, but be ready when I\nsend for you.\u201d\n\nSo saying she turned and went into the house, leaving him in the\ngarden. For a few moments he stood there embarrassed, not knowing\nwhich way to turn or what to do. But he was not annoyed or\ndisturbed, as his vanity might have led him to be at another time,\nby such cavalier treatment. He was aghast, horrified. Was this the\ngirl he loved! this tyrant, this proud spirit, this strange woman,\nwho before he had wooed her reproached him with not loving her\nenough! Within him lurked a conventional spirit, strong under all\ncircumstances, even those of the most profound emotion, and Fleta\u2019s\nwhole conduct shocked and distressed that spirit so that it groaned,\nand more, upbraided him with his mad love. But the fierce growth of\nthat love could not be checked. He might suffer because it lived,\nbut he was not strong enough to kill it.\n\nHe turned and walked away from the house and slowly returned to the\ncity. He was ashamed and disheartened. His love seemed to disgrace\nhim. He had entertained lofty ideas which now were discarded for\never. For he knew that to-morrow he would start upon a long journey,\nthe end of which was to him unknown, by the side of a girl whom he\ncould never marry, yet of whom he was the avowed lover. Well, be it\nso. Hilary began to look at these things from a fatalistic point of\nview; his weakness led him to shrug his shoulders and say that his\nfate was stronger than himself. So he went home gloomily yet with a\nburning and feverish heart. He immediately set to work making ready\nfor his departure for an indefinite period. His mother he found was\nprepared for this, as Fleta had told him; and more\u2014seemed to regard\nFleta as a kind of gentle goddess who had brought good fortune into\nhis path.\n\n\u201cI have always resisted the idea of your hanging about the Court,\u201d\nshe said, \u201cbut it is different if indeed the King wishes to have you\nwith him. That must lead to your obtaining some honourable post.\nWhat I dreaded was your becoming a mere useless idler. And I am glad\nyou are going into the country, dear, for you are looking very pale\nand quite ill.\u201d\n\nHilary assented tacitly and without comment to the deceit with which\nFleta had paved the way for him.\n\n                        (_To be continued._)\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n  \u201cSpirituality is not what we understand by the words \u2018virtue\u2019 or\n  \u2018goodness.\u2019 It is the power of perceiving formless, spiritual\n  essences.\u201d\u2014(_Jasper Niemand in the \u201cPath.\u201d_)\n\n  \u201cThe discovery and right use of the true essence of Being\u2014this is\n  the whole secret of life.\u201d\u2014(_Jasper Niemand in the \u201cPath.\u201d_)\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                           DESIRE MADE PURE.\n\nWhen desire is for the purely abstract\u2014when it has lost all trace or\ntinge of \u201cself\u201d\u2014then it has become pure.\n\nThe first step towards this purity is to kill out the desire for the\nthings of matter, since these _can_ only be enjoyed by the separated\npersonality.\n\nThe second is to cease from desiring for oneself even such\nabstractions as power, knowledge, love, happiness, or fame; for they\nare but selfishness after all.\n\nLife itself teaches these lessons; for all such objects of desire\nare found Dead Sea fruit in the moment of attainment. This much we\nlearn from experience. Intuitive perception seizes on the _positive_\ntruth that satisfaction is attainable only in the infinite; the will\nmakes that conviction an actual fact of consciousness, till at last\nall desire is centred on the Eternal.\n\n                         THOUGHTS ON THEOSOPHY.\n\n\u201cThe letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life,\u201d this is the\nkeynote of all true reform. Theosophy is the vehicle of the spirit\nthat gives life, consequently nothing _dogmatic_ can be truly\n_theosophical_.\n\nIt is incorrect, therefore, to describe a _mere_ unearthing of dead\nletter dogmas as \u201cTheosophic work.\u201d\n\nWhen a word, phrase, or symbol, having been once used for the\npurpose of suggesting an idea _new_ to the mind or minds being\noperated on, is insisted upon irrespective of the said idea, it\nbecomes a dead letter dogma and loses its vitalising power, and\nserves rather as an obstruction to, than as vehicle of the spirit;\nbut, alas, this insistance upon the letter is too often carried on\nunder the honoured name of \u201cTheosophy.\u201d\n\nA man cannot acquire an idea _new to him_ unless it _grows_ in his\nmind.\n\nThe mere familiarity with the _sound_ of a word, or a phrase, or the\nmere familiarity with the _appearance_ of a symbol, does not, of\n_necessity_, involve the possession of the idea properly associated\nwith the said word, phrase or symbol. To insist, therefore, on the\ncontrary cannot be theosophical; but would be better described as\n_un_theosophical.\n\nIt would certainly be theosophical work to point out kindly and\ntemperately how certain words, phrases and symbols appear to have\nbeen misunderstood or misapplied, how various claims and professions\nmay be excessive or confused as a consequence of ignorance or\nvanity, or both. But it is quite another thing to condemn a man or a\nbody of men _outright_, for certain errors in judgment or action;\neven though they were the result of vanity, greed or hypocrisy;\nindeed such wholesale condemnation would, on the contrary, be\nuntheosophical.\n\nThe one eternal, immutable law of life alone can judge and condemn a\nman absolutely. \u201cVengeance is _mine_, saith the Lord.\u201d\n\nWere I asked how I would dare attempt \u201cto dethrone the gods,\noverthrow the temple, destroy the law which feeds the priests and\nprops the realm; I should answer as the Buddha is made to answer in\nthe _Light of Asia_: \u2018What thou bidst me keep is form which passes\nwhile the free truth stands; get thee to thy darkness.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat good gift hath my brother but it comes from search and strife\n(inward) and loving sacrifice.\u201d\n\n                                                                *\n                                                             *     *\n\n                        =Correspondence=\n\n                                  ---\n\n           ARE THE TEACHINGS ASCRIBED TO JESUS CONTRADICTORY?\n\nThere are none so blind as those who won\u2019t see, excepting those who\ncan\u2019t!\n\nIn _Light_, for September 10th, there is a letter from Dr. Wyld, who\nwrites as follows: \u201cIn the last number of _Light_ there is a\nquotation from the _Spiritual Reformer_ in which the writer shows\nthe absurdity of the idea that Jesus was not an historic being. But\nwhile thanking the writer for this contribution, I would take the\nstrongest objection to his assertion that many of Christ\u2019s teachings\nare contradictory and mistaken. This is an assertion occasionally\nmade by Spiritualists, and whenever I have met with it I have asked\nfor evidence of the assertion, but hitherto I have received none.\u201d\n\nBut that might surely have been easily supplied. Here, for example,\nare a few very direct contradictions in the speaker\u2019s own words.\nEvery one knows how secret were the teachings in their nature; how\nsecretly they were conveyed in private places apart; how secretly\nhis secrets were to be kept; and yet in presence of the High Priest\nJesus makes the astounding declaration: \u201c_I have spoken openly to\nthe world; I always taught in synagogues; and in secret spake I\nnothing._\u201d\u2014John xviii. 20.\n\nJesus, in keeping with the mythical character, is made to claim\nequality and identity with the Father. He says (John x. 30), \u201c_I and\nmy Father are one_;\u201d but in the same book (John xiv. 28), he says,\n\u201c_The Father is greater than I_\u201d\u2014(Cf. Matthew xxiv. 36.) Again, he\nclaims superiority over his Father. \u201c_The Father judgeth no man, but\nhath committed all judgment to the Son. As I hear I judge_\u201d (John v.\n22, 30). And then in the same gospel he says, \u201c_I judge no man_,\u201d\n(John viii. 15.) \u201c_If any man hear my words and believe not, I judge\nhim not; for I came not to judge the world_,\u201d (John xii. 47). Again,\n\u201c_I am one that bear witness of myself. Though I bear witness of\nmyself, yet my record is true_,\u201d (John viii. 14, 18); which is\ncontradicted by (John v. 31) \u201c_If I bear witness of myself, my\nwitness is not true_.\u201d He says (John v. 33, 34) that \u201c_John bare\nwitness unto the truth, but I receive not testimony from man_,\u201d and\nthen tells the disciples, who are supposed to have been men, that\n\u201c_they also shall bear witness_\u201d to or of him (John xv. 27). Again\nhe says, \u201c_Let your light so shine before men that they may see your\ngood works_,\u201d (Matthew v. 16). But \u201c_Take heed that ye do not your\nalms before men to be seen of them_.\u201d (Matthew vi. 1).\n\n\u201c_Resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right\ncheek, turn to him the other also_,\u201d (Matthew v. 39); for \u201c_all that\ntake the sword, shall perish with the sword_,\u201d (Matthew xxvi. 52).\nNevertheless, \u201c_He that hath no sword let him sell his garment and\nbuy one_,\u201d (Luke xxii. 36). \u201c_I came not to send Peace but a\nSword_,\u201d (Matthew x. 34). \u201c_Be not afraid of them that kill the\nbody_,\u201d (Luke xii. 4). Nevertheless \u201c_Jesus would not walk in Jewry\nbecause the Jews sought to kill him_,\u201d (John vii. 1).\n\nI merely ask, for the sake of information, are these statements\ncontradictory or are they not?\n\nI will but offer one or two specimens of the more serious and\nfundamental contradictions in the _olla podrida_ of teaching\nassigned to Jesus. The teaching of the alleged founder of\nChristianity in the Gospel according to Matthew (ch. xix. 12), is\nthat of the Saboi, the self-mutilators, who are still extant as the\nRussian Skoptsi[27] and who emasculate themselves to save their\nspermatic souls, as Origen is reputed to have done. Jesus is made to\nsay, \u201c_There are Eunuchs which made themselves Eunuchs for the\nKingdom of Heaven\u2019s sake_. He that is able to receive it, let him\nreceive it.\u201d And then in the opening verses of the very next\nchapter, the same teacher says, \u201c_Suffer little children and forbid\nthem not, to come unto me; for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven_.\u201d\nBut those who became Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven\u2019s sake could\nnot be suffering the little children to come unto him or to them.\nThey would be forbidding them to come at all. If the Kingdom of\nHeaven be _such_ as the children of Eunuchs it must be non-extant.\nAs Hood\u2019s deaf shopman said of the crackers going off, there were so\nmany reports he did not know _which_ to believe.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n  Of whom there are large colonies along the Black Sea and the coast\n  of Imeretia and Poti.\n\n-----\n\nAnd where is the sense of talking so much nonsense about the \u201cGolden\nRule\u201d or the Divine humanity on behalf of one who carried on the\nblindest warfare against human nature itself? Who declared that \u201c_If\nany man come to me and hate not his father and mother, and wife and\nchildren, and brothers and sisters, and his own life also, he cannot\nbe my disciple_\u201d (Luke xiv. 26). And who promised that every\nfollower of his who \u201c_left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife,\nor children, for the Kingdom of God\u2019s sake should receive manifold\nmore in the present and in the world to come life everlasting_.\u201d\nWell may the grateful Musselman cry in his adorations, \u201c_Thank God_\nOUR _Father has no Son!_\u201d\n\nBut, I do not charge these contradictory sayings and teachings to\nany personal character. The collectors are but making use of the\n_Kurios_, the Lord of the pre-Christian Mythos, the mystical Christ\nof the Gnostics, as a puppet to represent them and their divers\ndoctrines. They make the human image of a God of Love to be the\npreacher of everlasting punishment, and the bearer of a fan with\nwhich he fans the fires of hell; a false foreteller of that which\nnever came to pass, and the forerunner of a fulfilment which did not\nfollow. In short, they make this Marionette Messiah dance to any\nparticular tune they play.\n\nJesus is posed as the original revealer of a father in Heaven,\nwhereas the doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood was taught in three\ndifferent Egyptian Cults during some four thousand years previously.\n\nDr. Wyld implies that I deny the existence of a personal Jesus. That\nis the misrepresentation of ignorance. But the sole historical Jesus\nacknowledged by me is the only one who was ever known to the Jews,\nto Celsus, to Epiphanius, as the descendant of JOSEPH Pandira, he,\nwho according to Iren\u00e6us, lived to be over fifty years of age.\n\nThis, I admit, was not the kind of Jesus whom the Christians find in\nthe Gospels and honour as a God.\n\nThe Gospel histories do not contain the biography of Ben-Pandira,\nthe son of Joseph. Nor was it intended that they should. Their Jesus\nis the mythical Christ, the Horus of 12 years, and the adult Horus\nof 30 years; the Lord of the age, \u00c6on or Cycle, who came and went,\nand was to come again for those who possessed the Gnosis.\n\nAnother writer in _Light_, a week earlier, could not understand how\nany one can deny the personal existence of the \u201cHistorical Christ!\u201d\n\nThe _Historical Christ_! You might as well demand our belief in the\nhistorical Chronos\u2014Time, in person\u2014or the historical Ghost, in man\nor out of him. If the writer knew anything of the pre-Christian\nSpiritualism\u2014anything of the true nature or even the meaning of the\nname\u2014he would perceive the Historic Impossibility of the personal\nChrist. An \u201cHistorical Christ\u201d is as much a nonentity as the\nhistorical Mrs. Harris. But, _cui bono?_ I have no hope in these\nmatters of any orthodox Christian Spiritualists. They have to learn\nthe primary lesson, at last, that Historic Christianity was not\nfounded on our facts _until it had buried them_! That it was the\nnegation of Gnosticism, the antithesis of phenomenal Spiritualism.\nThat it substituted faith for facts; a physical resurrection for a\nspiritual continuity, and a corporeal Christ for the trans-corporeal\nman.\n\nThe Christian Revelation leaves no room for modern Spiritualism, and\nthey are logically, truly Christians who reject it! It recognises no\nother rising again except at the last day, and then only for the few\nwho believed in Jesus (John vi. 40). The Christians have no other\nworld but one at the end of this; no other spirits extant excepting\ntheir physical Christ and the devil.\n\nPeople who will see nothing contradictory in direct opposites, no\ndifference betwixt black and white, but rather the necessary duality\nof antiphonal truth, who can accept a misinterpretation of mythology\nfor the Word of God, are of little account as witnesses for\nSpiritualism. They who tell a story about the whale swallowing Jonah\nare not likely to be credited when they come with another that looks\nvery like Jonah swallowing the whale. Professed believers in the\nliteral truth of the Gospel fables are of necessity \u201c_Suspects_\u201d as\nwitnesses for abnormal and extraordinary facts.\n\nPointing to his antagonist on the platform, O\u2019Connel once enquired\nof his audience, \u201cCan ye believe a single word that a gentleman says\nwho wears a waistcoat of _that_ colour?\u201d It was yellow, and they\ncouldn\u2019t.\n\nWhat is the use of taking your \u201cBible oath\u201d that this thing is true,\nif the Book you are sworn upon is a magazine of falsehoods already\nexploded or just going off?\n\nMoreover, the Christian Priesthood has been preaching through all\nthese centuries that the dead do _not_ return; and the living have\nbelieved them.\n\nDr. Sprenger has calculated that nine million persons have been put\nto death as Witches, Wizards, or Mediums, since 1484, when Pope\nInnocent VIII. issued his Bull against Spiritualism and all its\npractices, which were considered to be the works of the devil.\n\nBesides, if the Christian scheme of damnation be true, as assigned\nto the teaching of Jesus, no humane person should want to know that\nthere is any hereafter.\n\nSpiritualism can make no headway where it has to draw after it this\ndead weight of a tail.\n\nChristian Spiritualism also ostentatiously proclaims that it has\nnothing in the world to do with \u201cWoman\u2019s Rights,\u201d \u201cVaccination,\u201d or\nany such merely human interests. It would seek to create an interest\nin another life, whilst ignoring the vital interests of this. But\nthat is to sign its own death-warrant and to seal its own speedy\ndoom. This is to repeat the mistake and follow the failure of the\nChristian system of saving souls for another life whilst allowing\nthem to be damned in this. At the same time, it would drag\nSpiritualism into the bankrupt business of Historic Christianity and\nbind up a third testament to save the other two, as a sort of\nTrinity in Unity. But as a system of thought, of religion, or morals\nand a mode of interpreting nature, Historic Christianity is moribund\nand cannot be saved, or resuscitated by transfusion of new blood\ninto it; not if you bled Spiritualism to death in trying to give it\na little new life. They try in vain to make our phenomena guarantee\nthe miracles of mythology as spiritual realities. They try in vain\nto tether the other world in this and make it draw for the\nfraudulent old faith. They keep on jumping up and down to persuade\nthemselves and others that they are free. But it is only a question\nof length of chain, for those who are still fettered fast at foot\nupon the ancient standing-ground.\n\nI have not answered the writer in the paper quoted by _Light_, and\napproved by Dr. Wyld, for the reason that his acquaintance with my\ndata was too limited to make discussion profitable or useful. Those\ndata are already presented in accessible books and pamphlets, and\nthere is no need for me to repeat them in reply to him. Those who\nundertake to write on so perplexing a subject ought to be able to\nilluminate it and enlighten their opponents. The problems are not to\nbe solved by any amount of personal simplicity. I am always ready to\nmeet any competent and well-informed defender of the faith upon the\nplatform or in the press. I should prefer it to be a bishop, who is\nalso an Egyptologist. But beggars are not allowed to be choosers. I\nam prepared at any time to demonstrate the entirely mythical and\nmystical origin of the Christ, and the non-spiritual, non-historical\nbeginnings of the vast complex called Christianity.\n\n                                                      GERALD MASSEY.\n\n  [Any \u201cBishop Egyptologist,\u201d or even Assyriologist, of whom we have\n  heard there are not a few in England, is cordially invited to\n  defend his position in the pages of LUCIFER. The \u201cSon of the\n  Morning\u201d is the _Light-Bearer_, and welcomes light from every\n  quarter of the globe.\u2014ED.]\n\n                           ------------------\n\n  [NOTE.\u2014As _Lucifer_ cannot concur in the exclusively _exoteric_\n  view, taken by Mr. Massey, of this allegorical, though none the\n  less philosophical, scripture, the next number will contain an\n  article dealing with the _esoteric_ meaning of the New\n  Testament.\u2014ED.]\n\n                 TO THE AUTHOR OF \u201cLIGHT ON THE PATH.\u201d\n\nThere is a sentence in your \u201cComments\u201d which has haunted me with a\nsense of irritation: \u201cTo obtain knowledge by experiment is too\ntedious a method for those who aspire to do real work,\u201d &c. Have we\nany knowledge, of whatever sort, that has been of use in the world,\nwhich has been obtained otherwise than experimentally? By patient\nand persistent toil of sifting and testing, we have obtained the\nlittle knowledge that is of service to us. Is there such a thing as\n\u201ccertain intuition\u201d? Has intuitive knowledge, if such there be, been\naccepted as positive knowledge until it has been submitted to the\ntest of experiment? Would it be right that it should be? Your\nillustration of the \u201cdetermined workman\u201d brings the question down\n(as I think the question should be brought) to the plane of\npractice. Is there any workman who can know his tools until he has\ntried them? Is not the history of knowledge the history of\nintuitions put to the test of practice? Intuitions, or what we call\nsuch, seem to me quite as apt and likely to deceive us as anything\nin the world; we only know them for good when we have tried them.\n\n                                                       INTERROGATOR.\n\n                                  ---\n\nIt seems to me there is some confusion in this letter between\nobtaining knowledge by experiment, and testing it by experiment.\nEdison knew that his discoveries were only things to look for, and\nhe tested his knowledge by experiment. The actual work of great\ninventors is the bringing of intuitive knowledge on to the plane of\npractice by applying the test of experiment. But all inventors are\nseers; and some of them having died without being able to put into\npractice the powers which they knew existed in Nature were\nconsidered madmen. Later on, other men are more fortunate, and\nre-discover the laughed-at knowledge. This is an old and familiar\nstory, but we need constantly to be reminded of it. How often have\ngreat musicians or great artists been regarded as \u201cinfant prodigies\u201d\nin their childhood? They have intuitive knowledge of that power of\nwhich they are chosen interpreters, and experiment is only necessary\nin order to find out how to give that which they know to others.\n\nIntuitive knowledge in reference to the subjects with which I have\nbeen dealing must indeed be tested by experiment; and it is the\nwhole purpose of \u201cLight on the Path\u201d itself, and the \u201cComments\u201d to\nurge men to test their knowledge in this way. But the vital\ndifference between this and material forms of knowledge is that for\nall occult purposes a man must obtain his own knowledge before he\ncan use it. There are many subjects of time content to linger on\nthrough \u00e6ons of slow development, and pass the threshold of eternity\nat last by sheer force of the great wheel of life with which they\nmove; possibly during their interminable noviciate, they may obtain\nknowledge by experiment and with well-tested tools. Not so the\npioneer, the one who claims his divine inheritance now. He must work\nas the great artists, the great inventors have done; obtain\nknowledge by intuition, and have such sublime faith in his own\nknowledge that his life is readily devoted to testing it.\n\nBut for this purpose the testing has to be actually done in the\nastral life. In a new world, where the use of the senses is a pain,\nhow can the workman stay to test his tools? The old proverb about\nthe good workman who never quarrels with them, however bad they are,\nthough of course had he the choice he would use the best, applies\nhere.\n\nAs to whether intuitive knowledge exists or no, I can only ask how\ncame philosophies, metaphysics, mathematics into existence? All\nthese represent a portion of abstract truth.\n\nBefore I received this letter the \u201cComments\u201d for this month were\nwritten, in which, as it happens, I have spoken a great deal about\nintuitive knowledge. Therefore, I will now only quote the definition\nof a philosopher from Plato, which is given near the end of Book\nV.,\u2014\n\n\u201cI mean by philosopher, the man who is devoted to the acquisition of\nknowledge, real knowledge, and not merely inquisitive. The more our\ncitizens approach this temperament, the better the state will be.\nTrue knowledge in its perfection and its entirety, man cannot\nattain. But he can attain to a kind of knowledge of realities, if he\nhas any knowledge at all, because he cannot know nonentities. Hence\nhis knowledge is half-way between real knowledge and ignorance, and\nwe must call it opinion.\u201d\n\n  NOTE.\u2014Several questions which have been received are held over to\n  be answered next month.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                      _To the Editors of_ LUCIFER.\n\nIn the interesting and lucid article on \u201cKarma\u201d in your number of\nSeptember 15th, everything seems to hinge on the theory of\nre-incarnation. \u201cVery well,\u201d says the author of that paper, \u201clet\nus take the principle of re-incarnation for granted.\u201d But is not\nthis a rather unphilosophical way of handling a subject of such\ngravity? Take this or that principle for granted, and you may go\nabout to prove anything under the sun. It is the old weakness of\nbegging the question. Is it not this taking for granted what\ncannot be proved, and is not attempted to be proved, that has led\nastray speculators\u2014both scientific and religious\u2014everywhere and in\nevery age, and is it not upon similar assumptions that the whole\nmonstrous fabric of theology rests? Of course, in every kind of\nspeculation one is compelled to set out with an assumption of some\nsort; but then the first thing the reader demands is, that the\ngrounds shall be shown upon which the assumption rests; the\nassumption, whatever it be, must be made good before one can be\nasked to accept that which is to be raised upon it. And here comes\nin my question: What is the warrant or sanction for the principle\nof re-incarnation? What is the principle grounded upon? Do we\nundergo re-incarnation, and how do you know it?\n\nHaving set out with the assumption, the author does not return to it\nagain, and at the end of the article I am as uninstructed as at the\noutset respecting the pivotal principle upon which all that follows\nseems to turn.\n\n                                                       INTERROGATOR.\n\n                           ------------------\n\nThe author of \u201cKarma\u201d will go into this question fully in a paper\ndevoted entirely to the subject of re-incarnation. The two subjects\nare inextricably interwoven, but it was decided that to treat the\ntwo at the same time would produce too great a confusion, and offer\ntoo wide an area of speculation for the mind to grapple with.\nTherefore this course was adopted of taking the principle of\nre-incarnation for granted. It is possible that the second paper\nshould have come first, but the two theories stand side by side, not\none before the other, so that the question of precedence was a\ndifficult one. But it is necessary, in view of this blending of the\nideas, that the reader shall have the complete presentation of both\nbefore him, and then draw his conclusions. Therefore indulgence is\nasked until the papers dealing with each subject are completed. As\nmany readers may have felt the same difficulty as our correspondent,\nwe are glad to insert this letter and reply.\u2014ED.\n\n                                Reviews.\n\n=THE KABBALAH UNVEILED.=\n\n             TRANSLATED BY S. L. MACGREGOR MATHERS.[28]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n  George Redway, 15, York Street, Covent Garden.\n\n-----\n\nThe author of this welcome volume has supplied the present\ngeneration of students of theosophy and occultism with a text-book\nwhich has been long wanted and waited for. The \u201cZohar\u201d is the great\nstorehouse of the ancient Hebrew theosophy, supplemented by the\nphilosophical doctrines of the medi\u00e6val Jewish Rabbis. It consists\nof several distinct yet allied tracts, each discussing some special\nbranch of the subject; each tract again consists of several\nportions, a kernel of most ancient dogma, to which are added\ncomments and explanations, in some cases by several hands and at\nvery different epochs. There is sufficient proof that these kernels\nof dogma are remnants of one of the oldest systems of philosophy\nthat have come down to us, and they show also intrinsic evidence\nthat they are associated at least with the return from the\nBabylonish captivity. On the other hand, it is pretty certain that\nthe Zohar, in its present form, was put together and first printed\nabout 1558, at Mantua, and a little later in other editions at\nCremona and Lublin. This Mantuan edition was a revision of the\ncollection of tracts collected and edited in MS. form by Moses de\nLeon, of Guadalaxara, in Spain, about 1300; even the most hostile\nviews of the antiquity of the Zohar grant this much, and although\ndirect historical evidence is not forthcoming of the several steps\nin the course of transmission of these doctrines from ante-Roman\ntimes, yet, as aforesaid, the internal evidence is ample to show the\nessential origination of the specially Hebrew ideas found in the\nZohar from Rabbis, more or less tinged with a Babylonish cast, who\nmust have flourished antecedent to the building of the second\nTemple. The tradition of the medi\u00e6val Rabbis definitely assigned the\nauthorship to Rabbi Schimeon ben Jochai, who lived in the reign of\nthe Roman Emperor Titus, A.D. 70-80; and it is the claim of\nauthorship made on his behalf that the modern critic is so fond of\ncontesting.\n\nThe \u201cZohar,\u201d or \u201cSplendour,\u201d or \u201cBook of Illumination,\u201d and the\n\u201cSepher Yetzirah\u201d are almost the only extant books of the Kabbalah,\nQbalah or Cabbala. The \u201cKabbalah Denudata\u201d of Knorr von Rosenroth,\nis a Latin version of the former, with commentaries by himself and\nby certain learned Rabbis. No French and no German translation of\nthe Zohar has ever been published, nor until the present time has\nany English version been printed. Eliphaz Levi has, however,\nparaphrased a few chapters of the \u201cBook of Concealed Mystery,\u201d and\nthese have been printed in the _Theosophist_.\n\nSome parts of the Zohar are written in pure Hebrew, but a large\nportion is in Aramaic Chaldee, and there are passages in other\ndialects; this variation of language adds immensely to the\ndifficulties of an accurate translation.\n\nKnorr von Rosenroth was a most able and compendious Hebrew savant,\nand his translation of much of the Zohar into Latin is a work of\nestablished reputation, and has been, indeed, almost the only means\nby which the students of our era have been able to consult Hebraic\nphilosophy. The present revival of theosophical studies by the\nEnglish speaking races has created a demand for the Kabbalah in an\nEnglish dress, and hence the appearance of the present work is well\ntimed, and will form an epoch in the history of occultism; and much\ngood fruit will no doubt be borne by a more intimate acquaintance\nwith Jewish lore, which will tinge the present tendency to supremacy\nof the Sanscrit and Hermetic forms of mysticism. There is much\nreason to suppose that an attentive study of each of these forms of\nknowledge may lead one to the Hidden Wisdom; but a skilful analogy,\nand an investigation into the three forms of dogma on parallel lines\nwill give a breadth of grasp and a cosmopolitan view of the matter\nwhich should lead to a happy solution of the great problems of life\nin a speedy and satisfactory manner. The Kabbalah may, in concise\nterms, be said to teach the ancient Rabbinical doctrines of the\nnature and attributes of the Divinity, the cosmogony of our\nuniverse, the creation of angels and the human soul, the destiny of\nangels and men, the dogma of equilibrium, and the transcendental\nsymbolism of the Hebrew letters and numerals.\n\nMr. Mathers, who is a most patient and persevering student, if not\nprofessor, of mystic lore, is at the same time a first-rate\nclassical scholar, and a skilful interpreter of the Hebrew tongue,\nand his translation from the Latin, varied and improved by his own\nstudy of the original Chaldee, has produced an English version of\nthe Kabbalah Denudata which is eloquent in its construction, true to\nits text, and lucid in its abstruseness. For the matter is abstruse,\nmuch of it, and some is practically incomprehensible to the\nbeginner, to the world in general for certain, and perhaps to every\none at the first glance. But it will be certainly perceived that\nthose very portions which seem most extravagant at a first reading\nare just the passages from which later a light will arise and lead\none on to a firm grasp of the subject. To take up this volume and\nread at odd moments is a useless and hopeless task; no progress will\nbe made, at any rate at first, except by thoroughly abstracting\none\u2019s individuality from the things of common life; disappointment\ncan only accompany superficial reading.\n\nGreat credit is due to the enterprise of Mr. Redway in publishing\nthis volume, for which no very extensive sale could have been\nanticipated; that he has already distributed a considerable number\nis matter for congratulation to himself and to the public. It is\nhoped that his success will induce him to publish other volumes of\nantique lore, of which many yet remain more or less completely\nignored by the present generation.\n\nThe \u201cSiphra Dtzenioutha,\u201d the \u201cIdra Rabba,\u201d and the \u201cIdra Zuta,\u201d\nincluded in this volume are doubtless three of the most valuable of\nthe tracts of the Zohar, yet there are others of equal interest. The\n\u201cBook of the Revolutions of Souls\u201d is a most curious and mysterious\nwork, and the \u201cAsch Metzareph\u201d is a treatise on the relations\nbetween Theosophy and the oldest alchemical ideas which are known to\nexist; it is a work on the Asiatic plane, on the lowest of the four\nkabbalistic worlds of Emanation.\n\nBeyond the limits of the Zohar proper, the \u201cSepher Yetzirah,\u201d is a\ntreatise which for interest and instruction cannot be surpassed.\n\nMr. Mathers supplies us with an introduction to the Qabalah, which\nstamps him as a master of the science, and although he refers us on\nsome pages to Ginsburg (a recognised authority), yet his remarks and\nexplanation are more deep and thorough than those published in\nGinsburg\u2019s little English pamphlet, and are more discursive and\ncomplete. My remarks on the difficulty of our subject hardly render\nit necessary for me to insist on the absolute necessity of a\npainstaking study of this introduction, which will supply in a great\nmeasure the want of a _de novo_ education in Hebrew, and Hebrew\nmodes of thought and expression.\n\nMr. Mathers justly insists on the literal rendering of the Hebrew\ntitle by the spelling Qabalah, which is no doubt correct, but lays\nhim open to a charge of pedantry, which perhaps does not much affect\nhim, since it would only come from superficial and possibly scoffing\ncritics. The use of the letter Q without its usual English companion\nthe u is sanctioned and advised, in this connection, by the learned\nMax M\u00fcller and other Orientalists of repute. To avoid the printing\nof Hebrew letters, the publisher has adopted a scheme of printing\nHebrew words in English capital letters (in addition to the mode of\npronunciation), after a method given by the author in tabular form.\nTo the Hebrew scholar this gives an idea of barbarism, which is\npainful to the eye and sadly mars the volume, whilst it only saves\nthe student the task of learning an alphabet of 22 letters. I differ\nfrom the author in representing the Hebrew Teth by T, while\ndepicting the Tau by TH., the reverse would have been a closer\nimitation of the sounds. The Introduction includes a learned\nexcursus upon the idea of \u201cNegative Existence,\u201d in which\nconsiderable light is thrown on that difficult subject; skilful\ndefinitions are added concerning the AIN, the AIN SOPH, and AIN SOPH\nAUR, answering in English to Negativity, The Limitless, and\nLimitless Light, the first essences of Deity. Several pages are\ndevoted to a clear description of the Ten Sephiroth, the Numerical\nConceptions of Godhead, and their explanatory titles; the Four\nWorlds of Emanation, and the component elements of a Human Soul; the\nMysteries of the Hexagram as a type of Macroprosopus, the Most Holy\nAncient One, or God the Father\u2014and the succeeding mystery of\nMicroprosopus, the Lesser Countenance, typified in the Pentagram and\ncorresponding to the Christian Personality of the \u201cSon of God,\u201d are\nall explained at length. The series of references to the IHVH the\nTetragrammaton, the Concealed Name of unknown pronunciation, form a\nvaluable dissertation. The book is supplied with nine well executed\ndiagrams, explanatory of the Sephiroth, the sacred names, essences\nof the soul, and a very perfect and complete scheme of the Sephiroth\nin the four worlds of emanation associated with the Vision of\nEzekiel. Mr. Mathers desires to call special attention to the\ndifferentiation of the Deity in the Emanations, into the female type\nin addition to masculine characteristics: note the idealism of the\nSuperior HE, Binah, the Mother, and the Inferior HE, Malkuth, the\nBride of Microprosopus, the Kingdom of God (the Son of God and his\nBride the Church), note that Genesis i. 26, says \u201clet _Us_ make man\nin our image,\u201d \u201cmale and female created he them;\u201d the \u201c_us_\u201d is\n\u201cElohim,\u201d a noun in the plural.\n\nThe \u201cSiphra Dtzenioutha,\u201d or \u201cBook of Concealed Mystery,\u201d is the\nmost difficult of comprehension. Mr. Mathers adds a running\ncommentary of his own, which proves to be very valuable. It consists\nof five chapters; in the first are found references to the Mystical\nEquilibrium, the worlds of unbalanced force characterised as the\nEdomite kings, the Vast Countenance, Theli the Dragon, the powers of\nIHVH, and the essence of the female power\u2014the Mother. The second\nchapter mentions the Beard of Truth, and passes on to define\nMicroprosopus. The third chapter treats of the Beard of\nMicroprosopus in an allegorical manner, and of the formation of the\nSupernal Man. An annotation follows concerning Prayer, and a curious\nnote on the word AMEN! as composed of IHVH, and ADNI Adonai or Lord.\nChapter IV. treats of the male and female essences, and has a\ncurious note on the Hebrew letter H\u00e9, speaking of it as female, and\ncomposed of D, Daleth, and I, Jod\u2014a great mystery worthy of study.\nChapter V. speaks of the Supernal Eden, the Heavens, the Earth, the\nWaters, the Giants-Nephilim in the earth, wars of the kings, the\ntree of knowledge of good and evil, the serpent, and the houses of\njudgment; so that this treatise is no less discursive than abstruse.\n\nThe \u201cIdra Rabba,\u201d or \u201cGreater Holy Assembly,\u201d consisted of ten\nRabbis, of whom Rabbi Schimeon was chief, and the book contains\ntheir several speeches and comments upon the doctrines laid down by\nRabbi Schimeon, on a similar plan to the conversations narrated in\nthe Book of Job. Twenty-five chapters are occupied with an allegory\nof the several parts of Macroprosopus, the type of God the Father;\nthe twenty-sixth concerns the Edomite kings, the vanished creations;\nChapters XXVII. to XLII. are an allegorical description of\nMicroprosopus, the Son Deity, the V or Vau of the Tetragrammaton;\nChapter XLIII. concerns the Judgments; XLIV., the Supernal Man; and\nXLV. is a Conclusion, in narrative form, of the passing away of\nthree of the ten Rabbis, and the acknowledgment of R. Schimeon as\nchief of them all.\n\nVery much of this descriptive volume referring to Deity is not only\nabstruse, but is, to the modern European, verbiage run wild; yet in\nthis characteristic it is truly Oriental and Hebrew; some passages\nremind me very much of the \u201cSong of Solomon,\u201d there are the same\nexuberant and flowery outbursts of poetic imagery.\n\nThe \u201cIdra Zuta,\u201d or \u201cLesser Holy Assembly,\u201d is a similar treatise,\nexplanatory of the Holy powers of the Deity, ascribing honour and\npower to Macroprosopus, Microprosopus, AIMA the God Mother, and the\nBride of God; with instructive allusions to the Prior Worlds of the\nso-called Edomite Kings, and the sexual aspects of Godhead. The work\nconcludes with a narrative of the death of R. Schimeon and his\nburial, the whole \u201cIdra\u201d being his last dying declaration of\ndoctrine.\n\nIt is noteworthy that the words of the \u201cSmaragdime Tablet of\nHermes\u201d\u2014\u201cthat which is below is like that which is above\u201d occur in\nparagraph 388 of the Idra Rabba, and are thus introduced, \u201cWe have\nlearned through Barietha, the tradition given forth _without_ the\nHoly City.\u201d I note also that the Mischna is mentioned in the Idra\nZuta. Want of space compels me to omit all extracts from this\nvolume, which is a matter of regret, as many passages are very\neloquently written.\n\nA flaw in this book is the construction of the Index, which should\nhave contained sub-headings, as well as main headings. Of what value\nis the entry \u201cMicroprosopus,\u201d followed by eleven lines each of\nfourteen page-numbers? A score of references, sub-divided between\nhis characteristics, his relationships, and his titles would have\nbeen of more practical use. With this exception, and when the\nabomination of Hebrew in English letters has been tolerated, we must\nacknowledge the production of a most valuable theosophical and\nphilosophical storehouse of ancient Hebrew doctrine, on which Mr.\nMacGregor Mathers may be heartily congratulated.\n\n                                              W. WYNN WESTCOTT, M.B.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n\n\n\u201cAN ADVENTURE AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.\u201d\n\n                   BY A STUDENT OF OCCULTISM.[29]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n  Copyrighted by Franz Hartmann, Boston Occult Publishing Co., 1887.\n\n-----\n\nA strange and original little story, charmingly fantastic, but full\nof poetic feeling and, what is more, of deep philosophical and\noccult truths, for those who can perceive the ground-work it is\nbuilt upon. A fresh Eclogue of Virgil in its first part, descriptive\nof Alpine scenery in the Tyrol, where the author \u201cdreamt\u201d his\nadventure, with \u201cshining glaciers glistening like vast mirrors in\nthe light of the rising sun,\u201d deep ravines with rushing streams\ndancing between the cliffs, blue lakes slumbering among the meadows,\nand daisy-sprinkled valleys resting in the shadow of old pine\nforests.\n\nGradually as the hero of the \u201cAdventure\u201d ascended higher and higher,\nhe began losing the sense of the world of the real, to pass\nunconsciously into the land of waking dreams.\n\n  \u201cIn these solitudes there is nothing to remind one of the\n  existence of man, except occasionally the sawed-off trunk of a\n  tree, showing the destructive influence of human activity. In some\n  old, rotten, and hollow trunks rain-water has collected, sparkling\n  in the sun like little mirrors, such as may be used by\n  water-nymphs, and around their edges mushrooms are growing, which\n  our imagination transforms into chairs, tables, and baldachinos\n  for elves and fairies.... No sound could now be heard, except\n  occasionally the note of a titmouse and the cry of a hawk who rose\n  in long-drawn spiral motion high up into the air....\u201d\n\nThrowing himself upon the moss, he begins watching the play of the\nwater until it becomes \u201calive with forms of the most singular\nshape,\u201d with super-mundane beings dancing in the spray, \u201cshaking\ntheir heads in the sunshine and throwing off showers of liquid\nsilver from their waving locks.\u201d...\n\n  \u201cTheir laughter sounded like that of the Falls of _Minnehaha_, and\n  from the crevices of the rocks peeped the ugly faces of gnomes and\n  kobolds, watching slyly the fairies.\u201d\n\nThen the dreamer asks himself a variety of questions of the most\nperplexing nature, except, perhaps, to the materialist, who cuts\nevery psychological problem as Alexander cleft the Gordian knot....\n\n\u201cWhat is the reason that we imagine such things?\u201d he inquires.\n\n  \u201cWhy do we endow \u2018dead\u2019 things with human consciousness and with\n  sensation?... Is our consciousness merely a product of the organic\n  activity of our physical body, or is it a function of the\n  universal life ... within the body? Is our personal consciousness\n  dependent for its existence on the existence of the physical body,\n  and does it die with it; or is there a spiritual consciousness,\n  belonging to a higher, immortal, and invisible self of man,\n  temporarily connected with the organism, but which may exist\n  independently of the latter? If such is the case, if our physical\n  organism is merely an instrument through which our consciousness\n  acts, then this instrument is _not_ our real self. If this is\n  true, then our real self is there where our consciousness exists,\n  and may exist independently of the latter.... Can there be any\n  _dead_ matter in the Universe? Is not even a stone held together\n  by the \u2018cohesion\u2019 of its particles, and attracted to the earth by\n  \u2018gravitation\u2019? But what else is this \u2018cohesion\u2019 and \u2018gravitation\u2019\n  but _energy_, and what is \u2018energy\u2019 but the _soul_, an interior\n  principle called _force_, which produces an outward manifestation\n  called _matter_?... All things possess life, all things possess\n  soul, and there may be soul-beings ... invisible to our physical\n  senses, but which may be perceived by our soul.\u201d (p. 19.)\n\nThe arch-druid of modern Hylo-Idealism, Dr. Lewins, failing to\nappear to rudely shake our philosopher out of his unscientific\nthoughts, a dwarf appears in his stead. The creature, however, does\nnot warn the dreamer, as that _too_-learned _Idealist_ would. He\ndoes not tell him that he transcends \u201cthe limits of the anatomy of\nhis conscious Ego,\u201d since \u201c_psychosis_ is now diagnosed by\n_medico-psychological symptomatology as vesiculo-neurosis in\nactivity_,\u201d[30] and\u2014as quoth the raven\u2014\u201cmerely this, and nothing\nmore.\u201d But being a _cretin_, he laughingly invites him to his\n\u201cMaster.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n  \u201cWhat is Religion: A Vindication of Free Thought.\u201d By C. N.,\n  annotated by Robert Lewins, M. D. See his Appendices, p. 35, _et\n  seq._\n\n-----\n\nThe hero follows, and finds he is brought to a \u201ctheosophical\nmonastery,\u201d in a hidden valley of the most gorgeous description.\nTherein he meets, to his surprise, with adepts of both sexes; for,\nas he learns later:\u2014\n\n  \u201cWhat has intelligence to do with the sex of the body? Where the\n  sexual instincts end, there ends the influence of the sex.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile, he is brought into the presence of a male adept of\nmajestic appearance, who welcomes and informs him that he is among\n\u201cThe Brothers of the Golden and Rosy Cross.\u201d He is invited to remain\nwith them for some time, and see how they live. His permanent\nresidence with them is, however, objected to. The reasons given for\nit are as follow:\u2014\n\n  \u201cThere are still too many of the lower and animal elements\n  adhering to your constitution.... They could not resist long the\n  destructive influence of the pure and spiritual air of this place;\n  and, as you have not yet a sufficient amount of truly spiritual\n  elements in your organism to render it firm and strong, you would,\n  by remaining here, soon become weak and waste away, like a person\n  in consumption; you would become miserable instead of being happy,\n  and you would die.\u201d\n\nThen follows a philosophical conversation on WILL, in which the\nlatter, in individual man, is said to become the stronger if it only\nuses the universal Will-Power in Nature, _itself remaining passive\nin the_ LAW. This sentence has to be well understood, lest it should\nlead the reader into the error of accepting pure _mediumistic\npassivity_ as the best thing for spiritual and occult development. A\nphenomenon is produced on a passing cloud, into which apparent life\nis infused by the Master\u2019s hand, stretched towards it; this is again\nexplained by showing that LIFE is universal and identical with WILL.\nOther phenomena still more wonderful follow; and they are all\nexplained as being produced through natural laws, in which science\nwill not believe. The thoughts of the student are read and answered\nas though his mind were an opened book. A lovely garden, full of\nexotic plants and luxurious palm-trees, into which he is taken,\nstriking him as something unnatural in the Tyrolean Alps; so much\nluxury, moreover, seeming to him to disagree with the ascetic views\njust expressed by the adept, he is told forthwith, in answer to his\nunexpressed thoughts, that the garden had been erected to make his\nvisit an agreeable one; and that it was an _illusion_. \u201cAll these\ntrees and plants ... require no gardeners, ... they cost us nothing\nbut an effort of our imagination\u201d\u2014he learns.\n\n\u201cSurely,\u201d he said, \u201cthis rose cannot be an illusion ... or an effect\nof my imagination?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered the adept ... \u201cbut it is a product of the imagination\nof Nature, whose processes can be guided by the will of the adept.\nThe whole world ... is nothing else but a world of the imagination\nof the _Universal Mind_, which is the _Creator_ of forms....\u201d\n\nTo exemplify the teaching, a Magnolia Tree in full blossom sixty\nfeet high, standing at a distance, is made to look less and less\ndense. The green foliage fades into gray, becomes \u201cmore and more\nshadowy and transparent,\u201d until \u201cit seemed to be merely the ghost of\na tree, and finally disappeared entirely from view.\u201d\n\n  \u201cThus\u201d continued the adept, \u201cyou see that tree stood in the sphere\n  of my mind as it stood in yours. We are all living within the\n  sphere of each other\u2019s mind.... The Adept creates his own images;\n  the ordinary mortal lives in the products of the imagination of\n  others, or the imagination of nature. We live in the paradise of\n  our own soul ... but the spheres of our souls are not narrow. They\n  have expanded far beyond the limits of the visible bodies, and\n  will continue to expand until they become one with the universal\n  Soul....\u201d\n\n  \u201cThe power of the imagination is yet too little known to mankind,\n  else they would better beware of what they think. If a man thinks\n  a good or an evil thought, that thought calls into existence a\n  corresponding form or power ... which may assume density and\n  become living ... and live long after the physical body of the man\n  who created it has died. It will accompany his soul after death,\n  because _the creations are attracted to their creator_.\u201d (p. 83.)\n\nScattered hither and thither, through this little volume are pearls\nof wisdom. For that which is rendered in the shape of dialogue and\nmonologue is the fruit gathered by the author during a long research\nin old forgotten and mouldy, MSS. of the Rosicrucians, or medi\u00e6val\nalchemists, and in the worm-eaten _infoglios_ of unrecognized, yet\ngreat adepts of every age.\n\nThus when the author approaches the subject of theosophical retreats\nor communities\u2014a dream cherished by many a theosophist\u2014he is\nanswered by the \u201cAdept\u201d that \u201cthe _true ascetic is he who lives in\nthe world, surrounded by its temptations_; he in whose soul the\nanimal elements are still active, craving for, the gratification of\ntheir desires and possessing the means for such gratification, but\n_who by the superior power of his will conquers his animal self_.\nHaving attained that state he may retire from the world.... He\nexpects no future reward in heaven; for what could heaven offer him\nexcept happiness which he already possesses? He desires no other\ngood, but to create good for the world.\u201d... Saith the Adept.\n\n  \u201cIf you could establish theosophical monasteries, where\n  intellectual and spiritual development would go hand-in-hand,\n  where a new science could be taught, based upon a true knowledge\n  of the fundamental laws of the universe, and when, at the same\n  time man would be taught how to obtain a mastery over himself, you\n  would confer the greatest possible benefit upon the world. Such a\n  convent would afford immense advantage for the advancement of\n  intellectual research.... These convents would become centres of\n  intelligence....\u201d\n\nThen, reading the student\u2019s thoughts:\n\n  \u201cYou mistake,\u201d he added; \u201cit is not the want of money which\n  prevents us to execute the idea. It is the impossibility to find\n  the proper kind of people to inhabit the convent after it is\n  established. Indeed, we would be poor Alchemists if we could not\n  produce gold in any desirable quantity ... but gold is a curse to\n  mankind, and we do not wish to increase the curse.... Distribute\n  gold among men, and you will only create craving for more; give\n  them gold, and you will transform them into devils. No, it is not\n  gold that we need; it is men who thirst after wisdom. _There are\n  thousands who desire knowledge, but few who desire wisdom...._\n  Even many of your would-be Occultists ... have taken up their\n  investigations merely for the purpose of gratifying idle\n  curiosity, while others desire to pry into the secrets of nature,\n  to obtain knowledge which they desire to employ for the attainment\n  of selfish ends. Give us men or women who desire nothing else but\n  the truth, and we will take care of their needs....\u201d\n\nAnd then having given a startlingly true picture of modern\ncivilisation, and explained the occult side of certain things\npertaining to knowledge, the Adept led on the student to his\nlaboratory, where he left him for a few minutes alone. Then another\nadept, looking like a monk, joined him, and drew his attention to\nsome powders, by the fumigations of which the Elementals, or\n\u201cSpirits of Nature\u201d could be made to appear. This provoked the\nstudent\u2019s curiosity. Sure of his invulnerability in the matter of\ntests and temptations, he begged to be allowed to see these\ncreatures....\n\nSuddenly the room looked dim, and the walls of the laboratory\ndisappeared. He felt he was in the water, light as a feather,\ndancing on the waves, with the full moon pouring torrents of light\nupon the ocean, and the beautiful Isle of Ceylon appearing in the\ndistance. The melodious sound of female voices made him espy near to\nwhere he was three beautiful female beings. The Queen of the\nUndines, the most lovely of the three\u2014for these were the longed-for\nElementals\u2014entices the unwary student to her submarine palace. He\nfollows her, and, forgetting theosophical convents, Adepts and\nOccultism, succumbs to the temptation....\n\n           *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *\n\nWas it but a dream? It would so appear. For he awakes on the mossy\nplot where he had lain to rest in the morning, and from whence he\nhad followed the dwarf. But how comes it that he finds in his\nbutton-hole the exotic lily given to him by the adept lady, and in\nhis pocket the piece of gold transmuted in his presence by the\n\u201cMaster\u201d? He rushes home, and finds on the table of his hotel-room a\npromised work on \u201cThe Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians,\u201d and on\nits fly-leaf a few words in pencil. They ran thus:\u2014\n\n\u201c_Friend, I regret ... I cannot invite you to visit us again for the\npresent. He who desires to remain in the peaceful valley must know\nhow to resist all sensual attractions, even those of the Water\nQueen. Study ... bring the circle into the square, mortify the\nmetals.... When you have succeeded we shall meet again.... I shall\nbe with you when you need me._\u201d\n\nThe work ends with the quotation from Paul\u2019s Second Epistle to the\nCorinthians, where the man caught up into Paradise (whether in the\nbody or out of the body ... God knoweth) \u201c_heard unspeakable words,\nwhich it is not lawful for a man to utter_....\u201d\n\nThe \u201cadventure\u201d is more than worth perusal.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n     TABULA BEMBINA SIVE MENSA ISIACA. THE ISIAC TABLET OF CARDINAL\n              BEMBO. ITS HISTORY AND OCCULT SIGNIFICANCE.\n\n         BY W. WYNN WESTCOTT, M.B. BATH. R. H. FRYAR, 1887.\n\nThis work is a monograph of 20 foolscap folio pages, on the\ncelebrated Isiac Tablet. It is well and clearly printed in\ngood-sized type on good paper, and has for frontispiece a\nwell-executed photogravure of the Tablet itself, from a drawing made\nby the author some years previously. It is written in the clear\nstyle which distinguishes Dr. Westcott\u2019s writings, and in all\nquotations chapter and verse are scrupulously given. Three centuries\nago this Tablet greatly exercised the minds of the learned, and\ncontinued to do so till the researches of modern Egyptologists began\nto throw some doubt upon its authenticity as a reliable specimen of\nancient Egyptian art; since which time the interest in it has\ngradually declined. Undoubtedly occult, as its meaning and symbolism\nalike are, we feel that this monograph will be of service to all\nlovers and students of the mystical ideas of ancient Egypt. The\nfirst thing which strikes the eye of even the most careless observer\nis the careful and systematic arrangement of the figures and emblems\nin triads, or groups of three, which system of classification\nprevailed in the religious symbolism of the Egyptians. The Tablet,\nagain, is divided by transverse horizontal lines into three\nprincipal portions, Upper, Lower, and Middle, the latter being\nsub-divided by vertical lines into three parts, the centre of which\nis occupied by a throned female figure, flanked on each side by a\ntriad, of which the central figure in each instance is seated. Thus\nthe Upper and Lower portions of the Tablet give each a Dodecad\nsub-divided into Triads, while the central portion forms a Heptad.\nThis at once corresponds to the symbolism of the \u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05d9\u05e6\u05d9\u05e8\u05d4, _Sepher\nYetzirah_, Chapter VI., \u00a7 3. \u201cThe Triad, the Unity which standeth\none and alone, the Heptad divided into Three as opposed to Three and\nthe Centre Mediating between them, the Twelve which stand in war ...\nthe Unity above the Triad, the Triad above the Heptad, the Heptad\nabove the Dodecad and they are all bound together each with each.\u201d\n\nCommencing with a description of the Tablet, Dr. Westcott gives as\nmuch as is known of its history, quoting from Kircher, Keysler,\nMurray, and others. It appears that it was first discovered in Rome,\nat a spot where a Temple of Isis had once stood. After the sack of\nRome by the Constable De Bourbon, it fell into the hands of a smith,\nwho sold it to Cardinal Bembo for a large sum. At his death it came\ninto the possession of the Dukes of Mantua, at the taking of which\ncity in 1630, it passed into the hands of Cardinal Pava. It is now\nin the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at Turin. The dimensions are 4\nft. 2 in., by 2 ft. 5\u00bd in. Thus its experiences during the last few\ncenturies have been rather stormy.\n\nAfter mentioning \u00c6neas De Vico and Pignorius, Dr. Westcott gives us\nan extensive digest of the views of Athanasius Kircher, from whose\nplate in the \u201c\u0152dipus \u00c6gyptiacus\u201d the photogravure at the\ncommencement is taken. Kircher undoubtedly more nearly grasped the\nesoteric design of the tablet than any one except Eliphas Levi, and\nhis attempted explanation marks him alike as a profound scholar and\nan advanced mystic, notwithstanding the great disadvantages with\nwhich he had to contend in the utter ignorance of Egyptology as it\nis now understood, which prevailed at the date at which he wrote.\n\nQuotations and notes from Montfau\u00e7on, Shuckford, Warburton,\nJablonski, Caylus, Banier, Mackenzie, Kenealy, and Winckelman follow\nthe excerpts from Kircher, and we then come to the views of modern\nEgyptologists on the subject, notably those of Professor Le Page\nRenouf as expressed to Dr Westcott in person. The reasons they\nassign for doubting the authenticity of the Tablet are briefly\nthese:\u2014that they consider the execution of the work stamps it as a\nRoman production; that the hieroglyphics will not read so as to make\nsense; that the running pattern with the masks would never have been\nemployed by an Egyptian; and that some of the best known Egyptian\ndeities are conspicuous by their absence. In answer to these attacks\nDr. Westcott wisely remarks that \u201cit is a gross absurdity to suppose\nthat any man capable of designing such a tablet, over which immense\nenergy, research, and knowledge must have been expended, to say\nnothing of the skill displayed in its execution, should have wasted\nhis abilities in perpetrating a gigantic hoax; for that is, I\nsuppose, what some modern writers mean who call it a \u2018forgery\u2019; but\na _forgery_ is a _deceitful imitation_. How it can be called an\nimitation considering that its special character is that of being\ndifferent to any other Stel\u00e9 or Tablet known is not clear; and how\nit can be a deceit is also incomprehensible, since it bears no name\nor date purporting to refer it to a definite author or period.\u201d\n\nOn page 16 Dr. Westcott observes that the Four Genii of the Dead are\nconspicuous by their absence, but he seems to overlook their\nrepresentation in figure 41 of the Limbus, where the sepulchral\nvases beneath the couch have, as usual, the heads of the Genii of\nthe Dead.\n\nA quotation, together with a plate from Levi\u2019s \u201cHistoire de la\nMagie,\u201d follows this, together with a disquisition on the Taro,\nwhich has so much exercised occult students of late. Altogether the\nbook is an extremely interesting production, and Dr. Westcott puts\nforward his own views on the subject with much clearness.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                         EARTH\u2019S EARLIEST AGES\n      AND THEIR CONNECTION WITH MODERN SPIRITUALISM AND THEOSOPHY.\n\n            BY G. H. PEMBER, M.A. (Hodder & Stoughton).\n\nTo meet with a book like this in the last quarter of the nineteenth\ncentury is like meeting a Pterodactyl strolling along the Row in the\nheight of the season. But more careful perusal, while augmenting the\nreader\u2019s wonder, mingles with it a certain respect for the writer\u2019s\ncourage and unflinching logic.\n\nGranting his fundamental premiss\u2014the verbal inspiration of the\nBible\u2014and accepting his first principle of interpretation, his\nargument is at least consistent, and is weakened by no half-hearted\npandering to the facts of experience or the discoveries of science.\n\nTo quote Mr. Pember\u2019s primary canon, he assumes\u2014\n\n  I. \u201cThat the first chapter of Genesis, equally with those which\n  follow it, is, in its primary meaning, neither vision nor\n  allegory, but plain history, and must, therefore, be accepted as a\n  literal statement of facts.\u201d\n\nOn this basis he gives an interpretation of Genesis, the main idea\nof which is the interposition of \u201cThe Interval\u201d between the creation\nand the \u201cSix Days\u201d described in the text. During this period the\nearth was wholly given over to Satan and his host, and the \u201cSix\nDays\u201d creation was, according to Mr. Pember, the restoration and\nreformation of the world from this chaos of confusion.\n\nBut space forbids to follow the author into details, since one-half\nof his volume is devoted to the subject indicated in its sub-title,\nand this portion is of greater interest to readers of LUCIFER.\n\nAs an accurate and thorough student of the work of those he\ncondemns, Mr. Pember stands unrivalled. He has both read and\nunderstood a very large part of the literature of Theosophy and\nSpiritualism. His quotations are fair and well chosen, his comments\nstrictly moderate in tone and entirely free from any personal\nanimus. And these traits are the more surprising since the author\nhas certainly got the \u201cPowers of the Air\u201d very much on the brain. It\nis hardly even a rhetorical expression to say that it is his firm\nand unshakeable conviction, that all persons who do not hold the\nsame views of Biblical criticism and Scriptural exegesis as Mr.\nPember, are, to the extent of their difference from him, serving the\nPowers of Evil, the Personal Devil, the Antichrist, whose coming he\nexpects in the very near future.\n\nOn this point only Mr. Pember does not seem to have the courage of\nhis opinions; perhaps he does not see, or seeing does not realise,\nthe inevitable conclusion to which his arguments point. But then he\nmay, after all, take refuge in the famous _credo quia absurdum_.\n\nThe author, moreover, is sure to meet with scant sympathy even from\nthe materialists to whom he is most nearly allied in thought. For he\naccepts, _en bloc_, the phenomena and wonders of spiritualism as of\noccultism, and never attempts even to question their reality.\nMeanwhile, he believes in the resurrection of the _physical body_\nafter death, in a physical kingdom of Christ upon earth, and so on.\nIndeed, his views are the most remarkable compound of pure\nmaterialism and wholesale acceptance of the psychic and so-called\nsupernatural that have ever appeared in print.\n\nTo sum up, a few passages may be quoted to give an idea of the\nspirit of Mr. Pember\u2019s treatment of this part of the subject, which\nat the same time will be the most telling criticism of his book to\nthe minds of those who have grasped the ideas of which he speaks.\n\n  \u201c... the existence, in all times of the world\u2019s history, of\n  persons with abnormal faculties, initiates of the great mysteries\n  and depositors of the secrets of antiquity, has been affirmed by a\n  testimony far too universal and persistent to admit of denial....\n  He who would be an adept must conform to the teaching of those\n  demons, predicted leaders of the last apostasy, who forbid to\n  marry, and command to abstain from meat.\u201d\n\n  \u201cWe have never met with a single reported instance of a spirit\n  entering the lower spheres with the glad tidings, \u201cBelieve on the\n  Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.\u201d On the contrary, among\n  Spiritualists, as with Theosophists and Buddhists, sin can be\n  expiated only by personal suffering.... \u201cSin,\u201d shrieks the\n  familiar of \u201cM. A. Oxon,\u201d \u201cis remediable by repentance and\n  atonement and reparation personally wrought out in pain and shame,\n  not by coward cries for mercy, and by feigned assent to statements\n  which ought to create a shudder.\u201d\n\nMr. Pember, therefore, believes in vicarious atonement in its\ncrudest form? He teaches that \u201crepentance and faith\u201d save man _from\nthe consequences_ of his actions!\n\nAfter describing the \u201cPerfect Way\u201d as \u201can ecclesiastical compound of\nHeathenism\u201d (_with a capital H_), the author proceeds to expound the\ndoctrine of reincarnation as therein set forth. Nothing can be\nfairer or more correct than this exposition, at the conclusion of\nwhich we read:\n\n  \u201cJews, Christians, Buddhists and Mahommedans ... will become able\n  to unite in a universal belief that sin is expiated by\n  transmigrations and in the worship of \u2018the Great Goddess\u2019. The\n  conception of a second league of Babel has been formed in the\n  minds of Theosophists.\u201d\n\nAnd even then, would not such a league be better than the sectarian\nwars, the religious persecutions, the tests and disabilities which\nstill disfigure _Christendom_ in the name of religion?\n\nFurther on the author refers to the occult axiom that \u201cwhereas God\nis I AM, or positive being, the Devil is NOT, and remarks:\n\n  \u201cThere is little doubt that the culminations of the Mysteries was\n  the worship of Satan himself... It would appear, then, that from\n  remote ages, probably from the time when the Nephilim [the fallen\n  angels of Satan\u2019s Host] were upon earth, there has existed a\n  league with the Prince of Darkness, a Society of men consciously\n  on the side of Satan, and against the Most High.\n\n  \u201cThe spells by which spirits may be summoned from the unseen are\n  now known to all; and those unearthly forms which in past times\n  were projected from the void only in the labyrinths, caverns, and\n  subterranean chambers of the initiated, are now manifesting\n  themselves in many a private drawing-room and parlour. Men have\n  become enamoured of demons, and ere long will receive the Prince\n  of the Demons as their God.\u201d\n\nTheosophy, says Mr. Pember, will become the creed of the\nintellectual and the educated, while Spiritualism influences the\nmasses of mankind. And he traces the influences of Theosophy and\nBuddhism in \u201cBroad-Churchism, Universalism, Comtism, Secularism, and\nQuietism.\u201d Nay, even under the Temperance movement he spies the\nlurking serpent of esoteric teaching and guidance, and he cites\nletters from Christian friends complaining that these and other\nphilanthropic movements are being swamped, and their periodicals\noccupied by Theosophists, who work on Buddhist principles.\n\nIn his concluding chapter, the author sums up a truly formidable\narray of evidences to prove that \u201cthe advocates of modern thought\narray themselves against every principle of the early revelations of\nthe Divine Will,\u201d apparently since they deny and repudiate the\nfollowing \u201ccosmic or universal laws\u201d:\u2014\n\nI. The law of the Sabbath.\n\nII. The headship of the man over the woman.\n\nIII. The institution of marriage [_i.e._, they practise _celibacy_].\n\nIV. The law of substitution, that life must atone for life, and that\n    without shedding of blood there is no remission, as taught in\n    type by animal sacrifices. Latter-day philosophers affect the\n    utmost horror of such a salvation, and will have none of Christ.\n\nV. The command to use the flesh of animals as food.\n\nVI. The decree that \u201cwhoso sheddeth man\u2019s blood, by man shall his\n    blood be shed.\u201d\n\nVII. The direction to multiply and replenish the earth.\n\nThe charge of disobedience to such laws as these every mystic will\njoyfully admit, with the cry, \u201cHappy will it be for all things\nliving when such laws shall no longer be obeyed by any living\ncreature.\u201d\n\nThese laws, the disobedience to which Mr. Pember so much regrets in\nthe later schools, date from the dark past when man had to form his\nphysical existence and root it upon the earth. If they are some of\nthe early revelations of the \u201cDivine Will,\u201d that is no reason why\nthey should rule mankind when its condition is changed and it is\nemerging from the darkness of Materialism, and losing, from its\nnatural growth towards that Divine will, the desire for physical\nexistence. The Mosaic laws were made by the Jehovah, the God of\nanger and cruelty. In spite of the strange inconsistency by which\nthe followers of Jesus Christ, the teacher of a gentle and sublime\nfaith, read in their churches these Mosaic laws, yet they are empty\nwords from a past of bloodshed to the humane or religious man. The\noccultist professes even more than religion\u2014he dares to avow himself\na follower of the light, an aspirant towards knowledge, and one who\nis determined to live the noblest life knowledge can indicate. What\nto him are the laws of murder, of the shedding of blood, of marriage\nand giving in marriage? It is not his aim to help people the earth,\nfor he desires to lift himself and others above the craving for\nearth-life. He commits no murder, for all men are his brethren, and\nhe no longer recognises the brutal law of the criminal, by which,\nwhen blood is shed, blood must be again shed to wash it away. He can\nhave no interest either in the straightforward laws of the past, or\nthe complicated modern law of the present\u2014which permits of many\nthings the Jews would have been ashamed of. The only law he\nrecognises is that of charity and justice.\n\nThere is a charming page in the _Introduction_, a ring of genuine\nsorrow for the failure of certain missionaries in their cowardly\nattack upon the theosophical leaders, as refreshing as it is\nludicrous. The Jeremiad runs in this wise:\u2014\n\n  \u201cIt would seem that the attack of the Madras Christian College\n  upon Madame Blavatsky has by no means checked the movement in\n  which she has been so conspicuous an actor, and, apparently, the\n  failure is nowhere more manifest than in Madras itself. It was\n  confidently predicted that the High Priestess of Theosophy and\n  Buddhism would not dare to show her face again in that city.\n  Nevertheless she did so, and ... received a warm welcome, not\n  merely from the members of the Theosophical societies, but also\n  from the members of the various colleges and from many other\n  persons. She was conducted in procession from the shore to the\n  Pancheappa Hall, and was there presented by the students with an\n  address of sympathy and admiration, to which, among other\n  signatures, were appended those of more than three hundred members\n  of the very Christian College whose professors had assailed her.\u201d\n\nAnd he adds, \u201cSatan is now setting in motion intellectual forces\nwhich will be more than a match for the missionaries, if they\npersist in carrying on the warfare in the old way.\u201d\n\nToo much praise cannot be rendered to Mr. Pember for his fairness\nand impersonality. He writes as becomes a scholar and a gentleman,\nand though one may smile at his intellectual blindness and stand\namazed at the mental capacity which can digest the views which he\nmaintains, one cannot but respect his earnestness, his thoroughness,\nand his mastery of the subject.\n\n                                                               B. K.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                        ISAURE AND OTHER POEMS.\n\n                        BY W. STEWART ROSS.\n\nThe poem which gives its name to this volume of ringing verse is, as\nmay easily be conjectured, the lament of a poet over his love torn\nfrom him by inexorable death.\n\nA true instinct has taught the author that it is such hours of agony\nas this, such piercing of the heart, such fierce and burning\ntorture, which reveal to the noble soul capable of intense suffering\nthe inner truths and realities of life.\n\nTo quote:\n\n                \u201cI stand on the cis-mortal,\n                  And I gaze with \u2019wildered eye,\n                To the mists of the trans-mortal,\n                  And the signs called Live and Die.\n                  .   .   .   .   .   .   .\n                Let me dream in this cis-mortal,\n                  And the noblest dream I can.\n                  .   .   .   .   .   .   .\n                Let me dream far from the formul\u00e6,\n                  And I may dream more nigh\n                To the sable shore of mystery,\n                  And the signs of Live and Die.\u201d\n\nSome passages in this opening poem are instinct with the breath of\nmysticism, and rouse a keen desire that Mr. Stewart Ross had become\nacquainted, in that period of his life when this book was written,\nwith the wider and grander view of life as a whole, of its purpose\nand meaning, of its laws and its realities, which occultism affords\nto a mind capable of grasping them.\n\nSurely the man who could write:\n\n                \u201cFor death and life are really one.\u201d\n\nAnd again:\n\n                  \u201cFor the mystic Part is gathered\n                    Unto the mystic Whole.\n                  And the vague lines of non-Being\n                    Are scribbled o\u2019er thy soul.\u201d\n\nmust have the power to sense the keener air of the subtle life and\ngrasp its glorious promise.\n\nWhat pilgrim of the path has not felt:\n\n                \u201cHard-paced the iron years have gone\n                  Over my head since then;\n                I\u2019ve haunted in a waking dream\n                  The paths of living men;\n                But of this world my kingdom\u2019s not,\n                  Like him of Galilee,\n                For I grasp hands they cannot feel,\n                  See forms they cannot see.\u201d\n\nIn \u201cLeonore: A Lay of Dipsomania,\u201d one of the most terrible sides of\nhuman life is depicted with a vividness which tortures the reader,\nand flings a gloom on the inexorable sweep of life, fitly in keeping\nwith the vision pictured in \u201cA Nightmare.\u201d A mystic, struggling with\nthe negations of modern science, battling to assert the intuitive\nknowledge of his true self against its captious intellectualisms,\nspeaks through this picture of desolation and decay, protesting\nagainst the disappearance of all that is great and valuable in life\nunder the waves of oblivion.\n\nBut no man in whom the spark of true poetic inspiration burns can\never in the depths of his own heart accept the lifeless, empty,\nunreal phantom which materialism offers as the aim, the purpose, the\nfulfilment of life. We hope, therefore, that Mr. Stewart Ross will\nsome day give us a volume of poetry in which his true power and\ninsight will find expression, and which will enroll his name on the\nlist of those who have given new life to men.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n\n\n\nOne cannot fill a vacuum from within itself.\u2014L.S.C.\n\nMany a man will follow a misleader.\u2014L.S.C.\n\nIt is not necessary for truth to put on boxing-gloves.\u2014L.S.C.\n\nYou cannot build a temple of truth by hammering dead stones. Its\nfoundations must precipitate themselves like crystals from the\nsolution of life.\u2014L.S.C.\n\nWhen a certain point is reached pain becomes its own anodyne.\u2014L.S.C.\n\nSome pluck the fruits of the tree (of knowledge) to crown themselves\ntherewith, instead of plucking them to eat.\u2014L.S.C.\n\n\n\n\n                         =THEOSOPHICAL=\n                    =AND MYSTIC PUBLICATIONS=\n\n\nTHE THEOSOPHIST; a magazine of Oriental Philosophy, Art, Literature,\nand Occultism, conducted by H. P. Blavatsky, and H. S. Olcott,\nPermanent President of the T. S. Vol. VIII., 1887. Madras, India. In\nLondon, George Redway, 15, York Street, Covent Garden.\n\nThe September number contains several articles of great interest.\nFor lovers of the wonderful, as for the more scientifically inclined\nstudents of the laws of psycho-physics, the account given by\nSreenath Chatterjee, of a self-levitating lama who stayed for some\ndays in his house, is both interesting and instructive. It is\nendorsed by Colonel Olcott and another independent witness, and\nbears evident marks of genuine and careful observation. Curious and\nwonderful as such feats are, however, they have little to do with\nTheosophy.\n\nTo many readers such articles as Mr. Khandalwala\u2019s \u201cThe\nBhagavat-Gita and the Microcosmic Principles\u201d will be far more\nattractive. The questions propounded in this paper have a very\nimportant bearing upon a question which has recently been a good\ndeal under discussion, and it is to be hoped that it will elicit\nfrom Mr. Subba Row the further explanation of his views which is so\nmuch needed.\n\nVisconde Figani\u00e8re continues his \u201cEsoteric Studies\u201d with some\nabstruse but very interesting calculations as to the composition of\nthe alchemical elements during various cycles. A page of moral\nmaxims from the Mahabharata and a thoughtful paper on the \u201cKabbalah\nand the Microcosm\u201d contribute to make this number full of valuable\nmatter.\n\n                                  ---\n\nTHE PATH; \u201ca magazine devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity,\nTheosophy in America, and the Study of Occult Science, Philosophy,\nand Aryan Literature.\u201d Edited by W. Q. Judge, New York, P. O. Box\n2,659, and in London from George Redway.\n\nIn the September issue, the opening paper is the fourth of \u201cJasper\nNiemand\u2019s\u201d admirable \u201cLetters on the True.\u201d Its subject is the\n\u201cMind\u201d (_Manas_) or Heart in its relation to the Soul. Both analysis\nand synthesis are employed by the writer, with the intuition of a\ntrue mystic, and many suggestive gleams of light are thrown on an\nexceedingly difficult subject in the course of a few pages.\n\nThe idea of re-incarnation is traced by Mr. Walker in the writings\nof various poets: Mr. Johnston contributes an interesting paper on\n\u201cGospels and Upanishads,\u201d and \u201cRameses\u201d gives us a charming allegory\nunder the archaic title of \u201cPapyrus,\u201d and the number concludes with\n\u201cTea-Table Talk,\u201d which is, as usual, quaint, yet instructive.\nFinally, thanks are due to Mr. Judge for the kind and cordial\nwelcome he has extended to LUCIFER; the first number of which has,\nit is to be hoped, fulfilled the flattering expectations he\nexpresses.\n\n                                  ---\n\nLE LOTUS: \u201cRevue des Hautes Etudes Th\u00e9osophiques. Tendant \u00e0\nfavoriser le rapprochement entre l\u2019Orient et l\u2019Occident.\u201d Sous\nl\u2019inspiration de H. P. Blavatsky (nominally, but edited in reality,\nby our able brother, F. K. Gaborian, F. T. S.). Georges Carr\u00e9, 112\nBoulevard St. Germain, Paris.\n\nThis journal\u2014the French Theosophist\u2014contains in its September number\nan article by Madame Blavatsky on \u201cMisconceptions,\u201d in which various\ndoctrines and ideas erroneously connected with Theosophy are dealt\nwith. M. Barlet continues his series of articles on \u201cInitiation,\u201d\nand the reprint of the Abb\u00e9 de Villars\u2019 clever and humorous \u201cComte\nde Gabalis,\u201d is continued. Some verses by Amaravella, and several\npages of sparkling \u201cNotes,\u201d conclude the table of contents.\n\nLUCIFER owes thanks also to the _Lotus_ for inserting an admirably\ntranslated extract from its prospectus.\n\n                                  ---\n\nL\u2019AURORE: Revue mensuelle sous la direction de Lady Caithness,\nDuchesse de Pomar, Georges Carr\u00e9, 112 Boulevard St. Germain, Paris.\n\nThe articles in the September number are neither so numerous nor so\nvaried as those of the other Theosophical periodicals already\nreferred to. Lady Caithness advocates, in the current issue, the\ntheory that the English nation is descended from the lost ten tribes\nof Israel. As the very existence of these ten tribes is more than\nquestionable, students must judge for themselves of the weight of\nthe arguments advanced; the subject being too extensive even for\ncomment here.\n\n                                  ---\n\nTHE SPHINX: \u201cA monthly journal devoted to proving historically and\nexperimentally the supersensuous conception of the world on a\nmonistic basis.\u201d Edited by H\u00fcbbe Schleiden. Dr. J. U. Th. Griebens\nVerlag, Leipzig.\n\nThe October number is a full and highly instructive one. Dr. Carl\ndu Prel\u2019s handling of the \u201cDemon of Socrates\u201d contrasts\nbrilliantly with the lame and obscure treatment which the same\nsubject received a while ago at the hands of a body, which\nprofesses to investigate matters pertaining to the soul and its\nactivity. Herr Niemann\u2019s proof of the existence of an esoteric or\nsecret teaching in the Platonic dialogues is able and convincing;\nMr. Finch contributes a most interesting article on his\nobservations among the \u201cFaith-Healers\u201d in America, and Herr Carl\nzu Leiningen pursues his able exposition of the Kabbalistic\ndoctrine of Souls.\n\n                                  ---\n\nThree new works on mystic subjects are shortly to appear from the\npen of Dr. Franz Hartmann, whose valuable book on Paracelsus is\ncertainly in the hands of many of our readers.\n\nOf these the first, and probably the most important, is entitled:\n\u201cTHE SECRET SYMBOLS OF THE ROSICRUCIANS,\u201d and is to be published in\nBoston, U.S.A., by the Occult Publishing Company. It will contain\nnumerous plates coloured by hand, giving accurate transcriptions of\nsymbols and figures which have hitherto lain buried in rare, and in\nsome cases, unattainable manuscripts. The value of the work as a\ntext-book for students will be much enhanced by the copious\nvocabulary which Dr. Hartmann promises shall accompany it.\n\nThe other two will probably be issued by Mr. Redway; the one being\ncalled: \u201cIN THE PRONAOS OF THE TEMPLE OF THE R.C.,\u201d and the other:\n\u201cTHE LIFE OF JEHOSHUA, THE ADEPT OF NAZARETH: AN OCCULT STUDY.\u201d\n\nThis is an attempt to dispel the mists which for many centuries have\nbeen gathering around the person of the supposed founder of\nChristianity, and which have prevented mankind from obtaining a\nclear view of the \u201cRedeemer.\u201d It claims to give an approximately\ncorrect account of his life, his initiation into the Egyptian\nmysteries and of his ignominious death caused by an infuriated mob,\nexcited by the Pharisees of the temple, who were bound to destroy\nhis mortal form, because he had taught the religion of universal\nfraternal love and freedom of thought in opposition to priestcraft\nand superstition.\n\nWhile the book deals to a certain extent with the external life of\nJehoshua, as far as its details have become known by historical\nresearches into sources not generally known, it especially deals\nwith his inner life\u2014_i.e._ his method of thought.\n\nThe author says: \u201cIf we wish to give a correct picture of the\ncharacter of a person, we must try to describe his thoughts as well\nas his acts, for the thought-life of a man constitutes his real\nlife, while his outward life is merely a pictorial representation, a\nshadow of the actions that are taking place upon the interior stage\nof his mind.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo describe this inner life, a dramatical representation of the\nprocesses going on in the soul of man will be better adapted to\nbring it to our understanding, than a merely verbal description of\ncharacter. This maxim seems to have influenced those who wrote the\naccounts contained in the bible, and who describe interior processes\nin allegorical pictures of events, which may or may not have taken\nplace on the outward plane. I have adhered to this plan in\ndescribing the thought-life of Jehoshua Ben-Pandira, but I have\nattempted to shape the allegories contained in this book in such a\nmanner that the intelligent reader may easily perceive their true\nmeaning, for I have made the forms sufficiently transparent, so that\nthe truths which they are intended to represent may be easily seen\nthrough the external shell.\u201d\n\n\u201cNevertheless, these descriptions are not mere fancies, but they are\nbased upon historical facts, and upon information received from\nsources whose nature will be plain to every occultist. The events\ndescribed have all actually taken place; but whether they have\nwholly or in part taken place on the external or internal plane,\neach intelligent reader is left to decide for himself.\u201d\n\n                        =CORRESPONDENCE=\n\n                    INTERESTING TO ASTROLOGERS.\n\n                     ASTROLOGICAL NOTES\u2014No. 2.\n\n                    _To the Editor of_ LUCIFER.\n\nThe ancients assigned to the planets certain signs and degrees, in\nwhich they were essentially dignified, being there more powerful for\ngood, and less powerful for evil; these were called their House,\nExaltation, Triplicity, Term, and Face. Opposite to the first two\nwere the places where they were essentially debilitated, being there\nless powerful for good and more powerful for evil; these were called\ntheir Detriment and Fall. Whether the latter three dignities have\nthree corresponding debilities has not been stated.\n\nTo the seven known planets, the ancients apportioned the twelve\nzodiacal signs as their respective houses or chief dignity, thus: \u2609\nruled \u264c, and \u263d ruled \u264b, both by day and night; while the remaining\nten signs were divided between the remaining five planets, each\nplanet ruling two signs, one by day and the other by night. But when\n\u2645 and \u2646 were discovered, the question arose where to place them.\n\nA. J. Pearce, the present editor of _Zadkiel\u2019s Almanac_, has\nsuggested that, as they were more remote from \u2609 than was \u2644, they\nshould have the same houses and exaltations as \u2644. Raphael dethrones\n\u2644 from \u2652, and proclaims that \u2645 reigns in his stead. Both these\nsuggestions involve serious difficulties, nor do they settle the\nquestion once and for all with regard to any planets which may yet\nbe discovered. It seems unlikely that planets of such diverse\nnatures as \u2644, \u2645, and \u2646 (not to mention any still more distant\nplanets) should all bear equal rule in the same two signs, and to\ndepose \u2644 from his throne, pre-supposes a grave error on the part of\nthe ancients, whose teaching on this point has been handed down with\ncomplete unanimity from the dim past: necessitating, also, a further\nprocess of dethronement, and a further ignoring of the teachings of\nantiquity, as further planetary discoveries are made.\n\nThe first Raphael (the late R. C. Smith) rejected the ancient\nnocturnal and diurnal division of the Houses and Triplicities, in\nwhich he is followed by his successor. It appears to me that it is\nhere that the error, with its consequent difficulties, first arose;\nand that by observing this distinction, \u2645 and \u2646 easily find their\nhomes, with room to spare for their yet undiscovered brethren.\n\nIt is obvious that Astrology can never become an even approximately\nperfect science, unless we are able in our calculations to take\nfully into account the influence of \u2645 and \u2646. With this end in view,\nI have been endeavouring, in my leisure moments, to solve the\nproblem. To a certain extent I have been successful; and though I\nhave not yet been able to substantiate all my conclusions as fully\nas I could wish, yet I deem it is the best interests of the Science\nto make them now public, that their truth or falsity may be as\nspeedily as possible established by the investigations of\nastrologers generally.\n\nMy conclusions are the following: that the ancient Diurnal and\nNocturnal divisions are quite correct, so that if a figure is drawn\nfor any time between sunrise and sunset, the planets which rule by\nday the signs on the cusps of the houses of the significators must\nbe chiefly, and sometimes exclusively, considered; and _vice vers\u00e2_.\n\nThe Houses of the new planets are, I believe, these:\n\n\u2652, which is the day-house of \u2644, is the night-house of \u2645.\n\n\u264a, which is the day-house of \u263f, is the night-house of \u2646.\n\n\u264d, which is the night-house of \u263f, is the day-house of \u2645.\n\n\u2653, which is the night-house of \u2643, is the day-house of \u2646.\n\nThe first two I have verified by horary figures drawn for the time\nof an event; the latter two I consider as highly probable, but have\nnot yet been able to thoroughly substantiate them.\n\nThere is an old tradition (_Esoteric Science in Human History_, p.\n180) that there are 12 principal planets in our solar system; this\nleaves 4 more to be discovered. It will be seen at a glance that\nthese 4 will fill up the vacant signs, two planets ruling each sign,\none by night and the other by day. The only alteration which will\nthen have to be made will be to consider \u2609 to rule \u264c by day only,\nand \u263d to rule \u264b by night only; this, however, will be only in\naccordance with nature: moreover, the fact that the ancients\nassigned only one house each to \u2609 and \u263d, and two to each of the\nother planets, denotes some essential astrological difference\nbetween them.\n\nWith regard to the other essential dignities, Raphael considers \u264f to\nbe the exaltation of \u2645; I am inclined to believe \u2652 to be the\nexaltation of \u2646. In the Triplicities there is a curious want of\nharmony; each, according to the ancients, being ruled by two\nplanets, one by day and the other by night, except the watery\ntriplicity, which is ruled by \u2642 only. There seems to be no reason\nfor this discrepancy, except the all-powerful one that there was no\nother known planet to share his dominion. I have ascertained that \u2646\nhas strong dignity in \u264f, and conclude that he rules the watery\ntriplicity, probably by night. Furthermore, I believe \u2645 rules the\nairy triplicity. As for the Terms and Faces of the planets, they\nalso, like the Planetary Hours, require re-arrangement so as to\nbring in \u2645 and \u2646 but in what way this is to be done, I have not yet\nbeen able to discover.\n\nI will take this opportunity of saying, in reply to inquiries, that\nthe best books for beginners are Raphael\u2019s _Horary Astrology_ for\nthat branch of the Science; A. J. Pearce\u2019s _Science of the Stars_\nfor Mundane and Atmospheric Astrology; A. J. Pearce\u2019s _Text Book of\nAstrology_ for Nativities, to be worked out by Primary Directions;\nand Raphael\u2019s _Guide to Astrology_ for the same, worked out by\nSecondary Directions excited by Transits. Raphael\u2019s works are\npublished by Foulsham and Co., 4, Pilgrim Street, E.C.; and Pearce\u2019s\nworks may be procured from the author, 54, East Hill, Wandsworth,\nS.W.\n\n                                                               NEMO.\n\n\n\n\n                           ------------------\n\n\n\n\n                    _To the Editors of_ LUCIFER.\n\nFor the purpose of correcting any prejudicial suspicion or erroneous\nmisrepresentation of myself, arising from the insertion of the note\nat the end of the \u201cBath Occult Reprint Edition\u201d of the \u201cDivine\nPymander\u201d or as associated with the Society of the \u201cH. B. of L.,\u201d\nknown to me only through the names of Peter Davidson and T. H.\nBurgoyne, alias D\u2019Alton, Dalton, &c., and whose secretary is\nannounced to be \u201cA convicted felon, and the supposed adept to be a\nHindu of questionable antecedents,\u201d I wish it to be understood I\nhave now no confidence, sympathy, or connection therewith, direct or\nindirect, since or even prior to the date hereof, viz., May, 1886.\n\n                                                     Yours truly,\n                                                     ROBT. H. FRYAR.\n\n8, Northumberland Place, Bath.\n\n        =FROM THE NOTE BOOK OF AN UNPOPULAR PHILOSOPHER=\n\nTHE ESOTERIC VALUE OF CERTAIN WORDS AND DEEDS IN SOCIAL LIFE.\n\n_To Show Anger._\u2014No \u201c_cultured_\u201d man or woman will ever show anger\nin Society. To check and restrain every sign of annoyance shows good\nmanners, certainly, but also considerable achievement in hypocrisy\nand dissimulation. There is an occult side to this rule of good\nbreeding expressed in an Eastern proverb: \u201cTrust not the face which\nnever shows signs of anger, nor the dog that never barks.\u201d\nCold-blooded animals are the most venomous.\n\n_Non-resistance to Evil._\u2014To brag of it is to invite all evil-doers\nto sit upon you. To practice it openly is to lead people into the\ntemptation of regarding you as a coward. Not to resist the evil you\nhave never created nor merited, to eschew it yourself, and help\nothers quietly to get out of its way, is the only wise course open\nto the lover of wisdom.\n\n\u201c_Love Thy Neighbour._\u201d\u2014When a parson has preached upon this\nsubject, his pious congregation accepts it as tacit permission to\nslander and vilify their friends and acquaintances in neighbouring\npews.\n\n_International Brotherhood._\u2014When a Mussulman and a Christian swear\nmutual friendship, and pledge themselves to be brothers, their two\nformulas differ somewhat. The Moslem says: \u201cThy mother shall be my\nmother, my father thy father, my sister thy hand maid, and thou\nshalt be my brother.\u201d To which the Christian answers: \u201cThy mother\nand sister shall be my hand-maidens, thy wife shall be my wife, and\nmy wife shall be thy dear sister.\u201d\u2014_Amen._\n\n_Brave as a Lion._\u2014The highest compliment\u2014in appearance\u2014paid to\none\u2019s courage; a comparison with a bad-smelling wild-beast\u2014in\nreality. The recognition, also, of the superiority of animal over\nhuman bravery, considered as a virtue.\n\n_A Sheep._\u2014A weak, silly fellow, figuratively, an insulting,\ncontemptuous epithet among laymen; but one quite flattering among\nchurchmen, who apply it to \u201cthe people of God\u201d and the members of\ntheir congregations, comparing them to _sheep_ under the guidance of\nthe lamb.\n\n_The Code of Honour._\u2014In France\u2014to seduce a wife and kill her\nhusband. There, offended honour can feel satisfied only with blood;\nhere, a wound inflicted upon the offender\u2019s pocket suffices.\n\n_The Duel as a Point of Honour._\u2014The duel being an institution of\nChristendom and civilization, neither the old Spartans, nor yet the\nGreeks or Romans knew of it, as they were only uncivilized\nheathens.\u2014(_See Schopenhauer._)\n\n_Forgive and Forget._\u2014\u201cWe should freely forgive, but forget rarely,\u201d\nsays Colton. \u201cI will not be revenged, and this I owe to my enemy;\nbut I will _remember_, and this I owe to myself.\u201d This is real\npractical wisdom. It stands between the ferocious \u201cEye for eye, and\ntooth for tooth\u201d of the Mosaic Law, and the command to turn the left\ncheek to the enemy when he has smitten you on the right. Is not the\nlatter a direct encouraging of sin?\n\n_Practical Wisdom._\u2014On the tree of silence hangs the fruit of peace.\nThe secret thou wouldst not tell to thine enemy, tell it not to thy\nfriend.\u2014(_Arabic._)\n\n_Civilised Life._\u2014Crowded, noisy and full of vital power, is modern\nSociety to the eye of matter; but there is no more still and silent,\nempty and dreary desert than that same Society to the spiritual eye\nof the Seer. Its right hand freely and lavishly bestows ephemeral\nbut costly pleasures, while the left grasps greedily the leavings\nand often grudges the necessities of show. All our social life is\nthe result and consequence of that unseen, yet ever present autocrat\nand despot, called _Selfishness_ and _Egotism_. The strongest will\nbecomes impotent before the voice and authority of _Self_.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n                                LUCIFER\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n        VOL. 1.     LONDON, NOVEMBER 15TH, 1887.     NO. 3.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n                \u201cLET EVERY MAN PROVE HIS OWN WORK.\u201d\n\nSuch is the title of a letter received by the Editors of LUCIFER. It\nis of so serious a nature that it seems well to make it the subject\nof this month\u2019s editorial. Considering the truths uttered in its few\nlines, its importance and the bearing it has upon the much obscured\nsubject of Theosophy, and its visible agent or vehicle\u2014the Society\nof that name\u2014the letter is certainly worthy of the most considerate\nanswer.\n\n                   \u201c_Fiat justitia, ruat c\u0153lum!_\u201d\n\nJustice will be done to both sides in the dispute; namely,\nTheosophists and the members of the Theosophical Society[31] on the\none hand, and the followers of the _Divine Word_ (or Christos), and\nthe so-called Christians, on the other.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n  Not all the members of the Theosophical Society are Theosophists;\n  nor are the members of the so-called Christian Churches all\n  Christians, by any means. True Theosophists, as true Christians,\n  are very, _very_ few; and there are practical Theosophists in the\n  fold of Christianity, as there are practical Christians in the\n  Theosophical Society, outside all ritualistic Christianity. \u201cNot\n  every one that saith unto me \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 shall enter the Kingdom\n  of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father.\u201d (Matthew,\n  vii. 21.) \u201cBelieve not in Me, but in the truths I utter.\u201d\n  (Buddha\u2019s _Aphorisms_.)\n\n-----\n\nWe reproduce the letter:\n\n                    \u201c_To the Editors of_ LUCIFER.\n\n  \u201cWhat a grand chance is now open in this country, to the exponents\n  of a noble and advanced religion (if such this Theosophy be[32])\n  for proving its strength, righteousness and verity to the Western\n  world, by throwing a penetrating and illuminating ray of its\n  declared light upon the terribly harrowing and perplexing\n  practical problems of our age.\n\n  \u201cSurely one of the purest and least self-incrusted duties of man,\n  is to alleviate the sufferings of his fellow man?\n\n  \u201cFrom what I read, and from what I daily come into immediate\n  contact with, I can hardly think it would be possible to over-rate\n  in contemplation, the intense privation and agonizing suffering\n  that is\u2014aye, say it\u2014_at this moment_ being endured by a vast\n  proportion of our brothers and sisters, arising in a large measure\n  from their not absolutely having the means for procuring the _bare\n  necessaries of existence_?\n\n  \u201cSurely a high and Heaven-born religion\u2014a religion professing to\n  receive its advanced knowledge and Light from \u2018those more learned\n  in the Science of Life,\u2019 should be able to tell us something of\n  how to deal with such life, in its primitive condition of helpless\n  submission to the surrounding circumstances of\u2014civilization!\n\n  \u201cIf one of our main duties is that of exercising disinterested\n  love towards the Brotherhood, surely \u2018those more learned\u2019 ones,\n  whether in the flesh, or out of it, can and will, if appealed to\n  by their votaries, aid them in discovering ways and means for such\n  an end, and in organising some great fraternal scheme for dealing\n  _rightly_ with questions which are so appalling in their\n  complexity, and which must and do press with such irresistible\n  force upon all those who are earnest in their endeavours to carry\n  out the will of Christ in a Christian Land?\n\n                                                          \u201cL. F. FF.\n\n  \u201cOctober 25, 1887.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n  \u201cThis\u201d Theosophy is not a religion, but rather _the_ RELIGION\u2014if\n  one. So far, we prefer to call it a philosophy; one, moreover,\n  which contains every religion, as it is the essence and the\n  foundation of all. Rule III. of the Theos. Body says: \u201cThe Society\n  represents no particular religious creed, is entirely\n  _unsectarian_, and includes professors of all faiths.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nThis honest-spoken and sincere letter contains two statements; an\nimplied accusation against \u201cTheosophy\u201d (_i.e._ the Society of that\nname), and a virtual admission that Christianity\u2014or, again, rather\nits ritualistic and dogmatic religions\u2014deserve the same and even a\nsterner rebuke. For if \u201cTheosophy,\u201d represented by its professors,\nmerits on external appearance the reproach that so far it has failed\nto transfer divine wisdom from the region of the metaphysical into\nthat of practical work, \u201cChristianity,\u201d that is, merely professing\nChristians, churchmen and laymen lie under a like accusation,\nevidently. \u201cTheosophy\u201d has, certainly, failed to discover\n_infallible_ ways and means of bringing all its votaries to exercise\n\u201cdisinterested love\u201d in their Brotherhood; it has not yet been able\nto relieve suffering in mankind at large; but neither has\nChristianity. And not even the writer of the above letter, nor any\none else, can show sufficient excuse for the Christians in this\nrespect. Thus the admission that \u201cthose who are earnest in their\nendeavour to carry out the will of Christ in a Christian land\u201d _need\nthe help of_ \u201c\u2018those more learned,\u2019 whether (pagan adepts) in flesh,\nor (spirits?) out of it\u201d is very suggestive, for it contains the\ndefence and the _raison d\u2019\u00eatre_ of the Theosophical Society. Tacit\nthough it is, once that it comes from the pen of a sincere\nChristian, one who longs to learn some practical means to relieve\nthe sufferings of the starving multitudes\u2014this admission becomes the\ngreatest and most complete justification for the existence of the\nTheosophical Brotherhood; a full confession of the absolute\nnecessity for such a body independent of, and untrammelled by, any\nenchaining dogmas, and it points out at the same time the signal\nfailure of Christianity to accomplish the desired results.\n\nTruly said Coleridge that \u201cgood works may exist _without_ saving (?)\nprinciples, therefore cannot contain in themselves the principles of\nsalvation; but saving principles never did, never can exist without\ngood works.\u201d Theosophists admit the definition, and disagree with\nthe Christians only as to the nature of these \u201csaving principles.\u201d\nThe Church (or churches) maintain that the only saving principle is\nbelief in Jesus, or the carnalized Christ of the soul-killing dogma;\ntheosophy, undogmatic and unsectarian, answers, it is not so. The\nonly _saving_ principle dwells in man himself, and has never dwelt\noutside of his immortal divine self; _i.e._ it is the true Christos,\nas it is the true Buddha, the divine inward light which proceeds\nfrom the eternal unmanifesting unknown ALL. And this light _can only\nbe made known by its works_\u2014_faith_ in it having to remain ever\nblind in all, save in the man himself who feels that light within\nhis soul.\n\nTherefore, the tacit admission of the author of the above letter\ncovers another point of great importance. The writer seems to have\nfelt that which many, among those who strive to help the suffering,\nhave felt and expressed. The creeds of the churches fail to supply\nthe _intellectual_ light, and the true wisdom which are needed to\nmake the practical philanthropy carried out, by the true and earnest\nfollowers of Christ, a _reality_. The \u201cpractical\u201d people either go\non \u201cdoing good\u201d unintelligently, and thus often do harm instead; or,\nappalled by the awful problem before them, and failing to find in\ntheir \u201cchurches\u201d any clue, or a hope of solution, they retire from\nthe battlefield and let themselves be drifted blindly by the current\nin which they happen to be born.\n\nOf late it has become the fashion for friends, as well as for foes,\nto reproach the Theosophical Society with doing no practical work,\nbut losing itself in the clouds of metaphysics. Metaphysicians, we\nare told, by those who like to repeat stale arguments, have been\nlearning their lesson for the last few thousand years; and it is now\nhigh time that they should begin to do some practical work. Agreed;\nbut considering that the Christian churches count nearly nineteen\ncenturies of existence, and that the Theosophical Society and\nBrotherhood is a body hardly twelve years old; considering again\nthat the Christian churches roll in fabulous wealth, and number\ntheir adherents by hundreds of millions, whereas the Theosophical\nBrotherhood is but a few thousand strong, and that it has no fund,\nor funds, at its disposal, but that 98 per cent. of its members are\nas poor and as uninfluential as the aristocracy of the Christian\nchurch is rich and powerful; taking all this into consideration,\nthere would be much to say if the theosophists would only choose to\npress the matter upon the public notice. Meanwhile, as the bitterest\ncritics of the \u201cleaders\u201d of the Theosophical Society are by no means\nonly outsiders, but as there are members of that society who always\nfind a pretext to be dissatisfied, we ask: Can works of charity that\nwill be known among men be accomplished without money? Certainly\nnot. And yet, notwithstanding all this, none of its (European)\nmembers, except a few devoted officers in charge of societies, will\ndo _practical_ work; but some of them, those especially who have\nnever lifted a finger to relieve suffering, and help their outside,\npoorer brothers, are those who talk the most loudly, and are the\nbitterest in their denunciations of the _unspirituality_ and the\nunfitness of the \u201cleaders of theosophy.\u201d By this they remove\nthemselves into the outer ring of critics, like those spectators at\nthe play who laugh at an actor passably representing Hamlet, while\nthey themselves could not walk on to the stage with a letter on a\nsalver. While in India, comparatively poor theosophists have opened\ngratuitous dispensaries for the sick, hospitals, schools, and\neverything they could think of, asking no returns from the poor, as\nthe missionaries do, no abandonment of one\u2019s forefathers\u2019 religion,\nas a heavy price for favours received, have the English\ntheosophists, as a rule, done a single thing for those suffering\nmultitudes, whose pitiful cry rings throughout the whole Heavens as\na protest against the actual state of things in Christendom?\n\nWe take this opportunity of saying, in reply to others as much as to\nour correspondent, that, up till now, the energies of the Society\nhave been chiefly occupied in organising, extending, and solidifying\nthe Society itself, which work has taxed its time, energies, and\nresources to such an extent as to leave it far less powerful for\npractical charity than we would have wished. But, even so, compared\nwith the influence and the funds at the disposal of the Society, its\nwork in practical charity, if less widely known, will certainly bear\nfavourable comparison with that of professing Christians, with their\nenormous resources in money, workers, and opportunities of all\nkinds. It must not be forgotten that practical charity is not one of\nthe _declared_ objects of the Society. It goes without saying, and\nneeds no \u201cdeclaration,\u201d that every member of the Society must be\npractically philanthropic if he be a theosophist at all; and our\ndeclared work is, in reality, more important and more efficacious\nthan work in the every-day plane which bears more evident and\nimmediate fruit, for the direct effect of an appreciation of\ntheosophy is to make those charitable who were not so before.\nTheosophy creates the charity which afterwards, and of its own\naccord, makes itself manifest in works.\n\nTheosophy is correctly\u2014though in this particular case, it is rather\nironically\u2014termed \u201ca High, Heaven-born Religion.\u201d It is argued that\nsince it professes to receive its advanced knowledge and light from\n\u201cthose more learned in the Science of Life,\u201d the latter ought and\n_must_, if appealed to by their votaries (the theosophists), aid\nthem in discovering ways and means, in organising some great\nfraternal scheme,\u201d etc.\n\nThe scheme was planned, and the rules and laws to guide such a\npractical brotherhood, have been given by those \u201cmore learned in the\nScience of (practical, daily, _altruistic_) life;\u201d aye, verily \u201cmore\nlearned\u201d in it than any other men since the days of Gautama Buddha\nand the Gnostic Essenes. The \u201cscheme\u201d dates back to the year when\nthe Theosophical Society was founded. Let anyone read its wise and\nnoble laws embodied to this day in the Statutes of the Fraternity,\nand judge for himself whether, if carried out rigorously and applied\nto practical life, the \u201cscheme\u201d would not have proved the most\nbeneficent to mankind in general, and especially to our poorer\nbrethren, of \u201cthe starving multitudes.\u201d Theosophy teaches the spirit\nof \u201cnon-separateness,\u201d the evanescence and illusion of human creeds\nand dogma, hence, inculcates _universal love and charity for all\nmankind \u201cwithout distinction of race, colour, caste or creed;\u201d_ is\nit not therefore the fittest to alleviate the sufferings of mankind?\nNo true theosophist would refuse admission into a hospital, or any\ncharitable establishment, to any man, woman or child, under the\npretext that he is _not_ a theosophist, as a Roman Catholic would\nwhen dealing with a Protestant, and _vice versa_. No true\ntheosophist of the original rules would fail to put into practice\nthe parable of the \u201cGood Samaritan,\u201d or proffer help only to entice\nthe unwary who, he hopes, will become a pervert from his god and the\ngods of his forefathers. None would slander his brother, none let a\nneedy man go unhelped, none offer fine talk instead of practical\nlove and charity.\n\nIs it then the fault of Theosophy, any more than it is the fault of\nthe Christ-teachings, if the majority of the members of the\nTheosophical Society, often changing their philosophical and\nreligious views upon entering our Body, have yet remained\npractically the same as they were when professing _lip_\nChristianity? Our laws and rules are the same as given to us from\nthe beginning; it is the general members of the Society who have\nallowed them to become virtually _obsolete_. Those few who are ever\nready to sacrifice their time and labour to work for the poor, and\nwho do, unrecognised and unthanked for it, good work wherever they\ncan, are often too poor themselves to put their larger schemes of\ncharity into objective practical form, however willing they may be.\n\n\u201cThe fault I find with the Theosophical Society,\u201d said one of the\nmost eminent surgeons in London to one of the editors, quite\nrecently, \u201cis that I cannot discover that any of its members really\nlead the Christ-life.\u201d This seemed a very serious accusation from a\nman who is not only in the front rank of his profession, and valued\nfor his kindly nature, by his patients, and by society, and\nwell-known as a quiet doer of many good deeds. The only possible\nanswer to be made was that the Christ-life is undeniably the ideal\nof every one worthy in any sense of the name of a Theosophist, and\nthat if it is not lived it is because there are none strong enough\nto carry it out. Only a few days later the same complaint was put in\na more graphic form by a celebrated lady-artist.\n\n\u201cYou Theosophists don\u2019t do enough good for me,\u201d she said pithily.\nAnd in her case also there is the right to speak, given by the fact\nthat she leads two lives\u2014one, a butterfly existence in society, and\nthe other a serious one, which makes little noise, but has much\npurpose. Those who regard life as a great vocation, like the two\ncritics of the Theosophical movement whom we have just quoted, have\na right to demand of such a movement more than mere words. They\nthemselves endeavour very quietly to lead the \u201cChrist-life,\u201d and\nthey cannot understand a number of people uniting in the effort\ntowards this life without practical results being apparent. Another\ncritic of the same character who has the best possible right to\ncriticise, being a thoroughly practical philanthropist and\ncharitable to the last degree, has said of the Theosophists that\ntheir much talking and writing seems to resolve itself into mere\nintellectual luxury, productive of no direct good to the world.\n\nThe point of difference between the Theosophists (when we use this\nterm we mean, not members of the Society, but people who are really\nusing the organization as a method of learning more of the true\nwisdom-religion which exists as a vital and eternal fact behind all\nsuch efforts) and the practical philanthropists, religious or\nsecular, is a very serious one, and the answer, that probably none\nof them are strong enough yet to lead the \u201cChrist-life,\u201d is only a\nportion of the truth. The situation can be put very plainly, in so\nmany words. The religious philanthropist holds a position of his\nown, which cannot in any way concern or affect the Theosophist. He\ndoes not do good merely for the sake of doing good, but also as a\nmeans towards his own salvation. This is the outcome of the selfish\nand personal side of man\u2019s nature, which has so coloured and\naffected a grand religion that its devotees are little better than\nthe idol-worshippers who ask their deity of clay to bring them luck\nin business, and the payment of debts. The religious philanthropist\nwho hopes to gain salvation by good works has simply, to quote a\nwell-worn yet ever fresh witticism, exchanged worldliness for\nother-worldliness.\n\nThe secular philanthropist is really at heart a socialist, and\nnothing else; he hopes to make men happy and good by bettering their\nphysical position. No serious student of human nature can believe in\nthis theory for a moment. There is no doubt that it is a very\nagreeable one, because if it is accepted there is immediate,\nstraightforward work to undertake. \u201cThe poor ye have always with\nyou.\u201d The causation which produced human nature itself produced\npoverty, misery, pain, degradation, at the same time that it\nproduced wealth, and comfort, and joy and glory. Lifelong\nphilanthropists, who have started on their work with a joyous\nyouthful conviction that it is possible to \u201cdo good,\u201d have, though\nnever relaxing the habit of charity, confessed to the present writer\nthat, as a matter of fact, misery cannot be relieved. It is a vital\nelement in human nature, and is as necessary to some lives as\npleasure is to others.\n\nIt is a strange thing to observe how practical philanthropists will\neventually, after long and bitter experience, arrive at a conclusion\nwhich, to an occultist, is from the first a working hypothesis. This\nis, that misery is not only endurable, but agreeable to many who\nendure it. A noble woman, whose life has been given to the rescue of\nthe lowest class of wretched girls, those who seem to be driven to\nvice by want, said, only a few days since, that with many of these\noutcasts it is not possible to raise them to any apparently happier\nlot. And this she distinctly stated (and she can speak with\nauthority, having spent her life literally among them, and studied\nthem thoroughly), is not so much from any love of vice, but from\nlove of that very state which the wealthy classes call misery. They\nprefer the savage life of a bare-foot, half-clad creature, with no\nroof at night and no food by day, to any comforts which can be\noffered them. By comforts, we do not mean the workhouse or the\nreformatory, but the comforts of a quiet home; and we can give\nchapter and verse, so to speak, to show that this is the case, not\nmerely with the children of outcasts, who might be supposed to have\na savage heredity, but with the children of gentle, cultivated, and\nChristian people.\n\nOur great towns hide in their slums thousands of beings whose\nhistory would form an inexplicable enigma, a perfectly baffling\nmoral picture, could they be written out clearly, so as to be\nintelligible. But they are only known to the devoted workers among\nthe outcast classes, to whom they become a sad and terrible puzzle,\nnot to be solved, and therefore, better not discussed. Those who\nhave no clue to the science of life are compelled to dismiss such\ndifficulties in this manner, otherwise they would fall, crushed\nbeneath the thought of them. The social question as it is called,\nthe great deep waters of misery, the deadly apathy of those who have\npower and possessions\u2014these things are hardly to be faced by a\ngenerous soul who has not reached to the great idea of evolution,\nand who has not guessed at the marvellous mystery of human\ndevelopment.\n\nThe Theosophist is placed in a different position from any of these\npersons, because he has heard of the vast scope of life with which\nall mystic and occult writers and teachers deal, and he has been\nbrought very near to the great mystery. Indeed, none, though they\nmay have enrolled themselves as Fellows of the Society, can be\ncalled in any serious sense Theosophists, until they have begun to\nconsciously taste in their own persons, this same mystery; which is,\nindeed, a law inexorable, by which man lifts himself by degrees from\nthe state of a beast to the glory of a God. The rapidity with which\nthis is done is different with every living soul; and the wretches\nwho hug the primitive task-master, _misery_, choose to go slowly\nthrough a tread-mill course which may give them innumerable lives of\nphysical sensation\u2014whether pleasant or painful, well-beloved because\ntangible to the very lowest senses. The Theosophist who desires to\nenter upon occultism takes some of Nature\u2019s privileges into his own\nhands by that very wish, and soon discovers that experiences come to\nhim with double-quick rapidity. His business is then to recognise\nthat he is under a\u2014to him\u2014new and swifter law of development, and to\nsnatch at the lessons that come to him.\n\nBut, in recognising this, he also makes another discovery. He sees\nthat it takes a very wise man to do good works without danger of\ndoing incalculable harm. A highly developed adept in life may grasp\nthe nettle, and by his great intuitive powers, know whom to relieve\nfrom pain and whom to leave in the mire that is their best teacher.\nThe poor and wretched themselves will tell anyone who is able to win\ntheir confidence what disastrous mistakes are made by those who come\nfrom a different class and endeavour to help them. Kindness and\ngentle treatment will sometimes bring out the worst qualities of a\nman or woman who has led a fairly presentable life when kept down by\npain and despair. May the Master of Mercy forgive us for saying such\nwords of any human creatures, all of whom are a part of ourselves,\naccording to the law of human brotherhood which no disowning of it\ncan destroy. But the words are true. None of us know the darkness\nwhich lurks in the depths of our own natures until some strange and\nunfamiliar experience rouses the whole being into action. So with\nthese others who seem more miserable than ourselves.\n\nAs soon as he begins to understand what a friend and teacher pain\ncan be, the Theosophist stands appalled before the mysterious\nproblem of human life, and though he may long to do good works,\nequally dreads to do them wrongly until he has himself acquired\ngreater power and knowledge. The ignorant doing of good works may be\nvitally injurious, as all but those who are blind in their love of\nbenevolence are compelled to acknowledge. In this sense the answer\nmade as to lack of Christ-like lives among Theosophists, that there\nare probably none strong enough to live such, is perfectly correct\nand covers the whole question. For it is not the spirit of\nself-sacrifice, or of devotion, or of desire to help that is\nlacking, but the strength to acquire knowledge and power and\nintuition, so that the deeds done shall really be worthy of the\n\u201cBuddha-Christ\u201d spirit. Therefore it is that Theosophists cannot\npose as a body of philanthropists, though secretly they may\nadventure on the path of good works. They profess to be a body of\nlearners merely, pledged to help each other and all the rest of\nhumanity, so far as in them lies, to a better understanding of the\nmystery of life, and to a better knowledge of the peace which lies\nbeyond it.\n\nBut as it is an inexorable law, that the ground must be tilled if\nthe harvest is to be reaped, so Theosophists are obliged to work in\nthe world unceasingly, and very often in doing this to make serious\nmistakes, as do all workers who are not embodied Redeemers. Their\nefforts may not come under the title of good works, and they may be\ncondemned as a school of idle talkers, yet they are an outcome and\nfruition of this particular moment of time, when the ideas which\nthey hold are greeted by the crowd with interest; and therefore\ntheir work is good, as the lotus-flower is good when it opens in the\nmid-day sun.\n\nNone know more keenly and definitely than they that good works are\nnecessary; only these cannot be rightly accomplished without\nknowledge. Schemes for Universal Brotherhood, and the redemption of\nmankind, might be given out plentifully by the great adepts of life,\nand would be mere dead-letter utterances while individuals remain\nignorant, and unable to grasp the great meaning of their teachers.\nTo Theosophists we say, let us carry out the rules given us for our\nsociety before we ask for any further schemes or laws. To the public\nand our critics we say, try to understand the value of good works\nbefore you demand them of others, or enter upon them rashly\nyourselves. Yet it is an absolute fact that without good works the\nspirit of brotherhood would die in the world; and this can never be.\nTherefore is the double activity of learning and doing most\nnecessary; we have to do good, and we have to do it _rightly_, with\nknowledge.\n\n            *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *\n\nIt is well known that the first rule of the society is to carry out\nthe object of forming the nucleus of a universal brotherhood. The\npractical working of this rule was explained by those who laid it\ndown, to the following effect:\u2014\n\n\u201cHE WHO DOES NOT PRACTISE ALTRUISM; HE WHO IS NOT PREPARED TO SHARE\nHIS LAST MORSEL WITH A WEAKER OR POORER THAN HIMSELF; HE WHO\nNEGLECTS TO HELP HIS BROTHER MAN, OF WHATEVER RACE, NATION, OR\nCREED, WHENEVER AND WHEREVER HE MEETS SUFFERING, AND WHO TURNS A\nDEAF EAR TO THE CRY OF HUMAN MISERY; HE WHO HEARS AN INNOCENT PERSON\nSLANDERED, WHETHER A BROTHER THEOSOPHIST OR NOT, AND DOES NOT\nUNDERTAKE HIS DEFENCE AS HE WOULD UNDERTAKE HIS OWN\u2014IS NO\nTHEOSOPHIST.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n\n\n\n                      THE DEMAND OF THE NEOPHYTE.\n\n  [Continuation of COMMENTS ON LIGHT ON THE PATH: By the Author.]\n\n\u201cBefore the voice can speak in the presence of the Masters.\u201d\n\nSpeech is the power of communication; the moment of entrance into\nactive life is marked by its attainment.\n\nAnd now, before I go any further, let me explain a little the way in\nwhich the rules written down in \u201cLight on the Path\u201d are arranged.\nThe first seven of those which are numbered are sub-divisions of the\ntwo first unnumbered rules, those with which I have dealt in the two\npreceding papers. The numbered rules were simply an effort of mine\nto make the unnumbered ones more intelligible. \u201cEight\u201d to \u201cfifteen\u201d\nof these numbered rules belong to this unnumbered rule which is now\nmy text.\n\nAs I have said, these rules are written for all disciples, but for\nnone else; they are not of interest to any other persons. Therefore\nI trust no one else will trouble to read these papers any further.\nThe first two rules, which include the whole of that part of the\neffort which necessitates the use of the surgeon\u2019s knife, I will\nenlarge upon further if I am asked to do so. But the disciple is\nexpected to deal with the snake, his lower self, unaided; to\nsuppress his human passions and emotions by the force of his own\nwill. He can only demand assistance of a master when this is\naccomplished, or at all events, partially so. Otherwise the gates\nand windows of his soul are blurred, and blinded, and darkened, and\nno knowledge can come to him. I am not, in these papers, purposing\nto tell a man how to deal with his own soul; I am simply giving, to\nthe disciple, knowledge. That I am not writing, even now, so that\nall who run may read, is owing to the fact that super-nature\nprevents this by its own immutable laws.\n\nThe four rules which I have written down for those in the West who\nwish to study them, are as I have said, written in the ante-chamber\nof every living Brotherhood; I may add more, in the ante-chamber of\nevery living or dead Brotherhood, or Order yet to be formed. When I\nspeak of a Brotherhood or an Order, I do not mean an arbitrary\nconstitution made by scholiasts and intellectualists; I mean an\nactual fact in supernature, a stage of development towards the\nabsolute God or Good. During this development the disciple\nencounters harmony, pure knowledge, pure truth, in different\ndegrees, and, as he enters these degrees, he finds himself becoming\npart of what might be roughly described as a layer of human\nconsciousness. He encounters his equals, men of his own self-less\ncharacter, and with them his association becomes permanent and\nindissoluble, because founded on a vital likeness of nature. To them\nhe becomes pledged by such vows as need no utterance or framework in\nordinary words. This is one aspect of what I mean by a Brotherhood.\n\nIf the first rules are conquered the disciple finds himself standing\nat the threshold. Then if his will is sufficiently resolute his\npower of speech comes; a two-fold power. For, as he advances now, he\nfinds himself entering into a state of blossoming, where every bud\nthat opens throws out its several rays or petals. If he is to\nexercise his new gift, he must use it in its two-fold character. He\nfinds in himself the power to speak in the presence of the masters;\nin other words, he has the right to demand contact with the divinest\nelement of that state of consciousness into which he has entered.\nBut he finds himself compelled, by the nature of his position, to\nact in two ways at the same time. He cannot send his voice up to the\nheights where sit the gods till he has penetrated to the deep places\nwhere their light shines not at all. He has come within the grip of\nan iron law. If he demands to become a neophyte, he at once becomes\na servant. Yet his service is sublime, if only from the character of\nthose who share it. For the masters are also servants; they serve\nand claim their reward afterwards. Part of their service is to let\ntheir knowledge touch him; his first act of service is to give some\nof that knowledge to those who are not yet fit to stand where he\nstands. This is no arbitrary decision, made by any master or teacher\nor any such person, however divine. It is a law of that life which\nthe disciple has entered upon.\n\nTherefore was it written in the inner doorway of the lodges of the\nold Egyptian Brotherhood, \u201cThe labourer is worthy of his hire.\u201d\n\n\u201cAsk and ye shall have,\u201d sounds like something too easy and simple\nto be credible. But the disciple cannot \u201cask\u201d in the mystic sense in\nwhich the word is used in this scripture until he has attained the\npower of helping others.\n\nWhy is this? Has the statement too dogmatic a sound?\n\nIs it too dogmatic to say that a man must have foothold before he\ncan spring? The position is the same. If help is given, if work is\ndone, then there is an actual claim\u2014not what we call a personal\nclaim of payment, but the claim of co-nature. The divine give, they\ndemand that you also shall give before you can be of their kin.\n\nThis law is discovered as soon as the disciple endeavours to speak.\nFor speech is a gift which comes only to the disciple of power and\nknowledge. The spiritualist enters the psychic-astral world, but he\ndoes not find there any certain speech, unless he at once claims it\nand continues to do so. If he is interested in \u201cphenomena,\u201d or the\nmere circumstance and accident of astral life, then he enters no\ndirect ray of thought or purpose, he merely exists and amuses\nhimself in the astral life as he has existed and amused himself in\nthe physical life. Certainly there are one or two simple lessons\nwhich the psychic-astral can teach him, just as there are simple\nlessons which material and intellectual life teach him. And these\nlessons have to be learned; the man who proposes to enter upon the\nlife of the disciple without having learned the early and simple\nlessons must always suffer from his ignorance. They are vital, and\nhave to be studied in a vital manner; experienced through and\nthrough, over and over again, so that each part of the nature has\nbeen penetrated by them.\n\nTo return. In claiming the power of speech, as it is called, the\nNeophyte cries out to the Great One who stands foremost in the ray\nof knowledge on which he has entered, to give him guidance. When he\ndoes this, his voice is hurled back by the power he has approached,\nand echoes down to the deep recesses of human ignorance. In some\nconfused and blurred manner the news that there is knowledge and a\nbeneficent power which teaches is carried to as many men as will\nlisten to it. No disciple can cross the threshold without\ncommunicating this news, and placing it on record in some fashion or\nother.\n\nHe stands horror-struck at the imperfect and unprepared manner in\nwhich he has done this; and then comes the desire to do it well, and\nwith the desire thus to help others comes the power. For it is a\npure desire, this which comes upon him; he can gain no credit, no\nglory, no personal reward by fulfilling it. And therefore he obtains\nthe power to fulfil it.\n\nThe history of the whole past, so far as we can trace it, shows very\nplainly that there is neither credit, glory, or reward to be gained\nby this first task which is given to the Neophyte. Mystics have\nalways been sneered at, and seers disbelieved; those who have had\nthe added power of intellect have left for posterity their written\nrecord, which to most men appears unmeaning and visionary, even when\nthe authors have the advantage of speaking from a far-off past. The\ndisciple who undertakes the task, secretly hoping for fame or\nsuccess, to appear as a teacher and apostle before the world, fails\neven before his task is attempted, and his hidden hypocrisy poisons\nhis own soul, and the souls of those he touches. He is secretly\nworshipping himself, and this idolatrous practice must bring its own\nreward.\n\nThe disciple who has the power of entrance, and is strong enough to\npass each barrier, will, when the divine message comes to his\nspirit, forget himself utterly in the new consciousness which falls\non him. If this lofty contact can really rouse him, he becomes as\none of the divine in his desire to give rather than to take, in his\nwish to help rather than be helped, in his resolution to feed the\nhungry rather than take manna from Heaven himself. His nature is\ntransformed, and the selfishness which prompts men\u2019s actions in\nordinary life suddenly deserts him.\n\n                        (_To be continued._)\n\n\n\n\n                 THE ESOTERIC CHARACTER OF THE GOSPELS.\n\n  \u201c.... Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the\n  sign _of thy presence_, and _of the consummation of the age_?\u201d[33]\n  asked the Disciples of the MASTER, on the Mount of Olives.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n  St. Matthew xxiv., 3, _et seq._ The sentences italicised are those\n  which stand corrected in the New Testament after the recent\n  revision in 1881 of the version of _1611_; which version is full\n  of errors, voluntary and involuntary. The word \u201cpresence,\u201d for\n  \u201ccoming,\u201d and \u201cthe consummation of the age,\u201d now standing for \u201cthe\n  end of the world,\u201d have altered, of late, the whole meaning, even\n  for the most sincere Christians, if we exempt the Adventists.\n\n-----\n\nThe reply given by the \u201cMan of Sorrow,\u201d the _Chr\u00e9stos_, on his\ntrial, but also on his way to triumph, as _Christos_, or Christ,[34]\nis prophetic, and very suggestive. It is a warning indeed. The\nanswer must be quoted in full. Jesus ... said unto them:\u2014\n\n  \u201cTake heed that _no man_ lead you astray. For many shall come in\n  my name saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray. And\n  ye shall hear of wars ... but the end is not yet. _For nation\n  shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there\n  shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places._ But all these\n  things are the beginning of travail.... Many false prophets shall\n  arise, and shall lead many, astray ... then shall the end come ...\n  when ye see the abomination of desolation which was spoken through\n  Daniel.... Then if any man shall say unto you, _Lo, here is the\n  Christ_, or There; believe him not.... If they shall say unto you,\n  Behold, he is in the wilderness, go not forth; behold, he is in\n  the inner chambers, believe them not. For as the lightning cometh\n  forth from the East, and is seen even in the West, so shall be the\n  _presence_ of the Son of Man,\u201d etc., etc.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n  He who will not ponder over and master the great difference\n  between the meaning of the two Greek words\u2014\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 and \u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2\n  must remain blind for ever to the true esoteric meaning of the\n  Gospels; that is to say, to the living Spirit entombed in the\n  sterile dead-letter of the texts, the very Dead Sea fruit of\n  _lip_-Christianity.\n\n-----\n\nTwo things become evident _to all_ in the above passages, now that\ntheir false rendering is corrected in the revision text: (_a_) \u201cthe\ncoming of Christ,\u201d means _the presence of_ CHRISTOS in a regenerated\nworld, and not at all the actual coming in body of \u201cChrist\u201d Jesus;\n(_b_) this Christ is to be sought neither in the wilderness nor \u201cin\nthe inner chambers,\u201d nor in the sanctuary of any temple or church\nbuilt by man; for Christ\u2014the true esoteric SAVIOUR\u2014_is no man_, but\nthe DIVINE PRINCIPLE in every human being. He who strives to\nresurrect the Spirit _crucified in him by his own terrestrial\npassions_, and buried deep in the \u201csepulchre\u201d of his sinful flesh;\nhe who has the strength to roll back _the stone of matter_ from the\ndoor of his own _inner_ sanctuary, he _has the risen Christ in\nhim_.[35] The \u201cSon of Man\u201d is no child of the bond-woman\u2014_flesh_,\nbut verily of the free-woman\u2014_Spirit_,[36] the child of man\u2019s own\ndeeds, and the fruit of his own spiritual labour.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n  For ye are the temple (\u201csanctuary\u201d in the _revised_ N. T.) of the\n  living God. (II. Cor. vi., 16.)\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n  Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, was feminine with the Jews, as with\n  most ancient peoples, and it was so with the early Christians.\n  _Sophia_ of the Gnostics, and the third Sephiroth _Binah_\n  (the _female_ Jehovah of the Kabalists), are feminine\n  principles\u2014\u201cDivine Spirit,\u201d or _Ruach_. \u201c_Achath Ruach Elohim\n  Chiim._\u201d \u201cOne is _She_, the Spirit of the Elohim of Life,\u201d is said\n  in \u201cSepher Yezirah.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nOn the other hand, at no time since the Christian era, have the\nprecursor signs described in _Matthew_ applied so graphically and\nforcibly to any epoch as they do to our own times. When has nation\narisen against nation more than at this time? When have\n\u201cfamines\u201d\u2014another name for destitute pauperism, and the famished\nmultitudes of the proletariat\u2014been more cruel, earthquakes more\nfrequent, or covered such an area simultaneously, as for the last\nfew years? Millenarians and Adventists of robust faith, may go on\nsaying that \u201cthe coming of (the carnalised) Christ\u201d is near at hand,\nand prepare themselves for \u201cthe end of the world.\u201d Theosophists\u2014at\nany rate, some of them\u2014who understand the hidden meaning of the\nuniversally-expected Avatars, Messiahs, Sosioshes and Christs\u2014know\nthat it is no \u201cend of the world,\u201d but \u201cthe consummation of the age,\u201d\n_i.e._, the close of a cycle, which is now fast approaching.[37] If\nour readers have forgotten the concluding passages of the article,\n\u201cThe Signs of the Times,\u201d in LUCIFER for October last, let them read\nthem over, and they will plainly see the meaning of this particular\ncycle.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n  There are several remarkable cycles that come to a close at the\n  end of this century. First, the 5,000 years of the Kaliyug cycle;\n  again the Messianic cycle of the Samaritan (also Kabalistic) Jews\n  of the man connected with _Pisces_ (Ichthys or \u201cFish-man\u201d _Dag_).\n  It is a cycle, historic and not very long, but very occult,\n  lasting about 2,155 solar years, but having a true significance\n  only when computed by lunar months. It occurred 2410 and 255 B.C.,\n  or when the equinox entered into the sign of the _Ram_, and again\n  into that of _Pisces_. When it enters, in a few years, the sign of\n  _Aquarius_, psychologists will have some extra work to do, and the\n  psychic idiosyncrasies of humanity will enter on a great change.\n\n-----\n\nMany and many a time the warning about the \u201cfalse Christs\u201d and\nprophets who shall lead people astray has been interpreted by\ncharitable Christians, the worshippers of the dead-letter of their\nscripture, as applying to mystics generally, and Theosophists most\nespecially. The recent work by Mr. Pember, \u201cEarth\u2019s Earliest\nAges,\u201d is a proof of it. Nevertheless, it seems very evident that\nthe words in Matthew\u2019s Gospel and others can hardly apply to\nTheosophists. For these were never found saying that Christ is\n\u201cHere\u201d or \u201cThere,\u201d in wilderness or city, and least of all in the\n\u201cinner chamber\u201d behind the altar of any modern church. Whether\nHeathen or Christian by birth, they refuse to materialise and thus\ndegrade that which is the purest and grandest ideal\u2014the symbol of\nsymbols\u2014namely, the immortal Divine Spirit in man, whether it be\ncalled Horus, Krishna, Buddha, or Christ. None of them has ever\nyet said: \u201cI am the Christ\u201d; for those born in the West feel\nthemselves, so far, only _Chr\u00e9stians_,[38] however much they may\nstrive to become _Christians_ in Spirit. It is to those, who in\ntheir great conceit and pride refuse to win the right of such\nappellation by first leading the life of _Chrestos_;[39] to those\nwho haughtily proclaim themselves _Christians_ (the glorified, the\nanointed) by sole virtue of baptism when but a few days old\u2014that\nthe above-quoted words of Jesus apply most forcibly. Can the\nprophetic insight of him who uttered this remarkable warning be\ndoubted by any one who sees the numerous \u201cfalse prophets\u201d and\npseudo-apostles (_of Christ_), now roaming over the world? These\nhave split the one divine Truth into fragments, and broken, in the\ncamp of the Protestants alone, the rock of the Eternal Verity into\nthree hundred and fifty odd pieces, which now represent the bulk\nof their Dissenting sects. Accepting the number in round figures\nas 350, and admitting, for argument\u2019s sake, that, at least, one of\nthese may have the approximate truth, still 349 _must be\nnecessarily false_.[40] Each of these claims to have Christ\nexclusively in its \u201cinner chamber,\u201d and denies him to all others,\nwhile, in truth, the great majority of their respective followers\ndaily put Christ to death on the cruciform tree of matter\u2014the\n\u201ctree of infamy\u201d of the old Romans\u2014indeed!\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n  The earliest Christian author, Justin Martyr, calls, in his first\n  Apology, his co-religionists _Chrestians_, \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03b1\u03bd\u03bf\u03b9\u2014not\n  Christians.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n  \u201cClemens Alexandrinus, in the second century, founds a serious\n  argument on this paranomasia (lib. iii., cap. xvii., p. 53 _et\n  circa_), that all who believed in _Chrest_ (_i.e._, \u201ca good man\u201d)\n  both are, and are called Chrestians, that is, good men,\u201d\n  (Strommata, lib. ii. \u201cHiggins\u2019 _Anacalypsis_.\u201d) And Lactantius\n  (lib. iv., cap. vii.) says that it is only through _ignorance_\n  that people call themselves Christians, instead of Chrestians:\n  \u201c_qui proper ignorantium errorem cum immutata litera Chrestum\n  solent dicere_.\u201d\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n  In England alone, there are over 239 various sects. (See\n  Whitaker\u2019s Almanac.) In 1883, there were 186 denominations only,\n  and now they steadily increase with every year, an additional 53\n  sects having sprung up in only four years!\n\n-----\n\nThe worship of the dead-letter in the Bible is but one more form of\n_idolatry_, nothing better. A fundamental dogma of faith cannot\nexist under a double-faced Janus form. \u201cJustification\u201d _by Christ_\ncannot be achieved at one\u2019s choice and fancy, _either_ by \u201cfaith\u201d or\nby \u201cworks\u201d and James, therefore (ii., 25), contradicting Paul (Heb.\nxi., 31), and _vice versa_,[41] one of them must be wrong. Hence,\nthe Bible is _not_ the \u201cWord of God\u201d but contains at best the words\nof fallible men and _imperfect_ teachers. Yet read _esoterically_,\nit does contain, if not the _whole_ truth, still, \u201c_nothing but the\ntruth_,\u201d under whatever allegorical garb. Only: _Quot homines tot\nsententi\u00e6_.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n  It is but fair to St. Paul to remark that this contradiction is\n  surely due to later tampering with his Epistles. Paul was a\n  Gnostic himself, _i.e._, A \u201cSon of Wisdom,\u201d and an Initiate into\n  the true _mysteries of Christos_, though he may have thundered (or\n  was made to appear to do so) against some Gnostic sects, of which,\n  in his day, there were many. But his Christos was not Jesus of\n  Nazareth, nor any living man, as shown so ably in Mr. Gerald\n  Massey\u2019s lecture, \u201cPaul, the Gnostic Opponent of Peter.\u201d He was an\n  Initiate, a true \u201cMaster-Builder\u201d or adept, as described in \u201cIsis\n  Unveiled,\u201d Vol II., pp. 90-91.\n\n-----\n\nThe \u201cChrist principle,\u201d the awakened and glorified Spirit of Truth,\nbeing universal and eternal, the true _Christos_ cannot be\nmonopolized by any one person, even though that person has chosen to\narrogate to himself the title of the \u201cVicar of Christ,\u201d or of the\n\u201cHead\u201d of that or another State-religion. The spirits of \u201cChrest\u201d\nand \u201cChrist\u201d cannot be confined to any creed or sect, only because\nthat sect chooses to exalt itself above the heads of all other\nreligions or sects. The name has been used in a manner so intolerant\nand dogmatic, especially in our day, that Christianity is now the\nreligion of arrogance _par excellence_, a stepping-stone for\nambition, a sinecure for wealth, sham and power; a convenient screen\nfor hypocrisy. The noble epithet of old, the one that made Justin\nMartyr say that \u201c_from the mere name_, which is imputed to us as a\ncrime, _we are the most excellent_,\u201d[42] is now degraded. The\nmissionary prides himself with the so-called _conversion_ of a\nheathen, who makes of Christianity ever a _profession_, but rarely a\nreligion, a source of income from the missionary fund, and a\npretext, since the blood of Jesus has washed them all by\nanticipation, for every petty crime, from drunkenness and lying up\nto theft. That same missionary, however, would not hesitate to\npublicly condemn the greatest saint to eternal perdition and hell\nfires if that holy man has only neglected to pass through the\nfruitless and meaningless form of baptism by water with\naccompaniment of _lip_ prayers and vain ritualism.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n  \u1f41\u03c3\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5 \u1f72\u03ba \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b7\u03b3\u03bf\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5 \u1f21\u03bc\u1ff6\u03bd \u1f40\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03cc\u03c4\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9 \u1f51\u03c0\u03ac\u03c1\u03c7\u03bf\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\n  (_First Apology_).\n\n-----\n\nWe say \u201clip prayer\u201d and \u201cvain ritualism\u201d knowingly. Few Christians\namong the laymen are aware even of the true meaning of the word\n_Christ_; and those of the clergy who happen to know it (for they\nare brought up in the idea that to study such subjects is _sinful_)\nkeep the information secret from their parishioners. They demand\nblind, implicit faith, and _forbid inquiry as the one unpardonable\nsin_, though nothing of that which leads to the knowledge of the\ntruth can be aught else than holy. For what is \u201cDivine Wisdom,\u201d or\n_Gnosis_, but the essential reality behind the evanescent\nappearances of objects in nature\u2014the very soul of the manifested\nLOGOS? Why should men who strive to accomplish union with the one\neternal and absolute Deity shudder at the idea of prying into its\nmysteries\u2014however awful? Why, above all, should they use names and\nwords the very meaning of which is a sealed mystery to them\u2014a mere\nsound? Is it because an unscrupulous, power-seeking Establishment\ncalled a Church has cried \u201cwolf\u201d at every such attempt, and,\ndenouncing it as \u201cblasphemous,\u201d has ever tried to kill the spirit of\ninquiry? But Theosophy, the \u201cdivine Wisdom,\u201d has never heeded that\ncry, and has the courage of its opinions. The world of sceptics and\nfanatics may call it, one\u2014an empty \u201c_ism_\u201d\u2014the other \u201cSatanism\u201d:\nthey can never crush it. Theosophists have been called Atheists,\nhaters of Christianity, the enemies of God and the gods. They are\nnone of these. Therefore, they have agreed this day to publish a\nclear statement of their ideas, and a profession of their faith\u2014with\nregard to monotheism and Christianity, at any rate\u2014and to place it\nbefore the impartial reader to judge them and their detractors on\nthe merits of their respective faiths. No truth-loving mind would\nobject to such honest and sincere dealing, nor will it be dazzled by\nany amount of new light thrown upon the subject, howsoever much\nstartled otherwise. On the contrary, such minds will thank LUCIFER,\nperhaps, while those of whom it was said \u201c_qui vult decipi\ndecipiatur_\u201d\u2014let them be deceived by all means!\n\nThe editors of this magazine propose to give a series of essays upon\nthe hidden meaning or esotericism of the \u201cNew Testament.\u201d No more\nthan any other scripture of the great world-religions can the Bible\nbe excluded from that class of allegorical and symbolical writings\nwhich have been, from the pre-historic ages, the receptacle of the\nsecret teachings of the Mysteries of Initiation, under a more or\nless veiled form. The primitive writers of the _Logia_ (now the\nGospels) knew certainly _the_ truth, and the _whole_ truth; but\ntheir successors had, as certainly, only dogma and form, which lead\nto hierarchical power at heart, rather than the spirit of the\nso-called Christ\u2019s teachings. Hence the gradual perversion. As\nHiggins truly said, in the Christologia of St. Paul and Justin\nMartyr, we have the esoteric religion of the Vatican, a refined\nGnosticism for the cardinals, a more gross one for the people. It is\nthe latter, only still more materialized and disfigured, which has\nreached us in our age.\n\nThe idea of writing this series was suggested to us by a certain\nletter published in our October issue, under the heading of \u201cAre the\nTeachings ascribed to Jesus contradictory?\u201d Nevertheless, this is no\nattempt to contradict or weaken, in any one instance, that which is\nsaid by Mr. Gerald Massey in his criticism. The contradictions\npointed out by the learned lecturer and author are too patent to be\nexplained away by any \u201cPreacher\u201d or Bible champion; for what he has\nsaid\u2014only in more terse and vigorous language\u2014is what was said of\nthe descendant of Joseph Pandira (or Panthera) in \u201cIsis Unveiled\u201d\n(vol. ii., p. 201), from the Talmudic _Sepher Toldos Jeshu_. His\nbelief with regard to the spurious character of Bible and New\nTestament, _as now edited_, is therefore, also the belief of the\npresent writer. In view of the recent revision of the Bible, and its\nmany thousands of mistakes, mistranslations, and interpolations\n(some confessed to, and others withheld), it would ill become an\nopponent to take any one to task for refusing to believe in the\nauthorised texts.\n\nBut the editors would object to one short sentence in the criticism\nunder notice. Mr. Gerald Massey writes:\u2014\n\n\u201cWhat is the use of taking your \u2018Bible oath\u2019 that the thing is true,\nif the book you are sworn upon is a magazine of falsehoods already\nexploded, or just going off?\u201d\n\nSurely it is not a symbologist of Mr. G. Massey\u2019s powers and\nlearning who would call the \u201cBook of the Dead,\u201d or the Vedas, or any\nother ancient Scripture, \u201ca magazine of falsehoods.\u201d[43] Why not\nregard in the same light as all the others, the Old, and, _in a\nstill greater measure_, the _New_ Testament?\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n  The extraordinary amount of information collated by that able\n  Egyptologist shows that he has thoroughly mastered the secret of\n  the production of the _New Testament_. Mr. Massey knows the\n  difference between the spiritual, divine and purely metaphysical\n  Christos, and the made-up \u201clay figure\u201d of the carnalized Jesus. He\n  knows also that the Christian canon, especially the _Gospels_,\n  _Acts_ and _Epistles_, are made up of fragments of gnostic wisdom,\n  the ground-work of which is _pre-Christian_ and built on the\n  MYSTERIES of Initiation. It is the mode of theological\n  presentation and the interpolated passages\u2014such as in Mark xvi.\n  from verse 9 to the end\u2014which make of the Gospels a \u201cmagazine of\n  (_wicked_) falsehoods,\u201d and throw a slur on CHRISTOS. But the\n  Occultist who discerns between the two currents (the true gnostic\n  and the _pseudo_ Christian) knows that the passages free from\n  theological tampering belong to archaic wisdom, and so does Mr.\n  Gerald Massey, though his views differ from ours.\n\n-----\n\nAll of these are \u201cmagazines of falsehoods,\u201d if accepted in the\nexoteric dead-letter interpretations of their ancient, and\nespecially their modern, theological glossarists. Each of these\nrecords has served in its turn as a means for securing power and of\nsupporting the ambitious policy of an unscrupulous priesthood. All\nhave promoted superstition, all made of their gods bloodthirsty and\never-damning Molochs and fiends, as all have made nations to serve\nthe latter more than the God of Truth. But while cunningly-devised\ndogmas and intentional misinterpretations by scholiasts are beyond\nany doubt, \u201cfalsehoods already exploded,\u201d the texts themselves are\nmines of universal truths. But for the world of the profane and\nsinners, at any rate\u2014they were and still are like the mysterious\ncharacters traced by \u201cthe fingers of a man\u2019s hand\u201d on the wall of\nthe Palace of Belshazzar: _they need a Daniel to read and understand\nthem_.\n\nNevertheless, TRUTH has not allowed herself to remain without\nwitnesses. There are, besides great Initiates into scriptural\nsymbology, a number of quiet students of the mysteries of archaic\nesotericism, of scholars proficient in Hebrew and other dead\ntongues, who have devoted their lives to unriddle the speeches of\nthe Sphinx of the world-religions. And these students, though none\nof them has yet mastered all the \u201cseven keys\u201d that open the great\nproblem, have discovered enough to be able to say: There _was_ a\nuniversal mystery-language, in which all the World Scriptures were\nwritten, from _Vedas_ to \u201cRevelation,\u201d from the \u201cBook of the Dead\u201d\nto the _Acts_. One of the keys, at any rate\u2014the numerical and\ngeometrical key[44] to the Mystery Speech is now rescued; an ancient\nlanguage, truly, which up to this time remained hidden, but the\nevidences of which abundantly exist, as may be proven by undeniable\nmathematical demonstrations. If, indeed, the Bible is forced on the\nacceptance of the world in its dead-letter meaning, in the face of\nthe modern discoveries by Orientalists and the efforts of\nindependent students and kabalists, it is easy to prophesy that even\nthe present new generations of Europe and America will repudiate it,\nas all the materialists and logicians have done. For, the more one\nstudies ancient religious texts, the more one finds that the\nground-work of the New Testament is the same as the ground-work of\nthe Vedas, of the Egyptian theogony, and the Mazdean allegories. The\natonements by blood\u2014blood-covenants and blood-transferences from\ngods to men, and by men, as sacrifices to the gods\u2014are the first\nkey-note struck in every cosmogony and theogony; soul, life and\nblood were synonymous words in every language, pre-eminently with\nthe Jews; and that blood-giving was life-giving. \u201cMany a legend\namong (geographically) alien nations ascribes soul and consciousness\nin newly-created mankind to the blood of the god-creators. Berosus\nrecords a Chaldean legend ascribing the creation of a new race of\nmankind to the admixture of dust with the blood that flowed from the\nsevered head of the god Belus. \u201cOn this account it is that men are\nrational and partake of divine knowledge,\u201d explains Berosus.[45] And\nLenormant has shown (_Beginnings of History_, p. 52, note) that \u201cthe\nOrphics ... said that the _immaterial part of man, his soul_ (his\nlife) sprang from the blood of Dionysius Zagreus, whom ... Titans\ntore to pieces.\u201d Blood \u201crevivifies the dead\u201d\u2014_i.e._, interpreted\nmetaphysically, it gives _conscious_ life and a soul to the man of\nmatter or clay\u2014such as the modern materialist is now. The mystic\nmeaning of the injunction, \u201cVerily I say unto you, except _ye eat\nthe flesh_ of the Son of man and _drink his blood_, ye have not life\nin yourselves,\u201d &c., can never be understood or appreciated at its\ntrue _occult_ value, except by those who hold some of the _seven\nkeys_, and yet care little for St Peter.[46] These words, whether\nsaid by Jesus of Nazareth, or Jeshua Ben-Panthera, are the words of\nan INITIATE. They have to be interpreted with the help of _three_\nkeys\u2014one opening the _psychic_ door, the second that of physiology,\nand the third that which unlocks the mystery of terrestrial being,\nby unveiling the inseparable blending of theogony with anthropology.\nIt is for revealing a few of these truths, with the _sole view of\nsaving intellectual mankind from the insanities of materialism and\npessimism_, that mystics have often been denounced as the servants\nof Antichrist, even by those Christians who are most worthy,\nsincerely pious and respectable men.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n  \u201cThe key to the recovery of the language, so far as the writer\u2019s\n  efforts have been concerned, was found in the use, strange to say,\n  of the discovered integral ratio in numbers of diameter to\n  circumference of a circle,\u201d by a geometrician. \u201cThis ratio is\n  6,561 for diameter and 20,612 for circumference.\u201d (Cabalistic\n  MSS.) In one of the future numbers of \u201cLUCIFER\u201d more details will\n  be given, with the permission of the discoverer.\u2014Ed.\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n  Cory\u2019s _Anc. Frag._, p. 59, f. So do Sanchoniaton and Hesiod, who\n  both ascribe the _vivifying_ of mankind to the spilt blood of the\n  gods. But blood and _soul_ are one (_nephesh_), and the blood of\n  the gods means here the informing soul.\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n  The existence of these _seven_ keys is virtually admitted,\n  owing to deep research in the Egyptological lore, by Mr. G.\n  Massey again. While opposing the teachings of \u201cEsoteric\n  Buddhism\u201d\u2014unfortunately misunderstood by him in almost every\n  respect\u2014in his Lecture on \u201cThe Seven Souls of Man,\u201d he writes\n  (p. 21):\u2014\n\n  \u201cThis system of thought, this mode of representation, this\n  septenary of powers, in various aspects, had been established in\n  Egypt, at least, seven thousand years ago, as we learn from\n  certain allusions to Atum (the god \u2018in whom the fatherhood was\n  individualised as the _begetter of an eternal soul_,\u2019 the\n  _seventh_ principle of the Theosophists,) found in the\n  inscriptions lately discovered at Sakkarah. I say in various\n  aspects, _because the gnosis of the Mysteries was, at least,\n  sevenfold in its nature_\u2014it was Elemental, Biological, Elementary\n  (human), Stellar, Lunar, Solar and Spiritual\u2014and _nothing short of\n  a grasp of the whole system can possibly enable us to discriminate\n  the various parts, distinguish one from the other, and determinate\n  the which and the what, as we try to follow the symbolical Seven\n  through their several phases of character_.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nThe first key that one has to use to unravel the dark secrets\ninvolved in the mystic name of Christ, is the key which unlocked the\ndoor to the ancient mysteries of the primitive Aryans, Sabeans and\nEgyptians. The Gnosis supplanted by the Christian scheme was\nuniversal. It was the echo of the primordial wisdom-religion which\nhad once been the heirloom of the whole of mankind; and, therefore,\none may truly say that, in its purely metaphysical aspect, the\nSpirit of Christ (the divine _logos_) was present in humanity from\nthe beginning of it. The author of the Clementine Homilies is right;\nthe mystery of Christos\u2014now supposed to have been taught by Jesus of\nNazareth\u2014\u201cwas identical\u201d with that which _from the first_ had been\ncommunicated \u201c_to those who were worthy_,\u201d as quoted in another\nlecture.[47] We may learn from the Gospel _according_ to Luke, that\nthe \u201cworthy\u201d were those who had been initiated into the mysteries of\nthe Gnosis, and who were \u201caccounted worthy\u201d to attain that\n\u201cresurrection from the dead\u201d _in this life_ ... \u201cthose who knew that\nthey could die no more, being equal to the angels as sons of God and\nsons of the Resurrection.\u201d In other words, they were the great\nadepts _of whatever religion_; and the words apply to all those who,\nwithout being Initiates, strive and succeed, through personal\nefforts to _live the life_ and to attain the naturally ensuing\nspiritual illumination in blending their personality\u2014the (\u201cSon\u201d)\nwith (the \u201cFather,\u201d) their individual divine Spirit, _the God\nwithin_ them. This \u201cresurrection\u201d can never be monopolized by the\nChristians, but is the spiritual birth-right of every human being\nendowed with soul and spirit, whatever his religion may be. Such\nindividual is a _Christ-man_. On the other hand, those who choose to\nignore the Christ (principle) within themselves, must die\n_unregenerate heathens_\u2014baptism, sacraments, lip-prayers, and belief\nin dogmas notwithstanding.\n\nIn order to follow this explanation, the reader must bear in mind\nthe real archaic meaning of the paronomasia involved in the two\nterms _Chr\u00e9stos_ and _Christos_. The former means certainly more\nthan merely \u201ca good,\u201d an \u201cexcellent man,\u201d while the latter was never\napplied to any one living man, but to every Initiate at the moment\nof _his second birth and resurrection_.[48] He who finds Christos\nwithin himself and recognises the latter as his only \u201cway,\u201d becomes\na follower and an _Apostle of Christ_, though he may have never been\nbaptised, nor even have met a \u201cChristian,\u201d still less call himself\none.\n\n                                                            H. P. B.\n\n                        (_To be continued._)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n  \u201cGnostic and Historic Christianity.\u201d\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n  \u201cVerily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man _be born again_ he\n  cannot see the Kingdom of God.\u201d (John iii. 4.) Here the birth\n  _from above_, the spiritual birth, is meant, achieved at the\n  supreme and last initiation.\n\n-----\n\n\n\n\n                       THE \u201cSQUARE\u201d IN THE HAND.\n\n\nI am unable to say where or when the events related in the following\npages took place. Neither can I give any details concerning the\npersonal circumstances of the narrator. All I know is that she was a\nyoung woman of French nationality, and that the \u201cuncle\u201d of whom she\nspeaks\u2014her senior by some thirty years\u2014was more distinguished as a\nphilosopher than as an enthusiast. Whether the conspiracy against\nthe reigning authorities in which our heroine and her friends were\nimplicated, happened to be of any historical importance or not, is\nalso more than I can say. As my object in reproducing the narrative\nis merely to illustrate the curious operation through natural\nchannels of laws, which are usually regarded as \u201coccult,\u201d and the\nactivity of which on the material plane has given rise to the common\nnotion of \u201cmiracle,\u201d I do not propose to trouble the reader or\nmyself with any preamble of merely local interest. So, without more\nintroduction, I leave the diary of the writer to recount the\nadventure set down therein by her own hand.\n\n            .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .\n\n\u201cI was concerned in a very prominent way in a political struggle for\nliberty and the people\u2019s rights. My part in this struggle was,\nindeed, the leading one, but my uncle had been drawn into it at my\ninstance, and was implicated in a secondary manner only. The\ngovernment sought our arrest, and, for a time, we evaded all\nattempts to take us, but at last we were surprised and driven under\nescort in a private carriage to a military station, where we were to\nbe detained for examination. With us was arrested a man popularly\nknown as \u2018Fou,\u2019 a poor weakling whom I much pitied. When we arrived\nat the station which was our destination, \u2018Fou\u2019 gave some trouble to\nthe officials. I think he fainted, but at all events his conveyance\nfrom the carriage to the _caserne_ needed the conjoined efforts of\nour escort, and some commotion was caused by his appearance among\nthe crowd assembled to see us. Clearly the crowd was sympathetic\nwith us and hostile to the military. I particularly noticed one\nwoman who pressed forward as \u2018Fou\u2019 was being carried into the\nstation, and who loudly called on all present to note his feeble\ncondition and the barbarity of arresting a witless creature such as\nhe. At that moment my uncle laid his hand on my arm and whispered:\n\u2018Now is our time; the guards are all occupied with \u2018Fou;\u2019 we are\nleft alone for a minute; let us jump out of the carriage and run!\u2019\nAs he said this he opened the carriage door on the side opposite to\nthe _caserne_ and alighted in the street. I instantly followed, and\nthe people favouring us, we pressed through them and fled at the top\nof our speed down the road. As we ran I espied a pathway winding up\na hill-side away from the town, and cried: \u2018Let us go up there; let\nus get away from the streets!\u2019 My uncle answered: \u2018No, no; they\nwould see us there immediately at that height, the path is too\nconspicuous. Our best safety is to lose ourselves in the town. We\nmay throw them off our track by winding in and out of the streets.\u2019\nJust then a little child, playing in the road, got in our way, and\nnearly threw us down as we ran. We had to pause a moment to recover\nourselves. \u2018That child may have cost us our lives,\u2019 whispered my\nuncle breathlessly. A second afterwards we reached the bottom of the\nstreet which branched off right and left. I hesitated a moment; then\nwe both turned to the right. As we did so\u2014in the twinkling of an\neye\u2014we found ourselves in the midst of a group of soldiers coming\nround the corner. I ran straight into the arms of one of them, who\nthe same instant knew me and seized me by throat and waist with a\ngrip of iron. This was a horrible moment! The iron grasp was sudden\nand solid as the grip of a vice; the man\u2019s arm held my waist like a\nbar of steel. \u2018I arrest you!\u2019 he cried, and the soldiers immediately\nclosed round us. At once I realised the hopelessness of the\nsituation; the utter futility of resistance. \u2018_Vous n\u2019avez pas\nbesoin de me tenir ainsi_,\u2019 I said to the officer; \u2018_j\u2019irai\ntranquillement_.\u2019 He loosened his hold and we were then marched off\nto another military station, in a different part of the town from\nthat whence we had escaped. The man who had arrested me was a\nsergeant or some officer in petty command. He took me alone with him\ninto the guard-room, and placed before me on a wooden table some\npapers which he told me to fill in and sign. Then he sat down\nopposite to me and I looked through the papers. They were forms,\nwith blanks left for descriptions specifying the name, occupation,\nage, address and so forth of arrested persons. I signed these, and\npushing them across the table to the man, asked him what was to be\ndone with us. \u2018You will be shot,\u2019 he replied, quickly and\ndecisively. \u2018Both of us?\u2019 I asked. \u2018Both,\u2019 he replied. \u2018But,\u2019 said\nI, \u2018my companion has done nothing to deserve death. He was drawn\ninto this struggle entirely by me. Consider, too, his advanced age.\nHis hair is white; he stoops, and, had it not been for the\ndifficulty with which he moves his limbs, both of us would probably\nbe at this moment in a place of safety. What can you gain by\nshooting an old man such as he?\u2019 The officer was silent. He neither\nfavoured nor discouraged me by his manner. While I sat awaiting his\nreply, I glanced at the hand with which I had just signed the\npapers, and a sudden idea flashed into my mind. \u2018At least,\u2019 I said,\n\u2018grant me one request. If my uncle _must_ die, _let me die first_.\u2019\nNow I made this request for the following reason. In my right hand,\nthe line of life broke abruptly halfway in its length; indicating a\nsudden and violent death. But the point at which it broke was\nterminated by a perfectly marked _square_, extraordinarily clear-cut\nand distinct. Such a square, occurring at the end of a broken line\nmeans _rescue_, _salvation_. I had long been aware of this strange\nfiguration in my hand, and had often wondered what it presaged. But\nnow, as once more I looked at it, it came upon me with sudden\nconviction that in some way I was destined to be delivered from\ndeath at the last moment, and I thought that if this be so it would\nbe horrible should my uncle have been killed first. If _I_ were to\nbe saved I should certainly save him also, for my pardon would\ninvolve the pardon of both, or my rescue the rescue of both.\nTherefore it was important to provide for his safety until after my\nfate was decided. The officer seemed to take this last request into\nmore serious consideration than the first. He said shortly: \u2018I may\nbe able to manage that for you,\u2019 and then at once rose and took up\nthe papers I had signed. \u2018When are we to be shot?\u2019 I asked him.\n\u2018To-morrow morning,\u2019 he replied, as promptly as before. Then he went\nout, turning the key of the guard-room upon me.\n\n            .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .\n\n\u201cThe dawn of the next day broke darkly. It was a terribly stormy\nday; great black lurid thunderclouds lay piled along the horizon,\nand came up slowly and awfully against the wind. I looked upon them\nwith terror; they seemed so near the earth, and so like living,\nwatching things. They hung out of the sky, extending long ghostly\narms downwards, and their gloom and density seemed supernatural. The\nsoldiers took us out, our hands bound behind us, into a quadrangle\nat the back of their barracks. The scene is sharply impressed on my\nmind. A palisade of two sides of a square, made of wooden planks,\nran round the quadrangle. Behind this palisade, and pressed up close\nagainst it was a mob of men and women\u2014the people of the town\u2014come to\nsee the execution. But their faces were sympathetic; an unmistakable\nlook of mingled grief and rage, not unmixed with desperation\u2014for\nthey were a down-trodden folk\u2014shone in the hundreds of eyes turned\ntowards us. I was the only woman among the condemned. My uncle was\nthere, and poor \u2018Fou,\u2019 looking bewildered, and one or two other\nprisoners. On the third and fourth sides of the quadrangle was a\nhigh wall, and in a certain place was a niche partly enclosing the\ntrunk of a tree, cut off at the top. An iron ring was driven into\nthe trunk midway, evidently for the purpose of securing condemned\npersons for execution. I guessed it would be used for that now. In\nthe centre of the square piece of ground stood a file of soldiers,\narmed with carbines, and an officer with a drawn sabre. The palisade\nwas guarded by a row of soldiers somewhat sparsely distributed,\ncertainly not more than a dozen in all. A Catholic priest in black\ncassock walked beside me, and as we were conducted into the\nenclosure, he turned to me and offered religious consolation. I\ndeclined his ministrations, but asked him anxiously if he knew which\nof us was to die first. \u2018_You_,\u2019 he replied; \u2018the officer in charge\nof you said you wished it, and he has been able to accede to your\nrequest.\u2019 Even then I felt a singular joy at hearing this, though I\nhad no longer any expectation of release. Death was, I thought, far\ntoo near at hand for that. Just then a soldier approached us, and\nled me, bare-headed, to the tree trunk, where he placed me with my\nback against it, and made fast my hands behind me with a rope to the\niron ring. No bandage was put over my eyes. I stood thus, facing the\nfile of soldiers in the middle of the quadrangle, and noticed that\nthe officer with the drawn sabre placed himself at the extremity of\nthe line, composed of six men. In that supreme moment I also noticed\nthat their uniform was bright with steel accoutrements. Their\nhelmets were of steel and their carbines, as they raised them and\npointed them at me, ready cocked, glittered in a fitful gleam of\nsunlight with the same burnished metal. There was an instant\u2019s\nstillness and hush while the men took aim; then I saw the officer\nraise his bared sabre as the signal to fire. It flashed in the air;\nthen, with a suddenness impossible to convey, the whole quadrangle\nblazed with an awful light\u2014a light so vivid, so intense, so\nblinding, so indescribable that everything was blotted out and\ndevoured by it. It crossed my brain with instantaneous conviction\nthat this amazing glare was the physical effect of being shot, and\nthat the bullets had pierced my brain or heart, and caused this\nfrightful sense of all-pervading flame. Vaguely I remembered having\nread or having been told that such was the result produced on the\nnervous system of a victim to death from fire-arms. \u2018It is over,\u2019 I\nsaid, \u2018that was the bullets.\u2019 But presently there forced itself on\nmy dazed senses a sound\u2014a confusion of sounds\u2014darkness succeeding\nthe white flash\u2014then steadying itself into gloomy daylight; a\ntumult; a heap of stricken, tumbled men lying stone-still before me;\na fearful horror upon every living face; and then ... it all burst\non me with distinct conviction. The storm which had been gathering\nall the morning had culminated in its blackest and most electric\npoint immediately over-head. The file of soldiers appointed to shoot\nme stood exactly under it. Sparkling with bright steel on head and\nbreast and carbines, they stood shoulder to shoulder, a complete\nlightning conductor, and at the end of the chain they formed, their\nofficer, at the critical moment, raised his shining, naked blade\ntowards the sky. Instantaneously heaven opened, and the lightning\nfell, attracted by the burnished steel. From blade to carbine, from\nhelmet to breastplate it ran, smiting every man dead as he stood.\nThey fell like a row of nine-pins, blackened in face and hand in an\ninstant\u2014in the twinkling of an eye. _Dead._ The electric flame\nlicked the life out of seven men in that second; not one moved a\nmuscle or a finger again. Then followed a wild scene. The crowd,\nstupefied for a minute by the thunderbolt and the horror of the\ndevastation it had wrought, recovered sense, and with a mighty shout\nhurled itself against the palisade, burst it, leapt over it and\nswarmed into the quadrangle, easily overpowering the unnerved\nguards. I was surrounded, eager hands unbound mine, arms were thrown\nabout me; the people roared, and wept, and triumphed, and fell about\nme on their knees praising Heaven. I think rain fell, my face was\nwet with drops, and my hair\u2014but I knew no more, for I swooned and\nlay unconscious in the arms of the crowd. My rescue had indeed come,\nand from the very Heavens!\u201d\n\n                                                ANNA KINGSFORD, M.D.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                                FREEDOM.\n\n             Know, striving soul, on truth intent,\n             That not with words by mortal sent\u2014\n               Faint shimmerings of earthly light\u2014\n             Shall ever-living truth be taught,\n             Or light to gild the path be bought,\n               That leads us upward from the night.\n\n             But govern mind with ordered will,\n             Subduing this with knowledge still,\n               Fanning the spark within that glows,\n             The essence of that power divine,\n             The pledge to man from mystic time,\n               The light from thrones above that flows.\n\n             Then may the spirit, bathed in light,\n             Soar upward from the realms of night,\n               No more a fettered earth-bound thing,\n             But freed from clay, and doubt, and slime,\n             Triumphant over death and time!\n               To the eternal ever cling!\n\n                                                            P. H. D.\n\n                          THE INVISIBLE WORLD.\n\nIn many of the tasks of life the first step costs the great effort,\nand the investigation of truth in the higher regions of Nature\njustifies the familiar maxim. The first step for the modern inquirer\nis that which carries his consciousness across the threshold of\nmatter into the invisible world. Never mind for the moment whether\noccult progress be attempted by a direct onslaught on the defences\nof the invisible world, or by purely internal combats with the\ndesires of the lower self. The unseen must first become a reality\nfor anyone who seriously desires to enter into relations with it,\nwhether he sets his will to work to vanquish his own frailties, or\nthe forces of Nature on the astral plane. An internal struggle with\nmaterial desire undertaken for a spiritual purpose, just as much as\nthe other kind of contest, is a recognition of the superior realm;\nand it is not a struggle of the kind we are contemplating at all, if\nit is merely undertaken for a worldly purpose, as thrifty habits may\nbe cultivated, for instance, at the bidding of the grossest material\nselfishness. But though a recognition of the invisible world must in\nthis way have been forced, at an early stage of his inquiry, on the\nmind of everyone who becomes an earnest explorer of Nature\u2019s higher\nlaws, its invisibility is a terrible barrier in the way of the\nprogress that would otherwise be made by the throngs of intelligent\nmaterialists who people civilised countries at this epoch of our\nhistory. From the point of view of conventional thinkers\u2014of those\nalike who sacrifice their Sunday mornings to provide for the\ncontingency that there may be something in religion after all, and\nof those who are frankly incredulous of any Nature lying beyond the\nreach of instrumental research\u2014a tremendous revolution in all their\nviews of life is accomplished if they are somehow brought face to\nface with the reality of super-material phenomena, if they ever\ndiscover the invisible world and come to know it, or any part of it,\nas an unequivocal fact.\n\nLong experienced explorers of the unseen often forget how profoundly\nclouded the whole region seems from the shore of materialistic\nthought. Indeed, from the shore of other systems where habits of\nmetaphysical speculation would lead men to repudiate the charge of\nmaterialism, the unseen appears to be equally impenetrable to all\nhuman faculties. It is as though we lived beside an ocean always\nshrouded from view by a belt of mist. A few persons are in the\nconstant habit of pushing out beyond in boats, but these, when they\ncome back, are told, \u201cNonsense! there is no ocean; you have been\ndreaming!\u201d For the vast majority, the mist is an infinite void. Only\nby a minority have the few who have passed through it, been even\nencountered. Will anyone who knows his generation pretend to say\nthat even among ordinary religious people the next world is a\ncertain fact in Nature, like the next street? How many are there who\ndo more than rest on the hypothesis that there may be somewhere a\nheaven to \u201cgo to\u201d when the dreadful moment comes at which mortal man\nmust perforce bid adieu to the warm precincts of the cheerful day.\n\u201cGod forbid!\u201d a bishop is said to have piously remarked when warned,\nduring danger at sea, that he would be in Heaven that night. The\nnext world of commonplace orthodoxy is but too often regarded as a\ndesperate resource for ruined men, whose fortune of life has been\nwrung from them to the last drop. For those who are bankrupt of\nbreath, \u201clet us trust\u201d (as a frequent phrase expresses the idea)\nthat some compensation may be provided by Providence hereafter,\nthough it does all remain so hopelessly obscure.\n\n\u201cAh, if you could only show me that there really is a life beyond\nthis\u2014a perpetuation of this real individual Me after I am what my\nfriends will call dead\u2014you would be giving me a blessing that no\nwords could over-estimate.\u201d That is a passionate cry from many\nhearts to those who talk of other lives for the soul\u2014of spiritual\nrewards, or the fruit of Karma in future states of existence.\n\nIt is a cry which few people indeed, even among those who have been\nin contact with the invisible world, are in a position to satisfy.\nMost of us are obliged to reply: \u201cThis satisfaction can only be\nacquired by a resolute effort; it is impossible for us to bring you\nproof of what we know, to save you trouble. If you would know\nwhether Africa exists, we cannot bring you Africa to prove it; we\ncan only give you directions how to get there if you are willing to\nundertake the journey.\u201d \u201cBut why,\u201d we might ask, \u201ccannot you believe\nthe testimony of those who have had proof of the sort you require.\u201d\nThe answer always is in effect: \u201c_C\u2019est le premier pas qui coute_.\nIt would be worth worlds to know, but to believe without personal\nknowledge\u2014that would be an act of faith. I might as easily believe\nat once in the Roman Catholic Church.\u201d\n\nThere is a great difference, really, between the surrender of that\nreason claimed by ecclesiastical tyranny and the faith required to\nenable a seeker after truth to gain personal cognisance of the\ninvisible world. The priest and the occultist both claim faith from\nthe neophyte; but the first bids him develop this by strangling his\nreason, the second by satisfying it. Sensible faith is that which\nrecognises the logic of facts appealing to human intelligence. It is\nstupid to believe that which you have no reason for believing; it is\nno less stupid to disbelieve that which there is reason to believe.\nThe majority of modern men and women, indeed\u2014fed exclusively on the\nhusks of knowledge\u2014are too profoundly ignorant of the records\naccumulated by those who have penetrated the unseen to be called\nstupid for undervaluing them. But on one or the other horn of the\ndilemma they must take their place. They are unconscious of the\nexistence of the records left, or of the work done by students of\noccultism in its various phases; or they must be held responsible\nfor defects of understanding. Does anyone say: \u201cWhat are the records\nyou refer to?\u201d The answer would be analogous to one that might be\ngiven to a person brought up in American backwoods, on modern\npracticalities exclusively, and who in mature life should hear\nsomeone refer to classical literature as important. \u201cWhat book do\nyou want me to read?\u201d he might ask. What would an accomplished\nUniversity devotee of Greek poetry _think_ in reply, even if he\ntried to disguise his answer in polite terms?\n\nAny fairly considerable acquaintance with the literature of occult\nresearch\u2014including in that broad designation records of any\nsupermaterial phenomena\u2014will put any man in a position in which he\nmust either believe in the existence of the invisible world, or\ndiscover that he is an irrational being, whose \u201cconvictions\u201d are\nmerely acts of submission to the decrees of the multitude. And\nthen, for most of those who perceive that they must believe, or\nwho find that they cannot continue to disbelieve, some personal\ncontact with some phases of the invisible world will probably\nfollow in the sequence of events; because, once _believing_\u2014once\nsaturated with a complete conviction that there are other planes\nof Nature\u2014these will present themselves to the mind as so\ninteresting, that it becomes worth while to take trouble in order\nto get the gratification of beholding their phenomena in some way\nor other; and then success will sooner or later be attained. While\npeople merely think \u201cthere _may be_ an invisible world, let us try\nif we can find it out,\u201d they are easily baffled by failure. They\ndraw one or two covers \u201cblank\u201d and retire from the effort\ndeclaring \u201cthere is nothing to be discovered; it is all a\ndelusion.\u201d The man who has read and assimilated what he has read\nis, as we have said above, saturated with a conviction on the\nsubject. His state of mind remains unaffected by personal failure;\nand still impelled by the fascination of the idea, he will try\nagain and again till he succeeds. When anyone says, \u201cI _wish_ I\ncould see something out of the common way, but I never have any\nluck in such things,\u201d the answer is: \u201cThen you certainly do not\nwish _much_.\u201d Probably such people do not wish enough to take the\ntrouble merely to study. What they wish is that conclusive\nphenomena demonstrating the existence of the invisible world\nshould always be on view at some London theatre, where inquirers\nmight go without liability to disappointment, when other\nengagements permitted.\n\nAnd yet, though it is so easy to blame and ridicule that attitude of\nmind, no one who has the influence of the higher occultism in his\nheart, and at the same time a capacity for sympathising with the\nbest attributes of modern culture, can be otherwise than\nindefatigably anxious to waken up the present generation more fully\nto an appreciation of the sublime knowledge accessible to those who\nget across the outer barriers and come to realise the existence of\nthe world beyond, once for all. Occultists will often fail to\nunderstand the situation aright. There are some who would do nothing\nbut draw from their own knowledge of the invisible world a store of\nmoral maxims, and serve these out to their brethren, fearing to\nsuggest further inquiries lest danger should be incurred, for, of\ncourse, people are put in danger the higher they climb, falls being\nthen more disastrous. But maxims to have any value must be in\ncircuit with knowledge. \u201cBe good!\u201d is a sound maxim. \u201cBe good\nchildren!\u201d is often an efficient exhortation, but it will not\nsurvive the period when the persons addressed say \u201cWhy?\u201d And all the\neducated world is saying \u201cWhy?\u201d now in regard to injunctions which\nrest upon incredible assertions. Why is Society so tolerant of some\nmisdoing which the Church has always specially condemned, though it\nlies outside the catalogue of offences like robbery and murder,\nproscribed by common convenience? Because maxims which merely rest\nupon religion have no longer any binding force; in other words,\nbecause religion is the science, or the sum total of the sciences of\nthe invisible world, and men now claim to have cut and dried maxims\noverhauled on principles to which this age of science has accustomed\nthem. It is quite possible to get this done. The fact that this _is_\na scientific age is a declaration, in other words, that a time has\ncome for putting a scientific complexion on religious thought; in\nother words again, for beginning to lead the public, in flocks,\nwhere hitherto rare pioneers only have penetrated in secret\u2014across\nthe threshold unto the limitless realms of the invisible world. By\nflocks we need not be supposed to mean crude masses of humanity\nselected on no system, but large numbers compared to the rare\nexplorers of former times, considerable groups of the most\nintelligent and advanced minds of the age. A man of the present day,\nwho has obtained the beautiful culture of modern civilisation, who\nmay be an accomplished classic, a finely-trained man of science, a\npoet, an artist, and yet a person so ignorant or stupid (as to\ncertain facets of his mind) as not to know anything about the\ninvisible world, is a creature who provokes in the more enlightened\nobserver a feeling analogous to that with which one might look at a\nlady of fashion, beautiful in the face, but whose winning draperies\nyou know to hide ugly deformities or repulsive disease. Or treating\nthe subject more abstractedly, this lovely culture of modern\ncivilisation is like the soulless statue\u2014the Galatea without life.\nSurely it is time that the gods informed the marble with the breath\nof the spirit; and have they not shown themselves ready to do this\nif the sculptor does but appeal to them?\n\nThe man who penetrates, or gets into relations of some sort or other\nwith the invisible world, will not necessarily be illuminated at\nonce with a flood of exhilarating knowledge. The new realm may open\nout before the explorer in many different ways; and there is much\ngoing astray amidst its innumerable mazes for new comers, as a rule.\nBut to discuss these perils in detail would be to attempt an essay\non all branches of occultism. For the present we are arguing merely\nthat to make no journeys there at all is to give up progress, to\nmove no longer with the onward stream of evolution, to fall out of\nthe line of march.\n\nIt is deplorable that men of intelligence, in the present day,\nshould neglect to pick up the threads which might guide them to\nsome knowledge of the invisible world, for two reasons, or rather,\nthe reasons why this is deplorable may be divided into two great\nclasses, those which have reference to knowledge, as such, and\nthose which have reference to the spiritual interests of mankind.\nTo people who appreciate spiritual interests, nothing else is\nrelatively worth a thought; but for men of modern civilisation at\nlarge knowledge is worth everything for its own sake; it is the\nend they are pursuing, and this being so, it is astounding that\nthey neglect the most subtle, fascinating and intricate phenomena\nof all nature, those which have to do with supermaterial planes of\nexistence and natural force. And from that point of view, any\npassage across the threshold of the invisible world will do as\nwell as any other. The tables that move without hands, the pencils\nthat write without fingers, are surely linked with mysteries of\nNature not yet understood, and, therefore, worth examination.\nInvestigations concerning them bring one face to face with the\nforces of the invisible world.\n\nAre we told that science cannot grasp these phenomena to investigate\nthem? The statement is not true. They cannot be grasped at any time\nby anybody, but no more can the depths of stellar space be fathomed\nby whoever chooses whenever it suits his leisure. Great telescopes\nare scarce; nights perfectly fitted for observation must be waited\nfor with patience. But when they come, the men who have got the\ntelescopes take observations and make reports, and their records are\nstudied by other astronomers, and used as the foundation of\ntheories, as the raw material of current knowledge. If similar\nmethods were adopted with even the crudest spiritualistic, not to\nspeak of scientific, research in occult mystery, the world at large\nwould not be blundering about as it is, with absurd denials of facts\nknown to thousands. Clairvoyance again, by flights of perception\nthrough the invisible world, bridges gulfs that are materially\nimpassable. But what does modern culture know of it? As a scientific\nfact, it is enormously more certain than the existence, for example,\nof the satellites of Mars; but who disputes the latter fact? They\nhave been seen, those satellites, if they are not seen easily or\noften, and therefore their existence has been established. But five\nnewspapers out of six in the present day\u2014barometers of prevailing\nbelief\u2014would profess to disbelieve in clairvoyance if the subject\nhad to be mentioned; to _disbelieve_ in that which is an elementary\ntruth having to do with the most easily accessible region of\nsupermaterial knowledge!\n\nTo gain touch with this is _not_ to be put at once in possession of\nthat certainty concerning the survival after death of the real \u201cMe\u201d\nin each case, which is the great point to be established for most\nEuropean doubters, but it is the first step. Students of the laws\nwhich govern existence in the higher realms of Nature can gain no\nhearing from those to whom that great point remains unsatisfied.\nOnce the higher realm is felt to be a reality, the possibility of\ngaining a knowledge of the laws which prevail there presents itself\nto the mind with an altogether new significance. And finally, closer\nattention shows that this knowledge certainly has been gained; that\nthe path leading to spiritual wisdom is defined; that with some of\nthe powers which reign in the invisible world we may enter into more\nor less definite relations beforehand here; that of all practical\npursuits which men of clear heads and resolute purpose can set\nthemselves to, during the space of incarnate earthly life,\nimmeasurably the most practical, in so far as it has to do with\nobjects which dwarf all others in their importance, are those which\nhave to do with the culture and development of that Higher Self\nwithin them which has its natural home in the invisible world, and\nis but a passing guest in the midst of material occupations. To use\nand apply the knowledge of supermaterial laws which occult studies\ndisclose is a life\u2019s task, but of that for the moment we need not\nspeak. It is with the heedless and frivolous generation at large\nthat we are concerned in this appeal\u2014with those who waste great\ngifts of intelligence and splendid energies and courage and\nindomitable industry on transitory pursuits, on money-making (in\nexcess), on discovery and research that merely subserve passing\nmaterial wants, on the struggle for flattering distinctions which\ncast a meteoric gleam on the brief journey to personal oblivion, on\nthe \u201csolid realities\u201d of the visible world, which, like the ice\ndrops of a hailstorm, are as hard as bullets one minute and\ndissolved in new forms the next. It is all for want of taking the\nfirst step that they are squandering their lives. Their immediate\npredecessors _knew_ no more than they perhaps of the hidden\nmysteries, but they were less critical of the distorted shape in\nwhich pious tradition told them of the future and of the powers\nabove. The heirs of modern thought have grown in knowledge of\nmolecules and of the transmutation of energy but as they look back\nupon the beliefs which contented their forefathers, they perceive\nthat their fuller science of the physical plane has entirely shut\nout the wide, vague prospect that used to gleam on the earlier\nhorizon.\n\nRational human creatures cannot afford to leave that prospect in a\npermanent eclipse. The neglect of all facts concerned with the\ndurabilities of existence; the concentration of effort and interest\non the hastily dissolving view of its physically manifested phases,\nis the crying folly of the period. To spring at once into complete\nconscious spiritual relationship with the higher planes of Nature is\nnot an easy achievement. The great Realities lie within a domain\nwhich makes no direct appeal to the five senses of the earthly body,\nand the only way of approaching their comprehension is to press on\nthrough the darkness, beyond which other men before us declare that\nthey have reached illuminated altitudes.\n\nBut meanwhile, the torpor of the educated world at large in regard\nto the promptings which ought now to stir its activity in this\ndirection is little less than idiotic. Idiotic relatively, that is\nto say, to spiritual culture. There are men of illustrious fame in\nthe various provinces of intellectual culture, who are behaving\nrelatively to their own higher potentialities, as the luckless\nvictim of a shallow skull may behave towards the teachings of\nscience and art. But there is always one thing to be remembered\nabout them; they are curable. Their cure can be undertaken with sure\ncertainty of success at any moment, but for each sufferer from that\ninner cataract which shuts out from his consciousness the prospect\nof the invisible world, there is only one surgeon who can\nsuccessfully perform the necessary operation\u2014the man himself. What\nwe can do who have accomplished the feat for ourselves, is to\nencourage others\u2014not to _go_, but to come and do likewise.\n\n                                                      A. P. SINNETT.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n\n                          THE MYSTIC THOUGHT.\n\n       When will come rest? Is it alone the silent grave\n         That can bring true peace to the restless soul\n         That striving, yearns to reach some distant goal,\n       Toss\u2019d like a boat on the crest of a mighty wave?\n       Is there oblivion in the cold, dark tomb\n         To dull the heart and kill the abject fear\n       Which loads the sense, when unknown dangers loom\n         From regions that our sense perceives not here?\n       When from the soul goes forth the mystic thought\n         That we have higher purpose than we know,\n         And each must reap the fruit he cares to sow,\n       Or learn the duties he himself has taught:\n       Can this be killed?\u2014no, surely!\u2014but that lamp can save\n       That burns within us here\u2014and burns beyond the grave.\n\n                                                      P. H. DALBIAC.\n\n\n                  =THE BLOSSOM AND THE FRUIT=:\n\n                  _THE TRUE STORY OF A MAGICIAN_.\n\n                           (_Continued._)\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                         BY MABEL COLLINS,\n\n         Author of \u201cTHE PRETTIEST WOMAN IN WARSAW,\u201d &c., &c.,\n And Scribe of \u201cTHE IDYLL OF THE WHITE LOTUS,\u201d and \u201cTHROUGH THE GATES\n                              OF GOLD.\u201d\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                               CHAPTER V.\n\nAdventure is said to be sweet to the young; if it was so to Hilary,\nhe must soon have found abundant pleasure in the possession of\nenough sweets. For the next few days scarcely an hour passed without\nan event large enough in his eyes to be an adventure.\n\nHe was ready at the hour Fleta had named; and had provided against\nall probable contingencies by taking with him the smallest possible\namount of luggage. For aught he knew they might have to climb\nmountains in the course of this journey. And moreover he knew\nFleta\u2019s unprincess-like distaste for superfluities; he would not\nhave been surprised to see her start in her riding habit and take no\nluggage at all. The difficulty he dreaded was his mother\u2019s surprise\nat this scant provision of his. But good luck\u2014or was it something\nelse?\u2014took her away. She was summoned to visit a sick friend at a\nlittle distance out of the city, and said good-bye to Hilary before\nher departure. So Hilary made his preparations without being\ntroubled by criticism.\n\nAt noon a lad presented himself at the door of the Estanol\u2019s house,\nwith a note which he said he was to give into Hilary\u2019s own hand.\nHilary immediately went to him and took it, as he guessed it was\nfrom Fleta. A single line!\u2014and no signature!\u2014\n\n\u201cI am waiting for you outside the north gate.\u201d\n\nHilary took his valise in his hand, afraid to hire a carriage lest\nit should not please her that he brought any eyes to note their\nmeeting. He walked out of the city by the quietest side streets he\ncould select, hoping not to meet any of his friends. He met no one\nhe knew, and with a sigh of relief passed out through the gate and\nwalked on to the broad country road beyond it. Drawn up under some\ntrees was a handsome travelling carriage, with four horses and\npostilions. Hilary was surprised. He had not expected so much\nluxury. When he reached the carriage he was even more surprised.\nFleta was hardly dressed as for a journey; she wore a much richer\nrobe than usual, and her head and shoulders were covered with\nbeautiful black lace. She leaned back in a corner of the roomy\ncarriage, with a voluptuous dreamy expression on her face which was\nnew to Hilary. Opposite her sat Father Amyot. Hilary could not but\nregard the priest with amazement. Was the town to lose its favourite\nconfessor? How then could all the gossips in it be prevented from\nhearing of the Princess Fleta\u2019s journey? But Hilary resolved not to\nharass himself with conjecture. He entered the carriage and Fleta\nmotioned to him to seat himself at her side.\n\nAt her side! Yes, that was his place. And Father Amyot, the father\nconfessor, beloved and almost worshipped by the people, in whose\nbreast reposed the secrets and the sorrows of the city; Father\nAmyot, who was the model of piety to all who knew him, sat opposite\nin the carriage. Did he watch the lovers? Seemingly not. His eyes\nwere lowered and his gaze was apparently fixed on his clasped hands.\nHe sat there like a statue. Once or twice when Hilary glanced at his\nface, he fancied he must be there unwillingly. Was it so? Was he\nFleta\u2019s tool and servant held by her domineering temper to do her\nbidding? Surely not. Father Amyot was too well known as a man of\npower for the idea to be credible. Hilary checked himself for the\nhundredth time in these hopeless speculations and determined to\nenjoy the moment he was in possession of and not trouble about the\nnext one till it came; nor yet endeavour to read others\u2019 hearts. And\nso this young philosopher went open eyed, as he believed, to his\ndestruction.\n\nThe carriage rolled away at a great speed; it was drawn by four\nbeautiful Russian horses, and the postilions were Fleta\u2019s own, and\naccustomed to her likings. She was a most daring and intrepid rider\nand nothing pleased her in the way of motion except great speed. She\nwas a lover of animals and her horses were the finest kept in the\ncity. It was strange to Hilary to try and realise her singular\nindependence of position, as to-day he felt impelled to. For himself\nhe was still to a great extent in leading strings; he had made no\nposition for himself, nor even planned any career; he was dependent\non his mother\u2019s fortune, and consequently, to a certain extent,\ncould act only according to her approval. He was still so young that\nall this seemed natural enough. But Fleta was younger than himself,\nthough it was difficult always to remember it, so dominant was her\ntemper. A glance at her fresh face still so soft in its outlines as\nto have something childish about it when her expression permitted;\nat her figure, so slender in spite of its stateliness, recalled the\nfact that the Princess was indeed only a girl. Did the man who was\nabout to marry her suppose that his young Queen was a creature\nunformed, fresh from the schoolroom, altogether malleable to his\nhand?\n\nDuring the whole of the afternoon they drove on with scarcely a\npause, and with very little conversation to pass the time. Yet for\nHilary it flew with swift wings. The mere sensation of his novel\nposition was enough for him as yet. To be beside Fleta and to watch\nher mysterious face for so long together satisfied for the moment\nhis longing soul. Fleta herself seemed buried in profound thought.\nShe sat silent, her eyes on the country they passed through, but her\nmind, as far as Hilary could judge, wandering in some remote region.\nAs for Father Amyot, his regard remained fixed upon a small crucifix\nwhich he held hidden within his clasped hands, and now and then his\nlips moved in prayer, while, on that austere face, no expression\nseemed to have room but that of adoration or contemplation of the\ndivine.\n\nAt sundown they stopped at a very small way-side inn. Hilary could\nnot believe they were going to stay here, for it looked little more\nthan a place where men drink and horses are fed. Yet so it was. The\ncarriage was driven round to the side of the small house, the horses\ntaken out of it, and Fleta led the way in at a side door, followed\nby her two companions.\n\nWithin they found a motherly, plain and kindly woman, who evidently\nknew Fleta well; Hilary learned afterwards that this landlady had\nbeen a kitchen maid in the royal household. And now he saw strange\nthings indeed. For this inn was in reality nothing but a drinking\nshop for the drivers who passed along the road. It had no parlour,\nnor any accommodation for travellers of a better sort. And Fleta\nknew this, as was evident at once. She drew a hard chair forward,\nclose to the great fire which flamed up the wide open chimney, and\nsat down seemingly quite at her ease.\n\n\u201cWe must have some supper,\u201d she said to the landlady. \u201cGet us what\nyou can. Can you find room for these gentlemen to-night?\u201d\n\nThe landlady came near to Fleta and spoke in a low voice; the\nPrincess laughed.\n\n\u201cThere are no bedrooms in this house, it seems,\u201d she said, aloud,\n\u201cin fact, it is not an hotel. Shall we drive on or shall we sit here\nthrough the night?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe horses are tired,\u201d said Father Amyot, speaking for the first\ntime since they had left the city.\n\n\u201cTrue,\u201d said Fleta, absently\u2014for already she appeared to be thinking\nof something else. \u201cI suppose, then, we must stay here.\u201d\n\nHilary had never passed, nor ever contemplated passing, a night in\nsuch rough fashion. He was fond of comfort, or rather of luxury. But\nwhat could he do when his Princess, the greatest lady in the land,\nset him the example. Any protest would have appeared effeminate, and\nhis pride held him silent. Still, when after a very indifferent\nsupper, they all returned to the hard wooden chairs beside the fire,\nHilary for the moment very sincerely wished himself at home in his\nown comfortable rooms. As he wished this, suddenly he became aware\nthat Fleta\u2019s dark eyes had turned upon him, and he would not look\nup, for he believed she had read his thought. He wished he could\nhave hidden it from her, for he had no mind to be held as more\neffeminate than herself.\n\nThere was a sort of second kitchen even rougher and more cheerless\nthan the one in which they sat; and there the postilions and other\nmen, the ordinary customers of the house, were crowded together,\ndrinking and talking and singing. Their presence was horrid to\nHilary, who was conscious of refined susceptibilities, but Fleta\nseemed quite indifferent to the noise they made and the odour of\ntheir coarse tobacco; or rather it might be that she was unaware of\nanything outside her own thoughts. She sat, her chin on her hand,\nlooking into the fire; and so graceful and perfect was her attitude\nthat she had the air of being a masterpiece of art placed amid the\ncommonest surroundings. She looked more lovely than ever from the\ncontrast, but yet the incongruity was painful to Hilary.\n\nThe silence in the room in which they sat became the more marked\nfrom contrast with the increasing noise in the crowded room without.\nAt last, however, the hour came for the house to be closed and the\nlandlady politely showed her customers the door; all except those\nwho were travellers on the road. These, including the postilions,\ngathered into the chimney corner and became quiet, at last falling\nsound asleep. To Hilary it seemed now that he was living through a\npainful dream, and he longed for the awakening\u2014willing to awake,\neven if that meant that he would be at home and away from Fleta.\n\nAt last sleep came to him, and his head drooped forward; he sat\nthere, upright in the wooden chair, fast asleep. When he awoke it\nwas with a sense of pain in every limb, from the posture which he\nhad maintained; and he could scarcely refrain from crying out when\nhe attempted to move. But he instantly remembered that if the others\nwere sleeping he must not wake them. Then he quickly looked round.\nFather Amyot sat near, looking just as he had looked since they\nentered the house; he might have been a statue. Fleta\u2019s chair was\nempty.\n\nHilary roused himself, sat up and stared at her empty place; then\nlooked all round the kitchen. An idea occurred to him; possibly the\nlandlady had found some resting place for the young Princess. A\nsense of oppression came over him; the kitchen seemed stifling. He\nrose with difficulty and stretched himself, then found his way out\ninto the air. It was a glorious morning; the sun had just risen, the\nworld seemed like a beautiful woman seen in her sleep. How sharp the\nsweet fresh air was! Hilary drew a deep breath of it. The country in\nwhich this lonely little inn stood was exceedingly lovely, and at\nthis moment it wore its most fascinating appearance. A sense of\ngreat delight came upon Hilary; the uneasiness of the past night was\nat an end, and he was glad now and full of youth and strength. He\nturned and walked away from the house, soon leaving the road and\nplunging into the dewy grass. There was a stream in the valley, and\nhere he determined to bathe. He soon reached it, and in another\nmoment had hastily undressed, and was plunged in the ice-cold water.\nAn intoxicating sense of vigour came over him as he experienced the\nkeen contact. Never had he felt so full of life as now! It was not\npossible to remain long in the water, it was so intensely cold; he\nsprang out again and stood for a moment on the bank in the brilliant\nmorning sunshine, looking like a magnificent figure carved by the\ngod of the day, his flesh gleaming in the light. Slowly he began at\nlast to put on his dress, feeling as if in some way this meant a\npartial return and submission to civilization. Something of the\nsavage which lay deep hidden in him had been roused and touched. A\nfire burned that hitherto he had never felt, and which made him long\nfor pure freedom and uncriticised life. And this was Hilary Estanol!\nIt seemed incredible that a draught of fresh morning air, a plunge\ninto ice-cold water beneath the open sky, should have been enough to\nunloose the savage in him, which was held fast beneath his\nconventional and languid self, as it is in all of us, and all those\nwhom we meet in ordinary life. He moved hastily, striding on as\nthough he were hurrying to some end, but it was merely a new\npleasure in motion. There was a grove of old yew trees near the\nstream; a grove which with the superstitious was held to be sacred.\nThat it should be revered was no wonder, so stately were the ancient\ntrees, so deep the shadow they cast. Hilary went towards this grove,\nattracted by its splendid appearance; as he approached its margin a\ndim sense of familiarity came over him. Never had he left the city\nby this road, yet it seemed to him that he had entered the grove of\nyews by the early morning light already many a time. We are all\naccustomed to meet with this curious sensation; Hilary laughed at it\nand put it away. What if he had visited this spot in a dream? Now it\nwas broad daylight, and he felt himself young and a giant. He\nplunged into the deep shadow, pleased by the contrast it made to the\nbrilliant light without.\n\nSuddenly his heart leaped within him and his brain reeled. For there\nbefore him, stood Fleta; and the brilliant Princess looked like a\nspirit of the night, so pale and grave and proud was her face and so\nmuch a part did she seem of the deep shadow of the wood.\n\n\u201cIs it you?\u201d she said with a smile, a smile of mystery and deep\nunfathomable knowledge.\n\n\u201cYes it is!\u201d he answered, and felt, as he spoke, that he said\nsomething in those words which he did not himself understand. They\nstood side by side for a moment in silence; and then Hilary\nremembered himself to be alone with this woman, alone with her in\nthe midst of the world. They were separated by the hour from other\nmen and women, for the world still lay asleep; they were separated\nby the deep shadow of the wood from all moving life that answered to\nthe sun. They were alone\u2014and overwhelmed by this sudden sense of\nsolitude Hilary spoke out his soul.\n\n\u201cPrincess,\u201d he said, \u201cI am ready to be your blind servant, your dumb\nslave, speaking and seeing only when you tell me. You know well why\nI am willing to be the tool in your hands. It is because I love you.\nBut you must pay a price for your tool if you would have it! I\ncannot only worship at your feet. Fleta, you must give yourself to\nme, absolutely, utterly. Marry that man to whom you are betrothed if\nyou desire to be a queen, but to me you must give your love,\nyourself. Ah! Fleta, you cannot refuse me!\u201d\n\nFleta stood still a long moment, her eyes upon his face.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she said, \u201cI cannot refuse you.\u201d\n\nAnd to Hilary, for an instant of horror, it seemed to him that in\nher eyes was a glance of ineffable scorn. Yet there was love in the\nsmile on her lips and in the touch of her hand as she laid it in\nhis.\n\n\u201cThe bond is made,\u201d she said, \u201call that you can take of me is yours.\nAnd I will pay you for your love with my love. Only do not forget\nthat you and I are different\u2014that we are after all, two persons\u2014that\nwe cannot love in exactly the same way. Do not forget this!\u201d\n\nHilary knew not what to answer. As she spoke the last words he\nrecognised his princess, he saw the queen before him. What did she\nmean? Well, he was so unhappy that his love had gone from him to a\nlady of royal birth. It could not be undone, this folly. He must be\ncontent to take that part which a subject may take in the life of a\nqueen, even though he be her lover. The thought brought a pang, a\nswift stab to his heart and a sigh burst from his lips. Fleta put\nher hand on his arm.\n\n\u201cDo not be sad so soon,\u201d she said, \u201clet us wait for trouble. Come,\nlet us go out into the sunshine.\u201d\n\nThey went out, hand in hand; they wandered down beside the stream\nand looked into the gleaming waters.\n\n                              CHAPTER VI.\n\nThat day the journey began early, and was very protracted. Twice\nduring it they halted at little inns to rest the horses and to\nobtain what food they could. By the evening they had entered upon\nthe most deserted region of the great forest which was one of the\nprides of the country. The King\u2019s hunting seat, where he now was,\nstood in a part of this forest, but in quite another region, a long\ndistance from this wild place where Hilary and his companions now\nwere. Hilary had never been within the forest, as few from the city\never penetrated it except as part of the King\u2019s retinue, and then\nthey only saw such tracts of it as were preserved and in order. Of\nthis wilder region practically little was known, and the spirit of\nadventure within Hilary made him rejoice to find that their journey\nled them through this unpopulated district. His curiosity as to\ntheir destination was not now very acute, for the experiences of the\npassing moments were all sufficient. It is true that he was\nconscious of the great gulf fixed between himself and Fleta. He knew\nher to be his superior in every respect. He knew not only that he\nmust always be separated from her by their difference in station but\nthat he was more vitally separated from her by their difference in\nthought\u2014and that even now. But he was made happy by a look of love\nthat plunged deep from her eyes into his own now and again, and he\nwas thrilled to the heart when her hand touched his with a light and\ndelicate pressure that he alone could understand. Ah! that secret\nunderstanding which separates lovers from all the rest of the world.\nHow sweet it is! How strange it is, too, for they are overpowered by\na mutual sense of sympathy which appears to be a supreme\nintelligence, giving each the power to look into the other\u2019s heart.\nDear moments are they when this is realised, when all life outside\nthe sacred circle in which the two dwell is obscure and dim, while\nthat within is rich, and strong, and sweet. Hilary lived supremely\ncontent only in the consciousness of being near this woman whom he\nloved; for now that he had actually asked her love, and been granted\nit, nothing else existed for him save that sweet fact. He was\nindifferent to the hardships, and, indeed, probable dangers, of the\njourney they were upon, which might have made a more intrepid spirit\nuneasy; for now he was content to suffer, or even to die, if all\nconditions were shared with Fleta. All her life could not be shared\nwith him, but all his could be shared with her. When a man reaches\nthis point, and is content to face such a state of things between\nhimself and the woman he loves, he may be reckoned as being in love\nindeed.\n\nQuite late at night it was when this day\u2019s journey ended, and the\nsplendid horses were really tired out. But a certain point evidently\nhad to be reached, and the postilions pushed on. Fleta at last\nseemed to grow a little anxious, and several times rose in the\ncarriage to look on ahead; once or twice she inquired of the\npostilions if they were certain of their way. They answered yes;\nthough how that could be was to Hilary a mystery, for they had been\nfor a long while travelling over mere grass tracts, of which there\nwere many, to his eyes undistinguishable one from the other. But the\npostilions either had landmarks which he could not detect, or else\nknew their way very well. At last they stopped; and in the dim light\nHilary saw that there was a gate at the side of the track, a gate\nwide enough to drive through, but of the very simplest construction.\nIt might have defended merely a spot where young trees were planted,\nor some kind of preserving done; and it was set in a fence of the\nsame character, almost entirely hidden by thick growth of wild\nshrubs. The Princess Fleta produced from her dress a whistle on\nwhich she sounded a clear ringing note, and then everybody sat still\nand waited. It seemed to Hilary that it was quite a long while that\nthey waited; perhaps it was not really long, but the night was so\nstill, the silence so profound, the feeling of expectancy so strong.\nHe was, for the first time since they started, really very curious\nas to what would happen next. What did happen at last was this.\nThere was a sound of laughter and footsteps, and presently two\nfigures appeared at the gate; one that of a tall man, the other that\nof a young, slight girl. The gate was unlocked and thrown wide open,\nand a moment later the young girl was in the carriage, embracing\nFleta with the greatest enthusiasm and delight. Hilary hardly knew\nhow everything happened, but presently the whole party was standing\ntogether inside the gate, the carriage had driven in and was out of\nsight. Then the tall man shut and locked the gate, after which he\nturned back, and walked on ahead with the young girl at his side,\nwhile Hilary followed with Fleta. The moon had risen now, and Hilary\ncould see her beautiful face plainly, wearing on it an unusually gay\nand happy expression; her lips seemed to smile at her own thoughts.\nThe sweet gladness in her face made Hilary\u2019s heart spring with joy.\nIt could not be rejoining her friends that made her so glad, for\nthey had gone on and left her alone with him.\n\n\u201cFleta\u2014my princess\u2014no, my Fleta,\u201d he said, \u201care you happy to be with\nme? I think you are!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I am happy to be with you\u2014but I am not Fleta.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot Fleta!\u201d echoed Hilary, in utter incredulity.\n\nHe stopped, and catching his companion\u2019s hand, looked into her face.\nShe glanced up, and her eyes were full of shy coquetry and ready\ngaiety.\n\n\u201cI might be her twin sister, might I not, if I am not Fleta herself?\nAh! no, Fleta\u2019s fate is to live in a court\u2014mine to live in a forest\nLive!\u2014no, it is not life!\u201d\n\nWhat was it in that voice that made his heart grow hot with passion?\nFiercely he exclaimed to himself that it _was_, it _must_, be\nFleta\u2019s voice. No other woman could speak in such tones\u2014no other\nwoman\u2019s words give him such a sense of maddening joy.\n\n\u201cOh! yes,\u201d he said, \u201cit is life\u2014when one loves, one lives anywhere.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, perhaps, when one loves!\u201d was the answer.\n\n\u201cYou told me this morning that you loved me, Fleta!\u201d cried Hilary in\ndespair.\n\n\u201cAh! but I am not Fleta,\u201d was the mocking answer. It sounded like\nmockery indeed as she spoke. And yet the voice was Fleta\u2019s. There\nwas no doubt of that. He looked, he listened, he watched. The voice,\nthe face, the glorious eyes, were Fleta\u2019s. It was Fleta who was\nbeside him, say she what she might.\n\nThey had been following the others all this while, and had now\nreached a clearing in the wood, where was a garden full of sweet\nflowers, as Hilary could tell at once by the rich scents that came\nto him on the night air.\n\n\u201cI am glad we have reached the house,\u201d said his companion, \u201cfor I am\nvery tired and hungry. Are not you? I wonder what we shall have for\nsupper. You know this is an enchanted place which we call the palace\nof surprises. We never know what will happen next. That is why one\ncan enjoy a holiday here as one can enjoy it no where else. At home\nthere is a frightful monotony about the eating and drinking\nEverything is perfect, of course, but it is always the same. Now\nhere one is fed like a Russian one day, and a Hungarian the next.\nThere is a perpetual novelty about the menus, and yet they are\nalways good. Is not that extraordinary. And oh! the wines, great\nheavens! what a cellar our sainted father keeps. I can only bless,\nwith all my heart, the long dead founders of his order, who\ninstituted such a system.\u201d\n\nHilary had regarded his companion with increasing amazement during\nthis speech. Certainly it was unlike Fleta. Was she acting for his\nbenefit? But at the words \u201csainted father\u201d another idea thrust that\none out of his head. What had become of Father Amyot? He had not\nseen him leave the carriage, or approach the house.\n\n\u201cOh, your holy companion has gone to his brethren,\u201d said the girl,\nwith a laugh. \u201cThey have a place of their own where they torture\nthemselves and mortify the flesh. But they entertain us well, and\nthat is what I care for. We will have a dance to-night. Oh! Hilary,\nthe music here! It is better than that of any band in the world!\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you are not, Fleta, how do you know my name?\u201d\n\n\u201cSimple creature! What a question! Why, Fleta has told me all about\nyou. Did you never hear that the princess had a foster-sister, and\nthat none could ever tell which was which, so like were we\u2014and are\nwe! Did you never hear that Fleta\u2019s mother was blonde, and dull, and\nplain, and that Fleta is like none of her own family? Oh, Hilary,\nyou, fresh from the city, you know nothing!\u201d\n\nA sudden remembrance crossed Hilary\u2019s mind.\n\n\u201cI _have_ heard,\u201d he said, \u201cthat no one could tell where Fleta had\ndrawn her beauty from. But I believe you draw it from your own\nbeautiful soul!\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, you still think me Fleta? I have had some happy hours in the\ncity before now when Fleta has let me play at being a princess. Ah,\nbut the men all thought the princess in a strange, charming,\ndelightful humour on these days. And when next they saw her, that\nhumour was gone, and they were afraid to speak to her. Come in. I am\nstarving!\u201d\n\nThey had entered a wide, low doorway, and stood now within the great\nhall. What a strange hall it was! The floor was covered with the\nskins of animals, many of them very handsome skins; and great jars\nheld flowering plants, the scent from which made the air rich and\nheavy. A wood fire burned on the wide hearth, and before it, still\nin the dress she had travelled in, stood\u2014Fleta.\n\nYes, Fleta.\n\nThe girl who stood at Hilary\u2019s side laughed and clapped her hands as\nhe uttered a cry of amazement, even of horror.\n\n\u201cThis is some of your magic, Fleta!\u201d he exclaimed involuntarily.\n\nThe Princess turned at his words. She was looking singularly grave\nand stern; her glance gave Hilary a sense of almost fear.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she answered in a low, quiet voice that had a tone, as Hilary\nfancied, of pain, \u201cit is not magic. It is all very natural. This is\nAdine, my little sister; so like me that I do not know her from\nmyself.\u201d\n\nShe drew Adine to her with a gesture which had a protecting\ntenderness in it. This was the Princess who spoke, queen-like in her\nkindness. Hilary stood, unable to speak, unable to think, unable to\nunderstand. Before him stood two girls\u2014each Fleta. Only by the\ndifference of expression could he detect any difference between\nthem. One threw him back the most coquettish and charming glance, as\nshe went towards her grave sister. He could feel keenly how vitally\ndifferent the two were. Yet they stood side by side, and though\nFleta said \u201cmy little sister\u201d there was no outward difference\nbetween them. Adine was as tall, as beautiful\u2014and the same in\neverything!\n\n\u201cDo not be startled,\u201d said Fleta quietly, \u201cyou will soon grow used\nto the likeness.\u201d\n\n\u201cThough I doubt,\u201d added Adine, with a wicked glance from her\nbrilliant eyes, \u201cwhether you will ever tell us apart except when we\nare not together.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d said Fleta, \u201clet us go and wash the travel stains off. It is\njust supper time.\u201d\n\nFleta talked of travel stains, but as Hilary looked at her queenly\nbeauty, he thought she seemed as fresh as though she had but from\nthis moment come from the hands of her maid. However, the two went\naway arm in arm, Adine turning at the door to have one last glance\nof amusement at Hilary\u2019s utterly perplexed face. He was left alone,\nand he remained standing where he was, without power of thought or\nmotion.\n\nPresently some one came and touched him on the shoulder; this was\nnecessary in order to attract his attention. It was the tall man who\nhad come to the gate to meet them. He was very handsome, and with\nthe most cheerful and good-natured expression; his blue eyes were\nfull of laughter.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d he said, \u201ccome and see your room. I am master of the\nceremonies here; apply to me for anything you want\u2014even information!\nI may, or may not give it, according to the decision of the powers\nthat be. Call me Mark. I have a much longer name, in fact,\nhalf-a-dozen much longer ones, and a few titles to boot; but they\nwould not interest you, and in the midst of a forest where nobody\nhas any dignity, a name of one syllable is by far the best.\u201d While\nhe talked on like this, apparently indifferent as to whether Hilary\nlistened or no, he led the way out of the hall and down a wide,\ncarpeted corridor. He opened the last door in this, and ushered\nHilary in.\n\n(_To be continued._)\n\n                          THE SCIENCE OF LIFE.\n\nWhat is Life? Hundreds of the most philosophical minds, scores of\nlearned well-skilled physicians, have asked themselves the question,\nbut to little purpose. The veil thrown over primordial Kosmos and\nthe mysterious beginnings of life upon it, has never been withdrawn\nto the satisfaction of earnest, honest science. The more the men of\nofficial learning try to penetrate through its dark folds, the more\nintense becomes that darkness, and the less they see, for they are\nlike the treasure-hunter, who went across the wide seas to look for\nthat which lay buried in his own garden.\n\nWhat is then this Science? Is it biology, or the study of life in\nits general aspect? No. Is it physiology, or the science of organic\nfunction? Neither; for the former leaves the problem as much the\nriddle of the Sphinx as ever; and the latter is the science of death\nfar more than that of life. Physiology is based upon the study of\nthe different organic functions and the organs necessary to the\nmanifestations of life, but that which science calls living matter,\nis, in sober truth, _dead matter_. Every molecule of the living\norgans contains the germ of death in itself, and begins dying as\nsoon as born, in order that its successor-molecule should live only\nto die in its turn. An organ, a natural part of every living being,\nis but the medium for some special function in life, and is a\ncombination of such molecules. The vital organ, the _whole_, puts\nthe mask of life on, and thus conceals the constant decay and death\nof its parts. Thus, neither biology nor physiology are the science,\nnor even branches of the _Science of Life_, but only that of the\n_appearances_ of life. While true philosophy stands \u0152dipus-like\nbefore the Sphinx of life, hardly daring to utter the paradox\ncontained in the answer to the riddle propounded, materialistic\nscience, as arrogant as ever, never doubting its own wisdom for one\nmoment, biologises itself and many others into the belief that it\nhas solved the awful problem of existence. In truth, however, has it\neven so much as approached its threshold? It is not, surely, by\nattempting to deceive itself and the unwary in saying that life is\nbut the result of molecular complexity, that it can ever hope to\npromote the truth. Is vital force, indeed, only a \u201cphantom,\u201d as\nDu-Bois Reymond calls it? For his taunt that \u201clife,\u201d as something\nindependent, is but the _asylum ignoranti\u00e6_ of those who seek refuge\nin abstractions, when direct explanation is impossible, applies with\nfar more force and justice to those materialists who would blind\npeople to the reality of facts, by substituting bombast and\njaw-breaking words in their place. Have any of the five divisions of\nthe functions of life, so pretentiously named\u2014Archebiosis,\nBiocrosis, Biodi\u00e6resis, Bioc\u00e6nosis and Bioparodosis[49], ever helped\na Huxley or a H\u00e6ckel to probe more fully the mystery of the\ngenerations of the humblest ant\u2014let alone of man? Most certainly\nnot. For life, and everything pertaining to it, belongs to the\nlawful domain of the _metaphysician_ and psychologist, and physical\nscience has no claim upon it. \u201cThat which hath been, is that which\nshall be; and that which hath been is named already\u2014and it is known\nthat it is MAN\u201d\u2014is the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx. But \u201cman\u201d\nhere, does not refer to _physical_ man\u2014not in its esoteric meaning,\nat any rate. Scalpels and microscopes may solve the mystery of the\nmaterial parts of _the shell of man_: they can never cut a window\ninto his soul to open the smallest vista on any of the wider\nhorizons of being.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n  Or Life-origination, Life-fusion, Life-division, Life-renewal and\n  Life-transmission.\n\n-----\n\nIt is those thinkers alone, who, following the Delphic injunction,\nhave cognized life in their _inner_ selves, those who have studied\nit thoroughly in themselves, before attempting to trace and analyze\nits reflection in their outer shells, who are the only ones rewarded\nwith some measure of success. Like the fire-philosophers of the\nMiddle Ages, they have skipped over the _appearances_ of light and\nfire in the world of effects, and centred their whole attention upon\nthe producing arcane agencies. Thence, tracing these to the one\nabstract cause, they have attempted to fathom the MYSTERY, each as\nfar as his intellectual capacities permitted him. Thus they have\nascertained that (1) the _seemingly_ living mechanism called\nphysical man, is but the fuel, the material, upon which life feeds,\nin order to manifest itself; and (2) that thereby the inner man\nreceives as his wage and reward the possibility of accumulating\nadditional experiences of the terrestrial illusions called lives.\n\nOne of such philosophers is now undeniably the great Russian\nnovelist and reformer, Count Lef N. Tolstoi. How near his views are\nto the esoteric and philosophical teachings of higher Theosophy,\nwill be found on the perusal of a few fragments from a lecture\ndelivered by him at Moscow before the local Psychological Society.\n\nDiscussing the problem of life, the Count asks his audience to\nadmit, for the sake of argument, _an impossibility_. Says the\nlecturer:\u2014\n\nLet us grant for a moment that all that which modern science longs\nto learn of life, it has learnt, and now knows; that the problem has\nbecome as clear as day; that it is clear how organic matter has, by\nsimple adaptation, come to be originated from inorganic material;\nthat it is as clear how natural forces may be transformed into\nfeelings, will, thought, and that finally, all this is known, not\nonly to the city student, but to every village schoolboy, as well.\n\nI am aware, then, that such and such thoughts and feelings originate\nfrom such and such motions. Well, and what then? Can I, or cannot I,\nproduce and guide such motions, in order to excite within my brain\ncorresponding thoughts? The question\u2014what are the thoughts and\nfeelings I ought to generate in myself and others, remains still,\nnot only unsolved, but even untouched.\n\nYet it is precisely this question which is the _one_ fundamental\nquestion of the central idea of life.\n\nScience has chosen as its object a few manifestations that accompany\nlife; and _mistaking_[50] the part for the whole, called these\nmanifestations the integral total of life....\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n  \u201cMistaking\u201d is an erroneous term to use. The men of science know\n  but too well that what they teach concerning life is a\n  materialistic fiction contradicted at every step by logic and\n  fact. In this particular question science is abused, and made to\n  serve personal hobbies and a determined policy of crushing in\n  humanity every spiritual aspiration and thought. \u201c_Pretending_ to\n  mistake\u201d would be more correct.\u2014H. P. B.\n\n-----\n\nThe question inseparable from the idea of life is not _whence_ life,\nbut _how one should live_ that life: and it is only by first\nstarting with this question that one can hope to approach some\nsolution in the problem of existence.\n\nThe answer to the query \u201cHow are we to live?\u201d appears so simple to\nman that he esteems it hardly worth his while to touch upon it.\n\n... One must live the best way one can\u2014that\u2019s all. This seems at\nfirst sight very simple and well known to all, but it is by far\nneither as simple nor as well known as one may imagine....\n\nThe idea of life appears to man in the beginning as a most simple\nand self-evident business. First of all, it seems to him that life\nis in himself, in his own body. No sooner, however, does one\ncommence his search after that life, in any one given spot of the\nsaid body, than one meets with difficulties. Life is not in the\nhair, nor in the nails; neither is it in the foot nor the arm, which\nmay both be amputated; it is not in the blood, it is not in the\nheart, and it is not in the brain. It is everywhere and it is\nnowhere. It comes to this: life cannot be found in any of its\ndwelling-places. Then man begins to look for life in Time; and that,\ntoo, appears at first a very easy matter.... Yet again, no sooner\nhas he started on his chase than he perceives that here also the\nbusiness is more complicated than he had thought. Now, I have\n_lived_ fifty-eight years, so says my baptismal church record. But I\nknow that out of these fifty-eight years I slept over twenty. How\nthen? have I lived all these years, or have I not? Deduct the months\nof my gestation, and those I passed in the arms of my nurse, and\nshall we call this life, also? Again, out of the remaining\nthirty-eight years, I know that a good half of that time I slept\nwhile moving about; and thus, I could no more say in this case,\nwhether I lived during that time or not. I may have lived a little,\nand vegetated a little. Here again, one finds that in time, as in\nthe body, life is everywhere, yet nowhere. And now the question\nnaturally arises, whence, then, that life which I can trace to\nnowhere? Now\u2014will I learn.... But it so happens that in this\ndirection also, what seemed to me so easy at first, now seems\nimpossible. I must have been searching for something else, not for\nmy life, assuredly. Therefore, once we have to go in search of the\nwhereabouts of life\u2014if search we have to\u2014then it should be neither\nin space nor in time, neither as cause nor effect, but as a\nsomething which I cognize within myself as quite independent from\nSpace, time and causality.\n\nThat which remains to do now is to study _self_. But how do I\ncognize life in myself?\n\nThis is how I cognize it. I know, to begin with, that I live; and\nthat I live wishing for myself everything that is good, wishing this\nsince I can remember myself, to this day, and from morn till night.\nAll that lives outside of myself is important in my eyes, but only\nin so far as it co-operates with the creation of that which is\nproductive of _my_ welfare. The Universe is important in my sight\nonly because it can give _me_, pleasure.\n\nMeanwhile, something else is bound up with this knowledge in me of\nmy existence. Inseparable from the life I feel, is another cognition\nallied to it; namely, that besides myself, I am surrounded with a\nwhole world of living creatures, possessed, as I am myself, of the\nsame instinctive realization of their exclusive lives; that all\nthese creatures live for their own objects, which objects are\nforeign to me; that those creatures do not know, nor do they care to\nknow, anything of my pretensions to an exclusive life, and that all\nthese creatures, in order to achieve success in their objects, are\nready to annihilate me at any moment. But this is not all. While\nwatching the destruction of creatures similar in all to myself, I\nalso know that for me too, for that precious ME in whom alone life\nis represented, a very speedy and inevitable destruction is lying in\nwait.\n\nIt is as if there were two \u201cI\u2019s\u201d in man; it is as if they could\nnever live in peace together; it is as if they were eternally\nstruggling, and ever trying to expel each other.\n\nOne \u201cI\u201d says, \u201cI alone am living as one should live, all the rest\nonly seems to live. Therefore, the whole _raison d\u2019\u00eatre_ for the\nuniverse is in that _I_ may be made comfortable.\u201d\n\nThe other \u201cI\u201d replies, \u201cThe universe is not for thee at all, but for\nits own aims and purposes, and it cares little to know whether thou\nart happy or unhappy.\u201d\n\nLife becomes a dreadful thing after this!\n\nOne \u201cI\u201d says, \u201cI only want the gratification of all my wants and\ndesires, and that is why I need the universe.\u201d\n\nThe other \u201cI\u201d replies, \u201cAll animal life lives only for the\ngratification of its wants and desires. It is the wants and desires\nof animals alone that are gratified at the expense and detriment of\nother animals; hence the ceaseless struggle between the animal\nspecies. Thou art an animal, and therefore thou hast to struggle.\nYet, however successful in thy struggle, the rest of the struggling\ncreatures must sooner or later crush thee.\u201d\n\nStill worse! life becomes still more dreadful....\n\nBut the most terrible of all, that which includes in itself the\nwhole of the foregoing, is that:\u2014\n\nOne \u201cI\u201d says, \u201cI want to live, to live for ever.\u201d\n\nAnd that the other \u201cI\u201d replies, \u201cThou shalt surely, perhaps in a few\nminutes, die; as also shall die all those thou lovest, for thou and\nthey are destroying with every motion your lives, and thus\napproaching ever nearer suffering, death, all that which thou so\nhatest, and which thou fearest above anything else.\u201d\n\nThis is the worst of all....\n\nTo change this condition is impossible.... One can avoid moving,\nsleeping, eating, even breathing, but one cannot escape from\nthinking. One thinks, and that thought, _my_ thought, is poisoning\nevery step in my life, as a personality.\n\nNo sooner has man commenced a conscious life than that consciousness\nrepeats to him incessantly without respite, over and over the same\nthing again. \u201cTo live such life as you feel and see in your past,\nthe life lived by animals and many men too, lived in _that_ way,\nwhich made you become what you are now\u2014is no longer possible. Were\nyou to attempt doing so, you could never escape thereby the struggle\nwith all the world of creatures which live as you do\u2014for their\npersonal objects; and then those creatures will inevitably destroy\nyou.\u201d...\n\nTo change this situation is impossible. There remains but one thing\nto do, and that is always done by him who, beginning to live,\ntransfers his objects in life outside of himself, and aims to reach\nthem.... But, however far he places them outside his personality, as\nhis mind gets clearer, none of these objects will satisfy him.\n\nBismarck, having united Germany, and now ruling Europe\u2014if his reason\nhas only thrown any light upon the results of his activity\u2014must\nperceive, as much as his own cook does who prepares a dinner that\nwill be devoured in an hour\u2019s time, the same unsolved contradiction\nbetween the vanity and foolishness of all he has done, and the\neternity and reasonableness of that which exists for ever. If they\nonly think of it, each will see as clearly as the other; _firstly_,\nthat the preservation of the integrity of Prince Bismarck\u2019s dinner,\nas well as that of powerful Germany, is solely due: the preservation\nof the former\u2014to the police, and the preservation of the latter\u2014to\nthe army; and that, so long only as both keep a good watch. Because\nthere are famished people who would willingly eat the dinner, and\nnations which would fain be as powerful as Germany. Secondly, that\nneither Prince Bismarck\u2019s dinner, nor the might of the German\nEmpire, coincide with the aims and purposes of universal life, but\nthat they are in flagrant contradiction with them. And thirdly, that\nas he who cooked the dinner, so also the might of Germany, will both\nvery soon die, and that so shall perish, and as soon, both the\ndinner and Germany. That which shall survive alone is the Universe,\nwhich will never give one thought to either dinner or Germany, least\nof all to those who have cooked them.\n\nAs the intellectual condition of man increases, he comes to the idea\nthat no happiness connected with his personality is an achievement,\nbut only a necessity. Personality is only that incipient state from\nwhich begins life, and the ultimate limit of life....\n\nWhere, then, does life begin, and where does it end, I may be asked?\nWhere ends the night, and where does day commence? Where, on the\nshore, ends the domain of the sea, and where does the domain of land\nbegin?\n\nThere is day and there is night; there is land and there is sea;\nthere is life and there is _no_ life.\n\nOur life, ever since we became conscious of it, is a pendulum-like\nmotion between two limits.\n\nOne limit is, an absolute unconcern for the life of the infinite\nUniverse an energy directed only toward the gratification of one\u2019s\nown personality.\n\nThe other limit is a complete renunciation of that personality, the\ngreatest concern with the life of the infinite Universe, in full\naccord with it, the transfer of all our desires and good will from\none\u2019s self, to that infinite Universe and all the creatures outside\nof us.[51]\n\nThe nearer to the first limit, the less life and bliss, the closer\nto the second, the more life and bliss. Therefore, man is ever\nmoving from one end to the other; _i.e._ he lives. THIS MOTION IS\nLIFE ITSELF.\n\nAnd when I speak of life, know that the idea of it is indissolubly\nconnected in my conceptions with that of _conscious_ life. No other\nlife is known to me except conscious life, nor can it be known to\nanyone else.\n\nWe call life, the life of animals, organic life. But this is no life\nat all, only a certain state or condition of life manifesting to us.\n\nBut what is this consciousness or mind, the exigencies of which\nexclude personality and transfer the energy of man outside of him\nand into that state which is conceived by us as the blissful state\nof love?\n\nWhat is conscious mind? Whatsoever we may be defining, we have to\ndefine it with our conscious mind. Therefore, with what shall we\ndefine mind?...\n\nIf we have to define all with our mind, it follows that conscious\nmind cannot be defined. Yet all of us, we not only know it, but it\nis the only thing which is given to us to know undeniably....\n\nIt is the same law as the law of life, of everything organic, animal\nor vegetable, with that one difference that we _see_ the\nconsummation of an intelligent law in the life of a plant. But the\nlaw of conscious mind, to which we are subjected as the tree, is\nsubjected to its law, we _see_ it not, but fulfil it....\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n  This is what the Theosophists call \u201cliving _the_ life\u201d\u2014in a\n  nut-shell.\u2014H. P. B.\n\n-----\n\nWe have settled that life is that which is not our life. It is\nherein that lies hidden the root of error. Instead of studying that\nlife of which we are conscious within ourselves, absolutely and\nexclusively\u2014since we can know of nothing else\u2014in order to study it,\nwe observe that which is devoid of the most important factor and\nfaculty of our life, namely, intelligent consciousness. By so doing,\nwe act as a man who attempts to study an object by its shadow or\nreflection does.\n\nIf we know that substantial particles are subjected during their\ntransformations to the activity of the organism; we know it not\nbecause we have observed or studied it, but simply because we\npossess a certain familiar organism united to us, namely the\norganism of our animal, which is but too well known to us as the\nmaterial of our life; _i.e._ that upon which we are called to work\nand to rule by subjecting it to the law of reason.... No sooner has\nman lost faith in life, no sooner has he transferred that life into\nthat which is no life, than he becomes wretched, and sees death....\nA man who conceives life such as he finds it in his consciousness,\nknows neither misery, nor death: for all the good in life for him is\nin the subjection of his animal to the law of reason, to do which is\nnot only in his power, but takes place unavoidably in him. The death\nof particles in the animal being, we know. The death of animals and\nof man, as an animal, we know; but we know nought about the death of\nconscious mind, nor can we know anything of it, _just because that\nconscious mind is the very life itself_. And _Life can never be\nDeath_....\n\nThe animal lives an existence of bliss, neither seeing nor knowing\ndeath, and dies without cognizing it. Why then should man have\nreceived the gift of seeing and knowing it, and why should death be\nso terrible to him that it actually tortures his soul, often forcing\nhim to kill himself out of sheer fear of death? Why should it be so?\nBecause the man who sees death is a sick man, one who has broken the\nlaw of his life, and lives no longer a conscious existence. He has\nbecome an animal himself, an animal which also has broken the law of\nlife.\n\nThe life of man is an aspiration to bliss, and that which he aspires\nto is given to him. The light lit in the soul of man is bliss and\nlife, and that light can never be darkness, as there exists\u2014verily\nthere exists for man\u2014only this solitary light which burns within his\nsoul.\n\n                           ------------------\n\nWe have translated this rather lengthy fragment from the Report of\nCount Tolstoi\u2019s superb lecture, because it reads like the echo of\nthe finest teachings of the universal ethics of true theosophy. His\ndefinition of life in its abstract sense, and of the life every\nearnest theosophist ought to follow, each according to, and in the\nmeasure of, his _natural_ capacities\u2014is the summary and the Alpha\nand the Omega of practical psychic, if not spiritual life. There are\nsentences in the lecture which, to the average theosophist will seem\ntoo hazy, and perhaps incomplete. Not one will he find, however,\nwhich could be objected to by the most exacting, practical\noccultist. It may be called a treatise on the Alchemy of Soul. For\nthat \u201csolitary\u201d light in man, which burns for ever, and can never be\ndarkness in its intrinsic nature, though the \u201canimal\u201d outside us may\nremains blind to it\u2014is that \u201cLight\u201d upon which the Neo Platonists of\nthe Alexandrian school, and after them the Rosecroix and especially\nthe Alchemists, have written volumes, though to the present day\ntheir true meaning is a dark mystery to most men.\n\nTrue, Count Tolstoi is neither an Alexandrian nor a modern\ntheosophist; still less is he a Rosecroix or an Alchemist. But that\nwhich the latter have concealed under the peculiar phraseology of\nthe Fire-philosophers, purposely confusing cosmic transmutations\nwith Spiritual Alchemy, all that is transferred by the great Russian\nthinker from the realm of the metaphysical unto the field of\npractical life. That which Schelling would define as a realisation\nof the identity of subject and object in the man\u2019s inner Ego, that\nwhich unites and blends the latter with the universal Soul\u2014which is\nbut the identity of subject and object on a higher plane, or the\nunknown Deity\u2014all that Count Tolstoi has blended together without\nquitting the terrestrial plane. He is one of those few _elect_ who\nbegin with intuition and end with _quasi_-omniscience. It is the\ntransmutations of the baser metals\u2014the _animal mass_\u2014into gold and\nsilver, or the philosopher\u2019s stone, the development and\nmanifestation of man\u2019s higher, SELF which the Count has achieved.\nThe _alcahest_ of the inferior Alchemist is the _All-geist_, the\nall-pervading Divine Spirit of the higher Initiate; for Alchemy was,\nand is, as very few know to this day, as much a spiritual philosophy\nas it is a physical science. He who knows nought of one, will never\nknow much of the other. Aristotle told it in so many words to his\npupil, Alexander: \u201cIt is not a stone,\u201d he said, of the philosopher\u2019s\nstone. \u201c_It is in every man and in every place_, and at all seasons,\nand is called the _end_ of all philosophers,\u201d as the _Vedanta_ is\n_the end_ of all philosophies.\n\nTo wind up this essay _on the Science of Life_, a few words may be\nsaid of the eternal riddle propounded to mortals by the Sphinx. To\nfail to solve the problem contained in it, was to be doomed to sure\ndeath, as the Sphinx of life devoured the unintuitional, who would\nlive only in their \u201canimal.\u201d He who lives for Self, and only for\n_Self_, will surely die, as the higher \u201cI\u201d tells the lower \u201canimal\u201d\nin the Lecture. The riddle has seven keys to it, and the Count opens\nthe mystery with one of the highest. For, as the author on \u201cHermetic\nPhilosophy\u201d beautifully expressed it: \u201cThe real mystery most\nfamiliar and, at the same time, most unfamiliar to every man, _into\nwhich he must be initiated or perish as an atheist, is himself_. For\nhim is the elixir of life, to quaff which, before the discovery of\nthe philosopher\u2019s stone, is to drink the beverage of death, while it\nconfers on the adept and the _epopt_, the true immortality. He may\nknow truth as it really is\u2014_Aletheia_, the breath of God, or Life,\nthe conscious mind in man.\u201d\n\nThis is \u201cthe Alcahest which dissolves all things,\u201d and Count Tolstoi\nhas well understood the riddle.\n\n                                                            H. P. B.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                           SIN AGAINST LIFE.\n\nA newspaper paragraph lately declared that a certain American lady\nof great wealth, residing in London, had conceived the strange\ndesire to possess a cloak made of the soft warm down on the breasts\nof birds of Paradise. Five hundred breasts, it was said, were\nrequired for this purpose, and two skilful marksmen, the story went\non to aver, had been sent to New Guinea to shoot the poor little\nvictims whose wholesale slaughter must be accomplished to gratify\nthis savage whim. We rejoice to observe that the whole statement has\nbeen flatly contradicted by the _World_, apparently on the best\npossible authority; but, however little the lady concerned may\ndeserve the reproach which the authors of the calumny endeavoured to\nevoke against her, the feeling it may have excited is worth analysis\nin a world where, if bird of Paradise cloaks are rare, most women\nwho dress luxuriously adorn themselves in one way or another at the\nexpense of the feathered kingdom. The principle involved in a bonnet\nwhich is decorated with the plumage of a single bird, slaughtered\nfor its sake, is the same as that which would be more grotesquely\nmanifest in a garment that would require the slaughter of five\nhundred. Too many rich people in this greedy age forget that the\ngrandest privilege of those who possess the means is that they have\nthe power of alleviating suffering. Too many, again, forget that the\nsympathies of those who rule the animate world should extend beyond\nthe limits of their own kind; and thus we have the painful spectacle\nof human \u201csport\u201d associated in civilised countries still, with\npursuits which should no longer afford pleasure to men who have\nemerged from the primitive life of hunters and fishers. But how is\nit possible, let us consider, to stoop lowest from the proud estate\nof humanity in search of ignoble gratification? It is bad to kill\nany sentient creature for the sake of the savage pleasures of the\nchase. It is bad, perhaps worse, to cause their destruction for the\nsake of coldly profiting by their slaughter, and it is bad to\nsquander money in this hard world of want and wide-spread privation\non costly personal indulgence. But the acme of all that is\nreprehensible in these various departments of ill-doing is surely\nreached when women\u2014who should, by virtue of their sex, be helping to\nsoften the ferocities of life\u2014contrive to collect the cream of evil\nfrom each of these varieties, and to sin against a whole catalogue\nof human duties by cruel acquiescence in an unworthy fashion.\n\n                              BROTHERHOOD.\n\nThe Theosophical Society has always placed in the forefront of its\nprogramme, as its first and most important object, the formation of\nthe nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood, without distinction of race,\ncreed, caste or sex. It would doubtless be incorrect to say that\nthis object of the Society has been entirely overlooked in the West,\nbut it is to be feared that not a few members of the Society have\naccepted it as an amiable formula, to which no objection could be\nraised, and have turned their attention almost exclusively to the\ntwo remaining objects. And yet, without some attempt to understand\nthe true meaning of this Universal Brotherhood, it is idle to expect\nthat any great services can be rendered to the cause of Theosophy.\nIt may be useful to see whether any explanation can be given of the\nreason for the neglect of this first object, and whether such light\nmay be thrown on its meaning, as may render the idea a living\nreality to many who now but faintly grasp its significance.\n\nIn the first place it may be said, that in many enlightened Western\nminds, there was already a familiarity with the idea thus\nenunciated. Christianity has always taught the \u201ctheoretical\u201d\nequality in the sight of God, of all true believers, and politically\nthe dogma of \u201cequal rights\u201d is practically beyond the reach of\nattack. The abolition of slavery, the extension of representative\ngovernment, the spread of education, and perhaps also, in some\ndegree, the influence of the scientific as opposed to the religious\ntheories of the origin and destiny of man, have all combined to\nrender this idea by no means difficult of apprehension, at least\nintellectually. Further its acceptance in this sense has not\nnecessarily entailed any different view of the duties and\nresponsibilities of life. In the East it cannot be said that this is\nthe case. In India, the stringency of caste regulations causes class\ndistinctions to assume a very definite form, while religious\nhatreds, if not more bitter than with us, enter more directly into\nthe life of the people, and interpose stronger barriers between man\nand man than in Europe or America. Hence an Indian theosophist must,\nbefore he can accept the first object, even in its outward form,\nmodify to some extent his intellectual conception of the relations\nin which he stands to the rest of mankind, and he will in his life\ngive practical proof of the change. In his case the acceptance of\nthe outward form can only follow on the appreciation of the inner\nmeaning; that which results is that his theosophy is firmly founded\non the principle of the Universal Brotherhood.\n\nOn the other hand, in the West, a familiarity with the external side\nseems, in many cases, to have prevented any attempt to go below the\nsurface, and to have caused men to be satisfied with vague\nphilanthropic sentimentality, effecting nothing, and leading\nnowhere.\n\nWhat then is this Universal Brotherhood, which is the main spring of\nTheosophy? and what are its results?\n\n_Socialism_ as preached in this 19th century it certainly is not.\nIndeed, there would be little difficulty in shewing that modern\nmaterialistic Socialism is directly at variance with all the\nteachings of theosophy. Socialism advocates a direct interference\nwith the results of the law of _Karma_, and would attempt to alter\nthe d\u00e9nouement of the parable of the talents, by giving to the man\nwho hid his talent in a napkin, a portion of the ten talents\nacquired by the labour of his more industrious fellow.\n\nNeither is it true that in practical benevolence is the whole idea\nof universal brotherhood exemplified, though doubtless that\nunselfish and unceasing work for the good of mankind, which is true\nphilanthropy must of necessity be one result of it. The\nphilanthropist may be, and no doubt often is, a true theosophist in\nall but name, though there is still much of what may be called\nunintelligent benevolence, the result of a mere emotional impulse;\nand again there is much that is the result of very decided and very\nnarrow sectarian views, to which it would be absolutely impossible\nto apply the epithet universal. The devotion and self-sacrifice\nshown in many individual instances by Christian missionaries of\nvarious denominations, may be taken as fairly exemplifying\nphilanthropy both of the unintelligent and the narrow type. They are\nprepared to make any sacrifice for what they believe to be the\nultimate good of humanity, and in that sense are practising what\nsome others only preach, namely true unselfishness, but they are\noften hampered by an intellectual inability to view both sides of\nthe question, and fail thereby to acquire that understanding of, and\nsympathy with the difficulties and the wants of those whom they are\nendeavouring to aid, which are necessary preliminaries to any work\nof lasting usefulness. In a word, they too often fail to realise\nthat unity in mankind which truly underlies all individualism. But\nhaving said so much, it must be added that an understanding of the\nreal meaning of \u201cBrotherhood\u201d must entail active benevolence, that\nis to say work for others in some form or other, upon every one who\ndoes not wilfully thrust aside the obligation.\n\nWhere then are we to look for the explanation, and how are we to\nunderstand the spirit which must animate all true theosophists, if\nthey are to realise and follow out the first rule of the Society?\nNot surely on the physical plane. Not by an attempt to force on the\nintellect as a fact to be accepted, or more truly a pill to be\nswallowed, a belief in similarities, equalities or identities, which\nhave no existence. Only a realisation of what truly constitutes man\ncan help us to form a conception of what brotherhood means.\n\nMan is a complex organism as he exists on our earth to-day. He is\npartly transitory, partly eternal; in one sense the creature of\ncircumstances, in another the creator of his own environment. But\nthe true man, the underlying individuality is a reflection of the\nDivine. We are able to discern physical beauty, even when clad in\nrags. Is it impossible that we should also recognise the beauty of\nthe soul, though it be for a time veiled beneath a gross material\nbody? The physical body is indeed nothing but the garment of the\nego, the true man; that momentarily suited to his needs and his\ndeserts, the livery of his servitude, which must be worn, in ever\nchanging forms, till the moment of his final emancipation. It is\nthen beyond the physical, beyond the intellectual man, that we must\nlook for that fraternity, arising out of unity and equality, which\ncannot be found on the purely material plane of existence. The\ndivine soul of man, in which is posited his true individuality, is\nthe real man, the immortal ego, which, through the accumulated\nexperience of many earth lives is marching onward through the ages\nto its goal, reunion with the Infinite. What matters then the\noutward semblance, which our senses know as man? Our \u00e6sthetic\nperception may shrink from the rags, the dirt, the ugliness which\nbelong to the physical environment. Our moral nature may revolt at\nassociation with vice, with low selfish courses of life, but within\nand behind all this we must endeavour to realise the continual\npresence of the immortal ego, one with us, as with all humanity, as\nsharing the divine nature, and ever struggling, as we are\nstruggling, on the upward path that leads to the realisation of the\nAbsolute. As Carlyle says in Sartor Resartus. \u201cMystical, more than\nmagical, is that communing of Soul with Soul, both looking\nheavenward; here properly Soul first speaks with Soul; for only in\nlooking heavenward, take it in what sense you may, not in looking\nearthward does what we can call Union, Mutual Love, Society, begin\nto be possible.\u201d\n\nIt may be objected that in some cases it is impossible to recognise\neven the glimmerings of those higher aspirations, which are the\ntokens of the presence of the soul, the immortal ego. Such cases,\nhowever, must be comparatively rare. Still there are beings\u2014it is\nalmost impossible to call them human\u2014who have so persistently\nconcentrated all their efforts on the gratification of their lower\nconsciousness, as to sever the frail link which binds them to their\nhigher selves. Then the true man is no longer present in the human\nform, and brotherhood becomes an impossibility. But we may in truth\nalmost ignore the existence of this type of mankind, for even when\nan intellectual materialism seems to be the sole ruling principle,\nwe dare not deny the presence of that capacity for higher things\nwhich must exist in all who can still truly be called men.\n\nSurely then it is in this view of our relations to our fellow men,\nthat we shall find that guiding influence which may enable us to\nrise above the sordid considerations of our ordinary earthly\nexistence. It is no sectarian belief that is here advanced; it is\nthe essence of the teaching of Jesus, as it was of Gautama; nor is\nit a mere formula, to be accepted as an article of faith, and then\nlaid on the shelf. Once understood, it must influence all who have\nsufficient strength of purpose to fight their own lower selfish\npersonalities, and must lead them to the practical realisation of\ntheir aspirations towards true unselfishness and active benevolence.\n\nBut there lurks a danger even in the use of the word unselfishness.\nIt has been the text of sermons from every pulpit in Christendom for\ncenturies, and with what small results? No doubt the duty nearest at\nhand must not be neglected, and it is the duty of every one to do\nwhat he can to render those about him happier. But many stop there\nand consider that all their work consists in the practice of\nself-abnegation in their own small circle. Does not the broader view\nof human life here set forth suggest a new sphere of usefulness, and\ntherefore of duty? It is for every man to determine what he can do\nfor the good of humanity; all are not equally gifted, but all can do\nsomething. Some theosophists appear to be satisfied with\nintellectual study, or the development of their own spiritual\nnature, and neither of these two courses is to be neglected; but\nsomething more must be done. \u201cIt is more blessed to give than to\nreceive,\u201d and the acquirement of knowledge brings with it the\nobligation of spreading it. This is work from which none need\nshrink, and all who truly desire to work for Theosophy, which is in\nthe highest sense \u201cthe religion of humanity,\u201d will find the work\nready to their hand, and be able to assist in bringing the Light \u201cto\nthem that sit in darkness.\u201d\n\n                                                            T. B. H.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                  PYTHAGORIC SENTENCES OF DEMOPHILUS.\n\nEsteem that to be eminently good, which, when communicated to\nanother, will be increased to yourself.\n\nBe persuaded that those things are not your riches which you do not\npossess in the penetralia of the reasoning power.\n\nAs many passions of the soul, so many fierce and savage despots.\n\nNo one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself.\n\n                         BLOOD-COVENANTING.[52]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n  \u201cThe Blood-Covenant, a Primitive Rite, and its bearings on\n  Scripture.\u201d By H. Clay Trumbull, D.D. London: Redway.\n\n-----\n\n\nParticular attention has been recently directed to this subject of\n_Blood-Covenant_ by the experiences of explorers in Africa, who\nappear to have discovered in that Dark Land some of the primitive\nfacts the gory ghost of which has long haunted our European mind in\nthe Eschatological phase.\n\nStanley, an especial sufferer from the practice, denounces the\nblood-brotherhood as a _beastly cannibalistic ceremony_. \u201cFor the\nfiftieth time my poor arm was scarified and my blood shed for the\ncause of civilization.\u201d As the writer of this book observes: \u201cThe\nblood of a fair proportion of all the first families of equatorial\nAfrica now courses in Stanley\u2019s veins; and if ever there was an\nAmerican citizen who could pre-eminently appropriate to himself the\nnational motto \u2018_E pluribus unum_,\u2019 Stanley is the man.\u201d\n\nIn his book, Dr. Trumbull has collected a mass of data from a wide\nrange of sources to illustrate what he terms the \u201c_Primitive rite of\ncovenanting by the inter-transfusion of blood_.\u201d\n\nDr. Trumbull is anxious to make the efficacy of the rite depend upon\nthe recognition of a vivifying virtue in the blood itself, as the\nessence of life. But such recognition appears to have been remote\nenough from the Primitive thought. The Aborigines were not Jews or\nChristians. They gave of their life without always thinking of the\nexact equivalent or superior value received. They gave it as the\nwitness to the troth they plighted and the covenant which they\nintended to keep. His theory of interpretation is that there was a\ndominating and universal conviction that the \u201cblood is the life;\nthat blood-transfer is soul-transfer, and that blood-sharing, human\nor _divine_-human, secures an inter-union of natures; and that a\nunion of the human nature with the divine is the highest ultimate\nattainment reached out after by the most primitive, as well as the\nmost enlightened, mind of humanity.\u201d\n\nHis collection of facts may serve a most useful purpose as\neye-openers to other people (and for other facts to follow), just as\nthey appear to have been to himself. The book is interesting, if not\nprofound; and nothing that follows in this article is intended to\ndecry it, or to prevent the readers of LUCIFER from looking into it\nif they do not feel too great a \u201cscunner\u201d at sight of the\ngilded-gory illustration on the cover. But the work is written by\none who talks to us out of a window of Noah\u2019s Ark, and who still\nseems to think the Hebrew Bible is the rim of the universe. We value\nand recommend the book solely for its facts, not for its theories,\nnor for its bibliolatry.\n\nIn all studies of this kind which make use of the word \u201cPrimitive,\u201d\nit is the fundamental facts that we first need; and next a\nfirst-hand acquaintanceship with all the facts, so that we may do\nour own thinking for ourselves and strike our light within by which\nwe can read the facts without, as the primary and essential\nprocedure in the endeavour to attain the truth.\n\nAlso the facts may be genuine and honestly presented, yet the\ninterpretation may be according to an inadequate or a \u201cbogus\u201d\ntheory. The truth is that no bibliolator can be trusted to interpret\nthe past of our race now being unveiled by evolution. He is born and\nbegotten with the blinkers on. His mode of interpretation is to get\nbehind us, to lay the hands upon our eyes in front, and ask us to\nlisten whilst he gives us his views of the past! But the\nnon-evolutionist cannot interpret the past from lack of a true\nstandpoint with regard to the beginnings or rather the processes of\nbecoming. He can begin anywhere and at any time short of the\nstarting-point. There is nothing for it but to break away, and turn\nround to see for ourselves whether the traditionary vision of the\nBlinkerists be true or false. The facts alone are the final\ndeterminatives of the Truth. But we must have the whole of them and\nnot a few, whether judiciously or Jesuitically selected to support a\nChristian theory. Whereas, the object and aim of this work, the bias\nof the writer, and the trend of his arguments, are all on the line\nof showing or suggesting that the blood-covenant was the result of\nsome innate instinct or divine revelation which prefigured and\nforeshadowed, and may be taken to indicate and authorize, the\nChristian scheme of atonement, and the remission of sin by the\nshedding of innocent blood. The writer asserts that this primitive\nsymbolism was \u201c_made a reality in Jesus Christ_\u201d in whom \u201c_God was\nto give of his blood in the blood of his Son for the revivifying of\nthe sons of Abraham in the Blood of the Eternal Covenant_.\u201d But it\ncan be demonstrated that the covenant by blood did not commence\nwhere Dr. Trumbull begins\u2014with a religious yearning God-ward for the\nestablishing of a brotherhood between the human nature and the\nDivine. The root-idea was not that of an \u201cinter-union of the\nspiritual natures by the inter-commingling of blood for the sake of\nan inter-communion with deity.\u201d That, at least, was by no means the\n\u201c_primitive_ rite,\u201d which the blood-covenant is here called. The\nmany forms of the blood-covenant can only be unified at the root,\n_i.e._, in the beginning, not at the end. They are not to be\nunderstood apart from the primitive language of signs, as in Tattoo,\nthe very primitive biology of the early observers, and the most\nprimitive sociology of the Totemic times.\n\nTime was, and may be still, when the blood-covenant would often\nserve as the one protection against being killed and eaten. Even the\ncannibals will not partake of their own Totemic brothers. Also the\ncovenant was extended to certain animals which were made of kin and\nheld to be sacred as brothers of the blood.\n\nThe Blood-covenant takes many forms besides that of the\nblood-brotherhood, which are not to be explained by this writer\u2019s\ntheory of exchange.\n\nWhen the blood of an African woman accidentally spurted into the eye\nof Dr. Livingstone, she claimed him for her blood relation, without\nthere being any exchange of blood for blood.\n\nDr. Trumbull claims the Egyptians as witnesses to the truth of his\ninterpretation. But so far from their highest conception of \u201ca union\nwith the Divine nature\u201d being an inter-flowing and interfusion of\nblood, the soul of blood was the very lowest, that is the first, in\na series of seven souls!\n\nTheir highest type of the soul was the sun that vivified for ever\ncalled Atmu, the Father Soul.[53] The bases of natural fact which\nlie at the foundation of the Blood-covenant, preceded any and all\nsuch ideas as those postulated by the writer as being extant from\nthe first, such as \u201ca longing for oneness of life with God;\u201d an\n\u201cout-reaching after inter-union and inter-communion with God.\u201d There\nwas no conception of a one God extant in the category of human\nconsciousness when the rites of a blood-covenant were first founded.\nThere could be no atonement where there was no sense of sin or a\nbreaking of the law. All through, the writer is apt to confuse the\npast with the present, and eager to read the present into the\npast.[54]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n  The Theosophists are reminded that the \u201cseven souls\u201d are what we\n  call the \u201cseven principles\u201d in man. \u201cBlood\u201d is the _principle_ of\n  the Body, the lowest in our septenary, as the highest is \u201cAtma,\u201d\n  which may well be symbolized by the Sun; Atma being the light and\n  life in man, as the physical sun is the light and life of our\n  solar system.\u2014ED.\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n  The arcane doctrine teaches that the \u201cblood\u201d rites are as old as\n  the Third-Root race, being established in their final form by the\n  Fourth Parent race in commemoration of the separation of\n  androgynous mankind, their forefathers, into males and females.\n  Mr. G. Massey is a strict scholar, who holds only to that which is\n  made evident to him, and ignores the Occultistic division of\n  mankind into Races, and the fact that we are in our Fifth-Root\n  race, and would, of course, refuse to carry mankind back into\n  _pre_-Tertiary times. Yet his researches and the fruit of his\n  life-labour, corroborate, by their numberless new facts revealed\n  by him, most wonderfully, the teachings of the \u201cSecret Doctrines.\u201d\n  (ED.)\n\n-----\n\nThe real roots of matters like these are to be found only in certain\nfacts of nature which were self-revealing, and not in the sphere of\nconcepts and causation! And it is only when we can reach the natural\ngenesis of primitive customs and fetishtic beliefs, and trace their\nlines of descent, that we can understand and interpret their meaning\nin the latest symbolical and superstitious phase of religious rites.\nNothing can be more fatally false than to interpret the physics of\nthe past by means of modern metaphysic, with the view of proving\nthat certain extant doctrines of delusion are the lineal descendants\nof an original Divine revelation, which has been bound up in two\nTestaments for the favoured few.\n\nThe blood-covenant is undoubtedly a primitive rite; but the author\nof this work does not penetrate to its most primitive or significant\nphases. These are not to be read by the light of Hebrew revelation,\nbut by the light of nature if at all. Many primitive customs and\nrites survived amongst the Semites, but they themselves were not\namongst the aboriginal races of the world. We have to get far beyond\ntheir stage to understand the meaning of the myths, legends, rites,\nand customs, that were preserved by them as sacred survivals from\nthe remoter past. The symbolical and superstitious phases of custom\ncannot be directly explained on the spot where we may first meet\nwith them in going back. In becoming symbolical they had already\npassed out of their primary phase, and only indirectly represent the\nnatural genesis of the truly primitive rite. I have spent the best\npart of my life in tracking these rites and customs to their natural\norigin, and in expounding the typology and symbols by which the\nearliest meaning was expressed.\n\nWhat then was the root-origin of a blood-covenant? The primary\nperceptions of primitive or archaic men included the observation\nthat they came from the mother, and first found themselves at her\nbreast.\n\nNext they saw that the child was fleshed by the mother, and formed\nfrom her blood, the flow of which was arrested to be solidified, and\ntake form in their own persons. Thus the red amulet which was worn\nby the Egyptian dead, was representative of the blood of Isis, who\ncame from herself, and made her own child without the fatherhood,\nwhen men could only derive their blood and descent from the mother.\nThis amulet was put on by her, says Plutarch, when she found herself\n_enceinte_ with Horus, her child, who was derived from the mother\nalone, or was traced solely to the blood of Isis. Primitive men\ncould perceive that the children of one mother were of the same\nblood. This, the first form of a blood-brotherhood, was the first to\nbe recognised as the natural fact. Uterine brothers were\nblood-brothers. The next stage of the brotherhood was Totemic; and\nthe mode of extending the brotherhood to the children of several\nmothers implies, as it necessitated, some form of symbolic rite\nwhich represented them as brothers, or as typically becoming of the\none blood. Here we can track the very first step in sociology which\nwas made when the typical blood-brotherhood of the Totem was formed\nin imitation of the natural brotherhood of the mother-blood. The\nmodes and forms of the Covenant can be identified by the Totemic\nmysteries, some of which yet survive in the crudest condition. The\nbrotherhood was entered at the time of puberty; that is, at the time\nof re-birth, when the boy was re-born as a man, and the child of the\nmother attained the soul of the fatherhood, and was permitted to\njoin the ranks of the begetters. The mystery is one with that of\nHorus, child of the mother alone, who comes to receive the soul of\nthe father in _Tattu_, the region of establishing the son as the\nfather, which is still extant in the mysteries, and the symbolism of\n_Tattoo_.\n\nThis re-birth was enacted in various ways by typically re-entering\nthe womb. One of these was by burial in the earth, the tomb or place\nof re-birth being the image of the maternal birth-place all the\nworld over. Thus when the Norsemen or other races prepared a hole\nunder the turf, and buried their cut and bleeding arms to let the\nblood flow, and commingle in one as the token of a covenant, they\nwere returning typically to the condition of uterine twins, and the\nact of burial for the purpose of a re-birth was a symbolical mode of\nestablishing the social brotherhood upon the original grounds of the\nnatural brotherhood of blood. Thus the blood-covenant did not\noriginate in the set transfusion or inter-fusion of blood. In the\nTotemic mysteries the pubescent lad was admitted by the shedding of\nhis blood, with or without any interchange. The blood itself was the\nsymbol of brotherhood, and the shedding of it was the seal of a\ncovenant.\n\nNor was this merely because flesh was formed of blood, or the first\nmen were made of the mystical red soil, as with the _aarea_ of the\nTahitians, or the red earth of the Adamic man. Most of these\nprimitive rites, the Blood-Covenant included, had their\nstarting-point from the period of puberty. It was at this time the\nlads who were not brothers uterine were made brothers of the Totem\nat what was termed the festival of young-man-making. The proper\nperiod for circumcision, or cutting and sealing, as still practised\nby the oldest aborigines, is the time of puberty, the natural coming\nof age. It is then they enter the Totemic Brotherhood. Now in\nEgyptian, the word _khet_ or _khut_ = cut, means to cut and to seal.\n_Khetem_ is to enclose, bind, seal, and is applied to sealing. The\nsame root passes into Assyrian and Hebrew as _Khatan_, _Katam_ or\n_Chatan_, with the same meaning. In Arabic, _Khatana_ is to\ncircumcise. Cutting and sealing are identical as the mode of\nentering into a Blood-Covenant. Circumcision was _one_ form of the\nsealing, but there were various kinds of cuts employed, and\ndifferent parts of the body were scarified and tattooed. In the\nprimary phase, then, the blood-brotherhood was established by the\nshedding of blood; the register was written in blood, and instead of\nthe covenant being witnessed by the seal of red wax, it was stamped\nin blood.\n\nThe reason for phallic localization is to be sought in the fact that\nthe young men not only entered the Brotherhood by the baptism of\nblood, they were also received into the higher ranks of the fathers,\nand sworn in to live an orderly, legal and cleanly life, henceforth,\nas the pro-creators and loyal preservers of the race.\n\nBut this was not the only clue directly derived from nature. There\nis another reason why blood should have become the sacred sign of a\ncovenant. Amongst many primitive races blood, or the colour red, is\nthe symbol of _Tapu_, the sign of sanctity. The bones of the dead\nwere covered with red ochre as a means of protection by the most\nwidely scattered races in the world. The stamp of a red hand on the\nbuilding, or a crimson daub upon the gravestone will render them\nsacred. The Kaffirs will wash their bodies with blood as a\nprotection against being wounded in battle. The colour of\nrobin-redbreast still renders him _tapu_ or sacred to English\nchildren.\n\nBlood having become a sign of that which is true and sacred, on\naccount of the Covenant, it is then made the symbol of all that is\nsacred. It can be used for the purpose of anointing the living or\nthe dead, can be the seal of the marriage or other ceremonies and\nrites of covenanting. It is the prim\u00e6val token of _tapu_.\n\nAs I have elsewhere shown, blood was sworn by as the type of that\nwhich was true, the primary one of the typical Two Truths of Egypt.\nIt was so in all the mysteries, and is so to-day, including the\nmysteries of Masonry. I have suggested the derivation of the masonic\nname from the Egyptian _Sen_ = son, for blood and brotherhood. The\nworking Mason in Egyptian is the _makh_ (_makht_) by name. _Makh_\nmeans to work, inlay by rule and measure. We see that _makh_\nmodifies into _m\u00e2_ for measure, and for that which is just and true.\n\n_M\u00e2-sen_ = Mason, would denote the true brotherhood; and as _sen_ is\nalso blood, the true brotherhood as the blood-brotherhood would be\nthe masons in the mystical or occult sense. Red is the colour of\n_M\u00e2_ or Truth personified, and _sen_ is blood. Blood is sworn by\nbecause it is the colour of truth, or the true colour. Now in old\nEnglish the word _seng_ means both \u201cblood\u201d and \u201ctrue.\u201d Here, then,\nwe find the origin of the oath, which constitutes the supreme\nexpression in the vocabulary of our English roughs, when they use\nthe oath of the blood-covenant, and swear by the word \u201cbloody!\u201d When\nthey wax emphatic, everything they say becomes \u201cbloody true.\u201d This\nis the exact equivalent of \u201cseng it is\u201d for \u201cit is true.\u201d According\nto the primitive mysteries, this mode of swearing, or establishing\nthe covenant, was sacred whilst kept piously secret, and it becomes\nimpious when made public or profane. Such mysteries were very simply\nnatural at first, and it was this primitive simplicity and nearness\nto nature which demanded the veil to protect them from the gaze of\nthe later consciousness. Time was when the English felon would carry\na red handkerchief with him to the scaffold, and hold it in his hand\nas a signal that he had betrayed no secrets, but died \u201cbloody true,\u201d\nor true blood.\n\nThese customs were symbolical, but there is a hint of the\nblood-covenant beyond them\u2014a hint received direct from Nature\nherself\u2014call it revelation if you please. In the first rude ethics\nwe find that the time for the sexes to come together was recognised\nby the intimation of nature, made in her own sign-language at the\nperiod of feminine pubescence. Nature gave the hint, and a covenant\nwas established. Henceforth, the child that could not enter that\ncovenant would be protected from brutal assault, and was allowed, or\nrather compelled, to run about unclothed in token of her exemption.\nIt is here in the swearing-in and covenanting of the sexes at the\ntime of pubescence that we discover another real and most secret,\n_i.e._, sacred root of the rite.\n\nThe self-revelation made by nature to primitive man was very\nprimitive in its kind. She not only demonstrated that the blood was\nthe life, or that the life passed away with the letting out of the\nblood, but in another domain, which our author has not entered, she\nshowed that blood was, and how it was, the future life. Blood was\nthe primary witness to the future life which the child received from\nthe mother. It was the token of the time when the female could\nbecome the bearer of that future life which took flesh and form in\nher blood.\n\nThe blood-covenanting of the primitive races is still a part of the\nmost elaborate system of making presents, which are the express\nwitnesses of proffered troth and intended fealty. The most precious\nor sacred things are parted from in proof. The best is given on\neither side. And in the offering of blood, they were giving their\nvery life, that in which the best attains supremacy. But these\nprimitive rites can never be truly read except by those who are\ndeeply grounded in the fact, and well acquainted with the evidence,\nthat sign-language was primordial, that gestures preceded verbal\nspeech, and acting was an earlier mode of representing than talking.\nPrimitive men could only _do_ that which we can _say_. In Egyptian\nthat which is _said_ is _done_. And in these primitive customs and\nreligious rites we see the early races of men performing in\npantomime the early drama of dumb or inarticulate humanity. And it\nseems as if this primitive language could produce an impression and\nreach a reality that are unapproachable by means of words. The\nsignificance of the teaching went all the deeper when it was incised\nin the flesh and branded into the blood. For example, what a\nterrific glimpse of reality is revealed by the fact that the\nMalagasy make their sign of a blood-covenant by an incision in the\nskin that covers the bosom, and this opening with its utterance of\nblood is called _ambavfo_, the \u201cmouth of the heart.\u201d Thus the\ncovenant is made in the blood, which is the very life, uttering\nitself with the mouth of the heart. In Egyptian the covenant, the\noath, and the life, have the same name of _Ankhu_; and the greatest\noath was to swear by the life or the blood of the Pharaoh. The\nprimitive mode was to slash the flesh and let the hot blood spout\nand speak for itself with the \u201cmouth of the heart,\u201d the utterance of\nthe living letter and red seal of the wound, as true witness.\n\nNo verbal covenant or written record of the modern races has ever\nhad the full force and effect of these modes of covenanting amongst\nthe primitive people of the past. The moderns do not keep their word\nwith anything like the inviolable sanctity of the aborigines; when\nonce they are sworn to fealty, the covenant is almost never broken.\nFew things in poetry are more pathetic than the story related of\nTolo, a chief of the Shastika Indians on the Pacific Coast. In the\nyear 1852 he entered into a tribal treaty with Colonel McKee and was\ndesirous of making a covenant for life in some way that could not\npossibly be violated. Instead of exchanging blood he proposed a\ntransfer of their own two personal names. Henceforth he was to be\nknown as McKee, and the Colonel as Tolo. But the treaty was\ndiscarded, the covenant was not kept by the American Government. In\nreply, the Indian cast off the title of McKee and refused to resume\nhis own tarnished and degraded name of Tolo! He considered that his\nvery identity was lost by this mode of losing his good name! I doubt\nwhether 1,800 years of Christianity have evolved in the later races\nof men a consciousness of truth, probity, and loyalty, so quick and\nprofound as that!\n\nThe writer of this book remains stone-blind to its own teachings\nwith regard to the doctrine of survivals, and of the past persisting\nas a pattern for the present.\n\nTo quote his own words, he rejoices in the \u201c_blessed benefits of the\ncovenant of blood_,\u201d and is still a fervent supporter of the great\ndelusion inculcated by the gospel of ruddy gore.\n\nThe doctrine is fundamentally the same whether the Greek murderer\nwas cleansed from his guilt by the filthy purification of pig\u2019s\nblood or the modern sinner is supposed to be washed white in the\nBlood of the Lamb.\n\nAs I had already written in my \u201cNatural Genesis,\u201d \u201cthe religious\nritual of the moderns is crowded like a kitchen-midden with the\nrefuse relics of customs that were natural once, and are now clung\nto as if they were supernatural in their efficacy because their\norigin has been unknown. Indeed, the current masquerade in these\nappurtenances of the past is as sorry a sight to the archaic student\nas are the straw crowns and faded finery of the kings and queens\nwhose domain is limited to the lunatic asylum.\u201d Dr. Trumbull\nendorses the doctrine that \u201c_Mortals gave the blood of their\nfirst-born sons in sacrifice to the Supreme Being, then the Supreme\nBeing gave the blood of his first-born male in sacrifice_\u201d for men;\nand there you have the covenant of blood in its final form!\n\nIt is true that first-born children were offered in sacrifice just\nas the first take of fish was returned to the waters with a lively\nsense of future favours from the Typhonian power thus propitiated,\nbut where is the sense of talking about the thought of an\nintercommunion with the divine nature through a blood-union with God\nas a concept in the mind of primitive man? It is true the recognized\nnature-powers, or devils of physical force, were invoked with blood,\nbut what was the status of these powers when the beasts of blood\nwere their representatives on earth, and the blood, which is the\nlife, was given to the Serpent, for instance, as the likeness of\nlife itself because it sloughed its own skin and manifested the\nenviable power of self-renewal? The profounder and more fundamental\nour researches, the more clearly does it become apparent that we\nhave been victimised by the unsuspected survival of the past in the\npresent, and that the veriest leavings of primitive man have been\npalmed off upon us by the ignorant as sacred mysteries and\nrevelations guaranteed to be original and divine. Continually we\nfind that our errors of belief are based upon very simple truths\nthat have been misunderstood through a misinterpretation of\nprimitive matters and modes of representation by means of modern\nignorance. The blood-covenant of the aboriginal races has\nundoubtedly survived and culminated as Christian in the frightful\nformula, \u201cWithout blood there is no remission of sin.\u201d Not merely\nthe blood of beasts or human creatures this time, but the ruddy life\nand ichor of a supposed Divine Being, who was made flesh on purpose\nto pour out the blood for Almighty vengeance to lap in the person of\na gory ghost of God. One of the seven primal powers in Egypt was\nrepresented by the hawk, because it drank blood. One of the Seven in\nAkkad was the vampire. And this type of blood-drinking has been\ndivinised at last as the Christian God.\n\nPindar says: \u201cIt is impossible for me to call one of the blessed\ngods a cannibal.\u201d But the Christian scheme makes the Only God a\ncannibal, who offers the flesh and blood of his own Son and Very\nSelf as sacrificial food made sacred for his followers. Such a god\nis, in two senses, _chimerical_. How natural an accompaniment is the\npicture of the Crucified Christ to the Zuni saying, \u201cMy Father, this\nday shalt thou refresh thyself with blood!\u201d Such a doctrine is but\nan awful shadow of the primitive past\u2014the shadow, so to say, of our\nold earth in the very far-off past\u2014that remains to eclipse the light\nof Heaven to-day, and darken the souls of men in the present through\nthe survival of savage spiritualism in its final Christian phase,\nwhere the extant doctrines are little more than an ignorant\nperversion of the most primitive knowledge.\n\nIt is in this final and not in the primitive phase that we shall\nidentify the irrationality, the impiety, the disgusting grossness of\nMythology under the surface of theological varnish and veneer. The\nonly senselessness is in the survival of Myths without their sense.\n\nLastly, it is observable that in the genuine rite the\ncovenant-makers always bled _directly_ and suffered each for\nthemselves. Later on we find that other victims were substituted by\npurchase, by fraud, or by force; hence the blood-covenant by proxy.\nNow the Christian scheme is that which culminated in the\nblood-covenant and atonement by proxy. \u201c_His offspring for his life\nhe gave_,\u201d is said of an Akkadian ruler who sacrificed his own son\nas an expiatory offering to save himself from the consequences of\nhis own sin. And this doctrine of the despicable, this type of the\nfatherhood, is elevated to the status of divinity by Dr. Trumbull.\nTo quote his own words, the inspired author of the narrative found\nin the Hebrew Genesis shows \u201cAbel lovingly and trustfully reaching\nout toward God with _substitute_ blood!\u201d\n\nAnd there began for the Historic Christians that vast perversion of\na primitive custom which culminated at last in the Christian\ndoctrine of vicarious sacrifice, based upon the mythology of the Old\nTestament being literalized in the New. Now we have the ludicrous\nspectacle of salvation by means of a rite which has lost all the\nmanhood, all the morality, all the meaning, that was put into it by\nthe despised races of uncivilized men.\n\nThe eucharistic rite is incredibly primitive when really understood.\nThe bread and wine of the Christian sacrament still represent the\nmale spirit and the female source of life. The \u201cBlood of Jesus,\u201d\nwhich was to be \u201cdrink indeed,\u201d is identical with the \u201cBlood of\nBacchus,\u201d which preceded historic Christianity, and has been\nsubstituted for the human or animal blood of the earlier mysteries.\nImbibing the blood of the Christ did not originate in any historic\nor personal transaction. Also the blood of Christ, or Mithras, or\nHorus, employed in drinking the covenant, was preceded by the blood\nof Charis. In some of the Gnostic mysteries we have the proof that\nthe first form of the saving blood was feminine, not masculine at\nall. Iren\u00e6us presents us with a picture of profound interest from\nthe anthropological point of view.\n\nHe tells us how Marcus performed the eucharistic rite with the blood\nof Charis, instead of the blood of Christ. He handed cups to the\nwomen and bade them consecrate these in his presence. Then, by the\nuse of magical incantation, \u201cCharis was thought to drop her own\nblood into the cup\u201d thus consecrated. (B. I. 13, 2.)\n\nThere is but one known fact in natural phenomena which will fitly\naccount as _Vera Causa_ for a monthly Sacrament, celebrated every\ntwenty-eight days, or thirteen times to the year; which fact was\ncommemorated by the Blood-Covenant of Charis ( _Vide_ \u201cNat. Gen.\u201d V.\nii. section 12, for proofs). This kind of blood-covenant can be\nparalleled in the Yain or Yonian mysteries of India.\n\nWhen rightly understood, the eucharist is a survival of the \u201cbeastly\ncannibalistic ceremony,\u201d whether considered as the blood of Charis\nor the blood of Christ, or partaken of as the red Tent wine or the\n\u201cbloody wafer\u201d of Rome.\n\nWe welcome Dr. Trumbull\u2019s contribution on the subject, although he\nhas but \u201cbreathed a vein\u201d of it, because these rites and customs\nhave to be unveiled, and when they are at last exposed in all the\nsimplicity of naked nature the erroneous ideas read into them, the\ndelusive inferences drawn from them, the false illusions painted\nupon the veil that concealed the truth about them, will be doomed to\npass away. To explain the true is the only effectual mode of\nexploding the false.\n\n                                                      GERALD MASSEY.\n\n                        =Correspondence.=\n\n     CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESSED TO THE AUTHOR OF \u201cLIGHT ON THE PATH.\u201d\n\n                                 I.\n\n\u201cWhat are the senses called astral, in reality? Are they not really\nspiritual, seizing on the inner essence of things and interpreting\nit. The ordinary psychic or clairvoyant surely does not use the\nastral senses? Yet he sees things which we do not see. It would be\nwell to explain this.\u201d\n\n                                                               B. K.\n\n_A._ The senses called astral in the comments on \u201cLight on the Path\u201d\nare the senses which perceive the inner essence, certainly; which\nare cognisant of the life underlying every form of matter. The\nordinary psychic or clairvoyant only perceives other forms of matter\nthan those we ordinarily see, and perceives them as a child\nperceives the forms in this world at first, without understanding\ntheir meaning. The astral senses carry beyond matter, and enlighten\nman with regard to any form of life which especially interests him.\nThey show the poet painter, and composer the things they express to\nother men, who regard these great ones as beings of another\norder\u2014beings with the gift of genius. So they are, and the vigour of\nthat genius carries them on into the inner life where meaning, and\nharmony, and the indefinable all-desired are to be perceived.\nWordsworth saw it in nature, he recognised the \u201cspirit in the\nwoods\u201d\u2014not the wood-nymphs but the divine spirit of peace which\nteaches a lesson in life. Richard Jeffries saw it in nature, too, as\nperhaps no other man ever has seen it; through the finite visible\nworld he perceived the infinite invisible one, and before he died he\nhad begun to know that the visible world does not exist. Turner,\nperhaps, is the only parallel. By the invisible world I must repeat\nagain that I do not mean what the spiritualists call by that name\u2014a\nnew world of other forms. I mean the formless world. It is the\nfarthest limit man\u2019s _consciousness_ can reach to; and only the pure\nand star-like soul can become even aware of its existence. It is not\nman\u2019s divine nature, but the man who enters it with any reverence\nfor the great miracle of life can only do so by the aid of his\ndivine nature, whether as a poet, a painter, or an occultist. The\nsoul which enters it without reverence is unable to endure its\nextreme rarity of atmosphere and turns to the psychic-astral in\nwhich to live; such men become madmen and suicides, more or less\npronounced, as men do who refuse to dwell in any form of physical\nlife but the grossest and simplest. There is some law of life which\nimpels men onward\u2014call it evolution or developement or what you\nwill; and a man can no more go downwards without suffering than a\ntree can be placed with its branches in the ground, instead of its\nroots, without discomfort, and in the end, death.\n\nI propose to use two phrases which have been suggested to me; the\npsychic-astral and the divine-astral. This seems the only way to\nmake my meaning clear, for the word astral has two meanings, its own\nproper derivative one, from the Sanskrit _stri_ to strew light, and\nthat given it by the use of all occultists. Paracelsus appropriated\nthe word for all things sidereal, subject to the moon and stars,\npart and parcel of this material universe, even though formed as\nDryden says of \u201cpurest atoms of the air.\u201d In this sense the\nspiritualists and psychics have the right of custom to use it as\nthey do, to describe their world of finer forms. In this meaning an\nastral shape is the form of the human soul, still in possession of\nthe passions which make it human; and the astral senses perceive not\nthe subtle and supreme glory which Shelley seized on in Prometheus,\nbut a region full of shapes and forms differing but little from\nthose we now wear, and still distinctly material.\n\nThe \u201castral man\u201d in the \u201cComments on Light on the Path\u201d should have\nbeen written the divine-astral man, according to this evident\ndifference of meaning between the present writer and all other\nwriters on occultism.\n\n                                II.\n\n\u201cAre not the _astral_ senses used by every great poet or inventor\nthough he does not see clairvoyantly at all? _i.e._ does not see\nelementals, astral pictures, forms, &c.\u201d\n\n                                                              FAUST.\n\nThe answer to the former question seems to contain the answer to\nthis, which is clearly prompted by a conception of the word \u201castral\u201d\nin its divine sense.\n\n                                III.\n\n1. \u201cThere is a law of nature which insists that a man shall read\nthese mysteries for himself. Will all men seeking the occult path\nread these mysteries alike, or will each man find the interpretation\npeculiarly adapted to his own phrase of development. No two men read\nthe mysteries contained in the Bhagavat Gita quite alike, each gains\nthe glimpses of light which he is able to assimilate and no more.\u201d\n\n_A._ This seems to be rather a statement of a truth than a question\nwhich can be answered in any way other than putting it into\ndifferent words, perhaps not so good.\n\n2. \u201cIs the outer world the reflection of the world within? like a\nshadowed reproduction in clumsy form, the inner being reality?\u201d\n\n_A._ This is what should be. But materialists have brought their\nsense of reality into the shadowed life.\n\n3. \u201cHow is the intuition to be developed which enables one to grasp\nswift knowledge?\u201d\n\n_A._ To me no way is known but that of living the life of a\ndisciple.\n\n4. \u201cCan the laws in super-nature only act on their own plane, or can\ntheir reflection be brought down intact in their own purity to\ngovern physical life.\u201d\n\n_A._ Surely this must be so; yet rarely, for when it is accomplished\nthe man would be divine, a Buddha!\n\n5. \u201cTo be incapable of tears\u201d\u2014does not that mean that the physical\nemotions, being merged into the inner physical, that tears are\nimpossible as being an outward phase of the physical nature\u2014whereas\nthe psychical emotions, to use a physical term are vibratory.\n\n_A._ \u201cThe whole of \u2018Light on the Path,\u2019 is written in an astral\ncipher\u201d is stated at the outset of the \u201ccomments;\u201d the word \u201ctears\u201d\ndoes not refer to physical tears in any way.\n\nIt is the only word which will convey any idea whatever of the\nmoisture of life, that which bursts from the human soul in its\nexperience of sensation and emotion, and in the passion of its\nhunger for them.\n\n6. \u201cHow is one to take the snake of self in a steady grasp and\nconquer it?\u201d\n\n                                                                  W.\n\n_A._ This is the great mystery which each man must solve for\nhimself.\n\n                                IV.\n\n                                                  WALLASEY, Oct. 1st\n\nReferring to the comments on \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d in the first\nnumber of LUCIFER, may I ask whether the full paradox \u201cBefore the\neyes can see they must be incapable of tears, and yet no eyes\nincapable of tears can see,\u201d _i.e._, see good or God, is not truer\nand stronger than its part?\n\n\u201cTherefore the soul of the occultist must become stronger than joy\nand greater than sorrow\u201d I presume means that he must not _seek_ joy\nor _fear_ sorrow, not that he may not enjoy nor sorrow?\n\nThe phrase by itself may read \u201cBefore the eyes can see they must be\nincapable of tears,\u201d tearless, dry, in fact dead! which is obviously\nnot the author\u2019s intention in \u201cLight on the Path.\u201d\n\n                                                    Yours truly,\n                                                            A. E. I.\n\n_A._ Once more I must refer to the preliminary statement in the\ncomments that \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d is written in an astral cipher,\nand that tears do not mean the tears of the physical body, but the\nrain drops that come from the passion-life of the human soul. These\nbeing stayed for ever, the astral sight is no longer blinded or\nblurred. Divine love and charity then find room, when personal\ndesire is gone. Joy and sorrow, _for oneself_, then drop naturally\ninto another place than that which they filled before.\n\n                                 V.\n\n(1.) I desire very strongly to obtain conquest over \u201cself;\u201d would my\nusing the occult means for so doing, which apparently to me lie\nwithout the _ordinary_ experience of Christians, necessitate my\nsacrificing any iota of my belief in the _power of Christ_?\n\n(2.) If I submit myself to the occult conditions under which the\nfour first rules in \u201cLight on the Path\u201d may be \u201cengraved on my heart\nand life;\u201d will these conditions permit me to _pray throughout_ for\nthe Divine help and strength of the Eternal Christ, who has passed\nthe portal, opened the \u201cway,\u201d and whom I believe to be the \u201cMaster\nof Masters,\u201d the \u201cLord of Angels\u201d?\n\n(3.) Do the words\u2014\u201cthe disciple\u201d ... \u201cmust then so shut the gates of\nhis soul that _no comforter_ can enter there nor any enemy\u201d\u2014mean,\nthat we are wilfully to exclude ourselves from any desire for the\nsympathy, strength, and support of the spirit of One who said \u201cNo\nman cometh unto the Father but by Me,\u201d and who drank the cup of\nagony to the very dregs for love of the Brotherhood?\n\n                                                           L. H. FF.\n\n_A._ (1.) Not any iota of your belief in the power of the\nChrist-spirit would or should be sacrificed; it would rather\nincrease, for that spirit is the same Divine overshadowing which has\ninspired every Redeemer.\n\n(2.) It matters very little by what name you call the Master of\nMasters, so that you do appeal to \u201c_Its_\u201d power throughout.\n\n(3.) Man can find no comforter save in the Divine Spirit within\nhimself. Does not the tale of the life of Jesus illustrate this,\nlooking at it from one point of view? In what dread isolation he\nlived and died; His disciples, even those who were most beloved by\nHim, could not reach His spirit in its sublime moments, or in the\nhours of its keenest suffering. So with every one who raises himself\nby effort above the common life of man, in however small a degree.\nSolitude becomes a familiar state, for nothing personal, not even a\npersonal God, can comfort or cheer any longer.\n\n                                VI.\n\n\u201cIs there any chance of self-deception? May one enter the path so\ngradually as to be conscious of no radical change, representing a\nchange of life or stage of progression? How is it with one who has\nnever experienced a great and lasting sorrow, or an all-absorbing\njoy, but who in the midst of both joy and sorrow strives to remember\nothers, and to feel that he hardly deserves the joy, and that his\nsorrow is meagre in the presence of the great all-pain? How is such\na one to enter through the gates? By what sign shall he know them?\u201d\n\n                                                               Y. H.\n\n_A._ It is difficult for such a one to know anything of what lies\nbeneath the surface of his nature until it has been probed by the\nfiercer experiences of life. But, of course, the theory of\nre-incarnation makes it possible that such experiences are left\nbehind in the past. The entrance to the gates is marked by one\nimmutable sign; the sense that personal joy or sorrow no longer\nexist. The disciple lives for humanity, not for himself; works for\nall creatures that suffer instead of knowing that he himself has\npain.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                          \u201cESOTERIC BUDDHISM.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs the Editors of LUCIFER kindly invite questions concerning\nTheosophy and kindred subjects, an honest enquirer into these\nmatters would welcome an answer to the following difficulty:\n\n\u201cIn his book on \u2018Esoteric Buddhism,\u2019 Mr. Sinnett states that souls\nor spirits pass the long interval between the one incarnation and\nanother in a sort of quiescent, and at least half-unconscious,\nstate, losing enough of their identity to preclude their carrying\nany recollection of one incarnation on to the next. In his novel,\n\u201cKarma,\u201d Mr. Sinnett represents one character, Mrs. Lakesby, gifted\nwith more than usual powers, as being very fond, when she has the\nchance, of allowing her spirit to escape from the trammels of the\nbody and meeting the spirits of departed\u2014that is, dead friends\u2014\u201cand\nothers\u201d on the Astral plane where she holds agreeable converse with\nthem.\n\n\u201cHow are these two statements reconcilable?\n\n\u201cOctober 22nd, 1887.\n\n                                                              N. D.\u201d\n\nMr. Sinnett would probably reply that the answer could only be given\nfully by reprinting all that he has written in various published\nworks, on the conditions of existence in Kama-Loca, and Devachan,\nand on the higher and lower aspects of _Self_. The normal course of\nevents will conduct a human being who quits the material body\nthrough Kama-Loca to the Devachanic state, in which Mrs. Lakesby\nwould not be able to interview him. But while in Kama-Loca she might\nat least imagine she did this, and, perhaps not too wisely, indulge\nin the practice of so doing. If we remember rightly the Baron, in\n\u201cKarma,\u201d who is represented as knowing a good deal more than Mrs.\nLakesby, gifted as she is, throws some discredit upon her view\nconcerning the Astral plane and its inhabitants. At the best when a\nclairvoyant can gain touch with a soul in Kama-Loca, it is the lower\nself remaining there, though it has left the body, that she deals\nwith. And though that lower self may be very recognisable for people\nwho have known it in the earthly manifestation, it will be _lower_\nthan the lower self of earth and not higher because ethereal. That\nis to say on earth the living man is more or less under the guidance\nof his higher self. But the higher has no longer any business to\ntransact with the lower self of Kama-Loca, and does not manifest\nthere at all.\n\nFinally it must always be remembered that a romance, even though\nwritten by an Occultist, is a romance still, designed to suggest\nbroad conceptions rather than to expound scientific and doctrinal\ndetails.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n\u201cBeing courteously invited to address any questions bearing on the\nmatter contained in LUCIFER to the Editors, Madame la Marechale\nCanrobert would gladly know:\u2014First, What is the distinction made\n(page 11) between _the soul_ and the starry spirit? Is it that soul\nwhich is again alluded to (page 91) as the animal soul, in\nopposition to the Divine soul? Second, What are the external forms\nof the individualised being spoken of also on page 91?\u201d\n\n_A._ The human soul, that which is subject to human passions, but\nwhich can also yearn towards the nobility of the Divine soul, is\nthat which is spoken of on page 11. The starry spirit is the\nDivine-astral. The animal soul is that which animates the mere\nphysical life, the unintelligent existence of the body. The\n\u201cexternal forms\u201d referred to on page 91 are the successive human\nshapes which the starry spirit inspires during its long pilgrimage.\n\n                                                               M. C.\n\n                           =Reviews.=\n\n                                  ---\n\n               THE REAL HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS.[55]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n  A. E. Waite. Published by G. Redway.\n\n-----\n\nMr. Waite\u2019s new book will be welcomed by that large class of readers\nwho regard occultism, alchemy, and all like studies with antagonism\nand suspicion. Secret societies supposed to deal with such subjects\nare, from their point of view, better exposed and ridiculed than\ntreated with respect or taken seriously. The author of the present\nvolume does not, however, cast disrespect on occult science, nor\ndoes he discuss the Rosicrucians in a spirit of levity or disdain.\nHe recognises that there may be, and probably is, a grand spiritual\nand moral philosophy in the higher aspects of true alchemy, but in\nthese pages he treats the subject of the society from the\nhistorical, and not at all from the mystical side, and confines\nhimself to tracing its recorded history, its rise, fall, and _raison\nd\u2019etre_. The conscientious study of these records relating to the\nBrotherhood has brought Mr. Waite to the conclusion that they do not\nsupport the traditions which up to the present have surrounded the\nsociety with a veil of unknown antiquity and have endowed its\nmembers with a halo of marvellous wisdom. It is these conclusions\nthat will charm the incredulous, and may probably blind them to the\nindications of an undercurrent of belief in the reality of occult\nscience, _per se_, which the author has evidently not desired to\nsuppress. To investigate and disentangle the network of facts,\ntheories, and traditions which must necessarily envelope a society\nthat up to the commencement of the seventeenth century had not been\nheard of by the general public is no easy task, and Mr. Waite may be\ncongratulated upon the calm and judicial spirit with which he has\ntreated his subject, as well as upon the moderation with which he\nadvances his own views. To be able to gather from these open records\nhow far the members of such a society may have held in their keeping\nsome of the inner secrets of Nature is of course impossible to\nordinary humanity. The real character and aims of such an\nassociation can be known only to passed Initiates. In his preface\nMr. Waite says: \u201cI claim to have performed my task in a sympathetic\nbut impartial manner, purged from the bias of any theory, and above\nall uncontaminated by the pretension to superior knowledge, which\nclaimants have never been able to substantiate.\u201d This statement is\nfully justified in the pages of the book under review. Its value\ndoes not lie so much in any new presentation of the facts or\ntheories pertaining to the Rosicrucians, and which are so frequently\ndistorted by ignorant commentators, as in the compact and systematic\narrangement of some of the principal writings available. He has\nbrought together not only the leading works of the various writers\nknown, or supposed to be Rosicrucians, but he has also collected the\ncriticisms and conjectures on these current at the time of their\nappearance in Germany, together with others of a much more recent\ndate. Consequently the reader has before him almost all the\ninformation of this description he could require, and which he could\nnot obtain for himself except by the expenditure of time and trouble\nthat very few are either able or willing to give.\n\nIt is not surprising that Mr. Waite should have satisfied himself\nthat the Rosicrucians have no sort of claim to the reverence and\nadmiration in which scholars and mystics have held them up to the\npresent time. But these conclusions will form only one more of other\nproofs to students of esotericism, that the task of writing a true\nand real history of a secret occult society from its records, where\nsuch exist, is an impossibility. For even when such societies left\nreliable information of their pursuits, aspirations, and beliefs,\nthe language employed has always been of such a character as to\nbaffle entirely the ordinary exoteric reader, whether he were\nhistorian, literateur, or scientist. Such literature can be\ninteresting only to the student on the track of esoteric knowledge,\nor to one who has in a great measure acquired the meaning conveyed,\nfor himself in other ways. This method of giving to the world, as it\nwere, the proceeds, of life-long research in the realms of unseen\nNature, has been adopted by alchemists, magicians, priests, and\nhierophants from all ages. None but those who were sufficiently\nsteadfast in the cause of truth could read and understand what was\nthus written. The numerous and minute directions for the working of\nspells and cures, etc., left by Paracelsus, and which are apparently\nas straight forward and practicable as the receipts in a modern\ncookery book, would turn out probably much less successful in the\nhands of an amateur, no matter how highly educated on the physical\nplane, than the more delicate dishes taken from such receipts\nmanipulated by an entirely inexperienced servant. For these\nelaborate instructions are given in terms that appeal simply to the\nmaterial senses of those who are in search of power rather than of\nwisdom, whereas the real effort to produce the result has to take\nplace on the Astral plane of nature. The spiritual or soul side of\nman, must be awakened and utilised, before the Philosopher\u2019s stone,\nor the elixir of life, can be discovered.\n\nThe comprehension of the potentialities of the human body, their\nnurture and eventual utilisation for purely unselfish ends and\nspiritual, _i.e._, real wisdom, is, or ought to be, the work of all\nsecret occult societies. But to return to Mr. Waite\u2019s book. The\npopular notion that this Brotherhood is of great, almost incredible\nantiquity, is utterly condemned by him. He fails to find any\ndocumentary evidence to show that it existed before the early part\nof the seventeenth century, and argues that the well-known antiquity\nof the Rose and Cross in symbolism is no proof of the antiquity of a\nsociety using them \u201cat a period subsequent to the Renaissance.\u201d\nGranting that the device of the Rose and Cross, as emblems of a\nparticular order or brotherhood, does not guarantee its equal\nantiquity with them, still it must be admitted that these symbols\nbearing as they do a profoundly esoteric interpretation, and being\nadopted by a society of a distinctly occult character, is an\nargument in support of the theory that the founder or originator of\nthis order had some reason other than fancy for thus labelling his\nfraternity. Elsewhere he says, \u201cI have shown indisputably that there\nwas no novelty in the Rosicrucian pretensions, and no originality in\ntheir views. They appear before us as Lutheran disciples of\nParacelsus.\u201d\n\nThe author here seems to be not entirely logical in his deductions.\nWhen he states that he has not met in his search with either\nletters, records, or papers that mention or suggest the existence of\nsuch a society before the seventeenth century, he is of course, as a\nhistorian, safely ensconced from attack. In this capacity as an\nimpartial seeker after facts, it is outside the area of his work in\nthe absence of data to theorise on probabilities. When, however, in\ndealing with the manifestoes of the seventeenth century, he finds\ntherein evidence that shows him the Brotherhood had no back history\nor ancestry, his conclusions are open to criticism. The very fact of\nthe want of originality and novelty in the views, aims and\naspirations set forth in the \u201cFama,\u201d and \u201cConfessio\u201d surely gives\nstrength to the theory that holds to the antiquity of the society,\nrather than to its being the outcome of a spontaneous effort. All\ntrue students of mysticism have good reason to believe, even when\nthey do not absolutely know, that the various schools of occultism\nconsidered from their highest or most spiritual and abstract\nteaching, lead to the same goal. They may be called by different\nnames, and their methods in minor details may not be the same, but\nthe wisdom _au fond_ is identical. Therefore when Mr. Waite casts\ndiscredit upon the Rosicrucians for not advertising novelties in\ntheir manifesto, in the mystical line of thought, he reminds us of a\nman who in making up his mind on the value of a violin, decides that\nit cannot be of great age, because it emits only the same set of\nsounds that such musical instruments have been accustomed to give\nforth from time immemorial.\n\nAs far as can be ascertained by studying the state of thought and\nsociety at the period when the Rosicrucians were first heard of in\nEurope, this particular order manifested itself as an antidote to\nthe general tendency towards the material side of alchemy, which\nhoney-combed the educated classes of Germany. Wonder-seekers then,\nas now, did not apprehend that ethics, both social and spiritual,\nare the fundamental basis of real wisdom, consequently the great cry\nwas for power, no matter of what description, for the accumulation\nof wealth. The craving for arcane knowledge, so widely diffused, and\nwhich alchemists were truly known to possess, had gradually\ndegenerated into a purely selfish desire for the secret of\ntransmuting metals. To supply this eager demand charlatans of every\ndescription rushed to the front professing to teach all who joined\ntheir standards, _i.e._, who could pay the necessary fee, how to\nturn common metal into pure gold. The craze for this power was so\nuniversal, the motive of it so unspiritual, that in order to stem\nthe tide of the folly, and to checkmate the impostors who were\nbringing discredit on the _Sacred Art_, the \u201cFama\u201d was issued by a\nbody of people who took as their symbols the Rose and Cross. From\nthis point of view the Rosicrucians historically come before the\nworld in the light of a group of Reformers.\n\nDifferent people interpret in different ways the two manifestoes\u2014the\n\u201cFama\u201d and \u201cConfessio.\u201d Mr. Waite appears to place great importance\non the adherence to Christian dogmas observable in the wording of\nthese papers. But in taking the documents literally, he seems to\noverlook the necessity that all writers were under, in those\ntroubled times, of pandering to the narrow and prejudiced minds of\nthe leaders of the so called Christian Church, by apparently\nadhering to the Ritual. Naturally, the author of the \u201cFama\u201d worded\nit in such a manner as to avoid persecution or suspicion of heresy.\nThose to whom it was really addressed would not be misled by its\ntone of orthodoxy, and the general public and the church would pass\nit by as harmless. Moreover, as Mr. Waite remarks further on, \u201cthe\nphilosophical and scientific opinions and pretentions of the\nRosicrucian Society have more claim on our notice\u201d than their\ntheology. Speaking again of the school of thought current at the\ntime this organization was floated, and which he tells us the\nRosicrucians followed, he says.... \u201cMystics in an age of scientific\nand religious materialism, they were connected by an unbroken chain\nwith the theurgists of the first Christian centuries, they were\nalchemists in the spiritual sense, and the professors of a Divine\nMagic. Their disciples, the Rosicrucians, followed closely in their\nfootsteps, and the claims of the \u201cFama\u201d and \u201cConfessio\u201d must be\nreviewed in the light of the great elder claims of alchemy and\nmagic.\u201d In spite of this, Mr. Waite judges the Society, it would\nappear, by what he admits to be the minor and less important side of\nits object, for he speaks of it eventually, as a body of\n\u201cpre-eminently learned men and a Christian Sect.\u201d We will not stop\nto consider the probability or possibility of a body of\n\u201cpre-eminently learned men,\u201d being at the same time a \u201cChristian\nSect.\u201d\n\nHaving thus deprived the Rosicrucians of the dignity, reverence and\nromance, that cling round great antiquity; having saddled them with\nthe tenets and dogmas of conventional medi\u00e6val christianity, Mr.\nWaite next proceeds to demolish their emblems, or at all events, to\ndeny that they attached any esoteric interpretation to them. He says\n... \u201cThe whole question of the Crucified Rose, in its connection\nwith the Society is one of pure conjecture, that no Rosicrucian\nmanifestoes, and no acknowledged Brother have ever given any\nexplanation concerning it, and that no presumption is afforded by\nthe fact of its adoption, for the antiquity of the Society, or for\nits connection with Universal Symbolism.\u201d Allowing for the necessity\nin writing a history of a mystical society of taking the documents\nas they stand, Mr. Waite rather ignores the fact that the evidence\nfor the statement above is of a negative character. That in their\nmanifestoes and records there appears no explanation of their\nemblems, hardly justifies the conclusion that they were incapable of\ngiving any. It would indeed have been a new departure in the annals\nof Secret Societies if the founders of this particular order had\nleft behind the explanation of their signs and symbols. The study\nand interpretation of symbology forms a most important element in\nthe education of occult disciples, and therefore to assume that the\nprojectors of this organisation should be unaware of the mystic\nreading of the Rose and Cross, is a hypothesis that no student of\nmysticism could accept.\n\nIt is, on the whole, generally assumed by those who have taken any\npains to investigate the evidence, that Johann Valentin Andreas was\nthe author of the \u201cFama,\u201d the _Confessio Fraternitatis_, and also of\nthe \u201cChymical Marriage\u201d of Christian Rosencreutz, and to that extent\nhe must be looked upon exoterically as the founder of the\nRosicrucian Society, as first known to history. He was deeply versed\nin mystic studies and alchemy, and had besides a widespread\nreputation as a scholar and learned man. His \u201cChymical Marriage,\u201d to\nanyone with even a slight acquaintance with alchemical literature,\nreveals him as one who had penetrated deeply into some of the\nmysteries of nature. Consequently, he must have been well aware that\nthe Rose and Cross bore a profoundly occult signification.\nConsidering the man himself, the character of his studies, and his\nwell known devotion to alchemy and mysticism, it is certainly more\nreasonable to suppose that he took those emblems (presuming he had\nany choice in the matter) for his society, not as some suggest,\nbecause they happened to form a part of his own armorial bearings,\nor that the Rose and Cross on a Heart was used by Martin Luther, but\nbecause he recognised their full value and importance as symbols of\ncosmic evolution.\n\nMr. Waite seems, on the whole, to agree with the idea that Andreas\nwas the author of the \u201cFama\u201d and \u201cConfessio,\u201d and regards the\n\u201cChymical Marriage\u201d as undoubtedly his production. He also allows\nthat the latter pamphlet can only have been the work of a man deeply\nembued with alchemical speculations, a mystic and follower of\nParacelsus. How then can he ask us to believe that the Society\nformed under such auspices was _au fond_, nothing but a Christian\nsect based on the teachings of Martin Luther! To the public at large\nthese theories may perhaps appear sufficiently plausible in face of\nthe wording of those parts of the manifestoes that touch on\ntheology. To students of esotericism, however, such conclusions will\nbe absolutely unacceptable, and we can not allow to pass without\ncomment Mr. Waite\u2019s hypothesis that the Rosicrucian Society, as it\nfirst came before the world, was simply a society for the\npropagation of the deteriorated Christianity of the middle ages. No\nmystic, whether calling himself Rosicrucian, Cabbalist, Theosophist,\nChristian, or Buddhist, would either, intellectually or spiritually,\naccept the narrow dogmas and intolerant views of the Christian\nchurch, even when to some extent cleansed of many of its grosser\nabuses by the energy of Martin Luther\u2019s Reform.\n\nThe two lines of thought are essentially different. In the case of\nthe Christian, no matter of what denomination, his thoughts are\nbound down and paralysed within the rigid circle drawn by the\nmaterialistic reading of Christ\u2019s birth, life, and death. The true\noccultist takes those episodes spiritually or allegorically, finding\ntheir correspondences within himself as well as in the universe. To\nsay that a human being can at one and the same time be an occultist,\nand a sectarian Christian, is as impossible as to speak of a\nChristian Jew. A true Christian, _i.e._, one who understood and\nfollowed absolutely the teachings of Jesus, would be also a true\nRosicrucian. Membership of particular churches or societies does not\nunfortunately endow the individual immediately with the virtue,\nknowledge or power, that is the theoretical goal of his initial\naction. Such membership is, or may be a step in the direction of\nDivine Wisdom, but one step does not carry him to the summit of the\npath. Men do not become either Rosicrucians, Christians, or\nTheosophists merely by joining the Societies working under those\nparticular names. But certain tendencies in their temperaments urge\nthem into the special Society where the mode of thought seems best\nfitted to help them, to realise the magnitude and glory of the\npossibilities inherent in their own souls.\n\nBetween the humanity of to-day, and the development of a sixth\nsense, which will enable it to perceive what now is imperceptible,\nthere is but a thin veil of obstructing matter, metaphorically\nspeaking. This veil is even now being continually pierced by\npsychics, first in one direction then in another, letting in through\nthese tiny openings glimpses of the invisible world around. In a\nlittle while the veil will be worn away entirely, and the humanity\nof that future time will doubtless wonder how the humanity of this\nage, which we find so enlightened, could have been so unintuitive\nand blind to the most important side of their natures. Until the\nrace however has by soul evolution attained to this sixth sense,\nreal histories of Mystical Societies can hardly be hoped for.\nMembers of such Societies, who by study and training have attained\nsome degree of knowledge _may_ not disclose the secrets, non-members\ncannot get at them. The reading-classes of to-day may, after reading\nMr. Waite\u2019s book, think they have learnt something of the body of\npeople called Rosicrucians, and until now supposed to have some\nclaim to arcane knowledge. The students of occultism will know that\nthe vital part of the subject is and must remain ever impregnable,\nexcepting from its esoteric side.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                      \u201cNINETEENTH CENTURY SENSE.\u201d\n\nSense! What is \u201dsense\u201d? A word meaning either little or much; simple\nand clear to the understanding, or various and carrying with it many\nconnotations. It is one or other according as we measure the depth,\nthe thoroughness, or the _reality_ of the knowledge acquired. From a\npurely physical \u201csensation\u201d we may trace the word through endless\nshades of signification; through \u201cgood\u201d sense, \u201csound\u201d sense,\nthrough the artistic and finer sensibilities, the \u201cmoral\u201d sense,\ntill it loses itself in the vague hint of a dim, unformed\nconsciousness, pointing the way to the new world of the \u201cinner\nsenses.\u201d\n\nAll these meanings and more are connoted by the phrase \u201cNineteenth\nCentury Sense;\u201d [56] for, by a daring metaphor, the tools which\nmodern science places at our disposal are considered as \u201csenses,\u201d\nand even the faculty and power of analysis is sometimes included\nunder the word.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n  NINETEENTH CENTURY SENSE: The Paradox of Spiritualism. By John\n  Darby. J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, and 10, Henrietta Street,\n  Covent Garden, London.\n\n-----\n\nBeginning with the simplest, the reader is led on to the most\nastounding phenomena of modern spiritualism in the first\nthirty-seven pages of this strange work. The author depicts in vivid\nlanguage his own experiences, and the triumphs of phenomena produced\nby one of his personal friends, in a style which is often quaint and\nstriking, though at times the writer\u2019s disregard of many of the\naccepted rules of composition becomes\u2014to say the least\u2014irritating.\nBut the matter of his book earns forgiveness for the manner in which\nit is formulated.\n\nAfter carrying his reader to a pitch of interest and expectation as\nto the phenomena he describes, Mr. Darby suddenly plunges him into\nthe frozen sea of scepticism by stating that all the phenomena\nproduced under what seemed the strictest test conditions, were\nproduced by conjuring and legerdemain, and by explaining the\nphysical causes of some of the visions he has so graphically\ndescribed. It will suffice to cite a single instance in\nillustration. \u201cThe President of the American Branch of the Indian\nSociety of Theosophists (Professor Coues) ... spent an evening with\nme some time back in conversation on the subject of psychical\nphenomena. We parted at midnight. At seven o\u2019clock the next morning\nI suddenly awoke, beholding the astral of the professor standing at\nmy bed-side.\u201d\n\nThis vision Mr. Darby explains by reference to the fact of the\npersistence of retinal images and the super-excitability of the\nnerves and brain. \u201cAstral projections,\u201d he concludes, \u201care of\nprecisely similar significance.\u201d We would feel obliged to the\neminent American professor of physiology referred to if he would\ngive his written opinion on the question thus raised. For\nTheosophists have heard of persons whose brains were in complete\nrepose and fully occupied otherwise who have also seen the astral\nform of Professor Coues. How\u2019s this?\n\nHe concludes, nevertheless, that materialistic agnosticism is the\nonly \u201ccreed\u201d? Far from it. This portion of the book is purely\nintroductory; it forms the five door-steps leading to the Spiritus\nSanctus\u2014the laboratory of the Divine Spirit.\n\nFrom this black depth of doubt and confusion, the reader is lifted\nsuddenly into the clear ether, and his feet are placed on the\n\u201cRosicrucian Way.\u201d\n\nWhether called \u201cRosicrucian,\u201d or by whatever other name, the \u201cWay\u201d\nis the \u201cWay of Life,\u201d the path which leads to freedom, to wisdom, to\ntrue living. Whole pages might well be quoted; a few aphorisms must\nsuffice.\n\n      \u201cA thing is to the sense that uses it what to the sense\n      It seems to be; it is never anything else.\u201d\n\nMany passages recall \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d though Mr. Darby probably\nnever saw that book; but life is one, and _true_ occultism is one.\n\nSpeaking of mankind as divided into two classes, _men_ in whom is\nthe Holy Ghost, the Divine Spirit or the _Logos_, he says:\n\n  \u201cWith people self-wise or over-sufficient, with the proud and the\n  uncharitable, with all who are _without understanding as to the\n  common good being the only good_, with him who fails to see that\n  gifts _are in men as almoners only_\u2014with all these the Holy Ghost\n  is absent, otherwise so lacking in measure as to be incapable of\n  making itself felt.\u201d\n\nThe italicised passages give the key-note of the true science and\nart of living. To quote again:\n\n  \u201cSettled into tranquillity by entirely satisfactory recognition of\n  noumenon through phenomenon an end is reached where instrument is\n  prepared and ready for use. Analysis has shown the Rosicrucian\n  what he is; more than this\u2014what he can become as to his Ego. If\n  out of his understanding, he puts office [_the service of\n  others_.\u2014ED.] before self, he learns directly of the God, as the\n  God comes to live in and to make use of him.\u201d\n\n  \u201cProving to one\u2019s self that one\u2019s self is God\u201d; and again, \u201cGod\n  ... the One is in all; the All is in one.\u201d\n\nThe next chapter contrasts strangely with the one just quoted\nfrom\u2014strangely, that is, to the outer sense. The one full of deep\nphilosophy, of questionings of God, the Self, the World, clothed in\nthe profound and significant paradoxes in which wisdom finds\nexpression; the other an idyll, a sketch of nature, deeply coloured\nby the influence of Walt Whitman, whose _style_, perhaps, has had\ntoo great an influence on Mr. Darby, who has caught its jerky and\nunpleasant strings of detached sentences.\n\nThis is Chapter V.; Chapter VI. deals with Matter in its relation to\nthe Ego, the spirit of the treatment being indicated by the\nfollowing conclusion:\n\n  \u201cThat there shows itself, out of a process of exclusion, conducted\n  even only so far as the analysis of matter, a something which is\n  not matter. The analysis demonstrates the something to be of\n  individual signification; further, that it is to it what a flute\n  or other instrument is to harmony.\u201d\n\nThe final words express a purely occult doctrine, which is worked\nout at length in the succeeding chapter on the Ego.\n\nThis is the fundamental thought of the book, the last fifty pages of\nwhich describe the author\u2019s individual experiences in nascent\npsychic development.\n\nThey are not of a very striking character, but exhibit with\nsufficient clearness the early forms of this new growth.\nUnfortunately, the author seems to have lacked the desire to pursue\nthe road thus opened to him, and the final pages of his work are but\na lame and halting conclusion to a remarkable production.\n\nThe book is well adapted for those who stand halting on the verge of\nmysticism, while for the student who has advanced further, its pages\nmay serve as a means for helping others.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\nThe Editors of LUCIFER beg to acknowledge the following books, which\nwill be noticed in future numbers:\u2014\n\n  From Messrs. Ward and Downey: \u201cA Modern Magician,\u201d by Fitzgerald\n  Molloy. \u201cTwin Souls.\u201d\n\n  From Messrs. David Nutt & Co.: \u201cThe Gnostics and their Remains,\u201d\n  by C. H. King.\n\n  From the Authors: \u201cNatural Genesis,\u201d by Gerald Massey. \u201cSepher\n  Yezirah,\u201d by Dr. Wynn Westcott. \u201cPalingenesia,\u201d by \u201cTheosopho and\n  Ellora.\u201d \u201cMohammed Benani,\u201d by Ion Perdicaris. \u201cLays of Romance,\u201d\n  by W. Stewart Ross.\n\n  From George Redway: \u201cPosthumous Humanity,\u201d translated by Col. H.\n  S. Olcott.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n\u2042 The Editors regret that the pressure on their space prevents their\nnoticing in detail the various Theosophical Magazines:\u2014THE\nTHEOSOPHIST, THE PATH, LE LOTUS, and L\u2019AURORE. A full summary of\ntheir contents for November and December will appear next month. The\nsame remark applies to a letter on \u201cKarma,\u201d received from Mr.\nBeatty, which will be published and fully answered next month.\n\n        =FROM THE NOTE BOOK OF AN UNPOPULAR PHILOSOPHER=\n\n\nI am Sternly Rebuked for some remarks made in the last number. My\nreflections with regard to the respective value of Mussulman and\nChristian pledges exchanged, as also on the doubtful propriety of\nzoological symbolism in the Churches\u2014are pronounced wantonly wicked\nand calculated to hurt the tender feelings of Christian readers\u2014if\nany. Protestant England\u2014it is solemnly urged\u2014is full of truly good\nmen and women, of sincere church-goers, who \u201cwalk in the ways of the\nLord.\u201d No doubt there are such, and no doubt they do, or try to,\nwhich is a step in advance of those who do not. But then none of the\n\u201crighteous\u201d need recognize their faces in the mirror presented by\nthe \u201cUnpopular Philosopher\u201d only to the _unrighteous_. And again\u2014-\n\n\u201cTHE WAYS OF THE LORD....\u201d The ways of _which_ Lord? Is the jealous\nLord of Moses meant, the God who thundered amidst the lightnings of\nSinai, or the meek \u201cLord\u201d of the Mount of Olives and Calvary? Is it\nthe stern God that saith \u201c_vengeance is mine_,\u201d and who must be\n\u201c_worshipped in fear_,\u201d or the \u201cman-God\u201d who commanded _to love\none\u2019s neighbours as oneself_, _to forgive one\u2019s enemies_ and _bless\nthose who revile us_? For the ways of the two Lords are wide apart,\nand can never meet.\n\nNo one who has studied the Bible can deny for one single moment that\na large proportion (if _happily_ not all) of modern Christians walk\nindeed \u201cin the _ways_ of the Lord\u201d\u2014Number I. This one is the \u201cLord\u201d\nwho _had respect unto Abel_, because the meat of his sacrifice smelt\nsweet in his nostrils; the \u201cLord\u201d who commanded the Israelites to\n_spoil_ the Egyptians of their jewels of silver and gold;[57] also\nto \u201c_kill every male among the little ones_,\u201d as \u201c_every woman ...\nbut all the women children_ (virgins) _to keep alive for\nthemselves_\u201d (Numb. XXXI., 17, _et seq._); and to commit other\nactions too coarse to be repeated in any respectable publication.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n  And no doubt also the Anglo-Indians to _spoil_ the King of Burmah\n  of his?\n\n-----\n\nHence the modern warriors who achieve such feats (with the modern\nimprovement occasionally, of shooting their enemies out of the\nmouths of big guns) walk, most undeniably, \u201cin the ways\u201d of the Lord\nof the Jews, but _never in the ways_ of Christ. So does the modern\ntrader who keeps the Sabbath most rigorously, attending Divine\nService thrice on that day, after treating during the whole week his\nhired clerks as the brood of Ham \u201cwho shall be their (Shem and\nJaphet\u2019s) servants.\u201d\n\nSo does, likewise, he who helps himself, David-like, to a\nBath-Sheba, the wife of Uriah, without the least concern whether he\nsimply robs or kills the Hittite husband. For he has every right to\ntake for his sampler \u201ca friend of God\u201d\u2014the _God_ of the old\ncovenant.\n\nBut will either of these pretend they walk in the ways of their Lord\nof the _new_ Dispensation? Yet, he who raises his voice in a protest\nagainst the \u201cways\u201d of the Mosaic God, therefore, in favour of those\npreached by the very _antithesis_ of Jehovah\u2014the meek and gentle\n\u201cMan of Sorrow\u201d\u2014he is forthwith set up on the pillory and denounced\nto public opprobrium as an _anti-Christian_ and an Atheist! This, in\nthe face of the words: \u201c_Not every one that saith unto me Lord,\nLord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the\nwill of my Father which is in Heaven.... And every one that heareth\nthese words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a\nfoolish man, which built his house upon the sand.... and great was\nthe fall thereof!_\u201d\n\nTHE \u201cWILL OF MY FATHER?\u201d Is this \u201cFather\u201d identical with the God of\nMount Sinai and of the Commandments? Then what is the meaning of the\nwhole Chapter V. of Matthew, of the Sermon on the Mount, in which\nevery one of these Commandments is virtually criticised and\ndestroyed by the new amendments?\n\n\u201c_Ye have heard that it hath been said \u2018An eye for an eye, and a\ntooth for a tooth\u2019; but I say unto you that you resist not evil_,\u201d\netc.\n\nGlance at the big centres of our Christian civilisations. Look at\nthe jails, the court and the prison-houses, the tribunals, and the\npolice; see the distress, with starvation and prostitution as its\nresults. Look at the host of the men of law and of judges; and then\nsee how far the words of Christ, \u201cLove your enemies, bless them that\ncurse you, Judge not that ye be not judged,\u201d apply to the whole\nstructure of our modern civilised life, and how far we may be called\n_Christians_.\n\nHow well the commandment\u2014\u201c_He that is without sin among you, let him\nfirst cast a stone_\u201d\u2014is now obeyed, may be seen by following day\nafter day, the law reports for slander, calumny and defamation.\nObedience to the injunction, and warning against the sin of\noffending children, \u201c_these little ones_,\u201d of whom is the Kingdom of\nHeaven, is found in the brutal treatment of fatherless children on\nthe streets by the Christian police, of other children by their\nparents, and finally, in the merciless flogging of wee bits of\nculprits driven to crime by their own parents and starvation. And is\nit those who denounce such an anti-Christian spirit in legislation,\nthe Pharisaical church and society, who shall be branded for\nspeaking the truth? The magistrate, who has sworn on the\nBible\u2014contrary to Christ\u2019s express injunction\u2014to administer justice;\nthe pious defaulter, who swears falsely on it, but cannot be\nconvicted; the sanctimonious millionaire who fattens on the blood\nand sweat of the poor; and the aristocratic \u201cJezebel\u201d who casts mud\nfrom her carriage wheels on her \u201cfallen\u201d sister, on the street, a\n_victim perchance, of one of the men of her own high caste_\u2014all\nthese call themselves Christians. The _anti-Christians_ are those\nwho dare to look behind that veil of respectability.\n\nThe best answer to such paradoxical denunciation may be found in one\nof \u201cSaladin\u2019s\u201d admirable editorials. The reader must turn to _The\nSecular Review_ for October 22nd, 1887, and read some pertinent\nreflections on \u201cThe Bitter Cry of Outcast London,\u201d and the\n\u201cChild-thieves\u201d flogging. Well may a \u201cheathen Chinee\u201d or a \u201cmild\nHindu\u201d shudder in horror at the picture in it of that \u201cdrawing of\nblood\u201d out of the baby-bodies of infant thieves. The process is\nexecuted by a Christian policeman acting under the orders and in the\npresence of a righteous Christian magistrate. Has either of the two\never given a thought during the \u201cchild-torture\u201d to the words of\ntheir Christ: \u201c_Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones, it\nis better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he\nwere cast into the sea_\u201d?\n\nYes, they _are_ walking \u201cin the ways of the God of Israel\u201d! For, as\n\u201c_it repented the Lord that he had made man_\u201d so wicked and so\nimperfect, that \u201cLord\u201d drowned and destroyed him \u201cfrom the face of\nthe Earth,\u201d without more ado. Verily so, \u201c_both man and beast, and\nthe creeping thing and the fowls_,\u201d though the latter had neither\nsinned, nor were they \u201cwicked.\u201d And why shouldn\u2019t the righteous men\non Earth do likewise? It repents the Christian citizens of pious\nLUGDUNUM perchance also, that they create the starving little\nwretches, the foundlings abandoned to vice from the day of their\nbirth? And the truly good Christian men, who would believe\nthemselves damned to hell-fire were they to miss their Sabbath\nService, forbidden by law to drown _their_ creatures, resort to the\nnext best thing they can; they \u201cdraw blood\u201d from those little ones\nwhom their \u201cSaviour\u201d and Master took under his special protection.\n\nMay the shadow of \u201cSaladin\u201d never grow less, for the fearless honest\nwords of truth he writes:\u2014\n\n  \u201cAnd whose blood was in the veins of these two boys? Whose blood\n  reddened the twigs of the birch? Peradventure that of the\n  magistrate himself, or of the chaplain of the prison. For mystical\n  are the grinding of the wheels of the mill of misery. And God\n  looks on and tolerates. And I am accounted a heretic, and my\n  anti-Christian writings are produced against me in a Court of\n  Justice to prevent my getting justice, because I fail to see in\n  all this how Christianity \u201celevates\u201d woman and casts a \u201chalo of\n  sacred innocence round the tender years of the child.\u201d So be it. I\n  have flung down my gage of battle, and the force of bigotry may\n  break me to death; but it shall never bend me to submission.\n  Unsalaried and ill-supported, I fight as stubbornly as if the\n  world flung at my feet its gold and laurels and huzzas; for the\n  weak need a champion and the wronged an avenger. It is necessary\n  that Sham find an opponent and Hypocrisy a foe: these they will\n  find in me, be the consequences what they may.\n\n                                                          \u201cSALADIN.\u201d\n\nThis is the epitomized history of the \u201cUnpopular Philosopher\u201d; aye,\nthe story of all those who, in the words of \u201cLara,\u201d know that\n\u201cChristianity will never save humanity, but humanity may save\nChristianity,\u201d _i.e._, the ideal spirit of the Christos-Buddha\u2014of\nTHEOSOPHY.\n\n                                LUCIFER\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n        VOL. I.     LONDON, DECEMBER 15TH, 1887.     NO. 4.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n               \u201cLUCIFER\u201d TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY,\n                               GREETING!\n\nMY LORD PRIMATE OF ALL ENGLAND,\u2014\n\nWe make use of an open letter to your Grace as a vehicle to convey\nto you, and through you, to the clergy, to their flocks, and to\nChristians generally\u2014who regard us as the enemies of Christ\u2014a brief\nstatement of the position which Theosophy occupies in regard to\nChristianity, as we believe that the time for making that statement\nhas arrived.\n\nYour Grace is no doubt aware that Theosophy is not a religion, but a\nphilosophy at once religious and scientific; and that the chief\nwork, so far, of the Theosophical Society has been to revive in each\nreligion its own animating spirit, by encouraging and helping\nenquiry into the true significance of its doctrines and observances.\nTheosophists know that the deeper one penetrates into the meaning of\nthe dogmas and ceremonies of all religions, the greater becomes\ntheir apparent underlying similarity, until finally a perception of\ntheir fundamental unity is reached. This common ground is no other\nthan Theosophy\u2014the Secret Doctrine of the ages; which, diluted and\ndisguised to suit the capacity of the multitude, and the\nrequirements of the time, has formed the living kernel of all\nreligions. The Theosophical Society has branches respectively\ncomposed of Buddhists, Hindoos, Mahomedans, Parsees, Christians, and\nFreethinkers, who work together as brethren on the common ground of\nTheosophy; and it is precisely because Theosophy is not a religion,\nnor can for the multitude supply the place of a religion, that the\nsuccess of the Society has been so great, not merely as regards its\ngrowing membership and extending influence, but also in respect to\nthe performance of the work it has undertaken\u2014the revival of\nspirituality in religion, and the cultivation of the sentiment of\nBROTHERHOOD among men.\n\nWe Theosophists believe that a religion is a natural incident in the\nlife of man in his present stage of development; and that although,\nin rare cases, individuals may be born without the religious\nsentiment, a community must have a religion, that is to say, _a\nuniting bond_\u2014under penalty of social decay and material\nannihilation. We believe that no religious doctrine can be more than\nan attempt to picture to our present limited understandings, in the\nterms of our terrestrial experiences, great cosmical and spiritual\ntruths, which in our normal state of consciousness we vaguely\n_sense_, rather than actually perceive and comprehend; and a\nrevelation, if it is to reveal anything, must necessarily conform to\nthe same earth-bound requirements of the human intellect. In our\nestimation, therefore, no religion can be absolutely true, and none\ncan be absolutely false. A religion is true in proportion as it\nsupplies the spiritual, moral and intellectual needs of the time,\nand helps the development of mankind in these respects. It is false\nin proportion as it hinders that development, and offends the\nspiritual, moral and intellectual portion of man\u2019s nature. And the\ntranscendentally spiritual ideas of the ruling powers of the\nUniverse entertained by an Oriental sage would be as false a\nreligion for the African savage as the grovelling fetishism of the\nlatter would be for the sage, although both views must necessarily\nbe true in degree, for both represent the highest ideas attainable\nby the respective individuals of the same cosmico-spiritual facts,\nwhich can never be known in their reality by man while he remains\nbut man.\n\nTheosophists, therefore, are respecters of all the religions, and\nfor the religious ethics of Jesus they have profound admiration. It\ncould not be otherwise, for these teachings which have come down to\nus are the same as those of Theosophy. So far, therefore, as modern\nChristianity makes good its claim to be the _practical_ religion\ntaught by Jesus, Theosophists are with it heart and hand. So far as\nit goes contrary to those ethics, pure and simple, Theosophists are\nits opponents. Any Christian can, if he will, compare the Sermon on\nthe Mount with the dogmas of his church, and the spirit that\nbreathes in it, with the principles that animate this Christian\ncivilisation and govern his own life; and then he will be able to\njudge for himself how far the religion of Jesus enters into his\nChristianity, and how far, therefore, he and Theosophists are\nagreed. But professing Christians, especially the clergy, shrink\nfrom making this comparison. Like merchants who fear to find\nthemselves bankrupt, they seem to dread the discovery of a\ndiscrepancy in their accounts which could not be made good by\nplacing material assets as a set-off to spiritual liabilities. The\ncomparison between the teachings of Jesus and the doctrines of the\nchurches has, however, frequently been made\u2014and often with great\nlearning and critical acumen\u2014both by those who would abolish\nChristianity and those who would reform it; and the aggregate result\nof these comparisons, as your Grace must be well aware, goes to\nprove that in almost every point the doctrines of the churches and\nthe practices of Christians are _in direct opposition to the\nteachings of Jesus_.\n\nWe are accustomed to say to the Buddhist, the Mahomedan, the Hindoo,\nor the Parsee: \u201cThe road to Theosophy lies, for you, through your\nown religion.\u201d We say this because those creeds possess a deeply\nphilosophical and esoteric meaning, explanatory of the allegories\nunder which they are presented to the people; but we cannot say the\nsame thing to Christians. The successors of the Apostles never\nrecorded the _secret doctrine_ of Jesus\u2014the \u201cmysteries of the\nkingdom of Heaven\u201d\u2014which it was given to them (his apostles) alone\nto know.[58] These have been suppressed, made away with, destroyed.\nWhat have come down upon the stream of time are the maxims, the\nparables, the allegories and the fables which Jesus expressly\nintended for the spiritually deaf and blind to be revealed later to\nthe world, and which modern Christianity either takes all literally,\nor interprets according to the fancies of the Fathers of the secular\nchurch. In both cases they are like cut flowers: they are severed\nfrom the plant on which they grew, and from the root whence that\nplant drew its life. Were we, therefore, to encourage Christians, as\nwe do the votaries of other creeds, to study their own religion for\nthemselves, the consequence would be, not a knowledge of the meaning\nof its mysteries, but either the revival of medi\u00e6val superstition\nand intolerance, accompanied by a formidable outbreak of mere\nlip-prayer and preaching\u2014such as resulted in the formation of the\n239 Protestant sects of England alone\u2014or else a great increase of\nscepticism, for Christianity has no esoteric foundation known to\nthose who profess it. For even you, my Lord Primate of England, must\nbe painfully aware that you know absolutely no more of those\n\u201cmysteries of the kingdom of Heaven\u201d which Jesus taught his\ndisciples, than does the humblest and most illiterate member of your\nchurch.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n  S. Mark, iv. 11; Matthew, xiii. 11; Luke, viii. 10.\n\n-----\n\nIt is easily understood, therefore, that Theosophists have nothing\nto say against the policy of the Roman Catholic Church in\nforbidding, or of the Protestant churches in discouraging, any such\nprivate enquiry into the meaning of the \u201cChristian\u201d dogmas as would\ncorrespond to the esoteric study of other religions. With their\npresent ideas and knowledge, professing Christians are not prepared\nto undertake a critical examination of their faith, with a promise\nof good results. Its inevitable effect would be to paralyze rather\nthan stimulate their dormant religious sentiments; for biblical\ncriticism and comparative mythology have proved conclusively\u2014to\nthose, at least, who have no vested interests, spiritual or\ntemporal, in the maintenance of orthodoxy\u2014that the Christian\nreligion, as it now exists, is composed of the husks of Judaism, the\nshreds of paganism, and the ill-digested remains of gnosticism and\nneo-platonism. This curious conglomerate which gradually formed\nitself round the recorded sayings (\u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03b9\u03b1) of Jesus, has, after the\nlapse of ages, now begun to disintegrate, and to crumble away from\nthe pure and precious gems of Theosophic truth which it has so long\noverlain and hidden, but could neither disfigure nor destroy.\nTheosophy not only rescues these precious gems from the fate that\nthreatens the rubbish in which they have been so long embedded, but\nsaves that rubbish itself from utter condemnation; for it shows that\nthe result of biblical criticism is far from being the ultimate\nanalysis of Christianity, as each of the pieces which compose the\ncurious mosaics of the Churches once belonged to a religion which\nhad an esoteric meaning. It is only when these pieces are restored\nto the places they originally occupied that their hidden\nsignificance can be perceived, and the real meaning of the dogmas of\nChristianity understood. To do all this, however, requires a\nknowledge of the Secret Doctrine as it exists in the esoteric\nfoundation of other religions; and this knowledge is not in the\nhands of the Clergy, for the Church has hidden, and since lost, the\nkeys.\n\nYour Grace will now understand why it is that the Theosophical\nSociety has taken for one of its three \u201cobjects\u201d the study of those\nEastern religions and philosophies, which shed such a flood of light\nupon the inner meaning of Christianity; and you will, we hope, also\nperceive that in so doing, we are acting not as the enemies, but as\nthe friends of the religion taught by Jesus\u2014of true Christianity, in\nfact. For it is only through the study of those religions and\nphilosophies that Christians can ever arrive at an understanding of\ntheir own beliefs, or see the hidden meaning of the parables and\nallegories which the Nazarene told to the spiritual cripples of\nJudea, and by taking which, either as matters of fact or as matters\nof fancy, the Churches have brought the teachings themselves into\nridicule and contempt, and Christianity into serious danger of\ncomplete collapse, undermined as it is by historical criticism and\nmythological research, besides being broken by the sledge-hammer of\nmodern science.\n\nOught Theosophists themselves, then, to be regarded by Christians\nas their enemies, because they believe that orthodox Christianity\nis, on the whole, opposed to the religion of Jesus; and because\nthey have the courage to tell the Churches that they are traitors\nto the MASTER they profess to revere and serve? Far from it,\nindeed. Theosophists know that the same spirit that animated the\nwords of Jesus lies latent in the hearts of Christians, as it does\nnaturally in all men\u2019s hearts. Their fundamental tenet is the\nBrotherhood of Man, the ultimate realisation of which is alone\nmade possible by that which was known long before the days of\nJesus as \u201cthe Christ spirit.\u201d This spirit is even now potentially\npresent in all men, and it will be developed into activity when\nhuman beings are no longer prevented from understanding,\nappreciating and sympathising with one another by the barriers of\nstrife and hatred erected by priests and princes. We know that\nChristians in their lives frequently rise above the level of their\nChristianity. All Churches contain many noble, self-sacrificing,\nand virtuous men and women, eager to do good in their generation\naccording to their lights and opportunities, and full of\naspirations to higher things than those of earth\u2014followers of\nJesus in spite of their Christianity. For such as these,\nTheosophists feel the deepest sympathy; for only a Theosophist, or\nelse a person of your Grace\u2019s delicate sensibility and great\ntheological learning, can justly appreciate the tremendous\ndifficulties with which the tender plant of natural piety has to\ncontend, as it forces its root into the uncongenial soil of our\nChristian civilization, and tries to blossom in the cold and arid\natmosphere of theology. How hard, for instance, must it not be to\n\u201clove\u201d such a God as that depicted in a well-known passage by\nHerbert Spencer:\n\n  \u201cThe cruelty of a Fijian God, who, represented as devouring the\n  souls of the dead, may be supposed to inflict torture during the\n  process, is small, compared to the cruelty of a God who condemns\n  men to tortures which are eternal.... The visiting on Adam\u2019s\n  descendants through hundreds of generations, of dreadful penalties\n  for a small transgression which they did not commit, the damning\n  of all men who do not avail themselves of an alleged mode of\n  obtaining forgiveness, which most men have never heard of, and the\n  effecting of reconciliation by sacrificing a son who was perfectly\n  innocent, to satisfy the assumed necessity for a propitiatory\n  victim, are modes of action which, ascribed to a human ruler,\n  would call forth expressions of abhorrence.\u201d\n\n                        (\u201c_Religion: a Retrospect and a Prospect._\u201d)\n\nYour Grace will say, no doubt, that Jesus never taught the worship\nof such a god as that. Even so say we Theosophists. Yet that is the\nvery god whose worship is officially conducted in Canterbury\nCathedral, by you, my Lord Primate of England; and your Grace will\nsurely agree with us that there must indeed be a divine spark of\nreligious intuition in the hearts of men, that enables them to\nresist so well as they do, the deadly action of such poisonous\ntheology.\n\nIf your Grace, from your high pinnacle, will cast your eyes around,\nyou will behold a Christian civilisation in which a frantic and\nmerciless battle of man against man is not only the distinguishing\nfeature, but the acknowledged principle. It is an accepted\nscientific and economic axiom to-day, that all progress is achieved\nthrough the struggle for existence and the survival of the fittest;\nand the fittest to survive in this Christian civilization are not\nthose who are possessed of the qualities that are recognised by the\nmorality of every age to be the best\u2014not the generous, the pious,\nthe noble-hearted, the forgiving, the humble, the truthful, the\nhonest, and the kind\u2014but those who are strongest in selfishness, in\ncraft, in hypocrisy, in brute force, in false pretence, in\nunscrupulousness, in cruelty, and in avarice. The spiritual and the\naltruistic are \u201cthe weak,\u201d whom the \u201claws\u201d that govern the universe\ngive as food to the egoistic and material\u2014\u201cthe strong.\u201d That \u201cmight\nis right\u201d is the only legitimate conclusion, the last word of the\n19th century ethics, for, as the world has become one huge\nbattlefield, on which \u201cthe fittest\u201d descend like vultures to tear\nout the eyes and the hearts of those who have fallen in the fight.\nDoes religion put a stop to the battle? Do the churches drive away\nthe vultures, or comfort the wounded and the dying? Religion does\nnot weigh a feather in the _world_ at large to-day, when worldly\nadvantage and selfish pleasures are put in the other scale; and the\nchurches are powerless to revivify the religious sentiment among\nmen, because their ideas, their knowledge, their methods, and their\narguments are those of the Dark Ages. My Lord Primate, your\nChristianity is five hundred years behind the times.\n\nSo long as men disputed whether this god or that god was the true\none, or whether the soul went to this place or that one after death,\nyou, the clergy, understood the question, and had arguments at hand\nto influence opinion\u2014by syllogism or torture, as the case might\nrequire; but now it is the existence of any such being as God, at\nall, or of any kind of immortal spirit, that is questioned or\ndenied. Science invents new theories of the Universe which\ncontemptuously ignore the existence of any god; moralists establish\ntheories of ethics and social life in which the non-existence of a\nfuture life is taken for granted; in physics, in psychology, in law,\nin medicine, the one thing needful in order to entitle any teacher\nto a hearing is that no reference whatever should be contained in\nhis ideas either to a Providence, or to a soul. The world is being\nrapidly brought to the conviction that god is a mythical conception,\nwhich has no foundation in fact, or place in Nature; and that the\nimmortal part of man is the silly dream of ignorant savages,\nperpetuated by the lies and tricks of priests, who reap a harvest by\ncultivating the fears of men that their mythical God will torture\ntheir imaginary souls to all eternity, in a fabulous Hell. In the\nface of all these things the clergy stand in this age dumb and\npowerless. The only answer which the Church knew how to make to such\n\u201cobjections\u201d as these, were _the rack and the faggot_; and she\ncannot use that system of logic _now_.\n\nIt is plain that if the God and the soul taught by the churches be\nimaginary entities, then the Christian salvation and damnation are\nmere delusions of the mind, produced by the hypnotic process of\nassertion and suggestion on a magnificent scale, acting cumulatively\non generations of mild \u201chysteriacs.\u201d What answer have you to such a\ntheory of the Christian religion, except a repetition of assertions\nand suggestions? What ways have you of bringing men back to their\nold beliefs but by reviving their old habits? \u201cBuild more churches,\nsay more prayers, establish more missions, and your faith in\ndamnation and salvation will be revived, and a renewed belief in God\nand the soul will be the necessary result.\u201d That is the policy of\nthe churches, and their only answer to agnosticism and materialism.\nBut your Grace must know that to meet the attacks of modern science\nand criticism with such weapons as assertion and habit, is like\ngoing forth against magazine guns, armed with boomerangs and leather\nshields. While, however, the progress of ideas and the increase of\nknowledge are undermining the popular theology, every discovery of\nscience, every new conception of European advanced thought, brings\nthe 19th century mind nearer to the ideas of the Divine and the\nSpiritual, known to all esoteric religions and to Theosophy.\n\nThe Church claims that Christianity is the only true religion, and\nthis claim involves two distinct propositions, namely, that\nChristianity is true religion, and that there is no true religion\nexcept Christianity. It never seems to strike Christians that God\nand Spirit could possibly exist in any other form than that under\nwhich they are presented in the doctrines of their church. The\nsavage calls the missionary an Atheist, because he does not carry an\nidol in his trunk; and the missionary, in his turn, calls everyone\nan Atheist who does not carry about a fetish in his mind; and\nneither savage nor Christian ever seem to suspect that there may be\na higher idea than their own of the great hidden power that governs\nthe Universe, to which the name of \u201cGod\u201d is much more applicable. It\nis doubtful whether the churches take more pains to prove\nChristianity \u201ctrue,\u201d or to prove that any other kind of religion is\nnecessarily \u201cfalse;\u201d and the evil consequences of this, their\nteaching, are terrible. When people discard dogma they fancy that\nthey have discarded the religious sentiment also, and they conclude\nthat religion is a superfluity in human life\u2014a rendering to the\nclouds of things that belong to earth, a waste of energy which could\nbe more profitably expended in the struggle for existence. The\nmaterialism of this age is, therefore, the direct consequence of the\nChristian doctrine that there is no ruling power in the Universe,\nand no immortal Spirit in man except those made known in Christian\ndogmas. The Atheist, my Lord Primate, is the bastard son of the\nChurch.\n\nBut this is not all. The churches have never taught men any other or\nhigher reason why they should be just and kind and true than the\nhope of reward and the fear of punishment, and when they let go\ntheir belief in Divine caprice and Divine injustice the foundations\nof their morality are sapped. They have not even natural morality to\nconsciously fall back upon, for Christianity has taught them to\nregard it as worthless on account of the natural depravity of man.\nTherefore self-interest becomes the only motive for conduct, and the\nfear of being found out, the only deterrent from vice. And so, with\nregard to morality as well as to God and the soul, Christianity\npushes men off the path that leads to knowledge, and precipitates\nthem into the abyss of incredulity, pessimism and vice. The last\nplace where men would now look for help from the evils and miseries\nof life is the Church, because they know that the building of\nchurches and the repeating of litanies influence neither the powers\nof Nature nor the councils of nations; because they instinctively\nfeel that when the churches accepted the principle of expediency\nthey lost their power to move the hearts of men, and can now only\nact on the external plane, as the supporters of the policeman and\nthe politician.\n\nThe function of religion is to comfort and encourage humanity in its\nlife-long struggle with sin and sorrow. This it can do only by\npresenting mankind with noble ideals of a happier existence after\ndeath, and of a worthier life on earth, to be won in both cases by\nconscious effort. What the world now wants is a Church that will\ntell it of Deity, or the immortal principle in man, which will be at\nleast on a level with the ideas and knowledge of the times. Dogmatic\nChristianity is not suited for a world that reasons and thinks, and\nonly those who can throw themselves into a medi\u00e6val state of mind,\ncan appreciate a Church whose religious (as distinguished from its\nsocial and political) function is to keep God in good humour while\nthe laity are doing what they believe he does not approve; to pray\nfor changes of weather; and occasionally, to thank the Almighty for\nhelping to slaughter the enemy. It is not \u201cmedicine men,\u201d but\nspiritual guides that the world looks for to-day\u2014a \u201cclergy\u201d that\nwill give it ideals as suited to the intellect of this century, as\nthe Christian Heaven and Hell, God and the Devil, were to the ages\nof dark ignorance and superstition. Do, or can, the Christian clergy\nfulfil this requirement? The misery, the crime, the vice, the\nselfishness, the brutality, the lack of self-respect and\nself-control, that mark our modern civilization, unite their voices\nin one tremendous cry, and answer\u2014NO!\n\nWhat is the meaning of the reaction against materialism, the signs\nof which fill the air to-day? It means that the world has become\nmortally sick of the dogmatism, the arrogance, the self-sufficiency,\nand the spiritual blindness of modern science\u2014of that same Modern\nScience which men but yesterday hailed as their deliverer from\nreligious bigotry and Christian superstition, but which, like the\nDevil of the monkish legends, requires, as the price of its\nservices, the sacrifice of man\u2019s immortal soul. And meanwhile, what\nare the Churches doing? The Churches are sleeping the sweet sleep of\nendowments, of social and political influence, while the world, the\nflesh, and the devil, are appropriating their watchwords,\ntheir miracles, their arguments, and their blind faith. The\nSpiritualists\u2014oh! Churches of Christ\u2014have stolen the fire from your\naltars to illumine their s\u00e9ance rooms; the Salvationists have taken\nyour sacramental wine, and make themselves spiritually drunk in the\nstreets; the Infidel has stolen the weapons with which you\nvanquished him once, and triumphantly tells you that \u201cWhat you\nadvance, has been frequently said before.\u201d Had ever clergy so\nsplendid an opportunity? The grapes in the vineyard are ripe,\nneeding only the right labourers to gather them. Were you to give to\nthe world some proof, on the level of the present intellectual\nstandard of probability, that Deity\u2014the immortal Spirit in man\u2014have\na real existence as facts in Nature, would not men hail you as their\nsaviour from pessimism and despair, from the maddening and\nbrutalizing thought that there is no other destiny for man but an\neternal blank, after a few short years of bitter toil and\nsorrow?\u2014aye; as their saviours from the panic-stricken fight for\nmaterial enjoyment and worldly advancement, which is the direct\nconsequence of believing this mortal life to be the be-all and\nend-all of existence?\n\nBut the Churches have neither the knowledge nor the faith needed to\nsave the world, and perhaps your Church, my Lord Primate, least of\nall, with the mill-stone of \u00a38,000,000 a year hung round its neck.\nIn vain you try to lighten the ship by casting overboard the ballast\nof doctrines which your forefathers deemed vital to Christianity.\nWhat more can your Church do now, than run before the gale with bare\npoles, while the clergy feebly endeavour to putty up the gaping\nleaks with the \u201crevised version,\u201d and by their social and political\ndeadweight try to prevent the ship from capsizing, and its cargo of\ndogmas and endowments from going to the bottom?\n\nWho built Canterbury Cathedral, my Lord Primate? Who invented and\ngave life to the great ecclesiastical organisation which makes an\nArchbishop of Canterbury possible? Who laid the foundation of the\nvast system of religious taxation which gives you \u00a315,000 a year and\na palace? Who instituted the forms and ceremonies, the prayers and\nlitanies, which, slightly altered and stripped of art and ornament,\nmake the liturgy of the Church of England? Who wrested from the\npeople the proud titles of \u201creverend divine\u201d and \u201cMan of God\u201d which\nthe clergy of your Church so confidently assume? Who, indeed, but\nthe Church of Rome! We speak in no spirit of enmity. Theosophy has\nseen the rise and fall of many faiths, and will be present at the\nbirth and death of many more. We know that the lives of religions\nare subject to law. Whether you inherited legitimately from the\nChurch of Rome, or obtained by violence, we leave you to settle with\nyour enemies and with your conscience; for our mental attitude\ntowards your Church is determined by its intrinsic worthiness. We\nknow that if it be unable to fulfil the true spiritual function of a\nreligion, it will surely be swept away, even though the fault lie\nrather in its hereditary tendencies, or in its environments, than in\nitself.\n\nThe Church of England, to use a homely simile, is like a train\nrunning by the momentum it acquired before steam was shut off. When\nit left the main track, it got upon a siding that leads nowhere. The\ntrain has nearly come to a standstill, and many of the passengers\nhave left it for other conveyances. Those that remain are for the\nmost part aware that they have been depending all along upon what\nlittle steam was left in the boiler when the fires of Rome were\nwithdrawn from under it. They suspect that they may be only playing\nat train now; but the engineer keeps blowing his whistle and the\nguard goes round to examine the tickets, and the breaksmen rattle\ntheir breaks, and it is not such bad fun after all. For the\ncarriages are warm and comfortable and the day is cold, and so long\nas they are tipped all the company\u2019s servants are very obliging. But\nthose who know where they want to go, are not so contented.\n\nFor several centuries the Church of England has performed the\ndifficult feat of blowing hot and cold in two directions at\nonce\u2014saying to the Roman Catholics \u201cReason!\u201d and to the Sceptics\n\u201cBelieve!\u201d It was by adjusting the force of its two-faced blowing,\nthat it has managed to keep itself so long from falling off the\nfence. But now the fence itself is giving way. Disendowment and\ndisestablishment are in the air. And what does your Church urge in\nits own behalf? Its usefulness. It is _useful_ to have a number of\neducated, moral, unworldly men, scattered all over the country, who\nprevent the world from utterly forgetting the name of religion, and\nwho act as centres of benevolent work. But the question now is no\nlonger one of repeating prayers, and giving alms to the poor, as it\nwas five hundred years ago. The people have come of age, and have\ntaken their thinking and the direction of their social, private and\neven spiritual affairs into their own hands, for they have found out\nthat their clergy know no more about \u201cthings of Heaven\u201d than they do\nthemselves.\n\nBut the Church of England, it is said, has become so liberal that\nall ought to support it. Truly, one can go to an excellent imitation\nof the mass, or sit under a virtual Unitarian, and still be within\nits fold. This beautiful tolerance, however, only means that the\nChurch has found it necessary to make itself an open common, where\nevery one can put up his own booth, and give his special performance\nif he will only join in the defence of the endowments. Tolerance and\nliberality are contrary to the laws of the existence of any church\nthat believes in divine damnation, and their appearance in the\nChurch of England is not a sign of renewed life, but of approaching\ndisintegration. No less deceptive is the energy evinced by the\nChurch in the building of churches. If this were a measure of\nreligion what a pious age this would be! Never was dogma so well\nhoused before, though human beings may have to sleep by thousands in\nthe streets, and to literally starve in the shadow of our majestic\ncathedrals, built in the name of Him who had not where to lay His\nhead. But did Jesus tell you, your Grace, that religion lay not in\nthe hearts of men, but in temples made with hands? You cannot\nconvert your piety into stone and use it in your lives; and history\nshows that petrifaction of the religious sentiment is as deadly a\ndisease as ossification of the heart. Were churches, however,\nmultiplied a hundred fold, and were every clergyman to become a\ncentre of philanthropy, it would only be substituting the work that\nthe poor require from their fellow men but not from their spiritual\nteachers, for that which they ask and cannot obtain. It would but\nbring into greater relief the spiritual barrenness of the doctrines\nof the Church.\n\nThe time is approaching when the clergy will be called upon to\nrender an account of their stewardship. Are you prepared, my Lord\nPrimate, to explain to YOUR MASTER why you have given His children\nstones, when they cried to you for bread? You smile in your fancied\nsecurity. The servants have kept high carnival so long in the inner\nchambers of the Lord\u2019s house, that they think He will surely never\nreturn. But He told you He would come as a thief in the night; and\nlo! He is coming already in the hearts of men. He is coming to take\npossession of His Father\u2019s kingdom there, where alone His kingdom\nis. But you know Him not! Were the Churches themselves not carried\naway in the flood of negation and materialism which has engulfed\nSociety, they would recognise the quickly growing germ of the\nChrist-spirit in the hearts of thousands, whom they now brand as\ninfidels and madmen. They would recognise there the same spirit of\nlove, of self-sacrifice, of immense pity for the ignorance, the\nfolly, and the sufferings of the world, which appeared in its purity\nin the heart of Jesus, as it had appeared in the hearts of other\nHoly Reformers in other ages; and which is the light of all true\nreligion, and the lamp by which the Theosophists of all times have\nendeavoured to guide their steps along the narrow path that leads to\nsalvation\u2014the path which is trodden by every incarnation of CHRISTOS\nor the SPIRIT OF TRUTH.\n\nAnd now, my Lord Primate, we have very respectfully laid before you\nthe principal points of difference and disagreement between\nTheosophy and the Christian Churches, and told you of the oneness of\nTheosophy and the teachings of Jesus. You have heard our profession\nof faith, and learned the grievances and plaints which we lay at the\ndoor of dogmatic Christianity. We, a handful of humble individuals,\npossessed of neither riches nor worldly influence, but strong in our\nknowledge, have united in the hope of doing the work which you say\nthat your MASTER has allotted to you, but which is so sadly\nneglected by that wealthy and domineering colossus\u2014the Christian\nChurch. Will you call this presumption, we wonder? Will you, in this\nland of free opinion, free speech, and free effort, venture to\naccord us no other recognition than the usual _anathema_, which the\nChurch keeps in store for the reformer? Or may we hope that the\nbitter lessons of experience, which that policy has afforded the\nChurches in the past, will have altered the hearts and cleared the\nunderstandings of her rulers; and that the coming year, 1888, will\nwitness the stretching out to us of the hand of Christians in\nfellowship and goodwill? This would only be a just recognition that\nthe comparatively small body called the Theosophical Society is no\npioneer of the Anti-Christ, no brood of the Evil one, but the\npractical helper, perchance the saviour, of Christianity, and that\nit is only endeavouring to do the work that Jesus, like Buddha, and\nthe other \u201csons of God\u201d who preceded him, has commanded all his\nfollowers to undertake, but which the Churches, having become\ndogmatic, are entirely unable to accomplish.\n\nAnd now, if your Grace can prove that we do injustice to the Church\nof which you are the Head, or to popular Theology, we promise to\nacknowledge our error publicly. But\u2014\u201cSILENCE GIVES CONSENT.\u201d\n\n                        \u201cEMERSON AND OCCULTISM.\u201d\n\n         \u201c\u2019Tis thus at the roaring Loom of Time I ply,\n         And weave for God the garment thou seest Him by.\u201d\n\n                                               \u2014_Erd. Geist_, FAUST.\n\nThe sunset, to the boor a mere mass of evening vapours, presaging\nrain for his fields or heat for his harvest, expands for the poet,\nstanding beside him and beholding the self-same firmament, into a\nsplendid picture, rich in crimson and purple, in golden light and\ngleaming colour, mingled in harmonious purity.\n\nWhence so great a difference?\n\nThe poet has finer eyes; and within the mere material forms\nperceives a subtle essence, which flows everywhere through nature,\nadding to all it touches a new wealth of joy and power. The poet\u2019s\neyes have opened to a new reality; he no longer values things for\nthemselves; but in proportion as they contain this quality, they\nbecome dear to him.\n\nBut beyond the poet, there is yet a third rank. The poet, it is\ntrue, rejoices in nature, and perceives its beauty and symbolic\ncharacter. But he rests in the beauty of the symbol, and does not\npass to the reality symbolised. Rapt in adoration of the beauty of\nthe garment, he does not pierce through to Him who wears the\ngarment. This remains for the philosopher\u2014the sage. Yet the boor has\nhis place in Nature. He has tilled and subdued the soil, has brought\nits latent powers into action; in command of nature, he is far in\nadvance of the mere nomad savage, for whom nature is a maze of\nuncertain and unconquered forces.\n\nThe savage, the boor, the poet; these types have their parallels in\nmental life.\n\nWhen the crude conceptions of nature, which mark dawning\ncivilisation, give place to those fair and truer, because more\nharmonious, views which bear the name of Science; when the principle\nof Continuity, the reign of Universal Law, have displaced the first\nnotions of Chance and Discord, the work of the physical scientist is\ndone; he must stand aside, and make way for the philosopher, the\ntranscendentalist. Modern Science has replaced the crudities of\nmedi\u00e6val theology by the idea of an orderly universe permeated by\nLaw, binding alike the galaxy and the atom, as the tillage of the\nfarmer has replaced the nomadism of the savage.\n\nBut within the world of the boor nestles the poet\u2019s world, and\nwithin the world of the physical scientist lies an ethereal,\nspiritual universe, with its own powers, its own prophets. The great\ntrilogy of friends at the beginning of this century, who rose like\nthree mountain peaks above their contemporaries, Goethe, Carlyle,\nand Emerson, were chosen by Destiny as prophets of this nature\nwithin nature.\n\nTheir gleanings have been rich enough to tempt many to enter the\nsame field, though they have no more exhausted its wealth than Homer\nand Shakespeare have exhausted poetry.\n\nThe new world they have explored, is the land of hope of the future,\nfor which we must leave the impoverished soil of theology, and the\narid deserts of materialism.\n\nWhat these three masters taught, Occultism teaches; and we propose\nto show them as great natural masters in the mystic knowledge.\n\nTo do this with any completeness in the space at our disposal is\nnecessarily impossible; for the present, we must content ourselves\nwith shewing from the writings of one of the masters, Emerson, that\nhe recognised some of the chief laws announced by Occultism.\n\nThe first truth to be insisted on, concerning this nature within\nnature, the spiritual universe, is that it exists for its own ends,\nand not as an adjunct to the material world; in other words, the end\nof morals is to make archangels rather than good citizens.\n\nSpirit is the reality; matter, the secondary; or, as Goethe says,\nthe _Garment_ of God.\n\nNo occultist could insist on the subordinate character of matter\nmore vehemently than Emerson\u2014he writes:\n\n  \u201cNature is a mutable cloud, which is always and never the same.\n  Through the bruteness and toughness of matter, a subtle spirit\n  bends all things to its own will. The world proceeds from the same\n  spirit as the body of man. It is a _remoter and inferior\n  incarnation of God_, a projection of God into the unconscious.\u201d\n\nThe Occultist sees in this world of spirit the home of that true joy\nof which all earthly happiness is the shadow, and whispered\nintimation. There all ideals find their realization, all highest\nhopes their fulfilment; there flow abundant fountains of celestial\nbliss, whose least presence makes earthly things radiant.\n\nOf spirit, Emerson writes:\n\n  \u201cBut when following the invisible steps of thought, we come to\n  enquire, Whence is matter? and where to? Many truths arise to us\n  out of the recesses of consciousness. We learn that the highest is\n  present to the soul of man, that the dread universal essence which\n  is not wisdom, or love, or beauty, or power; but all in one, and\n  each entirely, is that for which all things exist, and that by\n  which they are; that spirit creates; that behind nature,\n  throughout nature spirit is present. As a plant upon the earth, so\n  a man rests upon the bosom of God; he is nourished by unfailing\n  fountains, and draws, at his need, inexhaustible power.\u201d\n\nBut to obtain a footing in this world of essential being, is to be\nemancipated from the domination of Time and Space, to enter a\nuniverse where they do not exist; for Space and Time are no\nrealities, but, as Carlyle says, the \u201cdeepest of all _illusory\nappearances_.\u201d Emancipation from Space and Time; how much more this\nimplies than is at first sight apparent. The first fruit of this\nfreedom is a feeling of eternalness, the real basis of the doctrine\nof immortality. It is an attainable reality, this sense of\neternalness; let the sceptic and materialist say what they will.\n\nOf this truth, also, we may bring Emerson as witness. He writes:\n\n  \u201cTo truth, justice, love, the attributes of the soul, the idea of\n  _immutableness_ is essentially associated. In the flowing of love,\n  in the adoration of humility, there is no question of\n  continuance.\u201d\n\nOnce recognise the truth that we can gain a footing in a world free\nfrom the tyranny of time, that the soul exists in such a world, and\na new philosophy is at once required. Freedom from Time implies the\neternity of the soul, and the facts of life and death take a new\nposition and significance. If the soul be eternal, death must be an\nillusion, a garment in which Nature wraps some hidden law.\n\nIn the following words of Emerson, on this subject:\n\n  \u201cIt is the secret of the world that _all things subsist and do not\n  die_, but only retire a little from sight, and afterwards return\n  again. Whatever does not concern us, is concealed from us. As soon\n  as a person is no longer related to our present well-being, he is\n  concealed or _dies_, as we say. When the man has exhausted for the\n  time the nourishment to be drawn from any one person or thing,\n  that object is withdrawn from his observation, and though still in\n  his immediate neighbourhood, he does not suspect its presence.\n  Nothing is dead; men feign themselves dead, and endure mock\n  funerals and mournful obituaries, and there they stand looking out\n  of the window, sound and well, in some new disguise. Jesus is not\n  dead; he is very well alive; nor John, nor Paul, nor Mahomet, nor\n  Aristotle.\u201d\n\nwe have an accurate exposition of the occult doctrine of\nReincarnation\u2014the progressive discipline of the soul through\nmany lives\u2014which has been parodied in the popular fable of\nmetemphsychosis.\n\nThe true occult doctrine does not picture a series of bodies in each\nof which the soul makes a temporary sojourn. In this, as in all\nelse, it begins with spirit and then descends to matter. It depicts\nthat vital energy which we call a soul, alternately exuding from\nitself and re-absorbing into its own nature an environment or\nphysical encasement, whose character varies with the increasing\nstature of the soul. According to the teaching of occultism, the\nsuccessive formations of this objective shell\u2014whose purpose is to\nprovide for the development of the animal nature\u2014alternate with\nperiods of subjective life, which give expansion to the powers of\nthe soul.\n\nAs corollary to this doctrine, occultism postulates a second\u2014that\nthe incidents of each objective environment or physical life\u2014are not\nfortuitous and isolated, but that they are bound to all that precede\nand follow them, and moreover that \u201cthe future is not arbitrarily\nformed by any separate acts of the present, but that the whole\nfuture is in unbroken continuity with the present, as the present is\nwith the past.\u201d\n\nTo the various developments of this law, eastern philosophy has\ngiven the name of Karma; the west has as yet no name for it. But\nthough unnamed, its leading ideas have not been unperceived by those\nwestern minds which have penetrated into the world of supernature.\n\nThus we find Emerson writing:\n\n  \u201cEvery secret is told, every crime is punished, every virtue\n  rewarded, every wrong redressed, in silence and certainty. Crime\n  and punishment grow on one stem; punishment is a fruit that\n  unsuspected ripens within the flower of pleasure which concealed\n  it. You cannot do wrong without suffering wrong. The thief steals\n  from himself; the swindler swindles himself. Everything in nature,\n  even motes and feathers, goes by law and not by luck. _What a man\n  sows, he reaps._\u201d\n\nThe picture of an orderly universe, where matter is the garment of\nspirit\u2014spirit visualised\u2014where souls march onward in orderly\nprocession to boundless perfection; where the life of each permeates\nand flows through the life of all; where the wrong of each is turned\nto the benefit of all by the firm hand of an invisible and ever\nactive law, incessantly disciplining and correcting, till the last\ndross of self and sin is purged away, and instead of man there\nremains God only, working through the powers that were man\u2019s; such\nis the conception Occultism holds.\n\n\u201cI know not,\u201d says Emerson\u2014\n\n  \u201cI know not whether there be, as is alleged, in the upper region\n  of our atmosphere a permanent westerly current, which carries with\n  it all atoms which rise to that height, but I see that when souls\n  reach a certain clearness of perfection, they accept a knowledge\n  and motive above selfishness. A breath of Will blows eternally\n  through the universe of souls in the direction of the Right and\n  Necessary. It is the air which all intellects inhale and exhale,\n  and it is the wind which blows the world into order and orbit.\n\n  \u201cLet us build altars to the Beautiful Necessity which rudely or\n  softly educates men to the perception that there are no\n  contingencies, that Law rules through existence, a Law which is\n  not intelligent but intelligence, not personal nor impersonal\u2014it\n  disdains words, and passes understanding; it dissolves persons; it\n  vivifies nature, yet solicits the pure in heart to draw on its\n  all, its omnipotence.\u201d\n\nDiscipline always and everywhere throughout the universe; to\ndiscipline, development, all other facts are subordinate; for their\nsake, all laws are enunciated, all spiritual facts are insisted on;\nall truths which tend not to the melioration of human life\u2014if any\nsuch there be\u2014are worthless. Discipline, development. What\ndevelopment does Occultism predict for man? Man\u2019s future destiny, in\nthe view of Occultism, is so stupendous, that we prefer merely to\nerect a finger-post pointing out the direction of the path, using\nthe words of Emerson:\n\n  \u201cThe youth puts off the illusions of the child, the man puts off\n  the ignorance and tumultuous passions of the youth; proceeding\n  thence, puts off the egotism of manhood, and becomes at last a\n  public and universal soul. He is rising to greater height, but\n  also to realities; the outer relations and circumstances dying\n  out, he is entering deeper into God, God into him, until the last\n  garment of egotism falls, and he is with God, shares the will and\n  the immensity of the First Cause.\u201d\n\nFrom first to last, Occultism has preached no doctrine more\nemphatically than the necessity of dependence on the intuitions, and\nthe reality of interior illumination. \u201cSeek out the way by making\nthe profound obeisance of the soul to the dim star that burns\nwithin; within you is the light of the world,\u201d writes the Occultist.\n\nAnd this doctrine is repeated again and again in the writings of the\nphilosopher we have been quoting from. He writes:\n\n  \u201cA man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which\n  flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the\n  firmament of bards and sages. From within or from behind, a light\n  shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are\n  nothing, but that the light is all. The consciousness in each man\n  is a sliding scale, which identifies him now with the First Cause,\n  and now with the flesh of his body; life above life, in infinite\n  degrees. There is for each a Best Counsel, which enjoins the fit\n  word and the fit act for every moment. There is no bar or wall in\n  the soul where man, the effect, ceases, and God, the cause,\n  begins. The walls are taken away, we lie open on one side to the\n  deeps of spiritual nature, to the attributes of God. The simplest\n  person who, in his integrity, worships God, becomes God; yet for\n  ever and ever the influx of this better and universal self is new\n  and unsearchable.\u201d\n\nThe life of one is the life of all. The good of one re-acts on all.\nThe walls by which selfishness conceives itself enclosed and\nisolated, are unreal, have no existence. Spirit is fluid and\nall-pervading; its beneficent power flows unchecked from soul to\nsoul, energising, harmonising, purifying. To resist all discordant\ntendencies which check this salutary flow, this all-permeating love,\nis to come under the reign of Universal Brotherhood; and to the\nhonour of Occultism be it said, that Universal Brotherhood is\nblazoned highest on its standard.\n\n\u201cThus,\u201d writes Emerson\u2014\n\n  \u2014\u201cAre we put in training for a love which knows not sex nor\n  person, nor partiality, but which seeks virtue and wisdom\n  everywhere. One day all men will be lovers, and every calamity\n  will be dissolved in universal sunshine. An acceptance of the\n  sentiment of love throughout Christendom for a season would bring\n  the felon and the outcast to our side in tears, with the devotion\n  of his faculties to our service.\u201d\n\nBut to the axiom \u201cKill out the sense of separateness\u201d Occultism adds\nanother, \u201cYet stand alone.\u201d Before the lesson of life can be learnt,\nthe soul must in some sort detach itself from its environment, and\nview all things impersonally, in solitude and stillness. There is an\noracle in the lonely recess of the soul to which all things must be\nbrought for trial. Here all laws are tested, all appearances\nweighed.\n\nAbout this truth always hangs a certain solemnity, and Emerson has\ngiven it a fitting expression in the following words:\n\n  \u201cThe soul gives itself alone, original, and pure, to the Lonely,\n  Original, and Pure, who, on that condition, gladly inhabits,\n  leads, and speaks through it. Then it is glad, young, and nimble.\n  Behold, it saith, I am born into the great, the universal mind. I,\n  the imperfect, adore my own Perfect. I am somehow receptive of the\n  great soul, and thereby I do overlook the sun and the stars, and\n  feel them to be the fair accidents and effects which change and\n  pass. More and more the surges of everlasting nature enter into\n  me, and I become public and human in my regards and actions. So I\n  come to live in thoughts, and act with energies, which are\n  immortal.\u201d\n\nThe last words of this sentence lead us to the occult idea of\n_Mahatma-hood_, which conceives a perfected soul as \u201cliving in\nthoughts, and acting with energies which are immortal.\u201d\n\nThe _Mahatma_ is a soul of higher rank in the realms of life,\nconceived to drink in the wealth of spiritual power closer to the\nfountain-head, and to distil its essence into the interior of\nreceptive souls.\n\nIn harmony with this idea, Emerson writes:\n\n  \u201cTruth is the summit of being; justice is the application of it to\n  affairs. All individual natures stand in a scale, according to the\n  purity of this element in them. The will of the pure runs down\n  from them into other natures, as water runs down from a higher\n  into a lower vessel; this natural force is no more to be withstood\n  than any other natural force. A healthy soul stands united with\n  the Just and the True, as the magnet arranges itself with the\n  pole, so that he stands to all beholders like a transparent object\n  betwixt them and the sun, and whoso journeys towards the sun,\n  journeys towards that person.\u201d\n\nOccultism conceives the outer world and all its accidents to be so\nmany veils, shrouding the splendour of essential nature, and\ntempering the fiery purity of spirit to the imperfect powers of the\nunderstanding soul. This illusory power Occultism considers to be\nthe \u201cactive will of God,\u201d a means to the ends of eternal spirit.\n\nIn the view of Occultism, life is a drama of thinly veiled souls; as\nShakespeare writes:\n\n                           \u201cWe are such stuff\n             As dreams are made of, and our little life\n             Is rounded with a sleep!\u201d\n\nWe shall conclude with two passages from Emerson\u2019s essays, on the\nsubject of illusions:\n\n  \u201cDo you see that kitten chasing so prettily her own tail? If you\n  could look with her eyes, you might see her surrounded with\n  hundreds of figures performing complex dramas, with tragic and\n  comic issues, long conversations, many characters, many ups and\n  downs of fate; and meantime it is only puss and her tail. How long\n  before our masquerade will end its noise of tambourines, laughter,\n  and shouting, and we shall find it was a solitary performance?\u201d\n\nWe must supplement this rather playful passage with one in a higher\nstrain:\n\n  \u201cThere is no chance, and no anarchy, in the universe. All is\n  system and gradation. Every god is there sitting in his sphere.\n  The young mortal enters the hall of the firmament; there is he\n  alone with them alone, they pouring on him benedictions and gifts,\n  and beckoning him up to their thrones. On an instant, and\n  incessantly, fall snowstorms and illusions. He fancies himself in\n  a vast crowd which sways this way and that, and whose movement and\n  doings he must obey: he fancies himself poor, orphaned,\n  insignificant. The mad crowd drives hither and thither, now\n  furiously commanding this thing to be done, now that. What is he\n  that he should resist their will, and think or act for himself?\n  Every moment new changes and new showers of deceptions to baffle\n  and distract him. And when, by-and-bye, for an instant, the air\n  clears, and the cloud lifts a little, there are the gods still\n  sitting around him on their thrones\u2014they alone with him alone.\u201d\n\n                                            CHARLES JOHNSTON, F.T.S.\n\n                  =THE BLOSSOM AND THE FRUIT=:\n\n                  _THE TRUE STORY OF A MAGICIAN_.\n\n                           (_Continued._)\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                         BY MABEL COLLINS,\n\n Scribe of \u201cTHE IDYLL OF THE WHITE LOTUS,\u201d and \u201cTHROUGH THE GATES OF\n                                GOLD.\u201d\n\n  [_Some of the readers of_ LUCIFER _have taken great exception to\n  the love passages between Fleta and Hilary, saying that they are\n  not up to the standard of Theosophic thought, and are out of place\n  in the magazine. The author can only beg that time may be given\n  for the story to develope. None of us that is born dies without\n  experiencing human passion; it is the base on which an edifice\n  must rise at last, after many incarnations have purified it; \u201cit\n  is the blossom which has in it the fruit.\u201d Hilary is still only a\n  man, he has not yet learned to the full the lesson of human life\n  and human passion. Fleta promises him all that he can take and\n  that plainly is only what she can give\u2014the deep love of the\n  disciple. But she cannot instantly free his eyes from the\n  illusions caused by his own passionate heart; till he has suffered\n  and conquered, he cannot recognise her for what she is, the\n  pledged servant of a great master, of necessity more white-souled\n  than any nun need be._\n\n  _Another strange criticism is made, condemning portions of the\n  story as though expressive of the author\u2019s feelings and\n  sentiments; whereas they are simply descriptive of the states\n  through which Hilary is passing. They no more express the author\u2019s\n  feelings than do those later parts which refer to the ordeals of\n  Fleta, the accepted disciple, express the author\u2019s feelings. The\n  two characters of the struggling aspirant and the advanced\n  disciple, are studies from life. The stumbling-block of human\n  passion which stands in Hilary\u2019s way, is the same which lost\n  Zanoni his high estate; in the coming chapters of \u201cThe Blossom and\n  the Fruit,\u201d we shall see Fleta flung back from the high estate she\n  aims at, by this same stumbling-block, in an idealised and subtle\n  form. She has not yet learned the bitter truth that the Occultist\n  must stand absolutely alone, without even companionship of\n  thought, or sympathy of feeling, at the times of the Initiations\n  and the trials which precede them._\u2014M. C.]\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                       CHAPTER VI.\u2014(_Continued._)\n\nHilary found himself in a room which no longer permitted him to\nregret his own rooms at home, for it was more luxurious. A great\nbath stood ready filled with perfumed water, and he hastened to\nbathe himself therein, with a sort of idea that he was perhaps\nsuffering from hallucinations, some of which he might wash away. His\nscanty luggage had been brought into the room, and when the bath was\nover Hilary got out a velvet suit which he thought would do well for\nevening-dress in this palace of surprises. He was but just ready\nwhen a knock came at his door, and without further ceremony, Mark\nopened it and looked in.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d he said, \u201cwe don\u2019t wait for anybody here. The cook won\u2019t\nstand it. He is a very holy father indeed, and nobody dare say him\nnay, unless it were the Princess herself. She always does as she\nlikes. Are you ready?\u201d\n\n\u201cQuite,\u201d replied Hilary.\n\nOpening out of the entrance was a great oak door, double, and very\nrichly carved. This had been shut when Hilary passed through before;\nnow it stood open, and Mark led the way through it. They entered an\nimmense room, of which the floor was polished so that it shone like\na mirror. Two figures were standing in the midst of this room,\ndressed alike in clouds of white lace; they were the two Fletas, as\nto Hilary\u2019s eyes they still seemed.\n\nHis heart was torn as he gazed on them, waiting for a glance of\nlove, a gleam of love-light, to tell him which was his own, his\nFleta, his princess, the Fleta whom he served. There was none; they\nhad been talking together very earnestly and both looked sad and a\nlittle weary.\n\nAs Hilary\u2019s eyes wandered from one face to the other his mind grew\nconfused. And then suddenly a flash of bewitchingly beautiful\nlaughter came on one of the faces; and immediately he decided that\nmust be Adine. And yet, had he not seen just such laughter flash\nacross Fleta\u2019s face? But all this passed in a moment, and no more\ntime was given him for thought. A table stood at one end of the\nhall, set as a king\u2019s table might be; covered with the finest linen,\nedged with deep lace, and with gold dishes of fruit upon it; it was\ndecorated with lovely flowers. Hilary opened his eyes a little even\nin the midst of his other much greater perplexities, to see this\nluxury here in the midst of the forest. And was it prepared in\nhonour of Fleta, who ate a crust of dry bread in an ale-house with\nperfect cheerfulness, or rather, indifference? Fleta took her place\nat the end of the table; at least, one sister did so, and the other\ntook her place beside Hilary\u2014he could not yet determine which was\nwhich, and his whole soul was absorbed in the attempted solution of\nthat problem. Mark sat at the other end of the table, evidently\nprepared to do such labours of carving as might be necessary. Two\nplaces were set at the other side of the table, but no one came to\nfill them. A very elaborate dinner was served, and a very good one;\nand Hilary thought he was satisfied now that it was Adine who sat\nnext him, for she showed herself an unmistakable little gourmand. He\nhad just come to this conclusion when his attention was distracted\nby the great doors being thrown open again for two persons to enter.\nEveryone rose, even Fleta, who advanced with a smile to meet these\nnew comers. Hilary rose also and turned from the table. Two men\nstood there; one a man but little older than himself, and of\nextremely fine appearance. Little more than a boy, yet he had a\ndignity which made him something much more, and Hilary felt\nimmediately a kind of jealousy, undefined, vague, but still\njealousy. For Fleta had put both her hands into those of this\nhandsome young man and greeted him with great warmth. At his side\nstood a small shrivelled old man, in the same dress that Father\nAmyot always wore. This circumstance again made Hilary wonder what\nhad become of Father Amyot; but he concluded Adine\u2019s account had\nbeen the correct one.\n\nThere was something familiar in the face of the young man, so Hilary\nthought; while he was thinking this, Fleta turned and introduced\nthem to each other.\n\nHe was the young king to whom Fleta was betrothed.\n\nThis is a history of those things which lie behind the scenes, not a\nhistory of that which is known to all the world. We will give this\nyoung King the name of Alan. Let those who like fix upon his kingdom\nand assign to him his true name.\n\nHe sat down opposite Hilary; and the old priest took his place\nbeside him. Hilary returned to his chair, feeling that all strength,\nand hope, and power, and life had gone from him. By a fierce and\nterrible revulsion of his whole nature and all his recent feelings,\nhe returned to his cynical estimate of mankind and most of all of\nFleta. She had brought him to this place simply to taunt and harass\nhim and show him his madness and folly in aspiring to her love in\nthe face of such a rival. It cut Hilary\u2019s heart like a knife to find\nthe young King so magnificent a creature. And Fleta, why had she\ncome here to meet him? Why had she brought her unhappy lover with\nher? Hilary tore himself with doubts, and fears, and questions; and\nsat silent, not even noticing the plates that were placed before him\nand taken away untouched. The others talked and laughed gaily, Alan\nbeing apparently possessed of a hundred things to say. Hilary did\nnot hear what they were, but it annoyed him to find his rival\nspeaking so much in that rich, musical voice of his, while he\nhimself sat dumb, silenced by a bitter pain that tore his heart.\n\n\u201cYou are sad,\u201d said a soft voice at his side, \u201cit is hard, if you\nlove Fleta, to see her monopolised by some one else. How often have\nI had to suffer it? Well, it must be so, I suppose. Why am I sorry\nfor you. I wonder? For if Alan were not here you would monopolise\nFleta, and have no eyes for anyone else. Ah me!\u201d\n\nThe sigh was very tender, the voice very low and soft; and that\nvoice was Fleta\u2019s voice, those lovely eyes uplifted to his were\nFleta\u2019s eyes. Yes, it was so! He thought as he looked back. Did he\nnot know Fleta well enough by now?\n\n\u201cAh, you are playing with me,\u201d he exclaimed eagerly, \u201cit is Fleta\nnow, not Adine! Is it not so? Oh, my love, my love, be honest and\ntell me!\u201d\n\nHe spoke like this under cover of the others\u2019 voices, but Fleta\nlooked round alarmed.\n\n\u201cHush!\u201d she said, \u201ctake care. Your life would be lost if you\nrevealed our secret here. After dinner is over, come with me.\u201d\n\nThis appointment made Hilary happy again; his heart leaped up, his\npulses throbbed; all the world changed. He found some fruit was\nbefore him, he began to eat it, and to drink the wine in his glass.\nFleta was watching him.\n\n\u201cYou have just begun to dine!\u201d said Fleta with a soft laugh. \u201cWell,\nnever mind; you are young and strong. Do you think you could live\nthrough a great many hardships?\u201d\n\nHilary made the lover\u2019s answer, which is so evident that it need not\nbe recorded. He did not know how he said it, but he desired to tell\nher that for her he would endure anything. She laughed again.\n\n\u201cIt may be so!\u201d she said thoughtfully; and then he caught her eyes\nfixed upon him with a searching glance that for an instant seemed to\nturn the blood cold in his veins. His terrible thoughts and doubts\nof her returned again the more fiercely for their momentary\nrepulsion. He emptied his glass, but eat nothing more, and was very\nglad when they all rose from the table together, a few moments\nlater. He followed the figure of the girl who had sat next him since\nAlan\u2019s entrance, believing that Fleta had then changed her place.\nShe went across the great room and led the way into a greenhouse\nwhich opened out of it. A very wonderful greenhouse it was, full of\nthe strangest plants. They were extremely beautiful, and yet in some\nway they inspired in him a great repugnance. They were of many\ncolours, and the blossoms were variously shaped, but evidently they\nwere all of one species.\n\n\u201cThese are very precious,\u201d said Fleta, looking at the flowers near\nher tenderly. \u201cI obtain a rare and valuable substance from them. You\nhave seen me use it,\u201d she added, after a moment\u2019s pause. Hilary\nlonged to leave the greenhouse and sit elsewhere; but that was so\nevidently not Fleta\u2019s wish that he could not suggest it. There were\nseats here and there among the flowers, and she placed herself upon\none of them, motioning Hilary to sit beside her.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d she said, \u201cI am going to tell you a great many things which\nyou have earned the right to know. To begin with, you are now in a\nmonastery, belonging to the most rigid of the religious orders.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you a Catholic?\u201d asked Hilary suddenly. And then laughed at\nhimself for such a question. How could Fleta be catalogued like\nthis? He knew her to be a creature whose thought could not be\nlimited.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she answered simply. \u201cI am not a Catholic. But I belong to\nthis order. I fear such an answer will be so unintelligible as to be\nlike an impertinence. Forgive me, Hilary.\u201d\n\nAh, what a tone she spoke in, gentle, sweet\u2014the voice of the woman\nhe loved. Hilary lost all control over himself. He sprang to his\nfeet and stood before her.\n\n\u201cI do not want to know your religion,\u201d he exclaimed passionately, \u201cI\ndo not want to know where we are, or why we are here. I ask you only\nthis\u2014Are you indeed my love given to me, as you said this\nmorning?\u2014or is your love given to the king, and are you only\nlaughing at me. It is enough to make me think so, to bring me here\nto meet him! Oh, it is a cruel insult, a cruel mockery! For, Fleta,\nyou have made me love you with all my heart and soul. My whole life\nis yours. Be honest and tell me the truth.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have a powerful rival,\u201d said Fleta deliberately. \u201cIs he not\nhandsome, courtly, all that a king should be? And I am pledged to\nhim. Yes, Hilary, I am pledged to him. Would you have the woman you\nlove live a lie for your sake, and hourly betray the man she\nmarries?\u201d\n\n\u201cI would have her give me her love,\u201d said Hilary despairingly, \u201cat\nall costs, at all hazards. Oh, Fleta, do not keep me in agony. You\nsaid this morning that you loved me, that you would give yourself to\nme. Are you going to take those words back?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Fleta, \u201cI am not. For I do love you, Hilary. Did I not\nsee you first in my sleep? Did I not dream of you? Did I not come to\nyour house in search of you? Unwomanly, was it not? No one but Fleta\nwould have done it. And Fleta would only have done it for love. You\ndo not know what she risked\u2014what she risks now\u2014for you! Oh, Hilary,\nif you could guess what I have at stake. Never mind. None can know\nmy own danger but myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cEscape from it!\u201d said Hilary in a sort of madness. A passionate\ndesire to help her came over him and swept all reasonable thoughts\naway. \u201cYou are so powerful, so free, there is no need for you to\nencounter danger. Does it lie in these people, in this strange\nplace? Come back then to the city, to your home. What is there to\ninduce you to run risks, you that have all that the world can offer?\nIs there anything you need that you cannot have?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Fleta, \u201cthere is. I need something which no power of\nroyalty can give me. I need something which I may have to sacrifice\nmy life to obtain. Yet I am ready to sacrifice it\u2014oh, how ready!\nWhat is my life to me! What is my life to me! Nothing!\u201d\n\nShe had risen and was impatiently walking to and fro, moving her\nhands with a strange eager gesture as she did so; and her eyes were\nall aflame. This was the woman he loved. This, who said her life was\nnothing to her. Hilary forgot all else that was strange in her words\nand manner in the thought of this. Could she then return his\nlove\u2014no, it was impossible, if she meant these strange and terrible\nwords that she uttered!\n\n\u201cAh, this it is that keeps me back,\u201d she said, before he had time to\nspeak. Her voice had altered, and her face had grown pale, so pale\nthat he forgot everything else in watching her.\n\n\u201cThis it is that keeps me from my strength, this longing for it!\u201d\nAnd with a heavy sigh she moved back to her seat and fell into it\nwith a weariness he had never seen in her before. Her head drooped\non her breast, she fell into profound thought. Presently she spoke\nagain, disjointedly, and in such words as seemed unintelligible.\n\n\u201cI have always been too impatient, too eager,\u201d she said sadly, \u201cI\nhave always tried to take what I longed for without waiting to earn\nit. So it was long ago, Hilary, when you and I stood beneath those\nblossoming trees, long ages ago. I broke the peace that kept us\nstrong and simple. I caused the torment of pain and peril to arise\nin our lives. We have to live it out\u2014alas, Hilary, we have to live\nit out!\u2014and live beyond it. How long will it take us\u2014how long will\nit take!\u201d\n\nThere was a despair, an agony in her voice and manner, that were so\nnew, he was bewildered, he hardly recognised her. Her moods changed\nso strangely that he could not follow them, for he had not the key;\nhe could not read her thought. He sat dumb, looking in her sad drawn\nface.\n\n\u201cMy love, my love,\u201d he murmured at last, hardly knowing that he\nspoke, hardly knowing what his thought was that he spoke, only full\nof longing. \u201cWould that I could help you! Would that I understood\nyou!\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you indeed wish to?\u201d asked Fleta, her voice melting into a sort\nof tender eagerness.\n\n\u201cDo you not know it?\u201d exclaimed Hilary. \u201cMy soul is burning to meet\nyours and to recognise it, to stand with you and help you. Why are\nyou so far off, so like a star, so removed and unintelligible to me,\nwho love you so! Oh, help me to change this, to come nearer to you!\u201d\n\nFleta rose slowly, her eyes fixed upon his face.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d she said. And she held out her hand to him. He put his into\nit, and together, hand in hand, they left the conservatory. They did\nnot enter the great dining hall, where now there was music and\ndancing as Hilary could see and hear. They left the house of the\nstrange flowers by a different doorway, which admitted them to a\nlong dim corridor. Fleta opened the door by a key that was attached\nto a chain hanging from her waist; and she closed it behind her.\nHilary asked no questions, for she seemed buried in thought so\nprofound that he did not care to rouse her.\n\nAt the end of the corridor was a small and very low doorway. Fleta\nstooped and knocked, and without waiting for any answer pushed the\ndoor open.\n\n\u201cMay I come in, Master?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cCome, child,\u201d was the answer, in a very gentle voice.\n\n\u201cI am bringing some one with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d was repeated.\n\nThey entered. The room was small, and was dimly lit by a shaded\nlamp. Beside the table, on which this stood, sat a man, reading. He\nput a large book which he had been holding, on to the table, and\nturned towards his visitors. Hilary saw before him the handsomest\nman he had ever seen in his life. He was still young, though Hilary\nfelt himself to be a boy beside him; he rose from his chair and\nstood before them very tall and very slight, and yet there was that\nin his build which suggested great strength. He looked attentively\nat Hilary for a moment, and then turned to Fleta.\n\n\u201cLeave him here.\u201d Fleta bowed and immediately went out of the room\nwithout another word. Hilary gazed upon her in amazement. Was this\nthe proud, imperious princess who yielded such instant and ready\nobedience? It seemed incredible. But he forgot the extraordinary\nsight immediately afterwards in the interest excited by his new\ncompanion, who at once addressed him:\n\n\u201cThe Princess has often spoken to me of you,\u201d he said, \u201cand I know\nshe has much wished that this moment should arrive. She will be\nsatisfied if she thinks you appreciate with your inner senses the\nstep you are about to take if you accord with her wishes. But I\nthink it right you should know it in every aspect as far as that is\npossible. If you really desire to know Fleta, to approach her, to\nunderstand her, you must give up all that men ordinarily value in\nthe world.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have it not to surrender,\u201d said Hilary rather bitterly, \u201cmy life\nis nothing splendid.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, but you are only at the beginning of it. To you the future is\nfull of promise. If you desire to be the Princess Fleta\u2019s companion,\nyour life is no longer your own.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u2014it is hers\u2014and it is hers now!\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so. It is not hers now, nor will it be hers then. Not even your\nlove does she claim for her own. She has nothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d said Hilary simply. \u201cShe is the Princess of\nthis country; she will soon be the Queen of another. She has all\nthat the world has to give a woman.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you not know the woman you love better than to suppose that she\ncares for her position in the world?\u201d demanded this man whom Fleta\ncalled her master. \u201cAt a word from me, at any hour, at any time she\nwill leave her throne and never return to it. That she will do this\ncertainly some day I know very well; and her sister will take her\nplace, the world being no wiser than it now is. Fleta looks forward\nto this change eagerly.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, perhaps,\u201d admitted Hilary.\n\n\u201cNeither has she your love nor your life as her own. In loving her\nyou love the Great Order to which she belongs, and she will gladly\ngive your love to its right owner. She has done this already in\nbringing you to me.\u201d\n\nHilary started to his feet, stung beyond endurance.\n\n\u201cThis is mere nonsense, mere insult,\u201d he said angrily, \u201cFleta has\naccepted my love with her own lips.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is so,\u201d was the answer, \u201cand she is betrothed to King Alan.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know that,\u201d said Hilary in a low voice.\n\n\u201cAnd what did you hold Fleta to be then? A mere pleasure seeker,\nplaying with life like the rest, devoid of honour and principle? Was\nthis your estimate of the woman you loved? What else indeed could it\nbe, when you said, let her give her hand to King Alan while you know\nher love is yours! And you could love such a woman! Hilary Estanol,\nyou have been reared in a different school than this. Does not your\nown conscience shame you?\u201d\n\nHilary stood silent. Every word struck home. He knew not what to\nsay. He had been wilfully blinding himself; the bandages were rudely\ndrawn aside. After a long pause he spoke, hesitatingly:\n\n\u201cThe Princess cannot be judged as other women would be; she is\nunlike all others.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so, if she is what you seem to think her; then she is just like\nthe rest, one of the common herd.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can you speak of her in that way?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can you think of her as you do, dishonouring her by your\nthoughts?\u201d\n\nThe two stood opposite each other now, and their eyes met. A strange\nlight seemed to struggle into Hilary\u2019s soul as these bitter words\nrang sharply on his ear. Dishonouring her? Was it possible? He\nstaggered back and leaned against the wall, still gazing on the\nmagnificent face before him.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d he said at last.\n\n\u201cI am Father Ivan, the superior of the order to which the Princess\nFleta belongs,\u201d was the reply. But another voice spoke when his\nceased, and Hilary saw that Fleta had entered, and was standing\nbehind him.\n\n\u201cAnd he is the master of knowledge, the master in life, the master\nin thought, of whom the Princess Fleta is but a poor and impatient\ndisciple. Master, forgive me! I cannot endure to hear you speak as\nif you were a monk, the mere tool of a religion, the mere professor\nof a miserable creed.\u201d\n\nShe sank on her knees before Father Ivan, in an attitude strangely\nfull of humility. The priest bent down and lifted her to her feet.\nThey stood a moment in silence, side by side, Fleta\u2019s eyes upon his\nface devouring his expression with a passionate and adoring\neagerness. How splendid they looked! Suddenly Hilary saw it, and a\nwild, fierce, all-devouring flame of jealousy awoke in his heart\u2014a\njealousy such as King Alan, no, nor a hundred King Alans, could not\nhave roused in him.\n\nFor he saw that this Ivan, who wore a priest\u2019s dress, yet was\nevidently no priest, who spoke as if this world had no longer any\nmeaning for him, yet who was magnificent in his personal presence\nand power\u2014he saw that this man was Fleta\u2019s equal. And more, he saw\nthat Fleta\u2019s whole face melted and softened, and grew strangely\nsweet, as she looked on him. Never had Hilary seen it like that.\nNever had Hilary dreamed it could look like that. Stumbling like a\nblind man he felt for the door, which he knew was near, and escaped\nfrom the room\u2014how he knew not. Hurriedly he went on, through places\nhe did not see, and at last found himself in the open air. He went\nwith great strides away through the tall ferns and undergrowth until\nhe found himself in so quiet a spot that it appeared as if he were\nalone in the great forest. Then he flung himself upon the ground and\nyielded to an agony of despair which blotted out sky and trees and\neverything from his gaze, like a great cloud covering the earth.\n\n(_To be continued._)\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                               TWILIGHT.\n\n             I sit alone in the twilight,\n             Dreaming\u2014but not as of old;\n             Blind to the flickering fire-light,\n             Mystic visions my spirit enfold.\n\n             What means this struggle within me,\n             This new hope of a far-off goal?\n             This fighting against superstition,\n             That would fetter my awakening soul?\n\n             Why cannot I pray as I once did,\n             For self before all the world?\n             Whence came the flash of lightning\n             That self from its pedestal hurled?\n\n             But what if I\u2019m struggling blindly,\n             What if this new hope is vain,\n             Can I go back to my old faith?\n             A voice whispers\u2014\u201cNever again.\u201d\n\n             So I will press forward\u2014believing\n             Hands unseen will guide to the goal,\n             And tho\u2019 dim yet the light on my pathway,\n             Nirv\u00e4na breathes peace to my soul.\n\n                                                          _K. D. K._\n\n                         THE SPIRIT OF HEALING.\n\nIt is somewhat difficult to say what real or theosophical work is\nwhen exactly defined, and, in consequence, it becomes very easy to\nspeak of an effort as untheosophical\u2014that is not sufficiently\nunselfish in motive. The fact is that the word Theosophy has such a\nvery wide meaning, embracing, as it does, the true spirit of all\ncreeds and religions, and confining itself to none in particular,\nthat no work done in the spirit of truth and wisdom is really\nuntheosophical. Hence, unless the speaker is possessed of more\nknowledge than ordinary men concerning the causes which underlie our\nactions, the application of the word untheosophical is incorrect. In\nfact, if it is once granted that it is possible to work from an\nimpersonal standpoint in favour of a particular creed or religion,\nthat work becomes theosophical in character. Thus it is only work\n(in the widest sense of the word and on all planes) from the\npersonal standpoint, and which, therefore, militates against\nUniversal Brotherhood, which can really be described as\nuntheosophical. But this by no means presupposes that work which has\noutwardly the appearance of theosophical genuineness is not really\nselfish. It is, of course, the old story of the wolf in sheep\u2019s\nclothing. We do but need one example\u2014the truly-called _profession_\nof Medicine. We constantly hear of the wonderful self-sacrifice of\nmedical men; of men who die at their posts rather than desert a\npossible case in times of epidemic and cholera; of men who suck\ntracheotomy tubes with almost certain death by diphtheria staring\nthem in the face; finally we hear, though but seldom, of the honest,\nearnest devotion of a lifetime in places and districts where the\nfees are so small that it is barely possible for the doctor to live\non his earnings. These are the heroes of the profession. Their work,\nfor the most part, consists of an unselfish devotion to the\nalleviation of suffering, culminating in a final sacrifice of their\npersonal selves\u2014for death is nothing less than this. But we must\nturn to the less favourable side of the picture\u2014the struggle not for\na living, but for wealth, and work, fired by ambition and the search\nfor fame. Of course, apart from the personal, selfish element in it,\nthe ambitious struggle in other professions than those of the Church\nor Medicine is of no great or unnatural harm; but in these two cases\nit is more than harmful, it is a degrading betrayal of trust. It is\nSimonism with a vengeance; yes, kind friends, it approaches very\nnearly to the case of Judas, who held the bag, and betrayed his\nMaster with a kiss. It may be asked why this sweeping denunciation\nis made of the two noblest professions; of those two which,\nconsidered from the ethical standpoint, consist of devotion to the\nservice of man? The reason is not very far to seek. The power which\ntrue healers possess\u2014healers alike of body and soul, is not one\nwhich can be sold for money or bartered for wealth and fame. At\nleast, if the possibility does exist, it bears a suspicious\nresemblance to the old idea of selling one\u2019s soul to the devil in\nexchange for power and prosperity. It may be replied to this that\nthere is no harm in bartering knowledge of drugs, of pathology,\ndiagnosis of disease, surgical skill, etc.\u2014in short, all the\nknowledge acquired by education\u2014for money. I answer No! for it is\nmaterial given for material, and nothing more. But these are not the\nsole properties of the true healer, and those who do not possess\nthese other properties I speak of are not healers, and while they\nmay _profess_ medicine[59] and may be _in_ it, are yet not _of_ it.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n  So medicine is, in the Shakespearian use of the word, and also\n  from its Greek derivation, not to give drugs, but to cure or heal.\n\n-----\n\nAs regards the Church and its professors of religion, the case is\neven worse; they have no material products of education to barter,\nand for the most part are contented with telling their flock to \u201cdo\nas I bid you, and not as I do.\u201d But among them there are noble\nexamples of unswerving unselfishness and devotion, although for the\nmost part those who enter the Church are too young to understand\nfully the nature of their high calling. Unfortunately the call in\ntoo many cases is not a call to minister and heal souls, but to make\na living and heal the souls in the process. But again, it may be\nasked, what are these wonderful powers which constitute the true\nhealer, and which are not to be bought or sold? The first one which\noccurs naturally to the mind is the power of sympathy. The old joke\nin _Punch_ about \u201cthe good bedside manner\u201d has a considerable\nsubstratum of truth when divested of its unpleasing folly. The\nsubstratum of that manner is that which is given by sympathy; and\nthis is one of the first elements which constitute the power of\nhealing. It gives the power of suffering with the patient and\ntherefore of understanding what the sufferer is enduring. It is\nbeyond diagnosis, although it assists it by being much surer\u2014at\nleast, as to the reality of the suffering. But this power of\nsympathy only expresses a part of the meaning of the power to heal.\nSympathy tends to annihilate the personal distinctions between the\nhealer and the sufferer; it tends to exalt the consciousness of the\nhealer not only to know the remedy for the disease, but to be\nhimself the power of cure, and also it is a vast occult power in\nvirtue of which all the \u201celder brethren\u201d of the Universal\nBrotherhood live their lives; in virtue of which the world\u2019s great\nenlighteners have not only lived their lives but _lived their\ndeath_, in order that they might benefit the sufferers who despised\nand rejected them. But this power of sympathy and the kindred powers\nwhich constitute the true healer, are really secret powers and\nsecret remedies. Therefore they are openly tabooed by the medical\nprofession, although the said professors cannot avoid using them.\nBut secret remedies are to some degree justly avoided. For it is but\nnatural to regard secret remedies with suspicion. At best their use\nseems like working in the dark and blindly, and, consequently, any\nresults obtained must be empirical. Again, the medical profession\nseems to plume and feather itself upon possessing a slight leaven of\nits ideal condition, and, by constituting itself into a kind of\ntrades\u2019 union, declines as a body to have anything to do with any\nremedy of which the composition is not made fully known. This, at\nleast, is the more charitable view, for, on the other hand, the\ndoctors know only too well how eagerly the public rushes after any\nnew \u201cquack\u201d medicine, and seeks to cure itself without calling in\ntheir aid. The doctors reply to this that they will have nothing to\ndo with a medicine whose composition is a secret, and which is\ntherefore devoted, to a great extent, to replenishing the purse of\nits discoverer, and not to the cure of diseases from a love of man\nand a hatred of suffering. This is a very high-sounding idea, and a\nnoble one, when it is not what the Americans would call only\n\u201chigh-falutin.\u201d But even when a remedy is made public property, it\nis not necessarily _pro bono publico_; in fact, as a rule, it serves\nonly the good of the dispensing chemist. He sees the prescription\nand notes it, the public does not; and, as a rule, the chemist\nobtains the drugs cheaply, and compounds them at the same rate as\nthis medicine was originally sold under the patent of its\ndiscoverer. Still, with all the dislike of the profession for secret\nremedies, there is no doubt at all that in the case of the heads of\nthe profession some of the best results are obtained by the use of\nprescriptions, which practically constitute a secret formula. The\nespecial combination which the particular man has discovered to be\nof use is his property, and his only until he writes a book, for the\nvarious chemists who make it up, and the various patients who drink\nit, are not to the full aware of its value and use. The difference\nbetween this and quack medicine lies merely in the peculiar names\nand large advertisements, but very often these are balanced by the\nfame of the particular surgeon or physician. But, in all honour to\nphysicians and surgeons, who do in many cases have and show a\nlarge-hearted sympathy for suffering, it must be remembered that\nmany of the greatest and busiest of them give hours of their\nvaluable time to those who are too poor to pay in any other form\nthan that of grateful thanks. There are, again, others who disregard\nall the rules which govern trades\u2019 union society, and boldly take\ntheir stand upon Christ\u2019s dictum, that \u201cthe Sabbath was made for man\nand not man for the Sabbath.\u201d In other words, they say that any\nmedicine which they personally find valuable in the alleviation of\npain and disease must be used even at the risk of themselves being\ncalled \u201cunprofessional.\u201d Again, others will use these so-called\nsecret remedies, and say nothing about it, preferring to pin their\nfaith to the wittily termed eleventh commandment, \u201cThou shalt not be\nfound out.\u201d At this point it is possible to draw a parallel between\nthe use of the terms \u201cuntheosophical\u201d and \u201cunprofessional.\u201d It would\nseem that both are used in very much the same trades\u2019 union sense.\nIn the case of the word \u201cunprofessional,\u201d it is to be regretted that\nit is due very largely to a lack of charity and of the spirit of\nenquiry. In the case of the word \u201cuntheosophical\u201d it is often used\nin consequence of a lack of charity, and further in the spirit of\nscandal and gossip. Unless a man or woman is a theosophist pure and\nsimple, who carries out in their _entirety_, the objects of the\nTheosophical Society, the use of the word untheosophical betrays\n_them_ to be untheosophical and to fail in carrying out those\nobjects which they have promised to further to the best of their\npower.\n\nIn the light of the foregoing it is now possible to examine the\nmanner in which Count Mattei\u2019s remedies have been received. The\nCount himself is a member of a noble family of Bologna, he has\ntravelled much, but returned there in 1847, and took part in the\nmovement which led to the liberation of Italy. In early life he much\nwished to study medicine, but was prevented from doing so by his\nfather\u2019s wish. Still his desire for knowledge was not quenched, and\nhe attempted to follow the bent of his own mind. He rightly\nconcluded that the instincts of the lower animals would lead them to\nsearch for herbs and plants which would cure their ailments, and\nthat careful observation of these instincts might disclose medicines\nof the greatest value to human sufferers. Thus he adopted the habit\nof taking walks in the company of a number of dogs which were\nsuffering from various diseases, and carefully watched their\nproceedings. Gradually the new pharmacop\u0153ia assumed shape, and the\ninstinct of the dogs showed that particular diseases were met by\nparticular remedies. These observations were made more than sixty\nyears ago, and were not forgotten amid the occupations of a busy\nlife. Indeed, when those occupations became less, Count Mattei\nreturned with ardour to his earlier studies. He became a deputy in\nthe Roman Parliament, but retired into private life after finding\nthat his political views were not those of the men by whom he was\nsurrounded. After this retirement the Count devoted himself to the\nstudy of medicine, in order that he might fit himself to apply\ncertain principles which he believed he had discovered to be\nvaluable for sick and suffering humanity. By his own account and the\ntestimony of his patients he was not deceived, and the present\nremedies which bear his name are the result of twenty-five years\u2019\nunceasing labour and experiment. He rapidly acquired an enormous\npractice, and during the early years of it his advice and his\nmedicines were entirely gratis. But an unfortunate combination of\ncircumstances, as well as the expense entailed by the preparation of\nthe remedies, rendered it necessary for the Count to demand some\nsmall remuneration for his services. Then he learned that his bounty\nwas abused, and that certain doctors, who had asked and obtained the\nremedies from him, departed from Bologna and retailed the remedies\nat extravagantly exorbitant prices. To such an extent was this\ncarried that there exist authentic cases where a thaler was demanded\nfor a single globule, and for the globules (20-30) necessary to give\na bath, 1,000 francs were asked in New York. Some idea of the\nextortion may be given when Count Mattei refers to the thaler price\nas being 1,350 times the price at Bologna. This would be enough to\njustify any amount of secrecy on Count Mattei\u2019s part, more\nespecially as that secrecy entirely prevents the adulteration of the\nmedicines which would inevitably follow, were they to become\ncommercial property.\n\nWe have only too familiar an example in the ranks of the medical\nprofession. Many of his confr\u00e8res have been appealed to for the\nsupport of a physician, named Warburg. At this date it seems hardly\npossible to believe that this gentleman was the happy discoverer of\nWarburg\u2019s Fever Tincture. Perhaps in this country the value of the\ncompound was not so highly appreciated as in India. But it is\nimpossible to open any treatise on either surgery or medicine which\nis about twenty years old and not find the use of Warburg\u2019s tincture\nspecially urged in all cases of high fever, and especially in cases\nof malarial fever and py\u00e6mia. The compound had an enormous sale, and\nyielded a very substantial income to its discoverer, but as soon as\nhe yielded to the pressure of professional opinion, and consented to\npublish his formula so that it might obtain an extended use, he\nobtained the reward of such philanthropy. Every chemist now prepares\nthe prescription and sells it at very nearly the original price, and\nwhat is more, never refunds a fraction of a farthing in the shape of\na royalty to the discoverer. Consequently, we have before us the\nedifying spectacle of the learned discoverer compelled to exist on\nthe charity of his professional confr\u00e8res. Count Mattei has, at all\nevents, protected himself against this, for although he states that\nin the event of his death he has provided against the loss of his\nsecret to the world, and intends to leave it carefully as a legacy\nto suffering humanity, there is not the slightest doubt that he\nalone is the possessor of his own secret. That it is possible to\nobtain wealth from using this system is very evident. Certain among\nthe chief of his followers are in the habit of visiting London at\nintervals, and the number of those who consult them is really\nwonderful. I am assured by an eye-witness that the crowd is far\nbeyond that which besieges the door of the most fashionable\nphysician of the day. When one reads the literature of the subject,\none becomes more and more astonished at its simplicity. All diseases\nresolve themselves into three main forms, and constitutions vary\naccordingly. There are sanguine and lymphatic constitutions, and the\nvarious combinations of these two; there are also febrile\ndisturbances and diseases of the liver and spleen. Consequently\nthere are three chief medicines, which are used in an extraordinary\nstate of dilution. It is no use, here at least, to discuss the value\nof these infinitesimal doses, so that may be left for future\ndiscussion. To a professional mind the most extraordinary claim on\nCount Mattei\u2019s part will be that of curing cancer by internal and\nexternal medicines, and wholly without the use of the knife. He\nclaims positively to cure every case in which the cancer has not\nulcerated, and to cure a large proportion even of those which have\nalready done so. Even of those which have been neglected, and have\nremained long in the ulcerated state, he claims to restore a certain\nproportion (though not a large one) to health. Of course, to any man\nwho has seen the difficulty which attends the early diagnosis of\ncancer, these claims are very high-sounding indeed\u2014almost to\nabsurdity. The difficulties which attend diagnosis, even almost to\nthe time when the knife _has been_ used, and the tissue submitted to\nthe microscope, are very great. But in Count Mattei\u2019s second\ndivision there is no such difficulty. It is then possible by certain\nindications, as well as by the use of the microscope, to be sure of\nthe nature of the disease. Here Mattei steps in and claims that, by\nthe use of one of his medicines, which exerts an _electric_\ninfluence on cancer, and by one of what he terms his vegetable\nelectricities, he can restore the sufferer to health. Surely\n_conservative_ surgery, if it be worthy of the name, will\ninvestigate such a claim. Of the vegetable electricities there is no\ndoubt whatever. Cases of neuralgia and sciatica and articular\nrheumatic pain have been seen to yield to them as to magic;\nconsequently, even in the last stages of cancer, when there is no\nrefuge save the grave left to the sufferer, I have reason to believe\nCount Mattei, to some extent, when he claims to enable the said\nsufferer to sink gently away in full consciousness, and without the\nuse of morphia.\n\nTo those who know anything of the occult uses and powers of plants,\nthe fact that Count Mattei gathers his herbs at particular phases of\nthe moon, will convey a good deal of meaning. Further, they will\nfeel an additional assurance as to their value, and will no longer\nwonder, on one side at least, that Count Mattei chooses to keep his\nsecret. It would seem probable to some extent that Count Mattei is\none of the \u201celder brethren\u201d of the race, although how far he is\nconsciously so may be a matter for speculation, which could only be\nset at rest by Mattei himself and his compeers and superiors. What\nis definitely certain is that his system of medicine in its\ntheories, if not in its practice, is a distinct step in advance in\nthe healing art. Mattei is one of those pioneers of advance who\nspend the greater part of their lives in introducing for public use\na secret of which they have become possessed. Mr. Keeley, of\nPhiladelphia,[60] appears to be another of those pioneers who are in\nadvance of their times. But Mr. Keeley, in his work, resembles Friar\nBacon, who blessed (?) the world with gunpowder. No doubt\ncivilization has been enormously extended by its aid; but however\nmuch use it may have been to man in adapting the face of nature to\nhis service, it has at any rate subserved the gratification of his\npassions. Count Mattei appears to have none of these \u201cdefects of his\nqualities,\u201d and to have endeavoured to bless the world without\ngiving to it attendant curses. Still it is always possible that when\nhis secret shall become known it will draw attention to plants which\nhave just as destructive and poisonous an influence as the plants\nand herbs he uses have of healing power. At all events, at present\nhis secret is of use to the world, and so far as may be seen he\nmakes a just and \u201cbrotherly\u201d use of it. Has enough been said above\nto show that the fact that his medicines are \u201csecret\u201d compounds\nshould be no barrier to their use? What is still more important is\nthat true theosophists should recognise that Count Mattei has done\nwhat they endeavour to do, and devoted his life to Real Work.\n\n                                                            A. I. R.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n  The discoverer of the new power now known as the Keeley-motor and\n  inter-etheric force.\n\n-----\n\n                  ------------------------------------\n\n               THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY\u2019S CONVENTION OF 1887.\n\n                                -------\n\nSafely returned from my long tour of ten months, my first duty upon\nreaching home is to remind the Branches that the time approaches for\nthe Annual Meeting of the Convention of the General Council\u201427th to\n30th of December. It appears that the attendance this year will be\nmuch larger than ever before; some thinking that we shall register\nbetween 200 and 300 Delegates: besides the old, there will be some\ntwenty new Branches entitled to representation and votes. The yearly\nextension of our Society is thus steadily augmenting the strength of\nthe General Council, and the importance of its Annual Convention. As\nthe Society settles gradually upon its constitutional basis, the\nvolume of committee and parliamentary work lessens and more time\nbecomes available for theosophical lectures, the formation of\nfriendships, and the cultivation of a good mutual understanding as\nto the work before us.\n\nThe Adyar Library, to which considerable gifts of old MSS. and books\nhave been made since last December, is already being put to use. The\nDwaita Catechism was issued at the last Convention, and at this\nyear\u2019s the Vishistadvaita and Advaita Catechisms will be ready; as\nwill also a compilation of Buddhistic Morals from the sacred\nliterature of Ceylon. It is hoped that members of our many Branches\nwill kindly bring forward as many ancient works upon every\nDepartment of Aryan knowledge as they can procure for this best of\nnational monuments, the Adyar Library.\n\nEvery effort will be made to promote the comfort of Delegates, as\nheretofore. Lectures are being arranged for, but learned Mofussil\nmembers who are willing to read discourses upon special topics\ninteresting to Delegates, are requested to at once correspond with\nthe Secretary, and if the MSS. are ready, to send them in for\napproval.\n\n         *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *\n\nIn conclusion let me assure our colleagues of all races, creeds and\ncolors, that a hearty and brotherly welcome awaits them at their\nTheosophical home at Adyar.\n\n      Adyar, 17th October, 1887.         H. S. OLCOTT, P.T.S.\n\n\n\n\n                      A REMARKABLE CHRISTMAS EVE.\n\n\nIt was a dark and solitary path, a narrow, hardly perceptible,\nfootway in a dense forest, hemmed in by two walls of impenetrable\nthorns and wild creepers, covering, as with a net-work, the trunks\nof the tall, bare, moss-covered trees. The path led through the\nwoods down to a deep valley in which a few country-houses were\nnestled. Night was fast approaching, and the hurricane, that blew\nacross the country, boded evil to many a traveller, by land and sea.\nThe wind, which had hitherto been only moaning through the trees, in\nlow sad tones reminding one of a funereal dirge, was now beginning\nto roar with fury, filling the forest as with the howling of a\nhundred hungry wolves. Very soon a drizzling, ice-cold rain veiled\nthe whole forest in a damp shroud of fog.\n\nOne solitary traveller was wearily wending his way along this\ndeserted path. The hour was late, and the darkening shadows were\ncreeping on steadily, making the gloom in the thicket still more\ndepressing. The young man looked worn and tired, as he again and\nagain brushed aside the entangled briars which impeded his progress\nforward. He was well-dressed, and wore a marine officer\u2019s cap. But\nhis coat was now in rags, torn by the hard, frozen, cruel thorns,\nand his hands were bleeding in the struggle he had had with the\nbriars for a whole long night and a day since he had lost his way in\nthe huge forest. Panting, he stopped at last; and, as he heaved a\ndeep sigh, he fell down half-insensible at the foot of an old shaggy\noak. Then, half-opening his weary eyes, he murmured in despair, as\nhe placed his hand on his heart:\u2014\u201cI wonder how long _this_ will yet\nbeat.... I feel as if it were gradually stopping.\u201d\n\nHe closed his eyes once more, and very soon the feeble palpitations\nhe was watching within himself, turned his half-paralysed thought\ninto a new groove of ideas. Now the hardly audible beatings of his\nheart seemed to transform themselves into the ticking of an old\nclock quite near to him. He imagined the old N\u00fcremberg timepiece in\nhis mother\u2019s room. He was dripping wet, chilled to the marrow of his\nbones, and was fast losing consciousness. But, forgetting for one\nmoment his situation, and where he was, he caught himself\nsoliloquising as was his custom, when alone.\n\n\u201cThis clock,\u201d he thought, \u201chas to be wound up ... else it will stop.\nSo shall this heart. A man has to eat and drink to renew the fuel\nwhich feeds life, the clock too ... no; the clock is different to\nman. Let it rest for a week, for two, three months, even for a\nyear.... Still, if wound up again, it will tick on as merrily as\never. But once the supply of the body is stopped\u2014well, what then?\nShall the working power cease for ever, or the ticking of the heart\nbe resumed as that of the clock? No, no!... You may feed the dead\nbody of man as much as you please! it shall awaken to life no\nmore.... A queer problem to solve,\u2014What becomes of that something\nwhich made the body move? The food is not the cause, is it?... No;\nthe food is only the fuel.... There must be some inward fire ever\nburning, as long as it is supplied.... But when the supply of the\nfuel ceases? Ah!... that is it ... where does it go?... Does\nanything really die?... What form shall _my_ inner fire take?...\nShall it return to _its_ primordial light ... and be no more?... Oh,\nhow I suffer!... No, no; I must not allow this, _my_ fire, to go\nout. No, not before I see once more my loved ones ... my mother and\nAlice....\u201d\n\nArising with great effort he pursued his way with tottering steps,\nfeeling his way in the darkness. But instantly a wild gust of wind,\ntearing along the narrow pathway, caused the great trees to sway and\nrock as if in very agony. Catching in its icy clasp the weakened\nform of the young man, the hurricane nearly upset him. Being already\nwet through and through with rain and cold, he shivered and groaned\naloud, as he felt a sharp pain penetrating his limbs from the brain\ndownwards. One more short struggle and he heavily fell on the cold\nhard ground. Clasping his hands over his brow, he could only whisper\nagain: \u201cMother, I can do no more.... Farewell, mother, for ever!\nAlice\u2014fare thee well!\u201d...\n\nHis strength was gone. For over thirty hours he had tasted no food.\nHe had travelled night and day in the hope of being with his family\non Christmas Eve, that blessed day of joy and peace. Never yet had\nhe spent a Christmas Eve away from home; but that year had been an\nunusually unfortunate one for him. His vessel had been wrecked and\nhe had lost all. It was only by the greatest of chances that he had\nbeen enabled to find his way back to his country, in time to take\nthe train that brought him from a large seaport to the small town\nsome twenty miles\u2019 distance from his home. Once there, he had to\ntravel that distance by coach. But just as he was preparing to start\non his last journey, he met a poor sailor, a companion of his\nshipwreck. With tears in his eyes the man told him that having lost\nall, he had no more money left to take him to his wife and children,\nwho were yet two days\u2019 journey by rail from where he was; and that\nthus, he could not be with them to make merry Christmas together. So\nthe good-hearted young officer, thinking he could easily walk the\nshort distance that separated him from home, had emptied his purse\ninto the sailor\u2019s hands and started on his way on foot, hoping to\narrive on that same evening.\n\nHe set out early in the morning and bethought himself of a short cut\nthrough the vast forests of his native place. But on that afternoon\nhe hurt his foot badly, and being able to move only at a very slow\npace, the night had overtaken him in the forest in which he had\nfinally lost his way during that terrible night. He had wandered\nsince the morning during the whole long day, until pain, exhaustion,\nand the hurricane had overpowered him. And now, he was lying\nhelpless on the bare frozen ground, and would surely die before the\ndawn.\n\nHow long he lay there he never remembered; but, when he came back to\nhimself, he thought he could move, and resolved to make a last\nsupreme effort after the short rest. The wind had suddenly fallen.\nHe felt warmer and calmer now, as he sat leaning against a tree. Old\nhabit brought him back to his previous train of thought.\n\n\u201cNever, mother dear, never,\u201d he addressed her in thought, \u201cnever\nhave I spent a Christmas away from your dear selves.... Never, since\nmy boyhood, when father died twelve years ago! I made a vow then\nthat, come what would, I should spend each Christmas Eve at home;\nand now, though life seems slowly ebbing out of my body, I want to\nkeep my promise. They must be waiting for me even now, they, and\nAlice, my sweet fair cousin, who tells me she never loved but me!\nReginald and Lionel, my brothers, who are earnestly waiting for me;\nmy shy pretty May, and little Fanny.... They are all longing to see\nme, my dear ones, all expecting their old brother Hugo to return and\ndecorate their Christmas-tree.... Oh, mother, mother, see you I\nmust! I will be with you on this Christmas Eve, come what may!\u201d\n\nThis passionate longing appeal seemed to give him a ten-fold\nstrength. He made a desperate effort to rise from his place, and\nfound he could do so quite easily. Then, overcome with joy, he flew\nrather than walked through the dense black forest. He must have\nsurely mistaken the distance, as a minute later he found himself in\nthe brushwood, and saw the well-known valley so familiar to him, and\neven discerned in the bright moonlight the home that contained all\nhis dear ones. He ran still faster, more and more rapidly, and even\nforgot in his excitement to wonder whence he had found the power of\nusing his lame foot so easily.... At last he reached the lawn, and\napproached the cosy old house, all wrapped in its snowy winter\ngarments, and sparkling in moonlight like a palace of King Frost.\nFrom a large bay-window poured out torrents of light, and as he drew\nstill nearer, trying to see through it, he caught a glimpse of the\nloved faces, which he stopped to look at, before knocking at the\ndoor....\n\n\u201cOh, my mother! I see her there,\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cThere she is,\nseated in her arm-chair, with her knitting by her side, her\nbeautiful silvery hair as soft and glossy as ever under her\nsnow-white cap. I see her kind eyes and placid features still\nunmarked by the furrows of age.... She looks troubled.... She\nlistens to the fierce gusts of wind which cause the windows to shake\nand rattle. How that wind _does_ try to get into the house, and,\nfinding itself no welcome guest, hark, how it rolls away.... How\nstrange!... I _hear_, but I do _not feel_ the wind.... Oh!...\nKneeling at my mother\u2019s feet, there\u2019s Alice. Her arms are clasped\naround mother\u2019s knees; her golden curls fall on her back....\nBut\u2014but, why are her large violet eyes filled with tears as she\nlooks with up-turned face into mother\u2019s sad eyes?... Hush! What is\nshe saying?... I hear it, even through that wall....\n\n\u201c\u2018Don\u2019t be uneasy, mother, dear, Hugo will come back. You know he\ntold us so in his last letter. He said that after their shipwreck he\nwas kindly cared for by those who saved the crew. He wrote also that\nhe had borrowed money for the journey, and that he would be with us\nat the latest on Christmas Eve!... Bad roads and the stormy night\nwill have detained him.... The coach, you say? Well, and though the\ncoach has long since passed by, he may have taken a carriage. He\nwill soon be here, mother.\u2019\n\n\u201cAh, dear Alice, I see\u2014she looks at her finger, with its little ruby\nring I placed on it. She puts it to her lips, and I hear her\nmurmuring my name....\n\n     *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n(From Hugo\u2019s diary, where he recorded that night\u2019s experience.)\n\n... I rushed into the house at that appeal, and, as I now remember,\nwithout knocking at the door, as if I had passed through the stone\nwalls. I tried to speak, but no sound appeared to reach their ears.\nNor did anyone seem to see or greet me.... I drew Alice by the arm,\nbut she never turned round, only continued to murmur sweet words of\nconsolation into my mother\u2019s ear. Good God, what agony! Why do they\nnot hear, or even see me.... Am I really here? I look round the\nroom. The old home is just as I had left it nine months since. There\nis my father\u2019s picture hanging over the mantel-piece, looking at me\nwith his kind smile; the old piano open, with my favourite song on\nit.... The cat sleeping as usual, on the hearthrug, and purring, as\nshe stretches out her lazy paws. Albums on the table, my photograph,\nwith its bright and happy look! How different to my present self!\nHere am I, standing in an agony of doubt, before my loved ones,\nseeing them, feeling them, touching them ... and yet unseen by them,\nunnoticed, as one who is not there.... Not even my shadow on the\nwall over their own. But who then, am I?... Why have they grown so\nblind to my presence? Why do their hearts and senses remain so\ndense? I try again and again. I call them piteously by their names,\nbut they heed me not. My heart, my love, all is here, but my\nphysical body seems far away. Yes, it is far, far away, and now I\nsee it, as it lies cold and lifeless in that forest, where I must\nhave left it. It is surely for _me_, not for that body, that they\ncare! And is it because I am no longer clothed with flesh that I\nmust be as only a breath, an empty naught, to them?...\n\nFull of despair, I turned away, and passing through the folding\ndoors, arrived in the adjoining room, where my young brothers and\nsisters were busily occupied decorating the Christmas tree. There it\nstands, the old friend of my youth. I see it, and even discern its\nresinous perfume.... Towering up towards the ceiling, its lower\nbranches are bending to the ground, laden with golden fruits, with\ntoys and wax tapers. My brothers and sisters are gathered around it.\nBut Reginald looks grave. I see him turning to May, and hear him\nsaying:\n\n\u201cAre you not anxious about Hugo? I wonder what can have become of\nhim!\u201d\n\n\u201cI did not like to tell mother,\u201d May replies with a little shiver,\n\u201cbut I had a dreadful dream last night. I saw Hugo white and cold.\nHe looked sorrowfully at me, but when he tried to speak he could\nnot. His look haunts me still!\u201d she softly sobbed, with tears\nrolling down her cheeks.\n\nBut now little Fanny gives a scream of delight. The child has\ndiscovered among the Christmas presents a real pipe, a pipe with\nsilver bells.\n\n\u201cOh, _this_ shall be for Hugo, and then he will have music whenever\nhe smokes!\u201d exclaims the little one, merrily laughing, and holding\nout the toy in the direction where I am standing.\n\nFor a moment I hope she sees me. I try to take the pipe, but my hand\ncannot clasp it, and the toy seems to slip away from me as if it\nwere a shadow.... I try to speak again, but it is of no use ... they\nsee me not, neither do they hear me!...\n\nGrieved beyond words, I left them, and returning into the next room,\nwent up straight to Alice, who was still at mother\u2019s side, murmuring\nto her loving words. I spoke again, I entreated, I besought them to\nlook at me, and my suffering was so great that I felt that death\nwould be preferable to this!\n\nThen came a last and supreme effort. Concentrating all my will, I\nbent over Alice, and gasped out with my whole soul:\n\n\u201cIf ever you loved me, Alice, know and hear me now!\u201d I exclaimed, as\nI pressed my lips to hers.\n\nShe gave a shudder, a start, and then, opening her eyes wider and\nwider, she shrieked in terror:\n\n\u201cHugo! Hugo! Mother, do you see? Hugo is here!\u201d\n\nShe tried to clasp me in her arms, but her hands met together, and\nonly joined as if in prayer.\n\n\u201cHugo, Hugo, stay, why can I not touch you? Mother, look! look! Here\nis Hugo!\u201d\n\nShe was growing wilder and more excited with every moment.\n\nMy mother looked faint and frightened, as she said:\n\n\u201cAlice, what is the matter, child? What do you see? Hugo is not\nhere!\u201d\n\nThe children, hearing Alice\u2019s cry, flew into the room, all eager\nwith expectation.\n\n\u201cWhere is Hugo? Where is he?\u201d they prattled.\n\nI felt that I was invisible to all but Alice. She was the only one\nto see me. Therefore, realizing that the body had to be saved from\nits danger in the woods without loss of time, I drew her after\nmyself with all my will. I slowly moved towards the door, never\ntaking my look off her eyes. She followed me, as one in a state of\nsomnambulism.\n\nMy mother looked stunned and bewildered.\n\nRising with difficulty from her place, she would have made for the\ndoor also, but sank back into her arm-chair powerless and covered\nher face with her hands.\n\n\u201cBoys, follow Alice,\u201d said May. \u201cWait ... the carriage is there\nready to go after the doctor\u2019s children. Take it. Call the gardener\nand John to go with you. I will stay with mother.\u201d And whispering to\nReginald, she added, \u201cTell John to take rugs and blankets ... but I\nam afraid poor Hugo is dead!\u201d\n\nShe then turned to mother, who had fainted. I would see no more, but\n_willing_ Alice to follow me, I left the house.\n\nShe came slowly after me, her face all white, her large eyes full of\na look of terror, but also of resolution in them. On she would have\ngone on foot, in the drizzling rain, her golden hair all flying\nabout her head, had she been allowed to do so by my brothers and\nservants. The strange cortege was ushered into the open carriage,\nthe coachman being ordered to follow her directions. On it went, as\nspeedily as the horse could go. I found myself floating now before\nthem, and, to my own amazement, sliding backwards, with my face\nturned towards Alice, strongly willing that she should not lose\nsight of me. Two hours afterwards, the carriage entered the\nbrushwood, and they were obliged to alight.\n\nThe night was now very dark and stormy, and notwithstanding the\nlanterns, the group made way with great difficulty into the thicket.\nThe wind had begun to blow and howl with the same fury as when I had\nleft the wood, and seemed to have caught them all in its chilly\nembrace. The boys and servants panted and shivered, but Alice heeded\nnothing. What cared _she_ for that! The only thought of my beloved\nwas I, Hugo.... On, on we went, her tender feet wounded with the\nbrambles, and the wet sprays of branches brushing against her white\nface. On, on she ran, till, with a sudden and loud cry of joy and\nterror mixed, she fell down....\n\nAt the same instant _I_ collapsed, and _fell also on the ground, as\nit seemed to me_; and then all became a blank.... As I learned\nlater, at that moment the boys drew near, and lowering their\nlanterns found Alice with her arms clasped around a form, and when\nthe lanterns were placed close to it they saw before them the body\nof their brother Hugo, a corpse!\n\n\u201cSure enough he is dead, the poor young master!\u201d cried John, our old\nservant, who was close behind.\n\n\u201cNo, no!\u201d Alice answered. \u201cNo, he is not dead.... His body is cold,\nbut his heart still beats. Let us carry him home.... Quick, quick!\u201d\n\nLifting up the body gently and placing it in the carriage they\ncovered it with rugs and shawls, and drove at a furious speed back\nto our home. It was near midnight when the carriage stopped at the\ngate.\n\n\u201cReginald, run on quickly and give the good news to mother!\u201d cried\nAlice. \u201cTell May to have hot bottles and blankets ready, on the sofa\nin the drawing-room. It is warm there near the fire.... Tell them\nall that Hugo lives, for I _know_ he does,\u201d she went on repeating.\n\nMore lights were brought out, and the servants carried carefully\ntheir burden into the house, where they placed it on the sofa, hot\nflannels and restoratives being immediately applied. Noiselessly and\nbreathlessly went on the work of love around the apparently dead\nbody, and was at last rewarded. A sigh was heard, a deeper _breath_\nwas drawn, and then the eyes slowly opened and _I_ looked round in\nvague surprise at all those loved and anxious faces crowding eagerly\naround me.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t speak yet, Hugo,\u201d whispered Alice anxiously. \u201cDon\u2019t, till you\nfeel stronger.\u201d\n\nBut I could not control my impatience.\n\n\u201cHow am I here?\u201d I asked. \u201cAh, I remember. I lost my way in the old\nforest.... Ah, yes; I recollect now all.... The cold biting wind, my\nlame foot, after I stumbled and fell, knocking my head against a\nstone, and all became a blank to me!\u201d\n\n\u201cHush, Hugo, hush my boy,\u201d said my mother wiping tears of joy from\nher still pale and suffering face. \u201cYou will tell us all that\npresently.... Now rest.\u201d\n\nBut I could not refrain from speaking, as thoughts crowded into my\nhead, and recollections came vividly back. \u201cNo, no, I am better,\u201d I\nwent on. \u201cI am strong again, and I must let you know all that I\ndreamed. I was here, and I saw you all.... Oh, the torture I\nsuffered when you knew me not!... Mother, darling, did you not see\nme, your son? But she, my Alice, saw and followed me, and it is she\nwho saved me from death! Ah, yes! I remember now, you found my body,\nand then all was darkness again. Kiss me, mother! Kiss me all, let\nme feel that I am really with you in body, and am no longer an\ninvisible shadow.... Mother I kept my promise; I am here on\nChristmas Eve! Light the tree, my little Fan, and give me the pipe\nwith the bells I saw you holding, and heard you say it was for old\nbrother Hugo.\u201d\n\nThe child ran into the other room and returned with the pipe I had\nseen her playing with a few hours before. This was the greatest and\nfinal proof for me, as for my family. The event was no vision then,\nno hallucination, but true to its merest details! As my mother often\nsaid afterwards, referring to that wonderful night, it was a weird\nand strange experience, but one which had happened to others before,\nand will go on happening from time to time. Of late years, when I\nhad been happily married to my Alice (who will not let me travel far\naway without her, any longer) I have dived a good deal into such\npsychic mysteries, and I think I can explain my experience. I think\nthat by privation, cold, and mental agony, I had been thrown into\nsuch abnormal conditions, that my astral body, as it is now\ngenerally called, my \u201cconscious self,\u201d was able to escape from the\nphysical tenement and take itself to the home I so passionately\ndesired to reach. All my thoughts, and longings being intensely\ndirected towards it, I found myself there where I wished to be, in\nspirit. Then the agony of mind from the consciousness that I was\ninvisible to all, added to the fear of death unless I could impress\nthem with my presence, became finally productive of the supreme\neffort of will, the success of which alone could save me. This\njoined to Alice\u2019s sensitiveness and her love for me, enabled her to\nsense my presence, and even to see my form, whereas others saw\nnothing. Man is a wonderful and marvellous enigma; but it is one\nwhich has to, and _will_, be completely unriddled some day, the\nscepticism of the age notwithstanding.\n\nSuch is the simple story told to the writer by an old naval officer,\nabout the most \u201cmemorable Christmas Eve\u201d that came within his own\nexperience.\n\n                                             CONSTANCE WACHTMEISTER.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n\n                            A HALF CONVERT.\n\n     Buddha! my earthly memory is so dimmed\n         By this poor passing life which travels a hem\n         Across my soul, and thought I cannot stem\n     Pours like a flood to wash all traces limned\n     Of former selves, that I shall ne\u2019er recall\n         The steps I came, nor know the fleshly tents\n         In which I sojourned;\u2014yet the fraying rents\n     Of time-worn garments I have seen, and all\n     The dust upon my feet, and I the sin\n     Of tiger and of cobra passions striven\n     To crush. These were strait gates, and through them driven\n     My chariot wheels, so prithee set me free\n     From other births, lest I seek Peter\u2019s key,\n     O! Sakya Muni, let me trembling in.\n\n                                                       MARY N. GALE.\n\n\n\n\n                    THEOSOPHY AND MODERN SOCIALISM.\n\n                BY A SOCIALIST STUDENT OF THEOSOPHY.\n\n\nThe writer of the article on \u201cBrotherhood\u201d in your last issue has\ngiven an erroneous impression of Socialism, which, as a student of\nTheosophy (I do not know if I can yet call myself a disciple), who\nhas been, in a large measure, drawn to this great study _through\nSocialism_, I may, perhaps, be allowed to correct. Indeed, I should\nfeel that I was shirking a task clearly indicated to me at the\npresent moment, were I to leave such errors, so far as all readers\nof LUCIFER are concerned, uncorrected.\n\n\u201cT.B.H.,\u201d the writer of the article in question\u2014an interesting and,\nI believe, useful article in many respects\u2014has, I venture to\nconjecture, confused the general system or class of systems known as\nSocialism, with certain methods of propagating its principles. Let\nme commence by quoting the paragraph in his article to which I take\nexception. He says (LUCIFER No. 3, p. 213):\u2014\n\n  (1). \u201cSocialism, as preached in this nineteenth century, it\n  [the Universal Brotherhood, which is the mainspring of\n  Theosophy.\u2014J.B.B.] certainly is not. (2). Indeed, there would\n  be little difficulty in showing that modern materialistic\n  Socialism is directly at variance with all the teachings of\n  Theosophy. (3). Socialism advocates a direct interference with\n  the results of the law of _Karma_, and would attempt to alter\n  the d\u00e9nouement of the parable of the talents by giving to the\n  man, who hid his talent in a napkin, a portion of the ten\n  talents acquired by the labour of his more industrious\n  fellow.\u201d\n\nI will first take the three statements contained in this paragraph\nseparately, and, for convenience\u2019s sake, in inverted order. The\nallegation against Socialism contained in the third is the most\nspecific, and that which, in the eyes of Theosophists, must appear\nthe most serious. This statement, namely, that \u201cSocialism advocates\na direct interference with the results of the law of Karma, and\nwould attempt &c.,\u201d constitutes, in fact, the only definite premise\nin his argument. Of course, if Socialists do advocate, consciously\nor unconsciously, anything of the sort, they advocate a physical and\npsychical impossibility, and their movement is fore-doomed to\nfailure. More than this, if they do so _consciously_, they are\nsinning against the light, and are impious as well as childish in\ntheir efforts. Of such, clearly, the Universal Brotherhood is not.\n\nBut neither Socialists nor Socialism, \u201cas preached in this\nnineteenth century,\u201d do anything of the kind. By \u201cMaterialistic\u201d\nSocialism, I presume \u201cT.B.H.\u201d implies (if he has really _studied_\nSocialism at all, which I venture to doubt) so much of it as can be\nurged upon purely worldly grounds, such as the better feeding,\nhousing, &c., of those who do the active work of society, technical\ninstruction, such general education as fits a man for the domestic\nand secular duties of life, and the reorganisation of society with\nthese objects upon a \u201cco-operative\u201d basis,[61] in which public\nsalaried officers, elected by their fellows, will take the place of\ncapitalists and landlords, and in which the production and\ndistribution of wealth will be more systematically regulated. This\nsystem, of course, takes no account of the law of Karma.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n  Co-operative, that is to say, in the sense that the various\n  sections and individual members of society shall _willingly_\n  co-operate, being fully conscious of their interdependance.\n\n                                                ST. GEORGE LANE FOX.\n\n-----\n\nIn a rough sort of way, however, all Socialists recognise the law,\nso far as its effects are visible in this world on the physical,\nintellectual, and moral planes. The fact that \u201cthe evil that men\ndo,\u201d and classes and nations of men also, \u201clives after them,\u201d none\nare more ready to own and act upon. The action and reaction of\nindividual _will_ and individual and social _circumstance_, both\nupon each other and upon individual and social _conditions_, forms\npart of the foundations of Socialism. _Qu\u00e2_ Socialists we do not, of\ncourse, take any more account of the law of Karma than do\nnon-Socialist Christians and Agnostics, but I maintain there is\nnothing whatever in Socialism repugnant to a belief in this law. If\nanything, it is the other way. All Socialists, whether they call\nthemselves Collectionists or Anarchists, Christian Socialists,[62]\nCommunists, or purely economic Socialists, are anxious to give freer\nplay to human abilities and social impulses, by creating leisure and\neducational opportunities for all. We may thus, if it is permitted\nto me to speculate while criticising, become the instruments of a\ngreater equalisation, distribution, and acceleration of Karmic\ngrowth, \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cevil,\u201d upon and among individual souls, during\ntheir incarnation on this planet. This would come to pass by the\ntransferring of a great deal of the responsibility for Karmic\nresults which now lies with each individual in his personal\ncapacity, upon the collective entities composed of individuals\nacting in public capacities; _e.g._, as nations, provinces,\ncommunes, or trade corporations.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n  Socialists who consider their Christianity to supply them with\n  sufficient motives for their Socialism. They do not strictly form\n  a sect either of Socialists or of Christians.\n\n-----\n\nIt is surely true, even now, to speak of a collective, _e.g._, a\nnational or municipal Karma, as we do of a national conscience. We\nspeak of reward or retribution to nations and cities as if they had\ndistinct personalities\u2014are these mere \u201cfigures of speech\u201d? But what\nis more important is that Socialists may prepare the way for a\nrevelation of the noble truths of Theosophy to the multitude; they\nmay help to raise the intellectual and instinctive moral standard of\nthe whole community to such an extent that all will, in the next\ngeneration following after the Social Revolution,[63] be amenable to\nthose truths. In this way Socialism would not, indeed, interfere\nwith the results of the law of Karma, but would, as the precursor of\nTheosophy, be the indirect means of enabling multitudes to rise and\nfree themselves from its bonds.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n  This word, of course, is employed in the general sense, without\n  any reference to the physical character which the revolution may\n  assume. It may be attended with violence, or it may be as peaceful\n  as, for instance, the religious revolution accomplished by\n  Constantine in the fourth century. All I am postulating is a more\n  or less sudden transformation of the existing social order,\n  effected by one of those impulses with which evolution seems to\n  complete its periods, and of which Theosophy may some day afford\n  the explanation.\n\n-----\n\nAs to the parable of the talents, well, Socialists would be only too\nglad to see its moral better enforced in this and other \u201ccivilised\u201d\ncountries. To them it seems impossible that it could be _less_\nenforced or taken to heart than it is now. They see that under the\npresent system of Society\u2014that vast engine of usury by which whole\nclasses are held in economic servitude to other classes\u2014many are\nencouraged to live in sloth and hide their talents, even if they put\nthem to no worse uses than that. This could hardly happen under a\n_r\u00e9gime_ of economic Socialism (such a _r\u00e9gime_, for instance, as\nLaurence Gr\u00f6nlund contemplates in his \u201cCo-operative Commonwealth\u201d);\nfor these able-bodied or talented citizens who declined to work\nwould simply be left to starve or sponge upon their relatives. Under\na purely communist _r\u00e9gime_,[64] no doubt there would be a few who\nwould shirk their proper share in the social work, but at least none\nwould be brought up from infancy, as now, to \u201ceat the bread of\nidleness.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n  The only kind to which T. B. H.\u2019s remarks are in any way\n  applicable.\n\n-----\n\nFinally on this point, if to advocate such changes as Socialists\nadvocate, the substitution of social co-operation for competition;\nof production with a view to use, for production with view to\nprofit; of peace between nations, classes, and individuals, for war;\nof harmonious organisation to the advantage of all, for _laissez\nfaire_, and chaos for the advantage (or supposed advantage) of a\nfew. If I say, to advocate such changes be to advocate interference\nwith the results of the law of Karma, so is every proposal for the\namelioration of the physical or intellectual welfare of our fellows.\nAnd if participation in this and other movements, which may with\nequal justice be called \u201cmaterialistic,\u201d be prohibited to\nTheosophists, they may as well, for all good their Universal\nBrotherhood will do to the mass of those at present outside it, stay\nat home and content themselves with communing with the select few\nwho alone will ever be in a position to appreciate them. If, for one\nreason or other, they do not care to co-operate with Socialists, let\nthem, at least, recognise that the latter are preparing their way\nfor them, doing the dirty (?) and laborious work, without which\nTheosophy can never descend from the serene heights in which it now\ndwells, to replenish, spiritually, this sadly benighted world. For,\napart from a healthier physical and psychical atmosphere than\n\u201ccivilised\u201d life engenders in either rich or poor (collective Karmic\neffects), a fair amount of leisure and freedom from sordid care are\nindispensable in most human beings for the higher development of the\nperceptive or gnostic faculties. At present this minimum of\nleisure and economic independence is probably unattainable by\nnineteen-twentieths of the population. Yet this self-same society,\nwith its scientific learning and experience, its machinery, and its\nbusiness organisation, contains within it all the germs of such a\nreconstruction of the physical environment as shall very shortly\nplace the means of spiritual and psychical regeneration within the\nreach of all.\n\n\u201cT. B. H.\u2019s\u201d second statement is that \u201cIndeed there would be very\nlittle difficulty in showing that modern materialistic Socialism is\ndirectly at variance with all the teachings of Theosophy.\u201d Such an\nexpression as \u201cmaterialistic Socialism\u201d is, as I have already\nhinted, erroneous. _All_ Socialism is materialistic in the sense\nthat it concerns itself primarily with the material or physical\nconditions of mankind. So do chemistry and mechanics, pure or\napplied; so, in ordinary politics, do Liberalism and Conservatism.\n_No_ Socialism is materialistic in the sense that it is based upon\nany materialistic, as distinct from spiritualistic or pantheistic\nconceptions of the universe. It has hardly any more to do with such\nquestions than have cotton-spinning or boot-making. I do not,\nhowever, pretend to mistake \u201cT. B. H\u2019s\u201d meaning. Taking Socialism in\nits essentially economic aspect (which I admit is the foremost for\nthe present, and must remain so until it has been disposed of), he\nasserts that \u201cthere would be very little difficulty in proving &c.\u201d\nThis is a mere general charge against it, although, I think, a less\nplausible, and therefore\u2014from the point of view of harmony between\nSocialists and Theosophists\u2014a less serious one, than the particular\ncharge which follows it, and with which I have already endeavoured\nto deal. For my own enlightenment, I should be glad to have some\nsamples, taken at random, of his skill in showing this variance; but\nI doubt if such a demonstration could effect any good. Meanwhile it\nis impossible to _answer_ the charge on account of its vague, albeit\nsweeping and all-comprehensive character. \u201cAll the teachings of\nTheosophy\u201d are quite too much for a student like myself to attempt\nto compare with Economic Socialism, as a system; nor do I think one\nwith ten times the learning and discernment that I can claim, would\nreadily attempt it. I merely record, therefore, my sincere\nconviction that on this general point \u201cT. B. H.\u201d is also mistaken,\nand that it is not Socialism, economic, or otherwise, which he has\nreally been scrutinising and balancing, but the sayings or doings of\nsome particular \u201cSocialist,\u201d whom he has seen or read of.\n\nIndividual Socialists have, of course, many faults which cannot\nfairly be charged to the social and economic tenets they profess.\nThus one besetting fault of militant advocates of the cause is the\nuse of violent language against individual capitalists, police\nofficials and landlords. It, is so easy, even for men of a calibre\nsuperior to the average, to be drawn on from righteous indignation\nat a corrupt system, to abuse of the creatures and instruments\nthereof\u2014or even, on occasion, to personal violence against them.\nEvery good cause has its Peters, no less than its Judases. Socialism\nunfortunately has a rich crop of the former. Another still worse\nfault on the part of certain agitators, but one which might easily\nbe predicted from the character of the struggle and the condition of\nthe classes who must form the backbone of the Socialist Party, is\nthe frequent appeal to lower motives, such as revenge and love of\nluxury.\n\nBut such faults, although by all human prevision necessary\nincidents in the movement, are by no means inherent in Socialism.\nEven the purely \u201cmaterialistic\u201d socialism of Karl Marx, to which\n\u201cT. B. H.\u201d seems (although I think not with any clear picture of\nit in his mind) to refer, aims simply at securing the decencies\nand ordinary comforts of life to all, as a recompense for more\nevenly distributed social labour. The very conditions of life\nunder a co-operative commonwealth such as Hyndman, Gr\u00f6nlund, and\nother followers of the late Karl Marx\u2019s economic ideal, have in\nview\u2014above all the obligation (virtual, at any rate) under which\nevery able-bodied member of the community would find himself or\nherself, to do a few hours of useful work of one kind or another\nevery day, and the elimination of the commercial and speculative\nelement, with the wretched insecurity and dangerous temptations\nwhich it involves,\u2014would preclude inordinate luxury. A healthy\nsimplicity of life would become, first, \u201cfashionable,\u201d then\nusual.[65] Communism, of course, goes further than economic\nsocialism, as it implies not only the claim of the individual upon\nthe community for the means of _labour_ and the enjoyment of its\nfruits or their equivalent, but his claim for _subsistence_,\nirrespective of the amount and social value of the labour which he\nis able to perform. It would abolish, therefore, not only\nindividual property in the means of production, but in the\nproducts themselves. The practicability of Communism, the motto of\nwhich is, \u201cFrom each according to his abilities, to each according\nto his needs,\u201d obviously depends upon the prevalence of more\ngenerous motives, of a higher sense of duty both to work and to\ngive\u2014a more perfect development, in fact, of the sense of human\nsolidarity. It is for this very reason more commendable than mere\neconomic socialism, as an ideal, to the attention of Theosophists;\nalthough its application, on the national or universal scale,\ncannot yet be said to have entered \u201cthe sphere of practical\npolitics.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n  I do not, of course, mean to predict that \u201csin\u201d (or its\n  Theosophical equivalent) would die out. It is, after all, a\n  relative matter to the capacities and potentialities of the\n  individual and his surroundings. Under Socialism, sensuality,\n  social or plutocratic pride, and other sins fostered by the\n  present order, would simply give way to ambition (to obtain\n  popular distinction, _e.g._, as an artist or inventor) and perhaps\n  to magic and other at present unfashionable vices.\n\n-----\n\nCommunism, which may be either Collectivist or Anarchist, leads me\nto add a few words about Anarchism. I refer, of course, to the\nsocial ideal philosophically denoted by this name, and not to the\nmeans advocated by some of its supporters for putting an end to the\npresent society. Anarchism involves Communism, as well as extreme\ndecentralisation; more than this, it involves the abolition of all\npermanent machinery of law and order, such as \u201cthe State\u201d is\nsupposed to provide, and the abolition of physical force as a method\nof suasion, even for criminals and lunatics. As a protest against\npolitical domination of all kinds, and an antidote to the excessive\ncentralisation advocated by some state-Socialists, Anarchism may be\nof some use, but it is obviously further even than Communism (of the\nCollectivist variety) from becoming a school of \u201cpractical\u201d\npolitics. It could only become so after society at large, all the\nworld over, had grown sufficiently homogeneous and _solidaire_ for\nits members to co-operate spontaneously and automatically for all\nnecessary purposes, grouping themselves into large or small\norganizations (limbs and organs) as required, and forming a complete\n_body-social_, or Mesocosm, if I may be allowed to coin a word for\nthe purpose.\n\nThe erroneous conceptions of Socialism which I believe \u201cT. B. H.\u201d to\nhave formed, do not necessarily invalidate the first statement in\nthe paragraph of his article upon which I have been commenting, to\nwit, that the Universal Brotherhood which he has in view (and which,\nI understand from him, forms the first part of the programme of the\nTheosophical Society) is not \u201cSocialism as preached in this 19th\ncentury,\u201d\u2014or at any other time, past or future, for that matter.\nStill, I am inclined to hope that a more intimate study of Socialism\nwill lead him to see that, whether identical or not, they are at any\nrate not antagonistic. My own belief is that Theosophy and\n\u201cmaterialistic\u201d Socialism will be found to be working along\ndifferent planes in the same direction.\n\nAny Universal Brotherhood of Theosophists must be based upon\nSocialist principles, _inter alia_: its foundations may extend\nfurther and deeper than those of Socialism, but cannot be less\nextensive. Greed and War (political or industrial) Social Caste and\nPrivilege, Political Domination of Man over Man, are as out of place\nin a true Brotherhood as wolves in a flock of sheep. Yet the\nexclusion of these anti-social demons and the enthronement in their\nplace of Universal Love and Peace, if effected by such a\nBrotherhood, would simply leave Socialists nothing to do but to\norganize the material framework of their co-operative commonwealths.\nTo preach economic or \u201cmaterialistic\u201d Socialism to a world already\nconverted to the highest and completest form of Socialism, would be\nto advocate the plating of gold with tin or copper.\n\nModern Socialism, if the noble aspirations of some of its apostles\nmay be taken as an earnest of its future, is already developing\n(incidentally, of course, to its main economic and ethical\ndoctrines) strong \u00e6sthetic and spiritual tendencies. No reader of\nWilliam Morris or Edward Carpenter, to speak of English Socialists\nonly, will fail to notice this. At present the mass of Socialists\ncontent themselves with basing their social and economic faith upon\nthe ethical principles of Justice, Freedom and Brotherhood. But the\nhighest, because most mystical of these principles, that of\nBrotherhood, or better, Human Solidarity\u2014the ancient conception of\n\u201cCharity\u201d\u2014forms the unconscious link between modern Socialism on the\none hand, and Esoteric Buddhism, Esoteric Christianity, and\nTheosophy generally, on the other. I say _unconscious_ link, but I\nmean to imply that it may soon be rendered conscious and visible. As\nthe various \u201corthodox\u201d varieties, first of Christianity, then of\nMohammedanism, perish with the destruction or collapse of the Social\nsystems that have grown up along with them, this simple religion of\nHuman Solidarity will take possession of the deserted shrines of\nChrist and Allah, and will begin to seek out its own fount of\ninspiration. Then will be the time for the Universal Brotherhood of\nTheosophists to step into the breach.\n\n                                J. BRAILSFORD BRIGHT (_M.A. Oxon._).\n\n\n                            THE GREAT QUEST.\n\n           \u201cIn many mortal forms I rashly sought\n           The shadow of that idol of my thought.\u201d\n                                           \u2014_Shelley._\n\n           \u201cApr\u00e8s l\u2019amour \u00e9teint si je v\u00e9cus encore\n           C\u2019est pour la v\u00e9rit\u00e9, soif aussi qui d\u00e9vore!\u201d\n                                         \u2014_Lamartine._\n\nThe loss of youth and love is the perpetual wail of the poets. A\nnever-changing spring-time of life, where the sweet dreams of youth\nwould be realised in the fruition of reciprocal love, such would be\na heaven to them, and such _is_ a heaven while it lasts. If we add\nto this the refined \u00e6sthetic taste that can delicately balance and\nappreciate to a nicety every joy of the senses, and the\nhighly-developed intellect which can roam at will over the\naccumulated store of past ages of culture, what would there be left\nfor poets to dream of? With heart, senses and mind worthily\nemployed, and with the well-balanced nature that knows moderation\nalone can give continued bliss, could not man rest satisfied at\nlast? What more could he desire?\n\nIt is useless to deny that life has very sweet gifts to give, though\nthe number is limited of those who are capable of receiving them in\ntheir fulness. But even while these gifts are being enjoyed, it is\nfelt that the horizon is bounded. With what questioning\nuncertainty\u2014albeit with fascination\u2014does youth open its eyes upon\nthe glamour of the dazzling world! The love of the Springtide, even\nin fruition, is continually building fairy bowers in the future\u2014it\nnever for long rests content in the present, while to the intellect\nthe bounded scope of utmost learning is a still more definite goad\ntowards a knowledge that shall transcend all past experience.\n\nAnd even were man content to continue to drink of the one cup of\nbliss, he is never allowed to do so. The lessons of life, the great\nteacher, are continually being altered, and the tempest of the heart\ntakes the place of the calm that was never expected to end.\n\nIf, then, we must look in vain to find permanent bliss in any of\nthese things\u2014if, beyond the highest intellectual culture of an\nintellectual age there gleams the vision of a higher knowledge\u2014if\nbehind the artistic refinement of this, as of all past flowers of\ncivilization, the fount of all sweetness lies hid\u2014if even the\nheart-binding communion of earthly love is but a faint reflex of the\ndeep peace realized by him who has torn aside the veil that hides\nthe Eternal, surely all man\u2019s energies should be devoted to the\nquest which will yield him such results.\n\nThe whole philosophy of life may be summed up in the Four great\nTruths that Buddha taught, and no more convincing description of\nthem can be read than that given in the lovely lines of the eighth\nbook of the \u201cLight of Asia.\u201d\n\nHe who has once been deeply imbued with these great truths\u2014who has\nrealised the transitory nature of all earthly bliss, and the pains\nand sorrows that more than counterbalance the joys of life\u2014will\nnever in his truest moments desire to be again blessed, either in\nthe present or in any future incarnation, with an uniformly happy\nlife, for there is no such soporific for the soul as the feeling of\nsatisfaction, as there is no such powerful goad as the feeling of\ndissatisfaction. He is bound to pass through periods of joy, but\nthey will be looked forward to with fear and doubting, for then it\nis that the sense-world again fastens its fangs on the soul, to be\nfollowed by the pain of another struggle for freedom.\n\nWhen first setting out on the great quest, it seems as if many\nlifetimes would fail to appease the dominant passion of the soul,\nbut nature works quickly in the hottest climates, and from the very\nintensity of the desire may spring the strength and will to conquer\nit. Though it is probably the same key-note that is struck\nthroughout, the dominant desire will appear to take a different tone\nthrough the ascending scale of life. It is a speculation, but one\nwhich would seem to receive endorsement from the analogies of\nnature; for as the human embryo in its antenatal development,\nexhibits in rapid succession, but with longer pauses as it\napproaches the period of birth, the characteristics of the lower\nraces of animal life from which man has evolved, so does the human\nsoul realise in its passage through life the dominant desires and\nattractions which have affected it through countless past\nincarnations. The lower desires which in past lives may have been\nmore or less completely conquered, will be experienced in rapid\nsuccession and left behind without much difficulty, till the great\nstruggle of the life is reached, from which man must come out more\nor less victorious if he is to continue the progress at all.\n\nIf right intention were the only thing needed, if it were a\nguarantee against being led astray, or if straying did not\nnecessitate retardation on the road, there would be no such supreme\nnecessity that belief should be in accordance with facts; but even\nin worldly affairs we see every day that purity of intention is no\nguard against the failures that come from lack of knowledge. In the\ngreat spiritual science therefore, which deals with the problem of\nlife as a whole\u2014not the mere fragment which this earthly existence\nrepresents\u2014it will be seen how vitally necessary it is that facts\nshould be conceived correctly.\n\nTo us whose eyes are blinded to the heights above, by the mists of\nour own desires, the only rays of light which can illumine the\ndarkness of our journey on the great quest, are the words (whether\nor not in the form of recognised revelation) left by the masters who\nhave preceded us on the road, and the counsel of our comrades who\nare bound for the same goal. But words are capable of many\ninterpretations, and the opinions of our comrades are coloured by\ntheir own personality\u2014the ultimate touch-stone of truth must\ntherefore be looked for in the disciple\u2019s own breast.\n\nHaving stated the necessity for correct belief, let us now consider\nthe question of the great achievement\u2014the annihilation of Karma\u2014the\nattainment of Nirvana. It must be acknowledged as a logical\nproposition that Karma can never annihilate Karma, _i.e._, that no\nthoughts words, or acts of the man in his present state of\nconsciousness, can, ever free him from the circle of re-births. This\nview would seem to necessitate some power external to the man to\nfree him\u2014a power which has touch of him, and which would have to be\nallied to him.\n\nNow the teachings which have been put before the world in \u201cLight on\nthe Path\u201d state the other side of the question. \u201cEach man is to\nhimself absolutely the _way_, the _truth_, and the _life_.\u201d And\nagain, \u201cFor within you is the light of the world, the only light\nthat can be shed on the Path. If you are unable to perceive it\nwithin you, it is useless to look for it elsewhere.\u201d It would seem\nthat the solution of this great paradox must be sought for in the\nconstitution of man, as described in theosophic writings. Indeed, it\nis the scientific statement of deep spiritual truths which gives to\nthe Theosophic teachings their remarkable value, and which seems\nlikely to carry conviction of their truth to the Western peoples,\nwho have for too long been accustomed to the mere emotional\nsentimentality of the orthodox religions, and to the pessimistic\nnegation of science.\n\nThe higher principles, as they have been called, in the constitution\nof man, particularly the divine Atma, through which he is allied to\nthe all-pervading Deity, must ever remain deep mysteries. But at\nleast they are cognisable by the intellect, as providing logical\nstepping-stones for spanning the great gulf between Humanity and\nDivinity,\u2014the Power\u2014the correct cognition of which provides the very\nlink between both systems of thought\u2014which is at the same time\nexternal to man, and has touch of him by its own divine light which\nenlightens him, and which is also the very man himself\u2014his highest\nand truest Self.\n\nFor most of us it is the \u201cGod hidden in the Sanctuary,\u201d of whose\nvery existence we are unaware, is known under the name of Iswara or\nthe Logos\u2014the primal ray from the Great Unknown. It is the Chrestos\nof the Christians, but, save, perhaps, to a few mystics in the Roman\nor Greek churches, it has been degraded past recognition by their\nmaterialistic anthropomorphism. A help to its better understanding\nmay be obtained by a reference to Sanscrit philosophy, which\ndescribes man\u2019s nature as consisting of the three _gunas_ or\nqualities\u2014Satwa, goodness, Rajas, passion and Tamas, darkness, or\ndelusion\u2014and the nature of most men is made up almost entirely of\nthe two last named\u2014while the Logos is pure Satwa.\n\nThe vexed question, therefore, as to whether man is freed by his own\ndominant will, or by the power of the Logos, will be seen to be very\nmuch a distinction without a difference. For the attainment of final\nliberation the God within and the God without must co-operate.\n\nDesire being, as Buddha taught, the great obstacle in the way, its\nconquest by the dominant will is the thing that has to be done, but\nthe Divine will cannot arise in its power, till the conviction of\nthe Supreme desirability of attaining the eternal condition is\nrendered permanent; and it is this that necessitates the goad which\nthe Logos is continually applying by its light on the soul.\n\nWe are now face to face with a very difficult problem\u2014it is, in fact\nthe gulf which separates the Occultist from the Religionist, and it\nis here that it is so necessary to get hold of the correct idea.\n\n        \u201cStrong limbs may dare the rugged road which storms,\n          Soaring and perilous, the mountain\u2019s breast;\n        The weak must wind from slower ledge to ledge,\n          With many a place of rest.\u201d\n\nThe short cut to perfection referred to in the first two lines has\nbeen called in Theosophic writings \u201cthe perilous ladder which leads\nto the path of life.\u201d To have faced the fearful abyss of darkness of\nthe first trial, without starting back in terror at the apparent\nannihilation which the casting aside of the sense-life implies, and\nout of the still more awful silence of the second trial; to have had\nthe strength to evoke the greater Self\u2014the God that has hitherto\nbeen hidden in the sanctuary\u2014such is the language used with\nreference to the very first\u2014nay, the preliminary\u2014steps on this path,\nwhile the further steps are represented by the ascending scale of\nthe occult Hierarchy, where the neophyte or chela, through a series\nof trials and initiations, may attain the highest Adeptship, and the\nman may gradually leave behind him his human desires and\nlimitations, and realise instead the attributes of Deity.\n\n                                                            PILGRIM.\n\n(_To be continued._)\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                   \u201c_GOD SPEAKS FOR LAW AND ORDER._\u201d\n\n                             INTRODUCTION.\n\nThe readers of the curious article which follows are requested to\nremember that the writers of signed papers in LUCIFER, and not the\neditors, are responsible for their contents. Captain Serjeant\u2019s\nviews excite much interest among a large number of earnest people,\nwho use Biblical forms and phraseology to picture to themselves the\nhidden things of nature and of spirit\u2014things which we, the editors,\nand also the large majority of Theosophists, believe to be more\nclearly conveyed under the symbolism of the ancient Wisdom-Religion\nof the East, and better expressed in its terminology. The article is\nan attempt to explain the significance of a very curious cloud\nformation observed by many persons in Scotland, on the 16th of\nSeptember last, a sketch of which appeared in the _St. Stephens\nReview_ on the 24th of the same month. In the centre of the sketch\nappears a side view of the British Lion rampant, with his paw on the\nhead of a bearded man, who bears a considerable likeness to Mr.\nParnell; to the right of the Lion is an excellent likeness of Her\nMajesty, crowned, as in the Jubilee coinage, and smiling very\nnaturally; and to the left of the picture is an Irish harp. The\nappearance, by the testimony of many witnesses, must have been\nremarkably perfect and striking. Cloud-forms of a similar kind have\nbeen recorded many times in history, and they are usually connected\nin the public mind with some important political event. The Cross of\nConstantine will, no doubt, recur to the readers\u2019 mind, but the\nsword and reversed crescent, which everyone saw in the sky when the\nTurks were driven out of Vienna, may be less generally known; as\nalso the reversed thistles, with the outline of a Scotchman, armed\nwith claymore and targe, and falling backward, which was observed in\nthe clouds by the King and Court at Windsor on the night before the\nbattle of Culloden.\n\nThe question of what interpretation is to be put upon remarkable\ncloud appearances, is of little interest to anyone who believes that\nsuch phenomena are merely accidental arrangements of the watery\nvapours of the atmosphere driven by currents of air. Apart, however,\nfrom the obvious consideration that this way of regarding the\nphenomenon only raises the further question of what causes the\ncurrents of air to run in these particular ways, it may be safely\nsaid that the chances are millions of millions of millions to one,\nagainst the appearance in the clouds of any such perfect and\ncomplete picture of well-known persons and emblems, as were seen in\nScotland on the 16th of September. Of course it may be argued, on\nthe other hand, that the clouds are for ever forming and re-forming\nin millions of millions of millions different ways, and that the\nmathematical chances are that one of these ways will occasionally\nrepresent an earth scene. But even if the infinite number of\ncontinual permutations and transformations of cloud substance be\nheld to account for the occasional appearance of some graphic\npicture of human things, it does not in any way explain why these\nrare pictures, when they do occur, should be perfect and appropriate\nsymbols; neither does it account for their appearance at the\nparticular moment when the extraordinary events, to which they are\nappropriate, are occurring, or about to occur.\n\nThe phenomenon of vapours and fumes taking the shape of persons and\nthings, is one of the oldest and best accredited facts in magic, and\nthese cloud appearances, if they be viewed as having any\nsignificance, are merely instances of a similar action on a large\nscale produced by some conscious or unconscious force in nature.\n\nIf it be allowed, however, that the occasional assumption by vapours\nof the shapes and likenesses of terrestrial things is not a\n\u201cfortuitous concourse of atoms,\u201d but occurs in accordance with some\nobscure law of Nature that in itself is the result of the mutual\ninteraction and interdependence of everything in the Universe, the\nimportant question still remains\u2014whether these appearances, when\nthey do occur, are \u201cintended\u201d as warnings or omens? Should the lion,\nthe harp, her Majesty, and Mr. Parnell, of the Scottish\ncloud-picture, be taken as having any more significance in the\naffairs of the nation, or of the world at large, than chemical\nphenomena can be supposed to presage disturbances or rejoicings in\nthe world of nature? To answer this question would involve\nconsiderations which only an advanced Occultist would be able to\ncomprehend; so we shall merely say, that although there are natural\nsymbols which carry in them a definite meaning for those who can\nread that secret language, still symbols are generally significant\nin proportion as people themselves put a significance into them.\n\nA triangle or a cube is nothing but a triangle or a cube to a yokel,\nbut to an Occultist they contain the philosophy of the Universe.\nEven so, Captain Serjeant, \u201cthe New Dispensationist,\u201d and\nTheosophist, can put the meaning he likes into this or any other\nsymbolical representation. We do not quite agree with either his\nmethods or his results in the case before us, but the conclusions he\ndraws are the same that are now being reached by many minds pursuing\nvery different paths; and these conclusions may be summed up by\nsaying that great changes are approaching, both in the temporal and\nin the spiritual life of humanity, and that these changes will\neventuate in better things and nobler ideas.\n\n                                  ---\n\n             AN INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION, BY SERJEANT.\n\n                     (The New Dispensationist.)\n\nThus may be interpreted the symbolical appearance represented and\ndescribed in the _St. Stephen\u2019s Review_ of 24th September 1887. The\nlion[66] of the house of Judah[67] arises with Victoria[68] the\nfemale principle of the victor[69] of this world of ignorance,\nerror, sin, crime and misery. The lion represents that wisdom which\nis the only true and lasting power on earth. He shall crush out the\nanarchy and confusion now so manifest in _the world_ which is the\nstate of ignorance existing on this earth. Without a miracle shall\nall this be accomplished?\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n  It is somewhat difficult to follow the argument of this passage,\n  unless the meaning of the words is explained. The Lion of the\n  House of Judah is equivalent to \u201cthe Lord\u201d and to \u201cthe Victor\u201d\n  mentioned below. In the writer\u2019s phraseology \u201cVictor is the symbol\n  of the Trinity of Wisdom, Love, Truth.\u201d Now the Lion is symbolical\n  of Wisdom; but, as it is impossible to sever one element of the\n  Trinity from another, it is necessary to remember that whenever\n  the word wisdom is used it carries with it the other two as well.\n  The above sentence would then seem to mean the conjunction of the\n  male and female principles to effect the purpose of the\n  manifestation of the Trinity above mentioned; by which\n  manifestation all ignorance is dispelled. [ED.]\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n  Judah means _praised_; the true idea being _the Lord be praised_.\n  Too much attention cannot be paid to the meanings of the words\n  used in the sacred writings of all nations and peoples.\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n  _i.e._ the Queen, on whose lands _the Sun never sets_; it must be\n  remembered that\u2014\u201cneither is the woman without the man, nor the man\n  without the woman in the Lord.\u201d\u2014(1 Corinthians xi, 11.)\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n  \u201cAnd no man can say _Jesus is Lord_ (_i.e._ Victor), but in the\n  Holy Spirit.\u201d\u2014(1 Corinthians xii., 3, Revised Version.) It is\n  especially necessary to remember that whenever allusion is made to\n  Victoria, it is not Her Most Gracious Majesty who is meant but the\n  unseen Victoria whose outward manifestation the Queen is alleged\n  to be. It is as though the Queen is the mouth-piece of the\n  intelligence behind, as the Foreign Secretary may be the\n  mouth-piece of the Foreign policy of the Government. The language\n  used is purely symbolical and by using words as symbols an\n  esoteric meaning is attached to the most commonplace events in\n  life. It is a truly occult argument, but one which matter-of-fact\n  people will regard as nonsensical. [ED.]\n\n-----\n\nAs insidious doubt has crept into the hearts of the children of men,\nso shall insidious truth creep in to dispel all doubt; ignorance\ndeveloped into wisdom shall be the destruction of the world.[70]\nIgnorance is the former or lower expression of knowledge, and\nknowledge is the former or lower expression of wisdom\u2014ignorance[71]\nis the cross\u2014wisdom is the crown. Ignorance regarded in a true light\nis really an incentive to knowledge, for no man would try to attain\nto knowledge were he not ignorant. And no man would strive to attain\nto wisdom, did he not possess the knowledge which ever silently\nproclaims to him its crowning happiness. Wisdom is not only the\ncelestial crown which every embodied soul is ultimately destined to\npossess, but it is also that particular state of Heaven called the\n\u201cNew Jerusalem\u201d which shall descend from the Spirit (_i.e._ God, see\nJohn iv., 24.) to earth in these latter days (see Revelation xxi.)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n  According to the explanations of the writer (_v. supra_), _The\n  World_ signifies a state of ignorance and darkness. Taken in this\n  sense the above sentence becomes a truism. [ED.]\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n  Ignorance is the equivalent of the Body, which is the Cross. By\n  this light the Wisdom means the life of the Spirit. [ED.]\n\n-----\n\nMan was created[72] an ignorant being for a great purpose, which he\nwill ultimately realise and know. Were there no ignorance, there\ncould be no error, without error there could be no sin. Were there\nno ignorance, no sin, there could be no crime, no unhappiness, no\nmisery existing on the earth. When, therefore, general ignorance\nshall succumb to the disintegrating power of universal intelligence\nso rapidly developing in these latter days[73] (see Daniel xii., 4),\nand which is the quickening of the Spirit of God in man; then the\nvery conditions responsible for evolving error, sin, crime,\nunhappiness, and misery will be entirely done away with, and thus\nthe consummation of the age\u2014or, as the old translation of the Bible\nhas it, the end of the world\u2014will be brought about as a necessary\nconsequence of purification by the Fire of the Spirit, _Truth_,\nwhich is the Divine Son of the Supreme Spirit, or God. \u201cWhen He, the\nSpirit of Truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the Truth\u201d;\nthen shall the princes of the House of David[74] arise from amongst\nthe people to rule the nations in equity and justice, in prosperity\nand peace, and the reign of the One Almighty Spirit of Wisdom, Love,\nand Truth shall begin on earth\u2014for the Lion (or wisdom) shall lie\ndown with the Lamb (or innocence), and a little child (or truth, see\nRev. xii., the coming man-child) shall lead them.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n  To say that Man was created ignorant for a great purpose would\n  argue the idea of a creator, according to orthodox ideas. But the\n  writer is known to repudiate this idea entirely. It is difficult,\n  therefore, to see what he means, unless it is that the man of\n  flesh was ushered into existence by an evolution which he has not\n  yet completed\u2014ignorant, to acquire knowledge gradually. [ED.]\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n  This is a _very_ optimistic view of the case, and we can only hope\n  to see it realised. The article \u201cSigns of the Times\u201d agrees with\n  the views of the writer of this article. There is a development\n  going on, but the forces against which it has to contend are too\n  dense for an early realisation of this dreamlike Golden Age. It is\n  too good to be true; but that it is possible to help it is also\n  true. The Kingdom of Heaven may be taken by violence, and an\n  entrance effected in an instant, but the process of attaining the\n  position whence the attack may be delivered, is one extending over\n  years. No student of occultism needs to be told this. [ED.]\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n  David means _beloved_; he was the first King of Israel, chosen of\n  the Spirit. Israel means _one who strives with God_\u2014_i.e._ one who\n  strives against ignorance in order that he may be blessed together\n  with his posterity. It was a name given to Jacob when he wrestled\n  with the Angel (Genesis xxxii., 28), and applies _to all_ who\n  contend on the side of the Deity.\n\n-----\n\nThe soul-stirring and elevating harp of the sweet and trusting\ndaughters of Judah[75] is hushed\u2014no crown surmounts it; and angels\nweep and mourn over the discord now prevailing in the world. Where\nare the harmonious chords which, through their inherent, soft,\nloving and sympathetic notes once rendered powerless that enemy of\nman\u2014the serpent? Lost, through the ignorance and sin of the puny\nearth-worms of this world! Yet Ireland, in common with the whole\nearth, shall be freed ere long from the yoke of ignorance which is\nso sorely oppressing all God\u2019s creatures, for the crowned female\nhead symbolically represents the \u201cSign in Heaven\u201d _which has\nappeared_, of the Victoria or the woman[76] clothed with the Sun,\nthe Divine Mother from whom will proceed the Child of Wisdom, Love\nand Truth, who shall rule all nations with a rod of iron,[77] and\nwho shall be caught up unto God and unto His Throne.[78]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n  In the writer\u2019s phraseology, Judah is the equivalent of Erin in\n  this case. It becomes exceedingly difficult to follow his meaning,\n  for as everything is the equivalent of everything else, we are\n  landed in a hopeless maze of paradox. On the principle that there\n  is no truth without a paradox, there must be a great truth in this\n  article (as there is), but its disentanglement is a matter of much\n  labour and thought. The line of argument is the Judah meaning \u201cbe\n  praised\u201d\u2014certain people who praised or followed the Lord (or\n  Wisdom) were \u201coppressed and laid aside _their harps_.\u201d There are\n  people unjustly oppressed in Ireland, not by the outer troubles,\n  but by the causes of the undoubted misery which prevails there.\n  Consequently, the daughters of Judah and Erin are equivalent terms\n  and interchangeable as symbols. The fact is that the author uses a\n  peculiar cryptogram, as he himself states. [ED.]\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n  See \u201cThe Mother, the woman clothed with the Sun,\u201d Vols. I. and\n  II.; and also the celebrated picture of \u201cThe Woman clothed with\n  the Sun,\u201d by Carl M\u00fcller.\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n  _i.e._, The Sceptre that endureth.\n\nFootnote 78:\n\n  _Revelation_, xii.\n\n-----\n\nThe following quotation from one of the replies to two leading\narticles, which appeared in the _Manchester Courier_ of May 4th and\n13th, may also tend to throw some light on the vision of the crowned\nfemale head: \u201cThe present year heralds the jubilee of Her Majesty\nQueen Victoria, on whose glorious Empire the sun never sets. It\nshall also proclaim the jubilee of another Queen Victoria, well\nknown to the ancients as the Bride of God who awaits the arrival of\nthe Bridegroom. This Queen is She of Sheba[79]\u2014the female principle\nof the one who is the Victor[80] of this world of ignorance and\ndarkness, sin and crime; and He is the Solomon,[81] or Man of Light,\nTruth and Life Eternal. On her glorious empire the golden rays of\nLove and Peace shall shine forth from the Living Sun which nevermore\nshall set. She is the woman clothed with the Sun, and from her will\nproceed the promised man-child who shall rule all nations with a rod\nof iron, and shall be caught up unto God and unto His Throne. Were\nthe English nation but to realise the mighty import of the grand and\neverlasting truths which I now proclaim, it would, to a man, support\nus in that work in which we, the New Dispensationists, daily and\nhourly labour in the interests of a suffering humanity now being\nslowly ground to powder in the stern mill of social ignorance and\ndegradation. The time has come for the promise to be made known of\nthe fulfilment of the \u201cSaving health of all nations\u201d; the prophecies\nof the ancients relating to the ultimatum of the written Word of\nTruth clearly point to the present age; and the Eternal Fiat has\ngone forth from the Universal King: \u201cWrite, for these words are\nfaithful and true\u201d\u2014\u201cBehold, I make all things new.\u201d (Revelation xxi,\n5.)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 79:\n\n  The Queen of the South or Zenith (_i.e._ the most supreme point of\n  the Heavens) who shall rise in judgment with this generation (see\n  Matthew xii, 42), She\u2019ba represents two Hebrew words (_Shebh\u0101_ and\n  _Shebh\u0227_). The first of these is an obscure term, compared by\n  Gesenius with the Ethiopic for \u201cman\u201d; the second signifies an oath\n  or covenant.\n\nFootnote 80:\n\n  _i.e._, The Christ, the Messiah.\n\nFootnote 81:\n\n  _i.e._, The man of \u201cSol\u201d or the Sun. Hence, Christians worship on\n  Sunday instead of on the Sabbath or on Saturday, as the Jews\n  worship.\n\n-----\n\nIt is fashionable in the world to covertly sneer at the things of\nthe Spirit, and to regard the Living God in Heaven as a Being either\nunable or unwilling to manifest His Almighty Power and Presence to\nthe world in this orthodox nineteenth century. To all who may be\ninclined to ignorantly hold what I have here written to be the\noutcome of a disordered imagination I would say, in the words of\nPaul, an apostle: \u201cnot of men, neither by men.\u201d\u2014\u201cWe speak wisdom\namong the full-grown, yet a wisdom, not of this world, nor of the\nrulers of this world, _which are coming to nought_: but we speak\nGod\u2019s wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden,\nwhich God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory, _which none\nof the Rulers of this world knoweth_.\u201d[82] \u201cNow the natural man\nreceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are\nfoolishness unto him; and he cannot know them because they are\nspiritually examined. But he that is spiritual examineth all things\nand is himself examined of no man.\u201d (See 1 Corinthians, ii.)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 82:\n\n  _i.e._, Theosophy, or the hidden outcome of the hidden wisdom of\n  the ages.\n\n-----\n\nThe year 1887 heralds the spiritual activity which will eventually\nculminate in the glorious consummation of the age.\n\n                                                  W. ELDON SERJEANT.\n\n                           AN INFANT GENIUS.\n\nThe idea of re-incarnation, that is to say of a succession of\nearth-lives passed through by each individual monad, seems so new\nand so daring to the Western World, that we are always being asked,\n\u201cWhere are your proofs? Are we to take such a startling hypothesis\nas this simply on your _ipse dixit_, or on the authority of some\nancient Oriental book or \u2018problematical\u2019 Mahatma?\u201d\n\nTo such a question the reply cannot be given in two or three words;\nfor, while maintaining that there is at least as much reliance to be\nplaced upon the Sacred Books of the East as on those of any other\nreligion, and while holding firm to the belief that there _are_\nbeings of a higher order of intelligence living upon this earth, and\nmixing even in its great life-currents, we cannot expect that merely\nbecause we say \u201cMan does not leave this earth for good and all at\nDeath,\u201d we therefore shall gain credence. Before the world of\nScience our position would have to be that of a Young with his\nundulatory hypothesis of light, or a Dalton with his atomic theory.\nWe cannot bring proof positive to those who desire an Euclidic\ndemonstration; we can only offer to them a hypothesis, and bid them\ntreat it calmly and dispassionately, not flying straightway into a\nfury of abuse at our great impudence in daring to suggest a heresy,\nbut weighing it with care, and trying whether or no it will explain\nsome of the dark riddles of existence.\n\nTo ourselves, merely as a working hypothesis, the doctrine of\nreincarnation seems to throw so much long-sought-for light upon the\nbewildering enigmas of life, and the strange vagaries of a fickle\nfortune, that we could not, even if we would, lay aside so fluent an\ninterpreter of the utterances of the Sphinx\u2014Existence. The seeming\ninjustices in the lot of man fall into line as units of the great\nbattalion of cause and effect; \u201cWhat a man sows that must he also\nreap.\u201d How else account for all the misery that cries aloud on every\nhand, the starving multitudes, the good man persecuted, the\ncharlatan triumphant? In the small purview of a life summed up in\nthree-score years and ten, where is the indication of a Divine\nintelligence that metes to each his due?\n\nBut if this brief existence be not the only one that man incarnate\nmust pass through, if it be, as we are assured, but one short link\nin a chain that spans a fathomless expanse of myriad years, then\ndoes the eternity of justice proclaim itself, handed on from birth\nto birth in the dark fuel of the torch of life.\n\nOur purpose now, however, is not to strive to catalogue the\ncountless instances where destiny appears to cry aloud, into the\ndeaf ears of man, that life is fraught with dire responsibility for\nfuture life, but to point to a case where she, in kindlier mood, has\nshown the gracious aspect of her face.\n\nFor the last few months London has been taken by storm by the\nmarvellous musical talent of a child whose life, in this incarnation\nat least, is barely ten years old. We allude, of course, to Josef\nHofmann. None of our readers who have heard this boy but must have\nwondered whence this phenomenal skill could have been derived. Other\nchildren have come before the public, and roused its listlessness a\nlittle with exhibitions of infantile precocity. But this young Josef\nhas taken at once front rank among the stars of the musical world,\nand won a place only to be compared to that of the fairy-child\nMozart.\n\nWhence comes this breadth of feeling, this grasp of musical\nexpression? It is certain that it comes not from his teacher; for\nhis father alone has filled that capacity, and it does not show\nitself in _his_ performance; and again, the only unsatisfactory part\nof the boy\u2019s playing is clearly the result of mannerisms such as the\nsecond-rate conductor of a provincial orchestra would, without fail,\nextol and inculcate. No; it is clear that the swing of rhythm, the\ndetermination of attack, the delicacy of sentiment, must come from a\nman\u2019s heart beating within that boyish frame, and a man\u2019s mind\nshining through that childish head. Could one forget the name of the\nperformer for one instant, and shut from one\u2019s eyes his physical\npresence, it were a _man_ that was revealing to us the secrets of\nthe notes. The rife experience of years must needs precede such\nrendering of musical thought; an experience earned in many a fight\nwith varying fortune, in sympathy with many a tale of woe, in\nrejoicing over many a glimpse of Love and Brotherhood.\n\nYet ten short years are all his tale! What magician could crowd into\nthat tiny space the parti-coloured pictures of a fevered life of\nenergy? No, it must be that the child has lived upon this earth\nbefore, has borne his lance in the thickest of the fray, has\nachieved distinction in some great branch of art and garnered up a\nstore of thought and feeling, into the inheritance of which his\nheir, himself, has entered. He may squander it again; alas, so many\nhave before; but there it is, for him to use aright or wrongly, and\nserious is the charge imposed upon his guardians that they shall lay\nthe lesson to heart that to whom much is given, from him shall much\nbe expected. But with that aspect of the case it is not for us here\nto deal. We have only adduced this boy\u2019s genius as one of the\nindications that life is in its succession a far more complex\nproblem than the materialists or the orthodox religionists would\nlead us to believe. There are countless other suggestive little\nfacts of early talent that must have come within the circle of the\ndaily life of each of us; but without the thread of Karma whereon to\nstring them, we pass them by; and it is only when some remarkable\nphenomenon, such as that of Josef Hofmann, bursts upon the world,\nthat men fall to wondering. Yet it is by the accumulation of small\ndetails that a philosopher like Darwin worked out his scheme of\nnatural evolution; and it is by the testing of such a theory as that\nof re-incarnation by many a little hitherto unexplained incident\nthat we shall find its worth. Nor is it merely as a curious prying\ninto mysteries that we should regard such research; for, once let a\nman convince himself that though \u201cArt is long,\u201d yet Life, in its\nrecurrence, is longer, he will find in the thought that he is really\nlaying up treasure in heaven (the _lives_ to come), encouragement,\ndespite all temporary failure, to do whatsoever his hand findeth to\ndo with all his might.\n\n                                                    W. ASHTON ELLIS.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                                 FEAR.\n\n            Why fearest thou the darksome shades\n                That creep across the path of life?\n                Why tremble at the thought of strife\n            That oftentimes the soul invades?\n\n            Why sicken at the thought of ills?\n                The horrors that invade thy dreams,\n                The shadowland of forms, that seems\n            Dark terror to the soul it fills?\n\n            Why weary of the onward way,\n                Or dread the roughness of the road?\n                Why fear to struggle \u2019gainst the load,\n            The heavy burthen of life\u2019s clay?\n\n            Hast thou not seen?\u2014when gone the night\n                And stilled the dropping of the shower,\n                The weary drooping wayside flower\n            Drink in new life from sunbeams bright.\n\n            Hast thou not loved, at dawn, to feast,\n                The longing of thy mortal eyes\n                With vivid colours of the skies,\n            Burst free from floodgates of the East?\n\n            And hast thou never tried, in thought,\n                To gain a clearer, truer view?\n                A mystic glimpse, a vision new,\n            That shows the darkness as it ought?\n\n            A phantom of material fear\n                Unworthy of a moment\u2019s dread;\n                For darkness would itself be dead,\n            Unless its mother light were near!\n\n            Then learn to grasp the purer light,\n                And learn to know the holier creed\u2014\n                The brighter glow\u2014the greater need,\n            The nearer day\u2014the murkier night.\n\n                                                            P. H. D.\n\n\n\n\n                 THE ESOTERIC CHARACTER OF THE GOSPELS.\n\n                           (_Continued._)\n\n                                  II.\n\nThe word Chr\u00e9stos existed ages before Christianity was heard of. It\nis found used, from the fifth century B.C., by Herodotus, by\n\u00c6schylus and other classical Greek writers, the meaning of it being\napplied to both things and persons.\n\nThus in \u00c6schylus (Cho. 901) we read of \u039c\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03cd\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1 \u03c0\u03c5\u03b8\u03cc\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\n(_pythochr\u00e9sta_) the \u201coracles delivered by a Pythian God\u201d\n(_Greek-Eng. Lex._) through a pythoness; and _Pythochr\u00e9stos_ is the\nnominative singular of an adjective derived from _chrao_ \u03c7\u03c1\u03ac\u03c9\n(Eurip. _Ion_, 1, 218). The later meanings coined freely from this\nprimitive application, are numerous and varied. Pagan classics\nexpressed more than one idea by the verb \u03c7\u03c1\u03ac\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 \u201cconsulting an\noracle\u201d; for it also means \u201cfated,\u201d _doomed_ by an oracle, in the\nsense of a _sacrificial victim to its decree_, or\u2014\u201cto the WORD\u201d; as\n_chr\u00e9sterion_ is not only \u201cthe seat of an oracle\u201d but also \u201can\noffering to, or for, the oracle.\u201d[83] _Chrest\u00e9s_ \u03c7\u03c1\u03ae\u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 is one who\nexpounds or explains oracles, \u201ca _prophet_, a _soothsayer_;\u201d[84] and\n_chr\u00e9sterios_ \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u1f74\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 is one who belongs to, or is in the service\nof, an oracle, a god, or a \u201cMaster\u201d;[85] this Canon Farrar\u2019s efforts\nnotwithstanding.[86]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 83:\n\n  The word \u03c7\u03c1\u03b5\u03ce\u03bd is explained by Herodotus (7. 11. 7.) as that which\n  an oracle declares, and \u03c4\u1f78 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b5\u03ce\u03bd is given by Plutarch (Nic. 14.)\n  as \u201cfate,\u201d \u201cnecessity.\u201d _Vide_ Herod, 7. 215; 5. 108; and\n  Sophocles, Phil. 437.\n\nFootnote 84:\n\n  See Liddell and Scott\u2019s Greek-Engl. Lex.\n\nFootnote 85:\n\n  Hence of a _Guru_, \u201ca teacher,\u201d and _chela_, a \u201cdisciple,\u201d in\n  their mutual relations.\n\nFootnote 86:\n\n  In his recent work\u2014\u201cThe Early Days of Christianity,\u201d Canon Farrar\n  remarks:\u2014\u201cSome have supposed a pleasant play of words founded on\n  it, as ... between _Chr\u00e9stos_ (\u2018sweet\u2019 Ps. xxx., iv., 8) and\n  Christos (Christ)\u201d (I. p. 158, _foot-note_). But there is nothing\n  to suppose, since it began by a \u201cplay of words,\u201d indeed. The name\n  _Christus_ was _not_ \u201cdistorted into Chrestus,\u201d as the learned\n  author would make his readers believe (p. 19), but it was the\n  adjective and noun _Chr\u00e9stos_ which became distorted into\n  _Christus_, and applied to Jesus. In a foot-note on the word\n  \u201cChrestian,\u201d occurring in the First Epistle of Peter (chap. iv.,\n  16), in which in the _revised_ later MSS. the word was changed\n  into _Christian_, Canon Farrar remarks again, \u201cPerhaps we should\n  read the ignorant heathen distortion, _Chr\u00e9stian_.\u201d Most decidedly\n  we should; for the eloquent writer should remember his Master\u2019s\n  command to render unto C\u00e6sar that which is C\u00e6sar\u2019s. His dislike\n  notwithstanding, Mr. Farrar is obliged to admit that the name\n  _Christian_ was first INVENTED, by the sneering, mocking\n  Antiochians, as early as A.D. 44, but had not come into general\n  use before the persecution by Nero. \u201cTacitus,\u201d he says, \u201cuses the\n  word Christians with something of apology. It is well known that\n  in the N. T. it only occurs three times, and always involves a\n  hostile sense (_Acts_ xi. 26, xxvi. 28, as it does in iv. 16).\u201d It\n  was not Claudius alone who looked with alarm and suspicion on the\n  Christians, so nicknamed in derision for their carnalizing a\n  subjective principle or attribute, but all the pagan nations. For\n  Tacitus, speaking of those whom the masses called \u201cChristians,\u201d\n  describes them as a set of men _detested for their enormities_ and\n  crimes. No wonder, for history repeats itself. There are, no\n  doubt, thousands of noble, sincere, and virtuous _Christian-born_\n  men and women now. But we have only to look at the viciousness of\n  Christian \u201cheathen\u201d converts; at the _morality_ of those\n  proselytes in India, whom the missionaries themselves decline to\n  take into their service, to draw a parallel between the converts\n  of 1,800 years ago, and the modern heathens \u201ctouched _by grace_.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nAll this is evidence that the terms Christ and Christians, spelt\noriginally _Chr\u00e9st_ and _Chr\u00e9stians_ \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03b1\u03bd\u03bf\u1f76[87] were\ndirectly borrowed from the Temple terminology of the Pagans, and\nmeant the same thing. The God of the Jews was now substituted\nfor the Oracle and the other gods; the generic designation\n\u201cChr\u00e9stos\u201d became a noun applied to one special personage; and\nnew terms such as _Chr\u00e9stiano\u00ef_ and _Chr\u00e9stodoulos_ \u201ca follower\nor servant of Chrestos\u201d\u2014were coined out of the old material.\nThis is shown by Philo Jud\u00e6us, a monotheist, assuredly, using\nalready the same term for monotheistic purposes. For he speaks\nof \u03b8\u03b5\u03cc\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 (_th\u00e9ochr\u00e9stos_) \u201cGod-declared,\u201d or one who is\ndeclared by god, and of \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03b9\u03b1 \u03b8\u03b5\u03cc\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1 (_logia th\u00e9ochr\u00e9sta_)\n\u201csayings delivered by God\u201d\u2014which proves that he wrote at a time\n(between the first century B.C., and the first A.D.) when\nneither Christians nor Chrestians were yet known under these\nnames, but still called themselves the Nazarenes. The notable\ndifference between the two words \u03c7\u03c1\u03ac\u03c9\u2014\u201cconsulting or obtaining\nresponse from a god or oracle\u201d (\u03c7\u03c1\u03b5\u03c9 being the Ionic earlier\nform of it), and \u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c9 (_chrio_) \u201cto rub, to anoint\u201d (from which\nthe name Christos), have not prevented the ecclesiastical\nadoption and coinage from Philo\u2019s expression \u03b8\u03b5\u03cc\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 of that\nother term \u03b8\u03b5\u03cc\u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u201canointed by God.\u201d Thus the quiet\nsubstitution of the letter \u03b9 for \u03b7 for dogmatic purposes, was\nachieved in the easiest way, as we now see.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 87:\n\n  Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Lactantius, Clemens Alexandrinus, and\n  others spelt it in this way.\n\n-----\n\nThe secular meaning of _Chr\u00e9stos_ runs throughout the classical\nGreek literature _pari passu_ with that given to it in the\nmysteries. Demosthenes\u2019 saying \u03c9 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03ad (330, 27), means by it\nsimply \u201cyou nice fellow\u201d; Plato (in Phaed. 264 B) has \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2 \u03b5\u03b9 \u1f45\u03c4\u03b9\n\u1f23\u03b3\u03b5\u1fd6\u2014\u201cyou are an excellent fellow to think....\u201d But in the esoteric\nphraseology of the temples \u201cchrestos,\u201d[88] a word which, like the\nparticiple _chr\u00e9stheis_, is formed under the same rule, and conveys\nthe same sense\u2014from the verb \u03c7\u03c1\u03ac\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9(\u201cto consult a god\u201d)\u2014answers to\nwhat we would call an adept, also a high _chela_, a disciple. It is\nin this sense that it is used by Euripides (Ion. 1320) and by\n\u00c6schylus (1 C). This qualification was applied to those whom the\ngod, oracle, or any superior had proclaimed this, that, or anything\nelse. An instance may be given in this case.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 88:\n\n  _Vide_ Liddell and Scott\u2019s Greek and English Lexicon. _Chr\u00e9stos_\n  is really one who is continually warned, advised, guided, whether\n  by oracle or prophet. Mr. G. Massey is not correct in saying that\n  \u201c... The Gnostic form of the name Chrest, or Chrestos, denotes the\n  _Good God_, not a human original,\u201d for it denoted the latter,\n  _i.e._, a good, holy man; but he is quite right when he adds that\n  \u201c_Chrestianus_ signifies ... \u2018Sweetness and Light.\u2019\u201d \u201cThe\n  _Chrestoi_, as the _Good People_, were pre-extant. Numerous Greek\n  inscriptions show that the departed, the hero, the saintly\n  one\u2014that is, the \u2018Good\u2019\u2014was styled _Chrestos_, or the Christ; and\n  from this meaning of the \u2018Good\u2019 does Justin, the primal apologist,\n  derive the Christian name. This identifies it with the Gnostic\n  source, and with the \u2018Good God\u2019 who revealed himself according to\n  Marcion\u2014that is, the Un-Nefer or Good-opener of the Egyptian\n  theology.\u201d\u2014(_Agnostic Annual._)\n\n-----\n\nThe words \u03c7\u03c1\u1fc6\u03c3\u03b5\u03bd \u03bf\u03b9\u03ba\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u1fc6\u03c1\u03b1 used by Pindar (p. 4-10) mean \u201cthe oracle\n_proclaimed_ him the coloniser.\u201d In this case the genius of the\nGreek language permits that the man so proclaimed should be called\n\u03c7\u03c1\u03ae\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 (_Chr\u00e9stos_). Hence this term was applied to every Disciple\nrecognised by a Master, as also to every good man. Now, the Greek\nlanguage affords strange etymologies. Christian theology has chosen\nand decreed that the name Christos should be taken as derived from\n\u03c7\u03c1\u03af\u03a9, \u03c7\u03c1\u03af\u03c3\u03c9 (Chriso), \u201canointed with scented unguents or oil.\u201d But\nthis word has several significances. It is used by Homer, certainly,\nas applied to the rubbing with oil of the body after bathing (_Il._\n23, 186; also in _Od._ 4, 252) as other ancient writers do. Yet the\nword \u03c7\u03c1\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 (_Christes_) means rather a _white-washer_, while the\nword Chrestes (\u03c7\u03c1\u03ae\u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2) means priest and prophet, a term far more\napplicable to Jesus, than that of the \u201cAnointed,\u201d since, as Nork\nshows on the authority of the Gospels, he never was anointed, either\nas king or priest. In short, there is a deep mystery underlying all\nthis scheme, which, as I maintain, only a thorough knowledge of the\nPagan mysteries is capable of unveiling.[89] It is not what the\nearly Fathers, who had an object to achieve, may affirm or deny,\nthat is the important point, but rather what is now the evidence for\nthe real significance given to the two terms _Chr\u00e9stos_ and\n_Christos_ by the ancients in the pre-Christian ages. For the latter\nhad no object to achieve, therefore nothing to conceal or disfigure,\nand their evidence is naturally the more reliable of the two. This\nevidence can be obtained by first studying the meaning given to\nthese words by the classics, and then their correct significance\nsearched for in mystic symbology.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 89:\n\n  Again I must bring forward what Mr. G. Massey says (whom I quote\n  repeatedly because he has studied this subject so thoroughly and\n  so conscientiously).\n\n  \u201cMy contention, or rather explanation,\u201d he says, \u201cis that the\n  author of the Christian name is the Mummy-Christ of Egypt, called\n  the _Karest_, which was a type of the immortal spirit in man, the\n  Christ within (as Paul has it), the divine offspring incarnated,\n  the Logos, the Word of Truth, the _Makheru_ of Egypt. It did not\n  originate as a mere type! The preserved mummy was the _dead body\n  of any one_ that was _Karest_, or mummified, to be kept by the\n  living; and, through constant repetition, this became a type of\n  the resurrection from (not of!) the dead.\u201d See the explanation of\n  this further on.\n\n-----\n\nNow _Chrestos_, as already said, is a term applied in various\nsenses. It qualifies both Deity and Man. It is used in the former\nsense in the Gospels, and in Luke (vi., 35), where it means \u201ckind,\u201d\nand \u201cmerciful.\u201d \u201c\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2 \u1f11\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03bd \u03b5\u03c0\u03b9 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2,\u201d in 1 Peter (ii, 3), where\nit is said, \u201cKind is the Lord,\u201d \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2 \u1f41 \u03ba\u03cd\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2. On the other hand,\nit is explained by Clemens Alexandrinus as simply meaning a good\nman; _i.e._ \u201cAll who believe in _Chr\u00e9st_ (a good man) both _are_,\nand _are called Chr\u00e9stians_, that is good men.\u201d (Strom. lib. ii.)\nThe reticence of Clemens, whose Christianity, as King truly remarks\nin his \u201c_Gnostics_,\u201d was no more than a graft upon the congenial\nstock of his original Platonism, is quite natural. He was an\nInitiate, a new Platonist, before he became a Christian, which fact,\nhowever much he may have fallen off from his earlier views, could\nnot exonerate him from his pledge of secrecy. And as a Theosophist\nand a _Gnostic_, one who _knew_, Clemens must have known that\n_Christos_ was \u201cthe WAY,\u201d while _Chr\u00e9stos_ was the lonely traveller\njourneying on to reach the ultimate goal through that \u201cPath,\u201d which\ngoal was _Christos_, the glorified Spirit of \u201cTRUTH,\u201d the reunion\nwith which makes the soul (the Son) ONE with the (Father) Spirit.\nThat Paul knew it, is certain, for his own expressions prove it. For\nwhat do the words \u03c0\u03ac\u03bb\u03b9\u03bd \u1f60\u03b4\u03af\u03bd\u03c9, \u1f05\u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c2 \u03bf\u1f55 \u03bc\u03bf\u03c1\u03c6\u03c9\u03b8\u1fc6 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u1f78\u03c2 \u1f10\u03bd\u1f7a\u03bc\u1fd6\u03bd, or,\nas given in the authorised translations, \u201cI am again in travail\nuntil _Christ be formed in you_\u201d mean, but what we give in its\nesoteric rendering, _i.e._ \u201cuntil you find _the_ Christos within\nyourselves as your only \u2018way.\u2019\u201d (_vide_ Galatians iv., 19 and 20.)\n\nThus Jesus, whether of Nazareth or L\u00fcd,[90] was a Chr\u00e9stos, as\nundeniably as that he never was entitled to the appellation of\n_Christos_, during his life-time and before his last trial. It may\nhave been as Higgins thinks, who surmises that the first name of\nJesus was, perhaps, \u03c7\u03c1\u03b5\u03b9\u03c3\u03bf\u03c2 the second \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03bf\u03c2, and the third \u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03bf\u03c2.\n\u201cThe word \u03c7\u03c1\u03b5\u03b9\u03c3\u03bf\u03c2 was in use before the H (cap. _eta_) was in the\nlanguage.\u201d But Taylor (in his answer to Pye Smith, p. 113) is quoted\nsaying \u201cThe complimentary epithet Chrest ... signified nothing more\nthan a good man.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 90:\n\n  Or Lydda. Reference is made here to the Rabbinical tradition in\n  the Babylonian Gemara, called _Sepher Toledoth Jeshu_, about Jesus\n  being the son of one named Pandira, and having lived a century\n  earlier than the era called Christian, namely, during the reign of\n  the Jewish king Alexander Jann\u00e6us and his wife Salome, who reigned\n  from the year 106 to 79 B.C. Accused by the Jews of having learned\n  the magic art in Egypt, and of having stolen from the Holy of\n  Holies the Incommunicable Name, Jehoshua (Jesus) was put to death\n  by the Sanhedrin at Lud. He was stoned and then crucified on a\n  tree, on the eve of Passover. The narrative is ascribed to the\n  Talmudistic authors of \u201cSota\u201d and \u201cSanhedrin,\u201d p. 19, Book of\n  Zechiel. See \u201cIsis Unveiled,\u201d II. 201; Arnobius; Elephas Levi\u2019s\n  \u201c_Science des Esprits_,\u201d and \u201cThe Historical Jesus and Mythical\n  Christ,\u201d a lecture by G. Massey.\n\n-----\n\nHere again a number of ancient writers may be brought forward to\ntestify that _Christos_ (or _Chreistos_, rather) was, along with\n\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03bf\u03c2 = Hr\u00e9sos, an adjective applied to Gentiles before the\nChristian era. In _Philopatris_ it is said \u03b5\u03b9 \u03c4\u03c5\u03c7\u03bf\u03b9 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b5\u03bd\n\u03b5\u03b8\u03bd\u03b5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd, _i.e._ \u201cif chrestos chance to be even among the Gentiles,\u201d\netc.\n\nTertullian denounces in the 3rd chapter of his _Apologia_ the word\n\u201c_Christianus_\u201d as derived by \u201ccrafty interpretation;\u201d[91] Dr.\nJones, on the other hand, letting out the information, corroborated\nby good sources, that _Hr\u00e9sos_ \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03cc\u03c2 was the name given to Christ\nby the Gnostics, and even by unbelievers,\u201d assures us that the real\nname ought to be \u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03bf\u03c2 or Chrisos\u2014thus repeating and supporting the\noriginal \u201cpious fraud\u201d of the early Fathers, a fraud which led to\nthe carnalizing of the whole Christian system.[92] But I propose to\nshow as much of the real meaning of all these terms as lies within\nmy humble powers and knowledge. Christos, or the \u201cChrist-condition,\u201d\nwas ever the synonym of the \u201cMahatmic-condition,\u201d _i.e._, the union\nof the man with the divine principle in him. As Paul says (Ephes.\niii. 17) \u201c\u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03ba\u03b7\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c4\u03bf\u03bd \u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2 \u03b5\u03bd \u03c4\u03b1\u03b9\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03c1\u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03b9\u03c2\n\u1f51\u03bc\u03c9\u03b9.\u201d \u201cThat you may find Christos in your _inner_ man through\n_knowledge_\u201d not faith, as translated; for _Pistis_ is \u201cknowledge,\u201d\nas will be shown further on.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 91:\n\n  \u201cChristianus quantum interpretatione de unctione deducitas. Sed ut\n  cum perferam Chrestianus pronunciatus a vobis (nam nec nominis\n  certa est notitia penes vos) de suavitate vel benignitate\n  compositum est.\u201d Canon Farrar makes a great effort to show such\n  _lapsus calami_ by various Fathers as the results of disgust and\n  fear. \u201cThere can be little doubt,\u201d he says (in _The Early Days of\n  Christianity_) \u201cthat the ... name Christian ... was a nick-name\n  due to the wit of the Antiochians.... It is clear that the sacred\n  writers avoided the name (Christians) because it was employed by\n  their enemies (Tac. Ann. xv. 44). It only became familiar when the\n  virtues of Christians had shed lustre upon it....\u201d This is a very\n  lame excuse, and a poor explanation to give for so eminent a\n  thinker as Canon Farrar. As to the \u201cvirtues of Christians\u201d ever\n  shedding _lustre_ upon the name, let us hope that the writer had\n  in his mind\u2019s eye neither Bishop Cyril, of Alexandria, nor\n  Eusebius, nor the Emperor Constantine, of murderous fame, nor yet\n  the Popes Borgia and the Holy Inquisition.\n\nFootnote 92:\n\n  Quoted by G. Higgins. (See Vol. I., pp. 569-573.)\n\n-----\n\nThere is still another and far more weighty proof that the name\n_Christos_ is pre-Christian. The evidence for it is found in the\nprophecy of the Erythrean Sybil. We read in it \u1f39\u0397\u03a3\u039f\u03a5\u03a3 \u03a7\u03a1\u0395\u0399\u03a3\u03a4\u039f\u03a3\u0398\u0395\u039f\u039d\n\u1f59\u0399\u039f\u03a3 \u03a3\u03a9\u03a4\u0397\u03a1 \u03a3\u03a4\u0391\u03a5\u03a1\u039f\u03a3. Read esoterically, this string of meaningless\ndetached nouns, which has no sense to the profane, contains a real\nprophecy\u2014only not referring to Jesus\u2014and a verse from the mystic\ncatechism of the Initiate. The prophecy relates to the coming down\nupon the Earth of the Spirit of Truth (Christos), after which\nadvent\u2014that has once more nought to do with Jesus\u2014will begin the\nGolden Age; the verse refers to the necessity before reaching that\nblessed condition of inner (or subjective) theophany and\ntheopneusty, to pass through the crucifixion of flesh or matter.\nRead exoterically, the words \u201c_Iesous Chreistos theou yios soter\nstauros_,\u201d meaning literally \u201cIesus, Christos, God, Son, Saviour,\nCross,\u201d are most excellent handles to hang a Christian prophecy on,\nbut they are _pagan_, not Christian.\n\nIf called upon to explain the names IESOUS CHREISTOS, the answer is:\nstudy mythology, the so-called \u201cfictions\u201d of the ancients, and they\nwill give you the key. Ponder over Apollo, the solar god, and the\n\u201cHealer,\u201d and the allegory about his son Janus (or Ion), his priest\nat Delphos, through whom alone could prayers reach the immortal\ngods, and his other son Asclepios, called the _Soter_, or Saviour.\nHere is a leaflet from esoteric history written in symbolical\nphraseology by the old Grecian poets.\n\nThe city of Chrisa[93] (now spelt Crisa), was built in memory of\nKreusa (or Creusa), daughter of King Erechtheus and mother of Janus\n(or Ion) by Apollo, in memory of the danger which Janus escaped.[94]\nWe learn that Janus, abandoned by his mother in a grotto \u201cto hide\nthe shame of the virgin who bore a son,\u201d was found by Hermes, who\nbrought the infant to Delphi, nurtured him by his father\u2019s sanctuary\nand oracle, where, under the name of Chresis (\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2) Janus became\nfirst a _Chrestis_ (a priest, soothsayer, or Initiate), and then\nvery nearly a _Chresterion_, \u201ca sacrificial victim,\u201d[95] ready to be\npoisoned by his own mother, who knew him not, and who, in her\njealousy, mistook him, on the hazy intimation of the oracle, for a\nson of her husband. He pursued her to the very altar with the\nintention of killing her\u2014when she was saved through the pythoness,\nwho divulged to both the secret of their relationship. In memory of\nthis narrow escape, Creusa, the mother, built the city of Chrisa, or\nKrisa. Such is the allegory, and it symbolizes simply the trials of\nInitiation.[96]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 93:\n\n  In the days of Homer, we find this city, once celebrated for its\n  mysteries, the chief seat of Initiation, and the name of\n  _Chrestos_ used as a title during the mysteries. It is mentioned\n  in the _Iliad_, ii., 520 as \u201cChrisa\u201d (\u03c7\u03c1\u1fd6\u03c3\u03b1). Dr. Clarke suspected\n  its ruins under the present site of _Krestona_, a small town, or\n  village rather, in Phocis, near the Criss\u00e6an Bay. (See E. D.\n  Clarke, 4th ed. Vol. viii. p. 239, \u201cDelphi.\u201d)\n\nFootnote 94:\n\n  The root of \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2 (_Chretos_) and \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 (_Chrestos_) is one and\n  the same; \u03c7\u03c1\u03ac\u03c9 which means \u201cconsulting the oracle,\u201d in one sense,\n  but in another one \u201cconsecrated,\u201d _set apart_, belonging to some\n  temple, or oracle, or devoted to oracular services. On the other\n  hand, the word \u03c7\u03c1\u03b5 (\u03c7\u03c1\u03b5\u03c9) means \u201cobligation,\u201d a \u201cbond, duty,\u201d or\n  one who is under the obligation of pledges, or vows taken.\n\nFootnote 95:\n\n  The adjective \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u1f78\u03c2 was also used as an adjective before proper\n  names as a compliment, as in Plat. Theact. p. 166A, \u201c\u1f49\u03c5\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f41\n  \u03a3\u03c9\u03ba\u03c1\u03ac\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u1f41 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2;\u201d (here Socrates is the _Chr\u00e9stos_), and also\n  as a surname, as shown by Plutarch (V. Phocion), who wonders how\n  such a rough and dull fellow as Phocion could be surnamed\n  _Chr\u00e9stos_.\n\nFootnote 96:\n\n  There are strange features, quite suggestive, for an Occultist, in\n  the myth (if one) of Janus. Some make of him the personification\n  of _Kosmos_, others, of _C\u00e6lus_ (heaven), hence he is \u201ctwo-faced\u201d\n  because of his two characters of spirit and matter; and he is not\n  only \u201cJanus _Bifrons_\u201d (two-faced), but also _Quadrifrons_\u2014the\n  perfect square, the emblem of the Kabbalistic Deity. His temples\n  were built with _four_ equal sides, with a door and _three_\n  windows on each side. Mythologists explain it as an emblem of the\n  _four_ seasons of the year, and _three_ months in each season, and\n  in all of the twelve months of the year. During the mysteries of\n  Initiation, however, he became the Day-Sun and the Night-Sun.\n  Hence he is often represented with the number 300 in one hand, and\n  in the other 65, or the number of days of the Solar year. Now\n  _Chanoch_ (Kanoch and _Enosh_ in the Bible) is, as may be shown on\n  Kabalistic authority, whether son of Cain, son of Seth, or the son\n  of Methuselah, one and the same personage. As _Chanoch_ (according\n  to Fuerst), he is the _Initiator_, _Instructor_\u2014of the\n  astronomical circle and solar year,\u201d as son of Methuselah, who is\n  said to have lived 365 years and been taken to heaven alive, as\n  the representative of the Sun (or god). (See Book of Enoch.) This\n  patriarch has many features in common with Janus, who,\n  exoterically, is Ion but IAO cabalistically, or Jehovah, the \u201cLord\n  God of Generations,\u201d the mysterious Yodh, or ONE (a phallic\n  number). For Janus or Ion is also _Consivius, a conserendo_,\n  because he presided over generations. He is shown giving\n  hospitality to Saturn (_Chronos_ \u201ctime\u201d), and is the _Initiator_\n  of the year, or time divided into 365.\n\n-----\n\nFinding then that Janus, the solar God, and son of Apollo, the Sun,\nmeans the \u201cInitiator\u201d and the \u201cOpener of the Gate of Light,\u201d or\nsecret wisdom of the mysteries; that he is born from Krisa\n(esoterically _Chris_), and that he was a _Chrestos_ through whom\nspoke the God; that he was finally Ion, the father of the Ionians,\nand, some say, an _aspect_ of Asclepios, another son of Apollo, it\nis easy to get hold of the thread of Ariadne in this labyrinth of\nallegories. It is not the place here to prove side issues in\nmythology, however. It suffices to show the connection between the\nmythical characters of hoary antiquity and the later fables that\nmarked the beginning of our era of civilization. Asclepios\n(Esculapius) was the divine physician, the \u201cHealer,\u201d the \u201cSaviour,\u201d\n\u03a3\u03c9\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1 as he was called, a title also given to Janus of Delphi; and\nIASO, the daughter of Asclepios was the goddess of healing, under\nwhose patronage were all the candidates for initiation in her\nfather\u2019s temple, the novices or _chrestoi_, called \u201cthe sons of\nIaso.\u201d (_Vide_ for name, \u201cPlutus,\u201d by Aristoph. 701).\n\nNow, if we remember, firstly, that the names of IESUS in their\ndifferent forms, such as Iasius, Iasion, Jason and Iasus, were very\ncommon in ancient Greece, especially among the descendants of Jasius\n(the Jasides), as also the number of the \u201csons of Iaso,\u201d the\n_Mysto\u00ef_ and future Epoptai (Initiates), why should not the\nenigmatical words in the Sibylline Book be read in their legitimate\nlight, one that had nought to do with a Christian prophecy? The\nsecret doctrine teaches that the first two words \u0399\u0397\u03a3\u039f\u03a5\u03a3 \u03a7\u03a1\u0395\u0399\u03a3\u03a4\u039f\u03a3\nmean simply \u201cson of Iaso, a Chrestos,\u201d or servant of the oracular\nGod. Indeed IASO (\u0399\u03b1\u03c3\u03c9) _is in the Ionic dialect IESO_ (\u1f39\u03b7\u03c3\u1f7c), and\nthe expression \u0399\u03b7\u03c3\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2 (_Iesous_)\u2014in its archaic form, \u0399\u0397\u03a3\u039f\u03a5\u03a3\u2014simply\nmeans \u201cthe son of Iaso or _Ieso_, the healer,\u201d _i.e._ \u03bf \u0399\u03b7\u03c3\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2\n(\u03c5\u1fd6\u03bf\u03c2). No objection, assuredly, can be taken to such rendering, or\nto the name being written _Ieso_ instead of _Iaso_, since the first\nform is _attic_, therefore incorrect, for the name is _Ionic_.\n\u201cIeso\u201d from which \u201cO\u2019 Iesous\u201d (son of Ieso)\u2014_i.e._ a genitive, not a\nnominative\u2014_is Ionic and cannot_ be anything else, if the age of the\nSibylline book is taken into consideration. Nor could the Sibyl of\nErythrea have spelt it originally otherwise, as Erythrea, her very\nresidence, was a town in Ionia (from Ion or Janus) opposite Chios;\nand that the _Ionic_ preceded the _attic_ form.\n\nLeaving aside in this case the mystical signification of the now\nfamous Sibylline sentence, and giving its literal interpretation\nonly, on the authority of all that has been said, the hitherto\nmysterious words would stand; \u201cSon of IASO, CHRESTOS (the priest or\nservant) (of the) SON of (the) GOD (Apollo) the SAVIOUR from the\nCROSS\u201d\u2014(of flesh or matter).[97] Truly, Christianity can never hope\nto be understood until every trace of dogmatism is swept away from\nit, and the dead letter sacrificed to the eternal Spirit of Truth,\nwhich is Horus, which is Crishna, which is Buddha, as much as it is\nthe Gnostic Christos and the true Christ of Paul.\n\nIn the _Travels_ of Dr. Clarke, the author describes a heathen\nmonument found by him.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 97:\n\n  _Stauros_ became the cross, the instrument of crucifixion, far\n  later, when it began to be represented as a Christian symbol and\n  with the Greek letter T, the Tau. (Luc. Jud. Voc.) Its primitive\n  meaning was phallic, a symbol for the male and female elements;\n  the great serpent of temptation, the body which had to be killed\n  or subdued by the dragon of wisdom, the seven-vowelled solar\n  chnouphis or Spirit of Christos of the Gnostics, or, again, Apollo\n  killing Python.\n\n-----\n\n  \u201cWithin the sanctuary, behind the altar, we saw the fragments of a\n  _marble cathedra_, upon the back of which we found the following\n  inscription, exactly as it is here written, no part of it having\n  been injured or obliterated, affording perhaps the only instance\n  known of a sepulchral inscription upon a monument of this\n  remarkable form.\u201d\n\nThe inscription ran thus: \u03a7\u03a1\u0397\u03a3\u03a4\u039f\u03a3 \u03a0\u03a1\u03a9\u03a4\u039f\u03a5 \u0398\u0395\u03a3\u03a3\u0391\u039b\u039f\u03a3 \u039b\u0391\u03a1\u0399\u03a3\u03a3\u0391\u0399\u039f\u03a3\n\u03a0\u0395\u039b\u0391\u03a3\u0393\u0399\u039f\u03a4\u0397\u03a3 \u0395\u03a4\u03a9\u039d \u0399\u0397 or, \u201cChrestos, the first, a Thessalonian from\nLarissa, Pelasgiot 18 years old Hero,\u201d Chrestos the _first_\n(_protoo_), why? Read literally the inscription has little sense;\ninterpreted esoterically, it is pregnant with meaning. As Dr. Clarke\nshows, the word Chrestos is found on the epitaphs of almost all the\nancient Larissians; but it is preceded always by a proper name. Had\nthe adjective Chrestos stood after a name, it would only mean \u201ca\ngood man,\u201d a posthumous compliment paid to the defunct, the same\nbeing often found on our own modern tumular epitaphs. But the word\nChrestos, standing alone and the other word, \u201cprotoo,\u201d following it,\ngives it quite another meaning, especially when the deceased is\nspecified as a \u201chero.\u201d To the mind of an Occultist, the defunct was\na neophyte, who had died in his 18th year _of neophytism_,[98] and\nstood in the first or highest class of discipleship, having passed\nhis preliminary trials as a \u201chero;\u201d but had died before the last\nmystery, which would have made of him a \u201cChristos,\u201d an _anointed_,\none with the spirit of Christos or Truth in him. He had not reached\nthe end of the \u201cWay,\u201d though he had heroically conquered the horrors\nof the preliminary theurgic trials.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 98:\n\n  Even to this day in India, the candidate loses his name and, as\n  also in Masonry, his age (monks and nuns also changing their\n  Christian names at their taking the order or veil), and begins\n  counting his years from the day he is accepted a chela and enters\n  upon the cycle of initiations. Thus Saul was \u201ca child of one\n  year,\u201d when he began to reign, though a grown-up adult. See 1\n  Samuel ch. xiii. 1, and Hebrew scrolls, about his initiation by\n  Samuel.\n\n-----\n\nWe are quite warranted in reading it in this manner, after learning\nthe place where Dr. Clarke discovered the tablet, which was, as\nGodfrey Higgins remarks, there, where \u201cI should expect to find it,\nat Delphi, in the temple of the God IE.,\u201d who, with the Christians\nbecame Jah, or Jehovah, one with Christ Jesus. It was at the foot of\nParnassus, in a gymnasium, \u201cadjoining the Castalian fountain, which\nflowed by the ruins of Crisa, probably the town called Crestona,\u201d\netc. And again. \u201cIn the first part of its course from the\n(Castalian) fountain, it (the river) separates the remains of the\ngymnasium ... from the valley of Castro,\u201d as it probably did from\nthe old city of Delphi\u2014the seat of the great oracle of Apollo, of\nthe town of Krisa (or Kreusa) the great centre of initiations and of\nthe _Chrestoi_ of the decrees of the oracles, where the candidates\nfor the last _labour_ were anointed with sacred oils[99] before\nbeing plunged into their last trance of forty-nine hours\u2019 duration\n(as to this day, in the East), from which they arose as glorified\nadepts or _Christoi_.\u201d\n\n  \u201cIn the Clementine Recognitions it is announced that the father\n  anointed his son with \u2018oil that was taken from the wood of the\n  Tree of Life, and from this anointing he is called the Christ:\u2019\n  whence the Christian name. This again is Egyptian. Horus was the\n  anointed son of the father. The mode of anointing him from the\n  Tree of Life, portrayed on the monuments, is very primitive\n  indeed; and the Horus of Egypt was continued in the Gnostic\n  Christ, who is reproduced upon the Gnostic stones as the\n  intermediate link betwixt the _Karest_ and the Christ, also as\n  the Horus of both sexes.\u201d (\u201c_The name and nature of the\n  Christ._\u201d\u2014GERALD MASSEY.)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 99:\n\n  Demosthenes, \u201cDe Corona,\u201d 313, declares that the candidates for\n  initiation into the Greek mysteries were anointed with oil. So\n  they are now in India, even in the initiation into the _Yogi_\n  mysteries\u2014various ointments or unguents being used.\n\n-----\n\nMr. G. Massey connects the Greek Christos or Christ with the\nEgyptian _Karest_, the \u201cmummy type of immortality,\u201d and proves it\nvery thoroughly. He begins by saying that in Egyptian the \u201cWord of\nTruth\u201d is _Ma-Kheru_, and that it is the title of Horus. Thus, as he\nshows, Horus preceded Christ as the Messenger of the Word of Truth,\nthe Logos or the manifestor of the divine nature in humanity. In the\nsame paper he writes as follows:\n\n  The Gnosis had three phases\u2014astronomical, spiritual, and\n  doctrinal, and all three can be identified with the Christ of\n  Egypt. In the astronomical phase the constellation Orion is called\n  the _Sahu_ or _mummy_. The soul of Horus was represented as rising\n  from the dead and ascending to heaven in the stars of Orion. The\n  mummy-image was the preserved one, the saved, therefore a portrait\n  of the Saviour, as a type of immortality. This was the figure of a\n  dead man, which, as Plutarch and Herodotus tell us, was carried\n  round at an Egyptian banquet, when the guests were invited to look\n  on it and eat and drink and be happy, because, when they died,\n  they would become what the image symbolised\u2014that is, they also\n  would be immortal! This type of immortality was called the\n  _Karest_, or _Karust_, and it _was_ the Egyptian Christ. To\n  _Kares_ means to embalm, anoint, to make the Mummy as a type of\n  the eternal; and, when made, it was called the _Karest_; so that\n  this is not merely a matter of name for name, the _Karest_ for the\n  _Christ_.\n\n  This image of the _Karest_ was bound up in a woof without a seam,\n  the proper vesture of the Christ! No matter what the length of the\n  bandage might be, and some of the mummy-swathes have been unwound\n  that were 1,000 yards in length, the woof was from beginning to\n  end without a seam.... Now, this seamless robe of the Egyptian\n  _Karest_ is a very tell-tale type of the mystical Christ, who\n  becomes historic in the Gospels as the wearer of a coat or chiton,\n  made without a seam, which neither the Greek nor the Hebrew fully\n  explains, but which is explained by the Egyptian _Ketu_ for the\n  woof, and by the seamless robe or swathing without seam that was\n  made for eternal wear, and worn by the Mummy-Christ, the image of\n  immortality in the tombs of Egypt.\n\n  Further, Jesus is put to death in accordance with the instructions\n  given for making the _Karest_. Not a bone must be broken. The true\n  _Karest_ must be perfect in every member. \u201cThis is he who comes\n  out sound; whom men know not is his name.\u201d\n\n  In the Gospels Jesus rises again with every member sound, like the\n  perfectly-preserved _Karest_, to demonstrate the physical\n  resurrection of the mummy. But, in the Egyptian original, the\n  mummy transforms. The deceased says: \u201cI am spiritualised. I am\n  become a soul. I rise as a God.\u201d This transformation into the\n  spiritual image, the _Ka_, has been omitted in the Gospel.\n\n  This spelling of the name as Chrest or Chr\u00e9st in Latin is\n  supremely important, because it enables me to prove the identity\n  with the Egyptian _Karest_ or _Karust_, the name of the Christ as\n  the embalmed mummy, which was the image of the resurrection in\n  Egyptian tombs, the type of immortality, the likeness of the\n  Horus, who rose again and made the pathway out of the sepulchre\n  for those who were his disciples or followers. _Moreover, this\n  type of the Karest or Mummy-Christ is reproduced in the Catacombs\n  of Rome._ No representation of the supposed historic resurrection\n  of Jesus has been found on any of the early Christian monuments.\n  But, instead of the missing fact, we find the scene of Lazarus\n  being raised from the dead. This is depicted over and over again\n  as the typical resurrection where there is no real one! The scene\n  is not exactly in accordance with the rising from the grave in the\n  Gospel. It is purely Egyptian, and Lazarus is an Egyptian mummy!\n  Thus Lazarus, in each representation, _is_ the mummy-type of the\n  resurrection; Lazarus _is_ the Karest, who was the Egyptian\n  Christ, and who is reproduced by Gnostic art in the Catacombs of\n  Rome as a form of the Gnostic Christ, who _was not and could not\n  become an historical character_.\n\n  Further, as the thing is Egyptian, it is probable that the name is\n  derived from Egyptian. If so, Laz (equal to Ras) means to be\n  raised up, while _aru is_ the mummy by name. With the Greek\n  terminal _s_ this becomes Lazarus. In the course of humanising the\n  mythos the typical representation of the resurrection found in the\n  tombs of Rome and Egypt would become the story of Lazarus being\n  raised from the dead. This Karast type of the Christ in the\n  Catacombs is not limited to Lazarus.\n\n  By means of the _Karest_ type the Christ and the Christians can\n  both be traced in the ancient tombs of Egypt. The mummy was made\n  in this likeness of the Christ. It was the Christ by name,\n  identical with the _Chrestoi_ of the Greek Inscriptions. Thus the\n  honoured dead, who rose again as the followers of Horus-Makheru,\n  the Word of Truth, are found to be the Christians \u03bf\u03b9 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9, on\n  the Egyptian monuments. _Ma-Kheru_ is the term that is always\n  applied to the faithful ones who win the crown of life and wear it\n  at the festival which is designated \u2018Come thou to me\u2019\u2014an\n  invitation by Horus the Justifier to those who are the \u2018Blessed\n  ones of his father, Osiris\u2019\u2014they who, having made the Word of\n  Truth the law of their lives, were the Justified\u2014\u03bf\u03b9 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9, the\n  Christians, on earth.\n\n  In a fifth century representation of the Madonna and child from\n  the cemetery of St. Valentinus, the new-born babe lying in a box\n  or crib _is_ also the _Karest_, or mummy-type, further identified\n  as the divine babe of the solar mythos by the disk of the sun and\n  the cross of the equinox at the back of the infant\u2019s head. Thus\n  the child-Christ of the historic faith is born, and visibly begins\n  in the _Karest_ image of the dead Christ, which was the mummy-type\n  of the resurrection in Egypt for thousands of years before the\n  Christian era. This doubles the proof that the Christ of the\n  Christian Catacombs was a survival of the _Karest_ of Egypt.\n\n  Moreover, as Didron shows, there was a portrait of the Christ who\n  had his body _painted red_![100] It was a popular tradition that\n  the Christ _was_ of a red complexion. This, too, may be explained\n  as a survival of the Mummy-Christ. It was an aboriginal mode of\n  rendering things _tapu_ by colouring them red. The dead corpse was\n  coated with red ochre\u2014a very primitive mode of making the mummy,\n  or the anointed one. Thus the God Ptah tells Rameses II. that he\n  has \u201c_re-fashioned his flesh in vermilion_.\u201d This anointing with\n  red ochre is called _Kura_ by the Maori, who likewise made the\n  Karest or Christ.\n\n  We see the mummy-image continued on another line of descent when\n  we learn that among other pernicious heresies and deadly sins with\n  which the Knights Templars were charged, was the impious custom of\n  adoring a Mummy that had red eyes. Their Idol, called Baphomet, is\n  also thought to have been a mummy.... The Mummy was the earliest\n  human image of the Christ.\n\n  I do not doubt that the ancient Roman festivals called the\n  _Charistia_ were connected in their origin with the _Karest_ and\n  the _Eucharist_ as a celebration in honour of the manes of their\n  departed kith and kin, for whose sakes they became reconciled at\n  the friendly gathering once a year.... It is here, then, we have\n  to seek the essential connection between the Egyptian Christ, the\n  Christians, and the Roman Catacombs. These Christian Mysteries,\n  ignorantly explained to be inexplicable, can be explained by\n  Gnosticism and Mythology, but in no other way. It is not that they\n  are insoluble by human reason, as their incompetent, howsoever\n  highly paid, expounders now-a-days pretend. That is but the\n  puerile apology of the unqualified for their own helpless\n  ignorance\u2014they who have never been in possession of the gnosis or\n  science of the Mysteries by which alone these things can be\n  explained in accordance with their natural genesis. In Egypt only\n  can we read the matter to the root, or identify the origin of the\n  Christ by nature and by name, to find at last that the Christ was\n  the Mummy-type, and that our Christology is mummified\n  mythology.\u2014(_Agnostic Annual._)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 100:\n\n  _Because he is cabalistically the new Adam, the \u201ccelestial man,\u201d\n  and Adam was made of red earth._\n\n-----\n\nThe above is an explanation on purely scientific evidence, but,\nperhaps, a little too _materialistic_, just because of that\nscience, notwithstanding that the author is a well-known\nSpiritualist. Occultism pure and simple finds the same mystic\nelements in the Christian as in other faiths, though it rejects as\nemphatically its dogmatic and _historic_ character. It is a fact\nthat in the terms \u0399\u03b7\u03c3\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2 \u1f41 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 (See _Acts_ v. 42, ix. 14; 1\nCorinth. iii. 17, etc.), the article \u1f41 designating \u201cChristos,\u201d\nproves it simply a surname, like that of Phocion, who is referred\nto as \u03a6\u03c9\u03ba\u03af\u03c9\u03bd \u1f41 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2 (Plut. v.). Still, the personage (Jesus) so\naddressed\u2014whenever he lived\u2014was a great Initiate and a \u201cSon of\nGod.\u201d\n\nFor, we say it again, the surname Christos is based on, and the\nstory of the Crucifixion derived from, events that preceded it.\nEverywhere, in India as in Egypt, in Chaldea as in Greece, all these\nlegends were built upon one and the same primitive type; the\nvoluntary sacrifice of the _logo\u00ef_\u2014the _rays_ of the one LOGOS, the\ndirect manifested emanation from the One ever-concealed Infinite and\nUnknown\u2014whose _rays_ incarnated in mankind. They consented to _fall\ninto matter_, and are, therefore, called the \u201cFallen Ones.\u201d This is\none of those great mysteries which can hardly be touched upon in a\nmagazine article, but shall be noticed in a separate work of mine,\n_The Secret Doctrine_, very fully.\n\nHaving said so much, a few more facts may be added to the etymology\nof the two terms. \u03a7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 being the verbal adjective in Greek of\n\u03c7\u03c1\u03af\u03c9 \u201cto be rubbed on,\u201d _as ointment_ or salve, and the word being\nfinally brought to mean \u201cthe Anointed One,\u201d in Christian theology;\nand _Kri_, in Sanskrit, the first syllable in the name of Krishna,\nmeaning \u201cto pour out, or rub over, to cover with,\u201d[101] among many\nother things, this may lead one as easily to make of Krishna, \u201cthe\nanointed one.\u201d Christian philologists try to limit the meaning of\nKrishna\u2019s name to its derivation from _Krish_, \u201cblack\u201d; but if the\nanalogy and comparison of the Sanskrit with the Greek roots\ncontained in the names of Chrestos, Christos, and _Ch_rishna, are\nanalyzed more carefully, it will be found that they are all of the\nsame origin.[102]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 101:\n\n  Hence the memorialising of the doctrine during the MYSTERIES. The\n  pure monad, the \u201cgod\u201d incarnating and becoming _Chrestos_, or man,\n  on his trial of life, a series of those trials led him to the\n  _crucifixion of flesh_, and finally into the Christos condition.\n\nFootnote 102:\n\n  On the best authority the derivation of the Greek _Christos_\n  is shown from the Sanskrit root _gh\u00e1rsh_ = \u201crub\u201d; thus:\n  _gh\u00e1rsh-\u0101-mi-to_, \u201cto rub,\u201d and gh\u00e1rsh-t\u00e1-s \u201cflayed, sore.\u201d\n  Moreover, Krish, which means in one sense to plough and make\n  furrows, means also to cause pain, \u201cto torture to torment,\u201d\n  and ghrsh-t\u0101-s \u201crubbing\u201d\u2014all these terms relating to Chrestos\n  and Christos conditions. One has _to die in Chrestos_, _i.e._,\n  kill one\u2019s personality and its passions, to blot out every\n  idea of separateness from one\u2019s \u201cFather,\u201d the Divine Spirit in\n  man; to become one with the eternal and absolute _Life_ and\n  _Light_ (SAT) before one can reach the glorious state of\n  _Christos_, the regenerated man, the man in spiritual freedom.\n\n-----\n\n\u201cIn Bockh\u2019s \u2018Christian Inscriptions,\u2019 numbering 1,287, there is no\nsingle instance of an earlier date than the third century, wherein\nthe name is not written _Chrest_ or _Chreist_.\u201d (_The Name and\nNature of the Christ_, by G. Massey, \u201cThe Agnostic Annual.\u201d)\n\nYet none of these names can be unriddled, as some Orientalists\nimagine, merely with the help of astronomy and the knowledge of\nzodiacal signs in conjunction with phallic symbols. Because, while\nthe sidereal symbols of the mystic characters or personifications in\nPuran\u00e2s or Bible, fulfil astronomical functions, their spiritual\nanti-types rule invisibly, but very effectively, the world. They\nexist as abstractions on the higher plane, as manifested ideas on\nthe astral, and become males, females and androgyne powers on this\nlower plane of ours. _Scorpio_, as _Chrestos-Meshiac_, and Leo, as\n_Christos-Messiah_ antedated by far the Christian era in the trials\nand triumphs of Initiation during the Mysteries, Scorpio standing as\nsymbol for the latter, Leo for the glorified triumph of the \u201csun\u201d of\ntruth. The mystic philosophy of the allegory is well understood by\nthe author of the \u201cSource of Measures\u201d; who writes: \u201cOne (Chrestos)\ncausing himself to go down into the pit (of Scorpio, or incarnation\nin the womb) for the salvation of the world; this was the Sun, shorn\nof his _golden rays_, and _crowned with blackened_[103] _ones_\n(symbolizing this loss) as the thorns; _the other_ was the\ntriumphant _Messiah_, mounted up to the _summit of the arch of\nheaven_, personated as the _Lion of the tribe of Judah_. In both\ninstances he had the Cross; once in humiliation (as the son of\ncopulation), and once holding it in his control, as the law of\ncreation, he being Jehovah\u201d\u2014in the scheme of the authors of dogmatic\nChristianity. For, as the same author shows further, John, Jesus and\neven Apollonius of Tyana were but epitomizers of the history of the\nSun \u201cunder differences of aspect or condition.\u201d[104] The\nexplanation, he says, \u201cis simple enough, when it is considered that\nthe names _Jesus_, Hebrew \u05d9\u05e9 and Apollonius, or Apollo, are alike\nnames of the _Sun in the heavens_, and, necessarily, the history of\nthe one, as to his travels through _the signs_, with the\npersonifications of his sufferings, triumphs and miracles, could be\nbut the _history of the other_, where there was a wide-spread,\ncommon method of describing those travels by personification.\u201d The\nfact that the Secular Church was founded by Constantine, and that it\nwas a part of his decree \u201cthat the venerable day of the _Sun_ should\nbe the day set apart for the worship of Jesus Christ as _Sun_-day,\u201d\nshows that they knew well in that \u201cSecular Church\u201d \u201cthat the\nallegory rested upon an astronomical basis,\u201d as the author affirms.\nYet, again, the circumstance that both Pur\u00e2nas and Bible are full of\nsolar and astronomical allegories, does not militate against that\nother fact that all such scriptures in addition to these two are\n_closed_ books to the scholars \u201chaving authority.\u201d(!) Nor does it\naffect that other truth, that all those systems are _not the work of\nmortal man_, nor are they his invention in their origin and basis.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 103:\n\n  The Orientalists and Theologians are invited to read over and\n  study the allegory of Viswakarman, the \u201cOmnificent,\u201d the Vedic\n  God, the architect of the world, who sacrificed himself _to\n  himself_ or the world, after having offered up all worlds, _which\n  are himself_, in a \u201cSarva Madha\u201d (general sacrifice)\u2014and ponder\n  over it. In the Pur\u00e2nic allegory, his daughter _Yoga-siddha_\n  \u201cSpiritual consciousness,\u201d the wife of _Surya_, the Sun, complains\n  to him of the too great effulgence of her husband; and Viswakarm\u00e2,\n  in his character of _Takshaka_, \u201cwood cutter and carpenter,\u201d\n  placing the Sun upon his lathe cuts away a part of his brightness.\n  Surya looks, after this, crowned with dark thorns instead of rays,\n  and becomes Vikarttana (\u201cshorn of his rays\u201d). All these names are\n  terms which were used by the candidates when going through the\n  trials of Initiation. The Hierophant-Initiator personated\n  Viswakarman; the father, and the general _artificer_ of the gods\n  (the adepts on earth), and the candidate-Surya, the Sun, who had\n  to kill all his fiery passions and wear the crown of thorns _while\n  crucifying his body_ before he could rise and be re-born into a\n  new life as the glorified \u201cLight of the World\u201d\u2014Christos. No\n  Orientalist seems to have ever perceived the suggestive analogy,\n  let alone to apply it!\n\nFootnote 104:\n\n  The author of the \u201cSource of Measures\u201d thinks that this \u201cserves to\n  explain why it has been that the _Life of Apollonius of Tyana, by\n  Philostratus_ has been so carefully kept back from translation and\n  popular reading.\u201d Those who have studied it in the original have\n  been forced to the comment that either the \u201c_Life of Apollonius_\n  has been taken from the New Testament, or that New Testament\n  narratives have been taken from the _Life of Apollonius_, because\n  of the manifest sameness of the _means of construction_ of the\n  narrative.\u201d (p. 260).\n\n-----\n\nThus \u201cChristos,\u201d under whatever name, means more than _Karest_, a\nmummy, or even the \u201canointed\u201d and the _elect_ of theology. Both of\nthe latter apply to _Chr\u00e9stos_, the man of sorrow and tribulation,\nin his physical, mental, and psychic conditions, and both relate to\nthe Hebrew _Mashiac_ (from whence Messiah) condition, as the word is\netymologised[105] by Fuerst, and the author of \u201cThe Source of\nMeasures,\u201d p. 255. Christos is the crown of glory of the suffering\nChr\u00e9stos of the mysteries, as of the candidate to the final UNION,\nof whatever race and creed. To the true follower of the SPIRIT OF\nTRUTH, it matters little, therefore, whether Jesus, as man and\nChrestos, lived during the era called Christian, or before, or never\nlived at all. The Adepts, who lived and died for humanity, have\nexisted in many and all the ages, and many were the good and holy\nmen in antiquity who bore the surname or title of Chrestos before\nJesus of Nazareth, otherwise Jesus (or Jehoshua) Ben Pandira was\nborn.[106] Therefore, one may be permitted to conclude, with good\nreason, that Jesus, or Jehoshua, was like Socrates, like Phocian,\nlike Theodorus, and so many others surnamed _Chr\u00e9stos_, _i.e._, the\n\u201cgood, the excellent,\u201d the gentle, and the holy Initiate, who showed\nthe \u201cway\u201d to the Christos condition, and thus became himself \u201cthe\nWay\u201d in the hearts of his enthusiastic admirers. The Christians, as\nall the \u201cHero-worshippers\u201d have tried to throw into the background\nall the other Chr\u00e9sto\u00ef, who have appeared to them as rivals of\n_their_ Man-God. But if the voice of the MYSTERIES has become silent\nfor many ages in the West, if Eleusis, Memphis, Antium, Delphi, and\nCr\u00e8sa have long ago been made the tombs of a Science once as\ncolossal in the West as it is yet in the East, there are successors\nnow being prepared for them. We are in 1887 and the nineteenth\ncentury is close to its death. The twentieth century has strange\ndevelopments in store for humanity, and may even be the last of its\nname.\n\n                                                            H. P. B.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 105:\n\n  The word \u05e9\u05d9\u05d4 _shiac_, is in Hebrew the same word as a verbal,\n  signifying _to go down into the pit_. As a noun, _place of thorns,\n  pit_. The _hifil_ participle of this word is [Hebrew] or Messiach,\n  or the Greek _Messias_, _Christ_, and means \u201che who causes to go\n  down into the pit\u201d (or hell, in dogmatism). In esoteric\n  philosophy, this going down _into the pit_ has the most mysterious\n  significance. The Spirit \u201cChristos\u201d or rather the \u201cLogos\u201d (_read_\n  Logo\u00ef), is said to \u201cgo down into the pit,\u201d when it incarnates in\n  flesh, _is born as a man_. After having robbed the _Elohim_ (or\n  gods) of their secret, the _pro-creating_ \u201cfire of life,\u201d the\n  Angels of Light are shown cast down into the pit or abyss of\n  matter, called _Hell_, or the bottomless pit, by the kind\n  theologians. This, in Cosmogony and Anthropology. During the\n  Mysteries, however, it is the _Chr\u00e9stos_, _neophyte_, (as man),\n  etc., who had to descend into the crypts of Initiation and trials;\n  and finally, during the \u201cSleep of Siloam\u201d or the final _trance_\n  condition, during the hours of which the new Initiate has the last\n  and final mysteries of being divulged to him. Hades, Sch\u00e9ol, or\n  Patala, are all one. The same takes place in the East now, as took\n  place 2,000 years ago in the West, during the MYSTERIES.\n\nFootnote 106:\n\n  Several classics bear testimony to this fact. Lucian, c. 16, says\n  \u03a6\u03c9\u03ba\u03af\u03c9\u03bd \u1f41 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u1f78\u03c2, and \u03a6\u03c9\u03ba\u03af\u03c9\u03bd \u1f41 \u1f10\u03c0\u1f76\u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03bd (\u201c\u03bb\u03b5\u03b3\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2,\u201d surnamed\n  \u201c\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2.\u201d) In Ph\u00e6dr. p. 226 E, it is written, \u201cyou mean Theodorus\n  the Chrestos.\u201d \u201c\u03a4\u1f78\u03bd \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u1f78\u03bd \u03bb\u03b5\u03b3\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u0398\u03b5\u1f78\u03b4\u03c9\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u201d. Plutarch shows the\n  same; and \u03a7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2\u2014Chrestus, is the proper name (see the word in\n  _Thesaur._ Steph.) of an orator and disciple of Herodes Atticus.\n\n-----\n\n                        (_To be continued._)\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n\n\n\n                       SIMILITUDES OF DEMOPHILUS.\n\nIt is the business of a musician to harmonize every instrument, but\nof a well educated man to adapt himself harmoniously to every\nfortune.\n\nIt is necessary that a well educated man should depart from life\nelegantly, as from a banquet.\n\n                  ------------------------------------\n\n                    GOLDEN SENTENCES OF DEMOCRITUS.\n\nIt is beautiful to impede an unjust man; but if this be not\npossible, it is beautiful not to act in conjunction with him.\n\nSin should be abstained from, not through fear, but, for the sake of\nthe becoming.\n\nMany who have not learnt to argue rationally, still live according\nto reason.\n\nVehement desires about any one thing render the soul blind with\nrespect to other things.\n\nThe equal is beautiful in everything, but excess and defect to me do\nnot appear to be so.\n\nIt is the property of a divine intellect to be always intently\nthinking about the beautiful.\n\n\n                        =Correspondence.=\n\n                         A LAW OF LIFE: KARMA.\n\n[The following letter has been received by the editors, in criticism\non Mr. Keightley\u2019s article on \u201cKarma\u201d; and as it raises many rather\nimportant points, an attempt has been made to answer them. Mr.\nBeatty\u2019s letter is somewhat difficult to deal with, for though it\nasks many questions, they are so inextricably mingled with its\nauthor\u2019s thoughts that it would be unfair to disentangle them from\nthe context. It is a pity that Mr. Beatty, in his haste to\ncriticize, did not wait for the conclusion of the article, as he\nmight have saved himself some trouble. If his real desire is to\nlearn, it would be well that he should approach the endeavour in a\nless flippant spirit and evolve the critic out of the criticaster.\nIn many of his arguments he has, so to say, \u201cgiven himself away,\u201d\nbut, in the interests of space and of the readers of LUCIFER, only\nthose questions and arguments which bear directly on the points at\nissue have been selected for answer. The point which Mr. Beatty does\n\u201cnot care to discuss,\u201d and which refers to the mystery of Godliness,\nhas been omitted. Perhaps, if Mr. Beatty continues to read, mark,\nlearn, _and inwardly digest_, he may in some _future incarnation_\nsolve the mystery.]\n\nIn an article in LUCIFER, under the above heading, Mr. Keightley\ndeclares it to be \u201cvery difficult, if not well-nigh impossible,\u201d to\nunderstand Karma, and I grant him that his essay is a practical\ndemonstration of his allegation. The difficulty (1.) does not,\nhowever, hinder him from attempting to define the refractory term.\n\u201cKarma,\u201d he says, \u201cis the working of the great law which governs\nreincarnation,\u201d or \u201ca manifestation of the One, Universal, Divine\nPrinciple in the phenomenal world,\u201d or again, \u201cthe great law of\nharmony which governs the universe.\u201d Now, waiving altogether the\nquestion of reincarnations, I shall proceed to examine whether Mr.\nKeightley makes good his contention that \u201charmony,\u201d in his sense of\nthe word, \u201cgoverns the Universe.\u201d He says, \u201cthe man who denies the\nexistence of harmony in the universe has transgressed the law and is\nexperiencing punishment. He does this unconsciously to himself,\nbecause the law of harmony forms an unconscious impulse to its\nreadjustment when it has been broken.\u201d Here there are several things\nto be considered. In the first place, it may be asked: (2.) Does a\nman, by merely denying the existence of a law of Nature or the\nuniverse, transgress that law? I think not.[107] Secondly. Can a law\nof the universe be \u201cbroken\u201d? Here again I must reply in the\nnegative; for who is going to contend that the law of gravitation\nhas ever been \u201cbroken,\u201d[108] has ever ceased to act, has ever\nrequired \u201cre-adjustment\u201d? A man can break no law of Nature in the\nsense of bringing that law into abeyance. If then, a law of harmony\ngoverns the universe there can be no such thing as discord. (3.) Yet\nMr. Keightley admits that there _is_ discord, that the law of\nharmony has been \u201cbroken\u201d and needs \u201creadjustment\u201d This is a\nsurrendering of his position and a patent admission that harmony is\nnot constant or universal. He then proceeds to draw an illustration\nfrom music. \u201cIn musical chords, the composing notes, if taken by\ntwos and threes, will be found in discord, but, when taken together,\nproduce a harmony.\u201d This is a particularly unfortunate subject of\nillustration. For does it not show that discord is an element in the\nuniverse as well as harmony? Why are discords introduced into music?\nSimply to make the harmony more effective. The reason for this,\nhowever, does not lie in any so-called universal law of harmony, but\nrather in the constitution of animate existences. Fundamentally,\nsensation is the consciousness of difference. Where the difference\nis great the feeling is great. If we wish to have the keenest\nsensation of sweetness we must first taste something bitter. Thus it\nis that occasional discords heighten harmony. But are the discords\nany less real on that account? Certainly not; for there can no more\nbe harmony without discord, than there can be an up without a down.\nThis, moreover, is only another illustration of the fact that human\nknowledge is merely relative. Must we, however, admit that the\nuniversal law may be harmony while our experience tells us that\nthere are discords without number? Unless ignorance be considered as\nsuperior to positive knowledge, I see no room for the admission. If\na man\u2019s house tumbles about his ears, does it become any less a fact\nby trying to persuade himself and his neighbours that it is still\nstanding? This seems to be the method of Mr. Keightley. He has,\nhowever, yet another argument \u201cThe universe ... is essentially an\nevidence of harmony; otherwise it could not exist, for it would fall\nto pieces.\u201d This is a palpable begging of the question, and,\nbesides, very absurd. The universe is a harmony, because a universe\nmust be a harmony! \u201cOtherwise it could not exist.\u201d Now how does our\nharmonist know whether it could exist or not? Of what other universe\nhas he experience or knowledge? \u201cIt would fall to pieces.\u201d Where, I\nwonder, would it fall to? Perhaps it is even now fast falling to\npieces, and who can tell us differently? As far as ordinary people\ncan judge, it seems, as regards the parts we are acquainted with, to\nbe falling into more or less concrete masses, but not many sane\npeople believe it can fall into nothingness. After all this vain\ncontention for universal harmony we find Mr. Keightley settling down\nlike ordinary mortals to the conviction that the world is far from\nharmonious or perfect. One unfortunate individual who cannot be\npersuaded that all is harmony, is told that \u201che is incapable of\nunderstanding it because his attention is solely devoted to that\nwhich produces discord.\u201d How comes it that the universe does not\nfall to pieces as a result of this discord? Surely we are in a\nprecarious condition, if every obstinate fool who persists in crying\nout when he has been hurt, endangers the stability of the universe.\nDid ever anyone meet with a universe where there is less evidence of\nharmony? One brute force ever in conflict with another. Infernal\nforces piling up mountain on the top of mountain; supernal forces\nblasting, rending, excoriating and tumbling these mountains down\nagain into the valleys; the oak struggling against the inwarping\nivy, the fawn attempting vainly to escape from the claws of the\ntiger, the child agonising while parasites eat slowly and\nmercilessly into its lungs, liver, or brain; the strong everywhere\nvictorious over the weak; each sect and each party exerting itself\nferociously to scoop out the viscera of its rival. Such is the\nworld, such all records declare it to have been, and such it gives\nample promise of continuing. But if the world is not really so, and\non the contrary is one immensity of joyous harmony, who can tell us\nwhy the evidence is so deceptive? Here again, Mr. Keightley\nintroduces to us a most remarkable statement. \u201cThe one Divine\nprinciple is divided by man\u2019s actions into two opposing forces of\ngood and evil, and man\u2019s progress depends on the exertion of his\nwill to preserve harmony and prevent deviation to one side or the\nother.\u201d Give us by all means in preference to this for common sense,\nfor rationality and for every other quality that makes it\ndigestible, the childish story of Eve, the apple and the fall.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 107:\n\n  Mr. Keightley\u2019s meaning (and it is difficult for the words to bear\n  any other interpretation) was that the denial of harmony is\n  evidence that, at some previous time, the man who denies has set\n  himself in opposition to the law, in virtue of those very desires\n  and instincts of his animal personality to which Mr. Beatty\n  alludes later on. In this sense, Mr. Beatty is right in saying\n  that a law of the universe cannot be broken; but its limits may be\n  transgressed, and consequently an attempt made by man to make\n  himself into a small, but rival universe. It is the old story of\n  the china pot and the iron kettle, and the fact that china gets\n  the worst of it is conclusive that the china is struggling\n  _against_ Nature.\n\nFootnote 108:\n\n  Will Mr. Beatty explain the phenomenon of a comet flirting its\n  tail round the sun in defiance of the \u201c_law_ of gravitation\u201d?\n\n-----\n\nBeyond doubt, Mr. Keightley has a profound faith in man as a power\nin the universe and an instrument for evil. By a most singular\nprocess of metaphysical alchemy man decomposes the \u201cDivine\nprinciple\u201d into \u201ctwo opposing forces of good and evil.\u201d It seems\nfrom this revised version of an old story that man introduced evil\ninto the universe. Why is man so important that a universe should be\npolluted for his sake? Surely man did not make himself, and whatever\npowers were in him for evil or for good must have been potential in\nthat from which he sprang. Man can create nothing, neither evil nor\ngood, neither a tendency to do right nor an inclination to do wrong.\n\u201cMan\u2019s will\u201d is always a tremendous force for good or evil in the\nhands of theologians and metaphysicians. Did man make his own\n\u201cwill?\u201d If not, how can he be responsible for what he does?\nEverybody knows that man can act according to his likes or dislikes.\nBut does anybody imagine that he can make his own likes or dislikes?\n(4.) He can do as he wishes, but he wishes according to his nature,\nand this he cannot transcend, consequently he is not responsible to\nthe Author of his nature for what his nature inclines him to do. But\nwhat are we to understand by the rest of the sentence? Man\u2019s will is\n\u201cto preserve harmony and prevent deviation to one side or the\nother.\u201d First the will brings about evil in the \u201cDivine principle,\u201d\ndestroying harmony, then it is to reproduce harmony and at the same\ntime to maintain a balance between good and evil, and \u201cprevent\ndeviation to the one side or the other.\u201d This to Mahatmas and\npossessors of the \u201csixth sense\u201d may seem plain logic, but it far\nsurpasses my comprehension.[109] I am, perhaps, as averse to \u201cthe\npernicious doctrine of reward and punishment after death, in heaven\nor in hell\u201d as Mr. Keightley can be, but I can by no means deduce\nfrom it the results which to him appear so inevitable. \u201cNothing,\u201d he\nsays, \u201ccould have been found more calculated to circumscribe the\nview of life as a whole, and concentrate man\u2019s attention on\ntemporary matters.... He either rejected the idea of soul as\naltogether worthless, or else he transferred his interest to the\nsoul\u2019s welfare in heaven\u2014in either case concentrating his attention\non what is inevitably transient.\u201d How the idea of never-ending\nexistence in heaven or in hell can have the effect of circumscribing\n\u201cthe view of life as a whole,\u201d and of concentrating \u201cman\u2019s attention\non temporary matters,\u201d is to me an insolvable puzzle. That it should\nhave quite the opposite effect, does not seem to require proof. Why,\nin the name of mystery, should he \u201creject the idea of soul as\nworthless,\u201d and how can transferring \u201chis interest to the soul\u2019s\nwelfare in heaven\u201d be called a concentrating of \u201chis attention on\nwhat is inevitably transient?\u201d Truly this Karma is a bewildering\nsubject![110]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 109:\n\n  Very little doubt that it does. Mankind is only very gradually\n  developing its fifth sense on the intellectual plane. Intuition\n  might have carried our critic over the difficulty, but in some\n  parts of his criticism he seems hardly to have begun to evolute\n  the intellectual sense.\n\nFootnote 110:\n\n  \u201cThis Karma,\u201d as Mr. Beatty expresses it, would not be quite so\n  bewildering a subject if critics would bear in mind the context\n  and not fall foul of a detached expression\u2014not even a sentence.\n  The \u201cinterest of the soul\u2019s welfare in heaven\u201d is concentrated by\n  John Smith on John Smith as John Smith in heaven, and in order\n  that the said John Smith may go on enjoying the things he loved on\n  earth. As his earth life has ended, John Smith has changed and is\n  \u201ctransient.\u201d If he were not transient a very natural inference\n  would follow, that progress, evolution, &c., on whatever plane of\n  being does not prevail.\n\n-----\n\nDo plants and animals come under the law of Karma? is the next\nquestion discussed by Mr. Keightley. An extract from the\n_Theosophist_ seems to discountenance such a thing. But are its\narguments really conclusive against it? I do not think so. It says,\n\u201cA piece of iron is attracted to a magnet without having any desire\nin the matter.\u201d Now, in the first place, this is pure assumption,\nand has its origin in vainglorious human egotism.[111] It is evident\nthat from objective data alone we cannot decide what is the\nsubjective state of the molecules of the attracted iron. In the\nsecond place, we are only acquainted with the iron as a cause\nproducing changes in us. No matter how we interpret these changes,\nthey cannot even tell us the real nature of iron, merely considered\nobjectively. Again the extract proceeds: \u201cAn animal usually follows\nthe instincts of its nature without any merit or demerit for so\ndoing; a child or an idiot may smilingly kick over a lamp, which may\nset a whole city on fire.... A person can only be held responsible\naccording to his ability to perceive justice, and to distinguish\nbetween good and evil.\u201d According to this doctrine, man is not an\n\u201canimal,\u201d and does not follow his instincts. To those who are\nacquainted, even slightly, with the method and regularity of Nature,\nthis contention will appear, on the face of it, untenable. For why\nshould there be an exception in the case of man?[112] Has man\ninstincts, desires, and inclinations, or has he not? If he has, why\nshould he have them if he is not to follow them? And if in any case\nhe does not follow them, is it not with him as with the \u201canimals\u201d?\nIs it not because he is deterred by influences from without, or\nhereditary influences from within? And of all these instincts,\ndesires and influences, how is he to know which to obey, to know\nwhich is of Divine sanction? He has conscience, of course, but\nconscience is a very variable quantity, and indeed, it might not be\ntoo much to say that there is hardly a crime in the world that has\nnot, at one time or another, been commended by conscience.\nConscience is only one phase of the man\u2019s mental activity, and was\nno more created by him than was his power of vision. We talk of\n\u201cchildren and idiots,\u201d and their being irresponsible, but are not\nuntamed savages also irresponsible? And if we admit that there may\nbe beings as much higher than we, as we are higher than children,\nidiots, and savages, will they not, with reason and justice, regard\nus as irresponsible? The truth is, there never was a greater chimera\nconjured up by unreasoning fancy than that one of man\u2019s\nresponsibility to a Supreme Power. Man is responsible only to man,\nand man\u2019s conduct is without merit except from a human view-point.\nWe are good or bad by reason of all the forces that act on and\nthrough us.\n\nMy object in writing what I have written is to show to Theosophists\nthe dense darkness in which I wander. Will some God-illumined mind\nnot take pity upon, and draw me up from the labyrinthian gloom,\nwhere illusions mislead me at every step? My \u201csixth sense\u201d seems\nwholly dormant, and Nirvana, that haven of rest, seems distant, by\nmany a weary league of rocky path and burning desert. Pity me.\n\n      Adyar, 17th October, 1887.         H. S. OLCOTT, P.T.S.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 111:\n\n  Mr. Beatty hardly maintains his position of consistent materialism\n  here; and it is at least as vainglorious to deny as to assert.\n\nFootnote 112:\n\n  Man has the \u201canimal\u201d in him of course, but he has also the power\n  of judgment or discrimination. Mr. Beatty\u2019s wish to be\n  critically pessimistic seems here to run away with his power of\n  discrimination.\n\n-----\n\n(1.) The difficulty experienced in fathoming the mysteries of Karmic\nLaw arises from the conditions of our present intellectual\nenvironment and general evolutionary status. It has been, also,\nfrequently stated that a _complete_ comprehension of its workings is\nreserved for the Initiate who has transcended the domain of\nterrestrial activity\u2014viz., the necessity for soul-evolution through\nsuccessive births. But, passing over this consideration, it is\nevident that, in the process of bringing down fragments of the\nDivine Truth on to the plane of mere intellectual interpretation, an\ninevitable distortion must ensue. The rays of spiritual light will\nbe split up and refracted as they pass through the prism of the\nbrain. Mr. Beatty will recognise this fact more clearly owing to his\nbelief \u201cthat _human_ knowledge is _merely relative_.\u201d Surely, when\nthat most familiar fact of our experience, the \u201cperception of\nmatter,\u201d is, metaphysically speaking, an illusion, the relativity of\n_mental_ conceptions of spiritual truths would appear to be a\nnecessity. According to Huxley, Spencer, Du Bois Reymond, and all\nleading thinkers, we know nothing of things as they are even on this\nplane, which to the materialist is \u201cAll in all.\u201d The essence of the\nthing \u201cperceived\u201d escapes us; all we really grasp is its\npresentation in consciousness. It is, therefore, clear that in\ninterpreting realities on the superphysical plane, we cannot advance\nbeyond word-symbols and adumbrations. The intuition of the\nindividual must effect the rest.\n\nSuch considerations, however, in no way militate against the\nsuccessful defence of Esoteric philosophy on purely intellectual\nlines. Translated into terms of human thought, its metaphysics must\nbe shown to blend intimately with the _facts_ of science and\npsychology, and its ability to solve the enigmas of life\ndemonstrated. \u201cPhilosophy is chaos,\u201d remarks the author of \u201cAbsolute\nRelativism,\u201d referring to modern thought. If we are to avoid the\nspectacle of a future \u201cmoral chaos,\u201d also, as the fruit of the\nmaterialistic Upas tree, some fresh impulse must be infused into the\ndry bones of Western metaphysics\u2014some _raison d\u2019\u00eatre_ assigned to\nlife, and an ideal worthy of man\u2019s noblest efforts presented to the\nmultitude of _laissez-faire_ pessimists. Such is an aspect of the\nwork now before us.\n\n(2.) A man may certainly injure himself[113] by shutting his eyes to\na spiritual interpretation of the Universe and its workings. The\nonly acquisition he can carry with him after physical death is the\n_aroma_ of the vast aggregate of mental states generated in one\nincarnation. The _personality_ or brain-consciousness of the\nphysical man is, after all, a mere feeler projected into this\nobjective plane to harvest experience for its individual Self. It\ndoes not at all follow that any experience may be acquired which the\nMonad is enabled to assimilate. Abstract thinking, religious\naspirations, scientific lore; poetry, the nobler emotions, and all\nsuch efflorescences of human consciousness, furnish the \u201cmaterial\u201d\nwhich go to build up the _transcendental individuality_ of the Ego\nprogressing towards the Nirvana. The materialist presents a frequent\ninstance of soul-death\u2014so far as the fruitage of the personality is\nconcerned. His knowledge may be enormous, but being unspiritualised,\na mere creature of the physical brain, it cannot blossom into\nluxuriance in the Devachanic interim between successive births.\nConsequently, as the True Self\u2014the \u201ctranscendental subject\u201d of the\nneo-Kantian German school\u2014only assimilates experience suitable to\nits own exalted nature, it becomes evident that, ideals apart, the\nphilosophy of a man is of very great importance. At the same time,\nit need not be said that sectarian \u201creligion\u201d is almost more\npernicious than materialism, inasmuch as it combines the two factors\nof crass ignorance and spiritual torpor.\n\nFootnote 113:\n\n  No law of Nature can be set aside, but a man _transgresses_ a law\n  of his [mental] being when he deliberately places himself under\n  the sway of certain \u201cevil\u201d forces. The gist of Mr. Beatty\u2019s\n  criticism is not quite evident here.\n\n-----\n\n(3.) Harmony _is_ essentially the law of the Universe. The\ncontrasted aspects of Nature come into being subsequently to the\ndifferentiation of matter from its several _protyles_ in the\ncommencement of a cycle of becoming, or Manwantara, and can have no\nreality except in the experience of conscious Egos.[114] For beneath\nthe surface of the great ocean of cosmic illusion\u2014beneath the clash\nof apparently clashing forces\u2014lies the Eternal Harmony. The\nsemblance of discord is but a ripple on the stream of Maya, or\nillusion. One aspect of esoteric solution of apparent evils is dealt\nwith in the last issue of LUCIFER (_vide_ art., \u201cOrigin of Evil\u201d).\nBut Mr. Beatty will not find himself in a position to accept its\nvalidity so long as he continues to \u201cwaive the question of\nreincarnation,\u201d the acceptance of that doctrine lying at the root of\nthe real explanation.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 114:\n\n  The _phenomenal_ contrast is not denied, but it is representative\n  of no fundamental want of harmony. In the same way the contrast of\n  Subject and Object is essential to our present finite\n  consciousness, although it has no basis of reality beyond the\n  limits of conditional being. Moreover, even in this phenomenal\n  Universe, equilibrium (harmony) is most certainly maintained by\n  the very conflict of the contrasted forces alluded to.\n\n-----\n\nThe Universe must, at bottom, be a Harmony. Why?[115] The\nequilibrating action of the forces around us is a sufficient proof\nof the fact; the apparent discord existing, as argued by Spinoza,\nsolely in the sensations of conscious beings. The matter in reality\ninvolves the re-opening of the much debated question as to whether\nan optimistic or pessimistic pantheism is the creed of the true\nphilosopher. Can we with von Hartmann postulate the strange\ncontradiction of an absolutely wise (though from our standpoint\nunconscious) cause behind phenomena confronted with a \u201cworthless\nuniverse?\u201d Obviously not. Moreover, as pantheists necessarily regard\nthe individual mind as only a rushlight compared with the blazing\nsun of the Universal Mind, its source, how is a final conclusion as\nto the \u201cunfathomable folly\u201d of manifested being possible? On the\nother hand, a non-recognition of the Maya of appearances is a tacit\nimpeachment of the wisdom of the Absolute. The pantheist\u2014and\npantheism alone accounts for consciousness itself\u2014is, at least,\nlogically driven into the admission that the \u201cnature of things\u201d is\nsound and that, probably, apparent flaws in the mechanicism of the\nUniverse would, if viewed from a wider standpoint than the human,\naltogether vanish.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 115:\n\n  Mr. Beatty asks how the Universe would come to a stand-still, if\n  the law of Harmony was suspended. Now suppose, for instance, the\n  law of \u201cgravity\u201d was not _counterbalanced_ by the action of other\n  \u201cforces,\u201d what would happen? Science assures us that everything\n  would have long before gravitated to a common centre, and a\n  universal dead-lock have ensued! _Vice versa_, if \u201cgravity\u201d were\n  to lapse. _Verb. Sap._\n\n-----\n\nIf, however, the Spinozistic axiom that evil _exists only in us_, is\ntrue\u2014and it is not for a relativist of our critic\u2019s type to deny the\nfact\u2014pessimism is rooted in the recognition of the equilibrating\naction of the law of Karma. The examples cited by Mr. Beatty of\nbrute forces \u201cone in conflict with another;\u201d of the sufferings of\nanimals in the struggle for existence; and more especially of human\nsuffering in no way controvert the views of the \u201cHarmonists.\u201d The\nfirst group is representative of those forces which balance one\nanother by oscillating about a common centre of equilibrium,\nproducing harmony by conflict, just as in the case of the so-called\ncentripetal and centrifugal forces, which regulate the earth\u2019s\norbital journey. The second group is, undoubtedly, characterised by\nthe infliction of much incidental pain. But in all instances where\nNature immolates the individual organism on the altar of natural\nselection, she does it for the benefit of the species or the\n\u201csurvival of the fittest\u201d\u2014the individuals borne down by violence in\nthe struggle, reaping, one and all, the results of a compensatory\nKarma. In the domain of _human_ suffering, moral debasement, etc.,\nan entirely new factor supervenes\u2014the equilibrating influence of a\n_positive_ Karma, which in biblical language demands \u201can eye for an\neye and a tooth for a tooth.\u201d\n\n(4). \u201cWhy,\u201d asks our critic, \u201cis man so important that the Universe\nwas polluted for his sake?\u201d In the first place, Humanity is, by no\nmeans, unimportant; the panorama of evolution only existing in order\nto evolve the Ego from the animal stage up to that of a conscious\nGod. The designation of nature as divided into \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cevil\u201d\nprinciples, has been taken by Mr. Beatty in its absolute, as opposed\nto its relative, aspect. Man pollutes only himself and his fellows\nby \u201csin\u201d; nature remaining constant _per se_. \u201cHow can he be\nresponsible for what he does?\u201d he continues. He is only so within\ncertain wide limits defined by his previous Karma\u2014the tendencies\nmoral, mental and spiritual, generated in previous lives,\ncontinually driving him on to certain lines of action. The \u201cFree\nWill absolute\u201d of the theologians is as unpsychological and\nworthless a concept as it is possible to formulate. Not so the\ndoctrine that the Ego is able to _mould_ its tendencies of thought\nand emotion within \u201cconstitutional limits.\u201d It was the recognition\nof this fact which led John Stuart Mill to take up a midway position\nbetween the equally absurd extremes of Free Will and Necessarianism.\nThe same conviction led the prophet of Materialism, Dr. Louis\nB\u00fcchner, to contradict his whole system by admitting human liberty\nwithin a certain area mapped out by \u201cHeredity\u201d and Environment, and\nProfessor Clifford to invest the \u201cconscious, automaton\u201d Man with the\npower to control his own ideas!! Responsibility varies enormously,\nand is, perhaps, almost wanting in the savage (who, however, is in\nall cases the degraded relic of prim\u00e6val civilisation). In all\ncases, the human Ego must be held to be the evolver of the group of\ntendencies which make up the personality of each re-birth. The\nsensualist is the victim of a \u201cFrankenstein\u2019s monster,\u201d into which\nhe has infused strength through many lives. We really cannot follow\nMr. Beatty when he writes: \u201cHas man instincts, desires, and\ninclinations, or has he not? If he has, _why should he have them if\nhe is not to follow them_?\u201d He has them because they are the\nheritage handed down to him from past lives, and also because his\nKarma as an individual is bound up with that of the race to which he\nbelongs. It rests with him as to how far he chooses to _modify_ them\n\u201cfor weal or woe,\u201d for every moment the exhaustion of past Karma\nruns parallel with the creation of new. It is certainly a strange\ndoctrine here enunciated by Mr. Beatty, that the possession of\ncertain \u201cinstincts, etc,\u201d justifies their gratification. Crime,\ndebauchery and cruelty would be difficult to deal with on this\nhypothesis! It is certainly true\u2014to some extent\u2014that \u201cwe are good or\nbad by reason of all the forces that act on or through us.\u201d These\nlatter are the stimuli to action (_subject to the control of the\nwill_), but are in their turn the resultant of previous Karma.\nJudging from the general tone of his criticism, it would appear that\nhis first acquaintance with the esoteric philosophy does not date\nback to a very remote antiquity.\n\n                                                               A. K.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                  \u201cTHE LATEST ATTACK ON CHRISTIANITY.\u201d\n\nIn the July number of the _Quarterly Review_ there is an article\nreviewing the recent book of J. C. Morrison upon \u201cThe Service of Man\nor the Future Religion.\u201d And although Mr. Morrison, in his book,\nwrites to urge that the chief and primary principle of religion is\n\u201cto promote the spirit of self-sacrifice, and to direct men\u2019s\nenergies to the service of their fellow creatures,\u201d yet the\n_Quarterly Review_ pours every kind of insult and obloquy on Mr.\nMorrison.\n\nBut herein is the gross contradiction, that the _Quarterly Review_\nadmits that the primary principle of Christianity has the very same\nobjects in view, as Mr. Morrison urges the future religion should\nhave. And yet the _Quarterly Review_ ridicules Mr. Morrison, and\ndescribes his book as an attack upon Christianity.\n\nThen, surely, when two persons thus fall out with one another,\nwhilst both advocate the same lofty and noble principles, there must\nbe some gross misunderstanding between them!\n\nThe error thus which they both labour under, is one and the same;\nfor the _Quarterly Review_ errs, in assuming that the teaching or\ndoctrine of the Church is indisputably, and infallibly, the teaching\nor doctrine of Christ. And Mr. Morrison errs in assuming that the\nteaching or doctrine of Christ is the same as the doctrine of the\nChurch.\n\nSo that if the teaching of the Church is not the teaching of Christ,\nthen Mr. Morrison in attacking the supposed Christianity of the\nChurch is not really attacking Christianity, but only attacking the\nspurious doctrine of the Church, which has passed current as\nChristianity; _ex gr._, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Elijah, in denouncing\nthe religion of the priests, did not attack true religion (as the\npriests would assert), but only their adulterated and spurious\nreligion.\n\nAnd Christ tells us that the Priests and Pharisees made the word of\nGod of none effect by their traditions. And St Paul tells us that,\nwith the authority of the Chief Priest, he had, before conversion,\nimprisoned and put men to death, and made them blaspheme (Acts\nxxvi., 11) against God and the Church.\n\nTherefore, before we accept the Church and Christianity to be\nsynonymous terms, and not only signifying but being actually the\nChurch of Christ, and so, verily, Christianity, we must have a clear\nand definite understanding as to what we mean, and wish others to\nunderstand what we mean, by \u201cthe Church.\u201d\n\nFor the world, outside of Christianity, and often inside, is at its\nwits\u2019 end to know which of the numerous churches and sects, which\nall claim to be the Church of Christ, is really and truly the Church\nof Christ; because the World witnesses that they all reject one\nanother.\n\nThen surely, whilst the world witnesses rival and hostile churches\nall claiming to be \u201cthe Church\u201d and Christianity, Mr. Morrison is\nnot at all necessarily attacking the Church of Christ, or true\nChristianity, when he attacks the doctrine, or the Christianity of\nthe churches.\n\nAnd this proposition of course, opens and raises the question as to\nwhat is Christianity, which the _Quarterly Review_ either avoids or\nassumes to be established, as being \u201c_a sound belief in the merits\nof the Saviour_,\u201d which of course means belief in the Atonement as\ncommonly taught. But how can the truth of Christianity be possibly\nestablished, whilst to this day the doctrine of Atonement taught by\nthe Church as Christianity, cannot be reconciled as either good or\ntrue; and is moreover a mystery to the leaders of it, a stumbling\nblock to the Jews, and foolishness to the world, making the\npreaching of the Church as Canon Liddon admits, utterly powerless?\nThe _Quarterly Review_ assumes that the doctrine of the Church has\nbeen taught as Christianity for 1,800 years; and that 1,800 years\u2019\nteaching of it has proved it to be Christianity, because the\n_Quarterly Review_ assumes that there has been liberty for 1,800\nyears to disprove the doctrine of the Church, and that the doctrine\nof the Church, not having been disproved, is a proof that it cannot\nbe disproved. But the fact that to this very day there is no liberty\nallowed in the pulpits of the National Churches to discuss the\ndoctrine of the Church (it being a law with the rulers of the Church\nthat \u201cthe doctrine of the Church may not be touched\u201d), utterly\nrefutes all the assumptions of the _Quarterly Review_.\n\nFor whilst there is no liberty, even for fair and candid criticism\nin the pulpit, on the doctrine of the Church, even in this age of\nliberty and education, there could have been none when the Church,\nfor centuries, had power to imprison, slay, and excommunicate or\nboycott; and used it against those who even questioned the doctrine\nof the Church.\n\nBut we are told, by the great Bishop Butler, in his \u201cAnalogy of\nReligion\u201d (and whom the _Quarterly Review_ admits to be an authority\nof the very highest class), that the doctrine of Atonement is\npositively immoral, excepting for the supposed divine authority; and\nthe Bishop himself looked forward to the day, when the progress of\nliberty and education should throw greater light upon this doctrine\nof the Church, and indisputably determine whether or no it has the\ndivine authority, it was then supposed or asserted to have.\n\nSo great has been our progress in education and liberty that _The\nGuardian_ of the 3rd August, in its review of this book of Mr.\nMorrison\u2019s, says, if Christianity is Calvinism with its doctrine of\nsubstitution and justification, then it is _madness_ any longer to\nattempt defending the morality of Christianity.\n\nIt is true that it is one thing to make this admission in the review\nof a book, and another thing to publish it from the pulpit; and it\nis true that the admission would be withdrawn or crucified by\nsilence; but the _Quarterly Review_ itself, in its argument by\nanalogy of the human and divine mind, admits that this doctrine of\nAtonement is immoral, because it admits that no authority could be\ndivine which called immorality morality, as it asserts that\n_whatever is moral humanly speaking, is also moral divinely\nspeaking, only in an infinitely greater degree_, and the converse.\nSo that an attack on an immoral doctrine of the Church is not an\nattack on Christianity, if the doctrine of the Church is not the\nteaching of Christ, as it can be shown that it is not, as soon as\nliberty is allowed in the pulpits of the National Churches, for\nexplaining the truth of a _Crucified Christ_, and removing the\nmystery that has been created, which causes it to be a stumbling\nblock to the Jews, and foolishness to the world.\n\nWe are told that the late Archbishop Whately said, that if the\nChristian Religion did not come from God, miraculously (in the sense\ncommonly taught), yet the religion, nevertheless, exists, and\ntherefore the phenomenon has to be explained how it could have\narisen and been propagated without miracles.\n\nBut the _Quarterly Review_ asserts that for 1,800 years all the\nattempts to explain it, without the aid of miracles, have utterly\nfailed, and therefore it must be assumed to be miraculous.\n\nBut before there can be any justification for such a bold\nassumption, as that what is taught as Christianity is infallibly,\nand indisputably, the teaching of Jesus Christ, what is meant by the\nterm Christianity, or Christian religion must be clearly defined:\nfor the Roman Catholic Church denounces the Protestant, and the\nProtestant denounces the Roman Church, as having naught to do with\nChristianity; so that even if there is anything held in common\nbetween these Churches (as \u201cthe faith of the Primitive Church,\u201d or\n\u201cthe faith once delivered to the Saints,\u201d or any other faith), yet\nwhatever it is, or is called, it would seem to be of not the\nslightest value whatever, in saving them from rejecting one another\nabsolutely.\n\nCanon Liddon, however, asserts that all the doctrine and teaching of\nthe Church derives its authority from a miraculous resurrection of\nJesus, with a material and physical body of flesh, blood, and bones,\nin direct defiance of the teaching of Jesus, that the flesh\nprofiteth nothing, and that it was the words which He spoke, \u201c_They\nwere_ spirit, _they_ were life.\u201d (John vi., 63.)\n\nAnd if we believe that the Holy Spirit of God could speak without\nthe aid of a material body, composed of flesh, blood, and bones, in\na still small voice to the conscience or soul of Moses and Elijah (1\nKings xix., 12); and if we believe that the same Holy Spirit is\n_present_ even now (where two or three are gathered together\u2014Matt,\nxvii., 23), why should not the presence of the still small voice of\nthe Holy Spirit, speaking to the conscience or soul of the Apostles,\nbe of itself deemed sufficient, without needing the aid of a\nmaterial body?\n\nAgain, if the _presence_ of the still small voice of the Holy\nSpirit, speaking to the soul of man, has been deemed sufficient by\nthe world both before the crucifixion of Christ, and since the\ncrucifixion of Christ, why should it be deemed necessary to raise up\nthe crucified One, with a body of flesh, blood and bones, only to\nteach what the still small voice of the Holy Spirit was able,\nwilling, and _present_ to teach, and to doubt which would be\nAtheism? And, moreover, whilst such teaching was sufficient, it\nwould be a contradiction to vouchsafe more.\n\nTherefore, if the still small voice of the Holy Spirit is sufficient\nand _present_ to guide us into all truth, it must have been\nsufficient for the Apostles also (John xvi., 13); and, therefore,\nChrist\u2019s religion is not dependent upon a material resurrection of\nthe body, with flesh, blood and bones.\n\nHere, once more, we see the necessity of liberty being allowed in\nthe pulpit, for fair and candid criticism on the doctrine of the\nChurch, for the purpose of eliminating error and eliciting truth; so\nthat it may be clearly seen and known what is Christ\u2019s religion, as\nit might indeed be possible that a material resurrection would seem\nnecessary to support the doctrine of the Church, though wholly\nunnecessary for the support of Christ\u2019s religion, or gospel.\n\nAlthough the _Quarterly Review_ asserts that men have failed for\n1,800 years to account for the existence of Christianity, unless it\nhad a miraculous resurrection to support it, yet it by no means\nfollows that, because a miracle is supposed to be needed to support\na doctrine of the Church, therefore a miracle is needed for\nsupporting the doctrine, gospel, or religion of Christ; which\nexists, and will continue to exist, without needing the aid of\nbelief in a miraculous resurrection of the material body, to support\nit. And it only needs that there should be liberty allowed in the\npulpits of the National Churches to show the deficiency of faith in\nChrist\u2019s spiritual resurrection, to see there is no need for belief\nin that carnal, gross, and material resurrection of the body, with\nflesh, blood and bones.\n\nThen, let there be liberty allowed in the pulpits of the National\nChurches; because it is not true that there has ever been liberty\nfor 1,800 years to explain the Mystery of a Crucified Christ; for,\nit is refused to the present day. If any man, on behalf of the\nChurch, contradicts this, and asserts there is liberty to explain,\nin the Church, the truth of a crucified Christ, let him mention one\nChurch, or one clergyman that will allow it, and I will test its\ntruth by asking for the same permission that the rulers of the\nSynagogue accorded to St Paul at Antioch, Acts xiii., 15.\n\nThe _Quarterly Review_ says the clergy have no objection to free\ndiscussion\u2014that it is the very air they breathe, and that it has\nbeen the life of Christian Truth. These are bold and brave words,\nbut where is there even one clergyman that will endorse them, and\nact upon them? Where?\n\nIsaiah says, \u201cOpen ye the gates that the truth may enter in\u201d (xxvi.,\n2). But instead of reverencing the just and righteous \u201cSon of Man,\u201d\nthe chief priests and rulers of the Ancient Church condemned \u201cthe\nJust One,\u201d to be slain as a blasphemer, whose blood ought to be shed\nfor an Atonement. And the chief priests of our Church have combined\nthat this doctrine should not be touched, so that by their practice\nthey make their statement of the _Quarterly Review_ utterly untrue.\nFor if there is one clergyman, A.D. 1887, who will support the\n_Quarterly Review\u2019s_ statement, and open his pulpit for explaining\nthe truth of \u201cChrist crucified\u201d and proclaiming Christian truth, as\ntaught by Christ\u2014Where is he? and who is he?\n\nAnd if there is not one, then need the Church be surprised that men\nattack, not the Christianity of Jesus Christ, but only an erroneous\ndoctrine of the Church, miscalled Christianity?\n\n                                               (REV.) T. G. HEADLEY.\n\n_Manor House, Petersham, S. W._\n\nP.S.\u2014Although the _Quarterly Review_ admits that Mr. Morrison has\nestablished a high position in literature, and that he seeks to\npromote the same lofty and noble principles as true Christianity\ninculcates; yet it speaks of Mr. Morrison\u2019s book as bad and\nincomplete; feeble and illogical; full of perversities,\nmonstrosities, misrepresentations, and misquotations; adding, that\nit is bitter, unscrupulous, ignorant, inconsistent, offensive,\nbullying, brow-beating, overbearing, absurd, and ridiculous, as well\nas indecent and false; insulting and flagrant; inconsecutive and\nunjust; full of jugglery and a disgrace.\n\nIs this an exhibition of how theologians, or the clergy, as the\nreviewer is most probably a clergyman, love free discussion, and\ncrucify those from whom they differ by damning them in this gross\nmanner?\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                        ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY.\n\n                    _To the Editors of_ LUCIFER.\n\nIn the numerous letters that have repeatedly appeared recently in\nthe _Times_ opposing the statements of the Rev. Canon Isaac Taylor,\nin his speech at the late Church Congress, on the very great\nprogress of Islam, and the comparative failure of Christianity (as\ntaught), in India and Africa, it is frequently asserted that _\u201cIslam\nis the only religion that has laid an immutable barrier on human\nprogress;\u201d_ and that _\u201cno system could have been devised with more\nconsummate skill (than the Koran of Islam) for shutting out the\nlight of truth, from the Nations over which Islam has sway.\u201d_\n\nBut surely this is equally as true of our Church, whilst it also\nmakes it an immutable law, as it has done to this day, that \u201c_the\ndoctrine of the Church may not be touched_\u201d? For how could any\nsystem have been devised with more consummate skill for shutting out\nthe light of truth, than to delude the people to crucify \u201cthe Just\nOne,\u201d as a blasphemer whose blood ought to be shed for an atonement,\nand afterwards to quote Scripture in support of this doctrine (as\nnecessary to be believed in order to escape being cursed here and\ndamned hereafter), and stamp out and boycott all who doubted it?\n\nAnd yet this is the present state of things.\n\nAnd therefore, whilst the clergy have power to say that \u201c_the\ndoctrine of the Church may not be touched_,\u201d how is the mystery of a\nCrucified Christ to be explained and translated, so that it may be\nseen to be \u201c_a light to lighten the Gentiles, and also the glory of\nIsrael_,\u201d instead of being, as it is now, a stumbling block to the\nJews, foolishness to the world, and a mystery to the teachers of it,\nmaking those who accept it, in India and Africa, worse than they\nwere before?\n\nThen is there not a cause for demanding that liberty should be\nallowed in the Church, for explaining, in the pulpit, the mystery of\na Crucified Christ, so that it may no longer remain a mystery for\nwant only of this liberty?\n\n                                               (REV.) T. G. HEADLEY.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                       HYLO-IDEALISM.\u2014AN APOLOGY.\n\nMy attention has been directed to a somewhat slighting notice of the\nabove theory of human nature, on pages 72 and 75 of your issue for\nSeptember, the contents of which are, doubtless, most suggestive of\nthe _nouvelles couches mentales_ at the basis of all _nouvelles\ncouches sociales_, and which Physical Science, in its vulgar\nrealism, has altogether missed.\n\nMy main position, to which all else is but subsidiary, is that the\nworlds both of thought and thing, which thus become identified and\nunified, _must_ be a product of _our own_ personality or Egoity,\nwhich thus constitutes each Ego Protagonist and Demiurge, from\nwhose tribunal there can be no possible appeal. This being\ngranted, and even Max M\u00fcller, in his \u201cScience of Thought,\u201d\nconsiders the position _impregnable_, it matters not one jot, at\nleast in the first line and as far as my main object is concerned,\nwhether the Ego be a Body or a \u201cSpirit.\u201d Our own individuality, as\nsum and substance of all \u201cthings,\u201d is the only essential point of\nthe question. So that it may be argued either on the somatic\n(hylozoic) or \u201cSpiritual\u201d hypothesis of life and mind. I have\nalways contended that Hylo-Idealism, or Auto-centricism, is the\nonly thorough and legitimate outcome of the phenomenal world\ntheory\u2014this representative _Weltanschanung_ having been, for some\ngenerations past, the accredited creed both of physical science\nand philosophy. It is well summed up in Kant\u2019s negation of \u201c_Das\nDing an sich_.$1\u201c$2\u201d$3 Vulgar Physical Science, as interpreted by\nits greatest hierophants, from Newton to Huxley and Darwin, from\nits incarnate dualism, is fatally handicapped in its search after\nthe _final_ \u201cgood, beautiful, and true.\u201d Even Cardinal Newman is\nin a similar case, when he predicates _two_ luminous spectra, God\nand Self, as the sole entities. The former Spectrum, on the\nHylo-ideal, or visional, or phenomenal hypothesis, _must_ be only\nthe functional _imago_ of the latter; Self being thus proved to be\n\u201cAlpha and Omega, beginning and ending, first and last.\u201d Beyond\nSelf, it is manifest, mortal mind can never range. Whether Self be\nbody or \u201cspirit\u201d is, I repeat, for my chief contention, quite\nimmaterial\u2014I sit on both sides of the stile, facing both ways.\n\n                                                 ROBERT LEWINS, M.D.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                             HYLO-IDEAISM.\n\n                    _To the Editors of_ LUCIFER.\n\nAs a hostile notice of the above philosophy has appeared in your\ncolumns, will you kindly permit me to say a few words in its\ndefence? Not, of course, that I can hope in these few lines to\nreally make clear to the casual reader the greatest change in human\nthought ever witnessed on earth (a change not merely as regards the\nform or matter of existence, but as regards its very nature)\u2014yet I\nmay hope that a few seasonable words may be the means of inducing at\nleast a few to enquire further into a theory, the self-evident\nsimplicity of which is so great, that, I am convinced, it needs but\nto be understood to command universal acceptance.\n\nThe term Hylo-Ideaism is no self-contradiction, but undeniable\nverity, based on the first two facts of all existence; viz., the\nassumption of the material on the one hand, and the actuality of the\nideal on the other. The primary, undeniable and necessary assumption\nof the \u201creality\u201d of existence supplies us with the first half of our\ndesignation, and the recognition of the correlative truism that this\nexistence\u2014based on our own assumption\u2014is, therefore, only our own\nidea, completes our title, and amply vindicates the self-sufficiency\nof Hylo-Ideaistic philosophy. For here is not a mere unended\nargument, leaving us at both ends stranded on mere metaphysical\nspeculation, but a self-sustaining circle[116] where both ends meet,\nand materiality and ideality are blended as one, and indissoluble.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 116:\n\n  Yet, unless _metaphysical_ speculation comes to the rescue of the\n  new philosophy, and, completing, explains it on the old Vedantic\n  lines, the \u201ccircle,\u201d instead of being a \u201cself-sustaining\u201d one, is\n  more than likely to become a\u2014\u201cvicious circle.\u201d\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\nIt matters not on what basis we proceed, whether we speak of\nexistence as material or ideal, or \u201cspiritual\u201d or anything else\u2014a\nmoment\u2019s reflection is sufficient to establish us in a position of\nconsistent monism. For all thought or knowledge is but sensation,\nand sensation is and must be purely subjective, existing in, and by,\nthe ego itself. As now we cannot outstrip our own sensations (only a\nmadman could controvert this proposition\u2014which includes\n_everything_)\u2014therefore are we absolutely, and for ever, limited to\nself-existence, and the same holds good of all possible or imaginary\nexistence whatsoever. For the first essential of any conscious\nexistence\u2014that which indeed constitutes it\u2014is a sentient subject,\nand inasmuch as all connected with this subject\u2014thought, knowledge,\nfeeling, fancy, sentiment\u2014are all _purely subjective_, _i.e._, in\nthe subject itself, so must the subject be to itself the sum of all\nthings, and objective existence only its own fancy by which it\nrealises itself. This then utterly disposes of all fancied objective\ndualism by reducing all existence within the ring-fence of the ego\nitself, and this not as mere speculative theory but as positive\nfact, which, whether we recognise it or not, remains fact still\u2014we\n_are_ limited to Self, whether we know it or not.\n\nThen finally, _in self_, we harmonise the antithesis between the\nmaterial and the ideal by recognising the two as absolutely\ninter-dependent, each upon the other, and therefore one consistent\nand indivisible whole. The ideal (thought, fancy, sentiment) is, and\nmust be, but the property and outcome of the material (the nominal\nreality), which, on the other hand, is itself (and can be) but the\nassumption of the ideal. Destroy reality and thought is dead, blind\nthought and reality is a blank; and thus are the ideal and the\nmaterial but the two sides of one and the self-same shield, and the\nline of our argument joins itself in one consistent circle, which\nconstitutes the existence of the Ego\u2014He who creates light and\ndarkness, heaven and earth, pleasure and pain, God and devil\u2014who is,\nin Himself, the sum of all things, (viz. \u201cthinks\u201d) beyond which is\nnaught, naught, naught, for the fancy of His own which imagines a\n\u201cbeyond\u201d is, itself, but fancy\u2014self-contained in Self.\n\n              Thou Unity of force sublime,\n              Th\u2019 eternal mystery of thy time\n                  Runs on unstay\u2019d for ever;\n              Yet, self-containing God of all,\n              As raptur\u2019d at thy feet I fall\n                  In thee myself I worship.\n                                 HERBERT L. COURTNEY.\n\nCambridge, November, 1887.\n\n  [EDITOR\u2019S NOTE.\u2014In reference to the supposed \u201cslighting\n  remark\u201d of which Dr. Lewins speaks, and the no less supposed\n  \u201chostile notice,\u201d as Mr. Herbert L. Courtney puts it\u2014contained\n  in our September number\u2014we demur to the accusation. Both\n  gentlemen will find it, however, fully answered in the\n  \u201cLiterary Jottings\u201d of this number; where, also, their\n  respective pamphlets \u201cAUTO-CENTRICISM,\u201d \u201cHUMANISM _versus_\n  THEISM,\u201d and \u201cThe New Gospel of Hylo-Idealism\u201d\u2014are amply\n  noticed by the \u201cAdversary.\u201d]\n\n                      ----------------------------\n\n                          ANSWERS TO QUERIES.\n\nA CORRESPONDENT from New York writes:\n\n  .... \u201cThe Editors of LUCIFER would confer a great benefit on those\n  who are attracted to the movement which they advocate, if they\n  would state:\n\n  \u201c(1.) Whether a would-be-theosophist-occultist is required to\n  abandon his worldly ties and duties such as family affection, love\n  of parents, wife, children, friends, etc.?\n\n  \u201cI ask this question because it is rumoured here that some\n  theosophical publications have so stated, and would wish to know\n  whether such a _sine qu\u00e2 non_ condition really exists in your\n  Rules? The same, however, is found in the New Testament. \u2018He that\n  loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me; and he\n  that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me,\n  etc., etc.,\u2019 is said in Matthew (x. 37). Do the MASTERS of\n  Theosophy demand as much?\n\n                                   \u201cYours in the Search of Light,\n                                                          \u201cL. M. C.\u201d\n\nThis is an old, old question, and a still older charge against\ntheosophy, started first by its enemies. We emphatically answer, NO;\nadding that no _theosophical_ publication could have rendered itself\nguilty of such a FALSEHOOD and calumny. No follower of theosophy,\nleast of all a disciple of the \u201cMasters of Theosophy\u201d (the _chela_\nof a _guru_), would ever be accepted on such conditions. Many were\nthe candidates, but \u201cfew the chosen.\u201d Dozens were refused, simply\nbecause married and having a sacred duty to perform to wife and\nchildren.[117] None have ever been asked to forsake father or\nmother; for he who, being necessary to his parent for his support,\nleaves him or her to gratify his own selfish consideration or thirst\nfor knowledge, however great and sincere, _is \u201cunworthy\u201d_ of the\nScience of Sciences, \u201cor ever to approach a holy MASTER.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 117:\n\n  We know but two cases of _married_ \u201cchelas\u201d being accepted; but\n  both these were Brahmins and had _child-wives_, according to Hindu\n  custom, and they were _Reformers_ more than _chelas_, trying to\n  abrogate child-marriage and slavery. Others had to obtain the\n  consent of their wives before entering the \u201cPath,\u201d as is usual in\n  India since long ages.\n\n-----\n\nOur correspondent must surely have confused in his mind Theosophy\nwith Roman Catholicism, and Occultism with the dead-letter teachings\nof the Bible. For it is only in the Latin Church that it has become\na meritorious action, which is called serving God and Christ, to\n\u201cabandon father and mother, wife and children,\u201d and every duty of an\nhonest man and citizen, in order to become a monk. And it is in St.\nLuke\u2019s Gospel that one reads the terrible words, put in the mouth of\nJesus: \u201cIf any _man_ come to me, and _hate not his father, and\nmother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters_, yea,\n_his own life_ also, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.\u201d (xiv. 26.)\n\n_Saint_ (?) Jerome teaches, in one of his writings, \u201cIf thy father\nlies down across thy threshold, if thy mother uncovers to thine eyes\nthe bosom which suckled thee, _trample on thy father\u2019s lifeless\nbody_, TRAMPLE ON THY MOTHER\u2019S BOSOM, and _with eyes unmoistened and\ndry, fly to the Lord, who calleth thee_!\u201d\n\nSurely then, it is not from any _theosophical_ publication that our\ncorrespondent could have learnt such an infamous charge against\ntheosophy and its MASTERS\u2014but rather in some _anti-Christian_, or\n_too_ dogmatically \u201cChristian\u201d paper.\n\nOur society has never been \u201cmore Catholic than the Pope.\u201d It has\ndone its best to follow out the path prescribed by the Masters; and\nif it has failed in more than one respect to fulfil its arduous\ntask, the blame is certainly not to be thrown on either Theosophy,\nnor its Masters, but on the limitations of human nature. The\n_Rules_, however, of _chelaship_, or discipleship, are there, in\nmany a Sanskrit and Tibetan volume. In Book IV. of _Kiu-ti_, in the\nchapter on \u201c_the Laws of Upasans_\u201d (disciples), the qualifications\nexpected in a \u201cregular _chela_\u201d are: (1.) Perfect physical\nhealth.[118] (2.) Absolute mental and physical purity. (3.)\nUnselfishness of purpose; universal charity; pity for all animate\nbeings. (4.) Truthfulness and unswerving faith in the laws of Karma.\n(5.) A courage undaunted in the support of truth, even in face of\nperil to life. (6.) An intuitive perception of one\u2019s being the\nvehicle of the manifested divine _Atman_ (spirit). (7.) Calm\nindifference for, but a just appreciation of, everything that\nconstitutes the objective and transitory world. (8.) Blessing of\nboth parents[119] and _their permission to become an Upasan_\n(chela); and (9.) Celibacy, and freedom from any obligatory duty.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 118:\n\n  This rule 1. applies only to the \u201ctemple chelas,\u201d who must be\n  _perfect_.\n\nFootnote 119:\n\n  Or one, if the other is dead.\n\n-----\n\nThe two last rules are most strictly enforced. No man _convicted of\ndisrespect to his father or mother_, or _unjust abandonment of his\nwife_, can ever be accepted even as a _lay chela_.\n\nThis is sufficient, it is hoped. We have heard of chelas who, having\n_failed_, perhaps in consequence of the neglect of some such duty,\nfor one or another reason, have invariably thrown the blame and\nresponsibility for it on the teaching of the Masters. This is but\nnatural in poor and weak human beings who have not even the courage\nto recognise their own mistakes, or the rare nobility of publicly\nconfessing them, but are always trying to find a scapegoat. Such we\npity, and leave to the Law of Retribution, or Karma. It is not these\nweak creatures, who can ever be expected to have the best of the\nenemy described by the wise Kir\u00e1t\u00e1rjuniya of Bharavi:\u2014\n\n          \u201cThe enemies which rise within the body.\n          Hard to be overcome\u2014the evil passions\u2014\n          Should manfully be fought, _who conquers these\n          Is equal to the conqueror of worlds_.\u201d (xi. 32.)\n\n                                                               [ED.]\n\n                                  ---\n\nWe have received several communications for publication, bearing on\nthe subjects discussed in the editorial of our last issue, \u201cLet\nevery man prove his own work.\u201d A few brief remarks may be made, not\nin reply to any of the letters\u2014_which, being anonymous, and\ncontaining no card from the writers, cannot be published_ (nor are\nsuch noticed, as a general rule)\u2014but to the ideas and accusations\ncontained in one of them, a letter signed \u201cM.\u201d Its author takes up\nthe cudgels on behalf of the Church. He objects to the statement\nthat this institution lacks the enlightenment necessary to carry out\na true system of philanthropy. He appears, also, to demur to the\nview that \u201cthe practical people either go on doing good\nunintentionally and often do harm,\u201d and points to the workers amid\nour slums as a vindication of Christianity\u2014which, by-the-bye, was in\nno sense attacked in the editorial so criticized.\n\nTo this, repeating what was said, we maintain that more mischief has\nbeen done by emotional charity than sentimentalists care to face.\nAny student of political economy is familiar with this fact, which\npasses for a truism with all those who have devoted attention to the\nproblem. No nobler sentiment than that which animates the unselfish\nphilanthropist is conceivable; but the question at issue is not\nsummed up in the recognition of this truth. The practical results of\nhis labours have to be examined. We have to see whether he does not\nsow the seeds of a greater\u2014while relieving a lesser\u2014evil.\n\nThe fact that \u201cthousands are making great efforts in all the cities\nthroughout our land\u201d to meet want, reflects immense credit on the\ncharacter of such workers. It does not affect their creed, for such\nnatures would remain the same, whatever the prevailing dogmas\nchanced to be. It is certainly a very poor illustration of the\nfruits of centuries of dogmatic Christianity that England should be\nso honeycombed with misery and poverty as she is\u2014especially on the\nbiblical ground that a tree must be judged by its fruits! It might,\nalso, be argued, that the past history of the Churches, stained as\nit is with persecutions, the suppression of knowledge, crime and\nbrutality, necessitates the turning over of a new leaf. The\ndifficulties in the way are insuperable. \u201cChurchianity\u201d has, indeed,\ndone its best to keep up with the age by assimilating the teachings\nof, and making veiled truces with, science, but it is incapable of\naffording a true spiritual ideal to the world.\n\nThe same Church-Christianity assails with fruitlesss pertinacity,\nthe ever-growing host of Agnostics and Materialists, but is _as\nabsolutely ignorant, as the latter, of the mysteries beyond the\ntomb_. The great necessity for the Church, according to Professor\nFlint, is to keep the leaders of European thought within its fold.\nBy such men it is, however, regarded as an anachronism. The Church\nis eaten up with scepticism within its own walls; free-thinking\nclergymen being now very common. This constant drain of vitality has\nreduced the true religion to a very low ebb, and it is to infuse a\nnew current of ideas and aspirations into modern thought, in short,\nto supply a logical basis for an elevated morality, a science and\nphilosophy which is suited to the knowledge of the day, that\nTheosophy comes before the world. Mere physical philanthropy, apart\nfrom the infusion of new influences and ennobling conceptions of\nlife into the minds of the masses, is worthless. The gradual\nassimilation by mankind of great spiritual truths will alone\nrevolutionize the face of civilization, and ultimately result in a\nfar more effective panacea for evil, than the mere tinkering of\nsuperficial misery. Prevention is better than cure. Society creates\nits own outcasts, criminals, and profligates, and then condemns and\npunishes its own Frankensteins, sentencing its own progeny, the\n\u201cbone of its bone, and the flesh of its flesh,\u201d to a life of\ndamnation on earth. Yet that society recognises and enforces most\nhypocritically Christianity\u2014_i.e._ \u201cChurchianity.\u201d Shall we then, or\nshall we not, infer that the latter is unequal to the requirements\nof mankind? Evidently the former, and most painfully and obviously\nso, in its present dogmatic form, which makes of the beautiful\nethics preached on the Mount, a Dead Sea fruit, a whitened\nsepulchre, and no better.\n\nFurthermore, the same \u201cM.,\u201d alluding to Jesus as one with regard to\nwhom there could be only two alternatives, writes that he \u201cwas\neither the Son of God or the vilest impostor who ever trod this\nearth.\u201d We answer, not at all. Whether the Jesus of the New\nTestament ever lived or not, whether he existed as an historical\npersonage, or was simply a lay figure around which the Bible\nallegories clustered\u2014the Jesus of Nazareth of Matthew and John, is\nthe ideal for every would-be sage and Western candidate Theosophist\nto follow. That such an one as he, was _a_ \u201cSon of God,\u201d is as\nundeniable as that he was neither the _only_ \u201cSon of God,\u201d nor the\nfirst one, nor even the last who closed the series of the \u201cSons of\nGod,\u201d or the children of Divine Wisdom, on this earth. Nor is that\nother statement that in \u201cHis life he (Jesus) has ever spoken of\nhimself as co-existent with Jehovah, the Supreme, the Centre of the\nUniverse,\u201d correct, whether in in its dead letter, or hidden mystic\nsense. In no place does Jesus ever allude to \u201c_Jehovah_\u201d; but, on\nthe contrary, attacking the Mosaic laws and the alleged Commandments\ngiven on Mount Sinai, he disconnects himself and his \u201cFather\u201d most\ndistinctly and emphatically from the Sinaitic tribal God. The whole\nof Chapter V., in the Gospel of Matthew, is a passionate protest of\nthe \u201cman of peace, love and charity,\u201d against the cruel, stern, and\nselfish commandments of \u201cthe man of war,\u201d the \u201cLord\u201d of Moses (Exod.\nxv., 3). \u201cYe have heard that it was said by them of old times,\u201d\u2014so\nand so\u2014\u201cBut I say unto you,\u201d quite the reverse. Christians who still\nhold to the Old Testament and the Jehovah of the Israelites, are at\nbest _schismatic Jews_. Let them be that, by all means, if they will\nso have it; but they have no right to call themselves even\n_Chr\u00e9stians_, let alone _Christians_.[120]\n\nIt is a gross injustice and untruth to assert, as our anonymous\ncorrespondent does, that \u201cthe freethinkers are notoriously unholy\nin their lives.\u201d Some of the noblest characters, as well as\ndeepest thinkers of the day, adorn the ranks of Agnosticism,\nPositivism and Materialism. The latter are the worst enemies of\nTheosophy and Mysticism; but this is no reason why strict justice\nshould not be done unto them. Colonel Ingersoll, a rank\nmaterialist, and the leader of freethought in America, is\nrecognised, even by his enemies, as an ideal husband, father,\nfriend and citizen, one of the noblest characters that grace the\nUnited States. Count Tolstoi is a freethinker who has long parted\nwith the orthodox Church, yet his whole life is an exemplar of\nChrist-like altruism and self-sacrifice. Would to goodness every\n\u201cChristian\u201d should take those two \u201c_infidels_\u201d as his models in\nprivate and public life. The munificence of many freethinking\nphilanthropists stands out in startling contrast with the apathy\nof the monied dignitaries of the Church. The above fling at the\n\u201cenemies of the Church,\u201d is as absurd as it is contemptible.\n\n\u201cWhat can you offer to the dying woman who fears to tread alone the\nDARK UNKNOWN?\u201d we are asked. Our Christian critic here frankly\nconfesses (_a._) that Christian dogmas have only developed _fear_ of\ndeath, and (_b._) the _agnosticism_ of the _orthodox believer_ in\nChristian theology as to the future _post-mortem_ state. It is,\nindeed, difficult to appreciate the peculiar type of bliss which\northodoxy offers its believers in\u2014_damnation_.\n\nThe dying man\u2014the average Christian\u2014with a _dark_ retrospect in life\ncan scarcely appreciate this boon; while the Calvinist or the\nPredestinarian, who is brought up in the idea that God may have\npre-assigned him from eternity to everlasting misery, through no\nfault of that man, but simply because he is God, is more than\njustified in regarding the latter as ten times worse than any devil\nor fiend that unclean human fancy could evolve.\n\nTheosophy, on the contrary, teaches that _perfect, absolute justice_\nreigns in nature, though short-sighted man fails to see it in its\ndetails on the material and even psychic plane, and that every man\ndetermines his own future. The true Hell is life on Earth, as an\neffect of Karmic punishment following the preceding life during\nwhich the evil causes were produced. The Theosophist fears _no\nhell_, but confidently expects rest and bliss during the _interim_\nbetween two incarnations, as a reward for all the unmerited\nsuffering he has endured in an existence into which he was ushered\nby Karma, and during which he is, in most cases, as helpless as a\ntorn-off leaf whirled about by the conflicting winds of social and\nprivate life. Enough has been given out at various times regarding\nthe conditions of post-mortem existence, to furnish a solid block of\ninformation on this point. Christian theology has nothing to say on\nthis burning question, except where it veils its ignorance by\nmystery and dogma; but Occultism, unveiling the symbology of the\nBible, explains it thoroughly.\u2014[ED.]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 120:\n\n  See \u201cThe Esoteric Character of the Gospels,\u201d in this number.\n\n-----\n\n\n                       =LITERARY JOTTINGS=\n\n       HYLO-IDEALISM _versus_ \u201cLUCIFER,\u201d and the \u201cADVERSARY.\u201d\n\nUnder the head of CORRESPONDENCE in the present number, two\nremarkable letters are published. (See Text.) Both come from fervent\nHylo-Idealists\u2014a Master and Disciple, if we mistake not\u2014and both\ncharge the \u201cAdversary,\u201d one, of a \u201cslighting,\u201d the other, of a\n\u201chostile notice\u201d of Hylo-Idealism, in the September number of\n\u201c_Lucifer_.\u201d\n\n                              *      *\n\nSuch an accusation is better met and answered in all sincerity; and,\ntherefore, the reply is, a flat denial of the charge. No\n_slight_\u2014nor _hostility_ either, could be shown to \u201cHylo-Idealism,\u201d\nas the \u201clittle stranger\u201d in the happy family of philosophies was\nhitherto as good as unknown to \u201cLucifer\u2019s\u201d household gods. It was\n_chaff_, if anything, but surely no hostility; and even that was\nconcerned with only some dreadful words and sentences, with\nreference to the new teaching, and had nothing whatever to do with\nHylo-Idealism proper\u2014a _terra incognita_ for the writer at the time.\nBut now that three pamphlets from the pens of our two correspondents\nhave been received in our office, for review, and carefully read,\nHylo-Idealism begins to assume a more tangible form before the\nreviewer\u2019s eye. It becomes easier to separate the grain from the\nchaff, the theory from the (no doubt) scientific, nevertheless, most\nirritating, words in which it is presented to the reader.\n\n                              *      *\n\nThis is meant in all truth and sincerity. The remarks which our two\ncorrespondents have mistaken for expressions of hostility, were as\njustified _then_, as they are _now_. What ordinary mortal, we ask,\nbefore he had time (to use Dr. Lewins\u2019 happiest expressions) to\n\u201c_asself_ or _cognose_\u201d\u2014let alone _intercranialise_[121] (!!)\u2014the\nhylo-idealistic theories, however profound and philosophical these\nmay be, who, having so far come into direct contact with only the\n_images_ thereof \u201csubjected by his own _egoity_\u201d (_i.e._ as words\nand sentences), who could avoid feeling his hair standing on end,\nover \u201c_his organs of mentation_,\u201d while spelling out such\nterrible words as \u201c_vesiculo-neurosis_ in conjunction with\n_medico-psychological symptomatology_,\u201d \u201c_auto-centricism_,\u201d and the\nlike? Such interminable, outlandish, multisyllabled and\nmulticipital, newly-coined compound terms and whole sentences,\nmaybe, and no doubt are, highly learned and scientific. They may be\nmost expressive of true, real meaning, to a specialist of Dr.\nLewins\u2019 powers of thought; nevertheless, I make bold to say, that\nthey are far more calculated to obscure than to enlighten the\nordinary reader. In our modern day, when new philosophies spring out\nfrom the spawn of human overworked intellect like mushrooms from\ntheir mycelium after a rainy morning, the human brain and\nits capacities ought to be taken into a certain thoughtful\nconsideration, and spared useless labour. Notwithstanding Dr.\nLewins\u2019 praiseworthy efforts to prove that brain (as far as we\nunderstand his aspirations and teachings) is the only reality in the\nwhole kosmos, its limitations are painfully evident, on the whole.\nAs philanthropists and theosophists, we entreat the founder of\nHylo-Idealism and his disciples to be merciful to their new god, the\n\u201cEgo-Brain,\u201d and not tax too heavily its powers, if they would see\nit happily reign. For otherwise, it is sure to collapse before the\nnew theory\u2014or, let us call it philosophy\u2014is even half appreciated by\nthat \u201cEgo-Brain.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 121:\n\n  \u201cAUTO-CENTRICISM, or, _The Brain Theory of Life and Mind_,\u201d p. 41.\n\n-----\n\n                             *       *\n\nBy speaking as we do, we are only pursuing a life-long policy. We\nhave criticized and opposed the coinage of hard Greek and Latin\nwords by the New York Pantarchists; laughed at H\u00e6ckel\u2019s pompous\ntendency to invent thirty-three syllabled terms, and speak of the\n_perigenesis_ of _plastidules_, instead of honest whirling atoms\u2014or\nwhatever he means; and derided the modern psychists for calling\nsimple thought transference \u201ctelepathic impact.\u201d And now, we\ntearfully beg Dr. Lewins, in the interests of humanity, to have pity\non his poor readers: for, unless he hearkens to our advice, we shall\nbe compelled, in dire self-defence, to declare an open war to his\nnewly-coined words. We shall fight the usurper \u201cSolipsism\u201d in favour\nof the legitimate king of the Universe\u2014EGOISM\u2014to our last breath.\n\n                             *       *\n\nAt the same time, as we have hitherto been ignorant of the latest\nphilosophy, described by Mr. H. L. Courtney as \u201cthe greatest change\nin human thought,\u201d may we be permitted to enquire whether it is\nspelt as its Founder spells it, namely, \u201cHylo-Idealism,\u201d or as his\ndisciple, Mr. Courtney does, who writes Hylo-Ideaism? Is the latter\na _schism_, an improvement on the original name, a _lapsus calami_,\nor what? And now, having disburdened our heart of a heavy weight, we\nmay proceed to give an opinion (so far very superficial), on the\nthree Hylo-Idealistic (or _Ideaistic_) pamphlets.\n\n                                  ---\n\n_Under the extraordinary title of_ \u201cAUTO-CENTRICISM\u201d and \u201cHUMANISM\n_versus_ THEISM,\u201d or \u201cSolipsism (Egoism)=Atheism\u201d (W. Stewart & Co.,\n41, Farringdon Street, E.C.; and Freethought Publishing Co., 63,\nFleet Street, E.C.)\u2014Dr. Lewins publishes a series of letters on the\nsubject of the philosophy of which he is the founder. It is\nimpossible not to feel admiration for the manner in which these\nletters are written. They show a great deal of sincere conviction\nand deep thought, and give evidence of a most wide and varied\nreading. However his readers may dissent from the writer\u2019s\nconclusions, the research with which he has strengthened his theory,\ncannot fail to attract their attention, and smooth their way through\nthe somewhat tortuous labyrinth of arguments before them. But\u2014\n\nDr. Lewins is among those who regard consciousness as a function of\nthe nerve-tissue; and in this aspect, he is an uncompromising\nmaterialist. Yet, on the other hand, he holds that the Universe,\nGod, and thought, have no reality whatever, apart from the\nindividual Ego. The Ego is again resolvable into brain-process. We\nthus arrive at the doctrine that Brain is the workshop in which all\nour ideas of external things are originated. Apart from brain there\nis no Ego, no external world. What, then, is the Brain itself\u2014this\nsolitary object in a void universe? Hylo-Idealism does not say.\nThus, the author cannot escape the confusion of thought which his\nunique working-union of materialism and idealism involves. The\n_oscillation_ between these two poles is strikingly apparent in the\nsubjoined quotations. At one point Matter is discussed as if it were\nan objective reality; at another, it is regarded as a mere \u201cphantasm\nof the Ego.\u201d The Brain alone survives throughout in solitary state.\nWe quote from the two pamphlets\u2014\n\n                           MATTER ASSERTED.\n\n  \u201c_Matter_, organic and inorganic, is now fully known ... to\n  perform all _material_ operations.\u201d\n\n                                          \u2014_Auto-Centricism_, p. 40.\n\n  \u201cMan is _all body and matter_.\u201d\n\n                                             \u2014_Do_, p. 40.\n\n  \u201cAbstract thought [is] _neuropathy_ ... disease of the _nervous\n  centres_.\u201d\n\n                                   \u2014_Humanism versus Theism_, p. 25.\n\n  \u201cWhat we call mind ... is a function of certain _nerve structures\n  in the organism_.\u201d\n\n                                       \u2014_Humanism v. Theism_, p. 24.\n\n                            MATTER DENIED.\n\n  \u201c_All discovery_ is ... a _subjective phenomenon_.\u201d\n\n                                       \u2014_Humanism v. Theism_, p. 17.\n\n  \u201c_All things_ are for us but _modes of perception_.\u201d\u2014[Mental\n  figments].\n\n  The \u201ccelestial vault and garniture of Earth,\u201d are \u201ca _mere\n  projection of our own inner consciousness_.\u201d\n\n                                       \u2014_Humanism v. Theism_, p. 17.\n\n  \u201cWe _get rid of Matter altogether_.\u201d\n\n                                       \u2014_Humanism v. Theism_, p. 17.\n\n  \u201cThe whole objective world ... is _phenomenal or ideal_.\u201d\n\n                                           \u2014_Auto-Centricism_, p. 9.\n\n  \u201c_Everything_ is spectral\u201d (_i.e._, unreal).\n\n                                                     \u2014_Ibid_, p. 13.\n\nMatter is at one time credited with a real being, and again resolved\ninto a mere mental figment as _circumstances demand_. If Matter is,\nas the author frequently states, unreal, it is, at least clear that\nthe brain, one of its many phases, goes with it!!\n\nAs to the learned doctor\u2019s assertion that perception is relative, a\ntheory which runs through his whole work, we have but one answer.\nThis conception is, in no sense whatever, a monopoly of\nHylo-Idealists, as Dr. Lewins appears to think. The illusory nature\nof the phenomenal world\u2014of the things of sense\u2014is not only a belief\ncommon to the old Brahminical metaphysics, and to the majority of\nmodern psychologists, but it is also a vital tenet of Theosophy. The\nlatter distinctly realises matter as a \u201cbundle of attributes,\u201d\nultimately resolvable into the subjective sensations of a\n\u201cpercipient.\u201d The connection of this simple truth with the\nhylo-idealistic denial of soul is not apparent. Its acceptance has,\nalso, no bearing on the problem as to whether there may not exist a\nduality\u2014_within the limits of manifested being_\u2014or contrast between\nMind and the Substance of matter. This Cosmic Duality is symbolised\nby the Vedantins in the relations between the Logos and\nMulaprakriti\u2014_i.e._, the Universal Spirit and the \u201cmaterial\u201d basis\n(or root) of the objective planes of nature. The _Monism_, then, of\nDr. Lewins and other negative thinkers of the day, is evidently at\nfault, when applied to unify the contrast of mental and material\nfacts in the conditioned universe. Beyond the latter, it is indeed\nvalid, but that is scarcely a question for practical philosophy.\n\nTo close with a reference this once to Dr. Lewins\u2019 letter (see\n\u201cCorrespondence\u201d in the text), in which he makes his subsequent\nassertion to the effect that God is the \u201cfunctional (_sic_) image,\u201d\nof the Ego, we should prefer to suggest that all individual \u201cselves\u201d\nare but dim reflections of the universal soul of the Kosmos. The\northodox concept of God is not, as he contends, a myth or phantasm\nof the brain; it is rather an expression of a vague consciousness of\nthe universal, all-pervading Logos. It is because SELF pinions man\nwithin a narrow sphere \u201cbeyond which mortal mind can never range,\u201d\nthat the destruction of the personal sense of separateness is\nindispensable to the Occultist.\n\n                                  ---\n\n\u201cTHE NEW GOSPEL OF HYLO-IDEALISM, _or Positive Agnosticism_,\u201d\n(Freethought Publishing Co., 73, Fleet Street, E. C. Price 3d.), is\nanother pamphlet on the same subject, in which Mr. Herbert L.\nCourtney contributes his quota to the discussion of the \u201cBrain\nTheory of mind and matter.\u201d He is, if we mistake not, an avowed\ndisciple of Dr. Lewins, and, perhaps, identical with the \u201cC. N.,\u201d\nwho watched over the cradle of the \u201cnew philosophy.\u201d The whole gist\nof the latter may be summed up as an attempt to frame a\nworking-union of Materialism and Idealism. This result is effected\non two lines (1) in the acceptance of the idealistic theorem, that\nthe so-called external world only exists in our consciousness; and\n(2) in the designation of that consciousness, in its turn, as a mere\nfunction of Brain. The first of these contentions is unquestionably\nvalid, in so far as it concerns the world of appearances, or _Maya_;\nit is, however, as \u201cold as the hills,\u201d and incorporated into the\nHylo-Ideal argument from anterior sources. The second is untenable,\nfor the simple reason that on the premises of the new creed itself,\nthe brain, as an object of perception, can possess no reality\noutside of the Ego. Hegelians might reply that Brain is but an\n_i.e._ of the Ego, and cannot hence determine the existence of the\nlatter\u2014its creator.\n\n                                  ---\n\nMetaphysicism will, however, find much to interest them in Mr.\nCourtney\u2019s brochure, representative, as it is, of the new and more\nsubtle phase into which modern scepticism is entering. Some\nexpressions we may demur to\u2014_e.g._, \u201cThat which we see is not\nSirius, but the light-wave.\u201d So far from the light-wave being\n\u201cseen,\u201d it is a mere working hypothesis of Science. All we\nexperience is the retinal sensation, the objective counterpart to\nwhich is a matter of pure inference. So far as we can learn,\nHylo-Idealism is chiefly based upon gigantic paradoxes, and even\ncontradictions in terms. For, with regard to the speculations anent\nthe Noumenon (p. 8.) what justification can be found for terming it\n\u201cMATTER,\u201d especially as it is said to be \u201cunknowable\u201d? Obviously it\nmay be of the nature of mind, or\u2014_something_ HIGHER. How is the\nHylo-Idealist to know?\n\n                                  ---\n\n\u201cLAYS OF ROMANCE AND CHIVALRY,\u201d by Mr. W. Stewart Ross. (Stewart and\nCo., Farringdon Street.) In this neat little volume the author\npresents to the reader a collection of vigorous verse, mostly of\nchivalrous character. Some of these pieces, such as the \u201cRaid of\nVikings\u201d and \u201cGlencoe,\u201d are of merit, despite an occasional echo of\nWalter Scott, whose style seems to have had a considerable modifying\ninfluence on the author\u2019s diction. It is in the \u201cBride of Steel\u201d\nthat this feature is most noticeable\u2014\n\n               \u201cI love thee with a warrior\u2019s love,\n               My Sword, my Life, my Bride!\n                 Dear, dear as ever knighthood bore,\n                 Though yet no gout of battle-gore\n               Thy virgin blade hath dyed!\u201d\n\nApart from this unconscious influence of the great Scottish bard,\nthe ring of originality and feeling which characterises Mr. Stewart\nRoss\u2019s poetry is most refreshing. The little volume sparkles with\nthe vein of romance, and after perusing it, in spite of occasional\nanachronisms and other literary errors, we are not surprised to hear\nof the favourable reception hitherto accorded to it.\n\n                                  ---\n\nIn the _Secular Review_ for November 26th, Mr. Beatty makes an\nattack upon a former article in LUCIFER, entitled \u201cThe Origin of\nEvil.\u201d We find, however, Mr. Beatty exhibiting crass ignorance of\nthe ideas he criticises, as when, for instance, he speaks of the\n\u201c_Buddhistic_\u201d Parabram (_sic_). To begin with, every tyro in\nOriental philosophy knows that \u201cParabrahm\u201d is a Hindu Vedantic idea,\nand has no connection whatever with Buddhist thought. If Mr. Beatty\nwishes to become a serious critic, he must first learn the _a_, _b_,\n_c_, of the subject with which he professes to deal. His article is\nunfinished, but it seems only fair at the present stage to call his\nattention to so glaring an error.\n\n                                  ---\n\nTHE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS, ANCIENT AND MEDI\u00c6VAL. By C. W. King,\nM.A. Second Edition. David Nutt, 270 Strand, London, 1887. pp. 466,\n8vo.\n\nIt would be unfair to the erudite and painstaking author of \u201c_The\nGnostics and Their Remains_\u201d for a reviewer to take the title of his\nbook as altogether appropriate, for it suggests too high a standard\nof criticism. Mr. King says in the introduction that his book is\nintended to be subsidiary to the valuable treatise of M. Matter,\nadding: \u201cI refer the reader to him for the more complete elucidation\nof the _philosophy_ of Gnosticism, and give my full attention to its\n_Arch\u00e6ological_ side.\u201d The italics are the author\u2019s, and they disarm\ncriticism as far as the philosophical side of Gnosticism is\nconcerned; for thus italicised, this passage is, at the outset, as\nplain a confession as could, in conscience, be expected of an author\nof a fact which the reader would probably have found out for\nhimself, before he closed the volume: namely, that the work is\nchiefly valuable as an Arch\u00e6ological compendium of \u201cGnostic\nRemains.\u201d Unfortunately, the most interesting point about the\nGnostics is their philosophy, of which their Arch\u00e6ological remains\nare, properly speaking, little more than illustrations. But the fact\nis, that the hard-shelled Arch\u00e6ologist is the last man in the world\nto appreciate the real esoteric signification of symbolism. All true\nsymbols have many meanings, and for the purposes of descriptive\nArch\u00e6ology the more superficial of these meanings are sufficient.\nIgnorance of the deeper meaning may indeed be bliss for the\nArch\u00e6ologist, for it necessitates an amount of ingenuity in the\nfitting together of \u201cremains,\u201d that commands the admiration of the\npublic, and is productive in the Arch\u00e6ological bosom of that\nagreeable sensation known as \u201cfancying oneself.\u201d As a laborious\ncollector and compiler, and an ingenious worker-up of materials into\ninteresting reading, too much can hardly be said in Mr. King\u2019s\npraise, and had he a greater intuitional power, and a knowledge of\nesoteric religion, his great industry and erudition would make his\nwritings valuable even to students of Occultism.\n\nSince the publication of the former edition of his work,\ntwenty-three years ago, Mr. King has come across and read the\n_Pistis Sophia_. The discovery of this, the only remaining Gnostic\nGospel, or rather, Gospel fragment, is attributed to Schwartze, and\nthe Latin translation to Petermann (in 1853). But Mr. King does not\nseem to be aware that as far back as 1843, another and ampler copy\nthan that in the British Museum was in the hands of a Russian\nRaskolnik (dissident), a Cossack, who lived and married in\nAbyssinia; and another is in the possession of an Englishman, an\nOccultist, now in the United States, who brought it from Syria. It\nseems a pity that in the interim Mr. King did not also read _Isis\nUnveiled_, by H. P. Blavatsky, published by Bouton in New York in\n1876, as its perusal would have saved him a somewhat absurd and\nludicrous blunder. In his _Preface_, Mr. King says:\u2014\u201cThere seems to\nbe reason for suspecting that the Sibyl of Esoteric Buddhism drew\nthe first notions of her new religion from the analysis of the\n_inner man_, as set forth in my first edition.\u201d[122] The only person\nto whom this passage could apply is one of the Editors, the author\nof _Isis Unveiled_. And this, her first publication, contains the\nsame and only doctrine she has always, or ever, promulgated. _Isis\nUnveiled_ has passed through eight editions, and has been read by\nmany thousands of persons; and not only they, but everyone who is\nnot strangely ignorant of the very literature with which it was Mr.\nKing\u2019s business to make himself conversant, are perfectly aware that\nthe two large volumes which compose that work are entirely devoted\nto a defence of the philosophy, science, and religion of the\nancients, especially of the old Aryans, whose religion can hardly be\ncalled a \u201cnew\u201d one, still less\u2014\u201cEsoteric Buddhism.\u201d If properly\nspelt, however, the latter word, or Buddhism, ought to be written\nwith one \u201cd,\u201d as in this case it means Wisdom. But \u201cBudhism,\u201d or the\nwisdom-religion of the Aryans, was still less a religion, in the\nexoteric sense, than is Buddhism, but rather a philosophy. In that\npart of _Isis Unveiled_ which treats of the Gnostics, Mr. King will\nfind a few quotations from his writings side by side with quotations\nfrom other writers on the same subject; but he will find no \u201cnew\nreligion\u201d there, or anywhere else, in the works of H. P. Blavatsky.\nAnd, if anyone drew the \u201cfirst notions\u201d of their religion from his\n\u201canalysis of the inner man,\u201d it must have been the early Aryans,\nwho, unfortunately, have neglected to acknowledge the obligation.\nWhat makes Mr. King\u2019s self-complacency the more ridiculous, is that\nin his preface he himself accuses someone else of \u201cthe grave error\nof representing their (the Gnostics\u2019) doctrines as _novel_, and the\npure _inventions_ of the persons who preached them.\u201d And in another\nplace he confesses that he owes to Matter the first idea which has\nnow become a settled conviction with him, that \u201cthe seeds of the\n_gnosis_ were originally of Indian growth.\u201d If Matter \u201cfaintly\ndiscerned\u201d this truth, on the other hand Bailly, Dupuis, and others\nhad seen it quite clearly, and had declared it most emphatically. So\nthat Mr. King\u2019s \u201cdiscovery\u201d is neither very new nor very original.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 122:\n\n  This modest assumption is followed by the generous promise to\n  furnish \u201cinvestigators of the same order\u201d as the supposed \u201cSibyl,\u201d\n  with \u201ca still more profound theosophy.\u201d This is extremely\n  considerate and kind. But if it is _Pistis-Sophia_ which the\n  author had in his mind, then he had better apply to Theosophists\n  for the explanation of the most recondite points in that gnostic\n  fragment, while translating it, as he proposes doing from Latin.\n  For though the world of the Orientalists \u201cof the same order\u201d as\n  _himself_, may labour under the mistaken impression that no one\n  except themselves knew or know anything about _Pistis-Sophia_ till\n  1853\u2014Theosophists know better. Does Mr. King really imagine that\n  no one besides himself knows anything about the Gnostics \u201cand\n  their remains,\u201d or what _he_ knows is the only correct thing to\n  know? Strange delusion, if so; yet quite a harmless one, we\n  confess.\n\n-----\n\nMr. King must be aware that of late years immense additions have\nbeen made to western knowledge of eastern philosophies and\nreligions\u2014a new region in ancient literature having, in fact, been\nopened up by the labours of Orientalists, both European and Eastern.\nA study of these Oriental systems throws a strong though often a\nfalse light upon the inner meaning of Gnostic symbolism and ideas\ngenerally, which Mr. King acknowledges to have come from Indian\nsources; and certainly the reader has a right to expect a little\nmore knowledge in that direction from a writer of Mr. King\u2019s\npretensions, than is displayed. For example, in the section about\nBuddhism in the work before us: one is tempted sometimes to ask\nwhether it is flippancy or superficiality that is the matter with\nthe author\u2014when he calls the ancient Indian gymnosophists \u201cfakirs,\u201d\nand confounds them with Buddhists. Surely he need hardly be told\nthat fakirs are Mahomedans, and that the Gymnosophists he mentions\nwere Brahmin Yogis.\n\nThe work, however, is a valuable one in its way; but the reader\nshould not forget that \u201cthere seems reason for suspecting\u201d that the\nauthor does not always know exactly what he is talking about,\nwhenever he strays too far from Arch\u00e6ology, on which he is no doubt\nan authority.\n\n                                  ---\n\nTHE JEWISH WORLD enters bravely enough (in its issue of the 11th\nNovember 1887) on its new character of professor of symbology and\nHistory. It accuses in no measured terms one of the editors of\nLUCIFER of ignorance; and criticises certain expressions used in our\nOctober number, in a foot-note inserted to explain why the \u201cSon of\nthe Morning\u201d LUCIFER is called in Mr. G. Massey\u2019s little poem, \u201cLady\nof Light.\u201d The writer objects, we see, to Lucifer-Venus being called\nin one of its aspects \u201cthe Jewish Astoreth;\u201d or to her having ever\nbeen offered cakes by the Jews. As explained in a somewhat confused\nsentence: \u201cThere _was no Jewish Astoreth_, though the Syrian\ngoddess, Ashtoreth, or Astarte, often appears in Biblical\nliterature, the moon goddess, the complement of Baal, the Sun God.\u201d\n\nThis, no doubt, is extremely learned and conveys quite _new_\ninformation. Yet such an astounding statement as that the whole of\nthe foot-note in LUCIFER is \u201cpure imagination and bad history\u201d is\nvery risky indeed. For it requires no more than a stroke or two of\nour pen to make the whole edifice of this denial tumble on the\n_Jewish World_ and mangle it very badly. Our contemporary has\nevidently forgotten the wise proverb that bids one to let \u201csleeping\ndogs lie,\u201d and therefore, it is with the lofty airs of superiority\nthat he informs his readers that though the Jews in Palestine lived\nsurrounded with (? _sic_) this pagan form of worship, and _may, at\ntimes_, (?!) have wandered towards it, they HAD NOTHING IN THEIR\nWORSHIP IN COMMON WITH CHALDEAN OR SYRIAN BELIEFS IN MULTIPLICITY OF\nDEITIES? (!!)\n\nThis is what any impartial reader might really term \u201cbad history,\u201d\nand every Bible worshipper describe as a _direct lie_ given to the\nLord God of Israel. It is more than _suppressio veri suggestio\nfalsi_, for it is simply a cool denial of facts in the face of both\nBible and History. We advise our critic of the _Jewish World_ to\nturn to _his_ own prophets, to Jeremiah, foremost of all. We open\n\u201cScripture\u201d and find in it: \u201cthe Lord God\u201d while accusing _his_\n\u201cbacksliding Israel and treacherous Judah\u201d of following in \u201cthe ways\nof Egypt and of Assyria,\u201d of drinking the waters of Sihor, and\n\u201cserving strange Gods\u201d enumerating his grievances in this wise:\n\n  \u201cAccording _to the number of thy cities_ are thy gods, O Judah,\n  (Jer. ii. 28.).\n\n  \u201cYe have turned back to the iniquities of your forefathers who\n  went after other gods to serve them (xi.) ... _according to the\n  number of the streets of Jerusalem_ have ye set up altars to that\n  shameful thing, even altars unto Baal\u201d (_Ib._).\n\nSo much for Jewish _monotheism_. And is it any more \u201cpure\nimagination\u201d to say that the Jews offered cakes to their Astoreth\nand called her \u201cQueen of Heaven\u201d? Then the \u201cLord God\u201d must, indeed,\nbe guilty of more than \u201ca delicate expansion of facts\u201d when\nthundering to, and through, Jeremiah:\u2014\n\n  \u201cSeest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the\n  streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers\n  kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough TO MAKE CAKES _to\n  the Queen of Heaven_, and to pour out drink offerings _unto the\n  gods_.\u201d (Jer. vii. 17-18).\n\n\u201cThe Jews _may_ AT TIMES\u201d only (?) have wandered towards pagan forms\nof worship but \u201chad _nothing in common_ in it with Syrian beliefs in\nmultiplicity of deities.\u201d Had they not? Then the ancestors of the\neditors of the _Jewish World_ must have been the victims of\n\u201csuggestion,\u201d when, snubbing Jeremiah (and not entirely without good\nreason),they declared to him:\n\n  \u201cAs for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the\n  Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do\n  whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense\n  unto the Queen of Heaven[123] ... _as we have done, we_, AND OUR\n  FATHERS, _our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and\n  in the streets of Jerusalem_, for _then_ had we plenty of\n  victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But _since we left off\n  to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven_, and to _pour out drink\n  offerings unto her_ ... and (_to_) _make her cakes to worship her\n  ... we have wanted all things_, and have been consumed by the\n  sword and by the famine....\u201d (Jer. xliv. 16, 17, 18, 19).\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 123:\n\n  Astoreth-Diana, Isis, Melita, Venus, etc., etc.\n\n-----\n\nThus, according to their own confession, it is not \u201cat times\u201d that\nthe Jews made cakes for, and worshipped Astoreth and the strange\ngods, but constantly: doing, moreover, _as their forefathers_, kings\nand princes _did_.\n\n\u201c_Bad_ history\u201d? And what was the \u201cgolden calf\u201d but the sacred\nheifer, the symbol of the \u201cGreat Mother,\u201d first the planet Venus,\nand then the moon? For the esoteric doctrine holds (as the Mexicans\nheld) that Venus, the morning star, was _created before the sun and\nmoon; metaphorically_, of course, not astronomically,[124] the\nassumption being based upon, and meaning that which the _Nazars_ and\nthe Initiate alone understood among the Jews, but that the writers\nof the _Jewish World_ are not supposed to know. For the same reason\nthe Chaldeans maintained that the moon was produced before the sun\n(_see Babylon\u2014Account of Creation, by George Smith_). The morning\nstar, Lucifer-Venus was dedicated to that Great Mother symbolized by\nthe heifer or the \u201cGolden Calf.\u201d For, as says Mr. G. Massey in his\nlecture on \u201cThe Hebrews and their Creations,\u201d \u201cThis (the Golden\nCalf) being of either sex, it supplied a twin-type for Venus, as\nHathor or Ishtar (Astoreth), the double star, that was male at\nrising, and female at sunset\u201d She is the \u201cCelestial Aphrodite,\u201d\n_Venus Victrix_ \u03bd\u03b9\u03c7\u03b7\u03c6\u03cc\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 associated with _Ares_ (see Pausanias i,\n8, 4, 11, 25, 1).\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 124:\n\n  Because the stars and planets are the symbols and houses of Angels\n  and Elohim, who were, of course, \u201ccreated,\u201d or evoluted before the\n  physical or cosmic sun or moon. \u201cThe sun god was called the child\n  of the moon god Sin, in Assyria, and the lunar god Taht, is called\n  the father of Osiris, the sun god \u2018in Egypt.\u2019\u201d (G. Massey.)\n\n-----\n\nWe are told that \u201chappily for them (the Jews) there was no Jewish\nAstoreth.\u201d The _Jewish World_ has yet to learn, we see, that there\nwould have been no Greek Venus Aphrodite; no _Ourania_, her earlier\nappellation; nor would she have been confounded with the Assyrian\nMylitta (Herod, 1, 199; Pausan., 1, 14, 7; Hesiod, \u039c\u03c5\u03bb\u03b7\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd\n\u039f\u03c5\u03c1\u03b1\u03bd\u03b9\u03b1\u03bd \u0391\u03c3\u03c3\u03c5\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03b9) had it not been for the Ph\u0153nicians and other\nSemites. We say the \u201cJewish Astoreth,\u201d and we maintain what we say,\non the authority of the Iliad, the Odyssey, of Renan, and many\nothers. Venus Aphrodite is one with the Astarte, Astoreth, etc. of\nthe Ph\u0153nicians, and she is one (as a planet) with \u201cLucifer\u201d the\n\u201cMorning Star.\u201d So far back as the days of Homer, she was confounded\nwith _Kypris_, an Oriental goddess brought by the Ph\u0153nician Semites\nfrom their Asiatic travels (_Iliad_, V, 330, 422, 260). Her worship\nappears first at Cythere, a Ph\u0153nician settlement dep\u00f4t or\ntrade-establishment (_Odys._, VIII. 362.; Walcker, _griech.\ng\u00f6tterl._ I, 666.) Herodotus shows that the sanctuary of Ascalon, in\nSyria, was the most ancient of the fanes of Aphrodite Ourania (I,\n105): and Decharme tells us in his _Mythologie de la Gr\u00e8ce Antique_,\nthat whenever the Greeks alluded to the origin of Aphrodite they\ndesignated her as _Ourania_, an epithet translated from a _semitic\nword_, as Jupiter _Epouranios_ of the Ph\u0153nician inscriptions, was\nthe _Samemroum_ of Philo of Byblos, according to Renan (_Mission de\nPhenicie_). Astoreth was a goddess of generation, presiding at human\nbirth (as Jehovah was _god of generation_, foremost of all). She was\nthe moon-goddess, and a planet at the same time, whose worship\noriginated with the Ph\u0153nicians and Semites. It flourished most in\nthe Ph\u0153nician settlements and colonies in Sicily, at Eryax. There\nhosts of _Hetairae_ were attached to her temples, as hosts of\n_Kadeshim_, called by a more sincere name in the Bible, were, to the\nhouse of the Lord, \u201cwhere the women wove hangings for the grove\u201d\n(II. Kings, xxiii, 7). All this shows well the Semitic provenance of\nAstoreth-Venus in her capacity of \u201cgreat Mother.\u201d Let us pause. We\nadvise sincerely the _Jewish World_ to abstain from throwing stones\nat other peoples\u2019 beliefs, so long as its own faith is but a house\nof glass. And though Jeremy Taylor may think that \u201cto be proud of\none\u2019s learning is the greatest ignorance,\u201d yet, in this case it is\nbut simple justice to say that it is really desirable for our\nfriends the Jews that the writer in LUCIFER of the criticised note\nabout Astoreth _should know less_ of history and the Bible, and her\nunlucky critic in the _Jewish World_ learn a little more about it.\n\n                                                        \u201cADVERSARY.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n      =THEOSOPHICAL= <br> =AND MYSTIC PUBLICATIONS=\n\n\nTHE THEOSOPHIST for October opens with the first of a series of\narticles on the \u201cElohistic Cosmogony.\u201d The views put forward by the\nwriter are certainly both striking and original, and, although Dr.\nPratt diverges very considerably from the recognised standard of\nkabalistic orthodoxy, his interpretation of the Jewish version of\ncosmic evolution will assuredly excite considerable interest.\n\nFollowing on Dr. Pratt\u2019s learned article, come a few\u2014unfortunately,\ntoo few\u2014pages of extremely interesting notes on the Folk-lore of the\nHimalayan tribes, contributed by Captain Banon. The _Theosophist_\nhas often been indebted to Captain Banon for similar notes\nrespecting such little known tribes and people; and it is much to be\nregretted that the many members of the Theosophical Society who\nreside in or visit such out-of-the-way places, do not make it a rule\nto collect these traditions and send them for publication in the\n_Theosophist_ or one of the other Theosophical magazines.\n\nDr. Hartmann continues his series of \u201cRosicrucian Letters,\u201d with a\nnumber of extracts from the papers of Karl von Eckartshausen, who\ndied in 1792. Dr. Hartmann deserves the gratitude of all students\nfor rendering accessible these records and notes of past generations\nof \u201cseekers after the Truth.\u201d\n\nDr. Buck contributes a pithy and thoughtful article on \u201cThe Soul\nProblem,\u201d and Mr. Lazarus continues his exposition of the kabalistic\ndoctrine of the Microcosm. Besides these there are further\ninstalments of two valuable translations from Hindu works of great\nantiquity and authority; the \u201cCrest Jewel of Wisdom,\u201d by\nSankaracharya and the \u201cKaivalyanita.\u201d It is much to be desired that\none of our Hindu brothers, who adds to a knowledge of his own mystic\nliterature, an acquaintance with Western modes of thought and\nexpression, would devote a series of articles to the exposition of\nthe fundamental standpoint and ideas of such works as these. Such an\narticle would add enormously to the value of these translations to\nthe Western world.\n\nIn the _November_ number, Dr. Pratt takes up the _Jehovistic_\ncosmogony, which he contrasts and compares with the _Elohistic_\nversion already referred to. In his view, the Jehovistic teaching\nembodies the conception of the world as \u201ccreated\u201d and \u201cruled\u201d by an\n_extra-natural_ and _personal_ deity, as opposed to the more\nphilosophical and pantheistic conception of the earlier Elohistic\nwriters.\n\nUnder the title of _An Ancient Weapon_, this issue contains an\ninstructive account of the evocation of certain astral forces\naccording to the ancient Vedic rites. As here described, the _evil\nintention_, with which the rite is performed, transforms it into a\nceremony of _Black Magic_, but this does not render the account any\nless valuable.\n\nThis is followed by the first of a series of articles on _The\nAllegory of the Zoroastrian Cosmogony_, which promises to furnish\nmuch food for thought and study.\n\n_Rosicrucian Letters_ contains this time an extract from an old MS.,\nheaded _The Temple of Solomon_, which is well worthy of careful\nattention.\n\nBesides these we have a sketch of the life and writings of\nMadvachary, the great teacher of Southern India, and some further\ntestimonies to the fact of \u201cself-levitation\u201d from eye-witnesses.\nRama Prasad gives some most valuable details of the \u201cScience of\nBreathing,\u201d one of the most curious branches of occult physics,\nwhile the remainder of the number is occupied by an article on\n\u201cTetragrammaton,\u201d which may be interesting to students of the\nKabbala, and continuations of the \u201cKabbala and the Microcosm,\u201d and\nof the translations from Indian books mentioned in connection with\nthe October number.\n\nThese two numbers contain much valuable matter and well maintain the\nreputation which the _Theosophist_ originally gained for itself.\n\n                                  ---\n\nIn THE PATH for October we notice especially the following articles:\n\n_Nature\u2019s Scholar_, a most poetically-conceived and well-worked-out\nIdyll, by J. C. Ver Plank, in which the underlying occult truth is\npresented to the reader in a most attractive form.\n\nFollowing this is a much needed warning against the dangers of\n_Astral Intoxication_. Admirably expressed, it points out the true,\nand indicates the false, path with great clearness; and we desire to\ncall the earnest attention of such of our readers as are engaged in\n_psychic_ development to its importance.\n\n\u201cPilgrim\u201d contributes some further _Thoughts in Solitude_, the\nleading idea of which may be indicated by its concluding lines,\nwhich are quoted from Sir Philip Sydney of heroic fame:\n\n            \u201cThen farewell, World! thy uttermost I see,\n            Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me!\u201d\n\n_Tea-Table Talk_ is even more interesting and suggestive than usual,\nand, besides those above mentioned, this well-filled number contains\nPart IV. of the series of articles on _The Poetry of Re-incarnation\nin Western Literature_, which deals with the _Platonic Poets_.\n\nThe _November_ number opens with an able continuation of Mr.\nBrehon\u2019s article on _The Bhagavat-Gita_, commenced so long ago as\nlast April, of which we hope to peruse a further instalment.\nFollowing this is a short article indicating the term \u201cMedium\u201d from\nthe loathsome connotations which phenomenal spiritualism has\nattached to it. We then come to a paper on Goethe\u2019s _Faust_, read\nbefore one of the branches of the Theosophical Society in America.\nIt is of great interest to students of literature and will furnish a\nclue to the real meaning of much of the poet\u2019s writing.\n\nMr. Johnston makes some most suggestive remarks on _Cain and Abel_;\nHarij speaks in no uncertain tones of _Personalities_ and Truth,\nwhile Hadji Erinn points out the _Path of Action_, and warns the\nmembers of the T. S. that they must not expect their road to become\neasier and plainer before them, while yet the society is undergoing\nthe trials of its education.\n\nZadok gives some able answers to questions on various points of\npractical occultism and Julius, in _Tea-Table Talk_, points out how\nmany people are really entering on the path of Theosophy\u2014even though\nunconsciously.\n\n                                  ---\n\nLE LOTUS, for October and November, is even more interesting than\nusual. In the October number are contained two very valuable\narticles. The first of these is a paper on Paracelsus from the pen\nof Dr. Hartmann, who is especially qualified to handle the subject\nby his profound study of the work, and especially the manuscripts,\nof that great occultist. M. \u201cPapus\u201d contributes a most lucid and\nable exposition of some Kabbalistic doctrines, the _practical_ value\nof which has been hitherto but little realised even by professed\nstudents of mysticism.\n\nThe opening article in the November issue is headed, _The\nConstitution of the Microcosm_. It is written in a clear and\nattractive style, and contains a most thorough and complete\nexplanation of the various classifications of the principles which\nenter into the constitution of man.\n\n\u201cAmaravella\u201d has evidently studied the whole subject very deeply,\nand he shows the relation of these various classifications to one\nanother in a way which will clear up many of the misconceptions\nwhich have arisen.\n\nM. \u201cPapus\u201d writes on Alchemy in a manner which shows how conversant\nhe is with this little-understood topic. We therefore look forward\nwith great anticipations to the perusal of his book \u201c_Trait\u00e9\n\u00e9l\u00e9mentaire de science occulte_,\u201d the fourth chapter of which\ncontains the article referred to.\n\nIt is very evident that Theosophy is making great and rapid progress\nin France, and this is in great measure due to the untiring and\nunselfish devotion of the editor of _Le Lotus_, M. Gaboriau, whom we\ncongratulate most warmly on the success which has attended his\nefforts.\n\n                                  ---\n\n_L\u2019Aurore_ for October contains an article on the so-called \u201cStar of\nBethlehem,\u201d which repeats the assurance that the world is entering\non a new and happier life-phase.\n\nUnfortunately, it seems more than probable that before this\namelioration takes place, the world must pass through the valley of\nthe shadow of Death, and endure calamities far worse than any it has\nyet seen. Lady Caithness continues her erudite and interesting\narticle on the lost ten tribes of Israel. Her thesis is put forward\nin admirable language, and supported by a great wealth of biblical\nquotations. Unfortunately, the task undertaken is an impossible one.\nThere never were twelve tribes of Israel\u2014two only\u2014Judah and the\nLevites, having had a real existence in the flesh. The remainder are\nbut euhemerizations of the signs of the Zodiac, and were introduced\nbecause they were necessary to the Kabalistic scheme on which the\n\u201cHistory\u201d of the Jews was written.\n\nLady Barrogill relates the well-known story of an English bishop and\nthe ghost of a Catholic priest, who haunted his former residence in\norder to secure the destruction of some notes he had taken (contrary\nto the rule of the Church) of an important confession which he had\nheard.\n\nBesides these articles we find the continuation of the serial\nromance, \u201cL\u2019amour Immortel,\u201d and LUCIFER has to thank the editor for\nthe appreciative notice contained in this number.\n\n\n\n\n                                LUCIFER\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n         VOL. I.     LONDON, JANUARY 15TH, 1888.     NO. 5.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n                           =1888.=\n\n\nPeople usually wish that their friends shall have a happy new\nyear, and sometimes \u201cprosperous\u201d is added to \u201chappy.\u201d It is not\nlikely that much happiness or prosperity can come to those who are\nliving for the truth under such a dark number as 1888; but still\nthe year is heralded by the glorious star Venus-Lucifer, shining\nso resplendently that it has been mistaken for that still rarer\nvisitor, the star of Bethlehem. This too, is at hand; and surely\nsomething of the Christos spirit must be born upon earth under\nsuch conditions. Even if happiness and prosperity are absent, it\nis possible to find something greater than either in this coming\nyear. Venus-Lucifer is the sponsor of our magazine, and as we\nchose to come to light under its auspices, so do we desire to\ntouch on its nobility. This is possible for us all personally, and\ninstead of wishing our readers a happy or prosperous New Year, we\nfeel more in the vein to pray them to make it one worthy of its\nbrilliant herald. This can be effected by those who are courageous\nand resolute. Thoreau pointed out that there are artists in life,\npersons who can change the colour of a day and make it beautiful\nto those with whom they come in contact. We claim that there are\nadepts, masters in life who make it divine, as in all other arts.\nIs it not the greatest art of all, this which affects the very\natmosphere in which we live? That it is the most important is seen\nat once, when we remember that every person who draws the breath\nof life affects the mental and moral atmosphere of the world, and\nhelps to colour the day for those about him. Those who do not help\nto elevate the thoughts and lives of others must of necessity\neither paralyse them by indifference, or actively drag them down.\nWhen this point is reached, then the art of life is converted into\nthe science of death; we see the black magician at work. And no\none can be quite inactive. Although many bad books and pictures\nare produced, still not everyone who is incapable of writing or\npainting well insists on doing so badly. Imagine the result if\nthey were to! Yet so it is in life. Everyone lives, and thinks,\nand speaks. If all our readers who have any sympathy with LUCIFER\nendeavoured to learn the art of making life not only beautiful but\ndivine, and vowed no longer to be hampered by disbelief in the\npossibility of this miracle, but to commence the Herculean task at\nonce, then 1888, however unlucky a year, would have been fitly\nushered in by the gleaming star. Neither happiness nor prosperity\nare always the best of bedfellows for such undeveloped mortals as\nmost of us are; they seldom bring with them peace, which is the\nonly permanent joy. The idea of peace is usually connected with\nthe close of life and a religious state of mind. That kind of\npeace will however generally be found to contain the element of\nexpectation. The pleasures of this world have been surrendered,\nand the soul waits contentedly in expectation of the pleasures of\nthe next. The peace of the philosophic mind is very different from\nthis and can be attained to early in life when pleasure has\nscarcely been tasted, as well as when it has been fully drunk of.\nThe American Transcendentalists discovered that life could be made\na sublime thing without any assistance from circumstances or\noutside sources of pleasure and prosperity. Of course this had\nbeen discovered many times before, and Emerson only took up again\nthe cry raised by Epictetus. But every man has to discover this\nfact freshly for himself, and when once he has realised it he\nknows that he would be a wretch if he did not endeavour to make\nthe possibility a reality in his own life. The stoic became\nsublime because he recognised his own absolute responsibility and\ndid not try to evade it; the Transcendentalist was even more,\nbecause he had faith in the unknown and untried possibilities\nwhich lay within himself. The occultist fully recognises the\nresponsibility and claims his title by having both tried and\nacquired knowledge of his own possibilities. The Theosophist who\nis at all in earnest, sees his responsibility and endeavours to\nfind knowledge, living, in the meantime, up to the highest\nstandard of which he is aware. To all such LUCIFER gives greeting!\nMan\u2019s life is in his own hands, his fate is ordered by himself.\nWhy then should not 1888 be a year of greater spiritual\ndevelopment than any we have lived through? It depends on\nourselves to make it so. This is an actual fact, not a religious\nsentiment. In a garden of sunflowers every flower turns towards\nthe light. Why not so with us?\n\nAnd let no one imagine that it is a mere fancy, the attaching of\nimportance to the birth of the year. The earth passes through its\ndefinite phases and man with it; and as a day can be coloured so can\na year. The astral life of the earth is young and strong between\nChristmas and Easter. Those who form their wishes now will have\nadded strength to fulfil them consistently.\n\n\n                          TO THE MORNING STAR.\n\n        Lucifer, Lucifer Son of the Morning,\n          Trembling and fair on the opening skies,\n        Heralding, truly, a day that is dawning,\n          Telling the \u201cLight of the World\u201d shall arise.\n\n        Lucifer, Lucifer, all through the Ages\n          Weary hearts struggled and watched for the light,\n        Now it is coming, and thou the forerunner,\n          Mystical prophet, the herald of Right.\n\n        There in the desert of Night where thou dwellest,\n          Round thee in myriads the feebler lights stand;\n        Lucifer, Lucifer, ever thou tellest\n          The glorious Kingdom of Right is at hand.\n\n        Rising and setting, O, Star of the Morning!\n          Strangely prophetic, thou atom of light;\n        Revealing in silence the law of creation.\n          Out from the unseen abyss of the night,\n\n        Into a world where the stars, sympathetic,\n          Seem to be fraught with a pulsating breath;\n        Brilliant, yet shining like tear-drops pathetic,\n          But sinking at last in oblivion of death!\n\n        Sinking, but wrapped in the shroud of the Morning,\n          Folded in splendour as light shall arise;\n        Lucifer, herald of Truth that is dawning,\n         Ride through thy glorious pathway, the skies!\n\n        Soon in the east, with a splendour triumphant,\n          Morning shall break like a great altar-fire,\n        Ignorance, darkness, and gross superstition,\n          Shall melt in its beams, and in silence expire!\n\n                                                         HELEN FAGG.\n\n                        -----------------------\n\n  .... \u201cTHE faith that you call sacred\u2014\u2018sacred as the most delicate\n  or manly or womanly sentiment of love and honour\u2019\u2014is the faith\n  that nearly all of your fellow men are to be lost. Ought an honest\n  man to be restrained from denouncing that faith because those who\n  entertain it say that their feelings are hurt? You say to me:\n  \u2018There is a hell. A man advocating the opinions you advocate will\n  go there when he dies.\u2019 I answer: \u2018There is no hell, the Bible\n  that teaches it is not true.\u2019 And you say: \u2018How can you hurt my\n  feelings?\u2019\u201d\u2014R. G. INGERSOLL.\u2014_Secular Review._\n\n\n                     \u201cTO THE READERS OF \u2018LUCIFER.\u2019\u201d\n\n\nOur magazine is only four numbers old, and already its young life is\nfull of cares and trouble. This is all as it should be; _i.e._, like\nevery other publication, it must fail to satisfy _all_ its readers,\nand this is only in the nature of things and the destiny of every\nprinted organ. But what seems a little strange in a country of\nculture and freethought is that LUCIFER should receive such a number\nof _anonymous_, spiteful, and often abusive letters. This, of\ncourse, is but a casual remark, the waste-basket in the office being\nthe only addressee and sufferer in this case; yet it suggests\nstrange truths with regard to human nature.[125]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 125:\n\n  \u201cVERBUM SAP.\u201d It is not our intention to notice anonymous\n  communications, even though they should emanate in a round-about\n  way from Lambeth Palace. The matter \u201c_Verbum Sap_\u201d refers to is\n  not one of taste; the facts must be held responsible for the\n  offence; and, as the Scripture hath it, \u201cWoe to them by whom the\n  offence cometh!\u201d\n\n-----\n\nSincerity is true wisdom, it appears, only to the mind of the moral\nphilosopher. It is rudeness and insult to him who regards\ndissimulation and deceit as culture and politeness, and holds that\nthe shortest, easiest, and safest way to success is to let sleeping\ndogs and old customs alone. But, if the dogs are obstructing the\nhighway to progress and truth, and Society will, as a rule, reject\nthe wise words of (St.) Augustine, who recommends that \u201cno man\nshould prefer custom before reason and truth,\u201d is it a sufficient\ncause for the philanthropist to walk out of, or even deviate from,\nthe track of truth, because the selfish egoist chooses to do so?\nVery true, as remarked somewhere by Sir Thomas Browne that not every\nman is a proper champion for the truth, nor fit to take up the\ngauntlet in its cause. Too many of such defenders are apt, from\ninconsideration and too much zeal, to charge the troops of error so\nrashly that they \u201cremain themselves as trophies to the enemies of\ntruth.\u201d Nor ought all of us (members of the Theosophical Society) to\ndo so personally, but rather leave it only to those among our\nnumbers who have voluntarily and beforehand sacrificed their\npersonalities for the cause of Truth. Thus teaches us one of the\nMasters of Wisdom in some fragments of advice which are published\nfurther on for the benefit of the Theosophists (see the article that\nfollows this). While enforcing upon such public characters in our\nranks as editors, and lecturers, etc., the duty of telling\nfearlessly \u201cthe Truth to the face of LIE,\u201d he yet condemns the habit\nof private judgment and criticism in every individual Theosophist.\n\nUnfortunately, these are not the ways of the public and readers.\nSince our journal is entirely unsectarian, since it is neither\ntheistic nor atheistic, Pagan nor Christian, orthodox nor heterodox,\ntherefore, its editors discover eternal verities in the most\nopposite religious systems and modes of thought. Thus LUCIFER fails\nto give full satisfaction to either infidel or Christian. In the\nsight of the former\u2014whether he be an Agnostic, a Secularist, or an\nIdealist\u2014to find divine or occult lore underlying \u201cthe rubbish\u201d in\nthe Jewish Bible and Christian Gospels is sickening; in the opinion\nof the latter, to recognise the same truth as in the Judeo-Christian\nScriptures in the Hindu, Parsi, Buddhist, or Egyptian religious\nliterature, is vexation of spirit and blasphemy. Hence, fierce\ncriticism from both sides, sneers and abuse. Each party would have\nus on its own sectarian side, recognising as truth, only that which\nits particular _ism_ does.\n\nBut this cannot nor shall it be. Our motto was from the first, and\never shall be: \u201cTHERE IS NO RELIGION HIGHER THAN\u2014TRUTH.\u201d Truth we\nsearch for, and, once found, we bring it forward before the world,\nwhencesoever it comes. A large majority of our readers is fully\nsatisfied with this our policy, and that is plainly sufficient for\nour purposes.\n\nIt is evident that when toleration is not the outcome of\nindifference it must arise from wide-spreading charity and\nlarge-minded sympathy. Intolerance is preeminently the consequence\nof ignorance and jealousy. He who fondly believes that he has got\nthe great ocean in his family water-jug is naturally intolerant of\nhis neighbour, who also is pleased to imagine that he has poured the\nbroad expanses of the sea of truth into his own particular pitcher.\nBut anyone who, like the Theosophists knows how infinite is that\nocean of eternal wisdom, to be fathomed by no one man, class, or\nparty, and realizes how little the largest vessel made by man\ncontains in comparison to what lies dormant and still unperceived in\nits dark, bottomless depths, cannot help but be tolerant. For he\nsees that others have filled their little water-jugs at the same\ngreat reservoir in which he has dipped his own, and if the water in\nthe various pitchers seems different to the eye, it can only be\nbecause it is discoloured by impurities that were in the vessel\nbefore the pure crystalline element\u2014a portion of the one eternal and\nimmutable truth\u2014entered into it.\n\nThere is, and can be, but one absolute truth in Kosmos. And little\nas we, with our present limitations, can understand it in its\nessence, we still know that if it is absolute it must also be\nomnipresent and universal; and that in such case, it must be\nunderlying every world-religion\u2014the product of the thought and\nknowledge of numberless generations of thinking men. Therefore, that\na portion of truth, great or small, is found in every religious and\nphilosophical system, and that if we would find it, we have to\nsearch for it at the origin and source of every such system, at its\nroots and first growth, not in its later overgrowth of sects and\ndogmatism. Our object is not to destroy any religion but rather to\nhelp to filter each, thus ridding them of their respective\nimpurities. In this we are opposed by all those who maintain,\nagainst evidence, that their particular pitcher alone contains the\nwhole ocean. How is our great work to be done if we are to be\nimpeded and harassed on every side by partisans and zealots? It\nwould be already half accomplished were the intelligent men, at\nleast, of every sect and system, to feel and to confess that the\nlittle wee bit of truth they themselves own must necessarily be\nmingled with error, and that their neighbours' mistakes are, like\ntheir own, mixed with truth.\n\nFree discussion, temperate, candid, undefiled by personalities and\nanimosity, is, we think, the most efficacious means of getting rid\nof error and bringing out the underlying truth; and this applies to\npublications as well as to persons. It is open to a magazine to be\ntolerant or intolerant; it is open to it to err in almost every way\nin which an individual can err; and since every publication of the\nkind has a responsibility such as falls to the lot of few\nindividuals, it behoves it to be ever on its guard, so that it may\nadvance without fear and without reproach. All this is true in a\nspecial degree in the case of a theosophical publication, and\nLUCIFER feels that it would be unworthy of that designation were it\nnot true to the profession of the broadest tolerance and\ncatholicity, even while pointing out to its brothers and neighbours\nthe errors which they indulge in and follow. While thus keeping\nstrictly, in its editorials, and in articles by its individual\neditors, to the spirit and teachings of pure theosophy, it\nnevertheless frequently gives room to articles and letters which\ndiverge widely from the esoteric teachings accepted by the editors,\nas also by the majority of theosophists. Readers, therefore, who are\naccustomed to find in magazines and party publications only such\nopinions and arguments as the editor believes to be unmistakably\northodox\u2014from his peculiar standpoint\u2014must not condemn any article\nin LUCIFER with which they are not entirely in accord, or in which\nexpressions are used that may be offensive from a sectarian or a\n_prudish_ point of view, on the ground that such are unfitted for a\ntheosophical magazine. They should remember that precisely because\nLUCIFER is a theosophical magazine, it opens its columns to writers\nwhose views of life and things may not only slightly differ from its\nown, but even be diametrically opposed to the opinion of the\neditors. The object of the latter is to elicit truth, not to advance\nthe interest of any particular _ism_, or to pander to any hobbies,\nlikes or dislikes, of any class of readers. It is only snobs and\nprigs who, disregarding the truth or error of the idea, cavil and\nstrain merely over the expressions and words it is couched in.\nTheosophy, if meaning anything, means truth; and truth has to deal\nindiscriminately and in the same spirit of impartiality with vessels\nof honour and of dishonour alike. No theosophical publication would\never dream of adopting the coarse\u2014or shall we say terribly\nsincere\u2014language of a Hosea or a Jeremiah; yet so long as those holy\nprophets are found in the Christian Bible, and the Bible is in every\nrespectable, pious family, whether aristocratic or plebeian; and so\nlong as the Bible is read with bowed head and in all reverence by\nyoung, innocent maidens and school-boys, why should our Christian\ncritics fall foul of any phrase which may have to be used\u2014if truth\nbe spoken at all\u2014in an occasional article upon a scientific subject?\nIt is to be feared that the same sentences now found objectionable,\nbecause referring to Biblical subjects, would be loudly praised and\napplauded had they been directed against any gentile system of faith\n(_Vide certain missionary organs_). A little charity, gentle\nreaders\u2014charity, and above all\u2014_fairness_ and JUSTICE.\n\nJustice demands that when the reader comes across an article in this\nmagazine which does not immediately approve itself to his mind by\nchiming in with his own peculiar ideas, he should regard it as a\nproblem to solve rather than as a mere subject of criticism. Let him\nendeavour to learn the lesson which only opinions differing from his\nown can teach him. _Let him be tolerant, if not actually\ncharitable_, and postpone his judgment till he extracts from the\narticle the truth it must contain, adding this new acquisition to\nhis store. One ever learns more from one\u2019s enemies than from one\u2019s\nfriends; and it is only when the reader has credited this hidden\ntruth to LUCIFER, that he can fairly presume to put what he believes\nto be the errors of the article, he does not like, to the debit\naccount.\n\n[Illustration: decorative]\n\n                              ADAPTATIONS.\n\nWe have been asked to give permission for Mr. Gerald Massey\u2019s lines\non LUCIFER, Lady of Light, to be \u201cadapted\u201d and sung to the \u201cLord\nJesus Christ\u201d in a chapel. This is flattering for both parties\nconcerned. The editors have no objection, but Mr. Massey is obdurate\nenough to refuse his permission and sufficiently unfeeling to have\ncalled the pretty \u201cadaptation\u201d a PARODY. The \u201cLady of Light\u201d was to\nhave run in this wise:\u2014\n\n                \u201cStar of the Day and the Night,\n                Star of the Dark that is dying,\n                Star of the Dawn that is nighing,\n                Jesu, our Saviour, our Light!\u201d etc.\n\nBut how truly appropriate it would be if Mr. Massey\u2019s lines on\nShakspeare were also \u201cadapted\u201d and applied to the Lord Buddha.\n\n              \u201cFOR HIM NO MARTYR-FIRES HAVE BLAZED,\n              NO RACK BEEN USED, NOR SCAFFOLDS RAISED;\n              FOR HIM NO LIFE WAS EVER SHED\n              TO MAKE THE CONQUEROR\u2019S PATHWAY RED.\n              OUR PRINCE OF PEACE IN GLORY HATH GONE,\n              WITHOUT A SINGLE SWORD BEING DRAWN;\n              WITHOUT ONE BATTLE-FLAG UNFURLED,\n              TO MAKE HIS CONQUEST OF OUR WORLD.\n              AND FOR ALL TIME HE WEARS HIS CROWN\n              OF LASTING, LIMITLESS, RENOWN;\n              HE REIGNS WHATEVER MONARCHS FALL,\n              HIS THRONE IS AT THE HEART OF ALL.\u201d\n\n                       SOME WORDS ON DAILY LIFE.\n\n                 (_Written by a Master of Wisdom._)\n\n\u201cIt is divine philosophy alone, the spiritual and psychic blending\nof man with nature, which, by revealing the fundamental truths that\nlie hidden under the objects of sense and perception, can promote a\nspirit of unity and harmony in spite of the great diversities of\nconflicting creeds. Theosophy, therefore, expects and demands from\nthe Fellows of the Society a great mutual toleration and charity for\neach other\u2019s shortcomings, ungrudging mutual help in the search for\ntruths in every department of nature\u2014moral and physical. And this\nethical standard must be unflinchingly applied to daily life.\n\n\u201cTheosophy should not represent merely a collection of moral\nverities, a bundle of metaphysical ethics, epitomized in theoretical\ndissertations. Theosophy _must be made practical_; and it has,\ntherefore, to be disencumbered of useless digressions, in the sense\nof desultory orations and fine talk. Let every Theosophist only do\nhis duty, that which he can and ought to do, and very soon the sum\nof human misery, within and around the areas of every Branch of your\nSociety, will be found visibly diminished. Forget SELF in working\nfor others\u2014and the task will become an easy and a light one for\nyou....\n\n\u201cDo not set your pride in the appreciation and acknowledgment of\nthat work by others. Why should any member of the Theosophical\nSociety, striving to become a Theosophist, put any value upon his\nneighbours\u2019 good or bad opinion of himself and his work, so long as\nhe himself knows it to be useful and beneficent to other people?\nHuman praise and enthusiasm are short-lived at best; the laugh of\nthe scoffer and the condemnation of the indifferent looker-on are\nsure to follow, and generally to out-weigh the admiring praise of\nthe friendly. Do not despise the opinion of the world, nor provoke\nit uselessly to unjust criticism. Remain rather as indifferent to\nthe abuse as to the praise of those who can never know you as you\nreally are, and who ought, therefore, to find you unmoved by either,\nand ever placing the approval or condemnation of your own _Inner\nSelf_ higher than that of the multitudes.\n\n\u201cThose of you who would know yourselves in the spirit of truth,\nlearn to live alone even amidst the great crowds which may sometimes\nsurround you. Seek communion and intercourse only with the God\nwithin your own soul; heed only the praise or blame of that deity\nwhich can never be separated from your _true_ self, _as it is verily\nthat God itself_: called the HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS. Put without delay\nyour good intentions into practice, never leaving a single one to\nremain only an intention\u2014expecting, meanwhile, neither reward nor\neven acknowledgment for the good you may have done. Reward and\nacknowledgment are in yourself and inseparable from you, as it is\nyour Inner Self alone which can appreciate them at their true degree\nand value. For each one of you contains within the precincts of his\ninner tabernacle the Supreme Court\u2014prosecutor, defence, jury and\njudge\u2014whose sentence is the only one without appeal; since none can\nknow you better than you do yourself, when once you have learned to\njudge that Self by the never wavering light of the inner\ndivinity\u2014your higher CONSCIOUSNESS. Let, therefore, the masses,\nwhich can never know your true selves, condemn your outer selves\naccording to their own false lights....\n\n\u201cThe majority of the public Areopagus is generally composed of\nself-appointed judges, who have never made a permanent deity of any\nidol save their own personalities\u2014their lower selves; for those who\ntry in their walk in life, to follow their _inner light_ will never\nbe found judging, far less condemning, those weaker than themselves.\nWhat does it matter then, whether the former condemn or praise,\nwhether they humble you or exalt you on a pinnacle? They will never\ncomprehend you one way or the other. They may make an idol of you,\nso long as they imagine you a faithful mirror of themselves on the\npedestal or altar which they have reared for you, and while you\namuse or benefit them. You cannot expect to be anything for them but\na temporary _fetish_, succeeding another fetish just overthrown, and\nfollowed in your turn by another idol. Let, therefore, those who\nhave created that idol destroy it whenever they like, casting it\ndown with as little cause as they had for setting it up. Your\nWestern Society can no more live without its Khalif of an hour than\nit can worship one for any longer period; and whenever it breaks an\nidol and then besmears it with mud, it is not the model, but the\ndisfigured image created by its own foul fancy and which it has\nendowed with its own vices, that Society dethrones and breaks.\n\n\u201cTheosophy can only find objective expression in an all-embracing\ncode of life, thoroughly impregnated with the spirit of mutual\ntolerance, charity, and brotherly love. Its Society, as a body, has\na task before it which, unless performed with the utmost discretion,\nwill cause the world of the indifferent and the selfish to rise up\nin arms against it. Theosophy has to fight intolerance, prejudice,\nignorance, and selfishness, hidden under the mantle of hypocrisy. It\nhas to throw all the light it can from the torch of Truth, with\nwhich its servants are entrusted. It must do this without fear or\nhesitation, dreading neither reproof nor condemnation. Theosophy,\nthrough its mouthpiece, the Society, has to tell the TRUTH to the\nvery face of LIE; to beard the tiger in its den, without thought or\nfear of evil consequences, and to set at defiance calumny and\nthreats. _As an Association_, it has not only the right, but the\nduty to uncloak vice and do its best to redress wrongs, whether\nthrough the voice of its chosen lecturers or the printed word of its\njournals and publications\u2014making its accusations, however, as\nimpersonal as possible. But its Fellows, or Members, have\n_individually_ no such right. Its followers have, first of all, to\nset the example of a firmly outlined and as firmly applied morality,\nbefore they obtain the right to point out, even in a spirit of\nkindness, the absence of a like ethic unity and singleness of\npurpose in other associations or individuals. No Theosophist should\nblame a brother, whether within or outside of the association;\nneither may he throw a slur upon another\u2019s actions or denounce him,\nlest he himself lose the right to be considered a Theosophist. For,\nas such, he has to turn away his gaze from the imperfections of his\nneighbour, and centre rather his attention upon his own\nshortcomings, in order to correct them and become wiser. Let him not\nshow the disparity between claim and action in another, but, whether\nin the case of a brother, a neighbour, or simply a fellow man, let\nhim rather ever help one weaker than himself on the arduous walk of\nlife.\n\n\u201cThe problem of true Theosophy and its great mission are, first, the\nworking out of clear unequivocal conceptions of ethic ideas and\nduties, such as shall best and most fully satisfy the right and\naltruistic feelings in men; and second, the modelling of these\nconceptions for their adaptation into such forms of daily life, as\nshall offer a field where they may be applied with most\nequitableness.\n\n\u201cSuch is the common work placed before all who are willing to act on\nthese principles. It is a laborious task, and will require strenuous\nand persevering exertion; but it must lead you insensibly to\nprogress, and leave you no room for any selfish aspirations outside\nthe limits traced.... Do not indulge personally in unbrotherly\ncomparison between the task accomplished by yourself and the work\nleft undone by your neighbours or brothers. In the fields of\nTheosophy _none is held to weed out a larger plot of ground than his\nstrength and capacity will permit him_. Do not be too severe on the\nmerits or demerits of one who seeks admission among your ranks, as\nthe truth about the actual state of the inner man can only be known\nto Karma, and can be dealt with justly by that all-seeing LAW alone.\nEven the simple presence amidst you of a well-intentioned and\nsympathising individual may help you magnetically.... You are the\nfree volunteer workers on the fields of Truth, and as such must\nleave no obstruction on the paths leading to that field.\n\n         .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .\n\n\u201c_The degree of success or failure are the landmarks the masters\nhave to follow, as they will constitute the barriers placed with\nyour own hands between yourselves and those whom you have asked\nto be your teachers. The nearer your approach to the goal\ncontemplated\u2014the shorter the distance between the student and\nthe Master._\u201d\n\n\n                  =THE BLOSSOM AND THE FRUIT=:\n\n                  _THE TRUE STORY OF A MAGICIAN_.\n\n                           (_Continued._)\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                         BY MABEL COLLINS.\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                              CHAPTER VII.\n\nThe cloud lifted to reveal Fleta\u2019s face. She was bending over him;\nshe was at his side; she was almost leaning her face on his.\n\n\u201cMy dear, my dear,\u201d she said in a soft whispering voice, \u201chas the\nblow been too great? Tell me, Hilary, speak to me? Have you still\nyour senses?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd you love that man?\u201d was Hilary\u2019s sole answer, fixing his eyes\nin a cold strange gaze on her.\n\n\u201cOh! Hilary, you talk of what is unknown to you! I love him, yes,\nand with a love so profound it is unimaginable to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd you tell me this! You tell this to the man who loves you, and\nwho has already devoted his whole life to you! Do you want a madman\nfor your service?\u201d\n\n\u201cA life!\u201d exclaimed Fleta, with a strange tone that had a ring as of\nscorn in it. \u201cWhat is a life? I count it nothing. Our great aims lie\nbeyond such considerations.\u201d\n\nHilary raised himself and looked into her face.\n\n\u201cThen you are mad,\u201d he said, \u201cand if so, a madman in your service is\nbut fit. Nevertheless, my Princess, do not forget with what forces\nyou have to contend. I am but a man; you have accepted my love. Only\njust now you have made me a murderer at heart\u2014in desire. How soon\nshall I be one in reality? That depends on you, Fleta. The next time\nI see your gaze fixed on that man\u2019s face as I saw it but now I will\nkill him.\u201d\n\nFleta rose to her full height and lifted her face to the sky; as she\nstood there a sort of shiver passed through her, a shiver as of\npain. Instantly Hilary\u2019s humour changed. \u201cYou are ill,\u201d he\nexclaimed. She turned her eyes on him.\n\n\u201cWhen that murderous mood is on you, it will not be Father Ivan that\nyou kill, but me, whom you profess to love. Do you understand that?\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d cried Hilary, uttering a sound as if his heart was bursting\nunder the torture, \u201cthat is because you love him so! Well, I can\nonly long and serve. I have no power to protest. Yet I ask you, oh!\nPrincess, is it fit to use a man\u2019s heart to play at your queenly\ncoquetries with? A king, your betrothed\u2014a mysterious priest, the man\nyou love\u2014are not these enough but that you must take a boy, obscure\nand untaught in such misfortunes, and trample on his love? It is\nunlike the nobility I have seen in you. Good-bye, for this,\nPrincess! I am never your lover again as I was before. I can never\nbelieve in your pure sweet heart\u2014only this morning it seemed to me\nas a pearl, as a drop of limpid water. Good-bye, my idol! Yet I am\nyour servant to obey always, for I gave you my life to do with as\nyou would. Call me, and I come, like your dog; but I will not stay\nby you, for no longer is it anything but pain to do so.\u201d\n\nWith these wild, fierce reproaches, which seemed to stir the quiet\nair of the woodland, and make it seethe and burn with passion and\ndespair, he turned and went from her. Fleta stood motionless, and\nher eyes drooped heavily; only she murmured, \u201cWe were born under the\nsame star!\u201d\n\nHer voice was very low, yet it reached Hilary\u2019s ear. The words\nseemed to lash his heart.\n\n\u201cUnder the same star!\u201d he repeated, in a voice of agony, standing\nsuddenly still. \u201cNo, Fleta. You are the queen, I the subject. Not\nonly so, but you know it, and use your power to the full. Did you\nnot promise yourself utterly to me to be mine?\u201d\n\n\u201cI promised to give you my love for yours; I promised to give you\nall that you can take of me. My love is greater than you can even\nimagine, else I would not have listened to one word of your\nreproaches. They have humbled me, but I have borne it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, Fleta! you talk enigmas,\u201d exclaimed Hilary, moving rapidly back\nto her side; \u201cyou are enough to madden a man; yet I cannot but love\nyou. Why is this? Every act of yours proves you heartless,\nfaithless, and yet I love you! Why is this? Oh, that I could read\nthe riddle of your existence! Who are you?\u2014What is this mysterious\nplace?\u2014Who is that priest whose rule you acknowledge? I _will_\nknow!\u201d\n\nFleta turned on him a sudden sweet smile, that seemed to light up\nhis inner being as the flame of a lamp illumines a dusky room.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she said, \u201cfind out. I cannot tell you, yet I desire you\u2014oh!\nindeed, I desire you to know. Compel the secret\u2014force it. Yes, yes,\nHilary!\u201d\n\nShe spoke eagerly, with a bright ring in her voice that thrilled his\nsoul. He forgot the Princess, the conspirator, the religieuse\u2014he\nonly remembered the girl he loved\u2014young, fresh, flower-like, with\nthe fair sweet face close to his own. With an unutterable cry of\nlove he held out his arms to her.\n\n\u201cOh, my dear, my love, come!\u201d he said, in trembling tones that\nvibrated with his passion. But Fleta turned away without a word and\nwalked through the tall ferns, her robe trailing on the ground. No\nbackward glance, no turn of the head, not even a movement of those\nwhite statuesque hands which hung at her sides. In one was a long\ngrass which she had plucked before she came to him. Even that,\nthough it fluttered in the wind, had a strangely stiff air, as if it\nhad become a part of that statue which but a moment since was a\nwoman. Hilary stood gazing after this retreating figure, powerless\nto move, powerless to rouse in his mind any thought but one; and\nthat was not a thought. It was knowledge\u2014consciousness. He knew, he\nfelt, that he dared not follow Fleta and address her as men address\nthe women they love; he dared not woo her with the fever on his lips\nthat burned there. And why? Not because of her royal birth, or her\nbeauty, or her power. He knew not why\u2014he could not understand\nhimself. It was as though a spell were cast on him that held him\nsilent and motionless.\n\nWhen at last she was out of sight a sudden reaction took place. The\nwhole burning force of the strong young man\u2019s nature broke loose and\nraged wildly through his whole system; he no longer was capable of\nthought, he only felt the blood that rushed to his head and made his\nbrain reel as though he had drunk strong wine. He suddenly became\naware that he had aged, grown, become a new creature in these last\nmoments of experience. He had called himself a man five minutes ago;\nbut now he knew that when he had uttered those words, he was only a\nboy. Across a great gulf of feeling he looked back at the love that\nwas in him when he had so spoken. Now his passion burned like a fire\non the altar of life; every instant the flames grew stronger and\nmounted more fiercely to his inflamed brain.\n\nThe savage had burst forth. The savage untamed man, which smoulders\nwithin, and hides behind the cultivated faces of a gentle age. One\nstrong touch on the chord of passion, and Hilary Estanol, a\nchivalric and courteous product of a refined time, knew himself to\nbe a man, and knew that man to be a savage. A savage, full of\ndesire, of personal longing, thinking of nothing but his own needs.\nAnd to Hilary this sudden starting forth of the nature within him\nseemed like a splendid unfolding. He remained standing, erect,\nstrong, resolute. His seething mind hastily went over his whole\nposition and Fleta\u2019s. Everything suddenly bore a new, vivid,\nstirring aspect.\n\n\u201cThis is a nest of conspirators!\u201d he exclaimed to himself. \u201cThat\nman, Ivan, is a conspirator or worse, else he would not hide here.\nWhat crowned head is it that he threatens? He is a criminal. I will\ndiscover his secret; I will rescue Fleta from him; by the strength\nof my love I will win her love from him; I will make her my own.\nCome, I must calm myself\u2014I must be sober, for I have to find out the\nmeaning of this mysterious place.\u201d\n\nHe walked slowly through the wood, trying to still the throbbing in\nhis brain, to check the fierce pulsations of his heart and blood. He\nknew that now he needed all his instincts, all his natural\nintelligence, all his power of defence; for, in his present humour,\nhe walked as an enemy to all men; by his new tide of feeling he had\nmade every man his enemy. The young King Otto had a prior right to\nthe Fleta whom he desired to make his own; King Otto was indeed his\nenemy. Ivan had her love; how bitterly did Hilary hate that priest!\nAnd Adine, the false Fleta\u2014what was she but a mere tool of the\npriest\u2019s, a creature used to baffle and blind him? She was the one\nmost likely to trip his steps, for she defied even the knowledge\nwhich his love gave him of Fleta\u2019s face!\n\nHe was full of energy and activity, and his blood desired to be\nstilled by action. He had quickly decided that he must immediately\ndo two things: inspect the whole exterior of the house, so as to get\nsome notion of what rooms were in it, and what their uses; and\nexplore the outer circle of the grounds, to see if there was any\ndifficulty about leaving them. As the latter task involved most\nexercise, he chose to undertake it first, and swiftly, with long\nstrides, made his way through the woodlands in the direction where\nthe boundaries must lie. It did not take him long to traverse a\nconsiderable distance; for he felt stronger than ever in his life\nbefore. He had been a delicate lad, now he knew himself to be a\nstrong man, as if new blood ran in his veins. The moon was high in\nthe heavens, it was nearly full, and its light was strong. By it he\nsoon discovered that the strange place in which he was had a more\ncunning and effective defence than any high wall or iron barrier. It\nwas surrounded by tangled virgin woodland growth, where, as it\nseemed, no man\u2019s foot could have ever trodden.\n\nHilary found it hard to believe that such wild land existed within a\ndrive of the city. But it was there, and there was no passing\nthrough it, unless he worked his way with a wood-axe, inch by inch,\nas men do when they make a clearing. Such a task was hopeless, even\nif he had the tools, for it was impossible to tell in what direction\nto move.\n\nHe returned at last, after many fruitless efforts; there seemed to\nbe no vestige of a path. He had discovered the gate by which their\nentrance had been made; and discovered also that it was guarded. A\nfigure moved slowly to and fro in the shadow of the trees; not with\nthe air of one strolling for pleasure, but with the regular\nmovements of a sentry. It was an unfamiliar figure, but dressed in\nthe garb of the order.\n\nHilary went quietly along by the side of the path that led to the\nhouse. It was useless to waste more time on this investigation;\nquite clearly he was a prisoner. And it seemed to him equally clear\nthat unless he could escape, no information would be of any use to\nhim. He must be able to carry it to the city, where he would be free\nto take it to Fleta\u2019s father, or even to other crowned heads in\nother countries, according to its nature. As he walked quietly on,\nrevolving his position, he saw that the task he had set himself was\nno light one, even for a strong man possessed by love. These monks\nbelonged to an extraordinarily powerful order, and were men of great\nability.\n\nHere he was, in the very heart of one of their secret centres, which\nwas, presumably, political. Fleta and King Otto were under their\ninfluence. And they were magicians; very certain he felt that they\nknew some of Nature\u2019s secrets, and had trained Fleta in her\nmysterious powers. And from this hidden and carefully guarded place\nhe was determined to escape, taking with him its secret\u2014and Fleta!\nFleta, his love, his own, yet whom he had to win by his strength.\n\n                             CHAPTER VIII.\n\nIn the long corridor through which Fleta had led Hilary to Father\nIvan\u2019s room there was another door, which was fastened in a very\ndifferent manner. It was held in its place by iron clamps which\nwould puzzle the beholder, for they fastened on the outside as\nthough they secured the door of a prison instead of being any\nprotection for the inhabitant of the room beyond. It was inside this\ndoor that Fleta was now lying down to rest for the night. Had Hilary\nknown this what agony would have torn him! He would have felt that\nhe must break those bars and release the prisoner within them,\nhowever supernatural the strength might be which would be needed. He\nwas spared the sharp pain of knowing this, however, and he was not\nlikely to learn it, for a strange sentinel patrolled the long\ncorridor with even step\u2014Father Ivan himself. Without any pause he\nwent steadily to and fro.\n\nIt was about midnight that Father Ivan went into his room and\nglanced at a clock on the chimney-piece; not quite midnight, but\nvery nearly. Hilary was lying awake in his room, tossing to and fro\non a very luxurious and tempting bed, which gave him, however, no\nhope of rest. He had wandered round and round the house a dozen\ntimes, only to find himself bewildered by its strange shape, and the\nshrubberies which grew up close to the walls, and disheartened by\nthe solid barricading of those windows which it was easy to\napproach. And yet at last he found a window wide open, and a room\nbrightly lit; a lamp stood on the table and showed the pleasant\nroom, well-furnished, and with a bed in it, dressed in fine linen\nand soft laces such as perhaps only members of an ascetic order know\nhow to offer to their guests. Hilary stood a moment on the\nthreshold, and then suddenly recognised it as his own room. It gave\nhim an odd feeling, this, as if he had been watched and arranged\nfor; treated like a prisoner. Well, it was useless to evade that\ndark fact\u2014a prisoner he was. Recognising defeat for the moment,\nHilary determined to accept it as gracefully as might be. He\nentered, closed his window and the strong shutters which folded over\nit, and then quickly laid himself down with intent to sleep. But\nsleep would not come, and he found all his thoughts and all his\ninterest centred on Father Ivan. He tried to prevent this but could\nnot; he chased Fleta\u2019s image in vain\u2014he could scarcely remember her\nbeautiful face! What was its shape and colour? He tortured himself\nin trying to recall the face he loved so dearly. But always Father\nIvan\u2019s figure was before his eyes; and suddenly it struck him that\nthis vision was almost real, for he saw Ivan raise his hand in a\ncommanding gesture which seemed to be directed towards himself. A\nmoment later and he fell fast asleep, like a tired child. At this\nmoment Ivan was standing in his own room, looking for an instant at\nthe clock. He stood, perhaps, a little longer than was needed in\norder to see the time; and a frown came on his fine clear forehead\nwhich drew the arched eyebrows together. Then he turned quickly,\nleft his room, and closed its door behind him. He went to the door\nwhich was so strongly barred, and noiselessly loosened its\nfastenings, which swung heavily yet quite softly away from it. He\nopened the door and went in.\n\nIn a sort of curtained recess was a low divan, which quite filled\nit, rising hardly a foot from the ground. This was covered with\ngreat rugs made of bear and wolf skin. Fleta lay stretched upon\nthem, wrapped in a long cloak of some thick white material, which\nwas bordered all round with white fur, and, indeed, lined with it,\ntoo. And yet when Ivan stooped and touched her hand it was cold as\nice.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d he said; and turning, went slowly away from her. Fleta rose\nand followed him. Her eyes were half-closed, and had something of\nthe appearance of a sleep-walker\u2019s, and yet not altogether, for\nthough they appeared dim and unseeing yet there was purpose, and\nconsciousness, and resolution in them. No one who had not seen Fleta\nbefore in this state could have recognised those eyes, so set and\nstrange were they. Ivan approached a large curtained archway, and\ndrawing the curtain aside he motioned to Fleta to pass through. As\nshe did so he touched one of her hands, as it hung at her side.\nImmediately she raised it, and throwing the cloak aside showed that\nshe held a white silk mask. Her dress beneath the cloak was of white\nsilk. Slowly she raised the mask to her face and was about to put it\non when a change of state came so suddenly upon her that it was like\na tropical tornado. She opened her starry eyes wide and vivid light\nflashed from them; she flung the mask away upon the floor and\nclasped her hands violently together, while her whole frame shook\nwith emotion.\n\n\u201cWhy must I mask myself?\u201d she exclaimed. \u201cYou have not told me why.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have,\u201d said Ivan, very quietly. \u201cNo woman has ever entered there\ntill now.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat then?\u201d cried Fleta, fiercely. \u201cThere is no shame in being a\nwoman! Have I not assailed that door in vain in a different\ncharacter? Now, a woman, I demand entrance. Master, I will not\ndisguise myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe it so,\u201d said Ivan, \u201cyet take the mask with you lest your mood\nshould change again. You were willing, you remember, but a while\nsince.\u201d\n\nFleta stood motionless regarding the mask as it lay on the floor.\nThen she lifted her head suddenly and looked Ivan straight in the\neyes.\n\n\u201cI will cast my sex from me, and mask my womanhood without any such\nhelp as that.\u201d\n\nImmediately that she had spoken Ivan walked on. They were in a long\ncorridor, lit, and with the walls faintly coloured in pale pink on\nwhich shone some silver stars. Yet, bright though it was, this\ncorridor seemed strangely solemn. Why was it so? Fleta looked from\nside to side, and could not discover. There was something new to her\nwhich she did not understand. Though she had been instructed in so\nmany of the mysteries, and so much of the knowledge of the order,\nshe had never entered this corridor, nor indeed had she before known\nof its existence. They slowly neared the end of it where was a high\ndoor made of oak, and seemingly very solidly fastened; but Father\nIvan opened it easily enough.\n\n\u201cMy God!\u201d cried Fleta instantly, in a low voice of deep amazement.\n\u201cWhere am I? What country am I in? Father, was that corridor a magic\nplace? This is no longer my own country! How far have you carried me\nin this short time?\u201d\n\n\u201cA long way my daughter; come, do not delay.\u201d\n\nA vast plain, prairie-like, stretched before them, encircled on the\nright by the narrowing end of a huge arm of mountains which\ndisappeared upon the far horizon. Upon the plain was one spot, was\none place, where a livid flame-like light burned, and could be seen,\nthough the whole scene was bathed in strong moonlight. Ivan\ncommenced to rapidly take his way down a steep path which lay before\nthem. And then Fleta became aware that they were themselves upon a\nheight and had to descend into the plain. She did not look back; all\nher thoughts were centred on that vivid light which she now saw came\nfrom the windows of a great building. Then she suddenly saw that a\nnumber of persons were in the plain; although it was so large yet\nthere were enough people to look like a crowd, which was gathering\ntogether from different directions. All were approaching the\nbuilding.\n\n\u201cFather,\u201d she said to Ivan, who was leading the way rapidly. \u201cWill\nthey go in?\u201d\n\n\u201cInto the Temple? Those on the plain? Indeed no. They are outside\nworshippers; that crowd is in the world and of it, and yet has\ncourage to come here often when there is no light, and the icy winds\nblow keen across the plain.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd they never enter. Why, my master, they can have no strength.\u201d\n\nIvan glanced back for an instant, a curious look in his eyes.\n\n\u201cIt is not always strength that is needed,\u201d he said in a low voice.\nFleta did not seem to hear him; her eyes were fixed on the temple\nwindows. Suddenly she stopped and cried out:\n\n\u201cIs this a dream?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are not asleep,\u201d said Ivan with a smile.\n\n\u201cAsleep! no,\u201d she answered, and went on her way with increased\nrapidity.\n\nVery soon they stood on the plain and advanced with great speed\ntowards the temple. Fleta was naturally hardy; but now it seemed to\nher that the very idea of fatigue was absurd. She could scale\nmountains in order to reach that light. And yet what was it in it\nthat drew her so? None but herself could have told. But Fleta\u2019s\nheart beat passionately with longing at the sight of it. Ivan turned\non her a glance of compassion.\n\n\u201cKeep quiet,\u201d he said.\n\nHe was answered with a look and tone of fervour.\n\n\u201cYes: if it is in human power,\u201d she replied.\n\nThe great crowds were slowly gathering towards the temple and formed\nthemselves into masses of silent and scarcely moving figures. Fleta\nwas now among them and though so absorbed by the idea of the goal\nbefore her, she was attracted by the strange appearance of these\npeople. They were of all ages and nationalities, but more than\ntwo-thirds of them were men; they one and all had the appearance of\nsleep-walkers, seeming perfectly unconscious of the scene in which\nthey moved and of their object in reaching it. Their whole nature\nwas turned inwards; so it appeared to Fleta. Why then had they come\nto this strange place, so difficult of access, if when come they\ncould neither see nor hear? Fleta considered these things rapidly in\nher mind and would again have asked an explanation of Father Ivan\nbut that while her steps slackened a little, his had hastened. He\nhad already reached the door of the temple\u2014when Fleta reached it he\nwas not there. Of course he had entered, and Fleta, without fear or\nhesitation, put her hand on the great bar which held the door and\nlifted it. It was not difficult to lift; it seemed to yield to her\ntouch, and swung back smoothly. With a slight push the great door\nopened a little before her\u2014not wide; only as far as she had pushed\nit. Ah! there was the light! There, in her eyes! It was like life\nand joy to Fleta. She turned her eyes up to gaze on it, and stood an\ninstant with her hands clasped, in ecstacy.\n\nSomeone brushed lightly by, and, passing her, went straight in. That\nreminded her that she, too, desired to go straight in. She nerved\nherself for the supreme effort. For she was learned enough to know\nthat only the initiate in her faith could enter that door; and she\nhad not, in any outward form, passed the initiation. But she\nbelieved she had passed it in her soul; she had tested her emotions\non every side and found the world was nothing to her; she had flung\nher mask away believing her woman\u2019s shape and face to be the merest\noutward appearance, which would be unseen at the great moment. And\nnow it hardly seemed as if she were a woman\u2014she stood transfigured\nby the nobility of her aspirations\u2014and some who stood on the step\noutside remained there awestruck by her majestic beauty. By a\nsupreme effort she resolved to face all\u2014and to conquer all. She\nboldly entered the door and went up the white marble steps within\nit. A great hall was before her, flooded with the clear, soft light\nshe loved; an innumerable number of objects presented themselves to\nher amazed eyes, but she did not pause to look at them\u2014she guessed\nthat the walls were jewelled from their sparkling\u2014she guessed that\nthe floor was covered with flowers, which lay on a polished silver\nsurface, from the gleaming and the colour\u2014and who were these, the\nfigures in silver dresses with a jewel like an eye that saw, clasped\nat the neck? A number came towards her. She would not allow herself\nto feel too exultant\u2014she tried to steady herself\u2014and yet joy came\nwildly into her heart, for she felt that she was already one of this\naugust company. But their faces, as they gathered nearer, were all\nstrange and unfamiliar. She looked from one to another.\n\n\u201cWhere is Ivan?\u201d she murmured.\n\nSuddenly all was changed. The white figures grew in numbers till\nthere seemed thousands\u2014with outstretched hands they pushed Fleta\ndown the steps\u2014down, down, down, resist how she might. She did more!\nShe fought, she battled, she cried aloud, first for justice, then\nfor pity. But there was no relenting, no softening in these\nsuperhuman faces. Fleta fled at last from their overpowering numbers\nand inexorable cruelty, and then there came a great cry of voices,\nall uttering the same words;\n\n\u201cYou love him! Go!\u201d\n\nFleta fell, stunned and broken, at the foot of the outer step, and\nthe great door closed behind her. But she was not unconscious for\nmore than a few minutes. She opened her eyes and looked at the\nstarry sky. Then she felt suddenly that she could not endure even\nthat light and that the stars were reading her soul. She rose and\nhurried away, blindly following in any path that her feet found. It\ndid not take her to any familiar place. She found herself in a dark\nwood. The moss was soft and fragrant and violets scented it. She lay\ndown upon it, drawing her white cloak round her and hiding her eyes\nfrom the light.\n\n                              CHAPTER IX.\n\nIt seemed to her that for long ages she was alone. Her mind achieved\ngreat strides of thought which at another time would have appeared\nimpossible to her. She saw before her clearly her own folly, her own\nmistake. Yesterday she would not have credited it\u2014yesterday it would\nhave been unmeaning to her. But now she understood it, and\nunderstood too how heavy and terrible was her punishment; for it was\nalready upon her. She lay helpless, her eyes shut, her whole body\nnerveless. Her punishment was here. She had lost all hope, all\nfaith.\n\nA gentle touch on her hand roused her consciousness, but she was too\nindifferent to open her eyes. It mattered little to her what or who\nwas near her. The battle of her soul was now the only real thing in\nlife to her.\n\nA voice that seemed strangely familiar fell on her ears; yet last\ntime she had heard it it was loud, fierce, arrogant; now it was\ntender and soft, and full of an overwhelming wonder and pity.\n\n\u201cYou, Princess Fleta, here? My God! what can have happened? Surely\nshe is not dead? No! What is it, then?\u201d\n\nFleta slowly opened her eyes. It was Hilary who knelt beside her;\nshe was lying on the dewy grass, and Hilary knelt there, the morning\nsun shining on his head and lighting up his beautiful boy\u2019s face.\nAnd Fleta as she lay and looked dully at him felt herself to be\nimmeasurably older than he was; to be possessed of knowledge and\nexperience which seemed immense by his ignorance. And yet she lay\nhere, nerveless, hopeless.\n\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d again asked Hilary, growing momently more distressed.\n\n\u201cDo you want to know?\u201d she said gently, and yet with an accent of\npity that was almost contempt in her tone. \u201cYou would not\nunderstand.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, tell me!\u201d said Hilary. \u201cI love you\u2014let me serve you!\u201d\n\nShe hardly seemed to hear his words, but his voice of entreaty made\nher go on speaking in answer:\n\n\u201cI have tried,\u201d she said, \u201cand failed.\u201d\n\n\u201cTried what?\u201d exclaimed Hilary, \u201cand how failed? Oh, my Princess, I\nbelieve these devils of priests have given you some fever\u2014you do not\nknow what you are saying!\u201d\n\n\u201cI know very well,\u201d replied Fleta; \u201cI am in no fever. I am all but\ndead\u2014that is no strange thing, for I am stricken.\u201d Hilary looked at\nher as she lay, and saw that her words were true. How strange a\nfigure she looked, lying there so immovably, as if crushed or dead,\nupon the dewy grass; wrapped in her white robes. And her face was\nwhite with a terrible whiteness; the great eyes looked out from the\nwhite face with a sad, smileless gaze; and would those pale drawn\nlips never smile again? Was the radiant, brilliant Fleta changed for\never into this paralysed white creature? Hilary knew that even if it\nwas so he loved her more passionately and devotedly than before. His\nsoul yearned towards her.\n\n\u201cTell me, explain to me, what has done this?\u201d he cried out, growing\nalmost incoherent in his passionate distress. \u201cI demand to know by\nmy love for you. What have you tried to do in this awful past\nnight?\u201d\n\nFleta opened her eyes, the lids of which had drooped heavily, and\nlooked straight into his as she answered:\n\n\u201cI have tried for the Mark of the White Brotherhood. I have tried to\npass the first initiation of the Great Order. I did not dream I\ncould fail, for I have passed through many initiations which men\nregard with fear. But I have failed.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot believe,\u201d said Hilary, \u201cthat you could fail in anything.\nYou are\u2014dreaming\u2014you are feverish. Let me lift you, let me carry you\ninto the house.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I have failed,\u201d answered Fleta dully; \u201cfailed, because I had\nnot measured the strength of my humanity. It is in me\u2014in me still! I\nam the same as any other woman in this land. I, who thought myself\nsupreme\u2014I, who thought myself capable of great deeds! Ah, Hilary,\nthe first simple lesson is yet unlearned. I have failed because I\nloved\u2014because I love like any other fond and foolish woman! And yet\nno spark of any part of love but devotion is in my soul. That is too\ngross. Is it possible to purge even that away? Yes, those of the\nWhite Brotherhood have done it. I will do it even if it take me a\nthousand years, a dozen lifetimes!\u201d\n\nShe had raised herself from the ground as she spoke, for a new\nfierce passion had taken the place of the dull despair in her\nmanner; she had raised herself to her feet, and then unable to stand\nhad fallen on to her knees. Hilary listened yet hardly heard; only\nsome of her words hurried into his mind. He bent down till his face\ntouched her white cloak where it lay on the grass, and kissed it a\ndozen times.\n\n\u201cYou have failed because of love? Oh, my Princess, then it is not\nfailure! Men live for love, men die for love! It is the golden power\nof life. Oh, my Princess, let me take you from this terrible\nplace\u2014come back with me to the world where men and women know love\nto be the one great joy for which all else is well lost. Fleta,\nwhile I doubted that you loved me I was as wax; but now that I know\nyou do, and with a love so great that it has power to check the\ncareer of your soul, now I am strong, I am able to do all that a\nstrong man can do. Come, let me raise you and take you away from\nhere to a place of peace and delight!\u201d\n\nHe had risen to his feet and stood before her, looking magnificent\nin the morning sunshine. He was slight of build, yet that slightness\nwas really indicative of strength; when Hilary Estanol had been\neffeminate it was because he had not cared to be anything else. He\nstood grandly now, his hands stretched towards her; a man, lofty,\ntransformed by the power of love. Fleta looking at him saw in his\nbrilliant eyes the gleam of the conquering savage. She rose suddenly\nand confronted him.\n\n\u201cYou are mistaken,\u201d she said abruptly. \u201cIt is not you that I love.\u201d\n\nThen, as suddenly as Fleta had moved and spoken, the man before her\nvanished, with his nobility, and left the savage only, unvarnished,\nunhumanised.\n\n\u201cMy God,\u201d gasped Hilary, almost breathless from the sudden blow,\n\u201cthen it is that accursed priest?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Fleta, her eyes on his, her voice dull, her whole\nform like that of a statue, so emotionless did she seem, \u201cit is that\naccursed priest.\u201d\n\nShe moved away from him and looked about her. The spot was familiar.\nShe was in the woodland about the monastery. She could find her way\nhome now without difficulty. And yet how weak she was, and how hard\nit was to take each footstep! After moving a few paces she stood\nstill and tried to rouse herself, tried to use her powerful will.\n\n\u201cWhere are my servants?\u201d she said in a low voice. \u201cWhere are those\nwho do my bidding?\u201d\n\nShe closed her eyes, and standing there in the sunlight, used all\nher power to call the forces into action which she had learned to\ncontrol. For she was a sufficiently learned magician to be the\nmistress of some of the secrets of Nature. But now it seemed she was\nhelpless\u2014her old powers were gone. A low, bitter cry of anguish\nescaped from her lips as she realised this awful fact. Hilary,\nterrified by the strange sound of her voice, hastily approached her\nand looked into her face. Those dark eyes, once so full of power,\nwere now full of an agony such as one sees in the eyes of a hunted\nand dying creature. Yet Fleta did not faint or fail, or cling to the\nstrong man who stood by her side. After a moment she spoke, with a\nfaint yet steady voice.\n\n\u201cDo you know the way to the gate?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Hilary; who indeed had but recently explored the\nwhole demesne.\n\n\u201cTake my hand,\u201d she said, \u201cand lead me there.\u201d\n\nShe used her natural power of royal command now; feeble though she\nwas, she was the princess. Hilary did not dream of disobeying her.\nHe took the cold and lifeless hand she extended to him, and led her\nas quickly as was possible over the grass, through the trees and\nflowering shrubs, to the gateway. As they neared it she spoke:\n\n\u201cYou are to go back to the city,\u201d she said. \u201cDo not ask why\u2014you must\ngo; yet I will tell you this\u2014it is for your own safety. I have lost\nmy power\u2014I can no longer protect you, and there are both angels and\ndevils in this place. I have lost all! all! And I have no right to\nrisk your sanity as well as my own. You must go.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd leave you here?\u201d said Hilary, bewildered.\n\n\u201cI am safe,\u201d she answered proudly. \u201cNo power in heaven or earth can\nhurt me now, for I have cast my all on one stake. Know this, Hilary,\nbefore we part; I shall never yield or surrender. I shall cast out\nthat love that kills me from my heart\u2014I shall enter the White\nBrotherhood. And, Hilary, you too will enter it. But, oh! not yet!\nBitter lessons have you yet to learn! Good-bye, my brother.\u201d\n\nThe sentinel who guarded the gate now approached them in his walk;\nFleta moved quickly towards him. After a few words had passed\nbetween them he blew a shrill, fine whistle. Then he approached\nHilary.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d he said, \u201cI will show you the way for some distance and will\nthen obtain you a horse and a guide to the city.\u201d\n\nHilary did not hesitate in obeying Fleta\u2019s commands; he knew he must\ngo. But he turned to look once more into her mysterious face. She\nwas no longer there. He bowed his head, and silently followed the\nmonk through the gate into the outer freedom of the forest.\n\nFleta meantime crept back to the house through the shelter of the\ntrees. Her figure looked like that of an aged woman, for she was\nbowed almost double and her limbs trembled as she moved. She did not\ngo to the centre door of the house, but approached a window which\nopened to the ground and now stood wide. It was the window of\nFleta\u2019s own room; she hurried towards it with feeble, uncertain\nsteps. \u201cRest! Rest! I must rest!\u201d she kept murmuring to herself. But\non the very threshold she stumbled and fell. Someone came\nimmediately to her and tried to raise her. It was Father Ivan. Fleta\ndisengaged herself, tremblingly yet resolutely. She rose with\ndifficulty to her feet and gazed very earnestly into his face.\n\n\u201cAnd you knew why I should fail?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d he answered, \u201cI knew. You are not strong enough to stand\nalone amid the spirit of humanity. I knew you clung to me. Well have\nyou suffered from it. I know that very soon you will stand alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf what use would that mask have been?\u201d demanded Fleta, pursuing\nher own thoughts.\n\n\u201cNone. If you had obeyed me and worn it you would have been of so\ncraven a spirit you could never have reached the temple, never have\nseen the White Brotherhood. You have done these things, which are\nmore than any other woman has accomplished.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do yet more,\u201d said Fleta. \u201cI will be one of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe it so,\u201d answered Ivan. \u201cTo do so you must suffer as no woman has\nyet had strength to suffer. The humanity in you must be crushed out\nas we crush a viper beneath our feet.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be. I may die, but I will not pause. Good-bye, my master.\nAs I am a queen in the world of men and women, so you are king in\nthe world of soul, and to you I have done homage; that homage they\ncall love. It is so, perhaps. I am blind yet, and know not. But no\nmore may you be my king. I am alone, and all knowledge I gain I must\nnow gain myself.\u201d\n\nIvan bowed his head as if in obedience to an unanswerable decree,\nand in a moment had walked away among the trees. Fleta watched him\nstonily till he was out of sight, then dragged herself within the\nwindow to fall helplessly upon the ground, shaken by sobs and strong\nshudders of despair.\n\n                                  ---\n\n                               CHAPTER X.\n\nIt was late in the day before Fleta again came out of her room. She\nseemed to have recovered her natural manner and appearance; and yet\nthere was a change in her which anyone who knew her well must see.\nShe had not been into the general rooms, or greeted the other\nguests; nor did she do so now. Her face was full of resolution, but\nshe was calm, at all events externally. Without going near the guest\nrooms or the great entrance hall, she made her way round the house\nto where a very small door stood almost hidden in an angle of the\nwall. It was such a door as might lead to the cellars of a house,\nand when Hilary had explored the night before he had scarcely\nnoticed it. But it was exceedingly solid and well fastened. Fleta\ngave a peculiar knock upon it with a fan which she carried in her\nhand. It was immediately opened, and Father Amyot appeared.\n\n\u201cDo you want me?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cYes; I want you to go on an errand for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere am I to go?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know; probably you will know. I must speak to one of the\nWhite Brotherhood.\u201d\n\nAmyot\u2019s face clouded and he looked doubtfully at her.\n\n\u201cWhat is there you can ask that Ivan cannot answer?\u201d\n\n\u201cDoes it matter to you?\u201d said Fleta imperiously. \u201cYou are my\nmessenger, that is all.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou cannot command me as before,\u201d said Father Amyot.\n\n\u201cWhat! do you know that I have failed? Does all the world know it?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe world?\u201d echoed Amyot, contemptuously. \u201cNo; but all the\nBrotherhood does, and all its servants do. No one has told me, but I\nknow it.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course,\u201d said Fleta to herself. \u201cI am foolish.\u201d She turned away\nand walked up and down on the grass, apparently buried in deep\nthought. Presently she raised her head suddenly, and quickly moved\ntowards Amyot, who still stood motionless in the dim shadow of the\nlittle doorway. She fixed her eyes on him; they were blazing with an\nintense fire. Her whole attitude was one of command.\n\n\u201cGo,\u201d she said.\n\nFather Amyot stood but for a moment; and then he came out slowly\nfrom the doorway, shutting it behind him.\n\n\u201cYou have picked up a lost treasure,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have found your\nwill again. I obey. Have you told me all your command?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes. I must speak to one of the White Brothers. What more can I\nsay? I do not know one from another. Only be quick!\u201d\n\nInstantly Amyot strode away over the grass and disappeared. Fleta\nmoved slowly away, thinking so deeply that she did not know any one\nwas near her till a hand was put gently on her arm. She looked up,\nand saw before her the young king, Otto.\n\n\u201cHave you been ill,\u201d he asked, looking closely into her face.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she answered. \u201cI have only been living fast\u2014a century of\nexperience in a single night! Shall I talk to you about it, my\nfriend?\u201d\n\n\u201cI think not,\u201d answered Otto, who now was walking quietly by her\nside. \u201cI may not readily understand you. I am anxious above all to\nadvance slowly and grasp each truth as it comes to me. I have been\ntalking a long time to-day to Father Ivan; and I feel that I cannot\nyet understand the doctrines of the order except as interpreted\nthrough religion.\u201d\n\n\u201cThrough religion?\u201d said Fleta. \u201cBut that is a mere externality.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue, and intellectually I see that. But I am not strong enough to\nstand without any external form to cling to. The precepts of\nreligion, the duty of each towards humanity, the principle of\nsacrifice one for another, these things I can understand. Beyond\nthat I cannot yet go. Are you disappointed with me?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d answered Fleta. \u201cWhy should I be.\u201d\n\nOtto gave a slight sigh as of relief. \u201cI feared you might be,\u201d he\nanswered; \u201cbut I preferred to be honest. I am ready, Fleta, to be a\nmember of the order, a devout member of the external Brotherhood.\nHow far does that place me from you who claim a place among the wise\nones of the inner Brotherhood.\u201d\n\nFleta looked at him very seriously and gravely.\n\n\u201cI claim it,\u201d she said; \u201cbut is it mine? Yet I will win it, Otto;\neven at the uttermost price, I will make it mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd at what cost?\u201d said Otto. \u201cWhat is that uttermost price?\u201d\n\n\u201cI think,\u201d she said slowly, \u201cI already feel what it is. I must learn\nto live in the plain as contentedly as on the mountain tops. I have\nhungered to leave my place in the world, to go to those haunts where\nonly a few great ones of the earth dwell, and from them learn the\nsecret of how to finally escape from the life of earth altogether.\nThat has been my dream, Otto, put into simple words; the old dream\nof the Rosicrucian and those hungerers after the occult who have\nalways haunted the world like ghosts, unsatisfied, homeless. Because\nI am a strong-willed creature, because I have learned how to use my\nwill, because I have been taught a few tricks of magic I fancied\nmyself fitted to be one of the White Brotherhood. Well, it is not\nso. I have failed. I shall be your queen, Otto.\u201d\n\nThe young king turned on her a sudden look full of mingled emotions.\n\u201cIs that to be, Fleta? Then may I be worthy of your companionship.\u201d\n\nFleta had spoken bitterly, though not ungently. Otto\u2019s reply had\nbeen in a strange tone, that had exultation, reverence, gladness, in\nit; but not any of the passion which is called love. A coquette\nwould have been provoked by a manner so entirely that of friendship.\n\n\u201cOtto,\u201d said Fleta, after a moment\u2019s pause, during which they had\nwalked on side by side. \u201cI am going to test your generosity. Will\nyou leave me now?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy generosity?\u201d exclaimed Otto. \u201cHow is it possible for you to\naddress me in that way?\u201d Without any further word of explanation he\nturned on his heel and walked quickly away. Fleta understood his\nmeaning very well; she smiled softly as she looked for a moment\nafter him. Then, as he vanished, her whole face changed, her whole\nexpression of attitude, too. For a little while she stood quite\nstill, seemingly wrapt in thought. Then steadily and swiftly she\nbegan to move across the grass and afterwards to thread her way\nthrough the trees. Having once commenced to move, she seemed to have\nno hesitation as to the direction in which she was going. And,\nindeed, if you had been able to ask her how she knew what path to\ntake, she would have answered that it was very easy to know. For she\nwas guided by a direct call from Amyot, as plainly heard as any\nhuman voice, though audible only to her inner hearing. To Fleta, the\nconsciousness of the double life\u2014the spiritual and the natural\u2014was a\nmatter of constant experience, and, therefore, there was no need for\nthe darkness of midnight to enable her to hear a voice from what\nordinary men and women call the unseen world. To Fleta it was no\nmore unseen than unheard. She saw at once, conquering time and\nspace, the spot where she would find Father Amyot at the end of her\nrapid walk; and more, the state she would find him in. The sun\nstreamed in its full power and splendour straight on the strange\nfigure of the monk, lying rigidly upon the grass. Fleta stood beside\nhim and looked down on his face, upturned to the sky. For a little\nwhile she did nothing, but stood there with a frown upon her\nforehead and her dark eyes full of fierce and changing feeling.\nAmyot was in one of his profound trances, when, though not dead, yet\nhe was as one dead.\n\n\u201cAlready my difficulties crowd around me,\u201d exclaimed Fleta aloud.\n\u201cWhat folly shall I unknowingly commit next? My poor servant\u2014dare I\neven try to restore you\u2014or will Nature be a safer friend?\u201d\n\nFull of doubt and hesitation, she turned slowly away and began to\npace up and down the grass beside the figure of the priest.\nPresently she became aware that she was not alone\u2014some one was near\nher. She started and turned quickly. Ivan stood but a pace from her,\nand his eyes were fixed very earnestly upon her.\n\nHe was not dressed as a priest, but wore a simple hunting dress,\nsuch as an ordinary sportsman or the king incognito might wear.\nSimple it was, and made of coarse materials; but its easy make\nshowed a magnificent figure which the monkish robes had disguised.\nHis face had on it a deep and almost pathetic seriousness; and yet\nit was so handsome, so nobly cut, and made so brilliant by the deep\nblue eyes, which were bluer than their wont now, even in the full\nblaze of the sun\u2014that in fact as a man merely, here stood one who\nmight make any woman\u2019s heart, queen or no queen, beat fiercely with\nadmiration. Fleta had never seen him like this before; to her he had\nalways been the master, the adept in mysterious knowledge, the\nrecluse who hid his love of solitude under a monkish veil. This was\nIvan! Young, superb, a man who must be loved. Fleta stood still and\nsilent, answering the gaze of those questioning, serious blue eyes,\nwith the purposeful, rebellious look which was just now burning in\nher own. The two stood facing each other for some moments, without\nspeaking\u2014without, as it seemed, desiring to speak. But in these\nmoments of silence a measuring of strength was made. Fleta spoke\nfirst.\n\n\u201cWhy have you come?\u201d she demanded. \u201cI did not desire your presence.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have questions to ask which I alone can answer.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are the one person who cannot answer them, for I cannot ask\nthem of you.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is of me that you must ask them,\u201d was all Ivan\u2019s reply. Then he\nadded: \u201cIt is of me you have to learn these answers. Learn them by\nexperience if you like, and blindly. If you care to speak, you shall\nbe answered in words. This will spare you some pain, and save you\nyears of wasted time. Are you too proud?\u201d\n\nThere was a pause. Then Fleta replied deliberately:\n\n\u201cYes, I am too proud.\u201d\n\nIvan bowed his head and turned away. He stooped over Father Amyot,\nand taking a flask from his pocket, rubbed some liquid on the monk\u2019s\nwhite and rigid lips.\n\n\u201cI forbid you,\u201d said Ivan, \u201cto use your power over Amyot again.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou forbid me?\u201d repeated Fleta in a tone of profound amazement.\nEvidently this tone was entirely new to her.\n\n\u201cYes, and you dare not disobey me. If you do, you will suffer\ninstantly.\u201d\n\nFleta looked the amazement which was evidently beyond her power to\nexpress in words. Ivan\u2019s manner was cold, almost harsh. Never had he\naddressed her without gentleness before. Hastily she recovered\nherself, and without pausing to address to him any other word she\nturned away and went quickly through the trees and back to the\nhouse. Otto was standing at one of the windows; she went straight to\nhim.\n\n\u201cI wish to go back to the city at once,\u201d she said, \u201cwill you order\nmy horses?\u201d\n\n\u201cMay I come with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, but you may follow me to-morrow if you like.\u201d\n\n(_To be continued._)\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n\n                              SPECULATION.\n\n         Man\u2019s reasoning faith can outlive and can ride\n           O\u2019er countless speculations. Navies float\n           On changeful waves, and for this ark-like boat\n         Winds from all quarters, every swelling tide\n         Will serve. By all the virgin spheres that glide\n           Like timid guests across sky-floor we note\n           Where lies the pole-star. Those who only quote\n         Their compass, fail, and antique charts must slide\n         To error, in this shifting sand of thought\n         And _new-found science_, where sweet isles of palm\n         And olive sink, that were as land-marks sought,\n         While others rise from Ocean\u2019s fertile bed.\n         No storm, nor heat, nor cold I fear; my dread\n         Is lest the ship should meet a death-like calm.\n\n                              REVOLUTION.\n\n      Ah! wondrous happy rounding universe\n        Where suns and moons alike as tears e\u2019er mould\n        Themselves to beauteous circles! He that rolled\n      The planets, curved their paths; though seas immerse\n      Both shattered ship and shell, naught _shall escape_\n        Th\u2019 inevitable wheel that must restore\n        The seeming lost. The potent buried lore\n      Of saint and sage revives to melt and shape\n      Our thoughts to comeliness, and souls that leave\n      Earth\u2019s shores float back as craft that cruising sails;\n      Each blessed gift that hourly from us flies,\n      God will rain down albeit in other guise;\u2014\n      And e\u2019en the very dew-drop _noon exhales_\n      May find again the self-same rose at eve.\n\n                                                       MARY W. GALE.\n\n\n                           TWILIGHT VISIONS.\n\n              \u201cAt evening time there shall be light.\u201d\n                                  \u2014ZECH. xiv., 7.\n\n       The day\u2019s work done, I cast my pen aside\n       And rose, with aching eye and troubled brain,\n       Thinking how oft my fellow workers here\n       Have suffered in the flesh for labours wrought\n       In love to all mankind; and how the world\n       Cares nought for words which teach not of itself;\n       For to the world, itself is all in all,\n       And nought outside it can the world conceive\n       As real and true. And yet this earth must cease\n       To be for ever to each mortal, when\n       The Spirit casts off earth, and, in new life\n       Will feel and know the world to be the vale\n       Of deathly shadows compass\u2019d round about\n       With ignorance and error, sin and crime,\n       With yearnings, longings, miseries, and griefs,\n       And all that makes the \u201cBreath of Lives\u201d to seem\n       As Angels wrestling with the powers of hell.\n\n                        *     *     *     *\n\n       A gentle Spirit with the twilight came\n       And rested on my soul; then hope with peace,\n       Long since to me as strangers, touched my heart,\n       And, sitting at the organ, soft and sweet\n       There streamed a flow of harmony, tho\u2019 I\n       Scarce seemed to touch the keys, yet simple hymns\n       Called forth a train of Spirits bright and young,\n       Amongst them saw I all that I had known\n       And loved in days when life seem\u2019d sweet to me.\n       I was a child again, and saw myself\n       As such\u2014no aching eye\u2014no troubled brain\n       Had that young being who in faith and hope\n       Sang songs of holiness, of peace and truth\u2014\n       There, resting on his Mother\u2019s breast, with arms\n       Clasped round her neck, with loving eyes that watched\n       The loving face, whereon a parent\u2019s smile\n       Was ever present in the days now past,\n       Now buried in the dust with former things.\n\n                        *     *     *     *\n\n       In saddened notes swelled forth \u201cThy will be done!\u201d\n       And then appeared a radiant spirit form\n       Of one who, as a babe, was called away,\n       From out this world of wretchedness and sin.\n       An infant\u2014which scarce breathed upon the earth\n       Ere God, in His great mercy, took her home\n       To dwell with Him, and she, an Angel bless\u2019d,\n       Now looks in pity on her parents here,\n       A weeping witness of the vacant lives\n       Which in the world their souls are forced to pass\n       As, hung\u2019ring for the love of One in heaven\n       They stagger on from day to day in doubt\u2014\n       In misery, which none but they can know.\n\n                        *     *     *     *\n\n       Some cursed bonds can ne\u2019er be snapped in twain,\n       Save death or sin alone be brought to bear\n       To shatter human customs hard and vile,\n       And false and horrible as hell itself.\n       For man exists in darkness, bound by laws\n       Which curse and damn his very soul on earth;\n       Mankind will not accept the Master\u2019s words\n       Or listen to His cry within the soul.\n       And so the world in falsehood wanders on\n       And dooms the inner Man of Light again\n       To suffer crucifixion in the flesh;\n       The Trinity\u2014of Wisdom, Love and Truth\u2014\n       The Christ, is absent from this \u201cChristian\u201d World\n       And ignorance with hatred lies and sin\n       Reign rampant in their infidel abode.\n\n                        *     *     *     *\n\n       \u201cAbide with me, fast falls the eventide.\u201d\n       O Lord! we suff\u2019ring mortals here on earth\n       Have nought but Thee, Thou Guide of all mankind\n       To lead us in our wand\u2019rings, and to turn\n       Our falt\u2019ring footsteps from the way of death;\n       Thy Angels true are sent to fainting souls,\n       And lovingly their voices soft are heard\n       Peace! troubled hearts, hereafter all shall be\n       Made up in heaven. Know that sufferings\n       Are sent in love that we may minister,\n       To all your needs, and bear you safely home\n       To that good land ordained for all mankind\u2014\n       The kingdom bright\u2014of happiness and love,\n       Whereon your lives shall ever be a rest\n       In one long summer day of light and joy.\n       No mortal e\u2019er can comprehend the peace\n       Of God, which shall be yours, when, from the world\n       Your glorious inner beings stand apart\n       For ever! Soon shall you know all that we\n       Would tell you now\u2014yet hope and struggle on.\n       \u201cAt evening time there shall be Light! and then\u2014\n       The Living Light shall lead you home to God,\n       Home to the place which He hath made,\u2014\u2019tis yours\n       For ever! We are sent to tell you this\n       And by the Mighty One we do not lie!\n\n                         *    *    *    *\n\n       \u201cO Glorious Angels of our Loving God!\n       Pray tell us if this land, we fain would know,\n       Contains the dear ones we have loved on earth?\n       For what were heaven e\u2019en to us, if we\n       Could nevermore be all in all to those\n       Who when on earth were all in all to us!\u201d\n       A voice replied\u2014\u2019twas one I oft have heard\n       And learned to love with more than mortal love,\n       \u201cLook up, my own! and see me with thee now\n       For ever on this earth. If then \u2019tis so,\n       How canst thou think that I shall ever be\n       Apart from thee in heav\u2019n\u2014the land of love\n       Wherein alone life\u2019s consummation finds\n       A fullness in its own eternal self?\n       For God is all\u2014thus He is life and love\n       And love eternal is the power that welds\n       Each atom in the universal chain\n       Of infinite expanse throughout the skies\u2014\n       Which ever shows to godly men on earth\n       The Power of powers that reigneth over all!\u201d\n\n                         *    *    *    *\n\n       Then in the gloom a glorious form appeared,\n       And, standing by my side, it pressed its lips\n       Upon the troubled brow which none could calm\n       On earth, save she who was beside me then.\n       And so an Angel from our loving God\n       Came down to comfort, in the eventide\u2014\n       To show, by light of love, God\u2019s holy truth,\n       Which from the world\u2014in darkness\u2014hath been hid\n       Because the world in darkness will exist,\n       And, living thus, man sins against himself\n       And so against his loving God of Life.\n       The promised Light appeared at evening time,\n       And by its living rays did I perceive\u2014\n       Mankind to wander on in sin and shame;\n       Thus HELL prevails to-day where heaven should be....\n\n                                              WM. C. ELDON SERJEANT.\n\nLondon, _6th December, 1887_.\n\n\n                  ESOTERICISM OF THE CHRISTIAN DOGMA.\n\n           CREATION AS TAUGHT BY MOSES AND THE MAHATMAS.\n\n                BY THE ABB\u00c9 ROCA (_Honorary Canon_).\n\n  [Extracts translated from the \u201cLOTUS\u201d _Revue des Hautes Etudes\n  Theosophiques_. Journal of \u201cIsis,\u201d the French Branch of The\n  Theosophical Society. December, 1887. Paris, George Carr\u00e9s, 58,\n  Rue St Andr\u00e9 des Arts.\u2014VERBAL TRANSLATION.]\n\n                                   I.\n\nThanks to the light which is now reaching us from the far East\nthrough the Theosophical organs published in the West, it is easy to\nforesee that the Catholic teaching is about to undergo a\ntransformation as profound as it will be glorious. All our dogmas\nwill pass from \u201cthe letter which killeth\u201d to \u201cthe spirit which\ngiveth life,\u201d from the mystic and sacramental to the scientific and\nrational form, perhaps even to the stage of experimental methods.\n\nThe reign of faith, of mystery and of miracle, is nearing its close;\nthis is plain and was, moreover, predicted by Christ himself. Faith\nvanishes from the brains of men of science, to make way for the\nclear perception of the essential truths which had to be veiled at\nthe origin of Christianity, under symbols and figures, so as to\nadapt them, as far as possible, to the needs and weaknesses of the\ninfancy of our faith.\n\nStrange! It is at the very hour when Europe is attaining the age of\nreason, and when she is visibly entering upon the full possession of\nher powers, that India prepares to hand on to us those loftier ideas\nwhich exactly meet our new wants, as much from the intellectual, as\nfrom the moral, religious, social and other standpoints.\n\nOne might believe that the \u201cBROTHERS\u201d kept an eye from afar on the\nmovements of Christendom, and that from the summits of their\nHimalayan watch towers, they had waited expectantly for the hour\nwhen they would be able to make us hear them with some chance of\nbeing understood....\n\nIt is certain that the situation in the West is becoming more and\nmore serious. Everyone knows whence comes the imminence of the\ncatastrophe which threatens us; hitherto men have only evoked the\nanimal needs, they have only awakened and unchained the brute forces\nof nature, the passional instincts, the savage energies of the lower\nKosmos. Christianity does indeed conceal under the profound\nesotericism of its Parables, those truths, scientific, religious,\nand social, which this deplorable situation imperiously demands, but\nsad to say, sad indeed for a priest, hard, hard indeed for Christian\nears to hear, all our priesthoods, that of the Roman Catholic Church\nequally with those of the Orthodox Russian, the Anglican, the\nProtestant, and the Anglo-American churches, seem struck with\nblindness and impotence in face of the glorious task which they\nwould have to fulfil in these terrible circumstances. They see\nnothing; their eyes are plastered and their ears walled up. They do\nnot discover; one is tempted to say, they do not even suspect what\nineffable truths are hidden under the dead letter of their\nteachings.\n\nSay, is it not into that darkness that we are all stumbling, in\nState and in Church, in politics as in religion! A double calamity\nforming but one for the peoples, which suffer horribly under it, and\nfor our civilisation which may be shipwrecked on it at any moment.\nMay God deliver us from a war at this moment! It would be a\ncataclysm in which Europe would break to pieces in blood and fire,\nas Montesquieu foresaw: \u201cEurope will perish through the soldiers, if\nnot saved in time.\u201d We must escape from this empiricism and this\nfearful confusion. But who will save us? The Christ, the true\nChrist, the Christ of esoteric science.[126] And how? Thus: the same\nkey which, under the eyes of the scientific bodies, shall open the\nsecrets of Nature, will open their own intellects to the secrets of\ntrue Sociology; the same key which, under the eyes of the\npriesthoods, shall open the Arcana of the mysteries and the gospel\nparables, will open their intellects to these same secrets of\nSociology. Priests and savants will then develope in the radiance of\none and the same light.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 126:\n\n  \u201cThe Christ of esoteric science\u201d is the _Christos_ of Spirit\u2014an\n  impersonal principle entirely distinct from any carnalised Christ\n  or Jesus. Is it this Christos that the learned Canon Roca\n  means?\u2014[ED.]\n\n-----\n\nAnd this key\u2014I can assert it, for I have proved it in application to\nall our dogmas\u2014THIS KEY IS THE SAME WHICH THE MAHATMAS OFFER AND\nDELIVER TO US AT THIS MOMENT.[127]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 127:\n\n  The capitals are our own; for these \u201cMahatmas\u201d are the real\n  Founders and \u201cMasters\u201d of the Theosophical Society.\u2014[ED.]\n\n-----\n\nThere is here an interposition of Providence, before which we should\nall of us offer up our own thanksgivings. For my part, I am deeply\ntouched by it; I feel I know not what sacred thrill! My gratitude is\nthe more keen since, if I confront the Hindu tradition with the\noccult theosophic traditions of Judeo-Christianity, from its origin\nto our own day, through the Holy Kabbala, I can recognise clearly\nthe agreement of the teaching of the \u201cBrothers\u201d with the esoteric\nteaching of Moses, Jesus, and Saint Paul.\n\nPeople are sure to say: \u201cYou abase the West before the East, Europe\nbefore Asia, France before India, Christianity before Buddhism. You\nare betraying at once your Country and your Church, your quality as\na Frenchman, and your character as a Priest.\u201d Pardon me, gentlemen!\nI abase nothing whatever; I betray nothing at all! A member of\nHumanity, I work for the happiness of Humanity; a son of France, I\nwork for the glory of France; a Priest of Jesus Christ, I work for\nthe triumph of Jesus Christ. You shall be forced to confess it;\nsuspend, therefore, your anathemas, and listen, if you please!\n\nWe are traversing a frightful crisis. For the last hundred years we\nhave been trying to round the _Cape of Social Tempests_, which I\nspoke of before; we have been enduring, without intermission, the\nfires, the lightnings the thunders, and the earthquakes of an\nunparalleled hurricane, and we feel, clearly enough, that everything\nis giving way around us; under our feet and over our heads! Neither\npontiffs, nor savants, nor politicians, nor statesmen, show\nthemselves capable of snatching us from the abysses towards which we\nare being, one is tempted to say, driven by a fatality! If, then, I\ndiscover, in the distant East, through the darkness of this tempest,\nthe blessed star which alone can guide us, amidst so many shoals,\nsafe and sound to the longed-for haven of safety, am I wanting in\npatriotism and religion because I announce to my brethren the rising\nof this beneficent star?...\n\nI know as well as you that it was said to Peter: \u201cI _will_ give thee\nthe Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, that thou mayest open its gates\nupon earth\u201d; yes, doubtless, but note the tense of this verb: I\n_will give_ thee: in the future. Has the Christian Pontiff already\nreceived them\u2014those magic Keys? Before replying look and see what\nRome has made of Christendom; see the lamentable state of Europe;\nnot only engaged in open war with foreign nationalities, but also\nexhausting herself in fratricidal wars and preparations to\nconsummate her own destruction; behold everywhere Christian against\nChristian, church against church, priesthood against priesthood,\nclass against class, school against school, and, often in the same\nfamily, brother against brother, sons against their father, the\nfather against his sons! What a spectacle! And a Pope presides over\nit! And while, all around, men prepare for a general slaughter, he,\nthe Pope, thinks only of one thing\u2014of his temporal domain, of his\nmaterial possessions! Think you that this state of things forms the\nKingdom of Heaven, and say you still that the Pontiff of Rome has\nalready received the Keys thereof?\n\nIt is written, perchance, in the decrees of Providence, that these\nmysterious Keys shall be brought to the brethren of the West by the\n\u201cBrothers\u201d of the East.... Such is, indeed, the expectation of all\nthe nations; the prophetic East sighs for the tenth incarnation of\nVishnu, which shall be the crown of all the Avatars which have\npreceded it, and the Apocalypse, on its side, announces the\nappearance of the _White Horse_ which is the symbol of the Christ\nrisen, glorious and triumphant before the eyes of all the peoples of\nthe earth.\n\nThis is how I, priest of Jesus Christ, betray Jesus Christ, when I\nacclaim the wisdom of the Mahatmas and their mission in the West!\n\nI have spoken of the opportuneness of the hour chosen by them for\ncoming to our help. I must insist upon this point.\n\n[_The Abb\u00e9 then enforces his argument by references to the position\nof Modern Science, and concludes_:\u2014TR.]\n\n\u201cThe phenomena of motion,\u201d by means of which men of science claim to\nexplain everything, explain nothing at all, because the very cause\nof that motion is unknown to our physicists as they themselves\nadmit. \u201cConsider, say to us the Mahatmas by the mouth of their\nAdepts, that behind each physical energy is hidden another energy,\nwhich itself serves as envelope to a spiritual force which is the\nliving soul of every manifested force.\u201d\n\nAnd thus Nature offers us an infinite series of forces one within\nanother, serving mutually as sheaths, which, as d\u2019Alembert\nsuspected, produce all sensible phenomena and reach all points of\nthe circumference starting from a central point, which is God....\n\n                                  II.\n\nI can now, after these preliminaries, give an example of the\ntransformation which, thanks to the Mahatmas, will soon take place\nin the teaching of the Christian Church. I will take particularly\nthe dogma of the _Creation_, informing my readers that they will\nfind in a book I am preparing, _The New Heavens and the New Earth_,\nan analogous work on all the dogmas of the Catholic faith.\n\nMatter exists in states of infinite variety, and, sometimes, even of\nopposite appearance. The world is constituted in two poles, the\nNorth or Spiritual, and the South or Material pole: these two poles\ncorrespond perfectly and differ only in form, that is, in\nappearance.\n\nRegarded from above, as the Easterns regard it, the universal\nsubstance presents the aspect of a spiritual or divine _emanation_;\nlooked at from below, as the Westerns are in the habit of viewing\nit, it offers, on the contrary, the aspect of a material creation.\n\nOne sees at once the difference which must exist between the two\nintellectualities and, consequently, between the two civilisations\nof the East and the West. Yet there is no more error in the Genesis\nof Moses, which is that of the Christian teaching, than there is in\nthe Genesis of the Mahatmas, which is that of the Buddhist doctrine.\nThe one and the other of these Geneses are absolutely founded on one\nand the same reality. Whether one descends or ascends the scale of\nbeing, one only traverses, in the East from above downwards, in the\nWest from below upwards, the same ladder of essences, more or less\nspiritualised, more or less materialised, according as one\napproaches to, or recedes from, _Pure Spirit_, which is God.\n\nIt was, therefore, not worth while to fulminate so much on one side\nor the other, here, against the theory of _emanation_, there,\nagainst the theory of _Creation_. One always comes back to the\nprinciple of Hermes Trismegistus: the universe is dual, though\nformed of a single substance. The Kabbalists knew it well, and it\nwas taught long ago in the Egyptian sanctuaries, as the occultists\nhave never ceased to repeat it in the temples of India.\n\nIt will soon be demonstrated, I hope, by scientific experiments such\nas those of Mr. William Crookes, the Academician, that everywhere,\nthroughout all nature, _spirit_ and _matter_ are not _two_ but\n_one_, and that they nowhere offer a real division in life. Under\nevery physical force there is a spiritual or a psychic force: in the\nheart of the minutest atom is hidden a vital soul, the presence of\nwhich has been perfectly determined by Claude Bernard in germs\nimperceptible to the naked eye. \u201cThis soul, human, animal, vegetal\nor mineral, is but a ray lent by the universal soul to every object\nmanifested in the Kosmos.\u201d\n\n\u201cCorporeal man and the sensible universe, says the theosophical\ndoctrine, are but the appearance imparted to them by the cohesion of\nthe interatomic or inter-astral forces which constitute both\nexteriorly. The visible side of a being is an ever-changing Maya.\u201d\nThe language of St. Paul is in no way different: \u201cThe aspect of the\nworld,\u201d he says, \u201cis a passing vision, an image which passes and\nrenews itself continually\u2014_transit figura hujus mundi_.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe real man, or the _microcosm_\u2014and one can say as much of the\n_macrocosm_\u2014is an astral force which reveals itself through this\nphysical appearance, and which, having existed before the birth of\nthis form, does not share its fate at the hour of death: surviving\nits destruction. The material form cannot subsist without the\nspiritual force which sustains it; but the latter is independent of\nthe former, for form is created by spirit, and not spirit by form.\u201d\n\nThis theory is word for word that of the \u201cBrothers\u201d and the Adepts,\nat the same time it is that of the Kabbalists and the Christians of\nthe School of Origen, and the Johannine Church.\n\nThere could not be a more perfect agreement. Transfer this teaching\nto the genesis of the Kosmos and you have the secret of the\nformation of the World; at the same time you discover the profound\nmeaning of the saying of St. Paul: \u201cThe invisible things of God are\nmade visible to the eye of man through the visible things of the\ncreation,\u201d a saying so well translated by Joseph de Maistre by the\nfollowing: \u201cThe world is a vast system of invisible things, visibly\norganised.\u201d\n\nThe whole of the Kosmos is like a two-faced medal of which both\nfaces are alike. The materialists know only the lower side, while\nthe occultists see it from both sides at once; from the front and\nfrom the back. It is always nature, and the same nature, but _natura\nnaturata_ from below, _natura naturans_ from above; here,\nintelligent cause; there, brute effect; spiritual above, corporeal\nbelow, etherealised at the North, concreted at the South Pole.\n\nThe distinction accepted everywhere in the West down to our own day,\nas essential and radical, between spirit on the one hand and matter\non the other, is no longer sustainable. The progress of science,\nspurred on as it will be by Hindu ideas, will soon force the last\nfollowers of this infantile belief to abandon it as ridiculous....\n\nYes, all, absolutely all in the world is life, but life differently\norganised and variously manifested through phenomena which vary\ninfinitely from the most spiritualised beings, such as the Angels,\nas well known to Buddhists as to Christians, though called by other\nnames, down to the most solidified of beings, such as stones and\nmetals. In the bosom of the latter, sleep, in a cataleptic\ncondition, milliards of vital elementary spirits. These latter only\nawait, to thrill into activity, the stroke of the pick or hammer to\nwhich they will owe their deliverance and their escape from the\n_limbus_, of which the Hindu doctrine speaks as well as the\nCatholic. Here lies, for these souls of life, the starting point of\nthe _Resurrection_ and of the _Ascension_, taught equally by both\nthe Eastern and the Western traditions, but not understood among us.\n\n[_The Abb\u00e9 sketches in eloquent words the development of these\n\u201cspirits of the elements,\u201d and then continues_:\u2014TR.]\n\nBut as they ascend, so the spirits can also descend, for they are\nalways free to transfigure themselves in the divine light, or to\nbury themselves in the satanic shadow of error and evil. Hence,\nwhile time is time, \u201cthese ceaseless tears and gnashings of teeth\u201d\nof which the gospel Parables speak metaphorically, and which will\nlast as long as shall last the elaboration of the social atoms\ndestined for the collective composition of the beatific Nirvana.\n\nNature is ever placing under our eyes examples of organic\ntransformations, analagous to those I am speaking of, as if to aid\nus in comprehending our own destiny. But it seems that many men\n\u201chave eyes in order not to see,\u201d as Jesus said. See how in order to\nremove these cataracts, science, even in the West, constantly\napproaching more and more that of the East, is at work producing in\nits turn phenomena, which corroborate at once the Parables of the\nGospels and the teachings of nature. I will not speak of the\nSalp\u00eatri\u00e8re and the marvels of hypnotism in the hands of M. Charcot\nand his numerous disciples throughout the whole world. There are\nthings which strike me even more.\n\nM. Pictet, at Geneva, is creating diamonds with air and light. This\nshould not astonish those who know that our coal mines are nothing\nbut \u201cstored-up sunlight.\u201d With an even more marvellous industry, do\nnot the flowers extract from the atmosphere the luminous substance\nof which they weave their fine and joyous garments? And \u201call that is\nsown in the earth under a material form, does it not rise under a\nspiritual form,\u201d as St. Paul says?\n\nThe glorious entities, which we call celestial spirits, have\nthemselves an organic form. It is defined in the canons of our\ndogma, whatever the ignorance-mongers of ultramontanism may pretend.\nGod alone has no body, God alone is _pure Spirit_\u2014and even to speak\nthus we must consider the Deity apart from the person of Jesus\nChrist, for in the \u201c_Word made flesh_\u201d God dwells _corporeally_,\naccording to the true and beautiful saying of St. Paul.\n\nAnd it is because God has no body that he is present everywhere in\nthe infinite, under the veils of cosmic light and ether, which serve\nas his garment and under the electric, magnetic, interatomic,\ninterplanetary, interstellar and sound fluids, which serve him as\nvehicles....\n\nAnd it is also because God has no created form that the Kabbala\ncould, without error, call him _Non-Being_. Hegel probably felt this\nesoteric truth when he spoke, in his heavy and cumbrous language, of\nthe equivalence of Being and Non-Being.\n\nAll visible forms are thus the product, at the same time as they are\nthe garment and the manifestation, of spiritual forces. All sensible\norder is, in reality, an _organic concretion_, a sort of living\n_crystallisation_ of intelligent powers fallen from the state of\n_spirituality_ into the state of materiality; in other words, fallen\nfrom the North to the South pole of nature, in consequence of a\ncatastrophe called by Holy Scripture the _Fall from Eden_. This\ncataclysm was the punishment of a frightful crime, of an audacious\nrevolt spoken of in the traditions of all Temples and called in our\ndogma _original sin_. The primary priesthood of the Christian church\nhas hitherto lacked the light needed to explain this biological\nphenomenon, which is an ascertained fact of physiology and\nsociology, as I hope to prove. Questioned on this point, the priests\nhave always replied: It is a mystery. Now there are no mysteries\nsave for ignorance, and the Christ announced that \u201cevery hidden\nthing should be brought to light, and proclaimed on the house-tops.\u201d\n\nThis is why so many new lights, coming from the East and elsewhere,\nenter scientifically, in our day, into the Christian mind. Glory to\nthe Theosophists, glory to the Adepts, glory to the Kabbalists,\nglory above all to the Hermetists everywhere, glory to those new\nmissionaries whose coming M. de Maistre foresaw, and whom M. de\nSaint-Ives d\u2019Alveydre lately hailed as the elect of God, charged by\nhim to establish a communion of knowledge and of love between all\nthe religious centres of the earth!\n\nPriests of the Roman Catholic Church, we shall enter in our turn\nthis wise communion of saints, on the day when we shall consent to\nread anew our sacred texts, no longer in \u201cthe dead letter\u201d of their\nexotericism, but in the \u201cliving spirit\u201d of their esotericism, and in\nthe threefold sense which Christian tradition has always canonically\nrecognised in them.\n\n                                           L\u2019ABBE ROCA (_Chanoine_).\n\nChateau de Pallestres, France.\n\n  [This is a very optimistic way of putting it, and if realized\n  would be like pouring the elixir of life into the decrepit body of\n  the Latin Church. But what will his Holiness the Pope say to\n  it?\u2014ED.]\n\n\n                            THE GREAT QUEST.\n\n             CONTINUED from the December (1887) number.\n\nThe Religionist, of course, denies that man can become a god or ever\nrealise in himself the attributes of Deity. He may recognise the\nnecessity of re-incarnation for ordinary worldly men, and even for\nthose who are not constant in their detachment and devotion, but he\ndenies the necessity for that series of trials and initiations which\nmust cover, at all events, more than one life-time\u2014probably many. It\nwould appear as if the theory of evolution might be called in, to\naid this latter view. If it is acknowledged that we, as individuals,\nhave been for ever whirling on the wheel of conditioned existence;\nif at the beginning of each manwantara the divine monad which\nthrough the beginningless past has inhabited in succession the\nvegetable, animal, and human forms, takes to itself a house of flesh\nin exact accordance with previous Karma, it will be seen that (while\ninhabiting a human body) during no moment in the past eternity have\nwe been nearer the attainment of Nirvana than at any other. If then\nthere is no thinkable connection between evolution and Nirvana, to\nimagine that evolution, through stages of Adeptship, conducts to\nNirvana, is a delusion. \u201cIt is purely a question of divine\ngrace\u201d\u2014says the Religionist. If in answer to this view, it is\ncontended that the light of the Logos is bound, eventually, to reach\nand enlighten every individual, and that the steady progress to\nperfection through Chelaship and Adeptship would, therefore, be a\nlogical conclusion, it is objected that to assert that the light of\nthe Logos must eventually reach and enlighten all, would involve the\nultimate extinction of the objective Universe, which is admitted to\nbe without beginning or end, although it passes through alternate\nperiods of manifestation and non-manifestation. If to escape from\nthis untenable position we postulate fresh emanations of Deity into\nthe lowest organisms at the beginning of each manwantara, to take\nthe place of those who pass away into Nirvana, we are met by other\ndifficulties. Firstly, putting out of consideration the fact that\nsuch a supposition is expressly denied by what is acknowledged as\nrevelation, the projection into the evolutionary process of a monad\nfree from all Karma, makes the law of Karma inoperative, for the\nmonad\u2019s first association with Karma remains unexplained; and also\nit becomes impossible to say what the monad was, and what was the\nmode of its being prior to the projection into evolution. It must be\nnoted that although the law of Karma does not explain _why_ we are,\nyet it satisfactorily shows _how_ we are what we are; and this is\nthe _raison d\u2019\u00eatre_ of the law. But the above theory takes away its\noccupation. It makes Karma and the monad independent realities,\njoined together by the creative energy of the Deity, while Karma\nought to be regarded as a mode of existence of the monad\u2014which mode\nceases to be when another mode, called liberation, takes its place.\nSecondly, if the monad in attaining liberation only attains to what\nit was before its association with Karma, _\u00e0 quoi bon_ the whole\nprocess; while, if it is stated that the monad was altogether\nnon-existent before its projection, the Deity becomes responsible\nfor all our sufferings and sins, and we fall into either the\nCalvinist doctrine of predestination as popularly conceived, or into\nthe still more blasphemous doctrine of the worshippers of Ahriman,\nbesides incurring many logical difficulties. The teaching of our\neastern philosophers is that the real interior nature of the monad\nis the same as the real interior essence of the Godhead, but from\nbeginningless past time it has a transitory nature, considered\nillusive, and the mode in which this illusion works is known by the\nname of Karma.\n\nBut were we not led astray in the first instance? Ought we not to\nhave acquiesced in the first above given definition of the theory of\nevolution? The premiss was satisfactory enough\u2014the mistake was in\nallowing the religionist\u2019s deduction as a logical necessity. When\nthe religionist states that there is no thinkable connection between\nevolution and Nirvana, he merely postulates for the word evolution a\nmore limited scope than that which the Occultist attaches to it,\nviz., the development of soul as well as that of mere form. He is\nindeed right in stating that the natural man, while he remains such,\nwill never attain the ultimate goal of Being. True it is, for the\nOccultist as for the religionist, that, to free himself from the\nfatal circle of rebirths, he must \u201cburst the shell which holds him\nin darkness\u2014tear the veil that hides him from the eternal.\u201d The\nreligionist may call this the act of divine grace; but it may be\nquite as correctly described as the \u201cawakening of the slumbering God\nwithin.\u201d But the error of the religionist is surely in mistaking the\nfirst glimmer of the divine consciousness for a guarantee of final\nemancipation, at, say, the next death of the body, instead of merely\nthe first step of a probationary stage in the long vista of work for\nHumanity on the higher planes of Being!\n\nTo provide ourselves with an analogy from the very theory of\nEvolution which we have been discussing, is it not more logical to\nimagine that, in the same way in which we see stretched at our feet\nthe infinite gradations of existence, through the lower animal,\nvegetable, and mineral kingdoms\u2014between which indeed, thanks to the\nrecent investigations of scientific men\u2014there is no longer\nrecognised to be any distinct line of demarcation\u2014so the heights\n(necessarily hidden from our view) which still remain to be scaled\nby us in our upward progress to Divinity, should be similarly filled\nwith the gradations of the unseen hierarchy of Being? And that, as\nwe have evolved during millions of centuries of earth-life through\nthese lower forms up to the position we now occupy, so may we, if we\nchoose, start on a new and better road of progress, apart from the\nordinary evolution of Humanity, but in which there must also be\ninnumerable grades?\n\nThat there will be progress for Humanity as a whole, in the\ndirection of greater spirituality, there is no doubt, but that\nprogress will be partaken of by continually decreasing numbers.\nWhether the weeding out takes place at the middle of the \u201cgreat\nfifth round,\u201d or whether it be continually taking place during the\nevolutionary process, a ray of light is here thrown on the statement\nmet with in all the Bibles of Humanity as to the great difficulty of\nthe attainment. \u201cFor straight is the gate, and narrow is the way\nthat leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it; but wide is\nthe gate, and broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and\nmany there be that go in thereat.\u201d This and parallel passages\ndoubtless refer to the weeding out of those who are unfit to\ncontinue the progress, on which the more spiritualized Humanity will\nthen have entered. The most vivid picture of the comparative handful\nof elect souls, who are fit to achieve the great quest, will be\nobtained by contemplating the fact already stated, that the\nobjective universe, with its myriads of inhabitants, will never, in\nthe vast abysses of the future, cease to be; and that the great\nmajority of humanity\u2014the millions of millions\u2014will thus for ever\nwhirl on the wheel of birth and death.\n\nBut though Nature may give us an almost infinite number of chances\nto attempt the great quest, it were madness to put by the chance\noffered now, and allow the old sense-attractions to regain their\ndominance, for it must be remembered that the barbarism and anarchy\nwhich every civilisation must eventually lapse into, are periods of\nspiritual deadness, and that it is when \u201cthe flower of civilisation\nhas blown to its full, and when its petals are but slackly held\ntogether,\u201d that the goad within men causes them to lift their eyes\nto the sunlit mountains, and \u201cto recognise in the bewildering\nglitter the outlines of the Gates of Gold.\u201d\n\nThere are no doubt realms in the Devaloka where the bliss of heaven\nmay be realised by those who aspire to the selfish rewards of\npersonal satisfaction, but these cease to exist with the end of the\nmanwantara, and with the beginning of the next the devotee will\nagain have to endure incarceration in flesh. The eighth chapter of\nthe Bhagavad Gita does indeed state that there is a path to Nirvana\nthrough the Devaloka, and amongst the countless possibilities of the\nInfinite who shall assert that this is not so? but the context\nsurely implies such a detachment and devotion through life as is\ndifficult for us even to contemplate, much less to realize.\n\nHowever distant, therefore, may appear to us the achievement of the\ngreat quest, when we consider how much more closely we are allied to\nthe animal than to the God, it must necessarily seem an infinitely\nfar-off goal, but though we may have to pass through many life-times\nbefore we reach it, our most earnest prayer should be, that we may\nnever lose sight of that celestial goal, for surely it is the one\nthing worthy of achievement!\n\nTo many the foregoing may appear as mere speculations, and the\nfirmest faith indeed can scarcely call itself knowledge, but,\nhowever necessary the complete knowledge may be, we may at least\nhope that its partial possession is adequate to the requirements of\nthe occasion. To us whose feet tread, often wearily, towards the\npath of the great quest, and whose eyes strain blindly through the\nmists that wrap us round, steady perseverance and omnipotent hope\nmust be the watch-words\u2014perseverance to struggle on, though the\nfiends of the lower self may make every step a battle, and hope that\nat any moment the entrance to the path may be found.\n\nAs an example of these two qualities, and also because all words\nthat strike a high key are bound to awaken responsive echoes in\nnoble hearts, let us conclude with the following extract from the\nRamayana:\u2014\n\n\u201cThus spoke Rama. Virtue is a service man owes himself, and though\nthere were no heaven nor any God to rule the world, it were not less\nthe binding law of life. It is man\u2019s privilege to know the right and\nfollow it. Betray and persecute me brother men! Pour out your rage\non me O malignant devils! Smile, or watch my agony in cold disdain\nye blissful Gods! Earth, hell, heaven combine your might to crush\nme\u2014I will still hold fast by this inheritance! My strength is\nnothing\u2014time can shake and cripple it; my youth is transient\u2014already\ngrief has withered up my days; my heart\u2014alas! it is well-nigh broken\nnow. Anguish may crush it utterly, and life may fail; but even so my\nsoul that has not tripped shall triumph, and dying, give the lie to\nsoulless destiny that dares to boast itself man\u2019s master.\u201d\n\n                                                          \u201cPILGRIM.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: decorative description]\n\n                           WHISPER OF A ROSE.\n\n         Behold me! an offspring of Darkness and Light.\n         With soft, tender petals of radiant white,\n         With golden heart mystery, full of perfume\n         That is Soul of my Breath\u2014the Secret of Bloom.\n\n         Infinity\u2019s centre is heart of the rose,\n         And th\u2019 breath of Creation its perfume that flows\n         Through ages and eons and time yet untold\u2014\n         But the _Soul_ of the _Breath_ I may not unfold.\n\n                                                               MORA.\n\n                      THE SECLUSION OF THE ADEPT.\n\n [CONTINUATION OF \u201cCOMMENTS ON LIGHT ON THE PATH,\u201d BY THE AUTHOR.]\n\n  \u201cBefore the voice can speak in the presence of the Masters, it\n  must have lost the power to wound.\u201d\n\nThose who give a merely passing and superficial attention to the\nsubject of occultism\u2014and their name is Legion\u2014constantly inquire\nwhy, if adepts in life exist, they do not appear in the world and\nshow their power. That the chief body of these wise ones should be\nunderstood to dwell beyond the fastnesses of the Himalayas, appears\nto be a sufficient proof that they are only figures of straw.\nOtherwise, why place them so far off?\n\nUnfortunately, Nature has done this and not personal choice or\narrangement. There are certain spots on the earth where the advance\nof \u201ccivilisation\u201d is unfelt, and the nineteenth century fever is\nkept at bay. In these favoured places there is always time, always\nopportunity, for the realities of life; they are not crowded out by\nthe doings of an inchoate, money-loving, pleasure seeking society.\nWhile there are adepts upon the earth, the earth must preserve to\nthem places of seclusion. This is a fact in nature which is only an\nexternal expression of a profound fact in super-nature.\n\nThe demand of the neophyte remains unheard until the voice in which\nit is uttered has lost the power to wound. This is because the\ndivine-astral life[128] is a place in which order reigns, just as it\ndoes in natural life. There is, of course, always the centre and the\ncircumference as there is in nature. Close to the central heart of\nlife, on any plane, there is knowledge, there order reigns\ncompletely; and chaos makes dim and confused the outer margin of the\ncircle. In fact, life in every form bears a more or less strong\nresemblance to a philosophic school. There are always the devotees\nof knowledge who forget their own lives in their pursuit of it;\nthere are always the flippant crowd who come and go\u2014\u2014Of such,\nEpictetus said that it was as easy to teach them philosophy as to\neat custard with a fork. The same state exists in the super-astral\nlife; and the adept has an even deeper and more profound seclusion\nthere in which to dwell. This place of retreat is so safe, so\nsheltered, that no sound which has discord in it can reach his ears.\nWhy should this be, will be asked at once, if he is a being of such\ngreat powers as those say who believe in his existence? The answer\nseems very apparent. He serves humanity and identifies himself with\nthe whole world; he is ready to make vicarious sacrifice for it at\nany moment\u2014_by living not by dying for it_. Why should he not die\nfor it? Because he is part of the great whole, and one of the most\nvaluable parts of it. Because he lives under laws of order which he\ndoes not desire to break. His life is not his own, but that of the\nforces which work behind him. He is the flower of humanity, the\nbloom which contains the divine seed. He is, in his own person, a\ntreasure of the universal nature, which is guarded and made safe in\norder that the fruition shall be perfected. It is only at definite\nperiods of the world\u2019s history that he is allowed to go among the\nherd of men as their redeemer. But for those who have the power to\nseparate themselves from this herd he is always at hand. And for\nthose who are strong enough to conquer the vices of the personal\nhuman nature, as set forth in these four rules, he is consciously at\nhand, easily recognised, ready to answer.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 128:\n\n  Of course every occultist knows by reading Eliphas Levi and other\n  authors that the \u201castral\u201d plane is a plane of unequalised forces,\n  and that a state of confusion necessarily prevails. But this does\n  not apply to the \u201cdivine astral\u201d plane, which is a plane where\n  wisdom, and therefore order, prevails.\n\n-----\n\nBut this conquering of self implies a destruction of qualities which\nmost men regard as not only indestructible but desirable. The \u201cpower\nto wound\u201d includes much that men value, not only in themselves, but\nin others. The instinct of self-defence and of self-preservation is\npart of it; the idea that one has any right or rights, either as\ncitizen, or man, or individual, the pleasant consciousness of\nself-respect and of virtue. These are hard sayings to many; yet they\nare true. For these words that I am writing now, and those which I\nhave written on this subject, are not in any sense my own. They are\ndrawn from the traditions of the lodge of the Great Brotherhood,\nwhich was once the secret splendour of Egypt. The rules written in\nits ante-chamber were the same as those now written in the\nante-chamber of existing schools. Through all time the wise men have\nlived apart from the mass. And even when some temporary purpose or\nobject induces one of them to come into the midst of human life, his\nseclusion and safety is preserved as completely as ever. It is part\nof his inheritance, part of his position, he has an actual title to\nit, and can no more put it aside than the Duke of Westminster can\nsay he does not choose to be the Duke of Westminster. In the various\ngreat cities of the world an adept lives for a while from time to\ntime, or perhaps only passes through; but all are occasionally aided\nby the actual power and presence of one of these men. Here in\nLondon, as in Paris and St. Petersburgh, there are men high in\ndevelopment. But they are only known as mystics by those who have\nthe power to recognise; the power given by the conquering of self.\nOtherwise how could they exist, even for an hour, in such a mental\nand psychic atmosphere as is created by the confusion and disorder\nof a city? Unless protected and made safe their own growth would be\ninterfered with, their work injured. And the neophyte may meet an\nadept in the flesh, may live in the same house with him, and yet be\nunable to recognise him, and unable to make his own voice heard by\nhim. For no nearness in space, no closeness of relations, no daily\nintimacy, can do away with the inexorable laws which give the adept\nhis seclusion. No voice penetrates to his inner hearing till it has\nbecome a divine voice, a voice which gives no utterance to the cries\nof self. Any lesser appeal would be as useless, as much a waste of\nenergy and power, as for mere children who are learning their\nalphabet to be taught it by a professor of philology. Until a man\nhas become, in heart and spirit, a disciple, he has no existence for\nthose who are teachers of disciples. And he becomes this by one\nmethod only\u2014the surrender of his personal humanity.\n\nFor the voice to have lost the power to wound, a man must have\nreached that point where he sees himself only as one of the vast\nmultitudes that live; one of the sands washed hither and thither by\nthe sea of vibratory existence. It is said that every grain of sand\nin the ocean bed does, in its turn, get washed up on to the shore\nand lie for a moment in the sunshine. So with human beings, they are\ndriven hither and thither by a great force, and each, in his turn,\nfinds the sunrays on him. When a man is able to regard his own life\nas part of a whole like this he will no longer struggle in order to\nobtain anything for himself. This is the surrender of personal\nrights. The ordinary man expects, not to take equal fortunes with\nthe rest of the world, but in some points, about which he cares, to\nfare better than the others. The disciple does not expect this.\nTherefore, though he be, like Epictetus, a chained slave, he has no\nword to say about it. He knows that the wheel of life turns\nceaselessly. Burne Jones has shown it in his marvellous picture\u2014the\nwheel turns, and on it are bound the rich and the poor, the great\nand the small\u2014each has his moment of good fortune when the wheel\nbrings him uppermost\u2014the King rises and falls, the poet is _f\u00eated_\nand forgotten, the slave is happy and afterwards discarded. Each in\nhis turn is crushed as the wheel turns on. The disciple knows that\nthis is so, and though it is his duty to make the utmost of the life\nthat is his, he neither complains of it nor is elated by it, nor\ndoes he complain against the better fortune of others. All alike, as\nhe well knows, are but learning a lesson; and he smiles at the\nsocialist and the reformer who endeavour by sheer force to\nre-arrange circumstances which arise out of the forces of human\nnature itself. This is but kicking against the pricks; a waste of\nlife and energy.\n\nIn realising this a man surrenders his imagined individual rights,\nof whatever sort. That takes away one keen sting which is common to\nall ordinary men.\n\nWhen the disciple has fully recognised that the very thought of\nindividual rights is only the outcome of the venomous quality in\nhimself, that it is the hiss of the snake of self which poisons with\nits sting his own life and the lives of those about him, then he is\nready to take part in a yearly ceremony which is open to all\nneophytes who are prepared for it. All weapons of defence and\noffence are given up; all weapons of mind and heart, and brain, and\nspirit. Never again can another man be regarded as a person who can\nbe criticised or condemned; never again can the neophyte raise his\nvoice in self-defence or excuse. From that ceremony he returns into\nthe world as helpless, as unprotected, as a newborn child. That,\nindeed, is what he is. He has begun to be born again on to the\nhigher plane of life, that breezy and well-lit plateau from whence\nthe eyes see intelligently and regard the world with a new insight.\n\nI have said, a little way back, that after parting with the sense of\nindividual rights, the disciple must part also with the sense of\nself-respect and of virtue. This may sound a terrible doctrine, yet\nall occultists know well that it is not a doctrine, but a fact. He\nwho thinks himself holier than another, he who has any pride in his\nown exemption from vice or folly, he who believes himself wise, or\nin any way superior to his fellow men, is incapable of discipleship.\nA man must become as a little child before he can enter into the\nkingdom of heaven.\n\nVirtue and wisdom are sublime things; but if they create pride and a\nconsciousness of separateness from the rest of humanity in the mind\nof a man, then they are only the snakes of self re-appearing in a\nfiner form. At any moment he may put on his grosser shape and sting\nas fiercely as when he inspired the actions of a murderer who kills\nfor gain or hatred, or a politician who sacrifices the mass for his\nown or his party\u2019s interests.\n\nIn fact, to have lost the power to wound, implies that the snake is\nnot only scotched, but killed. When it is merely stupefied or lulled\nto sleep it awakes again and the disciple uses his knowledge and his\npower for his own ends, and is a pupil of the many masters of the\nblack art, for the road to destruction is very broad and easy, and\nthe way can be found blindfold. That it is the way to destruction is\nevident, for when a man begins to live for self he narrows his\nhorizon steadily till at last the fierce driving inwards leaves him\nbut the space of a pin\u2019s-head to dwell in. We have all seen this\nphenomenon occur in ordinary life. A man who becomes selfish\nisolates himself, grows less interesting and less agreeable to\nothers. The sight is an awful one, and people shrink from a very\nselfish person at last, as from a beast of prey. How much more awful\nis it when it occurs on the more advanced plane of life, with the\nadded powers of knowledge, and through the greater sweep of\nsuccessive incarnations!\n\nTherefore I say, pause and think well upon the threshold. For if the\ndemand of the neophyte is made without the complete purification, it\nwill not penetrate the seclusion of the divine adept, but will evoke\nthe terrible forces which attend upon the black side of our human\nnature.\n\n                  .     .     .     .     .     .\n\n  \u201cBefore the soul can stand in the presence of the Masters its feet\n  must be washed in the blood of the heart.\u201d\n\nThe word soul, as used here, means the divine soul, or \u201cstarry\nspirit.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo be able to stand is to have confidence;\u201d and to have confidence\nmeans that the disciple is sure of himself, that he has surrendered\nhis emotions, his very self, even his humanity; that he is incapable\nof fear and unconscious of pain; that his whole consciousness is\ncentred in the divine life, which is expressed symbolically by the\nterm \u201cthe Masters;\u201d that he has neither eyes, nor ears, nor speech,\nnor power, save in and for the divine ray on which his highest sense\nhas touched. Then is he fearless, free from suffering, free from\nanxiety or dismay; his soul stands without shrinking or desire of\npostponement, in the full blaze of the divine light which penetrates\nthrough and through his being. Then he has come into his inheritance\nand can claim his kinship with the teachers of men; he is upright,\nhe has raised his head, he breathes the same air that they do.\n\nBut before it is in any way possible for him to do this, the feet of\nthe soul must be washed in the blood of the heart.\n\nThe sacrifice, or surrender of the heart of man, and its emotions,\nis the first of the rules; it involves the \u201cattaining of an\nequilibrium which cannot be shaken by personal emotion.\u201d This is\ndone by the stoic philosopher; he, too, stands aside and looks\nequably upon his own sufferings, as well as on those of others.\n\nIn the same way that \u201ctears\u201d in the language of occultists expresses\nthe soul of emotion, not its material appearance, so blood\nexpresses, not that blood which is an essential of physical life,\nbut the vital creative principle in man\u2019s nature, which drives him\ninto human life in order to experience pain and pleasure, joy and\nsorrow. When he has let the blood flow from the heart he stands\nbefore the Masters as a pure spirit which no longer wishes to\nincarnate for the sake of emotion and experience. Through great\ncycles of time successive incarnations in gross matter may yet be\nhis lot; but he no longer desires them, the crude wish to live has\ndeparted from him. When he takes upon him man\u2019s form in the flesh he\ndoes it in the pursuit of a divine object, to accomplish the work of\n\u201cthe Masters,\u201d and for no other end. He looks neither for pleasure\nnor pain, asks for no heaven, and fears no hell; yet he has entered\nupon a great inheritance which is not so much a compensation for\nthese things surrendered, as a state which simply blots out the\nmemory of them. He lives now not in the world, but with it; his\nhorizon has extended itself to the width of the whole universe.\n\n                                                                   \u0394\n\n\n                            THE WHITE MONK.\n\n            By the Author of the \u201cProfessor of Alchemy.\u201d\n\n                         PART I.\u2014RALPH\u2019S STORY.\n\n\u201cIt was after this manner, as they say,\u201d began Ralph, swinging\nhimself on to a bench and pouring out for himself a tankard of our\ngood home-brewed, as I crouched in the hay opposite to him. \u201cTwo\ncenturies agone and thirty years or so, there dwelt in this very\nhouse which I serve\u2014and which one day, young master, you shall\nrule!\u2014Sir Gilbert de Troyes, your ancestor, and his lady, and four\nfair sons, and a lovely daughter. Of these sons, twain were at the\nwars, one was in his nurse\u2019s lap, and another was gone to Italy, to\nfinish his studies at Parma. Thus did the old nobles use to ruin\ntheir sons!\n\n\u201cThis young foregoer of yours (a goodly youth!) fell in with the\nusual temptations of Satan. He held, with the poets, that the world\nis the best book for men to read; and he studied it, I ween, with\ndiligence. Now there was a certain damsel, winsome enough, I doubt\nnot, in the Italian style, with black hair and the devil\u2014save the\nmark!\u2014in her wandering eyes. So it came to pass that Master Gilbert,\nyounger, wooed her for his bride, like an honest gentleman, as the\nold tales say he was; and so great is the power of one upright soul\namongst others, that the young witch\u2014she was but young, poor soul!\nand teachable\u2014was charmed herself from her Italian ways, and vowed\nto love and follow only him; and the day before their marriage, she\nwas walking with him in the streets of Parma, by night\u2014for Master\nGilbert had a governor along with him in Italy, who must be\nhoodwinked\u2014when there chanced to espy them one Pietro Rinucci, a\nclerkly fellow (with a curse upon him!) who was even studying also\nat Parma, and who loved the Italian witch himself.\n\n\u201cThis Rinucci had been favoured of the girl, and only when she saw\nthe Englishman, with his blue eyes and his honest ways, had she\nscorned her countryman and left him. Rinucci, after the manner of\nhis race-fellows, then dogged her steps, tracked her to her early\nmeetings with young Gilbert de Troyes, who was his unsuspecting\nfriend, and listened to their innocent ravings of love conjoined to\nvirtue.\n\n\u201cAfterward, had he gone to the damsel\u2019s poor lodging and there, with\nHeaven knows what direful threats! conjured her to renounce her\nhonest lover and return to himself. The signorina was not like an\nEnglish girl\u2014she neither stormed nor yielded\u2014she cajoled and blinded\nhim. \u2018If he would go, she would consider; perchance she did not love\nthe Briton truly; perchance it was a whim; she knew not. Might she\nbut think? it was a whirl, and her heart, alas! was o\u2019er\nsusceptible; \u2019twould pass; he must leave her now, at least, and she\nwould see. Meantime Pietruccino should wear this pretty crimson\nribbon of hers till they met again.\u2019 After even such words, and for\na kiss, he left her. But the cunning villain was more than her\nmatch, and waited all the next day round the corners, whence he\ncould see her goings out and comings in. He saw her glide to her\ntrysting-place; he followed cautiously; he heard her give a\nsignalling whispered call; he heard it answered by a short, low\nwhistle; young Gilbert de Troyes swung merrily round the corner and\nfell into his Italian sweetheart\u2019s arms.\n\n\u201cHe met his death, poor, noble young fellow! \u2019Tis an old tale\nrepeated. I need scarce have wasted all these words upon it\u2014but that\none\u2019s heart must needs ache at these things. In the course of nature\nthat Italian snake, Rinucci, was bound to finish his rival there and\nthen. So he got behind the unwary schoolboy\u2014for the lad was, indeed,\nlittle more\u2014and stabbed him, all too deep, in the back of the neck.\n\n\u201cFolk say Rinucci triumphed as he set his foot on his dying\ncollege-mate, and wiped his dagger, with a laugh, before the\nhorror-stricken girl. Myself can scarcely believe it; he was too\nyoung in murder then for that.\n\n\u201cBe this as it may, certain it is that he dragged away the mourning\ndamsel from the corpse of the man who would have saved her soul, and\ntook her back to himself.\n\n\u201cA sickening story, boy. Wilt thou have more, young master? Yea?\nWhy, there is worse to come. For Mistress Italiana\u2014no tradition\ntells her name\u2014was spirited as any gipsy woman, and full of crafty\nlore, such as her race delight in. She broke her heart over her\nEnglish lover\u2019s corpse; but she had still the Southern amusement\nleft her of revenge. She concocted an evil greenish powder, and\ncoloured Signor Pietro\u2019s sweetmeats with it.\n\n\u201cThe fellow ate largely, praising the daintiness of the confection.\nIt was deadly enough, I daresay, in all conscience, but it killed\nhim not. These reptiles live on poison; morally, \u2019tis certain,\nbelike, and also physically it agreed with him. Perchance he may\nhave felt a qualm or two, though tradition says nought of it.\nAnyway, the next fytte of this story shows us the mysterious\ndisappearance of the Italian girl, of whom no word hath ever since\nbeen told.\n\n\u201cShe left behind her, whether willingly or no, a quantity of the\nfalse seasoning, which Master Pietro had caused to be analysed, and\nwhich he seems to have carefully preserved.\n\n\u201cSome time after these events, we find Signor Pietro Rinucci entered\ninto the Monastery of Dominicans at Brescia, a repentant neophyte.\nHe had turned remorseful, no doubt, and in good time! The fellow had\never strong imaginations. He was received in due time as a brother;\nwore the garb of the Order, and cast his eyes down. Tradition saith\nhe was in great turmoil of soul at this time\u2014judge for yourself,\nyoung master, by what followed.\n\n\u201cOne fine morning Brother Petrus was missing from his small, damp\ncell, and none could tell what had become of him. None, that is,\nsave the poverty-stricken ropemaker who had supplied him with cords\nto scale the monastery walls; and his discretion had been paid for.\nThe fact being, I doubt not, that discipline being ever repugnant to\nour young bravo\u2019s manners, he had fled it.\n\n\u201cIn the meantime, the news of Gilbert de Troyes\u2019 death had been\nbrought to these very doors, and certainly the grooms who then\ntended the good horses of your ancestors must, even in this\nsaddle-room, have spent their sorrow in each other\u2019s company. But\nAmbrose de Troyes, newly back from the wars, and second-born of the\nfamily, rose in his wrath, and swore to avenge his brother. For all\nmight know that the death blow had been dealt by one Pietro Rinucci,\nfellow-scholar of Gilbert\u2019s, whose absence afterward from the\nUniversity had puzzled the doctors and caused inquisition into the\nmatter.\n\n\u201cSo away went Ambrose, the soldier, to Parma. And mind ye, Ambrose\nwas no careless school-boy, no mean foe to a man, but a great,\nstaunch fellow who had seen service, and who was, moreover, by\nNature something stern and hard of purpose.\n\n\u201cBut at Parma they told him Rinucci was escaped into a monastery\nwhich they named, and showed a painted portrait of him, and did so\nminutely, point by point, describe the man, that Ambrose swore he\nshould know him, should he meet him in Heaven. And that was a strong\nassertion, note ye.\n\n\u201cWell, Ambrose journeyed on towards the secluded spot where the\nMonastery of Dominicans lay, and was enforced to rest one night at\nthe village of Santa Rosa on his road. Having stabled his steed,\nrefreshed it and himself, and practised his arm some moments with\nthe good sharp sword, he slung the weapon round him and went forth\nfor a stroll to pass the time.\n\n\u201cHe came to the equivalent of what would be to us in England an\nale-house, but some way out of the village, meet for travellers to\npause and rest a moment on their way. Ambrose went in to look about\nhim and ordered drink for himself. He lacked a companion to pledge,\nbut looking round the little room saw no one but a moody man who\nseemed lost in thought, though enjoying some passing sour wine.\nAmbrose himself could stomach neither the fare nor the company, so\nhe quickly got him on his way a little further; when, meeting with a\nsimple shrine to the Virgin, the God-fearing soldier took his rosary\nfrom under his baldrick, and knelt him down to pray. For something\nhad sore perplexed him; he had seemed to see in the features of that\nmorose comrade at the inn the most exact resemblance of Rinucci. But\nRinucci was safe at the Monastery, waiting till his time should\ncome, and the avenger should denounce him. But even as he rose from\nprayer did Ambrose see a mounted messenger speeding to him, who told\nhim breathlessly the news had just reached Santa Rosa that the Monk\nPetrus was escaped and roaming at large somewhere in the country.\n\n\u201cThen Ambrose de Troyes knew he had his man; and natheless, like the\nlarge-hearted fellow he was, he would but meet him quite alone. So\nhe rewarded the newsbringer and sent him away. Once more he fell on\nhis knees before our Lady\u2019s image, and besought that his cause might\nfind Heaven\u2019s favour, and his action in it be in every point just\nand serviceable. (For he looked upon himself as sent to do such\nthings as might cause his brother\u2019s soul to rest in peace.) Then he\nwent rapidly retracing his steps towards the inn again, and, led by\nDestiny, out came Pietro Rinucci, unarmed, to meet him. Ambrose de\nTroyes looked into the assassin\u2019s eyes and knew him. Stranger still,\nthe piercing eyes of the cunning Italian saw, in the traits of this\nbronzed warrior, relationship to the Gilbert who had been his friend\nand victim.\n\n\u201c\u2018I arrest thee, Pietro Rinucci, for the murder of my brother,\nGilbert de Troyes, and, though I may not draw upon a tonsured monk\n(yea, I know thee through all thy false disguises!), yet, before I\nhale thee to the ecclesiastical courts, I will show thee, snake,\nwhat I think of thee, and of all such!\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd Ambrose de Troyes smote the villain a shameful blow upon the\nface.\n\n\u201cEven at that instant, the monk whips me Ambrose\u2019s sword from its\nscabbard, and, with the fatal dexterity of his race, ran in upon the\nstately Englishman and laid him, bleeding quick to death, upon the\nhot white road.\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh Margaret, my sister Margaret!\u2019 the dying man raved, as if he\nthirsted for help from the hand that had been kind to him.\n\n\u201c\u2018A right pestilent breed of Britons! but easy to kill\u2014easy to\nkill,\u2019 quoth the Monk, as he laid down the red sword by the dying\nman\u2019s side and left him alone in his agony.\n\n\u201cThis scene was witnessed by a terrified young country-girl, who\ncrouched behind a heap of stones, meanwhile, until the murderer\u2019s\nflight, and then ran to assist De Troyes, who thought she was his\nsister Margaret, and said marvellous tender words, of home and of\nher kindness, and of the little brother he had left in the nursery.\n\n\u201cAfter this, there comes a period of Rinucci\u2019s life of which we know\nbut little. He seems to have raced about the country, in hiding\nalways, but doing little harm for him. Italy, however, is debateable\nground for one of her own recreant monks, so we find Messer Pietro\nfleeing Justice and coming over here to England. Whether he had had\nsome of his heart-searchings that he knew so often, I know not, but\ndeem it very likely. Here is the flaw, to my mind, in the\nforeigners\u2019 constitutions. They recognize their sins as such, not so\nwe English! We say our evil deeds are fate, congenital infirmity,\nignorance, negligence, or even virtues; they say their sins are\nsins, and yet they do them. Had I but half the talent of sinning\nthat Messer Pietro seems to have owned, my faith, I would have\ngloried in it! So did not he, however; he went to a father\nconfessor, fell on the earth, and implored absolution\u2014for life was\nstill sweet to him, he said, and he would not die yet awhile.\n\n\u201cThe father sent him for penance to travel as a pilgrim, in a white\npenitential garb to England, there to walk to the shrine of St.\nThomas \u00e0 Becket, foully slain on earth by violence.\n\n\u201cThe father did well for his mother-country, but evilly for us.\n\n\u201cThe monk Petrus performed at all points the penalty enjoined him,\nand afterward, having no especial call to Italy again, he followed\nhis roving instincts and wandered about England, even till chance\nbrought him to this, our, town. In this country he knew no men well\nenough to desire to kill them; besides, at this period, one of his\nfits of penitence seems to have been on him. Certes, he wore the\nmonkish habit, only different in its white colour from that of other\nfraternities, and the folk grew acquainted with his white figure as\nhe roamed the land in deepest meditation, with his eyes bent upon\nthe ground.\n\n\u201cNow, one day, say the chronicles (which are made up of village\ntales), the White Monk, as our townsfolk called him, was sitting in\na thicket by a brook in which he was bathing his travelled feet,\nwhen there came by the sister of his victims, even Mistress Margaret\nde Troyes herself, and walked the pleasant fringes of the forest,\nvery near to where the wanderer sat, on the further side the elders.\nShe was accompanied by her mother and by another lady, both of whom\nwere pressing the claims of some noble suitor upon her.\n\n\u201cThe other ladies were in deepest mourning for Gilbert and for\nAmbrose, and Mistress Margaret herself, though she wore no such\nsigns of grief, was most plainly clad in a pale, pure garb of\nlavender. She listened quietly to all they urged, then spoke and\nsaid:\n\n\u201c\u2018My mother, he is a light, false man. I care not for him.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt was protested to her, her high birth, the respect in which he\nwould hold her for herself; above all, her fair beauty, would all\nensure his faithfulness. But Margaret said:\n\n\u201c\u2018I beseech ye, press me no further. Heaven knows I wish the\ngentleman much good, and that he may aspire to higher things. I will\npray for him, weep for him if need be; but, ladies, though I be but\na simple English maiden, I hold myself all too good for such as he\nto marry and draw down, perchance, to like thoughts with himself. I\nhate all evil\u2014not the doers, mother; but the evil. We are all weak\nand changeable, and I dare not come in contact of my free will with\nevil influence. God might punish me by weakness of resolve against\ninfection.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey urged her yet once more; she might triumph and convert a soul.\n\n\u201c\u2018In truth,\u2019 confessed fair Margaret de Troyes, \u2018ye wound me sorely,\ndearest ladies mine! At such a time, when good Ambrose de Troyes is\nscarce cold in his grave, to bid his sister make her choice amongst\nhis townsfolk; and celebrate the marriage feast with a breaking\nheart! My Ambrose\u2014to think that thou, who, if I but spake of a\nmoment\u2019s weariness, would quickly place a cushion for my head, and\nsit by the hour on our window-seat chafing my feet, that thou\nshould\u2019st be bleeding in the death-struggles, on the hard, parched\nroad, in a foreign land, and I be far away, not able so much as to\nraise thy dear head upon my knee! Oh, I loved him so tenderly,\nstrong brother of mine! I gloried in my brown-maned soldier. We\nprayed together the night before he left on his sacred errand, and,\nat his entreaty, I laid my hand upon his head and blessed him in Our\nLady\u2019s name. He was a grave, good man; and you would have me turn my\nthoughts from him to that other! What though I know Ambrose to be\nnow one of God\u2019s angels; yet he hath left me behind him on the\nearth\u2014the first unkindness he hath ever done me! And his mother and\nmine would have me think of wedlock!\u2019\n\n\u201cThe fair, pale Englishwoman bent her head, and Pietro heard her\nweeping.\n\n\u201cWell, it is but guesswork thenceforth. Folk say, in their coarse\nway of speaking, that the White Monk \u2018loved\u2019 the lady Margaret.\nForfend! The love of such a man were an insult all too gross to\noffer to the memory of any Damoiselle de Troyes. Say, rather, he\nkindled to the worship of goodness in that form first of all.\n\n\u201cWe know that from that hour when he first saw and heard her,\nRinucci, the stained wretch, wandered ever where there was a chance\nto see her, even from afar. Once, indeed he even spoke with her.\nUnder the favour of his sacred garment he dared to near her, and\nasked:\n\n\u201c\u2018Maiden, how say you? Is there mercy in Heaven for the worst\nsinners, or no?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Nay, holy father,\u201d answered the damsel, smiling, \u2018thou must be\nbetter seen in these high mysteries than I who dwell in the world,\nwhere we all need mercy. We can but hope that our God is more\npitiful than are our fellow creatures to our faults.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Maiden,\u2019 besought the White Monk further, \u2018can such as thou look\npityingly upon a vice-stained fellow man?\u2019\n\n\u201cBut Margaret wept, and answered him:\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh, father, search me not over this problem. I have lost the\ndearest to me in the world, two brothers, by an assassin\u2019s hand. If\nthat man stood before me, tell me, _could_ I look at him\nforgivingly? Oh, never, father! Human nature is too weak.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe rencounter was over, for Pietro dared speak no more. But,\naccording to the custom of that day, Mistress Margaret bent her fair\nhead to receive the blessing of the holy father.\n\n\u201cThe monk started back in horror; even he was not too base to feel\nthat. But as the maiden still stood humbly waiting, he was forced to\nstretch his hands forth from the distance, and murmur: \u2018Benedicite!\u2019\n\n\u201cThe days went by and the townsfolk noted how the White Monk wasted,\nand how strange he was. He would mutter to himself like a madman. He\nnever said a word of holy import to the cottagers with whom he\nlodged at small cost. He ate almost nothing and appeared to spend\nhis days in solitary musing. His conduct smacked so oddly of mania\nthat Giles Hughson, his landlord, took to watching whither he went\nand what he did. He saw him always following Margaret, but seeking\nto avoid her if she turned where she might see him. He seemed to\ndread her greatly, yet, to worship her, or, at least to follow her\nlike a lost soul looking after the light from some vanishing angel\u2019s\nwing.\n\n\u201cOnce Margaret turned and saw him, but recognised him not as the man\nshe had spoken withal. She, taking him for a _fr\u00e8re quetant_,\nsilently, without looking upon him, pressed into his hand money,\nwhich he took, and which was found on him when he died, as you shall\nhear.\u201d\n\n                                                         PERCY ROSS.\n\n(_To be continued._)\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\nThe following remarkable passage was published some five years ago\nin the _Theosophist_, of Madras (1883); and it is needless to call\nattention in more detail to the fidelity with which it is being\nsince then verified.\n\nProtesting against the arbitrary chronology of the Sanskritists in\nthe question of Indian antiquity who make it dependent on the Greeks\nand Chandragupta\u2014whose date is represented as \u201cthe sheet-anchor of\nIndian chronology\u201d that \u201cnothing will ever shake\u201d (Prof. Max M\u00fcller\nand Weber), the author of the prophecy remarks that \u201cit is to be\nfeared that as regards India, the chronological ship of the\nSanskritists has already broken from her moorings and gone adrift\nwith all her precious freight of conjectures and hypotheses.\u201d And\nthen adds:\u2014\n\n\u201cWe are at the end of a cycle\u2014geological and other\u2014and at the\nbeginning of another. Cataclysm is to follow cataclysm. The pent-up\nforces are bursting out in many quarters; and not only will men be\nswallowed up or slain by thousands, \u201cnew\u201d land appear and \u201cold\u201d\nsubside, volcanic eruptions and tidal waves appal; but secrets of an\nunsuspected past will be uncovered to the dismay of Western\ntheorists and the humiliation of an imperious science. This drifting\nship, if watched, may be seen to ground upon the upheaved vestiges\nof ancient civilisations, and fall to pieces. We are not emulous of\nthe prophet\u2019s honours: but still, let this stand as a prophecy.\u201d\n(See also \u201c_Five Years of Theosophy_,\u201d p. 388.)\n\n\n                          LOVE WITH AN OBJECT.\n\nSome distinguished contributors to theosophical literature have of\nlate been describing what qualities are necessary to constitute a\nperfect man, _i.e._, an Adept. They said that among other things it\nwas absolutely and indispensably necessary, that such a being should\npossess Love\u2014and not merely Love in the abstract\u2014but love regarding\nsome object or objects. What can they possibly mean by speaking of\n\u201clove with an object,\u201d and could there possibly be love without any\nobject at all? Can that feeling be called love, which is directed\nsolely to the Eternal and Infinite, and takes no cognizance of\nearthly illusions? Can that be love which has no object or\u2014in other\nwords\u2014is the love of forms or objects the true love at all? If a man\nloved all things in the universe alike, without giving any\npreference to any of them, would not such a love be practically\nwithout any object; would it not be equal to loving nothing at all;\nbecause in such a case the individuality of any single object would\nbe lost to sight?\n\nA love which is directed towards all things alike, an universal\nlove, is beyond the conception of the mortal mind, and yet this kind\nof love, which bestows no favours upon any one thing, seems to be\nthat eternal love, which is recommended by all the sacred books of\nthe East and the West; because as soon as we begin to love one thing\nor one being more than another, we not only detract from the rest an\namount of love which the rest may rightfully claim; but we also\nbecome attached to the object of our love, a fate against which we\nare seriously warned in various pages of these books.\n\nThe _Bhagavad Gita_ teaches that we should not love or hate any\nobject of sense whatsoever, nor be attached to any object or thing,\nbut renounce all projects and fix our thoughts solely on It, the\nEternal, which is no-thing and no object of cognition for us, but\nwhose presence can be only subjectively experienced by, and within\nourselves. It says: \u201cHe is esteemed, who is equal-minded to\ncompanions, friends, enemies, strangers, neutrals, to aliens and\nkindred, yea to good and evil men\u201d (Cap. vi., 14); and further on it\nsays: \u201cHe whose soul is united by devotion, seeing the same in all\naround, sees the soul in everything and everything in the soul. He\nwho sees Me (Brahm\u00e2) everywhere and everything in Me, him I\nforsake not and he forsakes not me.... He who sees the same in\neverything\u2014Arjuna!\u2014whether it be pleasant or grievous, from the\nself-resemblance, is deemed to be a most excellent Yogin\u201d (Cap. vi.,\n29, 32).\n\nOn almost every page of the _Bhagavad Gita_ we are instructed only\nto direct our love to that which is eternal in every form, and let\nthe form itself be a matter of secondary consideration. \u201cHe must be\nregarded as a steadfast renouncer, who neither hates nor\ndesires.\u201d... \u201cIn a learned and modest Brahman, in a cow, in an\nelephant, in a dog, and a Swap\u0101ka; they who have knowledge see the\nsame thing.\u201d... \u201cLet no man rejoice in attaining what is pleasant,\nnor grieve in attaining what is unpleasant; being fixed in mind,\nuntroubled, knowing Brahma and abiding in Brahma.\u201d... \u201cHe who is\nhappy in himself, pleased with himself, who finds also light in\nhimself, this Yogin, one with Brahm\u00e2, finds _Nirvana_ in Him.\u201d\n\nThe great _Hermes Trismegistus_ teaches the same identical doctrine;\nfor he says: \u201cRise and embrace me with thy whole being, and I will\nteach thee whatsoever thou desirest to know.\u201d The _Bible_ also tells\nus that \u201cGod is Love\u201d (1. John iv., 8), and that we should love Him\nwith all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind (Math.\nxxii., 37), and while it teaches that we should love nothing else\nbut God (Math. xx., 37), who is All in All (Ephes. i., 23), yet it\naffirms, that this God is omnipresent, eternal and incomprehensible\nto the finite understanding of mortals (1. Timoth. vi., 16). It\nteaches this love to be the most important of all possessions,\nwithout which all other possessions are useless (1. Corinth, xiii.,\n2), and yet this God, whom we are to love, is not an \u201cobject\u201d (John\ni., 5), but everywhere. He is in us and we in Him (Rom. xii., 5). We\nare to leave all objects of sense and follow Him alone (Luc. v., 2),\nalthough we have no means of intellectually knowing or perceiving\nHim, the great Unknown, for whose sake we are to give up house and\nbrethren, sisters, father, mother, wife, children and lands (Mark\nx., 29).\n\nWhat can all this mean, but that love itself is the legitimate\nobject of love? It is a divine, eternal, and infinite power, a\nlight, which reflects itself in every object while it seeks not the\nobject, but merely its own reflection therein. It is an\nindestructible fire and the brighter it burns, the stronger will be\nthe light and the clearer will its own image appear. Love falls in\nlove with nothing but its own self, it is free from all other\nattractions. A love which becomes attached to objects of sense,\nceases to be free, ceases to be love, and becomes mere desire. Pure\nand eternal love asks for nothing, but gives freely to all who are\nwilling to take. Earthly love is attracted to persons and things,\nbut Divine spiritual love seeks only that which is divine in\neverything, and this can be nothing else but love, for love is the\nsupreme power of all. It holds together the worlds in space, it\nclothes the earth in bright and beautiful colours, it guides the\ninstincts of animals and links together the hearts of human beings.\nActing upon the lower planes of existence it causes terrestrial\nthings to cling to each other with fond embrace; but love on the\nspiritual plane is free. Spiritual love is a goddess, who\ncontinually sacrifices herself for herself and who accepts no other\nsacrifice but her own self, giving for whatever she may receive,\nherself in return. Therefore the _Bhagavad Gita_ says: \u201cNourish ye\nthe gods by this and let the gods nourish you. Thus nourishing each\nother ye shall obtain the highest good\u201d (Cap. iii., ii.,); and the\nBible says: \u201cTo him who has still more shall be given, and from him\nwho has not, even what he has shall be taken away\u201d (Luke xix., 26).\n\nLove is an universal power and therefore immortal, it can never die.\nWe cannot believe that even the smallest particle of love ever died,\nonly the instruments through which it becomes manifest change their\nform; nor will it ever be born, for it exists from eternity, only\nthe bodies into which it shines are born and die and are born again.\nA Love which is not manifest is non-existent for us, to come into\nexistence means to become manifest. How then could we possibly\nimagine a human being possessed of a love which never becomes\nmanifest; how can we possibly conceive of a light which never shines\nand of a fire which does not give any heat?\n\nBut \u201cas the sun shines upon the lands of the just and the unjust,\nand as the rain descends upon the acres of the evil-minded as well\nas upon those of the good\u201d; likewise divine love manifesting itself\nin a perfect man is distributed alike to every one without favour or\npartiality. Wherever a good and perfect human being exists, there is\ndivine love manifest; and the degree of man\u2019s perfection will depend\non the degree of his capacity to serve as an instrument for the\nmanifestation of divine love. The more perfect he is, the more will\nhis love descend upon and penetrate all who come within his divine\ninfluence. To ask favours of God is to conceive of Him as an\nimperfect being, whose love is not free, but subject to the guidance\nof, and preference to, mortals. To expect favours of a Mahatma is to\nconceive him as an _imperfect_ man.\n\nTrue, \u201cprayer,\u201d _i.e._ the elevation and aspiration of the soul \u201cin\nspirit and in truth\u201d (John xiv., 14), is useful, not because it will\npersuade the light to come nearer to us, but because it will assist\nus to open our eyes for the purpose of seeing the light that was\nalready there. Let those who desire to come into contact with the\nAdepts enter their sphere by following their doctrines; seeking for\nlove, but not for an object of love, and when they have found the\nformer, they will find a superabundance of the latter throughout the\nwhole extent of the unlimited universe; they will find it in\neverything that exists, for love is the foundation of all existence\nand without love nothing can possibly continue to exist.\n\nLove\u2014divine love\u2014is the source of life, of light, and happiness. It\nis the creative principle in the Macrocosm and in the Microcosm of\nman. It is _Venus_, the mother of all the gods, because from her\nalone originates Will and Imagination and all the other powers by\nwhich the universe was evolved. It is the germ of divinity which\nexists in the heart of man, and which may develop into a life-giving\nsun, illuminating the mind and sending its rays to the centre of the\nuniverse; for it originates from that centre and to that centre it\nwill ultimately return. It is a divine messenger, who carries Light\nfrom Heaven down to the Earth and returns again to Heaven loaded\nwith sacrificial gifts.\n\nIt is worshipped by all, some adore it in one form and some in\nanother, but many perceive only the form and do not perceive the\ndivine spirit. Nevertheless the spirit alone is real, the form is an\nillusion. Love can exist without form, but no form can exist without\nlove. It is pure Spirit, but if its light is reflected in matter, it\ncreates desire and desire is the producer of forms. Thus the visible\nworld of perishable things is created. \u201cBut above this visible\nnature there exists another, unseen and eternal, which, when all\ncreated things perish, does not perish\u201d (Bh. G. viii. 20), and \u201cfrom\nwhich they who attain to it never return.\u201d This is the supreme abode\nof Love without any object, unmanifested and imperishable, for there\nno object exists. There love is united to love, enjoying supreme and\neternal happiness within her own self and that peace, of which the\nmortal mind, captivated by the illusion of form, cannot conceive.\nNon-existent for us, and yet existing in that Supreme _Be-ness_, in\nwhich all things dwell, by which the universe has been spread out,\nand which may be attained to by an exclusive devotion.\n\n                                                            EMANUEL.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                             SELF MASTERY.\n\n                            (A SONNET.)\n\n         O! for the power to lay this burden low!\n           This weight of self; to kill all vain desire\n           To clasp to our outer selves the scorching fire,\n         So that the God within shall live and grow!\n         O! for the strength to face the hidden foe,\n           To raise our being higher still and higher,\n           To breathe the breath that Holy ones inspire,\n         To break the bonds that bind to Earth below!\n\n         Great, Infinite Soul! that broodeth o\u2019er us ever,\n           Say, can the human will _unaided_ win\n         The Victor\u2019s crown (and earthly bondage sever),\n           \u2014A Heavenly flight, triumphant over sin?\n         O Human and Divine, forsake us never,\n           Thine is the power by which we enter in!\n\n                                                   DUM SPIRO, SPERO.\n\n                           =Reviews.=\n\n  A MODERN MAGICIAN. A ROMANCE, by J. Fitzgerald Molloy, in Three\n      Volumes. Ward & Downey, 12, York Street, Covent Garden.\n\nOpinions may be greatly divided as to the merits of this book; and\nto those who look for unexceptionable literary style as a primary\nelement in fiction, it may not be satisfactory. But to all those who\nregard ideas as the first requisite, this work will probably prove\nof great interest. It has been somewhat curious to note the\nreception with which Mr. Molloy has met. The _Pall Mall Gazette_,\nfor instance, devotes considerable length to him, and somewhat\nsmartly calls him \u201ca novelist born, but not made\u201d; after which it\nproceeds, with more apparent animus than judiciousness, to criticise\nthe pedantic style of conversation and narrative which the author\noccasionally makes use of. Curiously enough, the critic selects for\nhis worst blows the phrases used by the chief inspector of the\ndetectives. Now, if there is one thing more common than another, it\nis to find the half educated, but uncultured, men of the class from\nwhich police inspectors are drawn, using the longest words and\nphrases, not so much as a proof of their culture, as with the object\nof impressing their hearers. The reviewer was perhaps right to\nassail Mr. Molloy for sending his hero to Scotland Yard to hunt up\nnews of his erring wife, who, as he was perfectly aware, had fled\nwith another man. But this, and other trifling mistakes of similar\ncharacter, are venial errors, and could only be so strongly\nanimadverted upon in a paper which devotes itself to hunting\nplagiarisms in impossible places, through envy of successful\nauthors; or by a reviewer who is a personal enemy of the author. As\nMacintosh well said: \u201cThe critic who is discerning in nothing but\nfaults, may care little to be told that this is the mark of\nunenviable disposition, but he might not feel equally easy, were he\nconvinced that he thus gives absolute proofs of ignorance and want\nof taste.\u201d To make matters worse, and more interesting to LUCIFER,\nthe reviewer is plainly a partisan of the Society for Psychical\nResearch, to which Mr. Molloy somewhat unfeelingly alludes as the\n\u201cSociety of Scientific Cackle.\u201d The review in the _Pall Mall\nGazette_ starts with smartness and intelligence, but allows itself\nto run off into partisanship and prejudice. But all that is in\nstrict keeping with the tone of a \u201cGazette\u201d which generally starts\nuseful work well, continues it badly, and ends by throwing mud out\nof the gutter at anybody or anything which happens to run counter to\nit. For instance, here is a specimen of the reviewer:\n\n  \u201cAs a story teller he (the author) is the Bobadil of fashionable\n  mysticism: as a literary workman he is a pretentious bungler: his\n  syntax is inconceivable, his dialogue impossible, his style a\n  desperately careful expression of desperately slovenly thinking,\n  his notions of practical affairs absurd, and his conception of\n  science and philosophy a superstitious guess; yet he has an\n  indescribable flourish, a dash of half-ridiculous poetry, a\n  pathetic irresponsibility, a captivating gleam of Irish\n  imagination, and, above all, an unsuspicious good nature, that\n  compel a humane public to read his books rather than mortify him\n  by a neglect which he has done nothing malicious to deserve.\u201d\n\nSuch criticism can only be met from the point of view of the\nreviewer, by \u201cSet a thief to catch a thief,\u201d and from that of Mr.\nMolloy, by \u201cHeaven save me from the penny-a-liners, actuated by\npersonal animus!\u201d\n\nThe reviewer may be allowed to have pointed out a few glaring errors\nin Mr. Molloy\u2019s style and syntax, but we add that, in pointing these\nout, he has only exposed himself.\n\nAs regards the central figure of Benoni, the adept in the book,\nLUCIFER may, perhaps, say a few words. Slightly as the character is\ndrawn, and startling as are the deeds of this personage, there is a\nmajesty about him which commands respect, and we may congratulate\nMr. Molloy on his effort. We do not entirely accord with the author\nin the deeds which he sets Benoni to do, but with regard to the\nwords and precepts which he puts into the adept\u2019s mouth, we do\nabsolutely agree, and recommend our readers, and especially all the\nTheosophists, to read Mr. Molloy\u2019s book. Here the _Pall Mall_\nreviewer\u2014being, as said, an admiring follower of the Society for\nPsychical Research\u2014again falls foul of Mr. Molloy; but we may safely\nquote the impressive and truthful words of Benoni, and leave the\nrest to others.\n\nAmerton, the hero of the book, reproaches the adept with having seen\ntrouble approaching him, and with having neglected to warn him.\nBenoni replies:\n\n  \u201cThat is true. It was not permitted that I should serve you then;\n  to test your strength it was necessary that you should bear the\n  trial unaided. When, some years ago. you came to me in Africa, and\n  asked me to solve experiences which perplexed you, and later\n  besought Amuni, the faithful One, to show you the pathway leading\n  towards light, you but obeyed a dictate of your nature impossible\n  to resist. That within you urged you forward to seek the sacred\n  mysteries of life and death. But these cannot be obtained by those\n  who are not prepared to endure with patience, and grow strong in\n  spirit. You have suffered, and thus taken the first step towards\n  the attainment of your desires.\u201d\n\n  \u201cBut, surely,\u201d said Philip, \u201cyou might have warned me.\u201d\n\n  \u201cI should have but inflicted additional pain on you.\u201d\n\n  \u201cWas there no escape?\u201d\n\n  \u201cNone, indeed,\u201d replied the mystic.\n\n  \u201cThen I was destined to meet humiliation and pain.\u201d\n\n  Benoni looked at him with mingled pity and affection in his gaze.\n\n  \u201cA child,\u201d he said, in his low, sonorous voice, \u201cis grieved for a\n  broken toy, or is humiliated by correction.\u201d\n\n  \u201cBut you don\u2019t compare my wrongs to a child\u2019s grievances?\u201d\n\n  \u201cHis sorrows are as real and bitter to him as your afflictions are\n  to you. It is only when time has passed, he reviews his distress\n  with wonder, seeing the pettiness of its cause. So will it be with\n  you. Ten years hence, you will regard this grief, desolating your\n  life, with equanimity; forty years later, you will remember it\n  with indifference, as an item in your fate. Then shall you look\n  back upon the brightness and darkness of your existence as one\n  regards the lights and shadows chequering his pathway through\n  woods in spring. How futile seem woe and joy, weighed with the\n  consideration that all men are as shadows that fade, and as\n  vapours which flee away.... Think, my friend,\u201d continued the\n  mystic earnestly, \u201cof your existence but as a journey towards a\n  goal, on which hardships must be suffered by the way. You are now\n  but working out the fulfillment of your fate. Remember, those who\n  would ascend must suffer; affliction is the flame which purifies;\n  pain teaches compassion.\u201d (pp. 89, 90. Vol. III.)\n\nWhen asked of himself, Benoni replies:\n\n  \u201cMisfortune cannot compass, distress overwhelm, nor\n  disappointments assail me, because the things of the world are as\n  naught to my senses, and man\u2019s life seems but a dream. Before this\n  stage affliction must have crucified the senses; self must be\n  conquered, slain, and entombed.\u201d (p. 91, Vol. III.)\n\nThere are other passages equally true from the occult standpoint,\nand we trust their readers will benefit by them and appreciate them.\n\nAs regards Amerton\u2019s character, we see the natural, born, mystic\nturning aside and voluntarily taking upon himself, though warned,\nthe bonds of married life. These become intolerable to him, and the\nunhappiness of two persons results. Occultism is a jealous mistress,\nand, once launched on that path, it is necessary to resolutely\nrefuse to recognise any attempt to draw one back from it. Amerton\nwanted to crush out his natural tendencies to occultism, and failed.\nIt is as hard to draw back from them, and turn attention solely to\nthe things of the world, as it is, when studying occultism, to turn\nour attention solely to the invisible regions, and neglect\nabsolutely the physical world.\n\nThe other characters in the novel make it light, graceful and\npleasant reading. The interest is ever preserved from the first to\nthe last scene, and certainly no one could find, in all the three\nvolumes, one dull page in them. Moreover, Mr. Fitzgerald Molloy\nseems an acute observer. Some of his secondary heroes, such as the\nwealthy widow, Mrs. Henry Netley, a plebeian enamoured of rank and\ntitle, and Lord Pompey Rokeway, \u201ca gay, though ancient, personage,\u201d\nwho uses rouge, wig, and corsets, and imagines every woman in love\nwith him\u2014are portraits from nature, to one who knows anything of\nmodern society. In short, \u201cThe Modern Magician,\u201d as a work of\nfiction, can fearlessly bear comparison with any of the modern\nproductions written lately upon occult subjects, with the solitary\nexception of Rider Haggard\u2019s \u201cShe,\u201d and surpasses some in unabated\ninterest. We might be more exacting and severe, perhaps, were it a\npurely theosophical work. As it stands, however, we must\ncongratulate Mr. Molloy in having clothed the subject of mysticism\nin such graceful robes; had he been as good a literary workman as he\nis an excellent constructor of plots, the book should have met with\nunqualified approval. Meanwhile, we wish it the greatest success.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n\u201cTHE TWIN SOUL: A PSYCHOLOGICAL AND REALISTIC ROMANCE,\u201d in two\n  volumes, by an Anonymous Author. Ward & Downey, 12, York Street,\n  Covent Garden.\n\nThis is quite another kind of literary production than the \u201cModern\nMagician,\u201d just reviewed. It aspires to more serious and\nphilosophical mysticism, but fails rather ungloriously. There are\npassages in it which, taken out of the work, especially at the\nbeginning of Volume I., might be made the subjects of short and\nrather useful little treatises upon mystic theories; but, as a\nwhole, the book is one of the most disappointing novels published\nfor some time. It begins well, goes on from bad to worse, promises\nmuch, holds nothing, and ends nowhere, seeming to be written not as\na work of fiction, but simply to ventilate the author\u2019s ideas.\nThese\u2014the work being anonymous\u2014have to be judged by the novel alone.\nIt is rumoured that the \u201cTwin Soul\u201d is the occasional work of twelve\nyears\u2019 labour, and the disconnected character of its events bears\nout the rumour. Its style is pedantic, though good in writing, while\nthe matter and plot are heavy, and delivered in a long-winded and\ndidactic manner.\n\nThe story is that of one Mr. Rameses, an exceedingly virtuous,\nlearned, and solemn Oriental millionaire, whose real nationality\nremains to the end a mystery, and whose story is narrated by a\nsomewhat cynical English philosopher, called De Vere. The latter\ntells the story in the style which suits him best, and is perfectly\nnatural. He is humorous and amusing, even if slightly ponderous. But\nalas for the reader! Mr. De Vere suddenly stops short at an early\nstage, and the story is taken up, without any apparent cause or\nreason, by a man unknown, who \u201chad less sympathy with Mr. Rameses,\u201d\nand who has all the defects of Mr. De Vere\u2019s qualities, and a good\nmany of his own besides, for he is even more ponderous and more\ncynical, without his humour. Mr. Rameses is a peculiar character,\nbut, as sketched, he is quite in keeping with his Oriental origin.\nHe believes in many theories: re-incarnation, socialism, certain\noccult doctrines, the possibility of recovering the memory of past\nincarnations, and, as a matter of course, the modern craze of the\nday, the theory of \u201ctwin souls.\u201d He is perpetually in search of his\n\u201ctwin,\u201d and hunts her with the pertinacity of a sleuth-hound under\nall forms, and in all places. Mr. De Vere is the possessor of an\nAssyrian collection, Egyptian papyri, and also of two female\nmummies\u2014Amenophra and Lurul\u00e2, the first the daughter of a Pharaoh,\nthe second a priestess of Isis\u2014of which the sarcophagi are covered\nwith hieroglyphics, which Mr. Rameses reads with most surprising\nease. The hero, claiming his memory as a palimpsest, which by\ncertain processes clearly discovers the obliterated record of his\npast incarnations, cannot, in spite of this, make up his mind which\nof the two mummies was formerly the body of his twin-soul. Finally,\nhe solves the doubt by declaring them both to have been the mortal\ncasket of his beloved\u2014with Lurul\u00e2 for choice. The reader here has\ngreat hopes held out to him that there will be a grand ceremony, at\nwhich the mummies are to be unrolled, and at which the soul of the\ndeceased mummy will be summoned back to shuffle on a mortal coil\nagain. Alas! such hopes are fallacious; for the ceremony never takes\nplace, owing to Mr. Rameses falling in love with the sister of a\nHindu lady married to an English baronet. After much hesitation the\nlady so honoured by his choice is also declared to be the vehicle of\nhis twin-soul, _i.e._, to save appearances\u2014to be a re-incarnation of\nthe ego which formerly dwelt in the mummy or mummies. Finally, after\na long-winded oration over the mystic properties of a magnificent\npresent of jewels, Mr. Rameses wins \u201cthe fair Niona,\u201d as she is\ncalled\u2014who, although a Hindu, is a Zoroastrian Sun-worshipper. They\nare married, notwithstanding their \u201cpaganism,\u201d according to Roman\nCatholic rites, and the pair start to spend the honeymoon in Egypt,\nwhere, in the Temple of Isis at Thebes, they are to be again united\naccording to the\u2014to them\u2014more sacred ritual of Sun-worship. After a\nvery interesting dream about the Deluge, which broke through an\nisthmus uniting Gibraltar to North Africa, and destroyed a vast\ncivilization which occupied the floor of the present Mediterranean\nSea, they arrive safely in Egypt. Here the fair Hindu of Zoroastrian\npersuasion and Italian name, has another interesting psychic vision,\nan interview with the Sphinx, which makes her incontinently faint,\nand lose consciousness. Then they proceed to Thebes, and, after due\ncare, make selection of the site of the Temple of Isis. They build\ntheir bonfire and ignite it, but at the supreme moment Niona gives a\ngasp, faints, and this time dies outright, with as little reason for\nit as every other incident in the novel has. The return to Cairo is\nimmediately commenced, and here Niona, in strict keeping with Mr.\nRameses\u2019s habits, is at once converted into a mummy. It must be\nrather interesting to possess the body of three defunct twin souls,\nand reflect upon their virtues.\n\nThe rest of the book is occupied by various disquisitions of the\nauthor, disguised flimsily under conversations of his characters on\nthe social and political customs of the Nineteenth century. Read\ncarefully, the conversations contain ideas, but are likely to offend\non account of their length and ponderousness. As regards the\nconstruction of the book and the characters, Mr. Rameses is\ninteresting, in spite of his solemnity and his love of mummies, and\nMr. De Vere is amusing. The other _dramatis person\u00e6_ seem to have\nbeen created merely as pegs upon which to hang the author\u2019s\nopinions. What, for instance, is the object of entering into detail\nupon the passionate episodes in the career of Mr. Rameses\u2019s\nsecretary, or the mercenary marriage of Lady Gwendoline Pierrepoint\nwith \u201cOld Methusaleh\u201d? Their only excuse can be that they may serve\nto increase the contrast between such marriages and that with a twin\nsoul. Taken as a whole, the ideas are interesting, and the mystic\nutterances in the first volume almost correct from the orthodox\noccult point. But the manner in which they are displayed is\nirritating, and this chiefly because the reader is perpetually being\nbrought up to a point of interest, and as perpetually left\ndisappointed.\n\n                        -----------------------\n\n\n                       POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY.[129]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 129:\n\n  _Posthumous Humanity_, a study of Phantoms, by Adolphe d\u2019Assier,\n  Member of the Bordeaux Academy of Sciences. Translated and\n  annotated by Henry S. Olcott, President of the Theosophical\n  Society. George Redway, London, 1887. 8vo. pp. 360.\n\n-----\n\nThis is a translation from the French by Colonel H. S. Olcott,\nPresident of the Theosophical Society, of the remarkable work of\nthat name, by a well-known _savant_, Adolphe d\u2019Assier. The original\nwork appeared a few years ago, and produced a stir both in the\nsceptical public and unbelieving science, and an outcry among the\nspiritists of France, whose pet theories about the \u201cspirits\u201d of the\ndead it upset. \u201cPosthumous Humanity\u201d was not only a singularly\ninteresting work, but it was one of the first, and perhaps the\nloudest, of the bugle notes that heralded the last act of the fierce\nbattle between materialistic science and spiritualism; for it ended\nin the virtual defeat of the former, at any rate, upon one line: it\nforced the hand of the majority of sceptics in the recognition of\nwhat is called in mysticism the \u201castral body\u201d of man and animal, and\nby more pretentious than wise investigators \u201cthe _phantasms_ of the\nliving,\u201d forgetting those of the dead.\n\nThat a learned member of an academy of science should, of all men,\nwrite a serious book on the phenomena of \u201cthe Borderland,\u201d accepting\nas facts in nature such things as ghostly appearances, and the\nprojection of the double, is almost a phenomenon in itself. And what\nmakes the case the more remarkable as an indication of a new current\nin public opinion, is the fact that these things, which it has\nhitherto been the fashion to consign with a laugh or a shudder to\nthe limbo of exploded superstitions, are treated by the author in a\nperfectly scientific spirit. He accounts for them, not by the usual\nsupposition of hallucination or stupidity on the part of observers,\nbut by an exceedingly ingenious and plausible postulation of forces\nat work in us, and around us, which are as little \u201csupernatural\u201d as\nany of the recognised forces of nature, or portions of man\u2019s\nconstitution. Not only has M. d\u2019Assier the courage to face the\nprobable ridicule of the wiseacres, but he has the audacity to turn\nthe tables upon \u201cmen of science,\u201d by actually making fun of their\nunmeasured pretensions, and twitting them mercilessly about their\npast mistakes. Not the least remarkable feature in the case is the\nfact that the author, who started into these researches an ardent\npositivist, has come out of them an ardent positivist still. He\nbelieves that what he has accomplished is to extend the reign of\nmatter into a region previously believed to belong to spirit, thus\nplanting the standard of positivism in a wider and more fruitful\nregion, which he has happily reclaimed from the winds and tides of\nsuperstition. But the fact is, that although our author has gone a\ngood deal further than most of those who start out \u201con their own\nhook\u201d to explore the realms of the Occult, he cannot be said to have\npenetrated very far into the mysteries of being. He has peeped in at\nthe door of the psychic antechamber to the spiritual world\nproper\u2014the ante-chamber in which the members of Psychical Research\nSocieties amuse themselves and others by playing blindman\u2019s buff\nwith hypothesis\u2014and his interesting volume tells us of the wonderful\nthings that go on there. The result of his researches, as he says in\nhis _Preface_, is the conclusion that \u201cposthumous humanity is, in\nfact, but a special example of posthumous animality, and that the\nlatter presents itself as the immediate consequence of the living\nworld.\u201d Every tyro in theosophy knows that this conclusion is a fair\napproximation to the truth, and were man nothing but an animal of\nhigh degree, it might possibly be the whole truth. But man is an\nanimal, plus _something_, and this something _more_, is precisely\nwhat M. d\u2019Assier leaves entirely out of sight, as indeed he could\nhardly help doing if he attached any importance to remaining a\nPositivist. It is this _something more_, of whose very existence our\nauthor seems profoundly unconscious, that has the chief interest for\nus, for that is the spiritual and eternal part of man, in\ncontradistinction to the psychic portion which fades away and\ndisappears after a time, as M. d\u2019Assier very justly declares.\n\nIt seems a pity that a learned and ingenious man, like our author,\nshould not have begun investigations of this kind by making himself\nfamiliar with at least the bare outline of the metaphysical and\npsychological system that underlies the schools of philosophy of\nIndia. This system is the result of very profound research into such\nphenomena as our author deals with, and also into other far deeper\nand more important manifestations that he has not considered at all;\nand these researches have for thousands of years occupied, to a\ngreater or lesser degree, almost every thinking man among races\nwhich are acknowledged to be possessed of a very high degree of\nintellectual acuteness and spiritual insight. Were our Western\nadventurers into the borderland between spirit and matter\u2014the astral\nworld\u2014to take this obvious precaution, they would know that the\nground over which they now laboriously make their way, has not only\nbeen traversed before, but pretty fully surveyed and mapped out, and\nthat their supposed discoveries amount virtually to no more than a\nverification of results long ago obtained by others. This very\nneeded exception in the work under review has been obviated by the\ntranslator\u2019s notes and supplement, without diminishing the practical\nvalue of M. d\u2019Assier\u2019s treatise as a useful contribution to occult\nliterature. For, as his labours do actually confirm much of the\nteachings of Theosophy, with regard to that part of the constitution\nof man, which is common to him and the animals, the work, as it now\nstands, is really a valuable occult treatise as to facts. The\nimportant question with the world, in these times, being not so much\n_what is said_, as _who it is that says it_, the fact that an\nincorrigible positivist, has published his belief in the actuality\nof a psychic plane of existence, and of the temporary survival in it\nafter death of a certain part or principle of the animal (including\nman), is of the greatest help and importance to theosophy. It will\nprobably affect public opinion far more profoundly than if a\nthousand Eastern sages proclaimed the same elementary fact of\nOccultism in chorus. No better illustration of, and testimony to,\nthe reality of plain, broad facts in connection with wraiths,\n\u201cdoubles,\u201d and other such apparitions, can be found than in\nd\u2019Assier\u2019s \u201cPosthumous Humanity\u201d in its new English garb, by Colonel\nOlcott, and with the translator\u2019s _Preface_ and annotations to the\ntext. These add greatly to the value of the book for the student of\nOccultism. In fact, these additions serve the same purpose which a\nnotice of the work in LUCIFER might have been expected to have in\nview; for they correct the author in some particulars, add\nadditional information in others, and generally forestall the critic\nwho writes from the Theosophical standpoint. Besides this, the\ntranslator has added a highly interesting and unique _appendix_,\ngiving the opinions of numerous Hindus of various castes and sects\nupon psychic phenomena of that kind, collected from various parts of\nIndia, which, by itself, has considerable value to the student of\nmystical sciences. In conclusion, we may record almost a general\nopinion\u2014save, of course, that of rank materialists\u2014that no work yet\npublished on the subject dealt with by our author is better\ncalculated to reach the scientifically-minded enquirer. It is\nwritten with calmness and logical clearness that takes the scoffer\u2019s\nlaugh out of his mouth. It goes as far as anyone new to the subject\ncould be reasonably expected to follow; and the direction it takes\nis the right one. It is preeminently _the_ book for the too\nsceptical and ignorant enquirer to begin with.\n\n                        -----------------------\n\n\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05d9\u05e6\u05d9\u05e8\u05d4, _Sepher Yetzirah, The Book of Formation, and the\nThirty-two Paths of Wisdom_; _translated from the Hebrew, and\ncollated with Latin Versions. By Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, Bath: Robert\nH. Fryar_, 1887.\n\nThis is a treatise of about 30 quarto pages on that well-known\nHebrew occult work, the Sepher Yetzirah. It consists of an\nintroduction, giving the historic aspects of the matter, an English\ntranslation of the Sepher Yetzirah and the Thirty-two Paths, and\nseveral pages of notes, giving remarks on and variant readings of\ndifficult and disputed passages.\n\nThe introductory pages bear the stamp of considerable literary\nresearch, and the translation of the Book of Formation itself is\nintelligible and concise. But we can hardly say as much for the\nThirty-two Paths, which, abstruse and difficult of comprehension in\nthe original, are, we are afraid, no more intelligible in the\ntranslation. Owing to the unpopularity of the subject, there are\nreaders who will be readily drawing the conclusion that Dr. Westcott\nhimself does not altogether understand their mystical bearing and\nsymbolism. Yet the notes on the actual text of the \u201cSepher Yetzirah\u201d\nare valuable, and show considerable occult knowledge. But a still\ngreater error is made by the translator. We notice that Dr. Westcott\nhas invariably rendered the word Elohim by \u201cGod,\u201d notwithstanding\nthat it is a plural noun, as shown by the plural word \u201cChiim\u201d joined\nthereto in the ninth section of the first chapter. This will, no\ndoubt, prove grateful to the staff and readers of the _Jewish\nWorld_, whose editors pride themselves, against all fact and truth,\non the _Monotheism_ of their early ancestors. It cannot fail to\nstrike the Kabalists as an unfortunate deviation from the original\nmeaning in favour of one laboriously fabricated by both Jewish and\nChristian falsificators.\n\nThe \u201cBook of Formation\u201d is a treatise consisting of 6 chapters and\n33 sections, and thus its compilation is pentacular. The 6 chapters\nrefer to the Yetziratic World, the 6 periods of Genesis; while the\n33 sections have a close analogy with the Thirty-two Paths which are\nadded at the end of the work. It is a philosophical disquisition on\nthe occult meanings of the ten numbers of the decimal scale, and the\n22 letters of the Hebrew sacred alphabet. The first chapter deals\nwith the numbers, which it divides into a Tetrad (symbolising\nSpirit, Air, Water, and Fire), and a Hexad (symbolising Height,\nDepth, East, West, South and North). The second chapter treats\ngenerally of the 22 letters, produced from the Air or the number 2,\nand divided into 3 Mother-letters, 7 double-letters, and 12 simple\nletters. The third chapter shows the symbolic reference of the 3\nMother-letters to Air, Water, and Fire; the fourth chapter that of\nthe 7 double-letters to the Planets &c.; the fifth chapter that of\nthe 12 simple letters to the signs of the Zodiac, &c.; and the sixth\nchapter forms the synthesis.\n\nThe 32 paths are no other than symbolical developments of the 10\nSephiroth or numbers, and the 22 letters which form the connecting\nlinks between them.\n\nAltogether the work is interesting and worthy of careful study.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                             TREBLE CHORDS.\n\n                  POEMS BY CATHERINE GRANT FURLEY.\n\n                    Edinburgh: R. and R. Clark.\n\nThis is an inviting little book of verse, with an ill-chosen title.\nWhy \u201cTreble Chords,\u201d when the author cannot compose anything more\nthan a single part? The octave is spanned by treble or threefold\nchords, but Miss Furley has not yet reached the octave of\nattainment! No, the book must be re-christened at its second birth;\nand the protest of the _Girton Girl_, and the more sustained poem of\nthe _Other Isolt_, are assuredly good enough to interest and delight\na sufficient number of women to send it into a second edition. The\nwriter has a distinct faculty of seeing, as well as the tendency to\ntake the \u201cother side,\u201d as she does in _Isolt of Brittany_ and in\n_Galatea to Pygmalion_. The moral of the latter poem is thus\npresented:\n\n            \u201cO, frequent miracle! so often seen\n            We scarcely pause to think what it may mean\u2014\n            Man\u2019s power to raise within a woman\u2019s heart\n            A love he does not know, nor could impart;\n            To wake a soul within the marble breast,\n            Then long to soothe it back to stony rest;\n            For, though the woman\u2019s sweeter to caress,\n            The statue\u2019s more convenient to possess.\u201d\n\nHere is a specimen of the sonnets, not the best, perhaps, but to the\npurpose:\n\n                               CIRCE.\n\n        Men call me Circe, but my name is Love;\n          And my cup holds the draught of sweet and sour,\n          Of gain, joy, loss, renouncement, all the dower\n        That woman\u2019s love brings man. I hold above\n        Your outstretched hand the chalice; ere you prove\n          Its potency, bethink you; it has power\n          To test your soul. If in a sinful hour\n        You touch it, you shall sink as those who strove\n          Of old to win my heart. Lo! there they be,\n        Not men but beasts; for with impure desire\n          They sought me, and Love holds _that_ blasphemy;\n        And for their sin doth bid them dwell in mire\n        Nor know their shame. Had they been pure in thought,\n        My cup had strengthened them and injured not.\n\nIt is but a tiny handful, this, of first flowers; not even a\ngathering of first-fruits. But they have the fragrance of promise,\nand a freshness of real rarity. Whether the fruit will set and\nmature must depend upon the sunshine and the rain and other\nsurroundings of the struggling life, and on the depth of soil and\nstrength of rootage. Of these we cannot judge; but the first-flowers\nare sweet and pretty and worth a word of welcome.\n\n                                                               G. M.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n   THE CREATOR, AND WHAT WE MAY KNOW OF THE METHOD OF CREATION.[130]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 130:\n\n  The Fernley Lecture, 1887, by Dr. Dallinger. T. Woolmer, 2, Castle\n  Street, City Road, London E.C. (1s. 6d., paper covers.)\n\n-----\n\nThe above is the title of a lecture, forming the seventeenth of what\nare known as the \u201cFernley Lectures,\u201d delivered annually, by the\nleading minds in the Ministry of the Wesleyan Methodist Society.\nThis specific lecture is the latest of the series, and was delivered\nin Manchester, August 1st in present year, by the Rev. W. H.\nDallinger, LL.D., F.R.S., Pres. R.M.S., etc., Governor of Wesley\nCollege, Sheffield.\n\nThe lecture occupies an unique position amongst its fellows, and\nwill bear a most favourable comparison with any that have been\ndelivered by the various Presidents of the Royal Society on the\nsciences of the day. For clearness of argument and lucidity of\nthought\u2014_as far as it goes_\u2014it is unsurpassed, and, as a specimen of\nthe power of English language, it is a treat to all who can estimate\nits value. It is all this, and more, and here its significance and\nsuggestiveness comes in, and I can do no less than characterise its\ndelivery under the circumstances, to an auditory that represents (in\nthe eyes of the sect itself, at all events) the purest form of\nEvangelical religion, as a startling phenomenon, and as such I\nconsider a notice of it in no way out of place in a theosophical\njournal. That such a lecture should be allowed to be delivered and\nfavourably received, not only by the audience, but by the Wesleyan\nbody at large, is a \u201csign of the times\u201d that the intelligent\nobserver cannot fail to discern. It is, undoubtedly, an index finger\nthat marks a large advance in the progress of human emancipation\nfrom the increasingly intolerable yoke of Churchianic or\nEcclesiastical tyranny; and all \u201cfriends of progress\u201d will\ncheerfully render to the worthy and eloquent lecturer the thanks\nthat are due for his manly and outspoken views upon the profoundest\nquestion of the age. The strangest part is the spectacle of a\n\u201cMinister of the Gospel,\u201d himself a scientist of no mean order,\nproclaiming from a Methodist platform his adherence to, and\nacceptance of, the doctrines of Charles Darwin, as true exponents of\nthe \u201cMethod of Creation,\u201d which means that \u201cNatural Selection,\u201d and\nsurvival of the \u201cFittest,\u201d accounts for the origin of species and\nthe indefinite variety of extinct and extant animal forms of life.\nWhy not include vegetable forms as well? Methinks the fabulous\n\u201cmissing link\u201d between the vegetable and animal kingdoms may,\nwithout much difficulty, be actually spotted. Nature, as delineated\nby the great \u201cNaturalist,\u201d must have been very peevish and unkind to\nher worshippers, when she mocks them by destroying every vestige,\neven to the veriest fragmentary fossil, of this anxiously looked for\nand expectant missing link, between the animal (brute) and man! To\nmy view, the continuous chain of sequential life forms, as presented\nin the Darwinian theory, evinces a vast number of \u201cmissing links,\u201d\nand, unless these can be supplied, it will not bear the strain when\ntested by the unclouded intellect of man. The philosopher of\nMaterialism may accept the Darwinian theories (for as yet they are\nnothing less or more) as gospel, but the spiritual philosopher will\nnot, nor can he accept them as truth, simply because he recognises a\nfactor, which is an abomination in the eyes of the materialistic\n\u201cwise ones.\u201d It is this factor that the eloquent and learned\nlecturer pleads for, without suspecting what it really is. I have\nreason to know that our reverend scientist regards this \u201cSpiritual\u201d\nfactor with the utmost contempt. But I leave this, and pass on to\nnotice some of the really valuable thoughts and facts that ennoble\nthe lecture, which is addressed to \u201cthoughtful and earnest minds,\nnot concerned specially with questions of philosophy, metaphysics,\nand science, but alive to the advanced knowledge and thought of our\ntimes, and anxious to know how the great foundation of religious\nbelief, the existence of Deity, is affected by the splendid advance\nof our knowledge of nature.\u201d\n\nThis expression \u201cexistence of Deity\u201d is conveniently elastic enough\nto cover the ground of argument by a scientific theologian, inasmuch\nas it may be taken to mean a personal God, according to sound\nEvangelical belief, and thus assume a plausible defence of Theism\nversus Atheism; or, it may admit of a much wider application to an\n\u201cUnknown God\u201d; for when the lecturer does venture to delineate the\ncharacteristic of Deity as the Creator, it is such terms as\n\u201cInscrutable Power or Creator,\u201d \u201cEternal Mind,\u201d \u201cInfinite\nIntelligence,\u201d &c., which is tantamount to saying that the Primal\nCause of all that is, is unknowable; and if this is what Dr.\nDallinger really means, he is at one with the Spiritual Philosopher;\nbut this will be a curious weapon in the hands of an ecclesiastical\ntheologian\u2014as dangerous as it is curious. By the use of these terms\nthe reverend author shields himself from the charge of materialistic\nheresy, albeit to the clear-sighted one there are several, if not\nmany, weak and vulnerable points in the defensive armour; but if the\nadherents and votaries of the \u201cfaith once delivered to the saints\u201d\nmight be a little chary in their acceptance of him as a \u201csound\u201d\nexponent of religious truth, yet all progressive minds will hail him\nas a fearless champion for the truth as delivered by the Book of\nNature and interpreted by the splendid achievements of modern\nscience.\n\n  \u201cThe study of phenomena, their succession and their\n  classification, is the essential work of science. It has no\n  function, and is possessed of no instrument with which to look\n  behind or below the sequence, in quest of some higher relation.\n  The eye and mind of the experimentalist know only of antecedent\n  and consequent. These fill the whole circle of his research; let\n  him find these, and he has found all.\u201d\n\nHere the domain of \u201cscience\u201d is defined by a master mind, which\ntells us that \u201cthe researches of science are physical.\u201d The\nobservable, finite contents of space and time are the subjects of\nits analysis. Existence, not the cause of existence, succession, not\nthe reason of succession, method, not the origin of method, are the\nsubjects of physical research. A primordial cause cannot be the\nsubject of experiment nor the object of demonstration. It must for\never transcend the most delicate physical re-action, the profoundest\nanalysis, and the last link in the keenest logic. Science refuses\nabsolutely to recognise mind as the primal cause of the sequences of\nmatter. This is just\u2014within the strict region of its research\u2014for\nphenomena, their sequences and classification, are its sole domain.\nBut observe; science universally puts _force_ where the reason asks\nfor cause. The forces affecting matter are tacitly assumed to be\ncompetent to account for every activity, every sequence, every\nphenomenon, and all the harmonies of universal being, a nexus for\nthe infinite diversities and harmonies, a basis for all the\nequilibrium of nature, is found by modern science in force. But\nforce is as absolutely inscrutable as mind. Force can never be known\nin itself; it is known by its manifestations. It is not a\nphenomenon, it produces phenomena. We cannot know it; but we know\nnothing without it. The ultimate analysis of physical science is the\nrelations of matter and force. In irreducible terms, therefore, the\nfinal analysis of science is _matter as affected by motion_.\n\nWe now see, from the above excerpta, the goal to which the \u201csplendid\ndiscoveries\u201d of modern science lead its votaries, as portrayed by an\nauthority that claims to speak not as other men; and if it is not a\nveritable dismal swamp, leading to nothing or negation; a miasma\nsuffocating the aspirations of those who are trusting to the\nleadership of _savants_ to guide them in the path that conveys them\nto the habitat of true wisdom and knowledge of themselves; then I\ncan only say of such, \u201cmiserable comforters are ye all.\u201d\n\nBut the question intervenes here: is this a true definition of the\nend and aim of science? It may be to the majority of the Royal\nSociety; but I may tell those who claim to be the conservators of\nscience, and who arrogate to themselves the right to define the\nboundaries of even physical science, that they do not possess the\n_all_ of human intelligence, and that there are, outside their\nsocieties, men who refuse to bow the knee to the modern scientific\nBaal, who refuse to be cajoled by the use of terms that mystify but\ncertainly do not enlighten. For instance, who is one wit the wiser\nwhen, having reached the end of its tether, science discovers that\n\u201cmatter and motion\u201d govern and regulate all things observable by the\nhuman eye, or within the range of the human mind? To the credit of\nthe author of the last Fernley Lecture, he sees and acknowledges the\ndilemma into which \u201cmaterialistic\u201d science is driven; but whether\n\u201ctheological\u201d science, so ably represented by himself, can\naltogether evade it, is a question that I do not here stay to\npropound. This much, however, I may say, scientific dicta\nnotwithstanding, there is another department of scientific research\nwhich _does_ form the _nexus_\u2014the _veritable_ missing link\u2014between\nthe known and their unknown, and this is the science of psychology,\nwhich commences just where the professors of science (physical)\nconfess themselves baffled, and are unable, or rather unwilling, to\nadvance further in this to them _terra incognita_. The wilful\nignoring of this by Materialistic leaders of thought ends by putting\nthem out of court in the discussion of the profound problems arising\nout of the discoveries of the psychological scientist. In\npresence of facts, the evidence for which are world wide and as\ndemonstrable\u2014_on their own plane or ground_\u2014as geological, or\nastronomical facts which the psychologist adduces, of what\nconceivable use are the \u201crelations of matter and force\u201d of the\nphysicist, as explanatory of the laws, &c., pertaining to the new\nworld discovered by psychological _Savants_?\n\nIt will be new to many of your readers to find the Rev. Dr.\n\u201chob-nobbing\u201d with Professor Huxley, who is quoted as\u2014_not_ a\nMaterialist! The learned professor appears to be indignant with\nthose who are zealous for \u201cthe fundamental article of the faith\nmaterialistic,\u201d who \u201cparade force and matter as the Alpha and Omega\nof existence,\u201d and says, \u201cIf I were forced to choose between\nMaterialism and Idealism, I would elect for the latter\u201d; and the\nlecturer adds, \u201cTruly, if our choice must be between them, this is\nthe normal alternative.\u201d It were better had the Professor given some\ninkling as to what _he_ meant by this high-sounding term\n\u201cIdealism.\u201d[131]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 131:\n\n  Both the Idealism of Mr. Herbert Spencer, and the Hylo-Idealism of\n  Dr. Lewins are more materialistic and atheistic than any of the\n  honestly declared materialistic views\u2014Buchner\u2019s and Molaschott\u2019s\n  included.\u2014[ED.]\n\n-----\n\nThe author again says\u2014\u201cI adopt gladly the language of Professor\nHuxley: Belief, in the scientific sense of the word, is a serious\nmatter, and needs, strong foundations. If it were given me to look\nbeyond the abyss of geologically recorded time to the still more\nremote period when the earth was passing through physical and\nchemical conditions, I should expect to be a witness of the\nevolution of living protoplasm from not-living matter.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo should I,\u201d adds the Rev. Dr., who brings in Mr. Crooks (?), of\nwhom the lecturer says, \u201cI do not forget the recent and splendid\nservice done by Mr. Crooks to the philosophical side of chemistry.\nIt is a most subtle and exquisite means of endeavouring to deduce\nthe _method_, the \u2018_law_\u2019 according to which what we know as the\n\u2018chemical elements\u2019 were built up. He obtains indications of a\nprimitive element\u2014a something out of which the elements were\nevolved. He calls it _protyle_ or first stuff, and from its presence\nconcludes that the elements, as we know them, have been evolved from\nsimpler matter\u2014or perhaps, indeed, from one sole kind of matter.\u201d In\nthe following sentences he tries hard to depreciate this \u201csplendid\ndiscovery\u201d by Mr. Crooks, the reason for which is anything but\ndifficult to discover. Dr. Dallinger _knows_ that Mr. Crooks\npublished a work entitled \u201cResearches in the Phenomena of\nSpiritualism,\u201d containing his _Experimental_ Investigations in\nPsychic Force, which he, in conjunction with his friend Huxley,\nthinks it beneath him to notice.\n\nBut _I_ claim the \u201csplendid discovery\u201d of Mr. Crooks to be of far\nmore transcendent importance than the learned scientist will admit.\nIt comes marvellously near to the scientific demonstration of the\nethic propounded by the \u201cphilosophy of spirit,\u201d \u201cThere is but one\nlife, and one substance, by which life is manifested in an\ninfinitude of forms in all universes, from the simplest to the most\ncomplex organic.\u201d\n\nOn this subject the Lecture contains the following eloquent, and, I\nmay add, brilliant peroration.\n\n  \u201cLife, it is well known, has its phenomena inherent in, and\n  strictly confined to, a highly complex compound, with fixed\n  chemical constituents. This compound, in its living state, is\n  known as protoplasm. It is clear, colourless, and to our finest\n  optical resources, devoid of discoverable structure. There is\n  not a living thing on earth but possesses its life in\n  protoplasm, from a microscopic fungus, to Man. To depict the\n  properties of Life in irreducible simplicity, take one of the\n  lowliest instances within the range of science. Let it be one of\n  the exquisitely minute, almost infinitely prolific, and\n  universally diffused living forms that set up, and carry on,\n  putrefaction. The lesser of them may, when considered as solid\n  specks, vary from the fifty-thousand-millionth of a cubic inch\n  to the twenty-billionth of a cubic inch (evidently far beneath\n  the unaided optic power of the human eye to see). I select one\n  that is oval in shape. Its mission as an organism, is to break\n  up and set free the chemical elements that had been locked up in\n  dead organic compounds. (Query\u2014Was this tiny creature\n  self-generated, or was it the product of the _dead_ organism?)\n  Its own substance wears out by this and other means; and it has\n  the power to renovate the waste from the dead decomposition in\n  which it lives, constructing, in the lavatory of its protoplasm,\n  new living matter. But more; this vital and inconceivably minute\n  speck multiplies with astounding rapidity in two ways; by the\n  first and common process, in the course of a minute and a half,\n  the entire body is divided into two precisely similar bodies,\n  each one perfect; almost immediately these again divide, and so\n  on in geometric ratio through all the populated fluid; the\n  rapidity of this intense and wonderful vital action transcending\n  all thought. By this process alone, a single form may, in three\n  hours, give rise to a population of organisms as great as the\n  human population of the globe. This is life\u2014whether vegetable or\n  animal none can determine\u2014in the simplest form in which it can\n  be known, and which distinguish it for ever and everywhere from\n  what is not life.\u201d\n\nSeveral equally interesting examples of recent scientific\ndiscoveries are given, but space forbids me to more than mention\nthem. Science, as represented by the _Savants_, evidently believes\nin an unbridged chasm between the forms of life and not-life. The\nScientist and Philosopher of Spirit join issue on this, for they\ndeclare that \u201cLife is present everywhere, and _in_ all forms,\norganic or non-organic, and without the presence of Life no\nforms\u2014not even mineral\u2014could be phenomenal or _ex_istent.\u201d\n\nYour space does not permit me to deal with more than one other, and,\nto many, the more important subject of Biblical records coming\nwithin the domain of science. Here is a specimen of how the learned\nscientist and theologian deals with the biblical account of\nCreation.\n\n  \u201cAnd God said, \u2018Let the earth bring forth the living creature\n  after his kind.\u2019 That is the utterance of the human conception,\n  which can alone represent to us the divine resolve to fill the\n  earth with life\u2014and the joy of living things. \u2018And it was so.\u2019 But\n  what epochs of countless ages filled the incalculable\n  interval?\u201d[132]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 132:\n\n  A few years\u2014and, who knows? perhaps only few months more, and\n  Protestant England will have reverend scientists explaining to\n  their congregations from the pulpits that Adam and Eve were but\n  the \u201cmissing link\u201d\u2014_two tailless baboons_.\u2014[ED.]\n\n-----\n\nThe boldness of this utterance from one in the position of the\nReverend Lecturer can be well imagined. It contains the elements of\ncombustion which need but the spark of investigation to deal a death\nblow to the established Churchianic dogma of Biblical infallibility\nin its literal sense. I conclude by repeating that such a\ndeliverance by a ministerial representative of the Wesleyan\ndenomination is a phenomenon that strikingly indicates the \u201cSigns of\nthe times,\u201d and which shows that the emancipation of the human mind\nfrom the bonds of theological presumption is not far distant.\n\n                                                      WILLIAM OXLEY.\n\nHigher Broughton, Manchester, _December_ 11th, 1887.\n\n                           ------------------\n\nABSOLUTE MONISM; OR, MIND IS MATTER AND MATTER IS MIND. By SUNDARAM\nIYER, F.T.S. Madras, 1887.\n\nUnder the above title the author issues an address delivered at the\nlast convention of the delegates of the Theosophical Society at\nAdyar. Metaphysicians, who note with interest all criticisms of\nWestern psychology from the Oriental standpoint, will welcome the\nappearance of this extremely able and instructive _brochure_, which\nconstitutes the first instalment of Absolute Monism. The object of\nthe writer is to discuss the point whether an examination of all\ntheories, as to relations of mind and body, \u201cdoes not lead us to the\nUnistic theory that Mind is Matter, and Matter is Mind.\u201d He\nendeavours to merge the apparent dualism of subject and object into\na fundamental unity:\u2014\n\n  \u201cIs mind a product of organized matter? No ... for organized\n  matter is only a combination of material particles, as is\n  unorganized matter. How is it, then, that there is the\n  manifestation of Mind in the one case, and not in the other?...\n  Can subjective facts ever emerge out of a group of molecules?\n  Never; as many times never as there are molecules in the group.\n  And why? Because Mind cannot issue from No Mind.\u201d (p. 13.)\n\nThe line of argument adopted _versus_ Materialism\u2014the doctrine that\nmental facts are the _resultant_ of chemical changes in the brain;\nforce and matter being the only Ultimates of Existence\u2014is\nunquestionably forcible. Mind can never be resolved into a\n\u201cbye-product\u201d of brain activity, for several valid reasons. In the\nfirst place, in its aspect of thought, it exhibits _concentration on\nan end_, _intelligence_ and _interest_ in the subject under\nconsideration, all of which characteristics, according to\nTyndall and Du Bois Reymond, are necessarily absent from those\nremarshallings of atoms and molecules which are declared to\n\u201ccerebrate out\u201d mental phenomena! In the second place, the gulf\nbetween consciousness and molecular change has never been bridged;\nan admission to which the leading physicists and physiologists of\nthe day lend all the weight of their authority. The terms\n\u201cconsciousness\u201d and \u201cmatter\u201d are expressive of things so utterly\ncontrasted, that all attempts to deduce the former from the latter\nhave met with signal discredit. Nevertheless, materialists assume\nthe contrary, whenever the necessities of their philosophy demand\nit. Hence, we find men, like B\u00fcchner, admitting in one place that\n\u201cin the relation of soul and brain, phenomena occur which _cannot be\nexplained by ... matter and force_,\u201d and elsewhere resolving\nmind into the \u201c_activity of the tissues of the brain_,\u201d \u201ca\nmode of motion\u201d\u2014contradictions, the flagrancy of which is\nenhanced by the fact that the same author invests the physical\nautomaton Man with a power to control his actions! Lastly, the\ndegradation of consciousness into \u201cbrain-function\u201d by constituting\nphilosophers, theologians, scientists, and all alike \u201cconscious\nautomata\u201d\u2014(machines whose thoughts are determined _for_, not _by_\ntheir conscious Egos)\u2014knocks away the basis of argument. The only\nresource becomes universal scepticism; a denial of the possibility\nof attaining truth. Can impartiality, correct thinking and\nagreement, be expected on the part of controversialists who form\npart of a comedy of Automata?\n\nIf mind is not inherent in matter, it cannot be evolved by mere\nnervous complexity. The combination of two chemical elements cannot\nresult in a compound in which something more than the constituent\nfactors are present. It is sometimes urged that, since the\nproperties of substances are often altogether changed in the course\nof chemical combinations\u2014new ones arising with the temporary lapse\nof the old\u2014consciousness may be explained as a \u201cpeculiar property\u201d\nof matter under some of its conditions. Mr. Sundaram Iyer meets this\nobjection ably. \u201cAquosity,\u201d it is said, is a property of oxygen and\nhydrogen in combination, though not in isolation. To this he\nanswers, \u201cchemical properties are either purely subjective facts or\nobjectivo-subjective ones\u201d (p. 57). They exist only in the\nconsciousness of the percipient, and represent no external and\nindependent reality. Psychologists of the type of Huxley would do\nwell to recall this fact, apart from the considerations springing\nfrom other data.\n\nOur author is loud in his praises of _Panpsychism_, that phase of\npantheism which regards all matter as saturated with a potential\npsyche. He speaks of the \u201ccatholicity, sublimity and beauty ... not\nto say the philosophy, and logic, and truthfulness of this creed of\nthought.\u201d It is, however, clear that some of the authorities he\ncites in support of this view, more especially Clifford, Tyndall,\nand Ueberweg, represent a phase of thought which is too\nmaterialistic to do justice to an elevated pantheistic concept.\nClifford\u2019s _conscious_ mind-_stuff_ is sublimated materialism, and\nUeberweg speaks of those \u201csensations\u201d present in \u201cinanimate\u201d objects\nwhich are \u201cconcentrated\u201d in the human brain, as if they represented\nso many substances to be weighed in scales. Instructive and\nthoughtful as is the discussion of this subject (pp. 32-63), its\nvalue would have been increased by a survey of the pantheistic\nschools of German speculation, so many of whose conclusions are\nabsolutely at one with esoteric views as to the Logos and the\nmetaphysics of consciousness.\n\nAfter discussing the primary and secondary (so-called) qualities of\nmatter, as tabulated by Mill, Hamilton and others, Mr. Sundaram Iyer\npasses on the question: \u201cWhat is force?\u201d\n\n  \u201cForce _is_ matter ... it may be related to matter in ... four\n  ways:\u2014firstly, it may be an extraneous power to matter, acting\n  upon it from without; secondly, it may be an inherent power in\n  matter, influencing it from within, but yet distinct from the\n  substance of matter; thirdly, it may be an innate power in matter,\n  influencing it from within, and not distinct from the substance of\n  matter; or fourthly, it may be a function of the substance of\n  matter.\u201d (p. 76-7.)\n\nAfter an interesting criticism of current theories, he concludes\nthat:\u2014\n\n  \u201cFunction is simply the phenomenal effect of the latent cause,\n  namely force, but never force itself. This potential existence,\n  which is in matter, _is a physical existence_. If not it cannot,\n  as shown before, produce any impression whatsoever upon or in the\n  substance of matter.\u201d\n\nMatter is force and force is matter. It is not quite evident,\nhowever, whether this position is strictly reconcilable with the\nremark that \u201cthe primary qualities of matter are all simplifiable\ninto ... extension and (its) motion (actual or possible).\u201d\n\nIf force is a _physical existence_, and the real _substance_ of\nmatter at the same time, we get back no further into the mystery of\nwhat things-in-themselves really are. Physical existence remains the\nreality behind physical existence and the realization of matter and\nforce, as aspects only of one basis, in no way simplifies the crux.\n\nIt is not clear, moreover, what is the exact meaning the author\nintends by the use of the word \u201cforce.\u201d Is it motion\u2014molar or\nmolecular\u2014or the unknown cause of motion? According to Professor\nHuxley, \u201cforce\u201d is merely an expression used to denote the _cause_\nof motion, whatever that may be. We only _know_ this cause in its\n_aspect_ of motion, and cannot penetrate behind the veil in order to\ngrasp the Noumenon of which motion is the phenomenal effect. The\nnecessity, therefore, of recognising the fact that _motion_ is all\nthat falls within the cognizance of sense, forbids the (profane)\nscientist to use the term \u201cforce\u201d as representative of anything but\nan abstraction. The question is complicated by the consideration\nthat the _substantiality_ of various so-called \u201cforces\u201d appears most\nprobable, and that this substantiality becomes objectively real to\nsense, only on a plane beyond this\u2014the domain of matter in its order\nof physical differentiations.\n\nThe materialistic doctrine that force merely = a motion of matter is\ncontradicted by the fact that, as shown by Mill, _motion can be\ntemporarily neutralized_. Lift a heavy weight on to a shelf and the\nmechanical energy expended in the act is latent in the potentiality\nof the weight to fall to the ground again. There is _no immediate\nequivalent_, as the attraction of the earth for the object remains\nthe same (the now greater distance tending to diminish the amount\nthough in a very minute degree.)\n\nIt may be further noted that, granting Mr. Sundaram Iyer\u2019s\ndefinition of matter as \u201c_extension pure and simple_,\u201d to be correct\n(p. 112), it is difficult to understand how he predicates this\nbarren content as endowed with _motion_ (p. 83.) What moves?\n\nThe rest of the _brochure_ is taken up with some excellent criticism\nof current conceptions of atoms, space and heterogenealism (a creed\nnow so sorely wounded by Mr. Crooke\u2019s \u201cProtyle.\u201d) Dealing with one\nof the late Mr. G. H. Lewe\u2019s utterances, the author remarks\nwith great truth: \u201cBy some mysterious law of occurrence the\nself-contradictions of the bulk of the erudite and enlightened are\nin point of gravity, palpableness, and number in direct proportion\nto their erudition and enlightenment.\u201d With how many contrasted\ndicta from the pages of our B\u00fcchners, Spencers, Bains etc., etc.,\ncould this conclusion be supported.\n\nOne word before we close. Is the title of the work well chosen? It\nappears to us the least satisfactory sentence which has been traced\nby the writer\u2019s pen. The definition of \u201cmind as matter and matter as\nmind\u201d not only offers no solution of the great psychological problem\ndiscussed, but does injustice to the contents of the work itself.\n\nIn the process of definition we \u201cassemble representative examples of\nthe phenomena,\u201d under investigation and \u201cour work lies in\ngeneralizing these, in detecting community in the midst of\ndifference.\u201d Now, there is _no community whatever_ between mental\nand material facts. For as Professor Bain writes:\n\n\u201cExtension is but the first of a long series of properties all\npresent in matter, _all absent in mind_ ... our mental experience,\nour feelings and thoughts, have no _extension_, no _place_, no\n_form_[133] or _outline_, or _mechanical division_ of parts; and we\nare incapable of attending to anything mental until we shut off the\nview of all that.\u201d\u2014\u201c_Mind and Body._\u201d pp. 125 and 135.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 133:\n\n  Nevertheless _objectively_ viewed thoughts are actual entities to\n  the occultist.\n\n-----\n\nThe phenomenal contrast of mind and matter is not only at the root\nof our present constitution but an essential of our terrestrial\nconsciousness. Duality is illusion in the ultimate analysis; but\nwithin the limits of a Universe-cycle or Great Manwantar\u00e6 it holds\ntrue. The _two_ bases of manifested Being\u2014the Logos (spirit) and\nMulaprakriti, (Matter, or rather its Noumenon) are unified in the\nabsolute reality, but in the Manvantaric Maya, under space and time\nconditions, they _are contrasted though mutually interdependent\naspects of the_ ONE CAUSE.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                            EDITORS\u2019 NOTES.\n\nWe have a good deal of correspondence now in type, but must stand\nover till next month owing to lack of space.\n\nIn particular we wish to acknowledge a letter on Hylo-Idealism,\nsigned C. N., forwarded to us by Dr. Lewins from a correspondent of\nhis now in the East. This letter places Hylo-Idealism in a new and\nvery different light, and its straightforward style and language are\nin strong contrast to the turgid effusions of such writers as G. M.\nMcC. An extract from one of the latter\u2019s letters to the \u201c_Secular\nReview_\u201d (January 7, 1888), for instance, says that \u201cSpecialism _is_\nSuperficialism, and _vice versa_, both being _fractionalism_;\nand that the true desideratum is generalisationism (_i.e._\n_all-roundism_ and _all-throughism_), whereby and wherein the\nKantian and Hegelian metaphysic may be precipitated and modern\nMaterialism sublimed? There is only one alembic for both, and that\nis Solipsism\u2014that true \u2018wisdom of the ages,\u2019 in which the\nprofoundest thinker is at one with the little child.\u2014G. M.\nMcC.\u201d!!![134]\n\n                           ------------------\n\nThe following books have been received and will be noticed in due\ncourse:\u2014\n\n\u201cAbsolute Relativism; or, the Absolute in Relation,\u201d by W. B.\nMcTaggart. (W. Stewart & Co.)\n\n\u201cSpirit Revealed,\u201d by Captain William C. Eldon Serjeant. (George\nRedway.)\n\n\u201cA Modern Apostle,\u201d and other Poems, by Constance C. W. Naden.\n(Kegan Paul, Trench & Co.)\n\n\u201cManuel of Etheropathy,\u201d by Dr. Count Manzetti.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 134:\n\n  See also his letter under Correspondence.\n\n-----\n\n                        =Correspondence.=\n\n                                -------\n\n               THE CHURCH AND THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT.\n\n                    _To the Editors of_ LUCIFER.\n\nAs it is often supposed that the clergy are required to be united as\none man in teaching a doctrine called Atonement, and that this\ndoctrine requires the clergy either to teach that \u201cGod required the\nblood of Jesus to be shed and offered as a sacrifice for an\nAtonement,\u201d or to leave the Church if they reject it; therefore,\nsince I reject this doctrine, it is sometimes wondered how I can\neither have been admitted to ordination, or, being admitted, how I\ncan remain in, or expect to have a hearing in, the pulpits of the\nNational Churches.\n\n_The explanation_ of my position is as follows:\n\nI offered myself as a candidate for ordination much later than is\nusual; and _one_ of the three beneficed clergy, whose testimonials,\nas to the candidate\u2019s religious views being orthodox, each candidate\nis required to provide before being accepted as a candidate for\nexamination and ordination, _informed_ the Bishop of London\n(Jackson) that I did not hold Church of England views on the\nAtonement. The Bishop, therefore, before accepting me as a\ncandidate, required a personal interview; when I told the Bishop, in\nreply to his question, whether I had any difficulty in accepting the\ndoctrine of Atonement as taught in the second of the XXXIX.\nArticles, that I was entering the Church in order to teach, that it\nwas the work of Jesus Christ to devote His life a living sacrifice\nto persuade us to believe that in His love, His mind, His spirit\ntowards us, we saw (so far as it could be manifested in the human\nform) the love, mind, and spirit of God towards us; and that the\nsacrifice of Jesus consisted in His leaving nothing undone that love\ncould do or suffer, even to drinking to its very dregs the cup of\nour hatred, whilst blind and ignorant, in order that we might accept\nand believe His testimony.\n\nAnd, in addition, I told the Bishop that if the XXXIX. Articles did\nnot allow of this teaching, and demanded of the clergy to believe\nand teach that \u201cGod required the blood of Jesus to be shed and\noffered as a sacrifice for an Atonement, either to appease God\u2019s\nwrath, satisfy His justice, or propitiate His favour,\u201d then such a\ndoctrine was immoral, anti-Christian, contrary to the Scriptures,\nand made God to be no better than Shylock, a wolf, or a devil. And I\ndared the Bishop to refuse accepting me as a candidate.\n\nThe Bishop made no reply, neither assenting nor dissenting, and I\nreturned to Petersham to await the result of this interview. After a\nday or two the Bishop\u2019s chaplain wrote that I might consider my\nproposal to come to the Bishop\u2019s examination for Orders accepted;\nand I was ordained without one word of comment upon the conversation\nat this private interview. But my first vicar only allowed me to\npreach three times, and then for the rest of the year he boycotted\nme from either preaching, reading, or even speaking in the parish,\nexcepting only in a particular part of it. My second vicar, after\nallowing me to preach three times, also boycotted me entirely. I\nappealed to the Bishop, but he declined to interfere. So after\nstriving in vain to find a clergyman who would allow me to preach\nwhat I was ordained to teach, I published pamphlets, and delivered\nthem by the hundred and thousand at the church doors after the\nservice, wherever there was a large congregation; but after a time\nthe Bishop was appealed to to stop me; when he not only denied me,\nas Peter denied Jesus, but he threatened to instruct the police to\nprevent me; and the ruling powers at St Paul\u2019s Cathedral did\ninstruct the chief of the police to prevent me.\n\nAs a last resort, I write letters in the Press wherever I can find a\nnewspaper willing to open its columns, to explain my views and\nappeal to the people to obtain liberty in the Church for teaching\nthe truth of \u201cChrist Crucified.\u201d But so great is the opposition to\nthis, that the chief organ of the Church and the Press (the _Times_)\nrefuses even to allow me to advertise for a pulpit, on the ground\nthat it is _inadmissible_; notwithstanding all the minutest details\nof divorce trials are freely _admissible_, thus proving that\neverything is admissible excepting one thing, viz.: the truth of\nChrist Crucified.\n\nAnd yet the Archbishop of Canterbury has recently told the world\nthat \u201cthe Church wishes the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but\nthe truth, to be told,\u201d and the Bishops of Carlisle, Durham,\nPeterborough, Manchester, Liverpool and Bedford, have also used\nwords to the same effect. But although I have spent the best part of\nmy life (17 years) in striving to find one clergyman (from the\nhighest to the lowest), I have not found one who would allow this\nliberty to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the\ntruth, concerning Christ Crucified. And I appeal to the rulers of\nthe Church to allow this liberty\u2014and to the people to demand and\nobtain this liberty, if the rulers of the Church refuse it. For I\nhave a letter from Canon Liddon, in which he says to me, \u201cI can\nbelieve with all my heart, although I only know you from the two\nletters which you have written to me (upon my sermons), that if you\nwere to preach, people would go to hear you as they go to hear me.\u201d\nIs there not a cause then, why I should complain of being thus\ncruelly and unjustly boycotted for 17 years without any reason?\n\nThe chief organ of the Church and the Press (the _Times_) in the\nsupposed chief Christian city in the world, refused to publish, even\nas an advertisement, any one of the three following appeals, on the\nground that they were _inadmissible_. Yes, _inadmissible_, whilst\nall the minutest details of the Barrett trial, the Dilke trial, the\nColin Campbell trial, the Seabright trial, and a host of others of a\nlike nature, were all _freely admissible_.\n\n                                   I.\n\n\u201cA pulpit wanted, in the National Church, in which liberty will be\nallowed to teach the truth of Christ Crucified, openly and\nfearlessly, in order that it may no longer remain either a\nstumbling-block to the Jews, foolishness to the world, or a mystery\nto the teachers of it (as it is to this day, for want only of this\nliberty), but may verily be seen to be, as it is, and as St. Paul\nasserted it to be, the power of God, and wisdom of God for the\nsalvation of all men.\u201d\n\n                                  II.\n\n\u201cThe Rev. T. G. Headley, of Petersham, S.W., appeals to the Clergy\nand people of the Church of England for a pulpit in which he may be\nallowed to preach seven sermons: I. on Unbelief; II. the Trial of\nAbraham; III. the Day of Judgment; IV. Mary Magdalene; V. Conversion\nof St. Paul; VI. Jesus, only; VII. Inspiration.\u201d\n\n                                  III.\n\n\u201cThe Rev. T. G. Headley, of Petersham, S.W., appeals to the Clergy\nfor a pulpit in which he may be allowed to explain the mystery of\nChrist Crucified, that it may no longer remain a mystery.\u201d\n\n                                                 Rev. T. G. HEADLEY.\n\nManor House, Petersham, S.W.\n\n                                  ---\n\n[This persistent refusal is the more remarkable as other preachers\nare allowed to teach worse, _from an orthodox standpoint, of\ncourse_. Is it _inadmissible_ \u201cto explain the mystery of Christ\nCrucified,\u201d as the Rev. Mr. Headley is likely to, lest it should\ninterfere with the explanation and description of Jehovah\u2014\u201c_one with\nChrist Jesus_\u201d in the orthodox dogma\u2014by the Rev. H. R. Haweis, M.\nA.? Says this truthful and cultured if not very pious orator: \u201cAt\nfirst the chief attributes of Satan were given to Jehovah. It was\nGod who destroyed the world, hardened Pharaoh, tempted David,\nprovoked to sin, and punished the sinner. This way of thinking\nlingered even as late as 700 B.C.: \u2018I the Lord make peace and create\nevil\u2019 (Isa. xlv. 7). We have an odd survival of this identification\nof God with the Devil in the word \u2018_Deuce_,\u2019 which is none other\nthan \u2018_Deus_,\u2019 but which to us always means the Devil. As the Jew\ngrew more spiritual he gradually transferred the devilish functions\nto a \u2018Satan,\u2019 or accusing spirit. The transition point appears in\ncomparing the early passage (2 Sam. xxiv.), when _God_ is said to\n\u2018move\u2019 David to number the people, with the later (1 Chron. xxi.),\nwhere _Satan_ is said to be the instigator who \u2018provoked\u2019 the\nnumbering. But Satan is not yet the King Devil. We can take up our\nBible and trace the gradual transformation of Satan from an accusing\nangel into the King Devil of popular theology.\u201d\u2014(_The Key_, etc p.\n22.) This, we believe, is an even more damaging teaching for the\nOrthodox Church than any theory about \u201cChrist Crucified.\u201d Mr.\nHeadley seeks to prove Christ, the Rev. Haweis ridiculing and making\naway with the Devil, _destroys and makes away for ever with Jesus_,\nas Christ, also. For, as logically argued by Cardinal Ventura de\nRaulica, \u201c_to demonstrate the existence of Satan, is to\nre-establish_ ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL DOGMAS OF THE CHURCH, _which\nserves as a basis for Christianity, and without which_, Satan (and\nJesus) would be but names\u201d; or to put it in the still stronger terms\nof the pious Chevalier des Mousseaux, \u201c_The Devil is the chief\npillar of Faith_ ... if it was not for him, the Saviour, the\nCrucified, the Redeemer, would be but the most ridiculous of\nsupernumeraries, and the Cross an insult to good sense.\u201d (See _Isis\nUnveil._ vol. i., 103; vol. ii., 14.) Truly so. Were there no Devil,\na Christ to save the World from him would be hardly wanted! Yet, the\nRev. Haweis says: (p. 24) \u201cI cannot now discuss the teaching of the\nN. T. on the King Devil, or I might show that Jesus did not endorse\nthe popular view of one King Devil, and ... notice the way in which\nour translators have played fast and loose with the words _Diabolus\nand Satan_;\u201d adding that the Tree and Serpent worship was an\nOriental cult, \u201cof which the narrative of Adam and Eve is a Semitic\nform.\u201d Is this _admissible_ orthodoxy?\u2014ED.]\n\n                        SOCIALISM AND THEOSOPHY.\n\n                    _To the Editors of_ LUCIFER.\n\nMESDAMES,\u2014In the December number of LUCIFER Mr. J. B. Bright takes\nexception to some remarks on Socialism in an article on\n\u201cBrotherhood,\u201d which appeared in your pages a month previously.\n\nAs the writer of that article, I think it right to accept Mr.\nBright\u2019s challenge, and endeavour to replace my somewhat hasty\ngeneralisations by a more precise statement of the teachings of\nTheosophy, as they appear to me to bear on the question at issue.\n\nMr. Bright objects to my use of the phrase \u201c_materialistic_\nSocialism.\u201d My intention was to draw a distinction between that\nwhich \u201cconcerns itself primarily with the material or physical\ncondition of mankind,\u201d and that other form of purely voluntary\nassociation, springing, as regards each of its members, from a\nrecognition of their unity of purpose, and the realisation of the\nidea of brotherhood, for an example of which we may turn to the\ncommunistic system of the early Christian Church. I would point out\nthat this is not a fanciful distinction, as in the first case what\nis described as \u201ca juster distribution of wealth\u201d is the very\nessence of the Socialistic idea, while in the second it is only an\nincident, arising from the conviction that worldly possessions have\nin themselves no value in comparison with \u201cthe things of the\nspirit.\u201d I maintain then that the teachings of Theosophy are opposed\nto \u201cmodern materialistic Socialism,\u201d and I will endeavour to point\nout, as briefly as possible, in what this opposition consists.\n\nThere is at the outset a fundamental difference between Theosophy\nand Socialism in the value they attach to the \u201cmaterial and\nphysical\u201d well-being of mankind. Theosophy regards any given earth\nlife as an infinitesimal link in the chain of lives which leads from\nthe first glimmerings of a separate consciousness up to the very\nthreshold of Divinity and All-knowledge. And taking the doctrines of\nRe-incarnation and Karma, as interacting laws, it sees in the\napparent injustices of physical life, and in the inequalities of\nintellectual and moral development among mankind, the results of\ngood or bad use made of opportunities in previous incarnations. The\nUniverse is governed by the great law of Harmony, whose agent is\nKarma, and infractions of this law, or rebellion against it, are\npunished by the action of Karma, whether in the individual or the\nrace. Thus the position of every individual in respect to his fellow\nmen, and the position of every nation (the compound, as it were, of\nindividual Karmas) in respect to other nations, is the direct result\nof previously acquired characteristics and affinities. The\nre-incarnation of an individual will be governed by his personal\naffinities; firstly, to the general Karma of his nation: secondly,\nto the particular circumstances of his parentage and condition in\nlife. Theosophy therefore teaches that so far as regards his\nindividual Karma, a man\u2019s place in Society is what he has made it,\nand he has no right to cry out against the injustice of the law\nwhich he has broken, and which inexorably exacts the penalty of his\ndefault. This does not however quite hold good as regards the\nnational or the cyclic Karma. It is quite possible that by the\naction of cyclic Karma injustice may be done to individuals, to be\natoned for no doubt in future existences, but at the same time\ncalculated to impede their due and regular development. The\ncombating of this cyclic Karma, in so far as it deals unjustly with\nindividuals, is the work of the great and wise ones of this earth,\nand every true Theosophist will to the best of his ability take part\nin the struggle. But the Socialist movement is itself a part of the\ncyclic Karma, and in its endeavour to rectify what seem, from its\nlimited point of view, injustices, it cannot fail to be unjust to\nthose the justice of whose position in life it declines to\nrecognise. Thus it cannot be otherwise than that it should meet with\nopposition from those whose object is the improvement of humanity as\na whole.\n\nI must in the second place point out that the teaching of Theosophy\nis entirely opposed to the idea that any very great progress can be\nmade by humanity as a whole, within the space of a few generations.\nSpeaking of the destruction of evil in the human heart, the author\nof \u201cLight on the Path\u201d says, \u201cOnly the strong can kill it out. The\nweak must wait for its growth, its fruition, its death. And it is a\nplant which lives and increases throughout the ages. It flowers when\nman has accumulated unto himself innumerable existences.\u201d This is\nundoubtedly Theosophical teaching, but I do not think it tallies\nwith Mr. Bright\u2019s view that \u201cthis self same society\u2014\u2014contains within\nit all the germs of such a reconstruction of the physical\nenvironment as shall shortly place the means of spiritual and\npsychical regeneration within the reach of all.\u201d It is impossible\nthat Socialism or any other external organisation can \u201craise the\nintellectual and instinctive moral standard of the whole community\nto such an extent that all will, in the next generation after the\nSocial Revolution, be amenable to the truths\u201d of Theosophy. This\nwould be equivalent to saying that every member of the community was\nprepared definitely to undertake the task of self-conquest, and it\nhappens unfortunately that almost all the external work of Socialism\nis in the opposite direction. Further, it must be distinctly pointed\nout that this task of self-conquest must be undertaken and carried\nthrough by each man for himself, and only those who have reached a\ncertain point in human evolution are ready for the struggle. There\nis one other point on which I feel some stress must be laid. It\nseems to me impossible that Theosophy, recognising as it does the\nimmense gulf which exists between ordinary humanity (in which term I\nof course include all its followers), and those who are on the\nthreshold of Divinity, can fail to recognise at the same time the\nprinciple of hierarchy in its best and noblest sense. I mean of\ncourse a spiritual hierarchy, but even this is incompatible with\nthat innate hatred of domination which is so obvious in Socialism.\nThere is no doubt some inconsistency in this hatred of domination,\nas in practice Socialists are prepared to substitute for the\nexisting domination of intelligence that of mere numbers, but this,\nif anything, only makes the contrast between the two ideas somewhat\nstronger. It is only right to point out that an accepted disciple\n(not a mere student) practically surrenders his personal liberty,\nand pledges himself to obedience to those great ones who are the\ninitiators of the Theosophical movement.\n\nI have endeavoured thus far to particularise my general statement\nthat the teachings of Theosophy were opposed to Socialism. I think\nMr. Bright\u2019s objections to my other statements are in effect\nanswered in what I have already said, but I may perhaps be permitted\nto deal with them separately. If Mr. Bright has understood the\nmeaning of the article on Brotherhood, he will, I think, see that\nwhereas the Theosophical idea of brotherhood is based on the\nidentity of the Divine spirit inherent in humanity, and thence\nworking downwards, the brotherhood of Socialism is based on the\nassumption of equality on the material, or intellectual plane, and\nhas, _per se_, no existence at all on the higher plane. The\nbrotherhood of Theosophy, once rightly understood, will no doubt be\nmanifested on the lower planes, but that does not make it the same\nthing as an idea of Brotherhood which begins and ends in physical\nexistence.\n\nAs to my remark that Socialism is an attempt to interfere with the\naction of the Laws of Karma, I should perhaps have added the word\n\u201cindividual,\u201d which, in conjunction with my reference to the parable\nof the talents, should make the meaning clear. Socialism aims at the\nlevelling of classes, which is nothing else than a redistribution of\nthe responsibilities of life. I understand the parable of the\ntalents to indicate the true meaning of the differences in\nopportunities accorded to individuals during their life on earth.\nEvery opportunity is also a responsibility, and from those to whom\nmuch is given much will be demanded. Further, responsibility is\nthrust upon those who can bear it, and to relieve them from it, and\ntransfer it to the shoulders of the weaker brethren, is an\ninterference with the laws of Karma, and can only lead to a\nretardation of the general evolution of humanity. I will only say in\nconclusion that I have endeavoured to confine my remarks to the view\nof Socialism advanced by Mr. Bright. It is indeed hardly necessary\nto point out that Theosophy can never be a party to the incitements\nto violence, and the appeals to the baser passions which Mr. Bright\nrightly deprecates, but which are unfortunately too often the\nstock-in-trade of the Socialist orator.\n\nI feel that there are many points in Mr. Bright\u2019s letter to which I\nshould be glad to reply more in detail, but I fear that in so doing\nI might be considered as trenching too much on those purely\npolitical aspects of the question which are outside the scope of\nTheosophical work.\n\n                                   I am, Mesdames,\n                                            Your obedient servant,\n                                                 THOS. B. HARBOTTLE.\n\n                        -----------------------\n\n                           WHAT IS THEOSOPHY?\n\n_The question is answered by Schopenhauer as follows_:\n\n\u201c... Starting from the plane of _mental conception_ (_Vorstellung_),\nand proceeding on our way towards the attainment of _objective\nknowledge_, we shall never be able to arrive at a higher point than\nour own conception (imagination), _i.e._ of the external appearance\nof the object of our observation; but we shall never be able to\npenetrate into the interior of the things and to find out what they\nreally are (not what they merely appear to be). So far I agree with\n_Kant_. But as a counterpoise to this truth I have called attention\nto another one; namely, that we are not merely the _cognising\nsubject_, but we are also ourselves a part of object of our\ncognition, we are ourselves the _Thing itself_. There is\nconsequently an interior way open to us from that self-existing and\ninterior essence of things, which we cannot approach from the\noutside; a kind of subterranean passage, a secret connection, by\nwhich we by treason, as it were, may at once penetrate into a\nfortress which was impregnable from the outside. The _Thing itself_\ncan as such enter our consciousness only in a direct manner, _i.e._\n_by becoming conscious of its own self_. To attempt to know it\nobjectively is to ask for a self-contradiction.\u201d (_The World as Will\nand Conception._ Vol. ii., Cap. 18).\n\nWhat Schopenhauer expresses in modern philosophical language might\nperhaps be stated in a few words by saying, that man cannot become\nconscious of the truth unless the truth is in him, and in that case\nit is not the man who recognises the truth, but the truth which\nrecognises itself in man. He who wants to know it objectively must\nseparate himself from it, because no one can see his own face\nwithout the help of a mirror; but if he separates himself from it,\nthe truth exists in him no longer. It is therefore the truth itself\nwhich may become self-conscious in man, provided there exists any\ntruth in him.\n\n                                                               F. H.\n\n                        -----------------------\n\n                         A NOTE OF EXPLANATION.\n\nI would much rather suffer an unintentional misrepresentation of my\nmeaning than take the trouble to reply, and have no desire to\nmagnify small matters of difference. But a very critical friend\ncalls my attention to certain statements and apparent discrepancies\nin the \u201cEsoteric Character of the Gospels,\u201d on which I will beg\nleave to say a word.\n\nI find it affirmed on p. 300, in a foot-note, that \u201cMr. G. Massey\nis not correct in saying that \u2018_The Gnostic form of the name\nChrest or Chrestos denotes the Good God, not a human original,\u2019\nfor it denoted the latter, that is, a good, holy man._\u201d But either\nthe statement has no meaning as an answer to me, or it is based on\na misunderstanding of mine.[135] I was showing that the _original_\nChrist of the Gnosis was not one particular form of human\npersonality, like the supposed historic Christ, and that the name\ndenoted a divine, and not a human _original_. I was perfectly well\naware, as your quotations show, that the name was _afterwards_\nconferred on the \u201cgood\u201d as the Chrestoi or Chrestiani. Nor do I\nsay, or anywhere imply, that the \u201c_Karest_,\u201d or mummy-type of\nimmortality _was_ the _only form of the Christ_, as your\nquotations again will prove. I have written enough about that\nGnostic Christ who was the Immortal Self in man, the reflection\nof, or emanation from, the divine nature in humanity, and in both\nsexes, not merely in one.[136] This is the Christ that never could\nbecome a one person or be limited to one sex. This you accept and\npreach; yet you can add \u201c_Still the personage (Jesus) so addressed\nby Paul\u2014wherever he lived\u2014was a great initiate, and a \u2018Son of\nGod.\u2019_\u201d[137] But the Christos of Paul, being the Gnostic Christ,\nas you admit (301), it cannot be a personage named Jesus, or a\ngreat Initiate, who was addressed by him. It appears to me that in\npassages like these, you are giving away all that is worth\ncontending for, and vouching for that which never has been, and\nnever can be, proved. I have searched for Jesus many years in the\nGospels and elsewhere without being able to catch hold of the hem\nof the garment of any human personality. Ben-Pandira we know a\nlittle of, but cannot make him out in the Christ of the Gospels.\nThe Christ of the Gnosis can be identified, but not with any\nhistoric Jesus.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 135:\n\n  The remark made has never been meant as \u201can answer,\u201d but simply as\n  an observation that the word \u201cChrestos\u201d applied to a \u201cgood man,\u201d a\n  \u201chuman original,\u201d and not to a \u201cgood God only.\u201d If such was not\n  the intention of Mr. Massey, and he amplifies his idea elsewhere,\n  it was not so amplified in his article in the \u201cAgnostic Annual.\u201d\n  It is, therefore, simply a bare statement of facts referring to\n  that particular article and no more. I do not for one moment\n  oppose Mr. Massey\u2019s conclusions, nor doubt his undeniable learning\n  in the direction of those particular researches, _i.e._, about the\n  words \u201cChristos\u201d and \u201cChrestos.\u201d What I say is, that he limits\n  them to the negation of an historical Christ, and, for reasons no\n  doubt very weighty, does not touch upon their principal esoteric\n  meaning in the temple-phraseology of the Mysteries.\u2014H.P.B.\n\nFootnote 136:\n\n  This is absolutely and preeminently a Theosophical doctrine taught\n  ever since 1875, when the Theosophical Society was founded.\u2014[ED.]\n\nFootnote 137:\n\n  This, I am afraid, is a misunderstanding (due, no doubt, to my own\n  fault) on the part of our learned correspondent, of the meaning\n  that was intended to be conveyed in the articles now criticized.\n  If he goes to the trouble of reading over again the paragraph that\n  misled him (see p. 307, 5th paragraph), he will, perhaps, see that\n  it is so. That which was really meant was that, though the terms\n  _Christos_ and _Chr\u00e9stos_ are generic surnames, still, the\n  personage so addressed (not by Paul, necessarily, but by any one),\n  was a great Initiate and a \u201cSon of God.\u201d It is the name \u201cJesus,\u201d\n  placed in the sentence in parentheses that made it both clumsy and\n  misleading. Whether Paul knew of Jehoshua Ben Pandira (and he must\n  have heard of him), or not, he could never have applied the\n  surname used by him to Jesus or any other _historic_ Christ.\n  Otherwise his _Epistles_ would not have been withheld and exiled\n  as they were. The sentence which precedes the two incriminated\n  statements, shows that no such thing, as understood by Mr. Massey,\n  could have been really meant, as it is said \u201cOccultism pure and\n  simple finds the same mystic elements in the Christian as in other\n  faiths, _though it rejects emphatically its dogmatic and historic\n  character_.\u201d The two statements, viz., that Jesus or Jehoshua Ben\n  Pandira _whenever he lived_, was a great Initiate and the \u201cSon of\n  God\u201d\u2014just as Apollonius of Tyana was\u2014and that Paul never meant\n  either him or any other living Initiate, but a metaphysical\n  Christos present in, and _personal_ to, every mystic Gnostic as to\n  every initiated Pagan\u2014are not at all irreconcileable. A man may\n  know of several great Initiates, and yet place his own ideal on a\n  far higher pedestal than any of these.\u2014[H.P.B.]\n\n-----\n\nWe do not go to the Christian Gospels to learn the true nature of\nthe Christ, or the incarnation according to the Gnostic religion\n(I use this term in preference to yours of the \u201cWisdom-Religion,\u201d\nas being more definite and explanatory; not as a religion,\nsupposed by the _Idiotai_ to have followed in the wake of Historic\nChristianity!). These were known in Egypt, more than six thousand\nyears ago. When the monuments began the Cult of the Supreme God\nAtum was extant. We know not how many \u00e6ons earlier, but six\nthousand years will do. Atum = Adam was the divine father of an\neternal soul which was personated as his son, named Iu-em-hept\n(the Greek Imothos or \u00c6sculapius), an image of whom used to be\nseen (on shelf 3,578, b. 1874), in the British Museum. He was the\nsecond Atum = Adam, and is called the \u201cEternal Word\u201d in the\nRitual. In external phenomena this type represented the Solar God,\nre-born monthly or annually in the lunar orb; in human phenomena\nthe Christ or Son of God as the essential and eternal soul in man.\nBut he was neither a man nor an Initiate. He was just what the\nLogos, the Word of Truth or Ma-Kheru, the Buddha or Christ is in\nother Cults.[138]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 138:\n\n  Nor shall I dispute this statement in general. But this does not\n  invalidate in one iota _my_ claim. The temple priests assumed\n  the names of the gods they served, and this is as well known a\n  fact, as that the defunct Egyptian became an \u201cOsiris\u201d\u2014was\n  \u201cosirified\u201d\u2014after his death. Yet Osiris was assuredly neither\n  \u201cman nor an Initiate,\u201d but a being hardly recognised as such by\n  the Royal Society of materialistic science. Why, then, could not\n  an \u201cInitiate,\u201d who had succeeded in merging his spiritual being\n  into the _Christos state_, be regarded as a Christos after his\n  last and supreme initiation, just as he was called _Chrestos_\n  before that? Neither Plotinus, Porphyry nor Apollonius were\n  Christians, yet, according to esoteric teaching, Plotinus\n  realized this sublime state (of becoming or uniting himself with\n  his _Christos_) six times, Apollonius of Tyana four times, while\n  Porphyry reached the exalted state only once, when over sixty\n  years of age. The Gnostics called the \u201c_Word_\u201d \u201cAbraxas\u201d and\n  \u201cChristos\u201d indiscriminately, and by whatever name we may call\n  it, whether Ma-Kheru, or Christos or Abraxas, it is all one.\n  That mystic state which gives to our inner being the impulse\n  that attracts \u201cthe soul toward its origin and centre, the\n  Eternal good,\u201d as Plotinus teaches, and makes of man a god, the\n  Christos or the unknown made manifest, is a preeminently\n  theosophical condition. It belonged to the temple mysteries, and\n  the teachings of the Neo-Platonists.\u2014[H.P.B.]\n\n-----\n\nI cordially agree with \u201cM,\u201d a correspondent whom you quote, and wish\nthat all our orthodox friends would as frankly face the facts. If\nany historic Jesus ever did claim to be the Gnostic Christ made\nflesh[139] once for all, he would be the supremest impostor in\nhistory.\n\nLet us define to ourselves very strictly what it is we do mean, or\nwe shall introduce the direst confusion into the conflict, and we\nshall be unable to distinguish the face of friend from foe in the\ncloud of battle-dust which we may raise. What I find is, that\nHistoric Christianity was based either upon the suppression or the\nperversion of all that _was_ esoteric in Gnostic Christianity. And\nto bring any aid from the one to the support of the other is to try\nand re-establish with the left hand all that you are knocking down\nwith the right.\n\nI am also taken to task on page 307 for alluding to the Bible as a\n\u201cMagazine of falsehoods already exploded, or just going off,\u201d by the\nwriter who adds force to my words later on in characterizing these\nsame writings as a \u201cMagazine of (_wicked_) falsehoods\u201d[140] (p.\n178), which was going farther than I went, who do set down as much\nto ignorance as to knavery. What I meant was, that the \u201cFall of Man\u201d\nin the Old Testament, is a falsification of fable, now exploded, and\nthat the redemption from that fall, which is promised in the New,\nwhether by an \u201cInitiate\u201d or \u201cSon of God\u201d is a fraud based on the\nfable, and a falsehood that is going to be exploded. There is no\ncall to mix up the Book of the Dead, the Vedas, or any other sacred\nwritings, in this matter. Each tub must stand on its own bottom, and\nthe one that won\u2019t, can\u2019t hold water.[141]\n\n                                                      GERALD MASSEY.\n\nP.S. By the by, I see the Adventists, and other misleading\nDelusionists are all agog just now about the wonderful fulfilment of\nprophecy, and corroboration of historic fact, that we are now\nwitnessing. The \u201cStar of Bethlehem\u201d has reappeared, so they say, to\nprove the truth of the Christian story. But, sad to say, it is not\nthe star of Christ that is now visible in the south-east before\nsunrise every morning. It is Venus in her heliacal rising. It is\nVenus as the Maleess, or Lucifer as \u201cSun of the Morning.\u201d This\nparticular Star of Bethlehem\u2014there are various others less brilliant\nand less noticeable\u2014generally does return once every nineteen months\nor so, when the planet Venus is the Morning Star. Only the gaping\ncamel-swallowers, who know all about the \u201cStar of Bethlehem,\u201d and\nthe fulfilment of prophecy, are not up in Astronomy, and they will\nno doubt squirm and strain at this small gnat of real fact offered\nto them by way of an explanation.\n\n                                                               G. M.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 139:\n\n  \u201cChrist made flesh,\u201d would be a claim worse than imposture, as it\n  would be _absurdity_, but a man of flesh assuming the\n  _Christ-condition_ temporarily, is indeed an occult, yet living,\n  fact.\u2014[ED.]\n\nFootnote 140:\n\n  Just so, if it has been originally written to be accepted in its\n  dead letter sense. But, as I entirely agree with Mr. Massey, that\n  historic Christianity was based upon the suppression, and\n  especially the _perversion_ of that which was esoteric in\n  gnosticism, it is difficult to see in what it is that we disagree?\n  The perversion of esoteric facts in the gospels is not so cleverly\n  done as to prevent the true occultist from reading the Gospel\n  narratives between the lines.\u2014[H.P.B.]\n\nFootnote 141:\n\n  If Mr. G. Massey kindly waits till the conclusion of \u201cthe Esoteric\n  character of the gospels\u201d to criticise the statements, he may\n  perhaps arrive at the conviction that we are not so far apart in\n  our ideas upon this particular question as he seems to think. Of\n  course my critic being an Egyptologist, opposed to the Aryan\n  theory, and arriving at his conclusions only by what he finds in\n  strictly authenticated and accepted documents\u2014and I, as a\n  Theosophist and an Occultist of a certain school, accepting my\n  proofs on data which he rejects\u2014_i.e._ esoteric teachings\u2014we can\n  hardly agree upon every point. But the question is not whether\n  there was or never was an _historical_ Christ, or Jesus, between\n  the years 1 and 33 A.D.\u2014but simply were the Gospels of the\n  gnostics (of Marcion and others, for instance) perverted later by\n  Christians\u2014esoteric allegories founded on _facts_, or simply\n  meaningless fictions? I believe the former, and esoteric teachings\n  explain many of the allegories.\u2014[H.P.B.]\n\n-----\n\n                        -----------------------\n\n  [_We give room to this remarkable letter with the object of\n  comparison. The Secularists are loud in proclaiming the modes of\n  expression of the Theosophists as \u201cstultic profundity,\u201d and the\n  Esoteric Doctrine as \u201ca hopeless chaos,\u201d a \u201crudely methodised\n  madness.\u201d At the same time the Hylo-Idealists are_ PERSON\u00c6\n  GRATISSIM\u00c6 _in the \u201cSecular Review,\u201d and no such remarks are\n  passed about their theories and style_. Readers please to compare.\n  \u201cFiat Justitia, ruat Saladinus!\u201d\u2014ED.]\n\n                   HYLO-IDEALISM\u2014THE SECRET OF JESUS.\n\n           \u201cBehold, the Kingdom of Heaven is within you.\u201d\n\nThe primacy of Self is indisputable, if by reason of one fact\nonly\u2014that this, self-same, Self is the initial postulate of all sane\nphilosophy. And, when Philosophy soars to Metaphysic, Scientific\nAnalysis \u201ctakes up the wondrous tale,\u201d and its burden is Self-hood\nalso. All roads lead to Rome. All analysis runs into the Egoistic\nSynthesis. \u201cThe One [Ego] remains, the Many change and pass.\u201d Yet\nthe passing is only the flux and ebb of the One. In Hegel\u2019s words,\n\u201cthat which passes away passes away into its own self: only the\npassing away passes away.\u201d Which things are an allegory, and yet\n\u201c_solvitur ambulando_.\u201d A recent traveller in the United States\ntells us, that, in the Emerson country, he chanced upon cross-roads,\nand found there an apparently contradictory direction-post. One arm\nof it bore the inscription, \u201cThis is the way to Concord,\u201d the other,\npointing in the opposite direction, was similarly worded, \u201cThis is\nthe way to Concord.\u201d The Hylo-Ideal Thesis is this Ideal Concord, to\nbe reached whether you travel by way of Eastern Idealism, or by the\nroute of plainer Western Materialism. For, and here all\ncontradictions are reconciled, in the one Subject-object which is\nSelf, there is no diversity, neither Jew nor Greek, neither Idealism\nonly, nor Materialism only, or exclusively, but all is one.[142] And\nin Unity there is no class distinction, no nomenclature, no\n\u201cotherness,\u201d no Ebal _and_ Gerizim, but only the Mount of God. What\nthe Ego is, _all_ is.[143] It is the _x_ of every problem and\nanswers to any value save the spurious and indifferent one of the\nDualist.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 142:\n\n  Hence the Spirit of _Non-Separateness_ in esoteric philosophy must\n  be the ONE _truth_.\u2014ED.\n\nFootnote 143:\n\n  Only this \u201cEgo\u201d is _universal_, not _individual_: _Absolute_\n  Consciousness, not the _human_ Brain.\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\nI find Hylo-Idealism (Auto-centricism)\u2014this \u201cpearl of great\nprice\u201d\u2014canvassed and examined by many modern thinkers, only to be\ncontemptuously cast away, though it would have made each one of them\nin turn \u201cricher than all his tribe.\u201d But it was ever thus. In this\nrejection there is no despair in the view of the _illuminati_. All\nis ours, and paltering with the central truth of SOLIPSISM, as men\nhave ever paltered, does not change or diminish the truth itself, or\nlessen the assurance of its ultimate victory, since to go from, or\nflee from, the Egoistic presence is an impossibility. We wander here\nand there, but to seek to transcend ourselves is vain. There must,\nsooner or later, be the _resipiscentia_, the coming home at last to\nSelf, and Self only, as to the better home at last.\n\nIn this view there is no _Logos_\u2014save that indisputable one, which\nmaketh all things to every one of us\u2014no \u201ctrue Light\u201d save that\neffulgent one which \u201clighteth every man that cometh into the world,\u201d\nnamely, his own creative and illuminating Egoity\u2014_sans_ which there\nis but nothingness. Such a Gospel as this should be termed the\nEvangel of common-sense were it not that that phrase shows only one\nside of the question\u2014\u201c_Virginibus, puerisque est_\u201d but it is also\nthe very acme of the exalted intelligence, \u201cthe last and sharpest\nheight\u201d of human thought where the atmosphere is all too rare for\nmortal breath.\n\nThe highest and the lowliest[144] are ever thus akin\u2014\u201cAryan worship\nsecreted in the Holy of Holies the utensils of the dairy.\u201d Grasp but\nthe centre truth of truths\u2014that the Ego and its products are _one_,\nthat every one of us spins, from his own consciousness, the web of\nthing and circumstance, which envelopes him\u2014and you see at once and\nas it were instinctively, that in this Universe-circle of Egoity\nthere is no \u201cotherness\u201d even thinkable, no lower and no higher, no\ndifference, nothing essentially common or unclean, everything being,\nnot so much cleansed of God, as very THEOBROMA,[145] God\u2019s food and\nnutrient element, seeing that in it, and by it, and through it, we\nand all things CONSUBSTANTIALLY EXIST.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 144:\n\n  Then why not term the philosophy \u201c_High-Low_-Idealism\u201d _vice_\n  \u201cHylo-Idealism\u201d?\u2014ED.\n\nFootnote 145:\n\n  \u201cTheobroma\u201d\u2014the same as _cacao-butter_. We take exception _to the\n  phraseology_, not to Dr. Lewins\u2019 ideas.\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\nThus _ver\u00e6 caus\u00e6_ and other figments are not so much unsearchable,\nor past finding out, as out of court or indifferent. Whether all be\nof God, or all be from a \u201cclam-shell,\u201d does not matter\u2014does not, by\none jot, affect our Thesis. Indifferently we are by origin,\npatricians or \u201cgutter-snipes.\u201d The Ego is free of the Cosmos\u2014equal\nto either fortune, high or low, makes _its own_ universe, calls it\nby its own name, and it \u201clives and moves and has its being.\u201d\n\n                                                          G. M. McC.\n\n                        -----------------------\n\n                      GERALD MASSEY ON SHAKSPEARE.\n\n  Mr. Massey has sent us a circular, the contents of which should be\n  of interest to the lovers of Shakspeare and the buyers of rare\n  books. The writer says:\n\n\u201cMy work on the Secret Drama of Shakspeare\u2019s Sonnets, with Sketches\nof his Private Friends, and of his own Life and Character, first\npublished in the year 1866, the Second Edition of which was issued,\nwith a Supplement, for Subscribers in 1872, has now been out of\nprint many years. It is frequently enquired for, and very rarely to\nbe found in the catalogues of second-hand booksellers. Therefore I\nam about to reproduce the work. It will have to be re-cast and\nre-written where necessary, as the writing can now be more\ndefinitely done. Errors must be confessed and corrected. The new\nvolume will be on lines similar to those of the earlier work,\naccentuated in many of the details, but modified in others. There\nwill be something new and more decisive to say concerning both sets\nof the Sonnets, which I call the Southampton and Herbert series; and\nnot without reason or warrant will the Comparative method be pushed\nmuch farther than before. The work will be written up to date in the\nlight of the latest knowledge. The most recent data, the latest\nresults of Shakspearian Siftings, will be utilised; and something\nwill have to be said concerning the current Baconian Craze, which\nwas no doubt foreseen by the Great Humourist when he wrote, \u2018_A most\nfine figure! To prove you a Cypher!_\u2019 is my aim to fight one last\nbattle on this field for what I maintain to be the cause of truth\nand right; to entrust a final answer on the Sonnet question to the\ntypes of John Guttenberg, and leave in his safe keeping a plea that\nshall be heard hereafter, as a permanent memorial to the writer\u2019s\nlove and admiration for Shakspeare the Poet and Man. After twenty\nyears the ground is felt to be firmer underfoot. The building will\nhave a more concrete base. I am enabled to give a closer clinch to\nmy conclusions, and, as I think, complete my case. Necessarily the\nbook must be large, 700 or 800 pp. The price will be One Guinea.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n\n\n\n                        =CORRESPONDENCE=\n\n                    INTERESTING TO ASTROLOGERS.\n\n                     ASTROLOGICAL NOTES\u2014No. 3.\n\n                    _To the Editor of_ LUCIFER.\n\nQuestion, at London, 11.45 a.m., Feb. 26th, 1887.\n\nWill the quesited die from his present illness?\n\nHearing by letter that my uncle, an octogenarian, was seriously ill\nfrom pneumonia, I drew a figure for the moment of the impression to\ndo so, which occurred while reading the communication. His illness\nhad commenced about February 7th, and he was now confined to his\nbed.\n\nThe following are the elements of the figure:\u2014\n\n                       Cusp of  10th house 0\u00b0 \u2653.\n\n                          \u2014     11th house 3\u00b0 \u2648.\n\n                          \u2014     12th house 20\u00b0 \u2649.\n\n                          \u2014     1st  house 4\u00b0\n                                     38\u2019\u264b.\n\n                          \u2014     2nd  house 20\u00b0 \u264b.\n\n                          \u2014     3rd  house 8\u00b0 \u264c.\n\nPlanets\u2019 places: \u2646 25\u00b0 10\u2019 \u2649; \u2645 11\u00b0 46 R \u264e; \u2644 15\u00b0 54\u2019 R \u2649. \u2643 5\u00b0 48\u2019\nR \u264f; \u2642 20\u00b0 31\u2019 31\u201d \u2653; \u2609 7\u00b0 35\u2019 50\u201d \u2653; \u2640 27\u00b0 53\u2019 14\u201d \u2653; \u263f 23\u00b0 18\u2019 58\u201d\n\u2653; \u263d 16\u00b0 22\u2019 36\u201d \u2648. Caput Draconis 27\u00b0 35\u2019 \u260a; \u2a01 13 24\u2019 \u264c.\n\nAs the quesited was the 4th of my mother\u2019s brothers and sisters, my\nmother being the 8th and last, I took the 10th house of the figure\nfor herself, the 12th (or 3rd from the 10th) for her eldest brother\nor sister, the 2nd for the 2nd, the 4th for the 3rd, the 6th for the\n4th\u2014the quesited\u2014and the 1st (the 8th from the 6th) for his 8th, or\nhouse of death. \u2642 was lord of his first house, and \u263d of his 8th. The\naspect was \u263d 25\u00b0 51\u2019 5\u201d \u2642, separating from the quindecile, and\napplying to the semisextile. As the significators were in good\naspects, separating from one and applying to the other, and within\norbs of both, it signified sure recovery; more especially as \u2642\nreceived \u263d by house, and was dignified by triplicity. Nevertheless,\nthe severity of the illness was shown by _Cauda Draconis_ in\nquesited\u2019s 4th house; by \u2644, lord of quesited\u2019s 4th, posited in\nquesited\u2019s 8th, retrograde, in his detriment, and in close \u25a1 to \u263d,\nlady of quesited\u2019s 8th and posited in his 6th. Furthermore, as \u263d,\nthe applying planet of the two significators, was in a cardinal sign\nand in a succeedent house of the figure, each degree signified a\nweek; therefore as \u263d wanted 4\u00b0 8\u2019 55\u201d of the perfect semisextile\naspect, I judged that he would be convalescent in 4 weeks and 1 day,\nor March 27th. _On March 29th he walked out in his garden for the\nfirst time_, and fully recovered from his attack.\n\n                                                               NEMO.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n      ERRATUM.\u2014Page 76, 2nd column, line 2, _for_ \u264d _read_ \u264f.\n\n                                LUCIFER\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n        VOL. I.     LONDON, FEBRUARY 15TH, 1888.     NO. 6.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n                            \u201cWHAT IS TRUTH?\u201d\n\n          \u201c_Truth_ is the Voice of Nature and of Time\u2014\n          _Truth_ is the startling monitor _within us_\u2014\n          Nought is without it, it comes from the stars,\n          The golden sun, and every breeze that blows....\u201d\n\n          \u2014W. THOMPSON BACON.\n\n          \u201c... Fair Truth\u2019s immortal sun\n          Is sometimes hid in clouds; not that her light\n          Is in itself defective, but obscured\n          By my weak prejudice, imperfect faith\n          And all the thousand causes which obstruct\n          The growth of goodness....\u201d\n\n                                                       \u2014HANNAH MORE.\n\n\u201cWhat is Truth?\u201d asked Pilate of one who, if the claims of the\nChristian Church are even approximately correct, must have known it.\nBut He kept silent. And the truth which He did not divulge, remained\nunrevealed, for his later followers as much as for the Roman\nGovernor. The silence of Jesus, however, on this and other\noccasions, does not prevent his present followers from acting as\nthough they had received the ultimate and absolute Truth itself; and\nfrom ignoring the fact that only such Words of Wisdom had been given\nto them as contained a share of the truth, itself concealed in\nparables and dark, though beautiful, sayings.[146]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 146:\n\n  Jesus says to the \u201cTwelve\u201d\u2014\u201cUnto you is given the mystery of the\n  Kingdom of God; but _unto them that are without, all things are\n  done in parables_,\u201c etc. (Mark iv. II.)\n\n-----\n\nThis policy led gradually to dogmatism and assertion. Dogmatism in\nchurches, dogmatism in science, dogmatism everywhere. The possible\ntruths, hazily perceived in the world of abstraction, like those\ninferred from observation and experiment in the world of matter, are\nforced upon the profane multitudes, too busy to think for\nthemselves, under the form of _Divine revelation_ and _Scientific\nauthority_. But the same question stands open from the days of\nSocrates and Pilate down to our own age of wholesale negation: is\nthere such a thing as _absolute truth_ in the hands of any one party\nor man? Reason answers, \u201cthere cannot be.\u201d There is no room for\nabsolute truth upon any subject whatsoever, in a world as finite and\nconditioned as man is himself. But there are relative truths, and we\nhave to make the best we can of them.\n\nIn every age there have been Sages who had mastered the absolute and\nyet could teach but relative truths. For none yet, born of mortal\nwoman in _our_ race, has, or could have given out, the whole and the\nfinal truth to another man, for every one of us has to find that (to\nhim) final knowledge _in_ himself. As no two minds can be absolutely\nalike, each has to receive the supreme illumination _through_\nitself, according to its capacity, and from no _human_ light. The\ngreatest adept living can reveal of the Universal Truth only so much\nas the mind he is impressing it upon can assimilate, and no more.\n_Tot homines, quot sententi\u00e6_\u2014is an immortal truism. The sun is one,\nbut its beams are numberless; and the effects produced are\nbeneficent or maleficent, according to the nature and constitution\nof the objects they shine upon. Polarity is universal, but the\npolariser lies in our own consciousness. In proportion as our\nconsciousness is elevated towards absolute truth, so do we men\nassimilate it more or less absolutely. But man\u2019s consciousness\nagain, is only the sunflower of the earth. Longing for the warm ray,\nthe plant can only turn to the sun, and move round and round in\nfollowing the course of the unreachable luminary: its roots keep it\nfast to the soil, and half its life is passed in the shadow....\n\nStill each of us can relatively reach the Sun of Truth even on this\nearth, and assimilate its warmest and most direct rays, however\ndifferentiated they may become after their long journey through the\nphysical particles in space. To achieve this, there are two methods.\nOn the physical plane we may use our mental polariscope; and,\nanalyzing the properties of each ray, choose the purest. On the\nplane of spirituality, to reach the Sun of Truth we must work in\ndead earnest for the development of our higher nature. We know that\nby paralyzing gradually within ourselves the appetites of the lower\npersonality, and thereby deadening the voice of the purely\nphysiological mind\u2014that mind which depends upon, and is inseparable\nfrom, its medium or _vehicle_, the organic brain\u2014the animal man in\nus may make room for the spiritual; and once aroused from its latent\nstate, the highest spiritual senses and perceptions grow in us in\nproportion, and develop _pari passu_ with the \u201cdivine man.\u201d This is\nwhat the great adepts, the Yogis in the East and the Mystics in the\nWest, have always done and are still doing.\n\nBut we also know, that with a few exceptions, no man of the world,\nno materialist, will ever believe in the existence of such adepts,\nor even in the possibility of such a spiritual or psychic\ndevelopment. \u201cThe (ancient) fool hath said in his heart, There is no\nGod\u201d; the modern says, \u201cThere are no adepts on earth, they are\nfigments of your diseased fancy.\u201d Knowing this we hasten to reassure\nour readers of the Thomas Didymus type. We beg them to turn in this\nmagazine to reading more congenial to them; say to the miscellaneous\npapers on Hylo-Idealism, by various writers.[147]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 147:\n\n  _e.g._, to the little article \u201cAutocentricism\u201d\u2014on the same\n  \u201cphilosophy,\u201d or again, to the apex of the Hylo-Idealist pyramid\n  in this Number. It is a letter of protest by the learned Founder\n  of the School in question, against a _mistake_ of ours. He\n  complains of our \u201ccoupling\u201d his name with those of Mr. Herbert\n  Spencer, Darwin, Huxley, and others, on the question of atheism\n  and materialism, as the said lights in the psychological and\n  physical sciences are considered by Dr. Lewins too flickering, too\n  \u201ccompromising\u201d and weak, to deserve the honourable appellation of\n  Atheists or even Agnostics. See \u201cCorrespondence\u201d in Double Column,\n  and the reply by \u201cThe Adversary.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFor LUCIFER tries to satisfy its readers of whatever \u201cschool of\nthought,\u201d and shows itself equally impartial to Theist and Atheist,\nMystic and Agnostic, Christian and Gentile. Such articles as our\neditorials, the Comments on \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d etc, etc.\u2014are not\nintended for Materialists. They are addressed to Theosophists, or\nreaders who know in their hearts that Masters of Wisdom _do_ exist:\nand, though _absolute_ truth is not on earth and has to be searched\nfor in higher regions, that there still are, even on this silly,\never-whirling little globe of ours, some things that are not even\ndreamt of in Western philosophy.\n\nTo return to our subject. It thus follows that, though \u201cgeneral\n_abstract_ truth is the most precious of all blessings\u201d for many of\nus, as it was for Rousseau, we have, meanwhile, to be satisfied with\nrelative truths. In sober fact, we are a poor set of mortals at\nbest, ever in dread before the face of even a relative truth, lest\nit should devour ourselves and our petty little preconceptions along\nwith us. As for an absolute truth, most of us are as incapable of\nseeing it as of reaching the moon on a bicycle. Firstly, because\nabsolute truth is as immovable as the mountain of Mahomet, which\nrefused to disturb itself for the prophet, so that he had to go to\nit himself. And we have to follow his example if we would approach\nit even at a distance. Secondly, because the kingdom of absolute\ntruth is not of this world, while we are too much of it. And\nthirdly, because notwithstanding that in the poet\u2019s fancy man is\n\n              \u201c... the abstract\n              Of all perfection, which the workmanship\n              Of heaven hath modelled....\u201d\n\nin reality he is a sorry bundle of anomalies and paradoxes, an empty\nwind bag inflated with his own importance, with contradictory and\neasily influenced opinions. He is at once an arrogant and a weak\ncreature, which, though in constant dread of some authority,\nterrestrial or celestial, will yet\u2014\n\n           \u201c... like an angry ape,\n           Play such fantastic tricks before high Heaven\n           As make the angels weep.\u201d\n\nNow, since truth is a multifaced jewel, the facets of which it is\nimpossible to perceive all at once; and since, again, no two men,\nhowever anxious to discern truth, can see even one of those facets\nalike, what can be done to help them to perceive it? As physical\nman, limited and trammelled from every side by illusions, cannot\nreach truth by the light of his terrestrial perceptions, we\nsay\u2014develop in you the _inner_ knowledge. From the time when the\nDelphic oracle said to the enquirer \u201cMan, know thyself,\u201d no greater\nor more important truth was ever taught. Without such perception,\nman will remain ever blind to even many a relative, let alone\nabsolute, truth. Man has to _know himself_, _i.e._, acquire the\n_inner_ perceptions which never deceive, before he can master any\nabsolute truth. Absolute truth is _the symbol of Eternity_, and no\n_finite_ mind can ever grasp the eternal, hence, no truth in its\nfulness can ever dawn upon it. To reach the state during which man\nsees and senses it, we have to paralyze the senses of the external\nman of clay. This is a difficult task, we may be told, and most\npeople will, at this rate, prefer to remain satisfied with relative\ntruths, no doubt. But to approach even terrestrial truths requires,\nfirst of all, _love of truth for its own sake_, for otherwise no\nrecognition of it will follow. And who loves truth in this age for\nits own sake? How many of us are prepared to search for, accept, and\ncarry it out, in the midst of a society in which anything that would\nachieve success _has to be built on appearances, not on reality, on\nself-assertion, not on intrinsic value_? We are fully aware of the\ndifficulties in the way of receiving truth. The fair heavenly maiden\ndescends only on a (to her) congenial soil\u2014the soil of an impartial,\nunprejudiced mind, illuminated by pure Spiritual Consciousness; and\nboth are truly rare dwellers in civilized lands. In our century of\nsteam and electricity, when man lives at a maddening speed that\nleaves him barely time for reflection, he allows himself usually to\nbe drifted down from cradle to grave, nailed to the Procrustean bed\nof custom and conventionality. Now conventionality\u2014pure and\nsimple\u2014is a congenital LIE, as it is in every case a \u201c_simulation_\nof feelings according to a received standard\u201d (F. W. Robertson\u2019s\ndefinition); and where there is any simulation _there cannot be any\ntruth_. How profound the remark made by Byron, that \u201ctruth is a gem\nthat is found at a great depth; whilst on the surface of this world\nall things are weighed _by the false scales of custom_,\u201d is best\nknown to those who are forced to live in the stifling atmosphere of\nsuch social conventionalism, and who, even when willing and anxious\nto learn, dare not accept the truths they long for, for fear of the\nferocious Moloch called Society.\n\nLook around you, reader; study the accounts given by world-known\ntravellers, recall the joint observations of literary thinkers, the\ndata of science and of statistics. Draw the picture of modern\nsociety, of modern politics, of modern religion and modern life in\ngeneral before your mind\u2019s eye. Remember the ways and customs of\nevery cultured race and nation under the sun. Observe the doings and\nthe moral attitude of people in the civilized centres of Europe,\nAmerica, and even of the far East and the colonies, everywhere where\nthe white man has carried the \u201cbenefits\u201d of so-called civilization.\nAnd now, having passed in review all this, pause and reflect, and\nthen name, _if you can_, that blessed _Eldorado_, that exceptional\nspot on the globe, _where_ TRUTH _is the honoured guest, and_ LIE\n_and_ SHAM _the ostracised outcasts_? YOU CANNOT. Nor can any one\nelse, unless he is prepared and determined to add his mite to the\nmass of falsehood that reigns supreme in every department of\nnational and social life. \u201cTruth!\u201d cried Carlyle, \u201ctruth, though the\nheavens crush me for following her, no falsehood, though a whole\ncelestial Lubberland were the prize of Apostasy.\u201d Noble words,\nthese. But how many think, and how many will _dare_ to speak as\nCarlyle did, in our nineteenth century day? Does not the gigantic\nappalling majority prefer to a man the \u201cparadise of Do-nothings,\u201d\nthe _pays de Cocagne_ of heartless selfishness? It is this majority\nthat recoils terror-stricken before the most shadowy outline of\nevery new and unpopular truth, out of mere cowardly fear, lest Mrs.\nHarris should denounce, and Mrs. Grundy condemn, its converts to the\ntorture of being rent piecemeal by her murderous tongue.\n\nSELFISHNESS, the first-born of Ignorance, and the fruit of the\nteaching which asserts that for every newly-born infant a new soul,\n_separate and distinct_ from the Universal Soul, is \u201ccreated\u201d\u2014this\nSelfishness is the impassable wall between the _personal_ Self and\nTruth. It is the prolific mother of all human vices. _Lie_ being\nborn out of the necessity for dissembling, and _Hypocrisy_ out of\nthe desire to mask _Lie_. It is the fungus growing and strengthening\nwith age in every human heart in which it has devoured all better\nfeelings. Selfishness kills every noble impulse in our natures, and\nis the one deity, fearing no faithlessness or desertion from its\nvotaries. Hence, we see it reign supreme in the world and in\nso-called fashionable society. As a result, we live, and move, and\nhave our being in this god of darkness under his trinitarian aspect\nof Sham, Humbug, and Falsehood, called RESPECTABILITY.\n\nIs this Truth and Fact, or is it slander? Turn whichever way you\nwill, and you find, from the top of the social ladder to the bottom,\ndeceit and hypocrisy at work for dear Self\u2019s sake, in every nation\nas in every individual. But nations, by tacit Agreement, have\ndecided that selfish motives in politics shall be called \u201cnoble\nnational aspiration, patriotism,\u201d etc.; and the citizen views it in\nhis family circle as \u201cdomestic virtue.\u201d Nevertheless, Selfishness,\nwhether it breeds desire for aggrandizement of territory, or\ncompetition in commerce at the expense of one\u2019s neighbour, can never\nbe regarded as a virtue. We see smooth-tongued DECEIT and BRUTE\nFORCE\u2014the _Jachin_ and _Boaz_ of every International Temple of\nSolomon\u2014called Diplomacy, and we call it by its right name. Because\nthe diplomat bows low before these two pillars of national glory and\npolitics, and puts their masonic symbolism \u201cin (cunning) strength\nshall this my house be established\u201d into daily practice; _i.e._,\ngets by deceit what he cannot obtain by force\u2014shall we applaud him?\nA diplomat\u2019s qualification\u2014\u201cdexterity or skill in securing\nadvantages\u201c\u2014for one\u2019s own country at the expense of other countries,\ncan hardly be achieved by speaking _truth_, but verily by a wily and\ndeceitful tongue; and, therefore, LUCIFER calls such action\u2014a\n_living_, and an evident LIE.\n\nBut it is not in politics alone that custom and selfishness have\nagreed to call deceit and lie virtue, and to reward him who lies\nbest with public statues. Every class of Society lives on LIE, and\nwould fall to pieces without it. Cultured, God-and-law-fearing\naristocracy being as fond of the forbidden fruit as any plebeian, is\nforced to lie from morn to noon in order to cover what it is pleased\nto term its \u201clittle peccadillos,\u201d but which TRUTH regards as gross\nimmorality. Society of the middle classes is honeycombed with false\nsmiles, false talk, and mutual treachery. For the majority religion\nhas become a thin tinsel veil thrown over the corpse of spiritual\nfaith. The master goes to church to deceive his servants; the\nstarving curate\u2014preaching what he has ceased to believe\nin\u2014hood-winks his bishop; the bishop\u2014his God. _Dailies_, political\nand social, might adopt with advantage for their motto Georges\nDandin\u2019s immortal query\u2014\u201cLequel de nous deux trompe-t-on ici?\u201d\u2014Even\nScience, once the anchor of the salvation of Truth, has ceased to be\nthe temple of _naked_ Fact. Almost to a man the Scientists strive\nnow only to force upon their colleagues and the public the\nacceptance of some personal hobby, of some new-fangled theory, which\nwill shed lustre on their name and fame. A Scientist is as ready to\nsuppress damaging evidence against a current scientific hypothesis\nin our times, as a missionary in heathen-land, or a preacher at\nhome, to persuade his congregation that modern geology is a lie, and\nevolution but vanity and vexation of spirit.\n\nSuch is the actual state of things in 1888 A.D., and yet we are\ntaken to task by certain papers for seeing this year in more than\ngloomy colours!\n\nLie has spread to such extent\u2014supported as it is by custom and\nconventionalities\u2014that even chronology forces people to lie. The\nsuffixes A.D. and B.C. used after the dates of the year by Jew and\nHeathen, in European and even Asiatic lands, by the Materialist and\nthe Agnostic as much as by the Christian, at home, are\u2014a _lie_ used\nto sanction another LIE.\n\nWhere then is even relative truth to be found? If, so far back as\nthe century of Democritus, she appeared to him under the form of a\ngoddess lying at the very bottom of a well, so deep that it gave but\nlittle hope for her release; under the present circumstances we have\na certain right to believe her hidden, at least, as far off as the\never invisible _dark_ side of the moon. This is why, perhaps, all\nthe votaries of hidden truths are forthwith set down as lunatics.\nHowever it may be, in no case and under no threat shall LUCIFER be\never forced into pandering to any universally and tacitly\nrecognised, and as universally practised lie, but will hold to fact,\npure and simple, trying to proclaim truth whensoever found, and\nunder no cowardly mask. Bigotry and intolerance may be regarded as\northodox and sound policy, and the encouraging of social prejudices\nand personal hobbies at the cost of truth, as a wise course to\npursue in order to secure success for a publication. Let it be so.\nThe Editors of LUCIFER are Theosophists, and their motto is chosen:\n_Vera pro gratiis_.\n\nThey are quite aware that LUCIFER\u2019S libations and sacrifices to\nthe goddess Truth do not send a sweet savoury smoke into the noses\nof the lords of the press, nor does the bright \u201cSon of the\nMorning\u201d smell sweet in their nostrils. He is ignored when not\nabused as\u2014_veritas odium paret_. Even his friends are beginning to\nfind fault with him. They cannot see _why it should not be a\npurely Theosophical magazine_, in other words, why it refuses to\nbe dogmatic and bigoted. Instead of devoting every inch of space\nto theosophical and occult teachings, it opens its pages \u201cto the\npublication of the most grotesquely heterogeneous elements and\nconflicting doctrines.\u201d This is the chief accusation, to which we\nanswer\u2014why not? Theosophy is divine knowledge, and knowledge is\ntruth; every _true_ fact, every sincere word are thus part and\nparcel of Theosophy. One who is skilled in divine alchemy, or even\napproximately blessed with the gift of the perception of truth,\nwill find and extract it from an erroneous as much as from a\ncorrect statement. However small the particle of gold lost in a\nton of rubbish, it is the noble metal still, and worthy of being\ndug out even at the price of some extra trouble. As has been said,\nit is often as useful to know what a thing _is not_, as to learn\nwhat it _is_. The average reader can hardly hope to find any fact\nin a sectarian publication under all its aspects, _pro_ and _con_,\nfor either one way or the other its presentation is sure to be\nbiassed, and the scales helped to incline to that side to which\nits editor\u2019s special policy is directed. A Theosophical magazine\nis thus, perhaps, the only publication where one may hope to find,\nat any rate, the unbiassed, if still only approximate truth and\nfact. Naked truth is reflected in LUCIFER under its many aspects,\nfor no philosophical or religious views are excluded from its\npages. And, as every philosophy and religion, however incomplete,\nunsatisfactory, and even foolish some may be occasionally, must be\nbased on a truth and fact of some kind, the reader has thus the\nopportunity of comparing, analysing, and choosing from the several\nphilosophies discussed therein. LUCIFER offers as many facets of\nthe One universal jewel as its limited space will permit, and says\nto its readers: \u201cChoose you this day whom ye will serve: whether\nthe gods that were on the other side of the flood which submerged\nman\u2019s reasoning powers and divine knowledge, or the gods of the\nAmorites of _custom_ and _social falsehood_, or again, the Lord of\n(the highest) Self\u2014the bright destroyer of the dark power of\nillusion?\u201d Surely it is that philosophy that tends to diminish,\ninstead of adding to, the sum of human misery, which is the best.\n\nAt all events, the choice is there, and for this purpose only have\nwe opened our pages to every kind of contributors. Therefore do you\nfind in them the views of a Christian clergyman who believes in his\nGod and Christ, but rejects the wicked interpretations and the\nenforced dogmas of his ambitious proud Church, along with the\ndoctrines of the Hylo-Idealist, who denies God, soul, and\nimmortality, and believes in nought save himself. The rankest\nMaterialists will find hospitality in our journal; aye, even those\nwho have not scrupled to fill pages of it with sneers and personal\nremarks upon ourselves, and abuse of the doctrines of Theosophy, so\ndear to us. When a journal of _free thought_, conducted by an\nAtheist, inserts an article by a Mystic or Theosophist in praise of\nhis occult views and the mystery of Parabrahmam, and passes on it\nonly a few casual remarks, then shall we say LUCIFER has found a\nrival. When a Christian periodical or missionary organ accepts an\narticle from the pen of a free-thinker deriding belief in Adam and\nhis rib, and passes criticism on Christianity\u2014its editor\u2019s faith\u2014in\nmeek silence, then it will have become worthy of LUCIFER, and may be\nsaid truly to have reached that degree of tolerance when it may be\nplaced on a level with any Theosophical publication.\n\nBut so long as none of these organs do something of the kind, they\nare all sectarian, bigoted, intolerant, and can never have an idea\nof truth and justice. They may throw innuendoes against LUCIFER and\nits editors, they cannot affect either. In fact, the editors of that\nmagazine feel proud of such criticism and accusations, as they are\nwitnesses to the absolute absence of bigotry, or arrogance of any\nkind in theosophy, the result of the divine beauty of the doctrines\nit preaches. For, as said, Theosophy allows a hearing and a fair\nchance to all. It deems no views\u2014if sincere\u2014entirely destitute of\ntruth. It respects thinking men, to whatever class of thought they\nmay belong. Ever ready to oppose ideas and views which can only\ncreate confusion without benefiting philosophy, it leaves their\nexpounders personally to believe in whatever they please, and does\njustice to their ideas when they are good. Indeed, the conclusions\nor deductions of a philosophic writer may be entirely opposed to our\nviews and the teachings we expound; yet, his premises and statements\nof facts may be quite correct, and other people may profit by the\nadverse philosophy, even if we ourselves reject it, believing we\nhave something higher and still nearer to the truth. In any case,\nour profession of faith is now made plain, and all that is said in\nthe foregoing pages both justifies and explains our editorial\npolicy.\n\nTo sum up the idea, with regard to absolute and relative truth, we\ncan only repeat what we said before. _Outside a certain highly\nspiritual and elevated state of mind, during which Man is at one\nwith the_ UNIVERSAL MIND\u2014_he can get nought on earth but relative\ntruth,_ _or truths, from whatsoever philosophy or religion_. Were\neven the goddess who dwells at the bottom of the well to issue from\nher place of confinement, she could give man no more than he can\nassimilate. Meanwhile, every one can sit near that well\u2014the name of\nwhich is KNOWLEDGE\u2014and gaze into its depths in the hope of seeing\nTruth\u2019s fair image reflected, at least, on the dark waters. This,\nhowever, as remarked by Richter, presents a certain danger. Some\ntruth, to be sure, may be occasionally reflected as in a mirror on\nthe spot we gaze upon, and thus reward the patient student. But,\nadds the German thinker, \u201cI have heard that some philosophers in\nseeking for Truth, to pay homage to her, have seen their own image\nin the water and adored it instead.\u201d...\n\nIt is to avoid such a calamity\u2014one that has befallen every founder\nof a religious or philosophical school\u2014that the editors are\nstudiously careful not to offer the reader only those truths which\nthey find reflected in their own personal brains. They offer the\npublic a wide choice, and refuse to show bigotry and intolerance,\nwhich are the chief landmarks on the path of Sectarianism. But,\nwhile leaving the widest margin possible for comparison, our\nopponents cannot hope to find _their faces_ reflected on the clear\nwaters of our LUCIFER, without remarks or just criticism upon the\nmost prominent features thereof, if in contrast with theosophical\nviews.\n\nThis, however, only within the cover of the public magazine, and so\nfar as regards the merely intellectual aspect of philosophical\ntruths. Concerning the deeper spiritual, and one may almost say\nreligious, beliefs, no true Theosophist ought to degrade these by\nsubjecting them to public discussion, but ought rather to treasure\nand hide them deep within the sanctuary of his innermost soul. Such\nbeliefs and doctrines should never be rashly given out, as they risk\nunavoidable profanation by the rough handling of the indifferent and\nthe critical. Nor ought they to be embodied in any publication\nexcept as hypotheses offered to the consideration of the thinking\nportion of the public. Theosophical truths, when they transcend a\ncertain limit of speculation, had better remain concealed from\npublic view, for the \u201cevidence of things not seen\u201d is no evidence\nsave to him who sees, hears, and senses it. It is not to be dragged\noutside the \u201cHoly of Holies,\u201d the temple of the impersonal divine\n_Ego_, or the indwelling SELF. For, while every fact outside _its_\nperception can, as we have shown, be, at best, only a relative\ntruth, a ray from the absolute truth can reflect itself only in the\npure mirror of its own flame\u2014our highest SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS.\nAnd how can the darkness (of illusion) comprehend the LIGHT that\nshineth in it?\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                        THE SOLDIER\u2019S DAUGHTER.\n\n                      (Judges xi., 6-xi., 39.)\n\nIn the early days of Israel\u2019s history, whilst Israel was struggling\nto be a nation and a kingdom, there was a people called the\nAmmonites, who were making war upon the Israelites.\n\nAnd we are told that the Israelites, in great distress and fear,\nwent out of their country, into the land of Tob, to find a man named\nJephthah, who was a man of mighty valour, in order to persuade him\nto return with them, and be the captain and leader of their army, to\nfight against, and save them from the Ammonites.\n\nNow this man Jephthah was himself an Israelite by birth, but because\nhis mother had not been legally married to his father, Gilead, the\nsons of Gilead\u2019s lawful wife conspired together to drive him from\nhis hearth, home, and country, as a disgrace to the family and to\nIsrael; but the true reason was that they were envious and jealous\nof him, in like manner as the brethren of Joseph who had previously\nconspired against him.\n\nFor Jephthah himself was wholly innocent of having done anything to\ndisgrace either the family or the nation. And therefore, in common\njustice, he ought not to have been made to suffer merely for the\nform and manner of his birth; over which neither Jephthah nor any of\nus have any control, either as to the time, when, or the manner, in\nwhich we should be born. But although Jephthah was despised and cast\nout as a dog, in the days of Israel\u2019s prosperity, yet in the day of\nIsrael\u2019s adversity and weakness, Israel no longer allowed any mean\nand petty distinctions to prevent her from recognising the noble\ncharacter of Jephthah, and she entreated him to forget past\nill-usage, and return to be her captain and leader to save her from\nthe Ammonites.\n\nAnd as this proposal of Israel afforded Jephthah the long wished-for\nopportunity of returning to his country, and of establishing an\nhonourable reputation, _therefore_ he was not only ready to forget\nand forgive the insults and injuries which he had received in the\npast from his brethren, but he was also ready to return with them,\nand share their troubles and dangers, even to sacrificing his life,\nif need be, in order to save their lives and property.\n\nJephthah was the more willing to return and make this sacrifice\nbecause he had a daughter, an only daughter and child; and she was\nall the world to him, as he was to her; \u201cfor beside her he had\nneither son nor daughter,\u201d and she had patiently and willingly\nsuffered with him, and borne all his sorrows as her own.\n\nBut imagine the horror of Jephthah, after having saved the lives and\nproperty of his brethren and countrymen by risking his own life, at\nbeing then required, by these very brethren and countrymen, to shed\nthe blood of his only child! Immediately after the war was over,\nJephthah was required to sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering\nto the Lord of Battles, for having assisted Israel to overcome the\nAmmonites; and so great was the love of this heroine for her father,\nand for everything that concerned his honour and glory, that she\nwillingly consented to be sacrificed as a burnt offering.\n\nCan anything be conceived more heartrending and terrible than that\nJephthah should thus be required by these very brethren and\ncountrymen whom he had saved, to shed the blood of his only child as\na sacrifice, in acknowledgment that he owed his victory to\nmiraculous assistance and favour, and not to his own skill and\nvalour?\n\nWhat to him was the deliverance either of Israel or of his brethren\n(who had cared naught for him), if they now required him to\nsacrifice the only being in the world that he loved, and that loved\nhim, and who was therefore all the world to him?\n\nIt is true that Jephthah had made a foolish and rash vow, in the mad\nexcitement of the moment before going into battle, that if he came\nout of the battle victorious, he would sacrifice, as a burnt\noffering to the Lord, the first thing that came to meet him from his\nhouse as he returned from the battle; but when the first person that\nmet Jephthah was his only daughter, _what could that Deity be, which\naccepted as a sacrifice the blood of this child?_ What could the\nreligion of Jephthah\u2019s brethren and countrymen be, that allowed and\nrequired him to commit such an evil deed?\n\nFor if Jephthah had saved his brethren and countrymen from their\nenemies, could they not now save Jephthah from shedding the blood of\nhis daughter as a sacrifice, in the name of religion, _when_ the\nvery deed itself proclaimed the religion, and their conception both\nof religion and of the Deity, to be evil? And if his brethren and\ncountrymen would not save his daughter, but even required him to\nfulfil his vow, could not Jephthah save himself and his child by\nrefusing to commit this evil deed? But if, in order to save his own\nblood from being shed as a blasphemer for an atonement, Jephthah had\nto flee from the country as an outcast and a criminal, whither could\nhe flee to, that would make life worth keeping? For surely the world\nwould be no desirable place for an honest man to live in, if he had\nto live at enmity with men both at home and abroad, because he had\nmade a rash and foolish vow, which no Deity worthy of being\nworshipped could or would require him to perform?\n\nBecause under such a sanguinary conception of religion, and of the\nDeity, there was no remission, or redemption either, with, or\nwithout, the shedding of blood. If Jephthah refused to shed the\nblood of his daughter, then both his own and his daughter\u2019s would be\nshed by his brethren and countrymen, whilst if Jephthah shed the\nblood of his daughter, as a sacrifice to save his own, what\nremission or redemption was there in this? None!\n\nAnd he cried for a deliverer to save him and his daughter, from this\ngreat trouble. For he had staked his life and his all upon obtaining\na position and reputation for himself and his daughter at home in\nIsrael; and now, to give up hope of this for ever, and to shed the\nblood of his daughter, or again flee as an outcast\u2014what was it but a\nliving death to Jephthah, either way, whether he remained and\nsacrificed his daughter, or fled to save her?\n\nBut who, in this agonising moment of Jephthah\u2019s trouble, could raise\nhis voice to demand, in the name of religion, this diabolical\nsacrifice of his innocent child?\n\nYes; diabolical. For what spirit, or voice, but that of a devil or\nfiend could _counsel_ men to shed the blood of this pure and noble\ngirl? And where could the devil or fiend be found who would _commit_\nthe deed itself?\n\nJephthah is mockingly told that he is the fiend who must sacrifice\nhis child, as Abraham is said to have offered Isaac. And Jephthah is\ntold that he has no one to blame but himself, for having made the\nvow. But who heard the vow? or who accepted the vow? Who could he,\nor they be, who would require the fulfilling of it?[148]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 148:\n\n  Jehovah, of course, in his own national character of Baal, Moloch,\n  Typhon, etc. The final and conclusive identification of the \u201cLord\n  God\u201d of Israel with Moloch, we find in the last chapter of\n  _Leviticus_, concerning _things devoted not to be redeemed_.... \u201cA\n  man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, _both of man_\n  and beast.... None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall\n  be redeemed, _but shall surely be put to death_ ... for it is\n  _most holy unto the Lord_.\u201d (See Leviticus xxvii., 28, 29, 30.)\n\n  \u201cNotwithstanding the numerous proofs that the Israelites\n  worshipped a variety of gods, and even offered human sacrifices\n  until a far later period than their Pagan neighbours, they have\n  contrived to blind posterity in regard to truth. They sacrificed\n  human life as late as 169 B.C. (_Vide_ \u201c_Joseph. contra Apion_,\u201d\n  11, 8\u2014what Antiochus Epiphanius found in the Temple), and the\n  _Bible_ contains a number of such records. At a time when the\n  Pagans had long abandoned the abominable practice, and had\n  replaced the sacrificial man by the animal, and the ox of\n  Dionysius was sacrificed at the Bacchic Mysteries (\u201cAnthon,\u201d p.\n  365), Jephthah is represented sacrificing his own daughter to the\n  \u2018Lord\u2019 for a burnt-offering.\u201d _Isis Unveiled_, vol ii., pp. 524,\n  525.\n\n-----\n\nAre they worthy of the name of brethren and countrymen who would\npersuade Jephthah _to assassinate_ his daughter, in the name of\nreligion, or even look on at such an assassination? Would it not be\nblasphemy to say that a good Deity required Jephthah to kill his\ninnocent child? And would not a good Deity release Jephthah from his\nvow, and forbid him to sacrifice his daughter, in like manner as the\nScriptures teach us Abraham was forbidden to sacrifice his son\nIsaac? And if it is said, it would have been faithless and sinful of\nJephthah after returning from the battle victorious, to have refused\nthe offering of his daughter as a sacrifice; yet surely to bind\nJephthah to break the Sixth Commandment, and to shed innocent blood\nin the name of religion, would be making the Deity that required\nsuch a sacrifice to be evil, and His worshippers to be the doers of\nevil; and thus Jephthah would be required to sell himself to the\ndevil.\n\nAnd how could men be other than the doers of evil, and the priests\nof evil, who would counsel Jephthah to commit this evil deed, and be\nready to commit it themselves if he hesitated? How? Whether Jephthah\nreceived any miraculous assistance or not, in the war, yet he was in\nno wise bound to surrender his personality and to become an abject\nslave to the supposed power that helped him. For Jephthah\u2019s personal\nservices were needed as an instrument to deliver and save the\nIsraelites, or his services would not have been asked for. It was\nalso possible that he might have given certain services, which even\na miraculous power was unable to give\u2014as we read in the Book of\nJudges that \u201cJudah could not drive out the inhabitants of the\nvalley, because they had chariots of iron.\u201d (Judges i. 19.)[149]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 149:\n\n  It is said in the \u201cHoly Book,\u201d that it was \u201cthe Lord (who) was\n  with Judah,\u201d who \u201ccould not drive out the inhabitants of the\n  valley, because they had chariots of iron,\u201d (Judges i. 19), and\n  not \u201cJudah\u201d at all. This is but natural, according to popular\n  belief and superstition that \u201cthe Devil is afraid of _iron_.\u201d The\n  strong connection and even identity between Jehovah and the Devil\n  is ably insisted upon by the Rev. Haweis. See his \u201cKey\u201d (p.\n  22).\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\nAnd again, if all the glory of Jephthah\u2019s victory had to be ascribed\nto a miraculous power, then likewise all the shame would have to be\nascribed to that power also, for having ordained that Jephthah\u2019s\ndaughter should be the first person to meet him after the war, to\npay _the price of victory_ to Jephthah, with _death to his\nchild_\u2014for whom, alone, he coveted victory.\n\nVictory on such terms was defeat and shame, not glory; for surely\nsuch views of religious worship must be the _d\u2019evil_ worship which\nthe Psalmist speaks of (Psalm cvi., 37), and not the service or\nworship of a good God who would have mercy and _not_ sacrifice, as\nAbraham learnt when he went out of the Philistine city into the\nwilderness, and communed with God alone on Mount Moriah.\n\nBut it was one thing for a single individual like Abraham, at the\nclose of a long life, to acquire the knowledge \u201cthat God would have\nmercy and not sacrifice\u201d; and quite another thing for a Town, a\nCity, a Nation, or the World, to have acquired this knowledge in its\ninfancy; as even Abraham only acquired this knowledge by going out\nof the city into the wilderness, and communing alone with God.\n\nWe can well understand how impossible it would have been for Abraham\neven to have attempted, on his return from the mountain, to teach\nthe Philistines the faith or gospel (that God would have mercy and\nnot sacrifice), from the very fact that when Jesus Christ came _into\nthe world_ to teach the faith or gospel, which Abraham had gone _out\nof the world_ to learn, Jesus was condemned by Caiaphas to be\ncrucified with malefactors, as a blasphemer. And to this very day\nthis doctrine of the power of Caiaphas, the adversary of Jesus,\ncontinues to be taught as the doctrine of the Church, which it is\nnecessary to believe in order to obtain the blessing of the Church\nhere and of God hereafter.\n\nTherefore it is manifestly evident that after Abraham had acquired\nthe knowledge that God would have mercy and not sacrifice, yet he\ncould not publish it, but could only lay it up in his heart as a\nsecret treasure, to be disclosed in the distant future, which in the\nvision of his mind he saw. Meanwhile he prayed that the Lord would\nraise up messengers and stewards to prepare the world to receive\nthis faith or gospel, because of its being too Herculean a task for\nany one person to alter suddenly the religion of a people.\n\nFor whilst priests continued to teach, and the people to believe\nthat sacrifices of human beings were acceptable to God, how was the\nman who dared (suddenly and without the cloak of a parable) to\nreveal and publish the contrary, to escape being himself slain as a\nblasphemer, whose blood it would be doing God service to shed for an\natonement? And until the world was sufficiently educated to declare\nthe generation of him who should be unjustly slain (Isaiah liii.),\nit could only be like throwing pearls to swine for such an one to\nattempt the task.\n\nThen from whence, and from whom could Jephthah, who had saved\nothers, now look for the salvation of his daughter, or of himself,\nif he refused to sacrifice that daughter?\n\nAnd, in the anguish of his soul, Jephthah rent his clothes, and\nbemoaned his trouble, whilst his daughter fled to the mountains to\npour out the sorrow of her soul, during the few short days she had\nyet to live.\n\nIt is true that, in order to save her father from the cruel pain of\nassassinating his devoted child, the noble girl may have voluntarily\nleapt into the sulphurous flames on the burning altar; just as the\nnoble Roman soldier Curtius on his horse leapt down into the dark\nand awful volcanic gulf as a sacrifice to save his countrymen.\n\nBut the more heroic and divine these persons were, the more\ndemoniacal and diabolical must be the religion of those persons who\nrequired them thus to suffer.[150]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 150:\n\n  And yet it is this \u201cdemoniacal and diabolical religion\u201d that\n  passed part and parcel into Protestantism.\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\nIt is true that the priests of such a religion may have believed in\nit themselves, and may have been ready to sacrifice their own sons\nand daughters in like manner; but that in no wise lessens the crime,\nbut on the contrary it intensifies it a hundred fold. How were the\npeople to be saved from a religion, of which the priests themselves\nneeded to be saved, whilst the priests had the sole education of the\npeople from infancy upwards, as well as the Chief power in the State\nto make and unmake its laws, even to making and unmaking its kings?\n\nWhilst the priests and rulers of the church taught such a cruel\nreligion,[151] would not the people and priests need a Mediator to\ndeliver and save them from practising it?\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 151:\n\n  So \u201cthe people and priests\u201d do now. And as the late Rev. Henry\n  Ward Beecher once said in a sermon, \u201ccould Jesus come back and\n  behave in the streets of Christian cities as he did in those of\n  Jerusalem, he would be declared an impostor and then confined in\n  prison.\u201d\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\nIf He who mediated to deliver and save us was Himself condemned to\nbe slain, and crucified with thieves as a blasphemer whose blood\nought to be shed for an Atonement, what hope of salvation can there\nbe for the world from such a Religion, until the people not only\nuplift the Crucified Jesus as having been no blasphemer, but also\nexpose the doctrine to be evil and false which is quoted as an\nauthority for requiring the blood of \u201cthe Just one\u201d to be shed for\nan Atonement? And if it is said that we have no longer women brought\nlike Jephthah\u2019s daughter to be assassinated and burnt as a\nsacrifice, or noble men condemned to be burnt as heretics, yet we\nhave to the present day noble men and women condemned by the Church\nas evil (to be accursed here and damned hereafter), simply and\nsolely because they refuse to believe this evil doctrine of\nAtonement, which is oftentimes such a burden to their soul (either\nto accept or reject) that they are driven to the very verge of\nmadness.\n\nIt is no uncommon thing to hear priests revile even our Queen as\nbeing no true Christian, simply because they suppose she does not\nbelieve in this evil doctrine of atonement, which is the doctrine of\nCaiaphas, the enemy of Christ, and not Christ\u2019s doctrine, teaching,\nor gospel.\n\nShould not such scriptural stories as these of the assassination of\nJephthah\u2019s noble daughter, of the crucifixion of Jesus, and the\nspilling of the blood of a whole host of martyrs, awaken men who\nhave slumbered to rise, to hear, to see, to speak, and run to save\nthe world from having to believe in this sanguinary doctrine, which\nis a stumbling-block to the Jews, foolishness to the world, and a\nmystery even to the teachers of it. This doctrine of Atonement can\nnot be reconciled as either good or true; and therefore it is the\ncause of all progress being prevented so far as the world is\ndependent on the Church for progress.\n\nYet the man who doubts or denies the goodness of this doctrine is\nbranded by the Church, to the present day, as a Sceptic and Atheist,\nwhom all sound Churchmen should avoid. And for sixteen centuries the\nChurch used its sovereign power to condemn those who rejected its\ndoctrine of Atonement as criminals, whom it would be doing God\nservice to burn as heretics; and the Church is only prevented from\ndoing so now _because_ (to its great regret) it has no longer the\npower which it formerly had in the days of \u201cthe Inquisition.\u201d The\ndoctrine remains the same still, and therefore the people owe it, as\na duty to the long roll of martyrs, to expose it. For it has been\nthe cause of much evil, and even to this day it assassinates the\nsouls of noble men and women, who incarcerate themselves in\nmonasteries and nunneries in the vain attempt to attain a sound\nbelief in it.\n\nBut when the Church is willing to allow (what it has refused to the\npresent day) liberty in the pulpit for explaining the mystery and\ntranslating the truth of a \u201cCrucified Christ,\u201d then it will be seen\nthat the truth is not only a light to the Gentiles, but also the\nglory of Israel; and the truth shall make us free.[152] (John viii.,\n32.)\n\n      Adyar, 17th October, 1887.         H. S. OLCOTT, P.T.S.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 152:\n\n  Only, as such _truth_ and _freedom_ amounts to the Church\n  committing suicide and burying herself with her own hands, she\n  will never allow such a thing. She will die her natural death the\n  day when there will not exist a man, woman or child to believe any\n  longer in her dogmas. And this beneficent result might be achieved\n  within her own hierarchy, were there many such sincere, brave and\n  honest clergymen who, like the writer of this article, fear not to\n  speak the truth\u2014whatever may come\u2014[ED.]\n\n-----\n\n\n\n\n                              LUNIOLATRY.\n\nA friend has just informed me of the fact that when President\nCleveland was making his recent tour through the States an old negro\npresented him with _the left hind foot of a grave-yard rabbit, which\nhad been killed in the dark of the moon_. In making his present the\nnegro said he had sent it because he desired the reelection of\nPresident Cleveland. \u201c_Tell him to preserve it carefully, and that\nas long as he keeps it he will always get there._\u201d\n\nThe friend whom I speak of had just been reading a lecture of mine\non \u201cLuniolatry,\u201d in which the imagery and significance of the hare\nand rabbit in the moon were spoken of all too briefly, and he wishes\nto know if I can interpret the meaning of the negro\u2019s gift. I guess\nso. As previously explained the hare and the rabbit are both\nzootypes or living images of lunar phenomena. A rabbit pounding rice\nin a mortar is a Chinese sign of the moon. Swabian children are\nstill forbidden to make the likeness of a rabbit or hare in shadow\non the wall, as it would be a sin against the moon. The hare in the\nmoon is a well-known Hindu type of Buddha. It is mythically\nrepresented that Buddha once took the form of a hare on purpose to\noffer himself as food for a poor famishing creature, and so the\nBuddha was translated in that shape to be eternized as the hare in\nthe moon. That is one illustration of the way in which the book of\nexternal nature was filled full of mystic meanings, the essence of\nwhich escapes altogether in trying to read such things as\nhistorical, no matter whether they are related of Buddha, Horus, or\nJesus. This hare or rabbit in the moon is a symbol or superstition\nwith various races, Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, and White. When the\nmeaning was understood it was a symbol; when the clue is lost it\nbecomes a superstition of the ignorant; thus the ancient symbolism\nsurvives in a state of dotage with the negroes as well as with the\n\u201cnoble Caucasian.\u201d\n\nThe frog in the moon was another lunar type. In a Chinese myth\u2014that\nis, a symbolic representation\u2014the lunar frog has three legs, like\nthe Persian ass in the Bundahish. In both cases the three legs stand\nfor three phases of the moon reckoned at ten days each in a\nluni-solar month of thirty days. Now it happens that the rabbit\u2019s\nperiod of gestation is thirty days; and the early races included\nvery curious observers amongst their naturalists, who had to think\nin things and express their thought in gesture-signs and _zootypes_\nbefore there were such things as printer\u2019s types. Hence the frog\nthat dropped its tail, the serpent that sloughed its skin, the\nrabbit with its period of thirty days, were all symbols of the moon.\nEnough that the rabbit _was_ a zootype of the moon, and the rabbit\nis equal to the hare. Hor-Apollo tells us that when the Egyptians\nwould denote \u201can opening,\u201d they delineate a hare, because this\nanimal always has its eyes open (B. I. 26). This can be corroborated\nin several ways. The name of the hare in Egyptian is \u201cUn,\u201d which\nmeans open, to open, the opener. It was applied to Osiris,\n\u201cUn-Nefer,\u201d in his lunar character as the good opener, otherwise the\nsplendid or glorious hare, because \u201cNefer\u201d means the handsome,\nbeautiful, perfect, or glorious. Also the city of Unnut was that of\nthe hare, \u201cUn,\u201d and this was the metropolis of the 15th Nome of\nUpper Egypt, which is another mode of identifying the open-eyed hare\nwith the moon at the full, called the \u201cEye of Horus,\u201d and with the\nwoman of the moon who brings her orb to the full on the 15th day of\nthe month (Egyptian Ritual, ch. lxxx). The hare was also a symbol of\nthe opening period at puberty, a sign therefore of being open,\nunprohibited, or \u201cit is lawful\u201d (Sharpe). Hence the Namaqua\nHottentots would only permit the hare to be eaten by those who had\nattained the age of the adult male. The proverb, \u201c_Somnus\nleporinus_,\u201d relates to the hare that sleeps with its eyes open; and\nin our old English pharmacop\u0153ia of the folk-lore or leech-craft, the\nbrains and eyes of the hare are prescribed as a cure for somnolency,\nand a sovereign medicine for making or keeping people wide-awake.\nThe rabbit equates with the hare, and has the same symbolical value.\nNow it is sometimes said that the hare-rabbit is of both sexes. So\nthe moon was both male and female in accordance with the dual\nlunation. The new moon with the horns of the bull or the long ears\nof the ass, the rabbit, or hare was considered to be male. The dark\nlunation or hinder part was female. In the ancient symbolism the\nfront or fore-part is masculine, the hinder-part or the tail is\nfeminine. The two were head and tail in the earliest coinage as well\nas on the latest coins. In Egypt the South was front and is male;\nthe North was the hinder-part and is female. Hence the old Typhon of\nthe Northern part was denoted by the tail-piece, and it follows that\nSatan with the long tail is of feminine origin, and so the devil was\nfemale from the first. The same symbolism was applied to the moon.\nIn the light half it was the male moon, in the dark half female. The\nnew moon was the Lord of Light, the Increaser, the sign of new life,\nof saving and healing. The new moon was the messenger of immortality\nto men in the form of the hare or the rabbit. The waning moon\nrepresented the devil of darkness, the Typhonian power that said to\nmen \u201ceven as I die and do not rise again so will it be with you.\u201d\nOfferings were made to the new moon. When the moon was at the full\nthe Egyptians sacrificed a black pig to Osiris. This represented\nTyphon, his conquered enemy. But in the dark half of the lunation\nTyphon had the upper hand when he tore Osiris into fourteen parts\nduring the fourteen nights of his supremacy. The lunar zootype then\nis male in front, and female in the hinder-part of the animal. In\nthe hieroglyphics the khepsh-leg or hind-quarter is the ideographic\ntype of Typhon, the evil power personified. Further, the left side\nis female and Typhonian; the right is male. Ergo, _the left hind leg\nof the grave-yard animal that was killed in the dark of the moon_,\nstood for the hind (or last) quarter of the moon; literally the end\nof it. And if the negro laid hold of that rabbit\u2019s foot the right\nway, we can read the symbol that he probably did not understand,\nalthough he knew the rabbit\u2019s hind foot was a good fetish. It shows\nthe survival of _intended_ symbolism, which represents some sort of\nvictory over the power of darkness analogous to taking the brush of\nthe fox (another Typhonian animal) after it has been hunted to\ndeath. This was the last leg that the devil of darkness had to stand\non, and so it was a trophy snatched from the Typhonian power to be\nworn in triumph as a token of good luck, of repetition or renewal,\nthence a second term.\n\nIt would be a sort of equivalent for taking the scalp of Satan, who\ncould only be typified by the tail or hinder leg. The gift was\ntantamount to wishing \u201c_A Happy New Moon to You!_\u201d expressed in the\nlanguage of symbolism, which was acted instead of being spoken. The\nnegroes consider this particular talisman bequeathed by \u201c_Brer\nRabbit_\u201d represents all the virtues and powers of renewal that are\npopularly attributed to the New Moon. But do not let me be\nmisunderstood by those who know that in the Negro M\u00e4rchen the rabbit\nis the good one of the typical two, and that the fox plays the\nTyphonian part. The rabbit or hare of the moon may be pourtrayed in\ntwo characters or in one of two. In both he is the hero, the Lord of\nLight and conqueror of the Power of Darkness, the rabbit, so to say,\nthat rises again from the graveyard in or as the New Moon. The\nfigure of the hind quarter and latter end of the dying moon is thus\na type of the conquered Typhon, but the magical influence depends\nupon its being also a type of the conqueror, the rabbit of the\nresurrection or the New Moon. It is a curious coincidence that the\nluckiest of all Lucky Horse-Shoes in England is one that has been\ncast off the _left hind foot_ of a Mare.\n\nLastly, this hind leg of the lunar rabbit is a fellow-type with the\nleg of pig that is still eaten in England on Easter Monday, which is\na survival of the ancient sacrifice of the pig Typhon, in the solar\nor annual reckoning, as pourtrayed in the planisphere of Denderah,\nwhere we see the god Khunsu offering the pig by the leg in the disc\nof the full moon. It must have been a potent fetish long ages ago in\nAfrica, and a medicine of great power according to the primitive\nmysteries of the dark land. It may be surmised that much of this\nfetishtic typology is still extant amongst the negroes in the United\nStates, and it is to be hoped that the Bureau of Ethnology at\nWashington, which has done, and is doing, such good work under the\ndirection of Major J. W. Powell in collecting and preserving the\nrelics of the Red Men, will extend the range of its researches to\nthe black race in America, and not leave those matters to\nirresponsible story-tellers.\n\n                                                      GERALD MASSEY.\n\n\n\n\n                  =THE BLOSSOM AND THE FRUIT=:\n\n                  _THE TRUE STORY OF A MAGICIAN_.\n\n                           (_Continued._)\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                         BY MABEL COLLINS.\n\n                         ---------------------\n\n                              CHAPTER XII.\n\nIt was the day of the Princess Fleta\u2019s wedding and the whole city\nwas _en f\u00eate_.\n\nHilary Estanol paced the streets wildly, like a creature distracted.\nHe had never seen her face since the day he returned from the secret\nmonastery. He could not trust himself to go near her. He felt that\nthe savage in him must kill, must destroy, if too much provocation\nwere given him.\n\nHe held this savage in check as well as he could. He would not trust\nhimself under the same roof with the woman he loved as he loved\nnothing else in life, and who had given him her love while she gave\nherself to another man. Herself! How much that meant Hilary seemed\nonly now to know, now that he heard her marriage bells ringing, now\nthat she was absolutely given. Yes, she had given herself away to\nanother man. Was it possible? Hilary stood still now and again in\nthe midst of the crowded street trying to remember the words she had\nsaid to him in that wood in the early morn when she had accepted his\nlove. What had she taken from him then? He had never been the same\nsince. His heart lay cold, and chill, and dull within him save when\nher smile or its memory woke him to life and joy. Were these gone\nfor ever? Impossible. He was still young\u2014a mere boy. She could not\nhave stolen so much from him! No\u2014he had the first right\u2014he would be\nher lover still and always, to whoever else she gave herself in\nname. This was the point of thought to which Hilary perpetually\nreturned. Undoubtedly she was his, and he would claim her. But\nobscured and excited as his mind was he had sufficient intelligence\nto know that his must be a secret claim even though it stood before\nall others. He could not go and claim her at the altar, for she had\nnot given him any right to. What she had said was, \u201cTake from me\nwhat you can.\u201d Well, he could not make her his wife. He could not\nmarry a royal Princess. She was not of his class. This being so,\nwhat could he hope for? Nothing\u2014and yet he had her love\u2014yes, the\nlast kind touch of her hand, the last sweet smile on her lips, were\nstill with him, and drove his blood rioting through his veins.\n\nAt last the procession is coming\u2014the soldiers have already cleared\nthe way and with their horses keep back the crowd. Hilary stands\nnow, still as a carven figure, watching only for one face. He sees\nit suddenly\u2014ah! so beautiful, so supremely beautiful, so\nmysterious\u2014and everything in Heaven and earth becomes invisible,\nnon-existent, save that one dear face. A voice rang out on the air,\nclear, shrill, above all other voices.\n\n\u201cFleta! Fleta! My love! my love!\u201d\n\nWhat a cry! It penetrated to Fleta\u2019s ears; it reached the ears of\nher bridegroom.\n\nIn the church, amid the pomp and ceremony, and the crowd of great\npeople, Otto did a thing which made those near him stare. He went to\nmeet his bride and touched her hand.\n\n\u201cFleta,\u201d he said, \u201cthat voice was the voice of one who loves you.\nWhat answer do you make to it?\u201d\n\nFleta put her hand in his.\n\n\u201cThat is my answer,\u201d she said.\n\nAnd so they stepped up the broad low steps to the altar. None heard\nwhat had been said except the king.\n\nFleta\u2019s father was strangely unlike herself. He was a rugged,\nmorose, sombre man, ill-disposed towards all humanity, as it would\nseem, save those few who held the key to his nature. Of these, his\ndaughter was one; some said she was the only one. Others said her\npower lay in the fact that she was not his daughter, but a child of\nother parents altogether than those reputed to be hers; and that a\nState secret was involved in the mystery of her birth.\n\nAt all events, it was seldom indeed that the king interfered with\nFleta. But he did so now, at this moment, with all the eyes of the\nCourt upon them.\n\nHe spoke low into her ear, he stood beside her.\n\n\u201cFleta,\u201d he said, \u201cis this marriage right?\u201d\n\nFleta turned on him a face so full of torture, of deathly pain, that\nhe uttered an ejaculation of horror.\n\n\u201cSay no word, my father,\u201d she said, \u201cit is right.\u201d\n\nAnd then she turned her head again, and fixed her glorious eyes on\nOtto.\n\nWhat a strangely beautiful bride she was! She was dressed with\nextraordinary simplicity; her robe had been arranged by her own\nhands in long, soft lines that fell from her neck to her feet, and a\nlong train lay on the ground behind her, but it was undecked by any\nlace or flowers. No flowers were in her hair, no jewels on her neck.\nNever had a princess been dressed so simply, a princess who was to\nbe a queen. The Court ladies stared in amazement. But they knew well\nthat there was a grace so supreme, a dignity so lofty, in this royal\ngirl, that however simple her dress she outshone them all, and would\noutshine any woman who stood beside her.\n\nNo one heard any of what passed between the three chief actors in\nthis scene; yet everyone was aware that there was something unusual\nin it. There was an atmosphere of mystery, of excitement, of\nstrangeness. And yet what else would be possible where the Princess\nFleta was concerned? In her father\u2019s Court she was looked upon as a\nwild, capricious, imperious creature whose will none could resist.\nNone would have wondered had they believed her carriage to have\npassed over the body of an accepted lover, now thrown aside and\ndiscarded. So did these people interpret the character of Fleta.\nOtto knew this, felt it, understood it; knew that those creatures of\nintrigue and pleasure would have thought her far less worthy had\nthey judged her character more nearly as he did. To him she was\npure, stainless, unattainable; virgin in soul and thought. This he\nsaid to her when, on leaving the cathedral, they entered a carriage\ntogether and alone. They had together passed through crowds of\ncongratulators, nobles, great ladies, diplomats from different parts\nof Europe. They had bowed and smiled, and answered courteously the\nwords addressed to them. And yet how far away were their thoughts\nall the while! They neither of them knew who they had met, who they\nhad spoken to. All was lost in one absorbing thought. But it was not\nthe same thought. No, indeed, their minds were separated widely as\nthe poles.\n\nFleta was filled with the sense of a great purpose. This marriage\nwas but the first step in a giant programme. Her thoughts had flown\nnow from this first step and were dwelling on the end, the\nfulfilment; as an artist when he draws his first sketch sees in his\nown mind the completed picture.\n\nOtto had but one overwhelming thought; a very simple one, expressed\ninstantly, in the first words he uttered when they were alone:\n\n\u201cFleta, you did not fancy that I doubted you? I never meant that!\nAnd yet it seemed as if there was reproach in your eyes! No, Fleta,\nnever that. But the cry was so terrible\u2014it cut my heart. You did not\nfancy I meant any doubt?\u2014assure me, Fleta!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I did not,\u201d replied Fleta quietly. \u201cYou know whose voice it\nwas.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u2014it was unrecognisable\u2014it was nothing but a cry of torture.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! but I knew it,\u201d said Fleta. \u201cIt was Hilary Estanol who cried\nout my name.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe said \u2018Fleta, my love, my love,\u2019\u201d added Otto. \u201cIs he that?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Fleta unmoved, indeed strangely calm. \u201cHe is. More,\nOtto; he has loved me long centuries ago, when this world wore a\ndifferent face. When the very surface of the earth was savage and\nuntaught so were we. And then we enacted this same scene. Yes Alan,\nwe three enacted it before, without this pomp, but with the natural\nsplendour of savage beauty and undimmed skies. Otto, I sinned then I\nexpiated my sin. Again and again have I expiated it. Again and again\nhas Nature punished me for my offence against her. Now at last I\nknow more, I see more, I understand more. The sin remains. I desired\nto take, to have for myself, to be a conqueror. I conquered\u2014I have\nconquered since! how often! That has been my expiation: satiety. But\nnow I will no longer enjoy. I will stand on that error, that folly,\nand win from it strength which shall lift me from this wretched\nlittle theatre where we play the same dramas for ever through the\nfond weariness of recurring lives.\u201d\n\nOtto had drawn back from her, and gazed intently upon her as she\nspoke, passion and vehemence gradually entering her low voice. As\nshe ceased he passed his hand over his forehead.\n\n\u201cFleta,\u201d he said, \u201cis this some spell of yours upon me? While you\nspoke I saw your face change, and become the face of one familiar to\nme, but far, far back! I smelled the intense rich scent of\ninnumerable fruit blossoms\u2014\u2014Fleta, tell me, are you dreaming or\nspeaking fables, or is this thing true? Have I lived for you before,\nloved you, served you, ages back, when the world was young?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Fleta.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d cried Otto suddenly, \u201cI feel it\u2014there is blood on you\u2014blood on\nyour hand!\u201d\n\nFleta raised her beautiful hand, and looked at it with an infinite\nsadness on her face.\n\n\u201cIt is so,\u201d she answered. \u201cThere is blood on it, and there will be,\nuntil I have got beyond the reign of blood and of death. You held me\ndown then, Otto; you triumphed by brute force, not knowing that in\nme lay a power undreamed of by you\u2014a vital, stirring will. I could\nhave crushed you. But already I had used my will once, and found the\nbitter, unintelligible suffering it produced. I determined to try\nand understand Nature before I again used my power. So I submitted\nto your tyranny; you learned to love it, and through many lives have\nlearned to love it more. It has brought you a crown at last, and a\nlittle army of soldiers to defend it for you, and half-a-dozen\ncrafty old diplomats who want you to keep it, and who think they can\nmake you do just as their respective monarchs wish. Move your\npuppets, Otto. No such kingdom satisfies me. I mean to win my own\ncrown. I will be a queen of souls, not of bodies; a queen in\nreality, not in name.\u201d\n\nShe seemed to wrap herself in an impenetrable veil of scorn as she\nceased speaking and leaned back in the carriage.\n\nSome great emotion was stirring Otto through and through. At last he\nspoke; and the man seemed changed\u2014a different being. From under the\ngentle manner, the docile, ready air, came struggling up the fierce\nspirit of opposition.\n\n\u201cYou despise the crown you married me for? Is that so? Well, I will\nteach you to respect it.\u201d\n\nA smile dawned on Fleta\u2019s clouded face and then was gone again in a\nmoment. This was all the answer she vouchsafed to the kingly threat.\nOtto turned and looked at her steadily.\n\n\u201cA magnificent creature,\u201d he said, \u201cbeautiful, and with a brain of\nsteel, and perhaps for all I know, a heart like it. You won a great\ndeal from me, Fleta, a little while since. Did I not submit to the\nmasquerading of your mysterious Order? Did I not trust my life to\nthose treacherous monks of yours, submit to be blindfolded and led\ninto their haunt by secret ways. For what end? Ivan told me of\naspirations, of ideas, of thoughts, which only sickened my soul and\nfilled me with shame and despair. For I am a believer in order, in\nmoral rule, in the government of the world in accordance with the\nprinciples of religion. I told you I was willing to become a member\nof the order; yes, because my nature is in sympathy with its avowed\ntenets. But its secret doctrines as I have heard them from you, as I\nhave heard them from the man you call your master, are to me\ndetestable. And it is for the carrying out of this unholy theory or\ndoctrine that you propose to surrender your life? No, Fleta; you are\nnow my queen.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Fleta. \u201cI am now your queen. I know that I have chosen\nthe lot willingly. You need not again tell me that I have the crown\nI purposed to obtain.\u201d\n\nAt this moment they arrived at the palace. There was yet a weary\nmass of ceremony and speaking of polite nothings to be passed\nthrough before there was any chance of their being alone again. Otto\nrelapsed into the pleasant and kindly manner which was habitual with\nhim. Fleta fell into one of her abstracted moods, and the court\nadopted its usual policy under such circumstances\u2014let her be\nundisturbed. Few of the men cared to risk the satirical answers that\ncame readiest to her lips when she was roused out of such a mood as\nthis.\n\nAnd yet at last someone did venture to rouse her; and a smile,\ndelicious as a burst of sunshine, came swiftly and suddenly on her\nmouth.\n\nIt was Hilary Estanol. Pale, worn, the mere ghost of himself, his\ndark eyes looking strangely large in the white face they were set\nin. They were fixed on her as though there were nothing else in the\nworld to look at.\n\nFleta held out her hand to him; his companion\u2014a military officer who\nhad brought him under protest, and in some doubt, for Hilary had no\nfriends at Court\u2014drew back in amazement. He understood now Hilary\u2019s\nimportunity.\n\nHilary bent over Fleta\u2019s hand and held his lips near it for an\ninstant, but did not touch it. A sort of groan came to her ear from\nhis lips.\n\n\u201cYou have resigned me?\u201d she asked in a low vibrating whisper.\n\n\u201cYou have cast me off,\u201d he answered.\n\n\u201cBe it so,\u201d she replied, \u201cbut you have lived through it, and you now\nclaim nothing. Is it not so? I read it in the dumb pain in your\neyes.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Hilary, straightening himself and standing upright close\nbeside her, and looking down upon her beautiful dark head. \u201cIt is\nso. I will not cry for the moon, nor will I weary any woman with my\nregret or entreaty, even you, Fleta, though it is no dishonour to\nhumble oneself at the feet of such as you. No; I will bear my pain\nlike a man. I came here to say good-bye. You are still something\nlike the Fleta that I loved. To-morrow you will not be.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can you tell?\u201d she said with her inscrutable smile. \u201cStill, I\nthink you are right. And now that we are no longer lovers will you\nenter with me another bond? Will you be my comrade in undertaking\nthe great task? I know you are fearless.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe great task?\u201d said Hilary vaguely, and he put his hand to his\nforehead.\n\n\u201cThe one great task of this narrow life\u2014To learn its lesson and go\nbeyond it.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I will be your comrade,\u201d said Hilary in an even voice and\nwithout enthusiasm.\n\n\u201cThen meet me at two this very morning at the gate of the\ngarden-house where you used to enter.\u201d\n\nIt was now just midnight. Hilary noticed this as he turned away, for\na little clock stood on a bracket close by. He looked at it, and\nlooked back at Fleta. Could she mean what she said? But already the\nFleta he knew had vanished; a cold, haughty, impassive young queen\nwas accepting the uninteresting homage of a foreign minister. The\nguests were beginning to take their departure. Fleta and Otto did\nnot propose to take any journey in honour of their wedding as is the\ncustom in some places; the king opened for their use the finest set\nof guests\u2019 chambers in the palace, and these they occupied,\nremaining among the visitors until all had departed. On the next day\nOtto was to take his queen home; but he had had to give way to the\nwishes of Fleta and her father as to the postponing of the journey.\n\nFrom the great drawing-rooms Fleta went quietly away when the last\nguest had departed; she moved like a swift shadow noiselessly along\nthe corridors. She entered her own room, and there began, without\nsummoning any attendant, to hastily take off her bridal robes. On a\ncouch was lying the white robe and cloak which she had worn when she\nhad endeavoured to enter the hall of the mystics. These she put on,\nand wrapping the cloak round her turned to leave the room. As she\ndid so she came face to face with Otto, who had entered noiselessly,\nand was standing in silence beside her. She seemed scarcely to\nnotice him, but changed her direction and proceeded towards another\ndoor. Otto quickly placed himself again in her way.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d he said; \u201cyou do not leave this room to-night.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd why?\u201d asked Fleta, looking gravely at his set face.\n\n\u201cBecause you are now my wife. I forbid it. Stay here, and with me.\nCome, let me take off that cloak, without any trouble; the white\ngown under it suits you even better than your wedding-dress.\u201d\n\nHe unfastened the clasps which held the cloak together. Fleta made\nno opposition, but kept her eyes on his face; he would not meet her\ngaze, though his face was white and rigid with the intensity of his\npassion and purpose.\n\n\u201cDo you remember,\u201d said Fleta, \u201cthe last thing that you did when you\nwere with Father Ivan? Do you remember kneeling before him and\nuttering these words\u2014\u2018I swear to serve the master of truth and the\nteacher of life\u2014\u2014\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cThat master\u2014that teacher!\u201d interrupted Otto hotly. \u201cI reserved my\nreason even in that incense-scented room. That master\u2014that\nteacher\u2014is my own intelligence\u2014so I phrased it in my own mind\u2014I\nrecognise no other master.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour own intelligence!\u201d repeated Fleta. \u201cYou have not yet learned\nto use it. You did not so phrase the vow then; you only rephrased it\nso afterwards, when you were away, and alone, and began again to\nstruggle for your selfish freedom. No, Otto, you have not begun to\nuse your intelligence. You are still the slave of your desires,\neaten up with the longing for power and the lust of the tyrannical\nsoul. You do not love me\u2014you only desire to possess me. You fancy\nyour power is all you wish it to be. Well, put it to the test. Take\nthis cloak from my shoulders.\u201d\n\nOtto came close, and took the cloak in his hands; and then a\nsudden passion filled him\u2014he seized her in his arms and pressed\nhis lips to hers\u2014yet he did not do so, either, for the attempt was\ninstantaneously surrendered. He staggered back, white and\ntrembling.\n\nFleta stood erect and proud before him.\n\n\u201cThat vow you took,\u201d she said quietly, \u201cyou knew very well in the\ninner recesses of your soul, in your true unblinded self, to make\nyou a slave of the Great Order. That vow may yet save you from\nyourself, if you do not resent it too fiercely. But remember this; I\nam a neophyte of that order, and you being its slave, are under my\ncommand. I am your queen, Otto, but not your wife.\u201d\n\nShe passed him as she said this, and he made no effort to detain\nher; indeed, the trembling had not yet left him, and his whole\nstrength was taken by the attempt to control it. As she reached the\ndoor he succeeded in speaking:\n\n\u201cWhy did you marry me?\u201d\n\n\u201cDid I not tell you?\u201d she said, pausing a moment and turning to look\nat him. \u201cI think I did. Because I have to learn to live on the plain\nas contentedly as on the mountain tops. There is but one way for me\nto do this, and that is to devote my life as your queen to the same\ngreat purpose it would serve were I the silver-robed initiate I\ndesire to be. I go now to commence my work, with the aid of a lover\nwho has learned to surrender his love.\u201d\n\nShe moved magnificently from the room, looking much taller even than\nher natural height. And Otto let her go without any word or sign.\n\n                             CHAPTER XIII.\n\nIt was a fragrant night\u2014a night rich with sweet flower-scents, not\nonly from the flower beds near, but coming from afar on the breeze.\nHilary stood at the gate, leaning on it and looking away at the sky,\nwhere a faint streak of different light told of the sun\u2019s coming. It\nwas quite clear, though there had been no moonlight; one of those\nwarm, still nights when it is easy to find one\u2019s way, though hard to\nsee into the face of one near by, a night when one walks in a dream\namid changing shadows, and when the outer mysteriousness and the\ndimness of one\u2019s soul are as one. So with Hilary; so had he walked\nto the gate. He waited for the woman he loved, the only woman any\nman could ever love, having once known her. And yet no fever burned\nnow in his veins, no intoxication mounted from his heart to his\nbrain. Standing there, and regarding himself and his own feelings\nvery quietly in the stillness, it seemed to him as if he had died\nyesterday when that wild cry had been unknowingly uttered; as if his\nsoul or his heart, or, indeed, his very self had gone forth in it.\n\nA light touch was laid on his shoulder, and then the gate was\nopened. He passed through and walked by Fleta up the flower-bordered\npathway. She moved on without speaking, her white cloak hanging\nloose from her neck, and her bare arms gleaming as it fell back from\nthem.\n\n\u201cYou who know so much tell me something,\u201d said Hilary. \u201cWhy are you\nso wise?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I burned my soul out centuries ago,\u201d said Fleta. \u201cWhen you\nhave burned out your heart you will be strong as I am.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnother question,\u201d said Hilary. \u201cWhy did you fail in that\ninitiation?\u201d\n\nFleta stopped suddenly, and fixed fierce questioning eyes upon him.\nShe was terrible in this quick rush of anger. But Hilary looked on\nher unmoved. It seemed to him that nothing would ever be able to\nmove him again. Was he dead indeed that he could thus endure the\nscorching light of those brilliant eyes?\n\n\u201cWhat makes you ask me that?\u201d cried Fleta in a voice of pain. \u201cDo\nyou demand to know?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; I do wish to know.\u201d\n\nFor a moment Fleta covered her face with her hands, and her whole\nform shrank and quivered. But only for a moment; then she dropped\nher hands at each side and stood erect, her queenly head poised\nroyally.\n\n\u201cIt is my punishment,\u201d she said in a murmuring voice, \u201cto discover\nso soon how absolute are the bonds of the Great Order; how the pupil\ncan command the master as well as the master the pupil.\u201d\n\nThen she turned abruptly upon Hilary, approaching him more nearly,\nwhile she spoke in a quick, fierce voice.\n\n\u201cBecause, though I have burned out my soul, I have not burned out my\nheart! Because, though I cannot love as men do, and have almost\nforgotten what passion means, yet I can still worship a greater\nnature than my own so deeply that it may be called love. I have not\nlearned to stand utterly alone and to know myself as great as any\nother with the same possibilities, the same divinity in myself. I\nstill lean on another, look to another, hunger for the smile of\nanother. O, folly, when I know so well that I cannot find any rest\nwhile that is in me. O, Ivan, my teacher, my friend, what torture it\nis to wrest the image of you from its shrine within me. Powers and\nforces of indifferent Nature, I demand your help!\u201d\n\nShe raised her arms as she uttered this invocation, and it struck\nHilary at the moment how little like a human being she looked. She\nmight have been the spirit of the dawn. Her voice had become\nunutterably weird and mournful, like the deep cry of a broken soul.\n\nWithout pausing for any answer she dropped her arms, drew her cloak\naround her, and walked away over the dewy grass. Hilary, as silent,\nas mournful, but seemingly without emotion, dropped his head and\nquietly followed her track. Of old\u2014only yesterday\u2014what an age\nago!\u2014he would have kept his eyes fixed on her shining dark hair or\nthe movements of her delicate figure. Suddenly Fleta stopped, turned\nand confronted him. He raised his eyes in surprise and looked at\nher.\n\n\u201cYou are no longer devoured by jealousy,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can hear me\nspeak as I did just now without its turning you into a savage. What\nhas happened?\u201d\n\nHer eyes seemed to penetrate his impassive and languid expression,\nlooking for the soul beneath. She was longing that his answer should\nbe the one she needed.\n\n\u201cI am hopeless,\u201d answered Hilary.\n\n\u201cOf what?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf your love. I understand at last that you have a great purpose in\nyour life, and that I am a mere straw on a stream. I thought I had\nsome claim on you; I see I cannot have. I surrender myself to your\nwill. That is all I have left to do.\u201d\n\nFleta stood meditatively for a moment Then she looked up very sadly\nin his face.\n\n\u201cIt is not enough,\u201d she said. \u201cYour gift must be a positive one.\u201d\n\nThen she again turned and went on her way to the house. Here\neverything was silent and even dark, for the shutters were all\nclosed, and evidently the place was deserted. Fleta opened a side\ndoor with a key which was attached to her girdle; they entered and\nshe locked it behind them. She led the way through the quiet dim\nhouse to the door of the laboratory; they entered the room in\nsilence. It wore a quite new aspect to Hilary\u2019s eyes, and he looked\nround in wonder. All was pale; there was no incense burning, no\nlamps were lit; the colour had gone from the walls; a faint grey\nlight through a skylight, which had always hitherto been curtained,\ndimly broke on the darkness of the room which still lurked deeply in\nthe lower part. But Hilary found enough light to see that the thing\nhe so hated was not present; that lay figure which was to him always\nsuch a horror was gone.\n\n\u201cWhere is it?\u201d he said after a moment, wondering at the sense of\nrelief with which its absence filled him.\n\n\u201cWhat?\u2014oh! the figure. Again you ask a question which I am compelled\nto answer. Well, I cannot use that power at present; I have again to\nwin the right.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow did you win the right before?\u201d asked Hilary, fixing his eyes on\nher; a fierce desire to know this possessed him.\n\nFleta started, turned towards him, and for a moment the proud\nimperiousness which ordinarily characterised her came over her form\nand her features. But in another moment it was gone. She stood\nbefore him, pale, gentle and sublime.\n\n\u201cI will tell you,\u201d she said in a clear yet very low voice. \u201cBy\ntaking your life.\u201d\n\nHilary looked at her in complete perplexity and bewilderment.\n\n\u201cDo you not remember,\u201d she said, \u201cthat forest, that new earth and\nsky, all so sweet and strong, that wealth of apricot blossom that\ncame between us and the sky? Ah, Hilary, how fresh and vivid life\nwas then, while we lived and loved and understood not that we did\neither! Was it not sweet? I loved you. Yes, I loved you\u2014loved you.\u201d\n\nHer voice broke and trembled. Hilary\u2019s numbed heart suddenly sprang\nagain to life. Never had her voice contained such tones of\ntenderness and passion before.\n\n\u201cOh, my dear, my Fleta, you love me still\u2014now!\u201d\n\nHe sprang towards her, but she seemed to sweep him aside with one\nmajestic action of her bare arm.\n\n\u201cWith that passion,\u201d she said, with a pale solemnity, \u201cI can never\nlove now. I have not forgotten entirely what such love is\u2014no,\nHilary, I have not forgotten\u2014else how should I have found you again\namong the multitudes of the earth?\u201d She held out her hand to him,\nand, as he clasped it, he felt it was soft and tender, that the warm\nlife blood of a young creature responded to his touch. \u201cI knew you\nby your dear eyes which once were so full of pure love for me that\nthey were like stars in my life.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat came between us?\u201d asked Hilary.\n\nShe looked strangely at him, drew her hand away, folded her cloak\nround her and then answered in one word:\n\n\u201cPassion!\u201d\n\n\u201cI remember it now!\u201d cried Hilary in sudden excitement \u201cMy God! I\nsee your beautiful wild face before me, I see your lips as lovely as\nthe soft blossom above us. Fleta, I loved you as men love\u2014I hungered\nfor you\u2014what harm lay in that?\u201d\n\n\u201cNone,\u201d she answered, standing now motionless and statue-like,\nwrapped in her long, white cloak, seeming like a lovely ghost rather\nthen a living woman. \u201cNone\u2014for men who care only to be men, to\nreproduce men, to be and to do nothing more than that! But I had\nanother power within me, that seemed stronger than myself\u2014a stirring\nof the dumb soul within. When that moment came, Hilary, then came\nthe great decision, the fierce struggle between two souls hurled\ntogether out of the dimness of life, and finding light in the fever\nof love\u2014yes, light!\u2014the fire that is love makes it possible for men\nto live. It gives them hope, it animates them, it makes them believe\nin a future, it enables them to create men to fill that future.\n\n\u201cIn those old days beneath those apricot blossoms, you and I,\nHilary, were but children on this earth, new to its meaning, knowing\nnothing of its purpose. How could we guide ourselves? We were\nignorant of the great power of sex, we were only at the beginning of\nits lesson. So it must be with all. They must go through with the\nlesson, they cannot guess it from the first! Nor could we. I did not\nknow what I did, Hilary, my lover, when I took your life. Had I\nknown I should only have been like a beast of prey. But I did not\nknow. You asserted your power\u2014you claimed me. I asserted mine\u2014I\nconquered. I wanted power; and killing you as I did with that one\nemotion only stirring within me, I got what I longed for. Not at\nonce\u2014not till I had suffered patiently, not till I had struggled\nhard to understand myself and the force that was at work within me.\nAnd this for life after life, incarnation after incarnation. You not\nonly loved me but you were mine\u2014I conquered you and used your life\nand love for my own ends\u2014to add to my power, to actually create the\nlife and strength I needed. By your life, by your strength, I became\na magician, read by my insight the mysteries of alchemy and the\nburied secrets of power. Yes, Hilary, it is so. To you I owe myself.\nI have become free from the common burdens of humanity, its\npassions, its personal desires, its weary repetitions of experiences\ntill their edge grows blunted by long usage. I have seen the\nEgyptian and the Roman, men of the old superb civilisations, trying\nto reproduce their past pleasures, their past magnificence to-day,\nin this modern life. It is useless, life after life full of\nselfishness and pleasure, ends in the weariness of living that kills\nmen\u2019s souls and darkens their thought. But you and I, Hilary, have\nescaped from this dismal fate. I would not be content to live again\nas I had lived before, to use the life principle which lies in love,\nonly for pleasure or the bringing of eidolons on to the earth. I\ndetermined to rise, to raise myself, to raise you, and out of our\nlove perpetually to create something nobler than we ourselves. I\nhave succeeded, Hilary, I have succeeded. We stand now before the\ngate of the first initiation. I tried to enter it and failed for\nwant of strength\u2014for want of strength, Hilary! I could not pluck my\nmaster\u2019s image utterly out of my soul\u2014I looked for him to lean on\u2014at\nleast to find comfort in seeing that face I knew. Give me strength,\nHilary! Be my comrade! Help me to enter and your strength shall come\nback to you a hundredfold. For your reward shall be that you too\nshall enter with me.\u201d\n\nShe had changed from moment to moment as she spoke. She looked like\nan inspired priestess\u2014like a Divine being. Now she stood like a\nflame with a strange appearance, as if her whole soul and self,\nspirit and body, rose upwards in adoration. The dawn had come; the\nfirst rays of the sun shot through the skylight and fell on her\ntransfigured face and gleaming hair.\n\nHilary looked at her as a worshipper might look at his idol.\n\n\u201cI am yours,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I know not how to prove it.\u201d\n\nShe held out her hand to him, and lowered her eyes from the light to\nwhich they had been raised until they met his.\n\n\u201cWe must discover the great secret together, Hilary. No longer may\nyou give yourself to me without knowledge. Hitherto our lives have\nbeen but the lives of the blossom; now we must be wise and enter the\nstate when the fruit comes. We have to find out what that power is\nwhich the sun represents to us; to discover the pure creative power.\nBut we have not strength yet, Hilary; alas! I dread and fear\nsometimes. More strength means more sacrifice.\u201d\n\nShe drew her cloak closer round her, the light faded from her eyes\nand face, and turning away she went and sat down on a couch which\nwas back in the shadow. Hilary felt a profound sense of sadness, of\nsympathy, of sorrow, sweep over his being. He followed her and sat\ndown beside her. One pale hand lay on the couch, outside her cloak.\nHe laid his upon it, and fell deep into thought. Thus they sat,\nsilent, breathing softly, for long hours, till the sun was high. But\nstill, even then, the room was very dim and cool, and full of\nshadows.\n\n                              CHAPTER XIV.\n\nOn the next day, the same day rather, for they sat together in the\nlaboratory till long after the sun was high, Hilary, to his own\namazement, found that he had an official post in the household of\nthe young Queen which would keep him continually about her. Indeed,\nhe had to pack up instantly on being informed of the fact, in order\nto follow Fleta to her own dominions. How this had been effected\nnone could tell\u2014Hilary, least of all, for he saw immediately on\npresenting himself in King Otto\u2019s presence that he was regarded by\nhim with dislike and distrust. Before, Otto had scarcely noticed\nhim. The present state of things was decidedly a change for the\nworse. However, Hilary had already perceived very clearly that to\nserve under Fleta was to serve under a hard master. And he had no\nlonger any kind of choice. Life was inconceivable without\nher\u2014without the pain caused by her difficult service. He had rather\nsuffer that than enjoy any other kind of pleasure. And, indeed,\npleasure, apart from Fleta, did not appear to him to exist.\n\nAnd yet he was still capable of doubting her.\n\nFleta had chosen a companion of royal birth to travel with her; a\nyoung duchess who bore the same family name as Fleta herself. This\ngirl had been reared in a nunnery, and then taken to court, where\nshe took part in all the pageants and immediately found herself\nsurrounded by suitors. She was not very pretty, and certainly not at\nall clever. To go with Fleta seemed to her delightful, as it would\nintroduce her to a new court and a fresh series of suitors. It\nstruck Hilary as quite extraordinary that Fleta should choose this\nchild as her companion\u2014not that the Duchess was any younger than\nFleta\u2014indeed, they were almost of an age; but Fleta appeared to\ncarry within her beautiful head the wisdom of centuries, while the\nDuchess was a mere school-girl trained in court etiquette.\n\nThese three were to travel together in Fleta\u2019s own favourite\ntravelling carriage. She simply refused to travel with her husband.\nWhen he addressed her on the subject, she merely replied:\n\n\u201cYou would weary me; and, moreover, I have work to do.\u201d\n\nAnd so they started; and as Hilary took his place, he thought of\nthat strange drive when he and Fleta, and Father Amyot, had been the\nthree. Recollecting this made him wonder what had become of Father\nAmyot; for the priest had not returned to his duties in the city. He\nasked Fleta, while the thought was in his mind, why Amyot was not\nwith her now.\n\n\u201cHe is of no use to me,\u201d she answered coldly.\n\nThe journey was a very long and a very weary one to Hilary; for the\nDuchess, finding no one else to flirt with, insisted upon flirting\nwith him; while Fleta lay back in her corner of the carriage hour\nafter hour, with her eyes closed. What was the work she had to do?\nHilary, who had overheard her answer to the King, wondered very\nmuch. And yet, as he watched her intently he saw that her face\nchanged. It grew darker, more inscrutable, more set in purpose.\n\nLate one evening, and when they were indeed travelling later than\nusual, hoping to reach their destination that same night, a curious\nthing happened. All day long Fleta had been silent, seemingly buried\nin thought; but sometimes when Hilary was watching her he noticed\nher lips move as if in speech. He sat opposite her whenever he\ncould; this was not always possible, as the young Duchess would talk\nto him, and the carriage being very large and roomy, he had to\nchange his position, and go nearer to her in order to carry on a\nconversation with any comfort. But as it grew dark the Duchess grew\ntired, and leaned back half asleep, for indeed they had had a long\nday\u2019s journey.\n\nHilary withdrew himself to the corner opposite Fleta. It grew so\ndark he could no longer see her; they had a swinging-lamp in the\nroof of the carriage, but he did not want to light it unless Fleta\nwished it so; and, indeed, he longed for the quiet and the darkness\nvery much. It made him feel more alone with her, he could try to\nfollow and seize her thoughts then without the perpetual disturbance\nof the little Duchess\u2019s quick eyes on him and her light voice in his\nears.\n\nHe sat still and thought of Fleta\u2014Fleta herself in her glorious\nbeauty\u2014sitting there opposite him shrouded by the darkness. He could\nendure it no longer\u2014the man rose up in him and asserted itself\u2014he\nleaned forward and put his hand upon her. He had scarcely done so\nwhen the Duchess uttered a shrill cry.\n\n\u201cMy God!\u201d she exclaimed, in a voice of horror, \u201cwho is in the\ncarriage with us?\u201d\n\nShe flung herself across and knelt upon the floor between Hilary and\nFleta; her terror was so great she did not know what she was doing.\n\nHilary leaned across her and instantly discovered that she was\nright\u2014that there was another man in the carriage besides himself.\n\n\u201cOh, kill him! kill him!\u201d cried the little Duchess, in an agony of\nfear; \u201che is a thief, a murderer, a robber!\u201d\n\nHilary rose up and precipitated himself upon this person whom he\ncould not see. A sense of self-defence, of defence of the women with\nhim, seized him as we see it seize the animals. He discovered that\nthis man had risen also. Blindly and furiously he attacked him, and\nwith extraordinary strength. Hilary was young and full of vigour,\nbut slight and not built like an athlete. Now, however, he seemed to\nbe one. He found his adversary to be much larger and stronger than\nhimself.\n\nA fearful struggle followed. The carriage drove on through unseen\nscenery as fast as possible; Fleta could have stopped it had she\nthrown the window down and cried out to the postilions. But Fleta\nremained motionless\u2014she might have fainted, she was so still. The\nlittle Duchess simply cowered on the ground beside her, clinging to\nher motionless figure. This terrified girl had not the presence of\nmind to think of stopping the carriage, and so obtaining help. She\nwas too horror-struck to do anything. And, indeed, it was horrible,\nfor the swaying struggling forms sometimes were right upon the two\nwomen, sometimes at the other side of the carriage; it was a deadly,\nhorrible, ghastly struggle, all the more horrid for the silence.\nThere were no cries, no exclamations, for indeed, so far as Hilary\nwas concerned, he had no breath to spare for them. There were only\ngasps, and heavy breathings, and the terrible sound that comes from\na man\u2019s throat when he is fighting for his life. How long this\nhideous battle lasted none could tell\u2014Hilary had no idea of the\npassage of time. The savage in him had now come so entirely\nuppermost and drowned all other consciousness, that his one thought\nwas he must kill\u2014kill\u2014kill\u2014and at last it was done. There was a\nmoment when his adversary was below him, when he could use his whole\nforce upon him\u2014and then came a gasp and an unearthly cry\u2014and\nsilence.\n\nAbsolute silence for a little while. No one moved, no one stirred.\nThe Duchess was petrified with horror. Hilary had sunk exhausted on\nthe seat of the carriage\u2014not only exhausted, but bewildered, for a\nhost of other emotions besides savage fury began to rise within him.\nWhat\u2014who\u2014-was this being he had destroyed? At that moment they were\nurged into a gallop, for they were entering the city gates. Hilary\nthrew down the window next him with a crash. \u201cLights, lights!\u201d he\ncried out, \u201cbring lights.\u201d The carriage stopped, and there was a\ncrowd immediately at the windows, and the glare of torches fell into\nthe carriage, making it bright as day. The little Duchess was\ncrouched in the corner on the ground in a dead faint. Fleta sat up,\nstrangely white, but calm. Nothing else was to be seen, alive or\ndead, save Hilary himself; and so horror-struck was he at this\ndiscovery that he turned and buried his face in the cushions of the\ncarriage, and he never knew what happened\u2014whether he wept, or\nlaughed, or cursed\u2014but some strange sound of his own voice he heard\nwith his ears.\n\nThere was a carriage full of servants behind Fleta\u2019s carriage; when\nhers stopped so suddenly they all got out and came quickly to the\ndoors.\n\n\u201cThe Duchess has fainted,\u201d said Fleta, rising so as to hide Hilary;\n\u201cthe journey has been too long. Is there a house near where she can\nlie still a little while, and come on later to the palace?\u201d\n\nImmediately offers of help were made, and the servants and those who\nwere glad to help them carried the poor little Duchess away.\n\n\u201cOn to the palace!\u201d cried Fleta, and shut the door and drew down the\nblinds. The postilion started the horses with all speed.\n\nSuddenly the blood in Hilary\u2019s body began to surge and burn. Was it\nFleta\u2019s arms that clung round him? Fleta\u2019s lips that printed warm,\nliving kisses on his neck, his face, his hair? He turned and faced\nher.\n\n\u201cTell me the truth,\u201d he said. \u201cAre you a devil?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she answered, \u201cI am not. I want to find my way to the pure\ngood that governs life. But there are devils about me, and you have\nkilled one of them to-night. Hush, calm yourself; remember what we\nare in the eyes of the world. For we are at the palace door, and\nOtto is standing there to receive us.\u201d\n\nShe stepped out, the young queen.\n\nHilary followed her, stumbling, broken. He said he was ill, to those\nwho spoke to him; and stood staring in wonder at the brilliant sight\nbefore him.\n\n                              CHAPTER XV.\n\nThe great hall of the palace was illuminated gloriously by huge\ndragons made of gold, placed high up on the walls; within these\nstrange creatures were powerful lamps, which shed their light not\nonly through the eyes and opened mouths, but from the gleaming\nclaws. The whole place was filled with a blaze of light from them;\nand the dresses of the household assembled below seemed to Hilary\nanother blaze of light, so gay were they. Yet this was only a\ndomestic reception. It was late, and Otto had refused to allow any\nmore general demonstration to take place that night. Yet Fleta, when\nshe threw off her travelling cloak and hood, might have been the\ncentre of any pageant. She showed no trace of the weariness of\ntravel, or even of the strange excitement she had passed through.\nShe was pale, but her face was calm and wore its most haughty and\nunapproachable expression. Her dress of black lace hung about her\nslender form like clouds. Otto was filled with pride as he noted her\nsuperb dignity and beauty; with hatred, as he observed that her eyes\nnever met his own, that she treated him with just the same civility\nas the steward, or any servant of the establishment. No one could\nnotice this but himself and perhaps Hilary, supposing the latter to\nbe capable of regarding anyone but Fleta herself; for she was too\nmuch a woman of the world, this mystic, this wild girl, to admit\nanyone even to the most evident of the secrets of her life.\n\nAfter a few moments passed among the little crowd assembled in the\ngreat hall, Fleta proposed to go to her own rooms for the night, and\na stately little procession formed itself at once to conduct her\nthere. But before going she beckoned to Hilary.\n\n\u201cThe Duchess must come to me to-night,\u201d she said. \u201cI wish her to be\nin my own room. Send a carriage and servants to fetch her.\u201d\n\nHow her eyes glittered! Had he ever seen them shine so vividly\nbefore?\n\n\u201cTell me one thing,\u201d he said hoarsely. \u201cI believe you have taken to\nyourself that creature\u2019s life and very body that I killed for you.\nIs it not true?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are shrewd,\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cYes, it is true. My whole\nbeing is stronger for his death; I absorbed his vital power the\ninstant you wrenched it from him.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd he?\u201d said Hilary, with wild eyes.\n\n\u201cWas one of those half-human, half-animal creatures that haunt men\nto their ill, and which fools call ghosts or demons. I have done him\na service in taking his life into my own.\u201d\n\nHilary shuddered violently.\n\n\u201cYou doubt me,\u201d said Fleta very quietly. \u201cYou still doubt if it is\nnot I who am the devil. Be it so. I am indifferent to your opinion\nof me, Hilary; you cannot help loving and serving me. We were born\nunder the same star. Now go and give orders about the Duchess.\u201d\n\nUnder the same star! Those words had not come to his mind for a long\nwhile; yet how horribly true they were. For he, Hilary, it was who\nhad actually done this dreadful deed and killed this unseen,\nunknown, unimaginable creature. Horror made him clutch his hands\ntogether as he thought that he had touched this thing, more, had\nkilled it hideously. Might it not have been some good thing striving\nto baffle Fleta? Ah, yes! he still doubted her. And yet to doubt her\nso completely made the very earth to sink away from under his feet.\nHe himself, his life, his all, were given to her, be she good or\nevil! Staggering and overpowered by the terrible thoughts that\ncrushed his wearied brain, Hilary found his way to a supper-table;\nand too exhausted to think of anything else but recruiting his\nstrength, sat down to drink wine\u2014and to try to eat. This latter\nseemed impossible, but the wine revived him; and presently he\nremembered that it was his business to look after the Duchess.\n\nBy-and-bye she was carried into the palace; she could not yet stand,\nfor she had only come out of one fainting fit to fall into another.\n\nAnd now came a strange and dreadful scene\u2014one which only a few\nwitnessed, Hilary as it happened being among those few, for he\nsaw the Duchess taken to the suite of rooms Fleta occupied. In\nthe corridor Fleta came out to them; she was still in her\ntravelling-dress, and looked very quiet and even subdued. But at\nthe sight of her the young Duchess screamed as if she saw some\nawful thing; she would not let Fleta touch her, she absolutely\nrefused to enter her room.\n\n\u201cBut you must be with me,\u201d said Fleta in a low voice.\n\n\u201cI will not,\u201d answered the Duchess with a firm resolution which\namazed everyone who knew her. She rose up and walked unassisted\nalong the corridor and down the great staircase; she met the young\nking coming up it; he had heard her shrill cries and came to see\nwhat was happening.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter, little cousin?\u201d seeing her tear-stained and\nagitated face.\n\n\u201cFleta wants me to be in her room all night! I would not do it for\nall the world! She is a devil\u2014she would kill me or make her lover\nkill me, and then no one would ever hear of me or even find my body.\nNo! No!\u201d\n\nAnd so she ran on, down the wide stairs, leaving Otto thunderstruck.\nHe noticed that a number of persons were gathering on the landing\nand stairs, and so, with a stern and quiet face, he passed through\nthe little throng, making no observation. He went down the corridor\nand straight into Fleta\u2019s room. Here he found her standing silent,\ndark, like a sombre statue. One other person was in the room\u2014Hilary\nEstanol. He was in the most extraordinary state of agitation,\npouring out words and accusations; some horror appeared to possess\nand blind him, for he took no notice of the king\u2019s entrance. Fleta\ndid, however; she looked up at him and smiled\u2014such a strange, sweet,\nsubtle smile. Seldom, indeed, had Fleta given him a look like this.\nOtto\u2019s heart leaped within him, and he knew himself her slave. For\nhe loved her increasingly with every passing moment; and she had but\nto turn her face on him softly to make the loving soul in him burn\nwith ardour. But that burning was fiery indeed. He turned upon\nHilary and stayed his words by a sudden sharp order:\n\n\u201cLeave the room,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd you had better go and see Doctor\nBrandener before you go to bed, for you are either in a fever or\nmad. Go at once.\u201d\n\nHilary was in a condition in which an order given in such a tone\ntook the place of the action of his own brain, and he mechanically\nobeyed it. This was the best possible thing that could have happened\nto him; for he was in fact in a high fever, and if he had not,\nwithout thinking about it, done as he was told and gone to the\nresident doctor of the palace, he would probably have wandered\nraving about all night. As it was he was obliged to drink a strong\nsleeping draught, and was placed in his bed, where he fell at once\ninto a sleep so profound it seemed like death.\n\nHilary gone, Fleta closed the door behind him.\n\n\u201cDo not let there be any struggle of wills between us to-night,\u201d\nsaid Fleta very softly. \u201cI warn you, I am much stronger than I was;\nI am very much stronger than you are, now. And you found before that\nyou could not even come near enough to touch me. Let me rest, and\nthat quietly; I wish to retain my beauty, both for your sake and my\nown.\u201d\n\nOtto paused a few moments before he made any answer to this\nextraordinary speech. Then he spoke with difficulty; and as he did\nso raised his hand to brush away some great drops of sweat which had\ngathered on his forehead.\n\n\u201cI know I am powerless against you to-night, Fleta,\u201d he said. \u201cI\ncannot even move nearer to you. But be warned; I intend to probe the\nmystery of your being. I intend to conquer you at last. I will do it\nif I have to visit hell itself for the magic which shall be stronger\nthan yours.\u201d\n\n                        (_To be continued._)\n\n                               \u2014\u2014*\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n\n\n                           TWILIGHT VISIONS.\n\n                         PART II.\u2014THE CRESCENT.\n\n  \u201c_The_ LORD _appeared of old unto me, saying, \u2018Yea, I have loved\n  thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have\n  I drawn thee.\u2019_\u201d\u2014JER. xxxi., 3.\n\n    \u201cIn life, in death, O Lord! abide with me!\u201d\n    Thou, Ruler o\u2019er the Living Rosy Cross\u2014\n    Great Master Mason of the mortal frame,\n    Which is the temple of the Holy Ghost\u2014\n    Grand Power of all who through the secret sun\n    Dost hold the soul in tenement of clay\n    To guide it safely through the gloom of night\n    Into the golden morn, when all things then\n    In Light of Love\u2014thine own Eternal Self\u2014\n    Shall truly stand revealed to those that strive\n    In truth to know the Power which all mankind\n    Shall worship in the Universal King.\n\n    *     *     *     *     *\n\n    My children! saith the living God of Love,\n    Now \u201cif with all your hearts ye truly seek,\u201d[153]\n    Ye surely shall find me your King in Heaven,\n    And finding me shall know yourselves to be\n    Anointed Princes\u2014Rulers of the Earth\u2014\n    The Powers of Light sent by me in the flesh,\n    And named Michael! You are here to fight,\n    To hurl down Satan to his black abyss,\n    Where ignorance and error, sin and crime,\n    And hellish spirits dark for ever dwell\n    With all who in the bonds of slavery\n    Lead deathly lives as creatures of the world\u2014\n    The wretched earth-worms of that bounden sphere,\n    Which is the only Hell mankind can know!\n\n    *     *     *     *     *\n\n    The night is now far spent, and in the sky\n    From out a dark blue setting there hath shone\n    In ages past, as now, full many a star\n    Proclaiming to mankind the Light of Heaven,\n    Each with its own peculiar brilliancy\n    Illumining the minds of men with rays\n    Which point to other realms beyond this world,\n    And ever tell of one star differing\n    In glory from its fellow star on high.\n\n    What great and hidden meaning lieth here!\n    Why are the stars above held forth to man\n    As entities which tell of other states?\n    The Stars of Heaven are never seen by man;\n    As man, he cannot know that glorious light\n    Sent forth\u2014from States of Wisdom not in skies\u2014\n    Through brilliant rays which meet not mortal gaze,\n    And are invisible save to the one\n    Who\u2014seeing through perception\u2014contacts light,\n    That Light of ancient days, since passed away\n    Into the sombre gloom of deepest night;\n    Because in ignorance and selfishness\n    Man willed to dwell in darkness on this earth.\n    And now behold the fallen Lucifer!\u2014\n    Thou Morning Star of Truth\u2014again arise\u2014\n    To touch with thy bright rays the mind of man\n    And open to his gaze the Light of Love,\n    Reflected in the silv\u2019ry Crescent now\n    About to crown the Living Cross of Truth.\n\n    *     *     *     *     *\n\n    Shine forth, fair Luna! Man hath waited long\n    For thee\u2014O bringer of the Golden Light.\n    Surmount the Cross\u2014thou Goddess of the Gods\u2014\n    Which suff\u2019ring mortals here in agony\n    Have borne along, desiring of their King\u2014\n    Of whom thou art\u2014those better things on earth,\n    Which He hath promised them in days of old,\n    Shall take the place of former things to pass\u2014\n    With mourning, weeping, bitterness, and death\u2014\n    Away for ever, as the first-born states\n    Of Heaven and earth and sea no more to be.[154]\n\n    *     *     *     *     *\n\n    Fair Keeper of the rays shed by the Sun!\n    Whilst feeble mortals now deny thy power,\n    We of the morn declare thee as thou art;\n    The mediate force to govern all mankind,\n    The force of love which mortals cannot know.\n    For that man holds as love is passion foul:\n    It hath transformed the earth into a hell,\n    And none save thou can mediately stand\n    To rid the earth\u2014by Truth who comes from thee\u2014\n    From that curs\u2019d tyrant in the world or hell,\n    The devil\u2014Satan\u2014he that doth deceive,\n    Accuser of our brethren, soon to be\n    Bound hand and foot in heaven, then cast to earth,\n    When angels dark and all who fight for him\n    Shall fall with him through Michael\u2019s power and might.[155]\n\n    *     *     *     *     *\n\n    The grandest vision seen in heaven from earth\n    Has burst upon the wond\u2019ring mind of man,\n    For woman has appear\u2019d with Sun array\u2019d\u2014\n    She stands on Luna, o\u2019er her holy brow\n    A coronet of twelve bright golden stars:\n    She crieth out and travaileth in pain\n    To be delivered of the Child of Truth,\n    Which is, in love, to rule mankind as one,\n    The one great body in the Spirit CHRIST[156]\n    Who cometh now a second time to man\n    Through her who clothes him with a mortal form,\n    Our Holy Mother in the Living God.\n    And yet about the woman, as of old,\n    Damned Satan\u2019s lurks, with seven diadems\u2014\n    The dragon stands as knowledge of the World,\n    Which would devour the holy child of God.\n    But so-called knowledge is not ever true,\n    Frail mortals know not that the states of Heaven\n    Permit below themselves the states of Hell\n    To be\u2014that mortals there may feel the Truth\u2014\n    The everlasting fire, consuming Self\u2014\n    Destroying all the former things in man\n    Through fiery sufferings induced by self,\n    Through freedom granted by a Loving God.\n    The Universal King in love ordains\n    That man shall ever reap the crop he sows,\n    And so the Woman clothed with the Sun,\n    Who sows the seed of love amongst mankind,\n    Shall reap the fruits of love in Heaven\u2014her home\u2014\n    Where happiness and peace eternal reign,\n    Wherein the dragon hath no place\u2014no power.\n    All hail! thou glorious Bride, in Light array\u2019d,\n    O, woman, clothed with the Bridegroom\u2019s Power,[157]\n    Arise and shine! The time is now at hand\n    To change this earth into a heaven bright,\n    This hell into a paradise of Saints;\n    Through thee alone can mortals rise from earth\n    To soar into Eternity\u2014God\u2019s Peace;\n    Through thee alone can man perceive the light\u2014\n    The Sun of Wisdom,[158] which shall soon appear\n    Acknowledged King supreme of all that is,\n    Which He hath made in love for all mankind.\n    Woman! behold a groaning world awaits\n    The crushing of the Serpent\u2019s power through thee;\n    Look on the fairest cities of this globe,\n    In misery the love-starved of the earth\n    Now walk the streets; whilst degradation vile\n    Confronts them in their daily\u2014hourly lives,\n    Because mankind will sell itself for gold\n    To one, who is the prince of hell; he rules\n    The States of falsehood in this mortal world\n    Wherein the moaning of tormented souls\n    Appeals to God[159] in mortal agony\n    To ease the burdens of their earthly lives\n    By teaching them of thee, O Queen of Heaven!\n\n    *     *     *     *     *\n\n    Woman, behold the sighing, wretchedness,\n    Depravity, disease and death on earth!\n    Pure life has left these mortals who transgress\n    The laws of God by being of the world;\n    They know not happiness and peace and thee.\n    Thou art of nations all, the Saving Health.\n    Stretch forth thine hands and save, O Queen of Heaven!\n\n    *     *     *     *     *\n\n    Woman! behold the man of war exists\n    Whose work it is to shed the blood of him\n    Who truly is a portion of thyself;\n    Nay more, thine ALL, within this weary state;\n    The Father of thy loved ones in the flesh!\n    How long wilt thou permit ungodly strife\n    To keep thee from thy lawful throne on earth,\n    The one great Empire that shall bow to thee,\n    That thou alone can\u2019st rule, Queen of the South?[160]\n    O, Bride of Heaven, thou knowest well that He\u2014\n    The Son of Man\u2014thy bridegroom\u2014came to save,\n    Not to destroy, the lives of men on earth![161]\n\n    *     *     *     *     *\n\n    Great Spirit Love! Bright Queen of Highest Heaven,\n    Send forth thy potent force, and let it fire\n    The hearts of all within this little sphere;\n    Show worldly rulers in their sinful states\n    That thou alone art Queen of all Mankind;\n    And in these petty princes of the earth\n    Destroy, we pray thee, all the mortal lusts\n    Of self, of gold, and praise, and feeble power,\n    Implanted in their natures by the one\n    Who rules them with their subjects in this hell\n    Created by themselves through ignorance\n    Of thee, O, Spirit Love, Blest Queen of Heaven!\n\n                                              WM. C. ELDON SERJEANT.\n\nLondon, 28th January, 1888.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 153:\n\n  See Deut. iv.\n\nFootnote 154:\n\n  See Rev. xxi.\n\nFootnote 155:\n\n  See Rev. xii.\n\nFootnote 156:\n\n  _i.e._, The invisible, universal, and eternal principle which\n  mortals can only conceive of as the sum total of the combined\n  spirits of Truth, Love, and Wisdom, when manifested in that \u201cSon\n  of Man,\u201d or HUMANITY, which is also the \u201cSon of God,\u201d collectively\n  and individually.\n\nFootnote 157:\n\n  In the Kabala, the Bride of the \u201cHeavenly Man,\u201d _Tetragrammaton_,\n  is Malkuth\u2014the foundation or kingdom. It is our earth, which, when\n  _regenerated_ and purified (as matter), will be united to her\n  bridegroom (Spirit). But in Esotericism there are two aspects of\n  the LOGOS, or the \u201cFather-Son,\u201d which latter becomes his own\n  father; one is the UNMANIFESTED Eternal, the other the manifested\n  and periodical LOGOS. The \u201cBride\u201d of the former is the universe as\n  nature in the abstract. She is also his \u201cMOTHER\u201d; who, \u201cclothed\n  with the bridegroom\u2019s power,\u201d gives birth to the manifested\n  universe (the second _logos_) through her own inherent, mystic\n  power, and is, therefore, the Immaculate Mother; \u201cthe woman\n  clothed with the sun, and travailing\u201d in child birth, in\n  Revelation, ch. xii.\u2014ED.\n\nFootnote 158:\n\n  See Psalm lxxxiv., 11.\n\nFootnote 159:\n\n  _i.e._ The Universal Spirit in whom all things exist and have\n  being. That Eternal Principle which fills all Space and Time, and\n  is SPACE and Time (in its abstract sense, as otherwise it would be\n  an _extra-Cosmic_ God), and is perfect in perfection.\n\nFootnote 160:\n\n  See Matt. xii., 42.\n\nFootnote 161:\n\n  Luke ix., 56.\n\n-----\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                            EDITORS\u2019 NOTE.\n\n  This second part of the three which form the bulk of the poem\n  called \u201cTwilight Visions\u201d by their author\u2014from a purely Kabalistic\n  standpoint of universal symbolical Esotericism, is most\n  suggestive. Its literary value is apparent. But literary form in\n  occultism counts for nothing in such mystic writing if its spirit\n  is sectarian\u2014if the symbolism fails in universal application or\n  lacks correctness. In this, Part II., however (of the third to\n  come we can yet say nothing), the Christian-Jud\u00e6an names may be\n  altered and replaced by their Sanskrit or Egyptian equivalents,\n  and the ideas will remain the same. It seems written in the\n  universal \u201cmystery-language,\u201d and may be readily understood by an\n  occultist, of whatever school or nationality. Nor will any true\n  mystic, versed in that international tongue, whose origin is lost\n  in the dark night of pre-historic ages, fail to recognise a true\n  Brother, who has adopted the phraseology of the Initiates of the\n  ancient Jud\u00e6an Tanaim\u2014Daniel and St. John of the Apocalypse\u2014and\n  partially that of the Christian Gnostics, only to be the more\n  readily understood by the profane of Christian lands. Yet the\n  author means precisely the same thing that would be in the mind of\n  any Brahminical or Buddhist Initiate, who, while deploring the\n  present degenerated state of things, would place all his hope in\n  the transient character of even the _Kali Yuga_, and trust in the\n  speedy coming of the Kalki Avatar. We say again, the divine\n  Science and Wisdom\u2014_Theosophia_\u2014is universal and common property,\n  and the same under every sky. It is the physical type and the\n  outward appearance in the dress, that make of one individual a\n  Chinaman and of another a European, and of a third a red-skinned\n  American. The inner man is one, and all are \u201cSons of God\u201d by\n  birth-right.\n\n  The editors regret that, by an over-sight, the sub-title, \u201cThe\n  Cross,\u201d that headed Part I. of \u201cTwilight Visions,\u201d published in\n  our January number, should have been omitted.\n\n                            THE WHITE MONK.\n\n             By the Author of \u201cA Professor of Alchemy.\u201d\n\n                           (_Continued._)\n\n\u201cMargaret had been in grief so sad and potent since her brother\u2019s\ndeath, that it at last brought her into a fever, from which, with\ndifficulty, she recovered, and which kept her long to her chamber.\n\n\u201cDuring this time the monk roamed like a restless spirit, seeming to\nseek her, and despairing because he found her not. Giles Hughson\neven went so far as to suspect he was no true priest at all, until\nhe had seen his tonsure. Even then he was drawn into most\nsacrilegious surmises by what he beheld some few nights after.\n\n\u201cHaving some work to do in Castle Troyes garden, he noted the White\nMonk, his lodger, glide noiselessly through the grounds, hidden\nbehind the thick black walls of yew, and pause under the casement of\nMistress Margaret and stand there listening intently for a certain\nspace. At last, with a gesture of despair, he slung himself with\ninfinite agile stillness up some feet of the ivy that covered the\nwall, from which insecure footing he did long and earnestly search\nif he might see her shadow cross the room. Giles, the gardener,\nswore afterwards that the sight of that priest, with his cowl fallen\nback from his dark face, and that look of straining, terrified\nattention had in it something so partaking of the unearthly, that\nfor the life of him he dared not accost the daring intruder. \u2018Time\nenough if there were need,\u2019 he excused himself afterwards, \u2018but\nCastle Troyes is ever well enow defended, and at that time there\nmust have been enough of inmates watching over Margaret, the\nbeautiful, to win her back to life.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe horrible recklessness of an act such as this, with the carbines\nof a round thirty men within a few yards of him, made the monk seem\nto Giles a creature of charmed life, who may not be addressed as\nordinary mortals.\n\n\u201cBut the White Monk saw his discoverer when he descended and glided\naway again, scared by some noise made by Margaret\u2019s attendants. And\nthus there occurred a tragedy, which you shall learn as far as it\nwas ever known.\n\n\u201cNow Giles Hughson had a young son afflicted with total dumbness,\nbut whom Mistress Margaret de Troyes had taught to write; and it is\nthrough this scholarship of his that we come to know as much as we\ndo of what really happened. The White Monk appeared fond of this\nboy, possibly because he had seen Margaret kiss him. Thus the lad\nhad greater access to the monk\u2019s small attic than any other; and\nthis is the tale he tells of the night after Giles had espied his\nlodger clinging to the wall of Castle Troyes.\n\n\u201cThe boy had noiselessly, so as not to disturb the often musings of\nthe solitary one, stepped up the attic stairs to fetch some trifle\nhe wanted of the monk. Pausing timidly at the door, he beheld the\nfamiliar white-clad figure, with an air of terrible malignity,\nmixing some powder of a greenish colour, which, at the sight of the\nintruder, he hastily laid aside, thinking it had not been seen.\n\n\u201cBut the lad was unnerved by the expression he had caught on the\nmonk\u2019s face, and he forgot not so lightly.\n\n\u201cAt the frugal supper, that very night, he observed the monk ate\neven less than was his wont, and of one dish only, the which he also\npressed upon the young lad by his side, seeming to wish to keep the\nothers from him. The others of the family, Giles Hughson and his\ndame, did eat as usual, and were both found dead on the morrow.\n\n\u201cThe monk strove to comfort the poor boy by every means in his\npower, but it was all of no avail. The lad seized a moment, fled\ninto the wood, and there wrote down all that he had seen and\nsuspected, with which account he presently did seek the justices.\nThese caused proper inquiry into the manner of the deaths of the\nworkman and his wife to be made, and, finding they had died of\npotent poison, instituted careful search for the person of the White\nMonk, who had vanished from the cottage.\n\n\u201cAt length they found him, in a strange state for one of his way of\nliving. Into the wood had he gone, but not so far as that he could\nhide him. He had stopped beside a little brook, where he had sat\nwhen first he saw fair Margaret, the sister of his victims. There,\neven there, was he found, in so deep contemplation that he never\nheard his pursuers\u2019 footsteps. He had made a cross of two elder\nbranches (folk about us say that the elder-wood formed the Cross\nwhereon Christ died), and having set it on the summit of a bank, was\ndeep in prayer, as it seemed, before it.\n\n\u201cOne of his Italian repentances, I doubt not.\n\n\u201cHe seemed in sore distress of mind, and lost to all thought of his\nsurroundings.\n\n\u201cSo they took him; the foreign wild beast, tracked at last. But not\nwithout trouble for he fought like the panther he was. Escaping\nlissomely from their hands at the moment when they would have bound\nhim, the ex-bravo snatched a genuine stiletto from the folds of his\nmonastic frock and stabbed one man to death, laughing coarsely at\nthe stupid astonishment of the harquebusiers to see this weapon in\nso unseemly a hand.\n\n\u201cHe had no chance, being taken thus unawares, and exhaustion came\nupon him; so, with tremours, the officers of justice held him fast.\nBefore the first cord was fastened round his struggling wrists, he\nfell back, rigid, in their arms; sighed once or twice, smiled\nbitterly to himself at their consternation, and flung his head back,\ndead.\n\n\u201cA small quantity of a green powder was found on him (a large dose,\nI ween, had killed so hardy a villain!), and by comparing the signs\nof death with those of Giles Hughson and his wife, they saw he had\npoisoned himself some time within the last five hours. Whether he\nhad seen Margaret again, and by seeing her upon the earth, had come\nto know himself too bad for it; or whether the weariness attendant\nupon sins so heavy had worn him out at last, remains a mystery. The\nleeches said a man so wasted and wan as this could scarce, in the\nway of Nature, have lived many years longer; but I question this,\nand so did the men who had so great trouble to hold him!\n\n\u201cNews travelled slowly in those days from Italy to England, and it\nwas not until very shortly after the White Monk\u2019s death that our\ntown learnt it had harboured Pietro Rinucci, the slayer of the two\ngood brothers, Ambrose and Gilbert de Troyes. No one ever told\nMistress Margaret that she had spoken with such a man. And now the\nbeautiful maiden rose from her bed, and asked for her mostly costly\ngowns, of amber, blue and rosy colours; and went amongst her friends\nbrightly, wreathed with pearls and radiant in smiles. She was\nthought to have recovered, though she looked ethereal as a daisy or\nwhite cloud; but she said and averred that she was dying, and that\nher brother Ambrose had appeared to her in a vision, bidding her\nmake all speed to do what remained to her upon the earth and be soon\nready, when he should come behind the angels to fetch her hence. Her\nkinsfolk thought she wandered in her mind. She asked for the man who\nhad wooed her, and held long speech with him, very merrily, and yet\nwith tears; beseeching him to pause e\u2019er he rashly threw away his\nlife on this earth, since we know not in the beginning, whither our\npleasant sins may carry us, and when we have no enjoyment of them,\nsave by memory, what are they to us? The instruments of our present\nruin.\n\n\u201c\u2018All this,\u2019 said the lovely Margaret with a smile, \u2018hath right off,\nmy Lord, been heard, by you and others; but from a lady\u2019s lips (and\nthat lady who is even now bent to consider the past failings of her\nown life, soon to be taken from her) it hath been made evident to\nme, these poor oft-repeated words shall have some power. God bless\nyou, my Lord\u2014farewell.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe gentleman came out from her boudoir exceeding sobered, and\nessaying as he might to conceal his tears.\n\n\u201cThe words of this dying angel\u2014for so indeed she seemed\u2014he vowed\nshould be as a challenge to him from God to purify his ways. And\nindeed from that day the gentleman made such progress in godliness\nas can be made by one of his complexion.\n\n\u201cAnd now a strange and terrible portent was observed.\n\n\u201cThose who watched by the Lady Margaret, began to see a vision, and\nof that most dreaded being, the White Monk!\n\n\u201cNight or day, it mattered not; with a chill like to that of Death\nitself, the horrified watchers knew the presence of the phantom. In\nthe dark corners of the room would shape themselves dimly the\nfeatures of the murderer, Rinucci, and his monastic gown, so glaring\nwhite in its dimness through the dark that the eye could not search\nit, and gone, ever gone, if some bold spirit neared the spot where\nhe had thought he saw it.\n\n\u201cNo one said aught of this to the Lady Margaret, in fear to fright\nher; and she alone, of all who watched, did never see nor feel the\nconstant presence. It seemed sometimes as though the phantom yearned\nto make itself visible to her kind, half-divine eyes, but her\nthoughts were too high-set for it to be given her to see a sight so\nhorrible.\n\n\u201cShe was much upheld by visions then\u2014her contemplative soul shaped\nto itself many fair sights and sounds that others knew not. Sitting\nby the open casement in her sun-coloured gown, with white arms,\npearl encircled, leaning out, and her smile ever brighter as she\nmurmured to herself, she would stretch far over the lattice and\ngrasp at rosy clouds, which she said floated past her in the peopled\nair. She would reply, still leaning out and smiling, to what she\nvowed was said to her by wandering happy spirits. And all this\nwhile, behind her, there would stand the White Mystery, with slight\nhand lifting the cowl from a face whose eyes were as deep as death\nand more despairing.\n\n\u201cSmall marvel that the murderer\u2019s ghost should cling to our saint\nwhile she yet lived on earth! He may have known that, once dead,\nrestored to Heaven, she would thenceforth move in worlds where such\nas he should never have the force to breathe.\n\n\u201cAnd in her due hour she died; and after that for a space no one saw\naught of the dread ghost. His spirit, drawn by some power to enter\nour house, wherein was held all he knew of goodness, had now no\nfurther business there, for a while. His loathed name, fraught with\nhorror to your ancestors\u2019 home, was now never spoken. It was\nthought, doubtless, that since Margaret de Troyes\u2014the innocent\navenger\u2014had unwittingly caused the murderer\u2019s death, the house he\nhad so deeply injured was for ever free from his godless presence.\nAnd, indeed, for a while, the chronicles are silent respecting him.\nThe next two generations were happy, and no great misfortune blasted\nthe house. But in the third generation there were harsh feuds in the\ncity, and much bloodshed, and several of your name came to violent\nand sometimes mysterious ends. Then it was that there arose a\nsearching into past traditions to discover the secret of a certain\nwhite spectre said to appear about the castle previous to each\ncalamity. Not all saw it; but still it grew known, and it bore a\nmarked resemblance to an ancient portrait\u2014hung up for curiosity\u2019s\nsake\u2014of Pietro Rinucci.\n\n\u201cWell, young master, I myself served your grandfather, and I myself\ncan bear witness to the presence of the White Monk\u2019s ghost on one of\nthe shrewd moments of the family destinies. Wilt hear it? So your\nfather was then a stalwart young man, away at the wars in Spain.\nYour uncles, two blithe young gallants, were at home at the time I\nspeak of, and there was some merry-making toward in the castle.\nMyself was seeing to the torches in the garden, when I chanced to\nsee your uncle, Geoffrey de Troyes, come hastily into the yew-walk\nwith his rapier drawn, followed by another youth whom I knew well,\nhis rival, and in some sort, his enemy.\n\n\u201cAs the guests danced within, these nobles fought without. A man\ndared not have interposed; it was matter of life and death to them,\nand they were there to prove it.\n\n\u201cI was glad, as I stood on the further side the hedge, to mark the\nvigour and the skill of our Geoffrey. Methought the vantage was with\nhim, and with my whole heart I hated his opponent, the cold, selfish\nErnle Deane, and wished him to succumb.\n\n\u201cAnd so, by mine honour, he should have done, for my boy was the\npride of us all for swordsmanship; but it was not to be.\n\n\u201cGeoffrey de Troyes never suffered more from his mortal wound than I\ndid in my heart and my pride, as I led him, bleeding piteously to\nthis very stable-room, where he sank on the hay and said he must\ndie.\n\n\u201c\u2018Look to it,\u2019 groaned the poor young noble, as he lay dying, \u2018that\nMistress Beatrice Savile has this token from me\u2014my gold chain\u2014warn\nher from me when I am dead, that she wed not Ernle Deane\u2014he is bad\nto the core, and she is too good to mend him. Oh! but for that\nhateful vision!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018What vision, a God\u2019s name?\u2019 I cried.\n\n\u201cAnd he told me trembling\u2014he who had never trembled of his whole\nlife!\u2014that even at the moment when he had thought to subdue his\nenemy\u2014even as he raised his sword to strike home to a worthless\nheart\u2014even then had his arm fallen paralysed and a frightful shiver\nquite unmanned him at the sight of a poor monk in white, who stood\nsome yards away, and raised his cowl with a thin white hand, and\nfixed unearthly eyes upon him with a steadfast look that drew the\nsoul away from the deadliest earthly peril.\n\n\u201c\u2018And so I fell!\u2019 cried the shamed noble, crimsoning though the\npallor of exhaustion. \u2018_I_\u2014a practised hand, a not unworthy\ncourage\u2014a De Troyes! I fell\u2014for this!\u2014and so would any man have\nfallen,\u2019 he defiantly ended, \u2018for \u2019twas a devil\u2014\u2019twas Pietro Rinucci\nhimself, who came from hell to lure me from my hopes of earthly\nhappiness. O, life! O, Beatrice!\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd I nursed him and wept over him like any woman, whilst one\nyoung, bright life more departed,\n\n\u201cIn truth, young master,\u201d ended honest Ralph, \u201cthe noble Geoffrey\nmay have been deceived, and fancied this; but, you shall pardon me,\nI would rather think that armies of devils nightly march these\ngrounds than that one De Troyes was ever seen to quail, save under\nmagic! Thus it is that I, and that many of us yet believe in the\nspectre of Pietro Rinucci, \u2018the White Monk.\u2019\u201d\n\nOh these faithful servitors, they would die for us children of the\nhouse, I believe, and yet they have ever this curious bent to\nterrify the childish minds. I know not when it was precisely that I\nthus first heard the White Monk\u2019s story, but this I know, I was\nyoung enough to sit with my clenched fistlets supporting my chin,\nand my eyes and mouth very wide open.\n\n\u201cAnd was he always in _white_, that fearful man?\u201d I asked, somewhere\ntoward the middle of the story. \u201c_Always in white?_\u201d I know not why,\nbut this detail struck my child\u2019s phantasy more powerfully than all\nthe rest; _this_ was awful, this was the pith of the whole matter,\nand from that moment I sat trembling, and drinking in the history\nwith reluctant suspense, until it became the bane of my life for a\nterm of years.\n\nFor hours I lay shuddering ofttimes in my bed, dreading with my body\nand my soul lest the Monk should appear to me! And never had I\ncourage to speak of this to anyone of the many loving house mates\nwho would so promptly have put an end to my fears by leaving me no\nmore alone at night. There is a keen, hard honour for children to\nmaintain, and to them the confession of nocturnal terror is as\nflight to the soldier. So, as the banquet sped its course below, I\nshuddered lonely in my bed in the oaken room, often weeping angrily\namidst my fears because I alone, the only son of the house, was the\nonly soul in it left desolate.\n\nA little later I was comforted in some sort by my baby sister\nMargaret, who was put to sleep in an adjacent cot, and being too\ntiny for Fear to reach, would sleep secure, all gold and white in\nthe dusky gleam of our rushlight\u2014the one oasis of hope throughout\nthe terrible oaken room. Yet she in her turn, became a source of\nfear to me. Should the Monk appear, and should the dire extremity\ncause me to shriek, what would become of Marguerite? She would die\nof sudden terror. Worse\u2014if he should stand by her bedside, raising\nhis cowl off the awful face, and her blue eyes should open at that\ninstant? How should I protect her?\n\nBut before I wander further, I must begin straight and tell how we\nlived, and where, and to what end.\n\n                                                         PERCY ROSS.\n\n                        (_To be continued._)\n\n\n\n\n                       AN AUTO-HYPNOTIC RHAPSODY.\n\n \u201c_When all desires_ that dwell in the heart _cease, then the mortal\n    becomes immortal, and obtains Brahman_.\n _When all the fetters of the heart_ here on earth _are broken_;\n _When all that bind us to_ this life _is undone, then the mortal\n    becomes immortal\u2014here my teaching ends_.\u201d\n\n                                                   \u2014KATHA UPANISHAD.\n\nI (\u00c2tman) have crossed the sea\u2014I have reached the other shore\u2014I have\ntriumphed over gravitation, my soul is in the sun-currents, moving\nsunwards with the sun.\n\nWhere the currents are bearing me to I scarcely know, but yet\nsomething has been revealed.\n\nI died the mystical death, I was received by the Dawn-Maidens\u2014the\nbright ones of the eternal twilights, the two bright Ushas, Ahana\nand Antigone, Isis, and Nephtys of Aanru.[162]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 162:\n\n  _Aanru_ is the celestial field where the defunct\u2019s soul received\n  wheat and corn, growing therein _seven cubits high_. (See \u201cBook of\n  the Dead,\u201d 124 _et seq._)\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\nThe Ahana-Aurora of Eternity laid me asleep on her bosom, giving me\n_amrita_[163] to drink, as Hebe gave to Herakles, and then I at once\nknew that I (_Atman_) was immortal; the Mask of Personality had\nfallen to earth, the \u00c2tma was revealed\u2014my true SELF\u2014I knew my name,\nand found myself soaring sunwards. Then the Voice of that DAWN said,\n\u201cI give you the \u2018Amrita\u2019 of the cessation of deaths,\u201d and her lips\nburning with sun-ardours, kissed my forehead, and said, \u201cI bring you\nto the sun; when blind\u2014on earth, that Sanskara of sorrow\u2014you fancied\nyour sun was nothing but a great centre of physical force\u2014light and\nheat, and their equivalents; but it was Maya, the Earth-Queen of\nillusions, who thus deceived your earth eyes. Look now, and you can\nsee nothing but a vast group of mighty spirit-wills clustered round\na yet mightier Spirit centre, drawing from thence inspiration, and\never-radiating sun effluxes, for the good and advancement of those\nunhappy lower wills yet sunk in the earth. What you called light was\nintelligence, and heat was\u2014love. Did not Kor\u00e9 suggest this to you, O\nmy weak child, for she, too, was one of the Ushas, a Maiden of the\nDawn, kindling your soul to love?\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 163:\n\n  _Amrita_ (immortal) applied to the Soma juice, and called the\n  \u201cWater of Life.\u201d\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\nI was silent to this question, for a dread sorrow clung to me.\n\n\u201cThough\u201d (began again the Voice) \u201cthe sun-souls attract the\nearth-souls, the lost ones, for a while, to bring them up to\nthemselves by the path that leads to Nirvana[164] \u2018where there is no\nsorrow\u2019; yet the sun-groups of Spirits are themselves attracted by a\ngrander centre of force, and the Sun, with his planet-children, are\nspeeding in a mighty orbit round a far mightier Soul-centre\u2014the lost\nPleiad\u2014lost on earth to be found in Heaven. Dost thou not hear the\nsolemn music of that tempest flight?\u201d And then she touched my ears,\nand I heard the myriad voiced song of the blessed ones as they\npassed on rejoicing, and the Voice continued: \u201cThat lost Pleiad, the\ndove-woman, the \u2018Woman Clothed with the Sun,\u2019 who, as Jeremiah\nprophesied, should \u2018compass man,\u2019 is that eternal womanhood which\nattracts all men.\u201d And the chorus of the psalm I heard them sing, as\nthey passed on Pleiad-ward, was \u201cFreedom and Love\u2014Love in Bi-unity.\nThe Two in One foretold has come even to earth.\u201d And the souls in\nthat Pleiad-world are infinite in number as the sands of the seas of\ncountless worlds, elective affinities attract like to like, forming\ncelestial choirs, each member of which breathes the akasian air\nsynchronously with the other, and what you call in your\nearth-symbol-language their \u201chearts,\u201d beat and throb in unison\ntogether as one heart, and thus become coalesced in, and by, love.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 164:\n\n  This is a doctrine of the Visishtadwaita sect of the Vedantins.\n  The _Jiva_ (spiritual life principle, the living _Monad_) of one\n  who attained Moksha or Nirvana, \u201cbreaks through the Brahmarandra\n  and goes to _Suryamandala_ (the region of the sun) through the\n  Solar rays. Then it goes, through a dark spot in the Sun, to\n  Paramapeda to which it is directed by the Supreme Wisdom acquired\n  by _Yoga_, and helped thereinto by the _Devas_ (gods) called\n  Archis, the \u201cFlames,\u201d or Fiery Angels, answering to the Christian\n  archangels.\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\n\u201cListen, O my child, to the music of their breathing,\u201d and I said,\n\u201cIs Kor\u00e9 there?\u201d Then I heard voices in Heaven, and I began to\nbreathe the interior akasa breath synchronously with her\u2014our breaths\nbecame one, I was mingled with, and melted in her; and lo! a great\nmystery! that Dawn-maiden changed to Kor\u00e9, and Kor\u00e9 gave me the\namrita of the Pleiad, and I knew that our biune love was immortal.\n\nI have passed over the deep waters, I am free, I have infinite peace\nand infinite joy, at rest for ever.\n\nHave I not, like Herakles, slept on the bosom of Ath\u00e9n\u00e9, breathing\nthe wisdom of her breaths? I, too, breathe internally akasian\nlove-breaths, I live in the love-choirs of the Pleiad Sun, I am in\nthe true Nirvana, where there is no sorrow and no desire, for desire\nis lost in an ever-abiding and eternal fruition. The Lotus has\nbloomed in the Sun-fire,[165] and my soul is newborn in the pure\nwhite calyx, and floats down the golden waters that wash the eternal\nshores. I have found the \u201cPath,\u201d \u201csuffering, and the cause of\nsuffering\u201d (separation from the loved one) have been seen, and have\npassed away, whilst we ever rise and pass onwards by the star-paths.\nI am no more blind, but, like Orion of old, gazing eastwards on that\nrising sun, the red flush of whose dawn is ever blushing in our\ncentral souls. I have received my sight.\u2014OM....\n\n                                                            A. J. C.\n                                                            Lucerne.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 165:\n\n  _Vide_ Legend of Jyotishka, mentioned in \u201cLife of Buddha from the\n  Bkah-Hgyur.\u201d\n\n-----\n\n                                  ---\n\nSince writing the foregoing, A. J. C. has met with the following\nnote contained in Mr. Edwin Arnold\u2019s interesting essay, \u201cDeath and\nAfterwards,\u201d which throws light on the views in said Rhapsody: \u201cThat\nwhich safely bears our \u2018solid world\u2019 in the gulfs of space is no\nbase or basis, no moveless central rock, but _throbbing energies_ in\ncomplex and manifold action, _in swing and wave and thrill_;\nwhirling us onward in mighty sweeps of three-fold rythm _to which\nour hearts are set_. So therefore not solidity of base in fixity of\nstatus is our supreme and vital need, but moving _power beyond our\nken or senses_; known to us in _energising action_, and working\nthrough blue \u2018void\u2019; impelling us in rings of spiral orbit round a\nmoving sun in which we are dependent.\u201d\n\nThe same book contains Walt Whitman\u2019s beautiful and striking poem on\nDeath, in which the poet says:\n\n      \u201cHave none chanted for thee a chant of fullest welcome?\u201d\n\nYes, one other, the writer of the foregoing Rhapsody, has attempted\na song in praise of Death the deliverer, and the Italian poet,\nLeopardi, stated in beautiful verse years ago that the world had two\ngood things in it\u2014Love and Death.\n\n                    \u201cDue belle cose ho il mondo\n                    L\u2019amor e la Morte\u201d...\n\n                               ----------\n\n                            OUR OTHER HALF.\n\nWhen our ancient brethren, the Kabalists, Jewish as well as\nOriental, taught that the divine monad, starting on its long journey\nfrom the bosom of the Infinite One was divided into halves, they had\na double meaning, one exoteric, the other esoteric. The exoteric\none, being that the two halves, swept through cycles upon cycles of\ntime, in search of each other; and, that, when they finally met, in\na perfect union, or marriage, the two halves became one on earth,\nand after death, united again. The true explanation, however, the\nesoteric one, is, that each and every one of us, contains within\nhimself, both the halves: the feminine predominating through some\nincarnations, the masculine through others. It adds that, when we\nevolute into the perfect being, the Adept, the Mahatma, both\nprinciples are in perfect harmony. Or, as the Kabalists have\nrecorded it, harmony is in equilibrium, and equilibrium exists by\nthe analogy of contraries. How often we discern in the most\nmasculine of men, distinct feminine traits of character, and _vice\nversa_, in the gentlest of the fair sex, discover masculine traits.\n\nThe Jewish Kabbalists represented these two principles in the\nletters forming their Ineffable Name. Its first three characters\nmean Eve, or Eva, or H\u00e2yah \u05d4\u05d9\u05d4 or woman, or by another reading it\nmeans mother, and is, in fact, the proper name as given in Genesis\nfor Eve, \u201cthe mother of all living.\u201d Adding the character \u05d9 Yodh or\nYah, the male, the number one, the masculine, we have Jehovah, or\nJah-eve, or being as male-female, the perfect number\u201410, symbolised\nby the Sephirothal Adam Kadmon.\n\nA few evenings ago, while pondering on this subject, in a room\ndevoted to occult research, where an Eastern incense burning with a\nruddy glow on the triangular-shaped altar, sent its refreshing\nfragrance through the apartment, my outer senses were lulled, and\nthe inner ones came into play, and I became conscious of my other\n\u201chalf.\u201d I saw standing before me, a being, whom I had hitherto\nconsidered as my guardian angel stretching out her hands to me, and\nsaying\u2014\u201cmy beloved one, know thy-_self_.\u201d\n\nThe fire on the altar burnt low. The north-east wind, which had been\nblowing in furious gusts outside, lashing the bosom of the lake into\nwhite foam, died away, sounding like some far distant choral chant.\nAn unearthly silence ensued, and seemed to pervade the infinitudes\nof space. A thousand voices spoke to me, saying, \u201cMan, know\nthyself.\u201d Shadowy, ghostly forms filled the apartment. One, more\ndistinct than the rest, tall in form, clad in a long flowing garment\nof pure white, the long black hair falling in curly locks over his\nshoulders, the silky beard reaching to his waist, the light of\ncenturies of centuries gleaming forth from his dark eyes\u2014extended\nhis right hand toward me. A thrill of unutterable delight passed\nthrough my being. Slowly I emerged from my earthly casket, looked\nfor an instant at its sleeping form, then felt irresistibly drawn to\nthe fair being, who still stood with outstretched hands, and seemed\nto lose myself in her. The twain had become one. The mystic union\nhad taken place. For a few brief moments I realized the\npossibilities of _jn\u00e2nayoga_, the wisdom-power of the adepts. Space\nwas annihilated. I could see systems upon systems of worlds,\ngalaxies of stars, suns and systems of suns, whirling through space.\nI thought of some distant place, and I was there. Complex problems\nsolved themselves quite naturally: I had become all THOUGHT....\n\nThe extended hand of the tall form flashed before my eyes, and I\nbecame unconscious. When I awoke, I found lying on the altar a\nfull-blown white rose. The north-east wind was again roaring in\nfierce gusts, the fire on the altar had died out. The mirrors had\ndraped themselves with their curtains of black. The two interlaced\ntriangles had merged into a circle, of pure gold in colour. Once\nmore I took upon myself my objective life. But I had solved the\nproblem which has taken me seven years to solve. I was content....\n\n                                           \u201cBERTRAND STONEX,\u201d F.T.S.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                           THE THREE DESIRES.\n\nThe first three of the numbered rules of \u201cLight on the Path\u201d must\nappear somewhat of an unequal character to bracket together. The\nsense in which they follow each other is purely spiritual. Ambition\nis the highest point of personal activity reached by the mind, and\nthere is something noble in it, even to an Occultist. Having\nconquered the desire to stand above his fellows, the restless\naspirant, in seeking what his personal desires are, finds the thirst\nfor life stand next in his way. For all that are ordinarily classed\nas desires have long since been subjugated, passed by, or forgotten,\nbefore this pitched battle of the soul is begun. The desire for life\nis entirely a desire of the spirit, not mental at all; and in facing\nit a man begins to face his own soul. But very few have even\nattempted to face it; still fewer can guess at all at its meaning.\n\nThe connection between ambition and the desire of life is of this\nkind. Men are seldom really ambitious in whom the animal passions\nare strong. What is taken for ambition in men of powerful physique\nis more often merely the exercise of great energy in order to obtain\nfull gratification of all physical desires. Ambition pure and simple\nis the struggle of the mind upwards, the exercise of a native\nintellectual force which lifts a man altogether above his peers. To\nrise\u2014to be preeminent in some special manner, in some department of\nart, science, or thought, is the keenest longing of delicate and\nhighly-tuned minds. It is quite a different thing from the thirst\nfor knowledge which makes of a man a student always\u2014a learner to the\nend, however great he may become. Ambition is born of no love for\nanything for its own sake, but purely for the sake of oneself. \u201cIt\nis I that will know, I that will rise, and by my own power.\u201d\n\n           \u201cCromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition;\n           By that sin fell the angels.\u201d\n\nThe place-seeking for which the word was originally used, differs in\ndegree, not in kind, from that more abstract meaning now generally\nattached to it. A poet is considered ambitious when he writes for\nfame. It is true; so he is. He may not be seeking a place at court,\nbut he is certainly seeking the highest place he knows of. Is it\nconceivable that any great author could really be anonymous, and\nremain so? The human mind revolts against the theory of the Baconian\nauthorship of Shakespeare\u2019s works, not only because it deprives the\nworld of a splendid figure, but also because it makes of Bacon a\nmonster, unlike all other human beings. To the ordinary intelligence\nit is inconceivable that a man should hide his light in this\npurposeless manner. Yet it is conceivable to an occultist that a\ngreat poet might be inspired by one greater than himself, who would\nstand back entirely from the world and all contact with it. This\ninspirer would not only have conquered ambition but also the\nabstract desire for life, before he could work vicariously to so\ngreat an extent. For he would part with his work for ever when once\nit had gone to the world; it would never be his. A person who can\nimagine making no claim on the world, neither desiring to take\npleasure from it nor to give pleasure to it, can dimly apprehend the\ncondition which the occultist has reached when he no longer desires\nto live. Do not suppose this to mean that he neither takes nor gives\npleasure; he does both, as also he lives. A great man, full of work\nand thought, eats his food with pleasure; he does not dwell on the\nprospect of it, and linger over the memory, like the gluttonous\nchild, or the gourmand pure and simple. This is a very material\nimage, yet sometimes these simple illustrations serve to help the\nmind more than any others. It is easy to see, from this analogy,\nthat an advanced occultist who has work in the world may be\nperfectly free from the desires which would make him a part of it,\nand yet may take its pleasures and give them back with interest. He\nis enabled to give more pleasure than he takes, because he is\nincapable of fear or disappointment. He has no dread of death, nor\nof that which is called annihilation. He rests on the waters of\nlife, submerged and sleeping, or above them and conscious,\nindifferently. He cannot feel disappointment, because although\npleasure is to him intensely vivid and keen, it is the same to him\nwhether he enjoys it himself or whether another enjoys it. It is\npleasure, pure and simple, untarnished by personal craving or\ndesire. So with regard to what occultists call \u201cprogress\u201d\u2014the\nadvance from stage to stage of knowledge. In a school of any sort in\nthe external world emulation is the great spur to progress. The\noccultist, on the contrary, is incapable of taking a single step\nuntil he has acquired the faculty of realizing progress as an\nabstract fact. Someone must draw nearer to the Divine in every\nmoment of life; there must always be progress. But the disciple who\ndesires that he shall be the one to advance in the next moment, may\nlay aside all hope of it. Neither should he be conscious of\npreferring progress for another or of any kind of vicarious\nsacrifice. Such ideas are in a certain sense unselfish, but they are\nessentially characteristic of the world in which separateness\nexists, and form is regarded as having a value of its own. The shape\nof a man is as much an _eidolon_ as though no spark of divinity\ninhabited it; at any moment that spark may desert the particular\nshape, and we are left with a substantial shadow of the man we knew.\nIt is in vain, after the first step in occultism has been taken,\nthat the mind clings to the old beliefs and certainties. Time and\nspace are known to be non-existent, and are only regarded as\nexisting in practical life for the sake of convenience. So with the\nseparation of the divine-human spirit into the multitudes of men on\nthe earth. Roses have their own colours, and lilies theirs; none can\ntell why this is when the same sun, the same light, gives the colour\nto each. Nature is indivisible. She clothes the earth, and when that\nclothing is torn away, she bides her time and re-clothes it again\nwhen there is no more interference with her. Encircling the earth\nlike an atmosphere, she keeps it always glowing and green, moistened\nand sun-lit. The spirit of man encompasses the earth like a fiery\nspirit, living on Nature, devouring her, sometimes being devoured by\nher, but always in the mass remaining more ethereal and sublime than\nshe is. In the individual, man is conscious of the vast superiority\nof Nature; but when once he becomes conscious that he is part of an\nindivisible and indestructible whole, he knows also that the whole\nof which he is part stands above nature. The starry sky is a\nterrible sight to a man who is just self-less enough to be aware of\nhis own littleness and unimportance as an individual; it almost\ncrushes him. But let him once touch on the power which comes from\nknowing himself as part of the human spirit, and nothing can crush\nhim by its greatness. For if the wheels of the chariot of the enemy\npass over his body, he forgets that it is his body, and rises again\nto fight among the crowd of his own army. But this state can never\nbe reached, nor even approached, until the last of the three desires\nis conquered, as well as the first. They must be apprehended and\nencountered together.\n\nComfort, in the language used by occultists, is a very comprehensive\nword. It is perfectly useless for a neophyte to practise discomfort\nor asceticism as do religious fanatics. He may come to prefer\ndeprivation in the end, and then it has become his comfort.\nHomelessness is a condition to which the religious Brahmin pledges\nhimself; and in the external religion he is considered to fulfil\nthis pledge if he leaves wife and child, and becomes a begging\nwanderer, with no shelter of his own to return to. But all external\nforms of religion are forms of comfort, and men take vows of\nabstinence in the same spirit that they take pledges of boon\ncompanionship. The difference between these two sides of life is\nonly apparent. But the homelessness which is demanded of the\nneophyte is a much more vital thing than this. It demands the\nsurrender from him of choice or desire. Dwelling with wife and\nchild, under the shelter of a familiar roof-tree, and fulfilling the\nduties of citizenship, the neophyte may be far more homeless, in the\nesoteric sense, than when he is a wanderer or an outcast. The first\nlesson in practical occultism usually given to a pledged disciple is\nthat of fulfilling the duties immediately to hand with the same\nsubtle mixture of enthusiasm and indifference as the neophyte would\nimagine himself able to feel when he had grown to the size of a\nruler of worlds and a designer of destinies. This rule is to be\nfound in the Gospels and in the Bhagavad Gita. The immediate work,\nwhatever it may be, has the abstract claim of duty, and its relative\nimportance or non-importance is not to be considered at all. This\nlaw can never be obeyed until all desire of comfort is for ever\ndestroyed. The ceaseless assertions and re-assertions of the\npersonal self must be left behind for ever. They belong as\ncompletely to the character of this world as does the desire to have\na certain balance at the bank, or to retain the affections of a\nloved person. They are equally subject to the change which is\ncharacteristic of this world; indeed, they are even more so, for\nwhat the neophyte does by becoming a neophyte is simply to enter a\nforcing-house. Change, disillusionment, disheartenment, despair will\ncrowd upon him by invitation; for his wish is to learn his lessons\nquickly. And as he turns these evils out they will probably be\nreplaced by others worse than themselves\u2014a passionate longing for\nseparate life, for sensation, for the consciousness of growth in his\nown self, will rush in upon him and sweep over the frail barriers\nwhich he has raised. And no such barriers as asceticism, as\nrenunciation, nothing indeed which is negative, will stand for a\nsingle moment against this powerful tide of feeling. The only\nbarrier is built up of new desires. For it is perfectly useless for\nthe neophyte to imagine he can get beyond the region of desires. He\ncannot; he is still a man, Nature must bring forth flowers while she\nis still Nature, and the human spirit would loose its hold on this\nform of existence altogether did it not continue to desire. The\nindividual man cannot wrench himself instantly out of that life of\nwhich he is an essential part. He can only change his position in\nit. The man whose intellectual life dominates his animal life,\nchanges his position; but he is still in the dominion of desire. The\ndisciple who believes it possible to become selfless in a single\neffort, will find himself flung into a bottomless pit as the\nconsequence of his rash endeavour. Seize upon a new order of\ndesires, purer, wider, nobler; and so plant your foot upon the\nladder firmly. It is only on the last and topmost rung of the\nladder, at the very entrance upon Divine or Mahatmic life, that it\nis possible to hold fast to that which has neither substance or\nexistence.\n\nThe first part of \u201cLight on the Path\u201d is like a chord in\nmusic; the notes have to be struck together though they must\nbe touched separately. Study and seize hold of the new desires\nbefore you have thrust out the old ones; otherwise in the\nstorm you will be lost. Man while he is man has substance and\nneeds some step to stand on, some idea to cling to. But let it\nbe the least possible. Learn as the acrobat learns, slowly and\nwith care, to become more independent. Before you attempt to\ncast out the devil of ambition\u2014the desire of something,\nhowever fine and elevated, outside of yourself,\u2014seize on the\ndesire to find the light of the world within yourself. Before\nyou attempt to cast out the desire of conscious life, learn to\nlook to the unattainable or in other language to that which\nyou know you can only reach in unconsciousness. In knowing\nthat your aim is of this lofty character, that it will never\nbring conscious success, never bring comfort to you, that it\nwill never carry you _in your own temporary personal self_ to\nany haven of rest or place of agreeable activity, you cut away\nall the force and power of the desires of the lower astral\nnature. For what avail is it, when these facts have been once\nrealised, to desire separateness, sensation or growth?\n\nThe armour of the warrior who rises to fight for you in the battle\ndepicted in the second part of \u201cLight on the Path,\u201d is like the\nshirt of the happy man in the old story. The king was to be cured of\nall his ills by sleeping in this shirt; but when the one happy man\nin his kingdom was found, he was a beggar, without care, without\nanxiety\u2014and shirtless. So with the divine warrior. None can take his\narmour and use it, for he has none. The king could never find\nhappiness like that of the careless beggar. The man of the world,\nhowever fine and cultivated he may be, is hampered by a thousand\nthoughts and feelings which have to be cast aside before he can even\nstand on the threshold of occultism. And, be it observed, he is\nchiefly handicapped by the armour he wears, which isolates him. He\nhas personal pride, personal respect. These things must die out as\nthe personality recedes. The process described in the first part of\n\u201cLight on the Path,\u201d is one which takes off that shell, or armour,\nand casts it aside for ever. Then the warrior arises, armourless,\ndefenceless, offenceless, identified with the afflicters and the\nafflicted, the angered and the one that angers; fighting not on any\nside, but for the Divine, the highest in all.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                    GOLDEN SENTENCES OF DEMOCRITUS.\n\nIt is beautiful to impede an unjust man; but if this be not\npossible, it is beautiful not to act in conjunction with him.\n\nSin should be abstained from, not through fear, but, for the sake of\nthe becoming.\n\nMany who have not learnt to argue rationally, still live according\nto reason.\n\nVehement desires about any one thing render the soul blind with\nrespect to other things.\n\nThe equal is beautiful in everything, but excess and defect to me do\nnot appear to be so.\n\nIt is the property of a divine intellect to be always intently\nthinking about the beautiful.\n\n\n\n\n                THE RELATION OF COLOUR TO THE INTERLACED\n                    TRIANGLES, OR THE PENTACLE.[166]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 166:\n\n  A paper read before the Chicago Branch of the Theosophical\n  Society, by its Secretary, M. L. Brainard.\n\n-----\n\nColour registers grades of vibration. Vibration registers grades of\nlife. Life, esoterically considered, is ascent towards its\nsource\u2014the great First Cause, the celestial sun which lights\nuniversal creation.\n\nIf a ray of white light is passed through a triangular piece of\nglass, called a prism, it becomes separated into the seven colours\nknown as the \u201csolar spectrum.\u201d Careful scientific analysis has\nproven that these colours are produced by different rates of\nvibration.\n\nIt has shown that the slowest vibrations are red, the quickest\nviolet. The red ray of the spectrum gives 477 millions of millions\n(or billions) of vibrations in a second, the orange 506, the yellow\n535, the green 577, the blue 622, Indigo 658, and violet 699.\n\nThus there is a regular ascent in the colour-scale from red to\nviolet, and the trans-violet rays go on octaves higher, becoming\ninvisible to the physical eye as their rates of vibration increase.\n\nIt has also been discovered that these seven prismatic rays of the\nsolar spectrum correspond to the seven notes on the musical scale,\nthe ray of slowest vibration, red, being a correlate of the base\nnote of the musical gamut, and the violet ray answering to the\nhighest musical note.\n\nWhen the vibrations exceed a certain limit, the tympanum of the ear\nhas not time to recoil before a succeeding impulse arrives, and it\nremains motionless. Darkness and silence are, therefore, equivalents\nfor the cessation of vibrations on the retina of the eye and\ntympanum of the ear respectively. Incidentally it may be stated that\ncold is also considered to be the cessation of vibrations through\nthe nerves of feeling.\n\nColour, therefore, is to light what pitch is to sound\u2014both depend on\nlength of vibrations.\n\nThe thought will immediately suggest itself in this connection that\nif colour and music are thus correlated, the perfect clairvoyant\nmight _see_ a concert as well as hear it. This is true, and there\nare instances on record of such transcendent views. In one case of\nthis kind, it was not alone a poetical play of colour springing into\nlife under the touch of a German professor\u2019s hands, but a host of\nairy sprites clothed in the various rays which called them forth.\n\n_Isis_ declares that \u201csounds and colours are all spiritual numerals;\nand as the seven prismatic rays proceed from one spot in Heaven, so\nthe seven powers of Nature, each of them a number, are the seven\nradiations of the unity, the central spiritual sun.\u201d[167]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 167:\n\n  \u201cISIS UNVEILED,\u201d Vol 1., p. 514.\n\n-----\n\nIt is easy to follow along the lines of these suggestions, and trace\nthe origin of chanting the seven vowels to one of their gods, among\nthe Egyptians, as a hymn of praise at sunrise. In the so-called\nmythical Golden Age this must have been the mode of putting\nthemselves _en rapport_ or _in tune_ with the Cosmic powers, and\nensuring harmony while the vibrations were synchronous.\n\nThe third necessary correlation to be considered in this analysis is\nthat of form. Scientific research has proven that not only are music\nand colour due to rates of vibration, but form also marshals itself\ninto objective being in obedience to the same mysterious law. This\nis demonstrated by the familiar experiment of placing some dry sand\non a square of glass, and drawing a violin bow across the edge.\nUnder the influence of this intonation, the sand assumes star shapes\nof perfect proportion; if other material is placed on the square of\nglass at the same time, other shapes are assumed, varying in\nproportion to the power resident in the atoms to _respond_ to the\nvibrations communicated.\n\nIt is noticeable, however, that the vibration makes the spaces, and\nthe sand falls into the _rest_ places.\n\nWe have now discovered a triangular key\u2014light, music, form\u2014which\nwill disclose to us the exact relations which colour sustains to the\ninterlaced triangles, the six-rayed star, universal symbol of\ncreative force acting upon matter.[168] This triangular key is\nsimply three modes of one being, three differential expressions of\none force\u2014vibration.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 168:\n\n  Hence in Kabalistic symbolism the _pentacle_, or the six-pointed\n  star, is the sign of the _manifested_ \u201cLogos,\u201d or the \u201cHeavenly\n  man,\u201d the Tetragrammaton. \u201cThe four-lettered Adni (_Adonai_, \u201cthe\n  Lord\u201d), is the _Eheieh_ (the symbol of _life_ or existence), is\n  the Lord of the six limbs (6 Sephiroth) and his Bride (_Malkuth_,\n  or physical nature, also Earth) is his seventh limb.\u201d (Ch. _Book\n  of Numbers_ viii. 3-4.)\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\nThat which causes the vibration we can only represent by the\nIneffable Name, behind which burns the quenchless glory of En Soph,\nthe Boundless.\n\nThus, in our symbology we start from the centre of a circle, which\nshould be represented by white light.\n\nThe seven rays issuing therefrom, must first pass through the\ninterior and invisible triangle of Akasa, the prism A.U.M., before\nthey can flow outward, and by their action upon chaos, wheel the\nmyriad forms of physical life into consonance with their rates of\nvibration. In this manner is the visible formulated from the\ninvisible. By such subtle music is born the gorgeous flora of our\ntropics, drinking its wealth of colour from the yellow and warm rays\nof the sunlight; and in accord with the same harmony is produced the\nsubdued vegetation of colder climes. The blue and violet beams carry\nthe quick pulses of the parent flame deep within the earth, and\nby-and-bye she gives back that which she has received, transformed\ninto a thousand brilliant hues woven in the magic loom of Love,\npresided over by the solar spectrum. Or, as Egyptian myth phrases\nit, Osiris (the sun) weds Isis (the earth), and the child,\nHorus-Apollo, glorifies all things as the product of this divine\nunion.\n\nThe culmination of light resides in the yellow ray, and hence to\nthat colour is given the East point in our symbolised centre of\nradiation.[169] The others follow in the order of the solar\nspectrum.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 169:\n\n  It is the secret of the great reverence shown in the East for this\n  colour. It is the colour of the _Yogi_ dress in India, and of the\n  _Gelupka_ sect (\u201cYellow caps\u201d) in Thibet. It symbolizes _pure\n  blood_ and sunlight, and is called \u201cthe stream of life.\u201d Red, as\n  its opposite, is the colour of the _Dugpas_, and black\n  magicians.\u2014ED.\n\n-----\n\nBut it is noticeable in this connection, that _in_ that order, the\ncoarsest and warmest of the visible rays\u2014red\u2014is placed next to the\ncoldest and most refined ray, the violet. Here we have the analogy\nof contraries. The ray of lowest refrangibility and the ray of\nhighest refrangibility become next-door neighbours in the divergent\ncircle of necessity. What is the result? It is not hard to discover,\nwhen we know that the cooling colours are essential to the balanced\naction of the thermal rays. \u201cA small amount of blue when combined\nwith other rays will even increase the heat, because it kindles into\nactivity its opposite warm principle, red, through chemical\naffinity.\u201d\n\nHaving determined the law which should govern the symbology of\ncolours at the centre of our circle, we come next to the interlaced\ntriangles.\n\nThe truly Theosophical Pentacle should be made by the interlacing of\na white triangle with a black triangle\u2014the white representing pure\nspirit, the black, gross matter. This is the true symbology, for the\nreason that white reflects all colours, and black absorbs all\ncolours. It is the face of the White Ancient looking into the face\nof the Black Ancient.\n\nAbsolute blackness appears to give back nothing; nor does it ever,\nsave through processes of slow evolution, wrought by continued\nvibration upon its molecules from the Divine Centre of Light.\n\nContinuous vibration polarizes these particles, so that at last\nrising from the lowest grade of refrangibility to the highest, into\nthe invisible octaves of being, our planetary chain in its\nculmination will reach a point where every atom will give an\nanswering thrill of resonance to the throbbing of the heart of the\nUniverse\u2014the Central Spiritual Sun.\n\nAs every substance in Nature has its colour, so the human family\npublish their grades of advancement to the clairvoyant eye by their\nastral colours; and seekers after the true Light may know what \u201cray\u201d\nthey are in, by a comparison of their own auras with the colours of\nthe overshadowing soul.\n\nThe middle rays of the solar spectrum\u2014blue, green, and yellow\u2014give a\nvery powerful triangle, a wonderful _working_ triangle of forces;\nfor green is Hermetic silver, yellow is Hermetic gold, and blue is a\ndespatch-messenger from the \u201cLord of the Worlds,\u201d Jupiter.\n\nThe blue and the yellow of this group, on account of their\nposition\u2014the third and the fifth reckoned both ways\u2014have been chosen\nas the colours of our incense-holders, alternating on the points of\nthe Pentacle. As odours are also correlated with colours, and as\nsandal-wood is the perfume which belongs to the sun, we use that\nincense to intensify the vibrations from the radiating points, in\norder to increase the volume of accord which will reach other\ncentres at a distance; for the akasa is more sensitive than an\nEolian harp\u2014it registers the very aroma of our thoughts. It was,\ntherefore, no exaggeration of the poet when he said:\n\n                \u201cGuard well thy thought:\n                Our thoughts are _heard_ in Heaven.\u201d\n\nBut if colours and sounds are spiritual numerals, then the seven\nsymbolical points of the Pentacle represent numbers of the greatest\nimportance in world-building, and in soul-building also. For we must\nall build our own souls. And the symbology of the interlacing of the\ntriangle of spirit with the triangle of matter, finds its\ncorrespondence in man, the little world, who, though a spiritual\nego, yet dwells in a physical house, and whose business it is to\nmerge himself completely into the region of the white triangle.\n\nWhen Man has raised his vibrations into perfect harmony with the\nuniversal sun, he has then unbound himself from the wheel of\nre-birth\u2014the Zodiac\u2014and is ready to enter Nirvana.\n\nThe word \u201cheaven\u201d in Hebrew signifies the abode of the sun. When,\ntherefore, the Nazarene said \u201cThe Kingdom of Heaven is within you,\u201d\nhe virtually declared that all the seven cosmic powers are resident\nwithin us.\n\nEsoteric science recognises man as a septenary, working in\nconjunction with other orders of numerals which register divine\nvibrations.\n\nAll nature listens to that universal song, and the music of the\nspheres is no fable. The swarming z\u00f6ospores in the protoplasm of\nplants hear it, and thrilled by that enchantment, fall into\ninvisible rhythm, bringing up by quick marches into the region\nof Day the tiny dwellers in stem and leaf. How do we know that\nthe mystery of the six-sided cell of the honey-bee may not find\nits solution here? Perhaps the bee is susceptible only to\nvibrations which fall into these lines, and faithfully obeys the\nmaster-musician in the construction of its hexagonal house. The\ngreat law of cosmic and microcosmic correspondence was revealed\nages ago to the Sages who _listened_, and listening, _heard_ the\nwondrous revelations breathed forth from the harp of Akasa.\nSighing winds from other worlds passed over the delicate\nstrings, and as they passed, uttered in soundless tones the\nprofound mystery of near and remote planets. These Sages dwelt\nin that White Palace\u2014the Lotus of the Heart\u2014the sun-palace\nindeed. From centre to circumference their vast circle of vision\nwas permeated by the reflected _All_, and from the White Palace\nthey ascended the sacred mountain Meru, where dwelleth wisdom\nand love.\n\nThe key which opens the White Palace is held by the seven mystic\nchildren of the Royal Arch of the Rainbow, guarding the seven gates\nof the Sun, every gate of which answers to a musical note, and every\nnote of which enfolds three tones.\n\nHence, if we understand the analogies of colour, we may open the six\ndoors of Nature, and also the seventh, to Nirvana.\n\n                                                     M. L. BRAINARD.\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                               QUESTIONS.\n\n            What can we do in temptation\u2019s hour?\n            How shall we conquer its fiery power?\n            How can we master it\u2014standing _alone_,\n            Just on the threshold of things unknown?\n\n            Strong is its power as Death and Hell,\n            Led by its lure, even angels fell!\n            Dazed by the glare of a rising light\n            How shall poor mortals see aright?\n\n            Tempted we were in the morning of life,\n            With earth\u2019s simple joys that are ever rife,\n            To idly bask in the sun\u2019s warm beam\n            And to care no jot for a holier dream.\n\n            Tempted again in the heyday sun,\n            To choose fair paths and in gardens run,\n            _Claiming_ as ours, all joy\u2014all love,\n            Flowerets of bliss from the Heavens above.\n\n            Temptings come now, in life\u2019s later prime,\n            Deeper and stronger than in past time,\n            To feed with fuel the inward fire,\n            The passionate dream of the _soul\u2019s desire_!\n\n                        -----------------------\n\n            Two feet are creeping on paths unknown,\n            Weary and mournful, sad and lone;\n            Two eyes are looking and longing for light,\n            Two hands are locked in a desperate fight.\n\n            A heart is breaking with pain and grief,\n            A soul in strong agony cries for relief;\n            Echoes no kindred chord above?\n            Stretcheth no Hand in responsive love?\n\n            Is our Great God, but a God of stone?\n            Are we\u2014His people\u2014dazed and alone?\n            Is there no Ear that can hear us cry?\n            No Christ,\u2014to succour us e\u2019er we die?\n\n                                                           L. F. Ff.\n\n\n\n\n                         A THEORY OF HAUNTINGS.\n\n\nVery few persons realise the powerful and long-lasting effects of\nhuman \u201cauras\u201d\u2014those mysterious psychical emanations which are\nmentally cognised, and which silently impress one as to the\ncharacter of a locality, the idiosyncrasies of a nation, a family,\nor an individual. Personal auras are strictly speaking the effects\nof the innate, and presumably hidden natures, of individuals, and\nare entirely the effluence of soul and mind. A house, or a\nneighbourhood, becomes imbued with the individual or collective\nauras of its inhabitants, which convey to the psychic senses, and\nthence to the mind, a powerful impression of character. At the same\ntime within the aura of individuals, or families, are indelibly\nimprinted their thought-pictures, which may, or may not, have been\nembodied in acts; the faces and forms of relatives, friends,\nvisitors, of the very animals they pet, the image of their pursuits,\nin short the whole life. These are imprinted in the _astral_ element\nwhich surrounds each individual soul, as the atmosphere surrounds\nour bodies; and as the air we breathe becomes changed in\nrespiration, so this ethereal atmosphere becomes transformed by\npersonal impress.\n\nEducation, morality, religion, health, disease, happiness or misery,\nare largely the effects of the widely diffused auras of individuals\ncontinually given forth into the ambient atmosphere. As a man, or\nbody of men, think, act, and live, such is the quality of the aura,\nor odylic sphere they emanate. This has an effect for good or evil\nupon all who approach within its radius; a formative, educating\neffect upon the ignorant, if it is of a high, intellectual, or\nspiritual quality; or a depressing, stultifying, deforming effect\nupon the minds and souls of innocent, or negative sensitives, when\nit is of an impure, debased, or brutal character.\n\nThought governs the world. It is by thought, and its embodiment in\nacts, that progress is made. Every thought has its aura, and nothing\ncan prevent its diffusion in the atmospheres, both the astral and\nthe natural or physical. Hence being continually surrounded by the\neffects of thoughts universally diffused, we are insensibly governed\nby their aura of good or evil, and we grow in beauty, or are warped\nin deformity, mental and bodily, from infancy, under the moulding\nconsequences of the local thought-auras of the family, neighbourhood\nand nation in which we happen to be born.\n\nPsychometry proves that even stones retain the impression of the\nscenes which have been enacted in their neighbourhood. That is, the\nstone having been bathed in the psychic emanations of creatures,\nhuman and animal, during, perhaps, centuries, retains such auras\nindestructibly in its atmosphere; and a psychometric clairvoyant\nwill gradually perceive the most trivial details of the more active\nlife which has daily passed in the vicinity of the stone. A fragment\nfrom the Temple of Diana of Ephesus, for instance, were it\nprocurable, would enable a good psychometrist to describe every\nminute particular of the ancient temple worship and ceremonies. A\nstone from the Colosseum held in the hand, or to the forehead of a\npsychometrist, would produce a vision of the scenes in the arena\nwhich were wont to attract the Roman population. A fossil of some\nantediluvian animal would bring before the mind\u2019s eye surroundings\ncorresponding to the period in which the animal had lived. In truth,\nupon the plane of more ethereal matter adjacent to this, are to be\nfound the images of all things, subject neither to time nor the\nchanges of time; and there our image-producing faculties,\ntemporarily divested of the blinding veil of flesh, may call them up\nat will.\n\nThe aura of a great crime becomes diffused in the neighbourhood of\nits commission, and concealment would be impossible if the psychic\nvision of men were open instead of being closed. A picture of the\ndeed committed becomes impressed upon the astral atmosphere, with\nthe faces and forms of those engaged in its commission. This effect\nis never destroyed, but may be recalled at will by a good\nclairvoyante. At the same time the aura of good deeds is equally\npowerful and indestructible. The one is like a transitory\nconvulsion, disturbing the beauty of order and harmony with Nature;\nthe other is the fixed and equable moral atmosphere arising from\nthoughts and actions consonant with wisdom. In short, the aura of\ngood thoughts and deeds is the _pabulum_ of souls; the invigorating\nand supporting air they inspire and respire, producing health,\nhappiness, mental activity, and inciting to progress. If it were not\nfor the good on the earth, we might doubtless often cry in\nvain\u2014\u201cHeaven help us!\u201d\u2014for we should be so smothered under evil\nauras that spiritual breathing, and rapport with purer realms of\nlife, would be a radical impossibility.\n\nA crime is the insane product of an unbalanced, disordered mind. It\ncauses a species of astral electric disturbance, which is as\nsensibly felt by sensitives as any explosion or convulsion on the\nnatural plane. Astral, or ethereal molecules become violently\ndisplaced, and forced into new conditions of juxtaposition. A\nmysterious terror pervades the air, which affects all neighbouring\nminds, even to the very animals. It is as if the living soul of\nNature had been violently wrenched from its normal condition of\npeace and happiness, and stood electrified with horror, whilst upon\nits veil of ethereal matter is fixed an indestructible image of the\npainful tragedy which has been suddenly enacted.\n\nWe are, in fact, surrounded, upon the soul plane of life, by an\natmosphere which receives, so to speak, a photographic impression of\neven our very thoughts, which is a mirror to reflect our whole life,\nan image-world, retaining sounds as well as forms. It may be made\nsubject to our will, which can call up before the mind, and make\nvisible to the eye of the soul whatsoever, without exception, we\nwill to see, to hear, or to know. The phantoms or apparitions of\nwhich we so frequently hear, are matters of fact to all psychic\nseers; are things as absolutely existent as any objects on the more\nfamiliar plane of dense matter. Once to realise this great fact, and\nto understand some of the laws which would enable us consciously to\ncontrol, and illustrate to our satisfaction, certain of the hidden\nmysteries of the inner world of ethereal matter, from which our own\nproceeds as an effect from a cause, would set us upon a mountain\nheight of knowledge whence all clouds of superstition, doubt, and\nuncertainty, would roll away.\n\nThere are many stories extant of certain haunting apparitions which\nhave been seen at various times during the lapse of centuries,\nreappearing again and again in the same families as warnings, or\notherwise; or it may be a mysterious sound, such as the cry of the\n\u201cbanshee\u201d in Ireland. The popular fallacy regarding such apparitions\nis that a _human_ soul, or \u201cspirit\u201d\u2014it may be wrongly called\u2014is\ncompelled, as a retribution for the commission of some crime, to\nremain on the earth haunting the scene of its former sins. Or, if\nthe visitant be a benevolent ghost, it is supposed that it is some\nancestor or ancestress, ever present in loving watchfulness over the\ndestinies of the family, giving warning of death or danger. The idea\nof a human soul being chained in this melancholy fashion to the\nearth is exceedingly repugnant to most minds, and naturally excites\nthe utmost compassion for the poor ghost which has to wear out so\ndreary a doom. Such a hypothesis contradicts all those religious\nteachings which assign to souls either a state of absolute\nunconscious sleep, until the day of judgment, or an abode,\npresumably in a conscious state, in heaven or hell. It contradicts\nall those more modern teachings of \u201cprogress\u201d after death, of the\ngradual ascension of the soul to its place of rest. If we accept the\nideas of Eastern teachers concerning those occult mysteries\u2014that the\nhigher self, the spiritualised entity, gradually separates from its\nmore animal, or lower principles of organism, which adhere together\nfor a longer or shorter period as a shell-like or shadowy\npersonality\u2014even then, these principles or ethereal molecules which\ngo to form an astral body, disintegrate after a time. They would not\nbe likely, at all events, to endure over a century. Apparitions of\npersons deceased _within_ a century might be considered as\nessentially ghosts, or shades\u2014the shadowy, sidereal shapes of\npersonalities passed away from the physical plane, and in a\ncondition of gradual separation from all that can attach them to the\nearth. And it is presumable that a phantom which is seen repeatedly\nduring the lapse of centuries, is merely a reflection in the astral\nlight, called up by the will of a seer; or projected upon the plane\nof soul-vision either by some psychological disturbance, or by some\nchange of condition on the part of those who see the phantom. The\nimmediate action may be due to \u201c_elementals_,\u201d those mysterious\nentities called by Liebnitz \u201cMonads,\u201d which are in close attendance\nupon mankind, and have so much to do with his very existence that he\nwould fare but indifferently without them. Not only are they as\nintimately consociated with him as his own thoughts, but certain\ngrades of them depend upon him also for their existence. These\nbeings often become tutelary, or \u201chouse-spirits,\u201d and the _r\u00f4le_ of\nre-appearing again and again, as a sort of hereditary ghost, to give\nwarning of death or danger, is not incompatible with their condition\nof existence. Time does not exist for them, and one century would be\nlike any other. They live in the personal or family aura, and become\nintimately blended with the daily lives of its members. When, as in\nthe case of royal or noble houses, the family aura remains\nundisturbed in its ancient palaces or castles during centuries, a\nhaunting elemental would find it an easy matter to make itself\nvisible, frequently by a semi-materialisation, or a condensation of\nthe ethereal atoms of its body. In such a case it would be seen\nobjectively by anyone who happened to be present. In other cases,\nwhen an apparition is only a reflection in the astral light, a\nsensitive in moments of abnormal or psychic lucidity would perceive\nit. Others sympathetically inclined would perceive the same. At\nlength, after repeated similar visions, the locality would get the\nname of being haunted. The image so repeatedly beheld becomes fixed\nin the atmosphere of that particular spot. Upon entering a locality\nwith such a reputation a species of psychological inebriation would\nassail every individual so constituted as to fall under the effects\nof the aura already established, and they would then always behold\nthe spectre thus ideally produced. These mental or astral spectres\nneed not necessarily be merely immovable pictures. They will move,\nor walk, threaten, or act a pantomime exactly as they may have the\nreputation of doing; or as the person who beholds them expects or\nimagines them to be doing.\n\nIn some respects these apparitions or warning cries may be mental\nlegacies left indelibly impressed in the astral light by the\npowerful will of a departed ancestor, friendly or inimical, as a\nblessing or a curse; or even by a member of some alien family, as a\npursuing Nemesis which falls as a retribution upon the perpetrator\nof evil, but can possess no power over the innocent and good.\n\n                                                    FRANK FAIRHOLME.\n\n                        (_To be continued._)\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                 THE ESOTERIC CHARACTER OF THE GOSPELS.\n\n                                III.\n\n\nNo one can be regarded as a Christian unless he professes, or is\nsupposed to profess, belief in Jesus, by baptism, and in salvation,\n\u201cthrough the blood of Christ.\u201d To be considered a good Christian,\none has, as a _conditio sine qu\u00e2 non_, to show faith in the dogmas\nexpounded by the Church and to profess them; after which a man is at\nliberty to lead a private and public life on principles\ndiametrically opposite to those expressed in the Sermon on the\nMount. The chief point and that which is demanded of him is, that he\nshould have\u2014or _pretend to have_\u2014a blind faith in, and veneration\nfor, the ecclesiastical teachings of his special Church.\n\n                 \u201cFaith is the key of Christendom,\u201d\n\nsaith Chaucer, and the penalty for lacking it is as clearly stated\nas words can make it, in St. Mark\u2019s Gospel, Chapter xvi., verse\n16th: \u201cHe that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that\nbelieveth not shall be damned.\u201d\n\nIt troubles the Church very little that the most careful search for\nthese words in the oldest texts during the last centuries, remained\nfruitless; or, that the recent revision of the Bible led to a\nunanimous conviction in the truth-seeking and truth-loving scholars\nemployed in that task, that no such _un-Christ_-like sentence was to\nbe found, except in some of the latest, fraudulent texts. The good\nChristian people had assimilated the consoling words, and they had\nbecome the very pith and marrow of their charitable souls. To take\naway the hope of eternal damnation, for all others except\nthemselves, from these chosen vessels of the God of Israel, was like\ntaking their very life. The truth-loving and God-fearing revisers\ngot scared; they left the forged passage (an interpolation of eleven\nverses, from the 9th to the 20th), and satisfied their consciences\nwith a foot-note remark of a very equivocal character, one that\nwould grace the work and do honour to the diplomatic faculties of\nthe craftiest Jesuits. It tells the \u201cbeliever\u201d that:\u2014\n\n  \u201cThe two oldest Greek MSS. and some other authorities OMIT from\n  verse 9 to the end. Some authorities _have a different ending_ to\n  the Gospel.\u201d[170]\u2014\n\n\u2014and explains no further.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 170:\n\n  Vide \u201cGospel according to St. Mark,\u201d in the _revised_ edition\n  printed for the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 1881.\n\n-----\n\nBut the two \u201coldest Greek MSS.\u201d _omit_ the verses _nolens volens_,\nas these _have never existed_. And the learned and truth-loving\nrevisers know this better than any of us do; yet the wicked\nfalsehood is printed at the very seat of Protestant Divinity, and it\nis allowed to go on, glaring into the faces of coming generations of\nstudents of theology and, hence, into those of their future\nparishioners. Neither can be, nor are they deceived by it, yet both\n_pretend_ belief in the authenticity of the cruel words worthy of a\n_theological Satan_. And this Satan-Moloch is their own _God of\ninfinite mercy and justice_ in Heaven, and the incarnate symbol of\nlove and charity on Earth\u2014blended in one!\n\nTruly mysterious are your paradoxical ways, oh\u2014Churches of Christ!\n\nI have no intention of repeating here stale arguments and logical\n_expos\u00e9s_ of the whole theological scheme; for all this has been\ndone, over and over again, and in a most excellent way, by the\nablest \u201cInfidels\u201d of England and America. But I may briefly repeat\na prophecy which is a self-evident result of the present state of\nmen\u2019s minds in Christendom. Belief in the Bible _literally_, and\nin a _carnalised_ Christ, will not last a quarter of a century\nlonger. The Churches will have to part with their cherished\ndogmas, or the 20th century will witness the downfall and ruin of\nall Christendom, and with it, belief even in a Christos, as pure\nSpirit. The very name has now become obnoxious, and theological\nChristianity must die out, _never to resurrect again_ in its\npresent form. This, in itself, would be the happiest solution of\nall, were there no danger from the natural reaction which is sure\nto follow: crass materialism will be the consequence and the\nresult of centuries of blind faith, unless the loss of old ideals\nis replaced by other ideals, unassailable, because _universal_,\nand built on the rock of eternal truths instead of the shifting\nsands of human fancy. Pure immateriality must replace, in the end,\nthe terrible anthropomorphism of those ideals in the conceptions\nof our modern dogmatists. Otherwise, why should Christian\ndogmas\u2014the perfect counterpart of those belonging to other\nexoteric and pagan religions\u2014claim any superiority? The bodies of\nall these were built upon the same astronomical and physiological\n(or phallic) symbols. Astrologically, every religious dogma the\nworld over, may be traced to, and located in, the Zodiacal signs\nand the Sun. And so long as the science of comparative symbology\nor any theology has only two keys to open the mysteries of\nreligious dogmas\u2014and these two only very partially mastered, how\ncan a line of demarcation be drawn, or any difference made between\nthe religions of say, Chrishna and Christ, between salvation\nthrough the blood of the \u201cfirst-born primeval male\u201d of one faith,\nand that of the \u201conly _begotten_ Son\u201d of the other, far younger,\nreligion?\n\nStudy the Vedas; read even the superficial, often disfigured\nwritings of our great Orientalists, and think over what you will\nhave learnt. Behold Brahmans, Egyptian Hierophants, and Chaldean\nMagi, teaching several thousand years before our era that the gods\nthemselves had been only mortals (in previous births) until they won\ntheir immortality by _offering their blood to their Supreme God_ or\nchief. The \u201cBook of the Dead,\u201d teaches that mortal man \u201cbecame one\nwith the gods through an interflow of a common life in the common\nblood of the two.\u201d Mortals gave the blood of their first-born sons\nin sacrifice to the Gods. In his _Hinduism_, p. 35, Professor Monier\nWilliams, translating from the _Taitiriya Br\u00e2hmana_, writes:\u2014\u201cBy\nmeans of the sacrifice the gods obtained heaven.\u201d And in the _Tandya\nBr\u00e2hmana_:\u2014\u201cThe lord of creatures offered himself a sacrifice for\nthe gods.\u201d... And again in the _Satapatha Br\u00e2hmana_:\u2014\u201cHe who,\nknowing this, sacrifices with the _Purusha-madha_ or the sacrifice\nof the primeval male, becomes everything.\u201d\n\nWhenever I hear the Vedic rites discussed and called \u201cdisgusting\nhuman sacrifices,\u201d and cannibalism (_sic._), I feel always inclined\nto ask, where\u2019s the difference? Yet there is one, in fact; for while\nChristians are compelled to accept the allegorical (though, when\nunderstood, highly philosophical) drama of the New Testament\nCrucifixion, as that of Abraham and Isaac literally,[171]\nBrahmanism\u2014its philosophical schools at any rate\u2014teaches its\nadherents, that this (_pagan_) sacrifice of the \u201cprimeval male\u201d is a\npurely allegorical and philosophical symbol. Read in their\ndead-letter meaning, the four gospels are simply slightly altered\nversions of what the Church proclaims as Satanic plagiarisms (by\nanticipation) of Christian dogmas in Pagan religions. Materialism\nhas a perfect right to find in all of them the same sensual worship\nand \u201csolar\u201d myths as anywhere else. Analysed and criticised\nsuperficially and on its dead-letter face, Professor Joly (\u201cMan\nbefore Metals,\u201d pp. 189-190) finding in the _Swastika_, the _crux\nansata_, and the cross pure and simple, mere sexual symbols\u2014is\njustified in speaking as he does. Seeing that \u201cthe father of the\nsacred fire (in India) bore the name of _Twashtri_, that is the\ndivine carpenter who made the _Swastika_ and the _Pramantha_, whose\nfriction produced the divine child _Agni_, in Latin _Ignis_; that\nhis mother was named _Maya_; he himself, styled _Akta_ (_anointed_,\nor _Christos_) after the priests had poured upon his head the\nspirituous _soma_ and on his body butter purified by sacrifice\u201d;\nseeing all this he has a full right to remark that:\u2014\n\n  \u201cThe close resemblance which exists between certain ceremonies of\n  the worship of _Agni_ and certain rites of the Catholic religion\n  may be explained by their common origin. _Agni_ in the condition\n  of _Akta_, or anointed, is suggestive of Christ; _Maya_, Mary, his\n  mother; _Twashtri_, St. Joseph, the carpenter of the Bible.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 171:\n\n  _Vide_ \u201cThe Soldier\u2019s Daughter,\u201d in this number, by the Rev. T. G.\n  Headley, and notice the desperate protest of this _true_\n  Christian, against the _literal_ acceptance of the \u201cblood\n  sacrifices,\u201d \u201cAtonement by blood,\u201d etc., in the Church of England.\n  The reaction begins: another _sign of the times_.\n\n-----\n\nHas the professor of the Science Faculty of Toulouse explained\nanything by drawing attention to that which anyone can see? Of\ncourse not. But if, in his ignorance of the esoteric meaning of the\nallegory he has added nothing to human knowledge, he has on the\nother hand destroyed faith in many of his pupils in both the\n\u201c_divine_ origin\u201d of Christianity and its Church and helped to\nincrease the number of Materialists. For surely, no man, once he\ndevotes himself to such comparative studies, can regard the religion\nof the West in any light but that of a pale and enfeebled copy of\nolder and nobler philosophies.\n\nThe origin of all religions\u2014Judaeo-Christianity included\u2014is to be\nfound in a few primeval truths, not one of which can be explained\napart from all the others, as each is a complement of the rest in\nsome one detail. And they are all, more or less, broken rays of the\nsame Sun of truth, and their beginnings have to be sought in the\narchaic records of the Wisdom-religion. Without the light of the\nlatter, the greatest scholars can see but the skeletons thereof\ncovered with masks of fancy, and based mostly on personified\nZodiacal signs.\n\nA thick film of allegory and _blinds_, the \u201cdark sayings\u201d of\nfiction and parable, thus covers the original esoteric texts from\nwhich the New Testament\u2014_as now known_\u2014was compiled. Whence, then,\nthe Gospels, the life of Jesus of Nazareth? Has it not been\nrepeatedly stated that no human, _mortal_ brain could have\ninvented the life of the Jewish Reformer, followed by the awful\ndrama on Calvary? We say, on the authority of the esoteric Eastern\nSchool, that all this came from the Gnostics, as far as the name\nChristos and the astronomico-mystical allegories are concerned,\nand from the writings of the ancient _Tana\u00efm_ as regards the\nKabalistic connection of Jesus or Joshua, with the Biblical\npersonifications. One of these is the mystic esoteric name of\nJehovah\u2014not the present fanciful God of the profane Jews ignorant\nof their own mysteries, the God accepted by the still more\nignorant Christians\u2014but the compound Jehovah of the pagan\nInitiation. This is proven very plainly by the glyphs or mystic\ncombinations of various signs which have survived to this day in\nthe Roman Catholic hieroglyphics.\n\nThe Gnostic Records contained the epitome of the chief scenes\nenacted during the mysteries of Initiation, since the memory of man;\nthough even that was given out invariably under the garb of\nsemi-allegory, whenever entrusted to parchment or paper. But the\nancient Tana\u00efm, the Initiates from whom the wisdom of the Kabala\n(_oral tradition_) was obtained by the later Talmudists, had in\ntheir possession the secrets of the mystery language, and it is _in\nthis language that the Gospels_ were written.[172] He alone who has\nmastered the esoteric cypher of antiquity\u2014the secret meaning of the\nnumerals, a common property at one time of all nations\u2014has the full\nproof of the genius which was displayed in the blending of the\npurely Egypto-Jewish, Old Testament allegories and names, and those\nof the pagan-Greek Gnostics, the most refined of all the mystics of\nthat day. Bishop Newton proves it himself quite innocently, by\nshowing that \u201cSt. Barnabas, the companion of St. Paul, in his\nepistle (ch. ix.) discovers ... the name of Jesus crucified in the\nnumber 318,\u201d namely, Barnabas finds it in the mystic Greek I H T\u2014the\n_tau_ being the glyph of the cross. On this, a Kabalist, the author\nof an unpublished MS. on the Key of Formation of the Mystery\nLanguage, observes:\u2014\u201cBut this is but a play upon the Hebrew letters\n_Jodh_, _Chith_, and _Shin_, from whence the I H S as the monogram\nof Christ coming down to our day, and this reads as \u05d9\u05d4\u05e9 or 381, the\nsum of the letters being 318 or the number of Abraham and his Satan,\nand of Joshua and his Amalek ... also the number of Jacob and his\nantagonist ... (Godfrey Higgins gives the authority for the number\n608).... It is the number of Melchizedek\u2019s name, for the value of\nthe last is 304 and Melchizedek was the priest of the most high God,\nwithout beginning nor ending of days.\u201d The solution and secret of\nMelchizedek are found in the fact that \u201cin the ancient Pantheons the\ntwo planets which had existed from eternity (_\u00e6onic_ eternity) and\nwere eternal, were the Sun and the Moon, or Osiris and Isis, hence\nthe terms of _without beginning nor ending of days_. 304 multiplied\nby two is 608. So also the numbers in the word Seth, who was a type\nof the year. There are a number of authorities for the number 888 as\napplying to the name of Jesus Christ, and as said this is in\nantagonism to the 666 of the Anti-Christ.... The staple value in the\nname of Joshua was the number 365, the indication of the Solar year,\nwhile Jehovah delighted in being the indication of the Lunar\nyear\u2014and Jesus Christ was both Joshua and Jehovah in the Christian\nPantheon....\u201d\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 172:\n\n  Thus while the three Synoptics display a combination of the pagan\n  Greek and Jewish symbologies the _Revelation_ is written in the\n  mystery language of the Tana\u00efm\u2014the relic of Egyptian and Chaldean\n  wisdom\u2014and St John\u2019s Gospel is purely Gnostic.\n\n-----\n\nThis is but an illustration to our point to prove that the Christian\napplication of the compound name Jesus-Christ is all based on\nGnostic and Eastern mysticism. It was only right and natural that\nChroniclers like the initiated Gnostics, pledged to secresy, should\nveil or _cloak_ the final meaning of their oldest and most sacred\nteachings. The right of the Church fathers to cover the whole with\nan epitheme of euhemerized fancy is rather more dubious.[173] The\nGnostic Scribe and Chronicler deceived no one. Every Initiate into\nthe Archaic gnosis\u2014whether of the pre-Christian or post-Christian\nperiod\u2014knew well the value of every word of the \u201cmystery-language.\u201d\nFor these Gnostics\u2014the inspirers of primitive Christianity\u2014were \u201cthe\nmost cultured, the most learned and most wealthy of the Christian\nname,\u201d as Gibbon has it. Neither they, nor their humbler followers,\nwere in danger of accepting the dead letter of their own texts. But\nit was different with the victims of the fabricators of what is now\ncalled _orthodox_ and _historic_ Christianity. Their successors have\nall been made to fall into the mistakes of the \u201cfoolish Galatians\u201d\nreproved by Paul, who, as he tells them (Galat. iii. 1-5), having\nbegun (by believing) in the Spirit (of Christos), \u201cended by\nbelieving in _the flesh_,\u201d\u2014_i.e._, a _corporeal_ Christ. For such is\nthe true meaning of the Greek sentence,[174] \u201c\u1f10\u03bd\u03b1\u03c1\u03be\u03ac\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03b9 \u03a0\u03bd\u03b5\u03cd\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\n\u03bd\u1fe6\u03bd \u03c3\u03b1\u03c1\u03ba\u03b9 \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5\u1fd6\u03c3\u03b8\u03b5.\u201d That Paul was a gnostic, a founder of a new\nsect of _gnosis_ which recognized, as all other gnostic sects did, a\n\u201cChrist-Spirit,\u201d though it went against its opponents, the rival\nsects, is sufficiently clear to all but dogmatists and theologians.\nNor is it less clear that the primitive teachings of Jesus, whenever\nhe may have lived, could be discovered only in Gnostic teachings;\nagainst which discovery, the falsifiers who dragged down Spirit into\nmatter, thus degrading the noble philosophy of primeval\nWisdom-Religion, have taken ample precautions from the first. The\nworks of Basilides alone\u2014\u201cThe philosopher devoted to the\ncontemplation of Divine things,\u201d as Clement describes him\u2014the 24\nvolumes of his _interpretations upon the Gospels_\u2014were all burned by\norder of the Church, Eusebius tells us (H. E., iv. 7).\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 173:\n\n  \u201cThe claim of Christianity to possess Divine authority rests on\n  the ignorant belief that the mystical Christ could and did become\n  a Person, whereas the gnosis proves the corporeal Christ to be\n  only a counterfeit Presentment of the trans-corporeal man;\n  consequently, historical portraiture is, and ever must be, a fatal\n  mode of falsifying and discrediting the Spiritual Reality.\u201d (G.\n  Massey, \u201cGnostic and Historic Christianity.\u201d)\n\nFootnote 174:\n\n  This sentence analyzed means \u201cShall you, who in the beginning\n  looked to the _Christ-Spirit_, now _end_ by believing in a Christ\n  of flesh,\u201d or it means nothing. The verb \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 has not the\n  meaning of \u201cbecoming perfect,\u201d but of \u201cending by,\u201d becoming so.\n  Paul\u2019s lifelong struggle with Peter and others, and what he\n  himself tells of his vision of a Spiritual Christ and not of Jesus\n  of Nazareth, as in the _Acts_\u2014are so many proofs of this.\n\n-----\n\nAs these _Interpretations_ were written at a time when the Gospels\nwe have now, were not yet in existence,[175] here is a good proof\nthat the Evangel, the doctrines of which were delivered to Basilides\nby the Apostle Matthew, and Glaucus, the disciple of Peter (_Clemens\nAl._ \u201c_Strom._\u201d vii. 7, \u00a7 106), must have differed widely from the\npresent New Testament Nor can these doctrines be judged by the\ndistorted accounts of them left to posterity by Tertullian. Yet even\nthe little this partisan fanatic gives, shows the chief gnostic\ndoctrines to be identical, under their own peculiar terminology and\npersonations, with those of the _Secret Doctrine_ of the East. For,\ndiscussing Basilides, the \u201cpious, god-like, theosophic philosopher,\u201d\nas Clement of Alexandria thought him, Tertullian exclaims:\n\n  \u201cAfter this, Basilides, the _heretic_, broke loose.[176] He\n  asserted that there is a Supreme God, by name Abraxas, by whom\n  Mind (_Mahat_) was created, which the Greeks call _Nous_. From\n  this emanated the Word; from the Word, Providence; from\n  Providence, Virtue and Wisdom; from these two again, Virtues,\n  _Principalities_,[177] _and Powers_ were made; thence infinite\n  productions and emissions of angels. Among the lowest angels,\n  indeed, and those that made this world, he sets _last of all_ the\n  god of the Jews, whom he denies to be God himself, affirming that\n  he is but one of the angels.\u201d[178] (Isis Unv. vol. ii.)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 175:\n\n  See \u201cSupern. Relig.,\u201d vol. ii., chap. \u201cBasilides.\u201d\n\nFootnote 176:\n\n  It was asked in \u201cIsis Unveiled,\u201d were not the views of the\n  Phrygian Bishop Montanus, also deemed a HERESY by the Church of\n  Rome? It is quite extraordinary to see how easily that Church\n  encourages the abuse of one _heretic_, Tertullian, against another\n  _heretic_, Basilides, when the abuse happens to further her own\n  object.\n\nFootnote 177:\n\n  Does not Paul himself speak of \u201c_Principalities_ and _Powers_ in\n  heavenly places\u201d (Ephesians iii. 10; i. 21), and confess that\n  there be _gods_ many and _Lords_ many (Kurioi)? And angels, powers\n  (Dunameis), and _Principalities_? (See 1 Corinthians, viii. 5; and\n  Epistle to Romans, viii. 38.)\n\nFootnote 178:\n\n  Tertullian: \u201cPr\u00e6script.\u201d It is undeniably owing only to a\n  remarkably casuistical, sleight-of-hand-like argument that\n  Jehovah, who in the _Kabala_ is simply a Sephiroth, the third,\n  left-hand power among the Emanations (Binah), has been elevated to\n  the dignity of the _One_ absolute God. Even in the Bible he is but\n  one of the _Elohim_ (See Genesis, chapter iii. v. 22. \u201cThe Lord\n  God\u201d making no difference between himself and others.)\n\n-----\n\nAnother proof of the claim that the Gospel of Matthew in the usual\nGreek texts is not the original gospel written in Hebrew, is given\nby no less an authority than S. Jerome (or Hieronymus). The\nsuspicion of a conscious and gradual _euhemerization_ of the Christ\nprinciple ever since the beginning, grows into a conviction, once\nthat one becomes acquainted with a certain confession contained in\nbook ii. of the \u201cComment. to Matthew\u201d by Hieronymus. For we find in\nit the proofs of a deliberate substitution of the whole gospel, the\none now in the Canon having been evidently re-written by this too\nzealous Church Father.[179] He says that he was sent toward the\nclose of the fourth century by \u201ctheir Felicities,\u201d the Bishops\nChromatius and Heliodorus to C\u00e6sarea, with the mission to compare\nthe Greek text (the only one they ever had) with the Hebrew original\nversion preserved by the Nazarenes in their library, and to\ntranslate it. He translated it, but under protest; for, as he says,\nthe _Evangel_ \u201cexhibited matter _not for edification, but for\ndestruction.\u201d_[180] The \u201cdestruction\u201d of what? Of the dogma that\nJesus of Nazareth and the _Christos_ are one\u2014evidently; hence for\nthe \u201cdestruction\u201d of the newly planned religion.[181] In this same\nletter the Saint (who advised his converts to kill their fathers,\ntrample on the bosom that fed them, by walking over the bodies of\ntheir mothers, if the parents stood as an obstacle between their\nsons and Christ)\u2014admits that Matthew did not wish his gospel to be\n_openly written_, hence that the MS. _was a secret_ one. But while\nadmitting also that this gospel \u201cwas written in Hebrew characters\nand _by the hand of himself_\u201d (_Matthew_), yet in another place he\ncontradicts himself and assures posterity that _as it was tampered\nwith, and re-written by a disciple of Manicheus, named Seleucus_ ...\n\u201cthe ears of the Church properly refused to listen to it.\u201d\n(_Hieron._, \u201cComment. to Matthew,\u201d book ii. chapter xii., 13.)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 179:\n\n  This is _history_. How far that _re-writing_ of, and tampering\n  with, the primitive gnostic fragments which are now become the New\n  Testament, went, may be inferred by reading \u201cSupernatural\n  Religion,\u201d which went through over twenty-three editions, if I\n  mistake not. The host of authorities for it given by the author,\n  is simply appalling. The list of the English and German Bible\n  critics alone seems endless.\n\nFootnote 180:\n\n  The chief details are given in \u201cIsis Unveiled,\u201d vol. ii pp.\n  180-183, _et seq._ Truly faith in the infallibility of the Church\n  must be _stone-blind_\u2014or it could not have failed being killed\n  and\u2014dying.\n\nFootnote 181:\n\n  See Hieronymus: \u201cDe Viros,\u201d illust. cap. 3; Olshausen: \u201cNeuen\n  Test.,\u201d p. 32. The Greek text of Matthew\u2019s Gospel is the only one\n  used or ever possessed by the Church.\n\n-----\n\nNo wonder that the very meaning of the terms _Chrestos_ and\n_Christos_, and the bearing of both on \u201cJesus of Nazareth,\u201d a name\ncoined out of Joshua the _Nazar_, has now become a dead letter for\nall with the exception of non-Christian Occultists. For even the\nKabalists have no original data now to rely upon. The _Zohar_ and\nthe Kabala have been remodelled by Christian hands out of\nrecognition; and were it not for a copy of the Chaldean _Book of\nNumbers_ there would remain no better than garbled accounts. Let not\nour Brothers, the so-called Christian Kabalists of England and\nFrance, many of whom are Theosophists, protest too vehemently; for\n_this is history_ (See Munk). It is as foolish to maintain, as some\nGerman Orientalists and modern critics still do, that the Kabala has\nnever existed before the day of the Spanish Jew, Moses de Leon,\naccused of having forged this pseudograph in the 13th century, as to\nclaim that any of the Kabalistical works now in our possession are\nas original as they were when Rabbi Simeon Ben Jocha\u00ef delivered the\n\u201ctraditions\u201d to his son and followers. Not a single of these books\nis immaculate, none has escaped mutilation by Christian hands. Munk,\none of the most learned and able critics of his day on this subject,\nproves it, while protesting as we do, against the assumption that it\nis a post-Christian forgery, for he says:\n\n\u201cIt appears evident to us that the author made use of ancient\ndocuments, and among these of certain _Midraschim_ or collections of\ntraditions and Biblical expositions, which we do not now possess.\u201d\n\nAfter which, quoting from Tholuck (l. c. pp. 24 and 31), he adds:\n\n\u201cHaya Gaon, who died in 1038, is to our knowledge the first author\nwho developed the theory of the Sephiroth and he gave to them the\nnames which we find again to be among the Kabalists (Tellenik, Moses\nben Schem Tob di Leon, p. 13, note 5); this doctor, _who had\nintimate intercourse with the Syrian and Chaldean Christian savans_,\nwas enabled by these last to acquire a knowledge of some of the\nGnostic writings.\u201d\n\nWhich \u201cGnostic writings\u201d and esoteric tenets passed part and parcel\ninto the Kabalistic works, with many more modern interpolations that\nwe now find in the _Zohar_, as Munk well proves. The Kabala is\nChristian now, not Jewish.\n\nThus, what with several generations of most active Church Fathers\never working at the destruction of old documents and the\npreparation of new passages to be interpolated in those which\nhappened to survive, there remains of the _Gnostics_\u2014the\nlegitimate offspring of the Archaic Wisdom-religion\u2014but a few\nunrecognisable shreds. But a particle of genuine gold will glitter\nfor ever; and, however garbled the accounts left by Tertullian and\nEpiphanius of the Doctrines of the \u201cHeretics,\u201d an occultist can\nyet find even in them traces of those primeval truths which were\nonce universally imparted during the mysteries of Initiation.\nAmong other works with most suggestive allegories in them, we have\nstill the so-called _Apocryphal Gospels_, and the last discovered\nas the most precious relic of Gnostic literature, a fragment\ncalled _Pistis-Sophia_, \u201cKnowledge-Wisdom.\u201d\n\nIn my next article upon the Esoteric character of the Gospels, I\nhope to be able to demonstrate that those who translate _Pistis_ by\n\u201cFaith,\u201d are utterly wrong. The word \u201cfaith\u201d as _grace_ or something\nto be believed in through unreasoned or blind faith, is a word that\ndates only since Christianity. Nor has Paul ever used this term in\nthis sense in his Epistles; and Paul was undeniably\u2014an INITIATE.\n\n                                                            H. P. B.\n\n(_To be continued._)\n\n                           =Reviews.=\n\n                                  ---\n\n                        \u201cSPIRIT REVEALED.\u201d[182]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 182:\n\n  By Captain Wm. C. Eldon Serjeant. Published by Geo. Redway, York\n  Street, Covent Garden. Price 7s. 6d.\n\n-----\n\nThe new work by Captain Serjeant (New Dispensationist and Fellow of\nthe Theosophical Society) is certainly what he describes it as\nbeing, the \u201cbook for the age,\u201d if, at least, it be admitted that the\nage requires arousing. I have no hesitation in saying that no such\nbook has before been presented to the public. It sounds forth like a\ntrumpet to arouse the sleepers from their crass forgetfulness of\nevery law of Brotherly Love and Spiritual Truth. One might almost\nimagine, in reading it, the sensation produced upon his\ncontemporaries by Ezekiel, when first he gave forth his prophecies\nto a wondering world; or by Bunyan, when he startled the English of\nhis time with the magnificent allegory of the \u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress.\u201d\nIt is true that here and there whole passages are bodily\ntransplanted from St John\u2019s \u201cRevelation,\u201d but they are so\nmarvellously dovetailed into the context that, without constant\nreference to the Apocalypse, it is almost impossible to say where\nthe quotations begin and where they end. From a literary point of\nview this may be a fault; but if we recognise the one Spirit\nspeaking through many voices we cannot deny that the same truth may\ncall for repetition and expansion, and the same Spirit may emit\nagain, with fuller details, what it has emitted before.\n\nWere this an _orthodox_ journal, I am aware that I dare not advance\nsuch tenets for fear the luckless editors should be deemed\nblasphemous by their subscribers. But LUCIFER at least must allow\nthat the Universal Spirit has not in the sacred books of olden times\nbreathed its last words. Then, again, Captain Serjeant disclaims all\n_personal_ responsibility for these utterances when he states that\nthe very passages which the reader will find the most glowing in the\nfierceness of their heat, are not words conceived by his own\npersonality, but given to him by processes well-known to\nSpiritualists as \u201cdirect\u201d and \u201cautomatic\u201d writing.\n\nThe root idea of the volume is that _one Spirit_ permeates all men\nand all things, and that this Spirit is that of Wisdom, Love and\nTruth; yet that this Spirit is denied or hidden out of sight by its\nown children; and that not till it is again made manifest in the\npublic affairs of the world, can mankind hope for that happiness\nwhich it is now vainly pursuing in every other direction save the\nright one, namely, _within_. The dedication of the book sounds the\nkey-note of its contents; for it is inscribed to \u201cLove, the Queen of\nHeaven; and to Faith, the Star of the Soul.\u201d The inscription closes\nwith the words \u201cFollow after Love\u2014Love never faileth,\u201d and the\nreader is intentionally left to supply the third term, \u201cGod is\nLove.\u201d It is in this conception of the Supreme that we shall find\nthe whole meaning of the work. The words \u201cGod\u201d and the \u201cFather,\u201d as\nalso the \u201cMother\u201d and \u201cChrist,\u201d are employed pretty freely; yet with\nthis clue, we shall see that the writer believes in no _personal_\nDeity, but in one Universal Spirit, of whom each intelligence is a\nmanifestation in the flesh, little though such being may show or\nknow it.\n\nIt is impossible in a short review to touch upon all the striking\nfeatures of \u201cSpirit Revealed,\u201d and I must, therefore, content myself\nwith noticing but a very few, referring the readers of LUCIFER to\nthe book itself; for they will find in it a \u201cGuide, Philosopher and\nFriend.\u201d\n\nThe preface reminds one of a passage in Ezekiel too often forgotten.\n\u201cAnd they were _scattered_, because there is no shepherd: and they\nbecame meat to all the beasts of the field, _when they were\nscattered_.\u201d Captain Serjeant points out the necessity of a bond of\n_union_ in these words:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe contentions amongst many religious sects have been to a\nconsiderable extent responsible for the rise, growth, and\ndevelopment of numerous societies of professed religious, as well as\nof an anti-religious character. Each and every one of these\nSocieties possesses its own peculiar views on the Deity, as well as\non life and death, and though the majority of the more enlightened\nof them have evidently the same fundamental principles underlying\nthe teachings which they endeavour to inculcate in the minds of men\ngenerally, yet the manifest confusion generated by what are\nseemingly conflicting opinions, tends, unhappily, to increase the\nbewilderment and distrust experienced in connection with the truths\nof the Spirit throughout all classes of Society in the nineteenth\ncentury.\u201d\n\nHe then proceeds to claim for his work that it \u201cplaces in the hands\nof Christian Ministers\u201d (Note, that he employs the word \u201cChrist\u201d\ncontinually in the sense of the divine Spirit within mankind) \u201cmany\npowerful weapons wherewith to establish and uphold the universal\nChurch of the Living God.\u201d The preface, which is conceived\nthroughout in the most elevated style of address, concludes with an\nappeal to \u201call who, in their hearts, are ready and willing to labour\nloyally in the interests of their less enlightened fellow creatures\nexisting in this ignorant, selfish, and love-starved world.\u201d\n\nAfter a brief Introduction, couched in a prophetic form, the writer\ndeals with the nature of God, man, matter, the power of Spirit\nmanifest in and through matter, the omnipresence of Spirit, the\nIntelligent Principle, and the Seven Rays of Truth. In these seven\nchapters is comprised what I may call the theoretical part of the\nbook. The following quotations must suffice to show in what vein\nthese world-riddles are worked out. \u201cWe are endued with two natures,\none of which is human or mortal, and subject to chemical change,\ncommonly termed dissolution or death; the other, immortal or\nspiritual, capable of adding to itself by an inherent power to\ncomprehend the nature, qualities and capabilities of all created\nvisible things, which comprehension signifies the reconversion of\nall material existences into true ideas.\u201d \u201cIt is an absolute fact\nthat _everything is literal_. To the spiritual man symbols are\nliteral; they are indeed more literal than the natural man considers\nwhat he terms facts or realities.\u201c \u201d_The ultimate atom is Spirit._\nFinite wills are points on which the Infinite Will acts, for no\ncreature can will without being a manifestation of the Supreme\nIntelligence who first wills that it shall will.\u201c\n\nThe subsequent portion of the book deals partly with an expansion of\nthe general tenets laid down in these seven chapters, and their\napplication to the present _practical_ needs of the world; partly\nwith prophetic utterances as to the near approach of an awakening of\nthe peoples to their real position as members of one great Spiritual\ncommunity. Under the first heading a very important document is\npresented to the world, being a form for enrolment in the \u201cUniversal\nRights Support Association,\u201d which if generally adopted in the true\nspirit would indeed herald the millennium. Under the second heading\nin Chapter XIII. a remarkable reading of part of the Apocalypse is\ngiven, commencing with the words from Daniel, \u201cand at that time\nshall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the\nchildren of the people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such\nas never was since there was a Nation even to that same time: At\nthat time the people shall be delivered, every one that shall be\nfound written in the book.\u201d Such words as these are not to be\nunderstood on the first reading, and indeed will probably meet with\nnothing but derision from many. Yet LUCIFER will see in them another\nand a most powerful battery opened against the powers of darkness to\nwage war with which is his own chief mission.\n\nIn conclusion I can only add that, in my humble opinion, few men\nhave shown such courage in facing the ridicule of society as Captain\nSerjeant, and that he has chosen to risk the forfeiture of a place\nin social circles to which his right is undeniable, rather than give\nway to the temptation to prophesy smooth things. He is one of the\nforemost in the New Dispensation movement, and a man whose working\npower must be enormous, if it be measured by the labours which he\ndaily and voluntarily undertakes. His peculiar style of writing lays\nhim open to the accusation of calling himself the coming Messiah. If\nhis accusers would only meet him face to face, they would find that\nno man is humbler than he, and none is more fully conscious nor more\nloudly proclaims that \u201cindividuality is but an emanation from the\none Great Spirit,\u201d in which alone he recognises the true Christ, the\nSaviour of the world. He would tell them that in _themselves_ is\nincarnate the Spirit of Wisdom, and that it only awaits its union\nwith the Spirit of Love, to manifest itself as the Spirit of Truth.\nHow little he values his own personality and his own well-being or\nfame, those who know him best can testify. If Theosophy is to be a\nliving thing, and not a mere intellectual amusement, it is by such\nmen as this that it must be followed. Were there many such the world\nwould soon be freed from its misery, by the force of their united\nvolition. Verily their reward is at hand.\n\n                                               WILLIAM ASHTON ELLIS.\n\n                        -----------------------\n\n           TRAIT\u00c9 \u00c9L\u00c9MENTAIRE DE SCIENCE OCCULTE, par PAPUS.\n\n       Published by Georges Carr\u00e9, 58, Rue St Audr\u00e9 des Arts.\n\nThis, the latest of the admirable publications now being issued by\nM. Georges Carr\u00e9, under the auspices of \u201cL\u2019Isis,\u201d the French branch\nof the Theosophical Society, deserves a hearty welcome at the hands\nof all students of Occultism, as it fulfils the promise of its\ntitle, which is high praise indeed.\n\nThe book is written and constructed on correct Occult principles; it\ncontains seven chapters, three devoted to theory and four to the\napplication and practical illustration of that theory.\n\nAfter an eloquent introductory chapter, M. Papus proceeds to lead\nhis readers by easy transitions into the mysterious science of\nnumbers. This\u2014the first key to _practical_ Occultism\u2014is at once the\nsimplest and the most subtle of sciences. Hitherto there has existed\nno really elementary exposition of its primary, fundamental\nprinciples. And, as this science of numbers lies at the base of\nevery one of those applications of occult science which are still to\nany extent studied, a knowledge of it is almost indispensable.\n\nAstrology, Chiromancy, Cartomancy, in short, all the arts of\ndivination, rest ultimately on numbers and their occult powers, as a\nfoundation.\n\nAnd yet, though the students of each of these several arts must,\nperforce, acquire a certain knowledge of numerical science, yet very\nfew of them possess that knowledge in a systematic and co-ordinated\nform.\n\nOf course M. Papus does not, and cannot, give anything like a\ncomplete textbook on the subject, but he does give, in clear\nlanguage, the fundamental guiding principles of this science.\nMoreover, he illustrates the methods of numerical working, by\nnumerous and well-chosen examples\u2014an aid which is simply invaluable\nto the student who is making his first entrance into this field of\nstudy. In the third chapter these abstract formul\u00e6 are given as they\nrelate to man, as an individual, and as a member of that larger\nwhole, called humanity. This completes the purely theoretical\nportion of the book, and in the fourth chapter we are shown how\nthese general principles work in their application.\n\nSigns and symbols are proved to be the _natural_ expressions of\nideas in accordance with fixed laws, and the method is applied by\nway of illustration to the interpretation of the Emerald Tablet of\nHermes Trismegistus. The relation between number and form is shown\nas exhibited in geometrical figures, and M. Papus gives a clue to a\nsubject which has puzzled many\u2014the actual _influence_ in life of\n_names_. This chapter is most enthralling, but lack of space forbids\nany detailed comments, for so much would have to be said.\n\nChapters five and six are almost equally interesting; full of\nlucid illustration and valuable hints to the practical student,\nthey form almost a manual in themselves. But on one point M. Papus\nis certainly in error, though, since it is on a matter of history,\nits importance is relatively small. He attaches _far_ too much\nweight to the Jews and to their national system of occultism\u2014the\nKabbala. True, that system is the most familiar in Europe; but it\nhas been so much overlaid by a semi-esoteric veil, and additions\nand interpolations by Christian Occultists, that its inner\ngrossness is lost sight of; so that students are apt to be led\naway from the truth, and to form erroneous conceptions as to the\nvalue and meaning of many symbols, the importance of which in\npractical work is very great. What esoteric knowledge the Jews\npossessed, they derived either from the Egyptians or the\nBabylonians during the captivity. Hence M. Saint-Ives d\u2019Alvidre,\nhis gigantic erudition notwithstanding, is altogether mistaken in\nthe stress he lays on their knowledge, their place in history and\ntheir mission as a nation. This, however, is but a matter of small\nmoment in a book, the practical value of which it would be\ndifficult to over-estimate.\n\n                        -----------------------\n\n                        THE NEW WAGNER JOURNAL.\n\nWe have received from Mr. Geo. Redway, Publisher, 15, York Street,\nW.C., the prospectus of a new Journal, \u201cTHE MEISTER,\u201d which is about\nto be edited for the _Richard Wagner Society_ by Mr. Wm. Ashton\nEllis, author of \u201cTheosophy in the Works of Richard Wagner\u201d\n(Theosophical Society\u2019s Transactions), and of \u201cRichard Wagner as\nPoet, Musician and Mystic,\u201d read before the Society of Fine Arts. As\nMr. Ellis is a member of the Committee of the Wagner Society, and a\nmember of Council of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society,\nwe hope that prominence will be given to the esoteric side of\nRichard Wagner\u2019s works; and for this hope we have justification not\nonly in the pamphlets above alluded to but also in the words of the\nprospectus of the MEISTER. \u201cReligion, Art, and Social Questions are\nin these works (Wagner\u2019s) presented to his readers under novel\naspects, and such as are of the greatest interest to a generation\nwhich is eagerly scanning the horizon for some cloud which may be\nthe harbinger of refreshing rain long looked for to quench the\nthirst of the arid sands of Materialistic Science.\u201d\n\nThe prospectus presents us with a specimen of the cover of the\njournal, designed by Mr. Percy Anderson, an artist who has already\nmade a name for himself in other walks of the decorative art, and\nwhose first attempt in this direction shows great power of broad\neffects of light and shade, and considerable expertness in\nsymbolism. We hope in our next issue to review the first number of\nthe MEISTER which, we understand, will appear on the 13th inst. It\nwill be published for the present _quarterly_, at the subscription\nrate of 4s. per annum, but we trust that it may shortly become a\nfull-fledged \u201cmonthly.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: decorative separator]\n\n                            NEW YEAR\u2019S EVE.\n\n         All sound was hushed, except the sad sad bells,\n         Chanting their requiem o\u2019er the dying year;\n         Alone I knelt beneath the watchful stars,\n         And held communion with my restless soul.\n\n         *     *     *     *     *\n\n         The Old Year died, the sad bells all were stilled,\n         And o\u2019er a silent city, shone the pure cold moon.\n         Then unrestrained my soul poured forth its cry,\n         \u201cO God Eternal, Changless, Sacred, O. M.\n         Let my past die with the Old Year to-night.\n         And when the joy-bells hail the New Year\u2019s birth,\n         Let each sweet note waft up a p\u00e6an of praise,\n         Straight from a new-born Soul unto its Maker.\u201d\n\n         *     *     *     *     *\n\n         The New Year dawned, madly the bells clashed forth\n         Beneath the stars, I still knelt on\u2014in peace.\n\n                                                  KATIE DUNCAN KING.\n\n                        =Correspondence.=\n\n                                  ---\n\n                          AUTOCENTRICISM.[183]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 183:\n\n  \u201cAutocentricism; or, the Brain Theory of Life and Mind,\u201d being the\n  substance of letters written to the Secular Review (1883-4). By\n  Robert Lewins, M.D. \u201cThe New Gospel of Hylo-Idealism, or Positive\n  Agnosticism.\u201d By Herbert L. Courtney.\n\n-----\n\nMan has made God in his own image. Taking his thoughts and passions,\nfears, hope and aspirations, with part thereof he endows his\nfellow-men, whose natures he knows only as figured and interpreted\nby his own, and thus he becomes a social being; with part thereof he\ninspires the inanimate world\u2014\u201cthe sun, the moon, the stars, the sea,\nthe hills, and the plains,\u201d and thus he becomes a poet; \u201cwith the\nresidue\u201d he forms his God, and \u201cfalleth down unto it, and\nworshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou\nart my God.\u201d\n\nThe first of these processes is legitimate, indeed necessary, for\nthere is a foundation of unity in human nature, however diverse and\ncomplex are its varied developments; and the humanity which dwells\nin all can recognize itself under strange disguises.\n\nThe second process is innocent and elevating, so long as it is kept\nwithin just limits, and claims to reach results subjectively, not\nobjectively, true.\n\nThe third process is inevitable at a certain stage of racial\nevolution, but beyond that stage becomes absolutely noxious and\ndegrading, because it extols as truth that which conscience and\nreason have begun to condemn as untruth.\n\nDead are the Gods of Egypt, those supreme plutocrats, under whom\ncostly mummification and burial in a sculptured tomb were the\nconditions of posthumous life, so that a poor man could by no means\nenter into the kingdom of Osiris. Dead are Jupiter, Apollo, Pallas,\nAphrodite, the products and reflexes of Greek majesty, beauty and\nintellect; or, if not dead, they are immortalised only by the art of\ntheir human creators. Dead, or dying, as a power to be loved and\nfeared, is that Jehovah who reproduces the cruelty, selfishness and\nstubbornness of the typical Jew, with his substratum of conscience,\nshowing itself from time to time in a more or less wrong-headed zeal\nfor righteousness.\n\nIn its infancy, every race unconsciously forms an ideal, and makes\nthis ideal its God. As the race grows in civilisation the ideal is\nmodified, and for some time the god continues to undergo\ncorresponding changes, and is, so to speak, kept up to date. But\nincreasing experience and knowledge bring increasing secularism of\nthought and feeling, and incapacitate the mind for reconstructing\nits Divinity. Religion loses its life-blood. In this stage, the\nDeity is either an anachronism, incompatible with the highest\ninstincts of his worshippers, and therefore holding them back\nmorally and intellectually, or else he becomes a nonentity, an\nabstraction, which can have no influence on life and conduct. It is\nthis effete conception which Dr. Lewins combats in the tract\nentitled \u201cAutocentricism, or the Brain Theory of Life and Mind.\u201d\n\nMan, in brief, is his own God. Saints and mystics, and all the most\nbeautiful souls of all religions, have seen this truth as in a glass\ndarkly. Christ expressed it in mystic form when he said, \u201cThe\nKingdom of Heaven is within you,\u201d and, \u201cI and my Father are one.\u201d\nBut in Christ\u2019s time Animism was so ingrained in human nature that\nit was impossible he could escape it.[184] He had not the scientific\ndata on which to found a true cosmology; and even had he possessed\nthe data, he would have lacked the power to use them. Scientific\nhabits of thought were necessarily alien to the mind of the Galilean\npeasant.[185] He could _feel_ rather than _comprehend_ the unity of\nGod, Man, and the World; but he could not know that this unity is\ncentred in the thought-cells of the cerebral hemispheres, and that\nthe Divine glory is the offspring of a material organism.[186]\nScientific synthesis can now give a solid basis to Christian and\nBuddhist mysticism, to Berkleyan and Kantian Idealism, by declaring\nthat the brain is the one phenomenon which certifies its own nomenal\nexistence. It thinks, therefore it is; it creates, therefore it\nexists. Yet Dualism is condemned, whatever stand-point we adopt.\n\u201cFor my main argument ... it matters not a jot or tittle whether you\nproceed on the n\u00f6etic or hyloic basis. A European ought to take the\nlatter, which admits of scientific research and discovery. An\nAsiatic or African, who has not the genius for original realistic\nresearch, may safely be left to the former.\u201d[187] Beyond himself, no\nman can think. We are apt to be deluded by the exigencies of\nlanguage, and to look upon \u201cour\u201d ideas, \u201cour\u201d imaginations, as in\nsome way separable from ourselves; as possessions rather than\ncomponents of the Ego. Yet nothing is clearer than that the sum of\nthese sentient states actually _constitutes_ the Ego, so far as it\nknows itself; and that a \u201cdominant\u201d idea, engrossing the attention\nto the exclusion of all others, is for the time absolutely identical\nwith and equivalent to the mind which it is said to \u201crule.\u201d For\nmoments which are eternities, because the sense of time is\nabolished, the musician may be \u201cabsorbed in\u201d or identified with his\nsonata, the poet with his verse, the mystic with his vision of the\nDivine Essence. \u201cI am as great as God, and He as small as I,\u201d sings\nAngelus Silesius; but we may rather say that in such states of\nrapture the relations of \u201cgreat\u201d and \u201csmall,\u201d of \u201cinternal\u201d and\n\u201cexternal,\u201d of \u201cspace\u201d and \u201cinfinitude,\u201d of \u201ctime\u201d and \u201ceternity,\u201d\nare annihilated, and the whole universe fused into one point of\nlight.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 184:\n\n  \u201cAutocentricism,\u201d &c., p. 10.\n\nFootnote 185:\n\n  _Christ_\u2014A Galilean peasant! [ED.]\n\nFootnote 186:\n\n  Nor does Dr. Lewins _know_: assumption is no proof. [ED.]\n\nFootnote 187:\n\n  \u201cAutocentricism,\u201d &c., p. 33.\n\n-----\n\nThis feeling, rationalised and stripped of mystery, though not of\nwonder and solemnity, is the truth and life of Hylo-Idealism.\nWorship is done away with, not by iconoclasm, but by apotheosis. \u201cBy\nit we are, indeed, for ever and entirely relieved from the\nhumiliating and overwhelming sense of human insignificance, thus\nmaking ourselves quite at home in the more than terrestrial\ngrandeurs of the universe, in which our planet is but a\nsand-grain.\u201d[188]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 188:\n\n  Ibid, p. 19.\n\n-----\n\nIn conclusion, I should like to recommend Dr. Lewins\u2019s tractate,\nwith its Introduction by Mr. Courtney, and its succinct and luminous\nAppendix by G. M. Mc., and also Mr. Courtney\u2019s articles reprinted\nfrom \u201cOur Corner\u201d to the attention of all sincere souls.\nHylo-Idealism, or \u201cAutocentricism,\u201d has the merit of not being\nnegative merely, but also positive and constructive, substituting\nfor the \u201crenunciation\u201d preached by Christ and Buddha, a perfect\nfulfilment of self, and conquering selfishness by self-expansion. It\nis thus especially potent in the fields of theoretical and practical\nethics, indeed the central idea of Spinoza\u2019s admirable and still\nunsurpassed analysis of the Passions is distinctly deducible from\nour thesis, though generally regarded as an excrescence rather than\na natural growth from his own. Upon all this I cannot, at present,\ndwell, but must content myself with the bare indication of fields of\nthought and action which are \u201cwhite already to the harvest.\u201d\n\nOn the Nile, _Dec._ 1887.\n\n                                                               C. N.\n\n                             --------------\n\n                           WHAT OF PHENOMENA?\n\n                     _To the Editors of_ LUCIFER:\n\n  \u201cI avail myself of your invitation to correspondents, in order to\n  ask a question.\n\n  \u201cHow is it that we hear nothing now of the signs and wonders with\n  which Neo-theosophy was ushered in? Is the \u2018age of miracles\u2019 past\n  in the Society?\n\n                                                \u201cYours respectfully,\n                                                                 \u201c*\u201d\n\n\u201cOccult phenomena,\u201d is what our correspondent apparently refers to.\nThey failed to produce the desired effect, but they were, in no\nsense of the word, \u201cmiracles.\u201d It was supposed that intelligent\npeople, especially men of science, would, at least, have recognised\nthe existence of a new and deeply interesting field of enquiry and\nresearch when they witnessed physical effects produced at will, for\nwhich they were not able to account. It was supposed that\ntheologians would have welcomed the proof, of which they stand so\nsadly in need in these agnostic days, that the soul and the spirit\nare not mere creations of their fancy, due to ignorance of the\nphysical constitution of man, but entities quite as real as the\nbody, and much more important. These expectations were not realized.\nThe phenomena were misunderstood and misrepresented, both as regards\ntheir nature and their purpose.\n\nIn the light which experience has now thrown upon the matter the\nexplanation of this unfortunate circumstance is not far to seek.\nNeither science nor religion acknowledges the existence of the\nOccult, as the term is understood and employed in theosophy; in the\nsense, that is to say, of a super-material, but not super-natural,\nregion, governed by law; nor do they recognise the existence of\nlatent powers and possibilities in man. Any interference with the\nevery-day routine of the material world is attributed, by religion,\nto the arbitrary will of a good or an evil autocrat, inhabiting a\nsupernatural region inaccessible to man, and subject to no law,\neither in his actions or constitution, and for a knowledge of whose\nideas and wishes mortals are entirely dependent upon inspired\ncommunications delivered through an accredited messenger. The power\nof working so-called miracles has always been deemed the proper and\nsufficient credentials of a messenger from heaven, and the mental\nhabit of regarding any occult power in that light is still so strong\nthat any exercise of that power is supposed to be \u201cmiraculous,\u201d or\nto claim to be so. It is needless to say that this way of regarding\nextraordinary occurrences is in direct opposition to the scientific\nspirit of the age, nor is it the position practically occupied by\nthe more intelligent portion of mankind at present. When people see\nwonders, nowadays, the sentiment excited in their minds is no longer\nveneration and awe, but curiosity.\n\nIt was in the hope of arousing and utilizing this spirit of\ncuriosity that occult phenomena were shown. It was believed that\nthis manipulation of forces of nature which lie below the\nsurface\u2014that surface of things which modern science scratches and\npecks at so industriously and so proudly\u2014would have led to enquiry\ninto the nature and the laws of those forces, unknown to science,\nbut perfectly known to occultism. That the phenomena did excite\ncuriosity in the minds of those who witnessed them, is certainly\ntrue, but it was, unfortunately, for the most part of an idle kind.\nThe greater number of the witnesses developed an insatiable appetite\nfor phenomena for their own sake, without any thought of studying\nthe philosophy or the science of whose truth and power the phenomena\nwere merely trivial and, so to say, accidental illustrations. In but\na few cases the curiosity which was awakened gave birth to the\nserious desire to study the philosophy and the science themselves\nand for their own sake.\n\nExperience has taught the leaders of the movement that the vast\nmajority of professing Christians are absolutely precluded by their\nmental condition and attitude\u2014the result of centuries of\nsuperstitious teaching\u2014from calmly examining the phenomena in their\naspect of natural occurrences governed by law. The Roman Catholic\nChurch, true to its traditions, excuses itself from the examination\nof any occult phenomena on the plea that they are necessarily the\nwork of the Devil, whenever they occur outside of its own pale,\nsince it has a lawful monopoly of the legitimate miracle business.\nThe Protestant Church denies the personal intervention of the Evil\nOne on the material plane; but, never having gone into the miracle\nbusiness itself, it is apparently a little doubtful whether it would\nknow a _bona-fide_ miracle if it saw one, but, being just as unable\nas its elder sister to conceive the extension of the reign of law\nbeyond the limits of matter and force, as known to us in our present\nstate of consciousness, it excuses itself from the study of occult\nphenomena on the plea that they lie within the province of science\nrather than of religion.\n\nNow science has its miracles as well as the Church of Rome. But, as\nit is altogether dependent upon its instrument maker for the\nproduction of these miracles, and, as it claims to be in possession\nof the last known word in regard to the laws of nature, it was\nhardly to be expected that it would take very kindly to \u201cmiracles,\u201d\nin whose production apparatus has no part, and which claim to be\ninstances of the operation of forces and laws of which it has no\nknowledge. Modern science, moreover, labours under disabilities with\nrespect to the investigation of the Occult quite as embarrassing as\nthose of Religion; for, while Religion cannot grasp the idea of\nnatural law as applied to the supersensuous Universe, Science does\nnot allow the existence of any supersensuous universe at all to\nwhich the reign of law could be extended; nor can it conceive the\npossibility of any other state of consciousness than our present\nterrestrial one. It was, therefore, hardly to be expected that\nscience would undertake the task it was called upon to perform with\nmuch earnestness and enthusiasm; and, indeed, it seems to have felt\nthat it was not expected to treat the phenomena of occultism less\ncavalierly than it had treated divine miracles. So it calmly\nproceeded at once to pooh-pooh the phenomena; and, when obliged to\nexpress some kind of opinion, it did not hesitate, without\nexamination, and on hearsay reports, to attribute them to fraudulent\ncontrivances\u2014wires, trap-doors and so forth.\n\nIt was bad enough for the leaders of the movement, when they\nendeavoured to call the attention of the world to the great and\nunknown field for scientific and religious enquiry which lies on the\nborderland between matter and spirit, to find themselves set down as\nagents of his Satanic Majesty, or as superior adepts in the\ncharlatan line; but the unkindest cut of all, perhaps, came from a\nclass of people whose own experiences, rightly understood, ought\ncertainly to have taught them better: the occult phenomena were\nclaimed by the Spiritualists as the work of their dear departed\nones, but the leaders in Theosophy were declared to be somewhat less\neven than mediums in disguise.\n\nNever were the phenomena presented in any other character than that\nof instances of a power _over perfectly natural though unrecognised\nforces_, and incidentally over matter, possessed by certain\nindividuals who have attained to a larger and higher knowledge of\nthe Universe than has been reached by scientists and theologians, or\ncan ever be reached by them, by the roads they are now respectively\npursuing. Yet this power is latent in all men, and could, in time,\nbe wielded by anyone who would cultivate the knowledge and conform\nto the conditions necessary for its development. Nevertheless,\nexcept in a few isolated and honourable instances, never was it\nreceived in any other character than as would-be miracles, or as\nworks of the Devil, or as vulgar tricks, or as amusing gape-seed, or\nas the performances of those dangerous \u201cspooks\u201d that masquerade in\ns\u00e9ance rooms, and feed on the vital energies of mediums and sitters.\nAnd, from all sides, theosophy and theosophists were attacked with a\nrancour and bitterness, with an absolute disregard alike of fact and\nlogic, and with malice, hatred and uncharitableness that would be\nutterly inconceivable, did not religious history teach us what mean\nand unreasoning animals ignorant men become when their cherished\nprejudices are touched; and did not the history of scientific\nresearch teach us, in its turn, how very like an ignorant man a\nlearned man can behave, when the truth of his theories is called in\nquestion.\n\nAn occultist can produce phenomena, but he cannot supply the world\nwith brains, nor with the intelligence and good faith necessary to\nunderstand and appreciate them. Therefore, it is hardly to be\nwondered at, that _word_ came to abandon phenomena and let the ideas\nof Theosophy stand on their own intrinsic merits.\n\n                             --------------\n\n                      MR. MOHINI M. CHATTERJI.\n                    _To the Editors of_ LUCIFER.\n\nWill you kindly afford publicity in the pages of Lucifer to the\nenclosed letter I have just received from Mr. Mohini M. Chatterji\nwho has been staying for a few months at Rome, with English friends,\non his way back to India.\u2014Yours very truly,\n\n                                                      A. P. SINNETT.\n\n TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE LONDON LODGE OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.\n\nSIR,\u2014I understand that among the members of your Society there is a\nrumour to the effect that I have joined the Roman Catholic Church,\nwhich has caused much annoyance to my friends and also to myself. I\nbeg therefore that you will do me the justice to make it known that\nthe rumour is entirely false and that I have no desire to join any\nChristian Church.\u2014I am, Sir, your obedient servant,\n\n                                                MOHINI M. CHATTERJI.\n\nROME (Italy), _January 30th, 1888_.\n\n                           ------------------\n\n                    _To the Editors of_ LUCIFER.\n\nOn behalf of the members of the London Lodge, I beg to state that\nthe rumour referred to in Mr. Mohini\u2019s letter emanated from two\nacquaintances of his belonging to the Romish Church, who themselves\nderived their information from the R. C. priesthood. As for the\nmembers of the L. L. they never believed in this report.\n\n                                        BERTRAM KEIGHTLEY, Hon. Sec.\n\n\n\n\n                        =CORRESPONDENCE=\n\n\n  [The editors have received the two following letters\u2014one from the\n  learned Founder of Hylo-Idealism, the other from a gentleman, a\n  casual correspondent, of whom they know _absolutely nothing_\n  except his most extraordinary way of expressing his thoughts in\n  words and terms hitherto unheard by ordinary mortals. Both take\n  the editors to task for using their undeniable right of criticism\n  and editorial judgment. As LUCIFER, however, is a magazine _sui\n  generis_, and as its policy is the greatest possible tolerance and\n  fairness to all parties concerned, it will abstain from its legal\n  prerogative of leaving the letters without reply or notice.\n  LUCIFER hands them over, therefore, to the \u201cADVERSARY,\u201d to be\n  dealt with according to their respective merits. The editors have\n  never pretended to an \u201cunderstanding of Hylo-Idealism\u201d nor do they\n  entertain any such rash hope for the future. They belong to that\n  humble class of mortals who labour to their dying day under the\n  belief that 2 \u00d7 2 = 4, and can by no means, even hylo-idealistic,\n  make 5. \u201cC. N.\u201d\u2019s letter placed the new \u201cphilosophy\u201d in an\n  entirely different light; firstly, because it is written in good\n  English, and because the style of the writer is extremely\n  attractive; and secondly, because at least one point has now been\n  made clear to the editors: \u201cHylo-Idealism\u201d is, like modern\n  spiritualism, the _essence of transcendental materialism_. If in\n  Mr. Huxley\u2019s opinion Comte\u2019s Positivism is, in practice,\n  \u201cCatholicism _minus_ Christianity,\u201d in the views of the editors of\n  LUCIFER Hylo-Idealism is \u201cMetaphysics _minus_ psychology\n  and\u2014_physics_.\u201d Let its apostles explain away its flagrant\n  contradictions, and then LUCIFER will be the first to render\n  justice to it as a philosophy. Meanwhile, it can only acknowledge\n  a number of remarkably profound thoughts that are to be found\n  scattered in independent solitude throughout the letters of Dr.\n  Lewins (Humanism _v._ Theism) and others, and\u2014no more.]\n\n                          _re_ HYLO-IDEALISM.\n\n                     To the Editors of LUCIFER.\n\nPerhaps space may be found in the February or other early issue of\nyour interesting and suggestive serial for the present curt\ncommunication. In a footnote of your January number I am coupled\nwith Mr. H. Spencer as being more Atheist than Moleschott and\nB\u00fcchner\u2014to say nothing of such compromising and irresolute\nscientists as Darwin, Huxley, and Co. Now, that atheistic or\nnon-animist standpoint is the pivot on which my whole synthesis\nrevolves; and is, I contend, the burning problem at this\nepoch\u2014ethical and intellectual\u2014of the human mind\u2014_thoroughly_ to\nestablish on certain concrete, rational and scientific _data_, that\nis to say\u2014not on the Utopias of Speculation and Metaphysics. My\nprinciple is exactly that of Kant (inter alios) when he formulates\nthe \u201cThing in Itself.\u201d But we have only to study the short and handy\n\u201cCritique of Kant,\u201d referred to in your columns\u2014by Kuno Fischer,\ntranslated by Dr. Hough, to see how fast and loose that\n\u201call-shattering\u201d metaphysician played with his all-destructive\ntheme. Not only does he entirely reverse it and its corollaries in\nhis critique of the \u201cPractical Reason,\u201d and of \u201cJudgment,\u201d but also\nin the second edition of the \u201cCritique of Pure Reason\u201d itself, in\nwhich originally, as its corollary, or rather concomitant, he, like\nmyself, only on less sure premises, disposes of God, the Soul (Anima\nor Vital Principle), and Immortality\u2014that is of another \u201cpersonal\u201d\nlife after death. I hold with Lucretius, Epicurus, and others in\nancient and modern times, of whom Shelley is a typical case, that no\ngreater benefit can be bestowed on humanity than the elimination\nfrom sane thought of this ghastly and maddening Triune Spectre. God\nalone is quite \u201cl\u2019infame\u201d Voltaire dubs the Catholic Church. Looking\nthrough Nature \u201cred in tooth and claws\u201d to its _pseudo_ Author, we\nmust expect to find a _Pandemon_. For any omnipotent Being who,\nunconditioned and unfettered in all respects, \u201c_willed_\u201d such a\nworld of pain and anguish for sentient creatures, must be a Demon\n_worse_ than mythology has fabled of Satan, Moloch, Mammon, or other\nfiends. It must be noted that in the classic Pantheon, the Fates, or\nFatal Sisters, are \u201cabove\u201d all the Immortals of Olympus, including\nJove himself\u2014a saving provision quite inadmissible in modern\nMonotheism, which endows its Divinity[189] with absolute omnipotence\nand fore-knowledge.\n\n                                                 ROBERT LEWINS, M.D.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 189:\n\n  Deuce, _i.e._, Devil, is the synonym of _Deus_.\n\n-----\n\n                                  ---\n\n                             HYLO-IDEALISM.\n\n                     To the Editors of LUCIFER.\n\nI have to thank you for your kind insertion of my note on above in\nJanuary issue of the Magazine.\n\nI have not the slightest desire to quarrel with your prefaced\ncomments on my style of writing. It seems to you to be \u201cturgid,\u201d and\nyou take advantage of some unkind epithets lately dealt out to\nTheosophy in the _Secular Review_ to return the compliment to me\nwith interest added. Be it so. It would seem but fair to, let me\nsay, compliment those, and those only, who have directly\ncomplimented you; but I have no wish, as I have just said, to find\nfault with _any_ comment on Hylo-Idealism or on the methods of its\nadvocacy. _All_ criticism is, I know, received by the excogitator of\nthe system with thanks, and, save that both he and I think your note\n_re \u201cTheobroma\u201d_ not a little at fault (for explanation I refer you\nto the well-known Messrs. Epps), I can say the same for myself.\n\nI can see, however, in spite of the raillery with which you honour\nus, that a right understanding of Hylo-Idealism\u2014I beg pardon,\n_High-low_ Idealism\u2014is still very far from being yours. Why, in a\nrecent issue of LUCIFER the old difficulty of, as I call it, the\n\u201cCoincident assumption of Materiality\u201d is started as if it had never\nbefore been thought of. It is, in point of fact, fully dealt with in\nmy \u201cAppendix\u201d to the \u201cAuto-Centricism\u201d pamphlet, which has already\npassed under your review! It is not worth while to enter once more\nupon this point; suffice it then to say, in addition, that I\nexplained it also, at full length, to a Theosophical writer\u2014Mr. E.\nD. Fawcett\u2014in the _Secular Review_, some months ago. He had started\nthe same venerable objection, but after my reply, he so far honoured\nme as not to return to the charge. Let him do so now, and then a\nTheosophical attack and a Hylo-Ideal defence will be before you.\nBut, really, it is no argument against my position to extract some\nhalf-dozen lines of my writing from a contemporary and to follow\nthis _soup\u00e7on_ with three printer\u2019s \u201cshrieks.\u201d\n\nI shall wait with interest the promised letter from \u201cC. N.,\u201d placing\nHylo-Idealism in a \u201cnew and very different light,\u201d as you say. This\nis something quite new. Dr. Lewins, C. N., and I have, none of us,\nbeen able, hitherto, to find any material difference between our\nseveral presentations of the system.\n\n                                  I have the honour to be, Mesdames,\n                                        Your most obedient servant,\n                                                          G. M. McC.\n\n            TO DR. LEWINS, AND THE HYLO-IDEALISTS AT LARGE.\n\nThe several learned gentlemen of the above persuasion, who have\nhonoured LUCIFER with their letters and articles, will please to\naccept the present as a collective Reply. Life is too short to\nindulge very often in such lengthy explanations. But \u201cune fois n\u2019est\npas coutume.\u201d\n\nIn \u201ccoupling\u201d Dr. Lewins\u2019 name with those he mentions\u2014especially\nwith Mr. Herbert Spencer\u2019s\u2014the Editors had assuredly no intention of\nsaying anything derogatory to the dignity of the founder of\nHylo-Idealism. They have called the latter system\u2014its qualification\nof _Idealistic_ notwithstanding\u2014\u2014\u201catheistical,\u201d and to this Dr.\nLewins himself does not demur. Quite the contrary. If his protest\n(against a casual remark made in a footnote of two lines!) means\nanything at all, it means that he feels hurt to find his name\nassociated with the names of such \u201ccompromising and (in _atheism_)\nirresolute scientists as Darwin, Huxley, and Co.\u201d What is it that\nour erudite correspondent demurs to, then? Just that, and nothing\nmore. His prefixed adjectives refer to the half-heartedness of these\ngentlemen in the matter of atheism and materialism, not surely, to\ntheir scientific achievements. Indeed, these illustrious naturalists\nare timid enough to leave half-opened doors in their speculations\nfor something to enter in which is not quite matter, and yet what it\nis they do not, or _do not wish_ to know.\n\nIndeed, they derive man, his origin and consciousness, _only_ from\nthe lower forms of animal creation and the brutes, instead of\nattributing life, mind and intellect\u2014as the followers of the new\nSystem do\u2014simply to the pranks played by _Prakriti_ (the great\nIgnorance and Illusion) on our \u201cdiseased nervous centres\u201d\u2014_abstract\nthought_ being synonymous with _Neuropathy_ in the teachings of the\nHylo-Idealists (see _Auto-Centricism_, p. 40). But all this has been\nalready said and _better said_ by Kapila, in his _Sankhya_, and is\nvery old philosophy indeed; so that Messrs. Darwin and Co. have\nbeen, perhaps, wise in their generation to adopt another theory. Our\ngreat Darwinists are practical men, and avoid running after the hare\nand the eagle at the same time, as the hare in such case would be\nsure to run away, and the eagle to be lost in the clouds. They\nprefer to ignore the ideas and conceptions of the Universe, as held\nby such \u201cloose,\u201d and\u2014as philosophically expressed by our\n_uncompromising_ opponent\u2014\u201call-shattering metaphysicians as Kant\nwas.\u201d Therefore letting all such \u201cmetaphysical crack-brained\ntheories\u201d severely alone, they made man and his thinking _Ego_ the\nlineal descendant of the revered ancestor of the now tailless\nbaboon, our beloved and esteemed first cousin. This is only logical\n_from the Darwinian standpoint_. What is, then, Dr. Lewins\u2019 quarrel\nwith these great men, or with us? They have their theory, the\ninventor of Hylo-Idealism has his theory, we, Metaphysicians, have\nour ideas and theories; and, the _Moon_ shining with impartial and\nequal light on the respective occiputs of Hylo-Idealists,\nAnimalists, and Metaphysicians, she pours material enough for every\none concerned to allow each of them to \u201clive and let live.\u201d No man\ncan be at once a Materialist and an Idealist, and remain consistent.\nEastern philosophy and occultism are based on the _absolute unity_\nof the Root Substance, and they recognise only one infinite and\nuniversal CAUSE. The Occultists are UNITARIANS _par excellence_. But\nthere is such a thing as conventional, time-honoured terms with one\nand the same meaning attached to them all\u2014at any rate on this plane\nof illusion. And if we want to understand each other, we are forced\nto use such terms in their generally-accepted sense, and avoid\ncalling mind matter, and vice vers\u00e2. The definition of a\n_materialised \u201cSpirit\u201d_ as frozen whiskey is in its place in a\nhumouristic pun: it becomes an absurdity in philosophy. It is Dr.\nLewins\u2019 argument that \u201cthe very first principle of logic is, that\ntwo \u2018causes\u2019 are not to be thought of when one is sufficient;\u201d and\nthough the first and the ultimate, the Alpha and the Omega in the\nexistence of the Universe, is one absolute cause, yet, on the plane\nof manifestations and differentiations, matter, as phenomenon, and\nSpirit as noumenon, cannot be so loosely confused as to merge the\nlatter into the former, under the pretext that one self-evident\nnatural cause (however secondary in the sight of logic and reason)\nis \u201csufficient for our purpose,\u201d and we need not \u201ctranscend the\nproper conditions of thought\u201d and fall back upon the lower level of\n\u201clawless and uncertain fancy\u201d\u2014i.e., metaphysics. (_Vide_ \u201cHumanism\n_v._ Theism,\u201d pp. 14, 15.)\n\nWe have nothing whatever, I say it again, against \u201cHylo-Idealism\u201d\nwith the exception of its compound and self-contradictory name. Nor\ndo we oppose Dr. Lewins\u2019 earlier thoughts, as embodied in \u201cC. N\u2019s\u201d\n\u201cHUMANISM _versus_ THEISM.\u201d That which we permit ourselves to object\nto and oppose is the later system grown into a _Bifrontian_,\nJanus-like monster, a hybrid _duality_ notwithstanding its forced\nmask of Unity. Surely it is not because Dr. Lewins calls \u201cSpirit\u2014a\n_fiction_\u201d and attributes Mind, Thought, Genius, Intellect, and all\nthe highest attributes of thinking man to simple effects or\nfunctions of Hylo-zoism, that the greatest problem of psychology,\n_the relation of mind to matter_, is solved? No one can accuse \u201cThe\nAdversary\u201d of too much tenderness or even regard for the conclusions\nof such rank materialists as the Darwinians generally are. But\nsurely no impartial man would attribute their constant failure to\nexplain the relations of mind to matter, and the confessions of\ntheir ignorance of the ultimate constitution of that matter itself,\nto timidity and irresoluteness, but rather to the right cause:\n_i.e._, the _absolute impossibility of explaining spiritual effects\nby physical causes_, in the first case; and the presence of that in\nmatter which baffles and mocks the efforts of the physical senses to\nperceive or feel, and therefore to explain it, in the second case.\nIt is not, evidently, a desire to _compromise_ that forced Mr.\nHuxley to confess that \u201cin strictness we (the Scientists) know\nnothing about the composition of matter,\u201d but the _honesty_ of a man\nof science in not speculating upon what he did not believe in, and\nknew nothing about. Does J. Le Conte insult the majesty of physical\nscience by declaring that the creation or destruction, increase or\ndiminution of matter, \u201c_lies beyond the domain of science?_\u201d[190]\nAnd to whose prejudices does Mr. Tyndall pander, he, who once upon a\ntime shocked the whole world of believers in spiritual existence, by\ndeclaring in his Belfast address that in matter alone was \u201cthe\npromise and potency of every form and quality of life\u201d (just what\nDr. Lewins does) when he maintains that \u201cthe passage _from the\nphysics of the brain to the corresponding facts of_ CONSCIOUSNESS\n_is unthinkable_,\u201d and adds:\n\n  \u201cGranted that a definite thought and a molecular action in the\n  brain occur simultaneously; we do not possess the intellectual\n  organ nor apparently any rudiments of the organ, which would\n  enable us to pass by a process of reasoning from one to the other.\n  They appear together, but _we do not know why_. Were our minds and\n  senses so expanded, strengthened and illuminated, as to enable us\n  to see and feel the very molecules of the brain; were we capable\n  of following all their motions, all their groupings, all their\n  electric discharges, if such there be; and were we intimately\n  acquainted with the corresponding states of thought and feeling,\n  we should be as far as ever from the solution of the problem. \u2018How\n  are these physical processes connected with the facts of\n  consciousness?\u2019 The chasm between the two classes of phenomena\n  would still remain intellectually impassable.\u201d[191]\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 190:\n\n  \u201c_Correl._ of _Vital with Chem. and Physical Forces_.\u201d Appendix.\n\nFootnote 191:\n\n  \u201cFragments of Science.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nTo our surprise, however, we find that our learned\ncorrespondent\u2014Tyndall, Huxley & Co., notwithstanding\u2014has passed the\n_intellectually impassable_ chasm by modes of perception,\n\u201canti-intellectual,\u201d so to speak. I say this in no impertinent mood;\nbut merely following Dr. Lewins on his own lines of thought. As his\nexpressions seem absolutely antiphrastic in meaning to those\ngenerally accepted by the common herd, \u201canti-intellectual\u201d would\nmean with the Hylo-Idealists \u201canti-spiritual\u201d (spirit being a\n_fiction_ with them). Thus their Founder must have crossed the\nimpassable chasm\u2014say, by a hylo-zoistic process of perception,\n\u201cstarting from the region of rational cogitation\u201d and not from \u201cthat\nlower level of lawless and uncertain fancy,\u201d as Theosophists,\nMystics, and other _hoi polloi_ of thought, do. He has done it to\nhis own \u201cmental satisfaction,\u201d and this is all a Hylo-Idealist will\never aspire to, as Dr. Lewins himself tells us. He \u201ccannot deny that\nthere may be _behind_ (?) nature a \u2018cause of causes,\u2019[192] but if\nso, it is a god who hides himself, or itself, from mortal thought.\nNature is at all events vice-regent plenipotentiary, and with _her_\nthought has alone to deal.\u201d Just so, and we say it too, for reasons\ngiven in the footnote. \u201cThere is a natural solution for everything,\u201d\nhe adds. \u201cOf course, if there be no \u2018cause,\u2019 this solution is the\narrangement and co-ordination of invariable sequences in our own\nminds ... rather than an \u2018explanation\u2019 or \u2018accounting for\u2019\nphenomena. Properly speaking we can \u2018account for\u2019 nothing. _Mental\nsatisfaction_\u2014unity between microcosm and macrocosm, not the search\nafter \u2018First Causes.\u2019 ... is the true chief end of man.\u201d (Hum. _v._\nTheism, p. 15.)\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 192:\n\n  We Theosophists, who do not _limit_ nature, do not see the \u201ccause\n  of causes\u201d or the _unknowable_ deity _behind_ that which is\n  limitless, but identify that abstract Nature with the deity\n  itself, and explain its visible laws as secondary effects on the\n  plane of Universal Illusion.\n\n-----\n\nThis seems the backbone of Hylo-Idealistic philosophy, which\nthus appears as a cross breed between Epicurianism and the\n\u201cIllusionism\u201d of the Buddhist Yogach\u00e2ras. This stands proven\nby the contradictions in his system. Dr. Lewins seems to have\nachieved that, to do which every mortal scientist has hitherto\nfailed, firstly, by declaring (in Hum. _v._ Theism, p. 17) the\nwhole objective world\u2014\u201c_phenomenal_ or _ideal_\u201d,[193] and\n\u201ceverything in it _spectral_\u201d (Auto-Centricism, p. 9), and yet\n_admitting the reality of matter_. More than this. In the\nteeth of all the scientific luminaries, from Faraday to\nHuxley, who all confess to knowing NOTHING of matter, he\ndeclares that\u2014\u201cMatter organic and inorganic _is now fully\nknown_\u201d (Auto-Centricism, p. 40)!!\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 193:\n\n  We call the _noumenal_\u2014the \u201cideal.\u201d\n\n-----\n\nI humbly beg Dr. Lewins\u2019 pardon for the rude question; but does he\nreally mean to say what he does say? Does he want his readers to\nbelieve that up to his appearance in this world of matter, thinking\nmen did not know what they were talking about, and that among all\nthe \u201cEgo Brains\u201d of this globe his brain is the one omniscient\n_reality_, while all others are empty phantasms,or _spectral_\nballoons? Besides which, matter cannot surely be _real_ and _unreal_\nat the same time. If _unreal_\u2014and he maintains it\u2014then all Science\ncan know about it is that it knows _nothing_, and this is precisely\nwhat Science confesses. And if _real_\u2014and Dr. Lewins, as shown,\ndeclares it likewise\u2014then his _Idealism_ goes upside down, and\n_Hylo_ alone remains to mock him and his philosophy. These may be\ntrifling considerations in the consciousness of an _Ego_ of Dr.\nLewins\u2019 power, but they are very serious contradictions, and also\nimpediments in the way of such humble thinkers as Vedantins,\nLogicians, and Theosophists, toward recognising, let alone\nappreciating, \u201cHylo-Idealism.\u201d Our learned correspondent pooh-poohs\nMetaphysics, and at the same time not only travels on purely\nmetaphysical grounds, but adopts and sets forth the most\nmetaphysical tenets, the very gist of the PARA-metaphysical Vedanta\nphilosophy, tenets held also by the Buddhist \u201cIllusionists\u201d\u2014the\n_Yogach\u00e2ras_ and _Madhyamikas_. Both schools maintain that all is\nvoid (_sarva s\u00fbnya_), or that which Dr. Lewins calls spectral and\nphantasmal. Except internal sensation or intelligence (_vijn\u00e2na_)\nthe Yogach\u00e2ras regard everything else as illusion. Nothing that is\nmaterial can have any but a _spectral_ existence with them. So far,\nour \u201cBauddhas\u201d are at one with _the_ Hylo-Idealists, but they part\nat the crucial moment. The New School teaches that the Brain (the\noriginator of consciousness) is the only factor and Creator of the\nvisible Universe; that in _it_ alone all our ideas of external\nthings are born, and that, apart from it, nothing has real\nexistence, everything being illusion. Now what has that Brain, or\nrather the material its particles and cells are composed of,\ndistinct in it from other matter that it should be rendered such\nhonours? _Physically_, it differs very little indeed from the brain\nstuff and cranium of any anthropoid ape. Unless we divorce\nconsciousness, or the EGO, from matter, one materialistic philosophy\nis as good as the other, and none is worth living for. What his\nBrain-Ego _is_, Dr. Lewins does not show anywhere. He urges that his\n\u201catheistic or _non-animist_ (soulless) standpoint is the _pivot_\u201d on\nwhich his \u201cwhole synthesis revolves.\u201d But as that \u201cpivot\u201d is no\nhigher than the physical brain with its hallucinations, then it must\nbe a broken reed indeed. A philosophy that goes no further than\nsuperficial Agnosticism, and says that \u201cwhat Tennyson says of Deity\n_may_ be true, but it is not in the region of natural cogitation;\nfor it transcends the logical _Encheiresis natur\u00e6_\u201c (Hum. _v._\nTheism)\u2014is no philosophy, but simply _unqualified negation_. And one\nwho teaches that \u201d_savants_, or specialists, are the last to reach\nthe _summa scienti\u00e6_, for the constant _search_ after knowledge must\never prevent its _fruition_\u201d (ibid), cuts the ground himself under\nhis feet, and thus loses the right, not only to be considered a man\nof science, but likewise his claim to the title of philosopher, for\nhe rejects all knowledge. Dr. Lewins, quoting Schiller, \u201cto the\neffect that truth can never be reached while the mind is in its\nanalytic throes,\u201d shows the poet-philosopher saying that:\u2014\u201cTo\ncapture the fleeting phantom he (the analyst) must fetter it by\nrules, must anatomatise its fair body into concepts, and imprison\n_its living spirit_ into a bare skeleton of words\u201d\u2014and thus brings\nthis as a prop and proof of his own arguments that we need not\ntrouble ourselves with the \u201ccause of causes.\u201d But Schiller believed\nin spirit and immortality, while the Hylo-Idealists deny them _in\ntoto_. What he says above is accepted by every Occultist and\nTheosophist, simply because _he refers to the purely intellectual_\n(not Spiritual) _analysis_ on the physical plane, and according to\nthe present scientific methods. Such analysis, of course, will never\nhelp man to reach the real _inner_ soul-knowledge, but must ever\nleave him stranded in the bogs of fruitless speculation.\n\nThe truth is, that Hylo-Idealism is at best QUIETISM\u2014only on the\npurely material plane. \u201cLet us eat and drink, for to-morrow we\ndie,\u201d seems its motto. Dr. Lewins tells us that he holds his views\nwith Epicurus. I beg leave to contradict again. Epicurus insisted\nupon the necessity of making away with an unphilosophical,\nanthropomorphic deity\u2014 a bundle of contradictions\u2014and so do we,\nthe Theosophists. But Epicurus believed in gods, finite and\nconditioned in space and time, still _divine_ when compared to\nobjective ephemeral man: again, just as we, Theosophists, believe\nin them.\n\nWe feel sorry to have to say unpleasant truths. The Founder of\nHylo-Idealism is evidently a marvellously well-read man, his\nlearning is great and undeniable; and, we have always had an\ninstinctive respect for, and sympathy with, thinkers of his calibre.\nBut, we have been sent pamphlets and books on Hylo-Idealism for\nreview, and one would be truant to his duty to conceal one\u2019s\nhonest and sincere views on anything. Therefore, we say that,\ncontradictions and inconsistencies in the Hylo-Idealistic system\napart, we find in it a mass of ideas and _arguments_ which come\nforcibly home to us, because they are part and parcel of the Eastern\nIdealism. Our premises and propositions seem to be almost identical\nin some respects, but the conclusions we come to disagree in every\npoint, the most important of which is the true nature of matter.\nThis, which \u201chas been _fabled_ as \u2018Spirit,\u2019\u201d writes Dr. Lewins in\n1878, \u201cis really merely the \u2018_vis insita_\u2019 of matter or \u2018nature\u2019\u2014the\nlatter a misnomer if creation or birth is a delusion, as it must be\non the hypothesis of the eternity of matter.\u201d\n\nHere the Doctor speaks evidently of \u201cSpirit\u201d from the Christian\nstand-point, and criticises it from this aspect. And from this\nstand-point and aspect he is perfectly right; but as wrong from\nthose of Eastern philosophy. Did he but view Spirit, _as one with\neternal matter_, which, though eternal _in esse_ is but finite and\nconditioned during its periodical manifestations, he would not so\nmaterialise its _vis insita_\u2014which is _vis vit\u00e6_ but when applied to\nindividual manifestations, the living subjects of illusion, or\nanimated bodies. But this would lead us too far, and we must close\nthe subject with one more protest. There is a casual remark in\n\u201cHumanism _v._ Theisms\u201d to the effect (on the authority of Ueberweg)\nthat \u201cthe early Greek thinkers and Sages were Hylo-Zoists.\u201d Aye,\nlearned Doctor; but the early Greek thinkers understood Hylo-Zoism\n(from \u201c_Hyle_\u201d _primordial_ matter, or what the greatest chemist in\nEngland, Mr. Crookes, has called \u201cprotyle\u201d _undifferentiated\nmatter_, and \u201c_Zoe_,\u201d life) in a way very different from yours. So\nare we, Theosophists and Eastern Occultists, \u201cHylo-Zoists\u201d; but it\nis because with us \u201clife\u201d is the synonym both of Spirit and Matter,\nor the ONE eternal and infinite LIFE whether manifested or\notherwise. That LIFE is both the eternal IDEA and its periodical\nLOGOS. He who has grasped and mastered this doctrine completely has\nthereby solved the mystery of BEING.\n\n                                                    \u201cTHE ADVERSARY.\u201d\n\nP.S.\u2014We have in type a very excellent article by Mr. L. Courtney,\nwhich could not find room in this present number, but will appear in\nMarch. In it, the writer says all that he _can_ possibly say in\nfavour of Hylo-Idealism, and that is all one can do. Thus, LUCIFER\nwill give one fair chance more to the new System; after which it\nwill have gained a certain right to neither answer at such length,\nnor accept any article on Hylo-Idealism that will go beyond a page\nor so.\u2014\u201cA.\u201d\n\n                  ------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                      INTERESTING TO ASTROLOGERS.\n\n                     ASTROLOGICAL NOTES\u2014No. 4.\n\n                    _To the Editor of_ LUCIFER.\n\nQUESTION, at London, 1887, March 2nd, 6.8 p.m. What will be the\nduration of quesited\u2019s life?\n\nThough the preceding figure showed that my relative would recover\nfrom his illness,[194] yet it was obvious that the end could not be\nfar distant; and I drew the present figure for the minute of the\nimpression, to interrogate the stars.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 194:\n\n  NOTE.\u2014This was shown by the preceding figure; a weak aspect in\n  horary astrology can only symbolize a weak result. Hence, though\n  the weakly good semisextile was sufficient to indicate\n  convalescence from a self-limited disease like pneumonia, yet it\n  did not denote complete restoration to health. Had the\n  significators been applying to a Trine, I should have judged not\n  only convalescence from the acute attack, but a continuance of a\n  vigorous old age.\n\n-----\n\nThe following are the elements of the figure:\u2014\n\n                      Cusp of 10th house 14 \u264a.\n                        \u2014 11th house 21 \u264b.\n                        \u2014 12th house 22 \u264c.\n                        \u2014 1st house 17\u00b0 45\u2019 \u264d.\n                        \u2014 2nd house 10 \u264e.\n                        \u2014 3rd house 9 \u264f.\n\n                   Planets\u2019 places are:\n                       \u2646 25. 13. 15 \u2649.\n                       \u2645 11. 37. 30 R. \u264e.\n                       \u2644 15. 46. 30 R \u264b.\n                       \u2643 5. 41. 30 R \u264f.\n                       \u2642 23. 50. 45 \u2653.\n                       \u2609 11. 52. 19 \u2653.\n                       \u2640 3. 10. 30 \u2648.\n                       \u263f 29. 36. 15 \u2653.\n                       \u263d 8. 28. 15 \u264a.\n                     Caput Draconis 27. 21. 38 \u264c.\n                       \u2a01  14. 20. 56 I.\n\nAs in the previous figure the 6th house is the quesited\u2019s 1st, and\nthe 1st house is his 8th. As the time of the question was after\nsunset, \u263f ruling \u264f by night was lord of his 8th, and \u2645 ruling \u2652 by\nnight was lord of his 1st. The aspect of the significators is \u263f 167\u00b0\n58\u2019 45\u201d \u2645, separating from the Quincunx and applying to the\nOpposition. The Quincunx is, like the Conjunction and Parallel,\nconvertible in nature, being good with benefics and evil with\nmalefics, and when a benefic and malefic are thus joined, the\nstronger rules. It was therefore in this case doubly evil, as the\nsignificators were separating from one evil aspect and applying to\nanother though not within orbs of either. As \u263f, the applying planet,\nwas in a common sign, and is an angle of the figure, each degree\nsignified a week; and as 12\u00b0 1\u2032 15\u00b4\u00b4 were wanted to complete the\nopposition, the critical period was shown to be a fraction over 12\nweeks, or May 25th.\n\nDanger to life was also shown by _Cauda Draconis_ in quesited\u2019s 1st\nhouse; by \u2609 in quesited\u2019s 1st afflicted by a very close Quincunx of\n\u2645 lord of his 1st, \u2645 moreover receiving \u2609 in his Detriment, and \u2609\nreceiving \u2645 in his Fall; and by \u263d, lady of quesited\u2019s 6th, posited\nin his 4th, and afflicted by a rather close Quartile of \u2609 posited in\nhis 1st, \u2609 moreover receiving \u263d in his Anti-triplicity (_sit venia\nverbo_). Nevertheless, as the significators were not actually in any\nevil aspect, \u263f moreover receiving \u2645 in his Triplicity, and being\nalmost out of \u2653 his Fall and Detriment, and the Detriment of \u2645; \u263d,\nlady of his 6th, and posited in his 4th, applying to a Trine of \u2645\nlord of his 1st; and \u263f lord of his 8th applying to Conjunction with\n\u2640 lady of his 4th, \u2640 moreover receiving \u263f in her exaltation;\u2014all\nthis denoted that May 25th would be the time, not indeed of certain\ndeath, but of imminent danger, the beginning of the end.\n\n\u2a01 being in the 4th house of the figure, almost on the cusp, denoted\na legacy to my father.\n\nThe actual result was as follows: After having been for some time in\nfair health, considering his age and recent illness, _he was\nsuddenly taken ill and in great danger on the night of May 27th, and\non the morning of May 31st was in articulo mortis, and given up by\nhis two physicians_. From this, however, he rallied; relapsed on the\nnight of July 6th; rallied again; but _died on July 19th_ at 8.30\na.m., after a sudden seizure of only 15 minutes\u2019 duration, _and my\nfather received a legacy under his will_.\n\nThe quesited suffered much in his last illness from cough and\ndyspn\u0153a. The certificate of death was\u2014\u201c_Primary_: emphysema, morbus\ncordis. _Secondary_: thrombus, syncope.\u201d With this may be compared \u2644\nin \u264b, having dignity in quesited\u2019s 8th house, and afflicting \u2645 lord\nof quesited\u2019s 1st. \u2644 in \u264b denotes \u201cphthisis, ulceration in lungs,\nobstructions and bruises in breast, ague, scurvy, cancer, and\ncough.\u201d\n\n                                                               NEMO.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n                         Transcriber\u2019s Note\n\nSome longer stories and articles are continued from number to number\nof the publication. Where the continued text appears in this volume,\nthe \u2018to be continued\u2019 note a the bottom of each section is linked to\nthe next. On occasion, the promised continuation is not to be found\nin thi text, and no link is provided.\n\nOn p. 236, the footnote now numbered 56 was referenced both in the\ntitle of the review and on the repetition of that phrase in the body\nof the review. The first of these has been removed as redundant. On\noccasion, diacritical marks in foreign words were not printed, and\nhave not been added here.\n\nThe copious quotations give rise to the occasional puzzle with\nquotation marks, which make it difficult to say what the authors\nintended. Where there is no simple resolution, the text is given\nhere as printed. The problematic paragraphs appear on p. 151, p.\n164, p. 179, p. 205, p. 277, p. 295, p. 305.\n\nOther errors deemed most likely to be the printer\u2019s have been\ncorrected as noted below.\n\nThe references are to the page and line in the original. Where the\npage is printed in columns, \u2018L\u2019 and \u2018R\u2019 refer to the left and right\ncolumns. Those referenced with three numbers indicate the page,\nfootnote and line within the note. Since footnotes have sometimes\nbeen moved to follow a paragraph, all references are to their\nposition in the printed text.\n\n  3.1.2    How art thou [f]allen from Heaven              Restored.\n\n  20.1     in which the Zoroast[r]ian Mitra               Inserted\n\n  22.1.1   tha[t] John saw                                Restored.\n\n  22.2.9   it literally means \u2018to howl.\u2019[\u201d]               Added.\n\n  38.4     I have p[re/er]suaded my aunt                  Transposed.\n\n  44.16    chapters of the Bha[ga]vadgita                 Inserted.\n\n  51.1     self-contained and harmonious within[.]        Added.\n\n  55.31    the high plateaux of Central Asia[.]           Added.\n\n  55.40    some amount of injustice in it[.]              Added.\n\n  60.6     Count Tolstoi considers it nec[e]ssary         Inserted.\n\n  67.2     in [leasurely] fashion                         _sic_\n\n  69.13    in the Villa Torcello[.]                       Added.\n\n  72L.33   my books been par[a/o]died                     Replaced.\n\n  75L.55   by [C/G]. H. Pember                            Replaced.\n\n  79R.43   But as LU[FIC/CIF]ER hopes shortly to deal     Transposed.\n\n  74R.15   [\u201c]That the first human beings                 Added.\n\n  80R.33   [\u201c]The famous cynic, Cratus,                   Removed.\n\n  84.41    his theosop[h]ical views.                      Inserted.\n\n  85.19    the social respectabili[l/t]y it panders to    Replaced.\n\n  87.40    [innoculated] with vice,                       _sic_\n\n  87.41    in his subsequent life[.]                      Added.\n\n  104.44   it grew importunate[.]                         Added.\n\n  116.8    the Hindu philosophical tenet[.]               Added.\n\n  122.24   if he changes his a[l/t]titude                 Replaced.\n\n  122.33   that marriage is consummated.[\u201d]               Added.\n\n  124.32   [\u201c]Not one would have the courage              Added.\n\n  131.3    By  [C/G]. H. Pember, M.A.                     Replaced.\n\n  132.32   by such cavalier treatment[.]                  Added.\n\n  134.12   this [insistance] upon the letter              _sic_\n\n  147.29   are pearls of wisdom[.]                        Added.\n\n  147.32   of the Ros[i]crucians                          Inserted.\n\n  152.28   \u2018the Great Goddess[\u2019]                          Added.\n\n  152.29   in the minds of Theosophists.[\u201d]               Added.\n\n  158R.43  is the day[-]house of \u2645                        Inserted.\n\n  164.6    members of that society who[ who] always find  Removed.\n\n  172.15   and a benefic[i]ent power                      Removed.\n\n  179.3.12 principle of the Theosophists,[)]              Added.\n\n  185.35   all occupied with [\u201c/\u2018]Fou;[\u201d/\u2019]               Replaced.\n\n  195.22   clos[e] to the great fire                      Restored.\n\n  204.45   Life-renewal and Life-tran[s]mission           inserted.\n\n  201.26   draw it from you[r] own beautiful soul!        Added.\n\n  205.38   and is himself examined of no man.[\u201d]          Added.\n\n  206.1    not for my life, assuredly[,/.]                Replaced.\n\n  206.13   because it can give _me_[,] pleasure.          Removed.\n\n  206.17   I am surr[r]ounded with a whole world          Removed.\n\n  206.31   may be made comfortable.[\u201d]                    Added.\n\n  209.36   within his soul.[\u201d]                            Removed.\n\n  218.44   most wonderfull[l]y                            Removed.\n\n  217.23   aim of this work[,] the bias of the writer     Added.\n\n  224.33   the irrational[i]ty                            Inserted.\n\n  226.40   the p[h]yschic-astral and the divine-astral    Removed.\n\n  230.11   in[ ]dulge in the practice                     Removed.\n\n  233.3    before the seventee[n]th century               Inserted.\n\n  233.27   cons[e]quently the great cry                   Inserted.\n\n  236.27   pheno[nem/men]a of modern spiritualism         Transposed.\n\n  256.7    the lustre of the firma[n/m]ent                Replaced.\n\n  260.38   uplifted to his were Fleta\u2019s eyes[.]           Added.\n\n  261.17   but [eat] nothing more                         _sic>_\n\n  263.39   pushed the door open[,/.]                      Replaced.\n\n  265.38   a passionate and adoring eagerness[.]          Added.\n\n  273.59   [l]ife of the Spirit                           Restored.\n\n  278.44   the only one to see me[,/.]                    Replaced.\n\n  283.15   repugnant to a belie[t/f] in this law          Replaced.\n\n  284.31   in a position to apprecia[i/t]e                Replaced.\n\n  292.17   as in the Jubilee[e] coinage                   Removed.\n\n  292.28   The question of what interpreta[ta]tion        Removed.\n\n  293.68.2 (1 Corinthians xi, 11.[)]                      Added.\n\n  296.7    or [\u201c/\u2018]problematical[\u201d/\u2019] Mahatma?\u201d           Replaced.\n\n  299.29   since it beg[u/a]n by a \u201cplay of words,\u201d       Replaced.\n\n  301.1.5  the Word of Truth, th[e] _Makheru_ of Egypt.   Restored.\n\n  301.1.6  The preserved mummy was the bod[y]             Restored.\n\n  301.15   [\u201c]\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2 \u1f11\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03bd \u03b5\u03c0\u03b9 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2,\u201d                    Added.\n\n  302.16   and even by unbelievers,[\u201d]                    _sic_\n\n  302.1.1  [\u201c]Christianus quantum interpretatione         Added.\n\n  303.2.3  or devoted to oracul[e/a]r services            Replaced.\n\n  304.25   \u201cthe son of Iaso or _Ieso_, the [\u201c]healer,\u201d    Removed.\n\n  305.4    of this rema[r]kable form.                     Inserted.\n\n  305.36   with [\u201c/\u2018]oil that was taken from the wood     Replaced.\n\n  305.37   he is called the Christ:[\u201d/\u2019]                  Replaced.\n\n  305.41   also as the Horus of both sexes.[\u201d]            Added.\n\n  305.2.1  for in[t]itiation into the Greek               Removed.\n\n  306.34   the name of the Christ as the e[n/m]balmed     Replaced.\n           mummy\n\n  306.47   With the Greek [t]erminal _s_                  Restored.\n\n  307.30   our Christology is mummified mythology.\u201d       Removed.\n\n  309.2.1  [\u201c]The word \u05e9\u05d9\u05d4 _shiac_,                       Removed.\n\n  310.19   ([\u201c]\u03bb\u03b5\u03b3\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2,\u201d surnamed \u201c\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2.\u201d)           Added.\n\n  303.3.3  [(]here Socrates is the _Chr\u00e9stos_)            Added.\n\n  303.4.12 circle and solar year,[\u201d]                      _sic_\n\n  311.36   tran[s]gress> that law?                        Inserted.\n\n  313.1    while parasit[i]es eat slowly                  Removed.\n\n  317.9    in the [mechanicism] of the Universe           _sic_\n\n  317.13   pessimism is ro[u/o]ted in the recognition     Replaced.\n\n  322.29   and that _[\u201c] system_                          Added.\n\n  326.22   from any obligatory duty.[\u201d]                   Removed.\n\n  326.28   thrown the blame and responsibi[i]lty          Removed.\n\n  327.55   whether in[ it] its dead letter,               Removed.\n\n  330L.14  having di[r/s]burdened our heart               Replaced.\n\n  332L.18  they disarm cri[c/t]icism                      Replaced.\n\n  333R.61  even altars unto Baal[\u201d]                       Added.\n\n  334R.51  [\u201c]where the women wove hangings for the       Added.\n           grove\u201d\n\n  335L.44  and the [\u201c]Kaivalyanita.\u201d                      Added.\n\n  334L.29  and by the famine....[\u2019/\u201d]                     Replaced.\n\n  349.32   knew that man to be a savage[.]                Added.\n\n  351.36   recognised it as his own room[,/.]             Replaced.\n\n  360.23   it was exceedingly solid and well fastened[.]  Added.\n\n  361.20   [\u201c]I may not readily understand you.           Added.\n\n  366.13   were all in all to us![\u201d]                      Added.\n\n  367.27   that reigneth over all![\u201d]                     Added.\n\n  372.23   cannot subsist witho[n/u]t the spiritual force Inverted.\n\n  373.42   have themselves an organic form[,/.]           Replaced.\n\n  375.8    \u2014probably many[.]                              Added.\n\n  386.25   should he meet him in Heaven[,/.]              Replaced.\n\n  387.25   [me] Ambrose\u2019s sword                           _sic_ ?\n\n  389.34   [\u201c/\u2018]thou> must be                             Replaced.\n\n  390.19   as you shall hear.[\u201d]                          Added.\n\n  404.11   vegetable forms [a]s well?                     Restored.\n\n  406.30   from not[\u2014/-]living matter.[\u2019]\u201d                Replaced/Removed.\n\n  407.1.1  [\u201c]missing link\u201d                               Restored.\n\n  409.47   (actual or possible)[\u201d]                        Added.\n\n  411.3    the root of [uo/ou]r present constitution      Transposed.\n\n  412.19   in accepting the doct[r]ine of Atonement       Inserted.\n\n  413.16   the[,] Church wishes the truth,                Removed.\n\n  417.19   and transfer it [to ]the shoulders             Inserted.\n\n  434.29   an hono[n/u]rable reputation                   Inverted.\n\n  436.1.14 to the [\u2018]Lord\u2019 for a burnt-offering           Restored.\n\n  437.19   must be the _d[\u2019]evil_ worship                 _sic_\n\n  447.35   they were set in[.]                            Added.\n\n  447.27   which was habitual with him[.]                 Added.\n\n  450.2    learned to surrender his love.[\u201d]              Added.\n\n  456.14   follow and s[ie/ei]ze her thoughts             Transposed.\n\n  469.7    [\u201c]No one said aught                           Added.\n\n  472.3.1  [\u201c]breaks through the Brahmarandra             _sic_\n\n  474.5    three-fold r[h]ythm                            Inserted.\n\n  477.7    it would never [h/b]e his.                     Replaced.\n\n  477.27   by personal craving or desire[.]               Added.\n\n  481.10   the quickest violet[.]                         Added.\n\n  484.10   the very ar[\u00f4/o]ma of our thoughts             Replaced.\n\n  486.5    the i[n]diosyncrasies of a nation              Removed.\n\n  490.12   \u201cFaith is the key of Christendom,[\u2019/\u201d]         Replaced.\n\n  494.41   only a coun[f/t]erfeit Presentment             Replaced.\n\n  495.23   _but for destruction_.[\u201d]                      Added.\n\n  502.35   the Deit[r]y is either an anachronism,         Removed.\n\n  502.39   in the tract entitle[s/d] \u201cAutocentricism, or  Replaced.\n           the Brain Theory of Life and Mind.\u201d\n\n  503.10   which certifies it[s] own nomenal existence.   Added.\n\n  503.13   the n\u00f6etic or hyloic basis[.]                  Added.\n\n  503.14   admits of sci[e]ntific research                Inserted.\n\n  503.28   such states of rapture the relatio[u/n]s       Replaced.","title":"Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Volume I. September 1887-February 1888.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":274908}