{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_64121/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_64121","id":"gutenberg_64121","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64121","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Theosophy -- Periodicals"],"text":"THE\n THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n\n ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY\n\n EDITED BY KATHERINE TINGLEY\n\n\n Volume I\n\n July-December, 1911\n\n\n PUBLISHED BY THE NEW CENTURY CORPORATION\n\n POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.\n\n\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL PRESS\n Point Loma, California\n\n\n\n\nINDEX TO THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n\nVOLUME I\n\nJULY-DECEMBER, 1911\n\n\n A\n\n America, Ancient (_ill._) An Archaeologist 323\n\n American Nation, an Unknown (_ill._) H. S. Turner 347\n\n American Woman in Poetry, The Grace Knoche 56\n\n Archaeologists, Recent Admissions by Student 107\n\n _Aroma of Athens, The_ (_ill._) Dramatic Critic 39\n\n _Aroma of Athens_, Notes on _The_ (_ill._) Kenneth Morris 42\n\n Art, The Scope of R. W. Machell 20\n\n Astral Body, The H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S. 24\n\n Astronomy, Ancient (No. 1) F. J. Dick, M. INST. C. E. 64\n\n Astronomical Notes C. J. Ryan 287\n\n Australian Marsupials (_ill._) Nature Lover 296\n\n\n B\n\n Birth of Day, The (_verse_) A. F. W. 27\n\n \"Black Age,\" The Ariomardes 196\n\n Blavatsky, H. P., and the Theosophical Society\n (_with portrait_) W. Q. Judge 28\n\n Blavatsky's Teachings, Recent Confirmation of H. P.\n H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 172\n\n Blavatsky a Plagiarist? Was H. P.\n H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 271\n\n Bluebells of Wernoleu, The: A Welsh Legend (_verse_)\n Kenneth Morris 404\n\n Book Reviews: _Life of Leonardo da Vinci_ (Osvald Sir\u00e9n)\n Carolus 233\n _Il est ressuscit\u00e9_ (Charles Morice) H. A. Fussell 307\n _Commentary upon the Maya-Tsental P\u00e9rez Codex_\n (W. E. Gates) C. J. Ryan 378\n A New Magazine 383\n _The Strange Little Girl_ 385\n _Les derniers Barbares: Chine, Tibet, Mongolie_\n (d'Ollone) (_ill._) H. A. Fussell 452\n _The Plough and the Cross_ (W. P. O'Ryan) F. J. D. 456\n\n Bridges of Paris, The (_ill._) G. K. 96\n\n British Association, The Soul at the Henry Travers 406\n\n Bronze, Incorrodible Henry Travers 148\n\n Brynhyfryd Garden, Old (_verse_) Kenneth Morris 97\n\n Buckingham Palace, London (_ill._) 275\n\n\n C\n\n Calendars, Ancient Henry Travers 205\n\n Cathedrals in Ancient Crete a Student 262\n\n Christianity, The Rebirth of H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 11\n\n Christmas Kenneth Morris 387\n\n Confines of Science, The Investigator 349\n\n Conflict of the Ages, The (_verse_) S. F. 435\n\n Cop\u00e1n, and its Position in American History (_ill._)\n W. E. Gates 419\n\n Counterfeits vs. Reality, Tempting Lydia Ross, M. D. 126\n\n Crucifixion, The Parable of the Cranstone Woodhead 328\n\n Current Topics Observer 447\n\n Cycle, The New H. P. Blavatsky 165\n\n Cyrene, Classical Ariomardes 280\n\n\n D\n\n Dipylon and the outer Ceramicus, The (_ill._)\n F. S. Darrow, A. M., PH. D. (Harv.) 189\n\n Drama, Open-Air (_ill._)\n Per Fernholm, M. E. (Roy. Inst. Tech., Stockholm) 415\n\n Dutch House Court by Pieter de Hooch, A (_ill._) 338\n\n\n E\n\n Education Wasted? Is H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 102\n\n Egyptian Art, 26th Dynasty (_ill._) C. J. 200\n\n Egyptology, and the Theosophical Records, The New (_ill._)\n C. J. Ryan 15\n\n Ekoi: Children of Nature, The H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 344\n\n Energy, Intra-Atomic H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S. 417\n\n English Lady's Letter, An (_ill._) F. D. Udall 442\n\n Eros: Painting by Julius Kronberg (_ill._) R. W. Machell 125\n\n Eucalypts? Who Made the (_ill._) Nature Lover 295\n\n Evolution in the Light of Theosophy\n H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 311\n\n\n F\n\n Fairylands, The Two Kenneth Morris 115\n\n Folk-music, The Origin and Nature of Kenneth Morris 174\n\n Forest Waste, Saving Student 34\n\n\n G\n\n Geniuses, The Incarnation of H. Travers 339\n\n Genius for Music, Cultivating E. A. Neresheimer 182\n\n Glaciation, Past and Present (_ill._) T. Henry 209\n\n God and the Child (_verse_) 211\n\n\n H\n\n Hawthorne's Psychology C. T. 51\n\n Heredity and Biology H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 145\n\n Hoa-Haka-Nana-Ia (_ill._) P. A. Malpas 299\n\n House of Lords, London, The (_ill._) R. 201\n\n Humanity and Theosophical Education Elizabeth C. Spalding 375\n\n\n I\n\n Illusion and Reality Lydia Ross, M. D. 362\n\n Irish Scenes (_ill._)\n F. J. Dick, M. INST. C. E., M. INST. C. E. I. 400\n\n\n K\n\n Karma, Reincarnation, and Immortality\n H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 243\n\n Killarney, Ireland (_ill._)\n F. J. Dick, M. INST. C. E., M. INST. C. E. I. 282\n\n\n L\n\n Lands now Submerged, The D. Churchill 305\n\n Lapland (_ill._) P. F. 180\n\n Light Corpuscular? Is T. Henry 332\n\n Light, Physical and Metaphysical H. Coryn, M. D. 122\n\n Linnaeus and the Divining Rod P. F. 154\n\n Lomaland Ca\u00f1ons (_ill._) W. J. Renshaw 155\n\n Lorelei, The (_ill._) Student Traveler 225\n\n Louisiana Sugar Plantation, A Visit to a Barbara McClung 223\n\n\n M\n\n Magic Boat, A D. F. 399\n\n Magic Place, A: A Forest Idyll for Young Folks (_ill._)\n M. Ginevra Munson 443\n\n \"Magnetons,\" Force and Matter H. Travers 267\n\n Man and Nature R. Machell 410\n\n Man, The Real H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S. 229\n\n Modern Civilization, A Japanese Writer's Views on\n E. S. (Tokyo, Japan) 418\n\n Music and Life William A. Dunn 22\n\n Music Notes C. J. Ryan 202\n\n Music of the Spheres, The H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S. 258\n\n Mysteries of Eleusis, The (_ill._) H. T. E. 207\n\n\n N\n\n Names in Art, Great (_ill._) Art Student 111\n\n Natural History Museum, London (_ill._) 270\n\n Nirv\u00e2na Mean Annihilation? Does T. H. 261\n\n\n P\n\n Path, The: Some Words by William Q. Judge 32\n\n Path, The Gertrude van Pelt, M. D. 68\n\n Peace on Earth: Good Will towards Men R. Machell 391\n\n Photography and the Invisible P. A. Malpas 142\n\n Platonic Succession, The Golden Chain of\n F. S. Darrow, A. M., PH. D. (Harv.) 276\n\n Poetry and Criticism Kenneth Morris 247\n\n Point Loma Notes C. J. R. 354\n\n Power Lydia Ross, M. D. 212\n\n Powers, Misused R. W. Machell 98\n\n Psychism, a Study in Hidden Connexions\n H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 393\n\n Pythagoras, Life and Teachings of\n F. S. Darrow, A. M., PH. D. (Harv.) 52, 130\n\n Pythagorean Solids, The F. J. Dick, M. INST. C. E. 194\n\n\n R\n\n Reincarnation? What are the Bases of an Intelligent\n Belief in F. S. Darrow, A. M., PH. D. (Harv.) 317\n\n Rotation, The Mysteries of Student 316\n\n\n S\n\n Salamander, The Western four-toed (_ill._) Percy Leonard 227\n\n San Diego (_ill._) Kenneth Morris 70\n\n Scandinavian Mythology, Glimpses of Per Fernholm, M. E. 184\n\n Scientific Brevities Busy Bee 427\n\n Scientific Oddments Busy Bee 149\n\n Sokrates (_ill._) F. S. Darrow, A. M., PH. D. (Harv.) 215\n\n Spade of the Archaeologist, The Ariomardes 303\n\n St. Paul's Cathedral, London (_ill._) Carolus 293\n\n Sun-Life and Earth-Life Per Fernholm, M. E. (Stockholm) 300\n\n\n T\n\n Theosophy and Modern Scientific Discoveries C. J. Ryan 87\n\n Theosophical Torch, The Grace Knoche 190\n\n Theseus, The Temple of, Athens (_ill._) R. 106\n\n Tower of London, The (_ill._) Carolus 352\n\n Turkish Woman, The Grace Knoche 439\n\n\n U\n\n Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, The\n J. H. Fussell 77\n\n\n V\n\n Venice (_ill._) Grace Knoche 366\n\n Victory of the Divine in Man, The Rev. S. J. Neill 320\n\n Vivisector, The Plight of the\n H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S. 341\n\n Vrbas Defile, The, Bosnia (_ill._) F. J. B. 286\n\n\n W\n\n Warwick Castle (_ill._) C. J. Ryan 409\n\n Will as a Chemical Product, The Investigator 413\n\n Womanhood, The World of Grace Knoche 264\n\n Woman's International Theosophical League\n A Member of the League 357\n\n Women who have Influenced the World Rev. S. J. Neill 436\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n A\n\n Alaskan Views 209\n\n Albert Memorial, London: Five Panels of Decorative Frieze 111\n\n Amsterdam, Views 143, 306\n\n Archaic Colossal Statues of Kiang-K'eu 454-455\n\n _Aroma of Athens_, Groups in _The_ 254, 255, 266, 267, 311, 322\n\n _Aroma of Athens_, Scenes from _The_\n 35-38, 47-50, 87, 243, 246, 247, 316, 317, 324\n\n Athens, Greece, Ruins of Dipylon Gate 188\n\n Athens, Greece, Stoa, Gymnasium of Hadrian 108\n\n Athens, Greece, Temple of Theseus 107\n\n Australian Scenes 298\n\n\n B\n\n Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna 29\n\n Bosnia, Seraejevo, Capital of 434-435\n\n Buckingham Palace, London 275\n\n\n C\n\n Cop\u00e1n (six illustrations) 418-423\n\n Coronado, San Diego, California, The Surf at 434\n\n Cuba, Avenue of Royal Palms; Country Scene 222-223\n\n\n D\n\n De Lesseps, Monument of, Port Said 110\n\n D'Ollone, Commandant 454\n\n _Dutch House Court_ by P. de Hooch, _A_ 338\n\n\n E\n\n Eleusis, Part of the Ruins of 208\n\n _Eros_: Painting by Julius Kronberg 125\n\n\n F\n\n Farmhouse on the Norfolk Broads, England, A 274\n\n Florida, Palm Beach 223\n\n Forest, In the 443\n\n\n G\n\n Giants' Causeway, Antrim, Ireland 403\n\n Grant Hotel, San Diego, California 72\n\n\n H\n\n Hoa-Haka-Nana-Ia 299\n\n Horus, Symbolic Statue of 18\n\n House of Lords, London, The 201\n\n Houses of Parliament, Dublin, The Old 402\n\n Houses of Parliament, London, The 353\n\n\n I\n\n Irish Farmer, An 402-403\n\n Irish Peasant Woman, An 402-403\n\n\n K\n\n Karnak, Egypt, Hall of Columns 17\n\n Killarney, Ireland, Views of 282, 283\n\n Klamath Reclamation Project, Oregon-California 435\n\n Kronberg Julius: Family Group 125\n\n\n L\n\n Lapland, Sweden, Views of 180\n\n Leaders of the Theosophical Movement, The 30\n\n Lolo Men, and Warrior 454-455\n\n Lomaland Ca\u00f1ons 154, 173\n\n Lorelei, The Rock of 226\n\n\n M\n\n Mammoth Cave, La Jolla, San Diego, California, The 434-435\n\n Miao-Tseu Dancing 455\n\n\n N\n\n Natural History Museum, London 270\n\n Neshoron, Statue of 200\n\n\n O\n\n Oil Creek Falls, Canada 307\n\n\n P\n\n Paris: Pont au Change and the Palais de Justice 96\n\n Paris and the Seine 97\n\n P\u00e9rez Codex, Maya-Tzental 379, 380\n\n Pevensey Castle, Ruins of 442\n\n Portraits: Heads of Departments at the International Headquarters,\n and Contributors to THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH 4-9\n\n Point Loma, Looking Eastward 172\n\n Point Loma, A Eucalyptus Grove 295\n\n Point Loma Hills at Eventide 339\n\n\n R\n\n R\u00e2ja Yoga College, Point Loma, S. E. View of 387\n\n Rocking-Stone Pinnacle, Tasmania 287\n\n Rothenburg, Germany, Views of 390-391\n\n\n S\n\n Salamander, Western four-toed 227\n\n San Diego, California, View of 71\n\n San Juan Teotihuac\u00e1n, Panoramic View of 327\n\n Sarpi, Fra Paolo 366\n\n Seminole Indians 346, 347\n\n Sokrates and Seneca (Berlin Museum) 222\n\n St. Paul's Cathedral, London 294\n\n Sweden, Trollh\u00e4ttan Canal 142\n\n Sweden, Visingsborg Castle, Visings\u00f6 142\n\n Switzerland, Views of 271\n\n\n T\n\n Temple in the Greek Theater, Point Loma, California 165\n\n Tombs, Ancient Athenian 189\n\n Tower of London, The 352\n\n Trafalgar Square, London 353\n\n\n V\n\n Venice, Views of 367, 370, 371, 374, 375\n\n Vikings, The Noble 414-415\n\n Vrbas Defile, Bosnia, The 286\n\n\n W\n\n Warwick Castle, from the Avon 408\n\n Warwick Castle, Inner Court and Tower 409\n\n\n Y\n\n Yucatan, \"Governor's House,\" Uxmal 327\n\n Yucatan, \"The Castle,\" Chich\u00e9n Itz\u00e1 326\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Theosophical Path's first issue cover page.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PATH\n\n\nThe illustration on the cover of this Magazine is a reproduction of the\nmystical and symbolical painting by Mr. R. Machell, the English artist,\nnow a Student at the International Theosophical Headquarters, Point\nLoma, California. The original is in Katherine Tingley's collection\nat the International Theosophical Headquarters. The symbolism of this\npainting is described by the artist as follows:\n\nTHE PATH is the way by which the human soul must pass in its evolution\nto full spiritual self-consciousness. The supreme condition is\nsuggested in this work by the great figure whose head in the upper\ntriangle is lost in the glory of the Sun above, and whose feet are\nin the lower triangle in the waters of Space, symbolizing Spirit and\nMatter. His wings fill the middle region representing the motion or\npulsation of cosmic life, while within the octagon are displayed the\nvarious planes of consciousness through which humanity must rise to\nattain to perfect Manhood.\n\nAt the top is a winged Isis, the Mother or Oversoul, whose wings veil\nthe face of the Supreme from those below. There is a circle dimly seen\nof celestial figures who hail with joy the triumph of a new initiate,\none who has reached to the heart of the Supreme. From that point he\nlooks back with compassion upon all who still are wandering below and\nturns to go down again to their help as a Savior of Men. Below him\nis the red wing of the guardians who strike down those who have not\nthe \"password,\" symbolized by the white flame floating over the head\nof the purified aspirant. Two children, representing purity, pass\nup unchallenged. In the center of the picture is a warrior who has\nslain the dragon of illusion, the dragon of the lower self, and is\nnow prepared to cross the gulf by using the body of the dragon as his\nbridge (for we rise on steps made of conquered weaknesses, the slain\ndragon of the lower nature).\n\nOn one side two women climb, one helped by the other whose robe is\nwhite and whose flame burns bright as she helps her weaker sister. Near\nthem a man climbs from the darkness; he has money bags hung at his belt\nbut no flame above his head and already the spear of a guardian of the\nfire is poised above him ready to strike the unworthy in his hour of\ntriumph. Not far off is a bard whose flame is veiled by a red cloud\n(passion) and who lies prone, struck down by a guardian's spear; but\nas he lies dying, a ray from the heart of the Supreme reaches him as a\npromise of future triumph in a later life.\n\nOn the other side is a student of magic, following the light from a\ncrown (ambition) held aloft by a floating figure who has led him to the\nedge of the precipice over which for him there is no bridge; he holds\nhis book of ritual and thinks the light of the dazzling crown comes\nfrom the Supreme, but the chasm awaits its victim. By his side his\nfaithful follower falls unnoticed by him, but a ray from the heart of\nthe Supreme falls upon her also, the reward of selfless devotion, even\nin a bad cause.\n\nLower still in the underworld, a child stands beneath the wings of\nthe foster mother (material Nature) and receives the equipment of the\nKnight, symbols of the powers of the Soul, the sword of power, the\nspear of will, the helmet of knowledge and the coat of mail, the links\nof which are made of past experiences.\n\nIt is said in an ancient book: \"The Path is one for all, the ways that\nlead thereto must vary with the pilgrim.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE PATH]\n\nThe Theosophical Path\n\n An International Magazine\n Unsectarian and nonpolitical\n\n Monthly Illustrated\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, the promulgation\n of Theosophy, the study of ancient & modern\n Ethics, Philosophy, Science and Art, and to the uplifting\n and purification of Home and National Life\n\n Edited by Katherine Tingley\n International Theosophical Headquarters, Point Loma, California, U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\n_The Secret Doctrine is the common property of the countless millions\nof men born under various climates, in times with which History refuses\nto deal, and to which esoteric teachings assign dates incompatible\nwith the theories of Geology and Anthropology. The birth and evolution\nof the Sacred Science of the Past are lost in the very night of\nTime.... It is only by bringing before the reader an abundance of\nproofs all tending to show that in every age, under every condition of\ncivilization and knowledge, the educated classes of every nation made\nthemselves the more or less faithful echoes of one identical system and\nits fundamental traditions--that he can be made to see that so many\nstreams of the same water must have had a common source from which they\nstarted. What was this source?... There must be truth and fact in that\nwhich every people of antiquity accepted and made the foundation of its\nreligions and its faith._--H. P. BLAVATSKY, in _The Secret Doctrine_,\nII, 794\n\n\n\n\nTHE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY, EDITOR\n\n VOL. I JULY, 1911 NO. 1\n\nTHE REBIRTH OF CHRISTIANITY:\nby H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.)\n\n\nAmong ideas which Theosophists have been proclaiming for many years,\nand which are now finding expression through other channels, though in\npiecemeal and modified form, are those connected with the Christ story\nand Christianity. _Current Literature_, in reviewing \"The Christ Myth,\"\nby Professor Dr. Arthur Drews of Karlsruhe, says:\n\n In essence the argument of the book is that all the main ideas of\n Christianity existed in the world prior to the birth of Christ, and\n that the hero of the New Testament is an imaginative conception rather\n than an actual personality. The opening chapters illuminate the\n history of the Messianic idea. This idea, Professor Drews contends, is\n rooted in Persia and Greece, as well as in the Jewish consciousness.\n The Persians dreamed of a divine \"friend\" or \"mediator\" who should\n deliver them in the eternal struggle between light and darkness,\n between Ormuzd and Ahriman. The Greeks conceived a mediatory \"Word\" or\n _Logos_ which should come to the aid of human weakness and identify\n man with God. Even more strongly, among the Jews, persisted the\n thought that \"a Son of God\" must intercede with Jehovah in behalf of\n his people.\n\nSuch utterances as the above are growing common, both from without the\nchurches and from within. People are beginning to realize that they\nhave not made the most of their religious traditions; that there is\nmore in them than they have so far gotten out of them. They suspect\nthat the Gospel narratives contain valuable truths that have been\nmissed. The Christ is not merely a personality, but also a symbol, as\nis shown by the above writer; a symbol of the Divine in Man, recognized\nby the world ages before the Christian era.\n\nThe importance of the Christian Gospel today consists in its power to\nhelp us to realize that we are Divine in essence, and to aid us on\nthe Path or Way which leads to a realization of that Divinity. Is it\npossible that now, for the first time, after all these centuries, the\nreal import of that Gospel is about to be grasped? that the age-long\nworship of a wrong ideal--that of the personal God and his rewards and\npunishments, his propitiations and forgivenesses--is about to depart\nand make room for a more virile and ennobling, as well as more rational\nand holier faith?\n\nIs it possible that a Resurrection is in progress, a Resurrection of\nChrist from the tomb in which we have buried him?[1]\n\n[1] The reader of course will not think any allusion is here made to a\npossible physical appearance of Christ. Such preposterous suggestions\nare made in some quarters, but it is needless to say Theosophy has\nnothing to do with them.--H. T. E.\n\nWhat we understand by a Resurrection of Christ is the Resurrection of\nthe ancient but buried truth that Man is essentially Divine--to replace\nthe idea that he is essentially evil. This latter idea emphasizes\nthe lower side of man's nature and actually weakens his faith in the\nDivine Power. Having thus lost his faith, he assumes an attitude of\nexpectation and deprecation, praying to an imaginary deity instead of\ninvoking by action the real Divinity within.\n\nAncient symbology, to which the above writer refers as being\nsubstantially identical with that of the Christian Gospel, speaks of\nthe \"Father\" and the \"Son.\" By the word \"Father\" was understood the\nSupreme; the \"Son\" was the Word, the Divine life in Man, which turned\nhim from an animal being to what he is. Through the Son we approach\nthe Father; that is, man must invoke the power of his own Higher\nSelf. Another ancient teaching, taught in fables as well as sacred\nallegories, is that only by _acting_ can man invoke the Divine aid. The\nDivine gift to Man is the Will, and he himself is the only one who can\nexert it. The fable tells that a carter invoked Hercules to lift his\ncart out of a rut, and Hercules told him to put his own shoulder to the\nwheel. For Hercules means strength, and strength is invoked by exerting\nit. In the same way we have to assert our Divinity by acting in a\nDivine way; and it seems that the Gospels give us ample instructions.\n\nIt may be that this was after all the real message, and that those who\ngave it have been waiting all this time for man to get up off his knees\nand _be somebody_.\n\nThere are many religious gospels in the world, but they are all\nmodifications of one great eternal gospel. That one gospel, clothed\nin many garbs, legendary, allegoric, theological, is the Drama of\nthe Soul in its pilgrimage through life, its struggles with great\nadversaries, and its final victory. Christianity contains the same\nancient wisdom; it has been covered over with accretions of theology\nand ecclesiasticism; it is now being disentombed. The process is a\nlong and eventful one; for people cling fondly to old habits, and many\nstill hope that they will be able to admit everything and yet set\nearly medieval theology on the summit as the crowning revelation. The\nsuccess with which they can do this depends upon what they can make of\nChristianity, for the less cannot contain the greater.\n\nThe personal Christ and the doctrine of the Atonement (in its familiar\ntheological form) together constitute the rock on which there is most\nlikelihood of a split. But this doctrine (that is, in its present\nform) will have to go, for it is inconsistent with the views of life\nthat are now gaining ground. For one thing, it is not sufficiently\ninternational; it is too much like a gospel of salvation peculiar to\nWestern civilization. Eastern religions are already amply provided with\nsimilar machinery in their own systems, and are not likely to give up\ntheir own for ours.\n\nAgain, the theological doctrine of Atonement includes the remission of\nsins, in the sense that the sinner is relieved from the consequences\nof his sins by a special act of intercession and vicarious suffering.\nIt is useless for Christians to deny that such is the teaching, for it\nis expressly stated thus by eminent authorities whom we might quote;\nbesides it is this very fact of remission that lends force to the\nappeal made to our weak desires and hopes; it is held up as a great\nadvantage possessed by Christianity. This teaching is repugnant to our\ninnate sense of justice, to our manliness, and to our best conceptions\nof Divine Wisdom. It is felt to be more in harmony with Law that man\nshould work out the full consequences of all his acts, both good and\nbad, reaping the consequent joy and grief. The remission of sins does\nnot mean an excusing from the penalty, but a purification of the man so\nthat he will not commit any more sins. Man is justified, sanctified,\nand saved, by the Divine grace acting within and changing his\nheart--not by a propitiatory sacrifice and a mere formal act of belief.\n\nAnd so the real doctrine of Atonement will have to take the place of\nthe other. The making _one_, or reconciliation, between the human soul\nand its Divine counterpart--that is the real Atonement. By it, man\nrepudiates his false \"self,\" and recognizes his real Self; deposes the\nanimal nature from the throne of his heart and establishes the kingdom\nof righteousness therein. But in the world just now there is a mighty\nbattle between powers that tend to enslave man and keep him down, and\npowers that tend to liberate him. The former will try to perpetuate\ntheological dogmatism and man's fear of himself. The latter will ever\nstrive to give him back his self-respect and faith in his own Divinity.\n\nChristians love to speak of the greatness of their religion, but\nlittle do they realize how great it is. The Bible is printed in\nhundreds of millions, and enthusiastic evangelists place a copy in\nevery hotel room; but it is a more precious treasure than they wot\nof. Enshrined within the verses of that strange literary compost,\npreserved in the misunderstood symbols of that religion, are records\nof the _Wisdom-Religion_, the world's eternal gospel of Truth. Its\nteachings can indeed \"make us free,\" for they show us how to evoke the\npower of the \"Word.\" Unless we can use our Will--the Spiritual Will,\nnot the feeble, selfish, personal will--we cannot be saved; else would\nthe Creator have his heaven furnished with rescued dummies. When Man\nwas gifted with Divine prerogatives of Will and Intelligence, he was\nthereby made a responsible self-acting being; he must redeem himself\nby his own (God-given) volition, not lay aside his initiative in weak\nreliance on some other will.\n\nAnd the Spiritual Will is of the Heart; and of the Heart also is\nWisdom; yet man in his unredeemed state obeys the leading of the\ndesires and the false images they breed in the imagination. Therefore\nhe will remain enslaved to these desires and will fail to understand\nthe meaning of life unless he cultivates the impersonal Divine life\nwithin him. The teaching of the Gospel is directed to showing us how\nto enter this Way. To the ignorant the Master speaks in parables; but\n\"to you it is given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom.\" A\npriceless privilege, but how repudiated! If we would but carry out the\ninjunctions of Jesus the Christ, instead of making his personality into\na God--which surely he himself would never have wished--we should be\nworthier disciples and the greater gainers.\n\n\n\n\nTHE NEW EGYPTOLOGY AND THE THEOSOPHICAL\nRECORDS: by Charles J. Ryan\n\n\nThe interesting problem of the origin of Egyptian culture is still\nunsolved by archaeologists, though many new facts have been recently\ndiscovered which seem to be leading to something definite. Nestor\nL'H\u00f4te said sixty years ago:\n\n The further one penetrates into antiquity towards the origins of\n Egyptian art, the more perfect are the products of that art, as though\n the genius of the people, inversely to that of others, was formed\n suddenly.... Egyptian art we only know in its decadence.\n\nM. Jean Capart, the eminent Belgian Egyptologist, Keeper of the\nEgyptian Antiquities at the Royal Museum, Brussels, supports that\nopinion, saying, in his recent work on _Primitive Art in Egypt_, that\nM. L'H\u00f4te's conclusion was and remains legitimate.\n\nSince L'H\u00f4te's time fine works of art and astonishing beauty have been\nfound in tombs of the _Third_ Dynasty of Egyptian Pharaohs, about whom\nnothing--or next to nothing--was known until lately; even the Fourth\nDynasty, the so-called Pyramid Builders, being historically very\nobscure, no agreement as to their date having been come to yet. It is\nfairly decided that they lived more than four or five thousands years\nB. C. Maspero, speaking of some paintings of the extremely ancient\nThird Dynasty, says:\n\n The Egyptians were animal painters of the highest power, and they\n never gave better proof of it than in this picture. No modern painter\n could have seized with more spirit and humor the heavy gait of the\n goose, the curves of its neck, the pretentious carriage of its head,\n and the markings of its plumage.\n\nThe human figure was also represented with great artistic skill at the\nsame early period. Even then the characteristic full-faced eye in the\nprofile face was a firmly established _convention_. We do not know the\nreasons for this, but it cannot have been accidental.\n\nAccording to Dr. Petrie, the great Egyptian explorer, the commencement\nof the Egyptian civilization that we call classical, the Egypt of\nthe Pharaohs with its hieroglyphs, its established style of art, its\ncomplicated religion and philosophy, dates back to not less than B.\nC. 5000. This would be the time of the First Dynasty. Think what that\nmeans! A stretch of splendid civilization before the beginning of the\nChristian era about five times as long as the period that has elapsed\nsince the time of King Alfred to this day, a period which has included\nalmost or quite all that we look upon as worthy of consideration in\n_our_ history! And yet back of Dr. Petrie's First Dynastic age we now\nfind ourselves face to face with a prehistoric Egyptian civilization or\ncivilizations of absolutely unknown age, possibly of a hundred thousand\nyears duration. The one that immediately preceded the Dynastic or\nPharaonic is supposed to be of Libyan origin.\n\nThe possibility at least of a civilization of a hundred thousand years'\nduration should offer little difficulty even to the most critical,\nnow that we have found a well-formed skull and skeleton near London\ndiffering very little from the modern type of Englishman, and estimated\nto be at least 170,000 years old. Long ago H. P. Blavatsky said in _The\nSecret Doctrine_ and elsewhere that some form of Egyptian civilization\nhad existed for an immensely longer period than the archaeologists\nimagine, and Katherine Tingley has reasserted this most emphatically,\nsaying that Egyptian civilization will be proved to be even older than\nthe (historic) Indian.\n\nArchaeologists have always felt a great and peculiar difficulty in\ncomprehending the sudden appearance of the high culture of the first\nDynastic periods. It is impossible to believe that Egypt's greatness\narose full-fledged, without long preparation, and yet where are the\nevidences of development? M. Jean Capart, the Belgian authority\nreferred to above, has devoted great attention to this problem, and his\nconclusions are of interest to the student of Theosophy. He considers\nit exceedingly probable that gradual invasions or colonizations of\na highly cultured race broke into the simpler Egyptian civilization\nfrom the South or South-east. These people, coming from the \"Land\nof the Gods,\" Punt, which is commonly supposed to be Somaliland,\nhe thinks came originally from some Asiatic country, bringing with\nthem their arts and sciences and religion. As they blended with the\nLibyan inhabitants of Egypt, who possessed their own distinctive\ncivilization, they established their already formed culture, and the\ncombination produced what we call the Dynastic or classic Egyptian\ncivilization. This would explain the origin of the classic Egyptian\nforms on reasonable grounds, and furthermore would make it clear why\nthe Egyptians had so many things in common with the Hind\u00fbs in matters\nof religion, such as the respect paid to the Cow as a symbol of Divine\nPower.\n\n[Illustration: HALL OF COLUMNS, KARNAK, EGYPT]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. SYMBOLIC STATUE OF\nHORUS, SON OF OSIRIS AND ISIS IN THE ACT OF PURIFYING A KING MUS\u00c9E\nNATIONAL DU LOUVRE, PARIS]\n\nH. P. Blavatsky, in _Isis Unveiled_, quotes the following from the\nancient Hind\u00fb historian, Kull\u00fbka-Bhatta:\n\n Under the reign of Vi\u015bv\u00e2-mitra, first king of the Dynasty of\n Soma-Vanga, in consequence of a battle which lasted five days,\n Manu-Vina, heir of the ancient kings, being abandoned by the Br\u00e2hmans,\n emigrated with all his companions, passing through \u00c2rya, and the\n countries of Barria, till he came to the shores of Masra. (Vol. I, p.\n 627)\n\nShe adds:\n\n \u00c2rya is Eran (Persia); Barria is Arabia, and Masra was the name of\n Cairo, which to this day is called _Masr_, Musr, and Misro. (_Ibid._)\n\nMitsra\u00eem was the Hebrew name for the land of Cham, Egypt.\n\nDr. E. A. W. Budge, the learned Keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian\nantiquities in the British Museum, says he believes that a series of\ncarvings on the walls of the Temple of Edf\u00fb,\n\n represent the invaders in prehistoric times, who made their way into\n Egypt, from a country in the East, by way of the Red Sea.... In later\n times the indigenous priesthoods merged the legendary history of the\n deified king of the \"Blacksmiths\" is that of Horus, the god of heaven\n in the earliest times, and in that of R\u00e2 which belonged to a later\n period.\n\nThe mythical story of Horus conquering Nubia and Egypt, with which Dr.\nBudge thinks the true story of incursion was blended, contains the\nsignificant assertions that the warriors of Horus, the \"Blacksmiths,\"\nwere armed with weapons of metal, and chains, and were expert builders.\n\nAccording to the Theosophical records the _Great_ Pyramid was built\nlong before the fifth millennium B. C. There are many mysteries\nconnected with that most stupendous work of man which have not yet been\nsuspected by the Egyptologists, not the least of which is the problem\nof its date and its builder; but, so far as they go, the stories of\nHorus' invasion and M. Capart's luminous suggestions as to the origin\nof the Dynastic Egyptian civilization, are not inconsistent with the\naccount of Kull\u00fbka-Bhatta; and in the light of the new discoveries of\none or more prehistoric civilizations in the Nile Valley, it looks\nas if the teachings of Theosophy were being vindicated in a way that\nwas not dreamed of by archaeologists in the days when H. P. Blavatsky\nopened a small window into the mysterious past of glorious Egypt.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SCOPE OF ART: by R. W. Machell\n\n\nA writer in a London weekly (_Black and White_) makes one or two points\nin reference to art that are worthy of notice. He says that it is\nnonsense to talk of art elevating the people, because it is itself the\nindex of their condition. This is just one of those simple fallacies\nthat contain a sufficient amount of the truth to make them misleading.\nArt is not an index of the condition of the people, but only of a very\nsmall part of the people; it would be more true to say that the popular\nappreciation of art is such an index; but it is not true to say or to\nimply that the condition of the people governs its range or scope. We\nare constantly met by the experience of art that is unappreciated by\nthe people in whose midst it appears.\n\nIt is necessary to understand the complex nature of man and the vast\nrange of human evolution to be able to see how one man may appear\nin a nation and display a degree of progress far in advance of his\nfellows, who also are all in varying stages of their long evolution.\nThe progressed soul incarnates perhaps in a body just like those of the\nrest of the race, because it cannot get a better; and so it is not at\nonce recognized as an older soul, and for want of right education the\nman himself may be unable to account for the difference between himself\nand his fellows of which he is conscious; and so, being unaware of\nhis own inherent divinity and of his relation to his fellows, he may\nnot recognize his responsibility to them as a natural leader, fitted\nby greater experience to show a light on the path of human progress,\nand required by Karma or by his kinship to his fellows, to use his\nexperience, or his talents, or his genius, for their guidance rather\nthan for his own glory.\n\nThen passing to the subject of the recent sale of the famous Rembrandt\nto an American he very wisely points out that this is a private matter,\nand not in any way a national or an artistic point of interest. As\nsaid, the picture (not an English painting) was not in any sense a\nnational possession, nor was it of any importance in the art-life of\nthe nation that it should be added to the already large collection of\nthe master's works now owned by the National Gallery. What the writer\nmaintains is vital to a nation, is to encourage and to appreciate the\nart of its own day and of its own artists.\n\nNow here we meet the deplorable parochialism that does duty for\npatriotism, and which is so utterly out of place in connexion with\nart; for art is not national but universal, and, further, it is not\nmodern or ancient, but again universal; so that an attempt to limit the\nsympathies of art-lovers to the products of their own age or of their\nown nation is bound to fail, and can only be tolerated as an antidote\nto an excessive worship of what is old or of what is foreign, these\nbeing matters of perhaps no consequence at all.\n\nIt is of course well that people should do the duty that lies nearest\nto hand first, and so if it be a duty to encourage, to endow, or to\npatronize art, that duty should begin at home. But this again is a very\nnarrow way of looking at the matter. It is not at all essential that\nart should be national; on the contrary, art is universal and cannot\nbe bound by any such limits. No barriers stand in the way of one who\nwould admire a foreign painting; one may speak no language but one's\nown and yet find as much beauty, joy, and inspiration in foreign works\nof art as in those produced by men of one's own nationality. A visitor\nto a collection of works of art has to be told by a catalog, or he\nwould not know, what country produced any particular work; so it is\nwith music, and largely with architecture; indeed that which is of Art\nis universal: the national characteristics are limitations imposed by\ncircumstances upon the free expression of the soul.\n\nThe soul of man is not eternally bound within the limits of one\nnation, but must, in the course of constant reincarnations upon earth,\nexperience the limitations of many varying nationalities. It is bound\nto the great human family; and it may be, for a certain period,\nidentified with a special group. Nations are evanescent, though family\ngroups may survive, and though an artist may be intimately bound by\nmany ties with the destinies of some one group or family or race, in\nits reincarnations and in its varying national appearances, yet the\nartistic part of his nature is just that higher part that rises beyond\nsuch limits and appeals to all humanity, and it is the higher part of\nhuman nature that responds to the appeal of art and disregards all\nother limitations, such as questions of time or place or nationality,\nrising to what is more broadly human or more divine in the nature of\nman. For \"Brotherhood is a fact in nature,\" and the soul responds\nunconsciously to the call of the Soul in all nature and in all humanity\nin such degree as it is able to throw off for a time the temporary\nbonds of local conditions. So it is a matter rather of satisfaction to\nsee works of art circulating around the world and awaking the deeper\nsympathies that tend to unite humanity.\n\n\n\n\nMUSIC AND LIFE: by William A. Dunn\n\n\nThere is not a problem which perplexes human life that may not be\nloosened and solved by the aid of music. Based as it is upon the\nvibratory movements of Nature, and subject to rigid mathematical law\nand geometrical ratio, music represents an incorruptible and direct\nmedium between the higher and lower natures of man. Its dynamical and\nspiritual power proceeds from the _blend_ of its related vibrating\nnumbers; which blend is that living force (_within_ outward harmony)\nthat electrifies the heart and mind and lifts the whole nature\nto the plane of soul. It is that living field of energy in which\nall numbers, all forces, all substances, are lost in the unity of\nleast-common-multiple of all possible vibrations. It is the Veil of\nIsis.\n\nNo motion can take place without causing sound. This must be equally\ntrue of atomic and planetary movements, and all that lies between. All\nsounds that appear to the senses as different must obviously vibrate in\nsome universal medium which permits movement and unifies their seeming\ndiversity. It is the actual presence of such a medium in man which\nenables him to perceive that which music is the expression of. Notes\nand chords are merely alphabetical symbols. These are classified and\ncombined to express ideas as truly as words are combined to convey the\nthought that lies beyond them.\n\nIt has been said that \"The Universe is built by number.\" This is\nobvious truth when all natural forces and elements are conceived of as\nmodes of vibration (as they actually are) blending and interblending\nin the universal etheric medium, according to the immutable law of\nharmonious ratios. Why should the etheric world be thought of as an\nabstraction or a far-off possibility? It is in reality a nearer thing\nin life than its comparatively trifling contents. All our thoughts and\nfeelings move in it as their medium, and the process of self-conquest\nis nothing more than to live in this our universal home, and harmonize\ndissociated thoughts and feelings into musical symphonies.\n\nThis is not rhapsody, but sober common sense, as true for the\nfield-laborer as for the philosopher. As we all live in and breathe\nthe same physical atmosphere, so do we all think and feel in the same\nmental ether. This fact explains why \"Brotherhood is a fact in nature.\"\nTo accept this principle of Brotherhood as the point from which life is\nviewed is equivalent to mounting to the hill-top of life from which the\nsurrounding scenery can be seen. Down in the valley a single wall can\nshut out the whole prospect.\n\nA text-book on chemistry may be consulted with profit as illustrating\nthis fact. A few general principles or laws classify millions of\nseparate facts into harmonious knowledge. The science of chemistry is\nalso the science of true music. Schopenhauer speaks of music\n\n as immediate and direct an objectivation or copy of the _Will_ of the\n world as the world itself is, as the ideas are of which the universe\n of things is the phenomenon. Music is not the copy of the ideas, but\n a representation of the cosmical Will co-ordinate with the ideas\n themselves.\n\nThe literal truth of this statement is known by all who have had\ncontact with that which creates, and breathes life into, a musical\nmasterpiece. The audible notes and phrases are merely classified\nsymbols which express something beyond them, just as the parts of a\ndynamo are adjusted as medium for the expression of the universal\nelectrical power.\n\nMusic, in itself, is the universal life of Nature as she is in\nvibration. Every movement, from that of planet down to minute atom,\nemits tone. It is absurd to imagine that our octave of audible\nreceptivity limits the universal fact. It can only do so _for us_. The\nrefining and extension of receptive range of hearing must undoubtedly\nreveal the music which ever surrounds our self-imposed deafness. All\ndiscoveries and advances in knowledge are simply this: the unfolding of\norgans of receptivity in which some universal fact may reflect itself.\nAll knowledge and power exist eternally. Man is the only variant\n(because of his power of choice) and he cripples himself in imagining\nthat the revelation of limited organs of receptivity are equivalent to\nthe universal fact.\n\nLet us picture a great music hall in which an orchestra is performing.\nNo matter what sounds proceed from the many instruments, their\nunited tones vibrate through every particle of air in the building\nsimultaneously. Sound waves may be many, but, every atom of air\nis participant in all these at one and the same instant. The atom\ntherefore is the synthetic point of universal unity.\n\nMan is an atom in that grand temple of music--the solar system. Through\nhim passes every movement or sound propagated by planet or sun--and all\nthe lesser movements to which they give rise. We actually participate\nin the total vibration of solar life, but are blind to this because the\nbrain consciousness is attached to a few external sound waves and sets\nup a conscious focus amid these. A musician will tell us how easily the\nmind may select a single orchestral instrument and follow its melody\nto the exclusion of the adjacent parts. How truly this illustrates\nour separate personal lives! It is impossible to lose anything by\ndetachment from the personal grooves to which so much importance is\nattached. We can only fall into That which gives the utmost blessing.\nThat silence and solitariness which usually follow the storm of true\neffort, is the womb of fuller life. The old life has passed, the new\nnot yet born, and we are apt to despond. But courage and patience will\nsurely lead to living joy, for the new life dawns when the inner self\nis ready to receive it. Right thought, right feeling, and unending\npatience, will without doubt make all things clear, and from the heart\nwill arise the total music of life, vibrating in tune with all that is.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ASTRAL BODY: by H. A. W. Coryn, M.D., M.R.C.S.\n\n\nIt is safe to say that science will never accept the astral body--by\nthat name: at any rate not until philosophy accepts the prototypal\n_Ideas_ of Plato.\n\nYet the evidence, if not for them, then for something discharging the\nsame function and therefore after all for them--is irresistible.\n\nOne thinks first of the growth of living animal tissues in glass jars,\ndemonstrated at the Rockefeller Institute. Removed from the body to\nwhich they belong and placed in nutritive fluids which they can absorb,\nthey attain a size that would constitute them fatal diseases if they\nwere _in situ_ at home. They would in fact be malignant growths of\nhighly organized types.\n\nWhy _don't_ they grow to that size? Because \"the nervous system\"\nrestrains them within the limit of usefulness. How does \"the nervous\nsystem\" know that limit? Has it a picture in its \"mind,\" a plan\naccording to which it works, according to which it variously restricts\nor encourages?\n\nWhen some of the molluscs are cut in two each half grows the part it\nhas lost, the head an after-part, the after-part a head. Two animals\nresult, each exactly like the original. As the severed cells are called\nupon to perform and do perform new and unexpected work, what and where\nis the architectural plan by which they do it?\n\nThe cells of a leaf have finished their growth. Now comes their _work_,\nthe fixing of carbon from the air, transpiration, and so on. But cut\noff, say, a begonia leaf and place it on damp soil properly protected.\nIt proceeds at once upon a wholly new program, sending down roots,\nsending up stalk, fresh leaves, and finally flower. It is obviously\nworking according to a plan. When a germ cell or seed does that the\nproblem can be _concealed_ by talking about its chemical constitution\nand so forth. We are told that the seed behaves as it does because\nit is constituted by nature to do so, molecularly arranged for just\nthat function. But the cells of the leaf were _not_ arranged for that\nbut for quite other functions. How come they to be able to stop their\nproper line of work and follow this one, generating not only leaves\nlike themselves but all other parts of the plant including seeds?\n\nWe are of course pressing the problem of heredity, the persistence of\nracial and family type. But heredity is only a word that expresses the\nobserved facts without a gleam of explanation.\n\nThe consciousness of the mollusc, as an individual, and that of\nthe leaf on a lower plane, can be only sensational. _They_ do not\nintelligently arrange and design what they are doing. But to ascribe\nit to molecular mechanism only, is no better than to say God did it.\nEither is such a form of mere words as unwise parents throw at a too\nquestioning child to stop, without satisfying, its mind. No idea\ncorresponds. The gap in conception remains exactly what it was.\n\nWhen a chimney is blown down, the builder notes the gap and builds\nanother. His mind contains a picture of what ought to be there.\n\nAn architect does not deliver the whole plan of his building to each of\nthe workmen. Each follows his ordinary work, being merely told where\nto begin and when to stop. When all of them have done their part the\nbuilding is complete.\n\nWhy may we not suppose that the cutting-in-two of a mollusc constitutes\nsome such appeal to some intelligence somewhere in nature as the\nmissing chimney constitutes to the builder? The force flowing\nin the cells of the injured animal is thereupon directed to the\nwork unexpectedly required. Science now speaks freely of _human_\n\"subconsciousness,\" meaning sub-_mental_ consciousness in man. And it\nknows that that sub-mental consciousness can, when properly called upon\n(and also habitually on its own account), do reparative work upon the\nbody whose method is not comprehensible to the man himself. It is,\nwithin its limits, intelligent; it knows what it has to do and what it\nis wanted to do; and it commands the necessary forces--which are beyond\nthe _man's_ reach, owner of them as he may be or think he is.\n\nThis subconsciousness is embodied with the man, but is not the\nman and is not an ego. May it not be regarded as a part of\nnature-consciousness, focused in an organic body and with the\nintelligence necessary to do its work?\n\nAnd it does not follow that the lower down the scale of mental\nintelligence is an organism, the lower down a parallel scale is _this_\nintelligence. What we call, when in our own bodies, the subconscious,\nmay be just as fully present and just as intelligently at work, in the\nbodies of plants and animals.\n\nIf we say that the plan of repair and the plans of hereditary type are\nin the conscious intelligence of this diffused nature-mind, we are at\nany rate reasonably proceeding from the known and not glossing the\nunknown with mere words. The astral body of any plant or animal is its\nplan of structure in this nature-mind. It is subjective substance,\njust as is a picture in our own mind. And it contains the vital energy\nnecessary for the guidance of the protoplasmic matter that will clothe\nit, an energy that guides but is not one of the physical forces. As an\nanalogy from higher up the planes of being, conscience _guides_ mental\nthoughts and desires but is not among their number nor of their nature.\nIt is the _divine-astral_ form or plan, of what the thinking man should\nbe. On both planes the form and the guiding energy setting from it\nbecome the negative and positive aspects of one thing.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BIRTH OF DAY\nby A. F. W. (Manchester, N. H.)\n\n\n From the darkness, O Eternal One,\n From the pale light of diamond stars,\n From the quietude of dreamless night,\n Into the grayness and the formless mist,\n Comes the first whisper, the first murmur\n Of Life awakening.\n Merges then the dim outline and the shadow,\n Floating nothings, pregnant with the promise\n Of the coming birth of Morning.\n Gradually, slowly, silently,\n The shapes resolve themselves\n And grow less misty and more huge;\n The grayness becomes less gray;\n And, as it so becomes, the horizon\n Erstwhile faint and indistinct,\n Slowly as a line appears, not sharp,\n But blended with both earth and sky.\n A sleepy twitter from the birds, the first call\n Of mate to mate; the faint, soft rustle\n Of the leaves, the vapor rising from the earth--\n All betoken the oncoming.\n The ghostly outlines of the forms\n Are clearer now; and the vivid streamers\n Of the eastern sky change to the white light\n Of the advancing Morn.\n Now approach the fuller tones of nature:\n Insistent the notes of the tiny feathered ones,\n And from the nests and branches come\n The piping calls to morning quest.\n Now the silver white takes on the faint\n Tinging of the purple glow.\n The purple to a blue transforms itself;\n The gnomes of dawn are hard at work\n Transmuting the base metal into finer gold.\n As distant fire, urging on the horses of wild Fear\n Mounts higher and more high,\n So Apollo urges on his horses, and the golden gleam\n Of his chariot heralds itself\n To follow after.\n The horizon blazes with the power of Light--\n More red and fiery grows the hue;\n A point appears, a rim, an arc\n Of coppery luster; then\n Glowing with the radiance of the parent Life\n The Sun!--And Day is born.\n\n\n\n\nH. P. BLAVATSKY AND THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY\n\n\nIn 1887 William Q. Judge wrote of the Theosophical Society and H. P.\nBlavatsky as follows:\n\n The Society has had, like all sentient beings, its periods of growth,\n and now we believe _it has become an entity_ capable of feeling and\n having intelligence. Its body is composed of molecules, each one of\n which is a member of the Society; its mental power is derived from\n many quarters, and it has a sensibility that is felt and shared by\n each one of us. For these reasons we think it is a wise thing for a\n person to join this body, and a wiser yet to work heart and soul for\n it.\n\n And we would have no one misunderstand how we look upon H. P.\n Blavatsky. She is the greatest woman in this world in our opinion,\n and greater than any man moving among men. Disputes and slanders\n about what she has said and done move us not, for we know by personal\n experience her real virtues and powers. Since 1875 she has stood as\n the champion and helper of every Theosophist; each member of the\n Society has to thank her for the store of knowledge and spiritual help\n that has lifted so many of us from doubt to certainty of where and\n how Truth might be found; lovers of truth and seekers after spiritual\n knowledge will know her worth only when she has passed from earth;\n had she had more help and less captious criticism from those who\n called themselves co-laborers, our Society would today be better and\n more able to inform its separate units while it resisted its foes.\n During all these years, upon her devoted head has concentrated the\n weighty Karma accumulated in every direction by the unthinking body of\n Theosophists; and whether they will believe it or not, the Society had\n died long ago, were it not for her.\n\nThe following are extracts from an article also by William Q. Judge,\nwritten after H. P. Blavatsky's death:\n\n THAT which men call death is but a change of location for the Ego--the\n immortal self--a mere transformation, a forsaking for a time of the\n mortal frame, a short period of rest before one reassumes another\n human frame in the world of mortals. The Lord of this body is\n nameless; dwelling in numerous tenements of clay, it appears to come\n and go; but neither death nor time can claim it, for it is deathless,\n unchangeable, and pure, beyond Time itself, and not to be measured. So\n our old friend and fellow-worker has merely passed for a short time\n out of sight, but has not given up the work begun so many ages\n ago--the uplifting of humanity, the destruction of the shackles that\n enslave the human mind....\n\n That she always knew what would be done by the world in the way of\n slander and abuse I also know, for in 1875 she told me that she was\n then embarking on a work that would draw upon her unmerited slander,\n implacable malice, uninterrupted misunderstanding, constant work, and\n no worldly reward. Yet in the face of this her lion heart carried her\n on. Nor was she unaware of the future of the Society. In 1876 she told\n me in detail the course of the Society's growth for future years, of\n its infancy, of its struggles, of its rise into the \"luminous zone\" of\n the public mind; and these prophecies are being all fulfilled.\n\n Her aim was to elevate the race. Her method was to deal with the\n mind of the century as she found it, by trying to lead it on step by\n step; to seek out and educate a few who, appreciating the majesty\n of the Secret Science and devoted to \"the great orphan Humanity,\"\n could carry on her work with zeal and wisdom; to found a Society\n whose efforts--however small itself might be--would inject into the\n thought of the day the ideas, the doctrines, the nomenclature of the\n Wisdom-Religion, so that when the next century shall have seen its\n seventy-fifth year the new messenger coming again into the world\n would find the Society still at work, the ideas sown broadcast, the\n nomenclature ready to give expression and body to the immutable\n Truth, and thus to make easy the task which for her since 1875 was so\n difficult and so encompassed with obstacles.\n\n[Illustration: HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY FOUNDRESS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL\nSOCIETY]\n\n[Illustration: THE LEADERS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT H. P. BLAVATSKY\nKATHERINE TINGLEY WILLIAM Q. JUDGE]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PATH--SOME WORDS OF WILLIAM Q. JUDGE\n\n\nIn 1886, William Q. Judge, the pupil and colleague and afterwards the\nsuccessor of H. P. Blavatsky, founded and edited _The Path_, the first\nAmerican Theosophical magazine. After his death, this magazine was\ncontinued by his successor, Katherine Tingley, and was by her finally\nmerged into and combined with a weekly magazine, published under\nthe title of the _Century Path_. This has again given place to THE\nTHEOSOPHICAL PATH, thus distinctly calling attention to the teachings\nit promulgates and sets forth, while preserving the name \"The Path\" of\nthe first American Theosophical Magazine.\n\nTHE THEOSOPHICAL PATH in its first issue pays honor to both these\ngreat-hearted Teachers, H. P. Blavatsky and William Q. Judge. All\nhumanity owes them a debt of gratitude for pointing out once more the\npath of true progress and happiness. Through their self-sacrifice, even\nof their lives, \"the pathway is once more seen to that realm where the\nGods abide.\"\n\nIn the first issue of _The Path_, William Q. Judge wrote:\n\n The solution of the problem, \"What and Where is the Path to\n Happiness?\" has been discovered by those of old time. They thought it\n was in the pursuit of R\u00e2ja Yoga, which is the highest science and the\n highest religion--a union of both....\n\n The study of what is now called \"practical occultism\" has some\n interest for us, and will receive the attention it may merit, but it\n is not _the_ object of this journal....\n\n True occultism is clearly set forth in the _Bhagavad G\u00eet\u00e2_, where\n sufficient stress is laid upon practical occultism, but after all,\n Krishna says, the kingly science and the kingly mystery is devotion to\n and study of the light which comes from within. The very first step in\n true mysticism and true occultism is to try to apprehend the meaning\n of Universal Brotherhood, without which the very highest progress in\n the practice of magic turns to ashes in the mouth.\n\n We appeal, therefore, to all who wish to raise themselves and\n their fellow creatures--man and beast--out of the thoughtless jog\n trot of selfish everyday life. It is not thought that Utopia can\n be established in a day; but through the spreading of the idea of\n Universal Brotherhood, the truth in all things may be discovered.\n Certainly, if we all say that it is useless, that such high-strung\n sentimental notions cannot obtain currency, nothing will ever be done.\n A beginning must be made, and it has been by the Theosophical Society.\n Although philanthropic institutions and schemes are constantly being\n brought forward by good and noble men and women, vice, selfishness,\n brutality, and the resulting misery, seem to grow no less. Prisons,\n asylums for the outcast and the magdalen, can be filled much faster\n than it is possible to erect them. All this points unerringly to the\n existence of a vital error somewhere. It shows that merely healing\n the outside by hanging a murderer or providing asylums and prisons\n will never reduce the number of criminals nor the hordes of children\n born and growing up in hotbeds of vice. What is wanted is true\n knowledge of the spiritual condition of man, his aim and destiny. This\n is offered in Theosophical literature, and those who must begin the\n reform are those who are so fortunate as to be placed in the world\n where they can see and think out the problems all are endeavoring\n to solve, even if they know that the great day may not come until\n after their death. Such a study leads us to accept the utterance of\n Praj\u00e2pati to his sons: \"Be restrained, be liberal, be merciful\"; it is\n the death to selfishness.\n\nIn an article \"A Year on the Path,\" Mr. Judge wrote, at the close of\nthe first year of the magazine:\n\n The question is always naturally asked, \"What is the Path?\" or\n \"What is the Philosophy?\" which is the same thing, for of course\n the following of any path whatever will depend upon the particular\n philosophy or doctrines believed in. The path we had in view is held\n by us to be the same one which in all ages has been sought by Heathen,\n Jew, and Christian alike. By some called the path to Heaven, by others\n the path to Jesus, the path to Nirv\u00e2na, and by Theosophists the path\n to Truth. Jesus has defined it as a narrow, difficult and straight\n path. By the ancient Br\u00e2hmans it has been called, \"the small old path\n leading far away on which those sages walk who reach salvation\";\n and Buddha taught it was a noble four-fold path by which alone the\n miseries of existence can be truly surmounted....\n\n The immortal spark has manifested itself in many different classes\n of men, giving rise to all the varied religions, many of which have\n forever disappeared from view. Not any one of them could have been\n the whole Truth, but each must have presented one of the facets of\n the great gem, and thus through the whole surely run ideas shared by\n all. These common ideas point to truth. They grow out of man's inner\n nature and are not the result of revealed books. But some one people\n or another must have paid more attention to the deep things of life\n than another. The \"Christian\" nations have dazzled themselves with the\n baneful glitter of material progress. They are not the peoples who\n will furnish the nearest clues to the Path. A few short years and they\n will have abandoned the systems now held so dear, because their mad\n rush to the perfection of their civilization will give them control\n over now undreamed of forces. Then will come the moment when they must\n choose which of two kinds of fruit they will take. In the meantime it\n is well to try and show a relation between their present system and\n the old, or at least to pick out what grains of truth are in the mass.\n\n ... A new age is not far away. The huge unwieldy flower of the 19th\n century civilization has almost fully bloomed, and preparation must\n be made for the wonderful new flower which is to rise from the old.\n We have not pinned our faith on Vedas nor Christian scriptures, nor\n desired any others to do so. All our devotion to Aryan literature and\n philosophy arises from a belief that the millions of minds who have\n trodden weary steps before ours, left a path which may be followed\n with profit, yet with discrimination. _For we implicitly believe that\n in this curve of the cycle, the final authority is the man himself._\n\n In former times the disclosed Vedas, and later, the teachings of\n the great Buddha, were the right authority, in whose authoritative\n teachings and enjoined practices were found the necessary steps to\n raise man to an upright position. But the grand clock of the Universe\n points to another hour, and now Man must seize the key in his hands\n and himself--as a whole--open the gate. Hitherto he has depended upon\n the great souls whose hands have stayed impending doom. Let us then\n together enter upon another year, fearing nothing, assured of strength\n in the Union of Brotherhood. For how can we fear death, or life, or\n any horror or evil, at any place or time, when we well know that even\n death itself is a part of the dream which we are weaving before our\n eyes.\n\n Our belief may be summed up in the motto of the Theosophical Society,\n \"There is no Religion higher than Truth,\" and our practice consists\n in a disregard of any authority in matters of religion and philosophy\n except such propositions as from their innate quality we feel to be\n true.\n\n\n\n\nSAVING FOREST WASTE: Note by a Student\n\n\nIn the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture just issued, it\nis pointed out that conservation of the timber supply involves the\nco-operation of the public, the lumbermen, and the wood-consuming\nindustries, as well as of the National Government. Forest conservation\nis not possible at the low prices of former days, and in general prices\nmust advance before much can be done. Then the public must be prepared\nto accept new woods; the farmer must give up using cedar, white-oak,\nand chestnut posts; railroads must cease using white-oak ties;\nbuilders must accept other lengths and widths. Meantime the Government\nco-operating with Wisconsin University, has established a thoroughly\nequipped wood-testing laboratory at Madison, where many problems are\nbeing investigated, from the standpoints of forest conservation and\ncommercial requirements.\n\nIn the valuable magazine _American Conservation_, for May 1911, it\nis stated that Argentina has a hundred million acres of wooded land,\nmostly quebracho and yerba tree, both in increasing demand. In Brazil\nthere is about a thousand million acres of wooded land. There ruthless\ndestruction cannot go on, as most concessions now require proper\nconservation of the rubber and other trees. Bolivia has quebracho,\nrubber, coca, cinchona, and other trees useful in the arts. The\ntimber tracts of Colombia are practically unexploited. The slopes of\nEcuador are richly wooded. The forests of Peru occupy about three\nhundred million acres, and its government has taken steps to ensure\nconservation, and contemplates experiment stations.\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. SCENES FROM \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\" CENTRAL FIGURE IN\nFRONT PHIDIAS, BEHIND HIM PERICLES]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. CENTRAL FIGURE PERICLES, ON THE LEFT PHIDIAS, ON THE\nRIGHT DIOCHARES]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. ATHENIAN SOLDIERS]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. SOCRATES AND HIS DISCIPLES]\n\n\n\n\n\"AROMA OF ATHENS\" STRIKES NEW NOTE IN THE DRAMA. Katherine Tingley to\nOpen Greek Theater to the Public: Unrivaled Natural Scenery: Marvelous\nAcoustics. Notes by a Dramatic Critic\n\n\nA new-old note in drama has been struck here on the Pacific Coast,\nwhich, we feel quite safe in prophesying, will be recorded in many\nhistories. The English-speaking world has been fretting after some new\ninspiration. We are tired of imitating the Elizabethans; for the time\nbeing, that spring would seem to have run dry. What belongs to our\nown day peculiarly tends to be mere boisterous horseplay or flippant\nshallowness; vulgar both, and not in any way to be called art. What\nwe have that is good, the work of a few writers, is not so startling\nin quantity or quality, nor so profoundly original, as to cause us\nto hope for a new great art period in our own or our children's day.\nAnd yet there has been the demand. The public has turned to strange\nwell-springs and found the waters bitter, cloying, soon to run dry; the\ncritics have filled their press columns, both here and in England, with\nclamorings, prognostications, hasty or timorous judgments, a sense of a\ngreat need and expectations. Decidedly the time is ripe for a new birth\nin the drama.\n\n\nMEETS NEEDS OF THE TIME\n\nNow the question arises, what needs must this new birth and order\nmeet? Great art meets the needs of its time, sternly turning away from\nits mere wants; for that reason it is often rejected for awhile by a\npublic clamorous after lower levels of things. Such a clamor we find\nin our own day after sensationalism--give us action, more action, say\nthe managers; but is this a real need? The world is agog with action\nas it is; such a riot of action as one might imagine the Gadarene\nswine indulged in on their seaward last tumultuous journey. The motif\nis threadbare; we have torn it to tatters and it is time to turn to\nnew modes. Personalism, too, is rampant and bears fruit in an ugly and\njangled civilization. What is needed, then, is an art that shall be\ncalm, dignified, beautiful, impersonal; a pointer to and promise of\nbetter ways of living.\n\nOne turns back to the great art of the Greeks with a sense of relief\nafter all our modern, breathless, tom-tom beating. There we find\nbeauty, calm movement, dignity, national, and not merely personal\nmotifs; above all, an insistence on the higher and eternal verities. We\nneed the Aroma of Athens on our modern stage; because it is precisely\nthat that we need in our modern life.\n\n\nPLAY DELIGHTED AUDIENCE\n\nA few weeks ago Katherine Tingley presented a new play, _The Aroma\nof Athens_, at her Isis theater in San Diego, which struck all who\nsaw it with profound surprise and delight. There was first the ideal\npoetic beauty of the setting, a thing unrealizable unless seen. The\nforemost of the London managers--men like Tree--have made a specialty\nof beautiful setting, astonishing the theatrical world with the\nsplendor of their work in this line--and with its good taste. They have\nhad enormous resources to draw upon, and have spared no expense in\ntime, money, or thought. It may safely be said that none of them has\nproduced anything more beautiful than this _Aroma of Athens_; it may\nsafely be said that none of them has produced anything so beautiful.\nOne rubbed one's eyes in astonishment, wondering how such things\ncould be, and concluded that Madame Tingley at Point Loma had greater\nresources to draw upon than are to be found in London, Paris, Berlin,\nor New York. It is a wonderful thing, prophetic of the time when the\nculture-metropolis of the world will be right here among us on the\nPacific Coast. Madame Tingley long ago said that San Diego would be the\nAthens of America, and today this is far nearer than we dream. If one\nwould learn what those greater resources of hers are, one must examine\nher teachings, one must look into that marvelous scheme of education of\nhers, the R\u00e2ja Yoga system, which enabled, for example, those little\nchildren on the stage to be as graceful, as un-self-conscious as any\nfigures on a Grecian vase. Have you seen children, young children,\non the stage, do well, wonderfully well; and then, when the applause\nrolled in, do better still, remaining sublimely unconscious of the\napplause? We applauded these children and looked to see, as a matter\nof course, the aroma of Athens vanish in a series of smirks. But no;\nclapped we never so loudly, it made no difference to them. They played\ntheir Greek games; they were merry and classical; they were Grecian,\nunstilted, poetic, faery. One's mind went back to Keats' ode:\n\n \"What little town by river or sea-shore,\n Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,\n Is emptied of its folk, this pious morn?\"\n\nAnd the answer was: Athens, Periclean Athens in all her superb flawless\nbeauty and splendor; yes, those were real Athenians; of whom we have\nread in Keats and Swinburne; that we have seen sculptured in the Elgin\nmarbles. Here they were, in the flesh and blood; here was the heyday\nof historic beauty, shedding its supreme aroma on us; with these tones\nPlato and Aeschylus would have spoken; in this manner Phidias and\nPericles would have moved. It was a revelation, a marvelous artistic\nrealization--indeed, it is a shame to use such cant hackneyed phrases\nfor a thing so beautiful, so august--and yet so completely natural and\nunstrained.\n\n\nGREATER THINGS PROMISED\n\nSo much for its performance in a modern theater, but greater things are\npromised. If all this is true of a play which was first thought of ten\ndays before it was presented--and that is the fact--what is not to be\nhoped from the new presentation of it on April 17, a presentation of\nwhich, we are told, the former ones were but little more than sketches,\nand which is to be given in a real Greek open-air theater?\n\nThe Greek theater at Point Loma, the first in America, was built by\nMadame Tingley in 1901. It has the true Greek setting, looking out over\nthe sea. A wild ca\u00f1on runs down from it seaward, full of miniature\nhills and precipices, among which, now visible and now unseen, winds\nthe path by which the players enter or leave the stage. There will be\ntorchlight processions under the moon new-risen, moving along that\npath and over the broad stageplace; Greek chanting will be heard; real\nGreek music, and music with that ineffable something in it lacking\nin all, or nearly all, modern music, which suggests the hidden life\nof nature, the weird majesty of Delphi, of Nemesis, of the pipes of\nuniversal Pan; the very aroma of Sophoclean drama, plus an echo of that\nolder and even more entrancing Greece,\n\n \"Of deities or mortals, or of both,\n In Tempe or the dales of Arcady,\"\n\nWhen--\n\n \"Liquid Peneus was flowing\n And all dark Tempe lay\n In Pelion's shadow, outgrowing\n The light of the dying day,\n Speeded by Pan's sweet pipings.\"\n\n\nKINGDOM OF PAN UNCONFINED\n\nOne has long suspected that, with luck, one might well come upon a faun\nin the wild places of that ca\u00f1on, at least in April, when the rains are\nnewly over and the hillside a riot of bloom and delight. For indeed the\nkingdom of Pan is not confined; he has provinces here in California,\nand you may come upon the dales of Arcady in any of the four quarters\nof the world.\n\nWere Pan or some legate of his to be piping far down the ca\u00f1on, you\nwould not fail to catch every note of it from every part of the\nauditorium in the theater; what is whispered on the stage is clearly\nheard on the topmost tier of seats. The place is a Wonder of the\nWest if only for its marvelous acoustic properties. It has never\nbeen opened to the public before for a performance. And it should be\nremembered that Madame Tingley leaves nothing to chance; she stands out\ngrandly independent in her art; leaves no detail to be excused by the\ngenerosity of the audience; permits nothing whatever of which you could\nsay: \"This is excellent--for amateurs; this is splendid--considering\nwhat a short time it has taken to get up.\" It may be quite safely\naffirmed that this presentation on April 17 will have a prominent\nplace in all future histories of the drama.--San Diego _Union_, Friday\nmorning, April 7, 1911.\n\n\n\n\nSOME NOTES ON \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\" As given in the Greek Theater,\nPoint Loma, on Saturday Morning, April 22, 1911; With the Prolog to the\nPlay: by Kenneth Morris\n\n\nThere never was a play so difficult to appraise or criticise justly and\nintelligently as this one. One had read many press notices from expert\ndramatic critics, all of them enthusiastic; but when one came to see\nthe performance, it struck one that the best of them were inadequate,\nwholly beside the point. And yet one sees the excuse for saying just\nas much as language can be stretched to express. If one did not put on\nthe enthusiasm without stint or measure, one would convey a suggestion\nthat the presentation was unworthy of enthusiasm; the truth being that\nenthusiasm is somehow unworthy of the presentation.\n\nSince seeing it, one has been searching mind and memory for some means\nof accounting for its extraordinary effect. We have seen it put down\nto the beauty of the spectacle, harmony of colors, perfect natural\nsetting, and so forth. It is true that one failed to find any jarring\nnote in the acting; that the ca\u00f1on, running down to the Pacific, seen\nthrough the pillars of the Greek temple there, is a piece of landscape\nthrilling in its beauty, for the like of which you must go to lands\nwhere nature is at her most beautiful, and where there are the relics\nof mighty builders of old, that give a focal point to the natural\nbeauty, and an inspiration to all artists. It is true also that there\nwas a perfect art in the color scheme of the dresses--an absolute\njustness, balance and harmony of colors in themselves exquisite; that\none could imagine no improvement in the grouping; that the enunciation,\nmovements, and gesticulations, were in all cases just, clear, simple,\nnatural, and graceful. But I am convinced that one might see and hear\nall that, and come away conscious that there was more to be said. None\nof these things, either considered separately or _en masse_, are enough\nto account for the enthralling effect of the play.\n\nGenerally speaking, again, it is true that \"the play's the thing.\" In\nthis case I think it is not true. There is, in the ordinary sense,\nhardly any action or _dramatic_ thrill. We underline dramatic, because\nthrill of some deeper and hitherto unexperienced kind there was; action\ntoo, there was--the action of a people on the World's stage; in that\nsense it was all one deep thrill, and the action of real life. But the\ndialog was mainly philosophic discussion, deep thought, art criticism\nfrom the Greek standpoint--just, sound, basic, noble; but not fiery or\ndramatic, as we commonly understand the terms; and there was none of\nthat brilliant play of wit which in some modern plays compensates for\nthe lack of a plot.\n\nHere indeed, you may say that plot there was none. The Athenians are\nholding their Flower Festival, to which the Satrap Pharnabazus is\nwelcomed as a guest. He is desirous to learn the secret of Athenian\nbrilliance, and one by one his hosts give utterance, in response,\nto the principles of Athenian art, philosophy, etc. While they are\nspeaking, the herald of Sparta is announced; here there is, indeed, a\ncentral incident of most stirring dramatic effect in the declaration\nof the Peloponnesian War. Socrates prophesies the downfall of Greece,\nand the rise of a new Athens in the west of the world in after-ages;\nafter which follows an effect which, for mystic beauty and thrill does\ncertainly stand out, so that you do know exactly why you are moved\nby it--a procession of scarlet-draped women with torches, that comes\nwinding up the ca\u00f1on, through the temple, and across the arena through\nclouds and volumes of colored mist, a wonderful bit of Katherine\nTingley's art work, an incident impressive to the last degree, which\nwere it done just so on any stage in the world, and by any actors,\nwould create a sensation. But indeed, it is safe to say that such an\neffect has never been produced before, on any stage in the world.\n\nBut be it noted that the enthralment of _The Aroma of Athens_ began\nlong before this; and that even this was rather a visual glory than a\ndramatic _coup_ according to the received canons.\n\nOf spectacular value, too, was the archaic dancing of the children;\nand let it be said that there was something about these children which\nis never to be seen on the stages of the world, nor with any other\nchildren than those of the R\u00e2ja Yoga College at Point Loma. And yet,\nwhen one has said that they were perfectly classic, and at the same\ntime perfectly merry and natural--one realizes that one has still\nbarely begun to account for what happened.\n\nOne little woman who professed to have some knowledge of art, yet was\nquite unfamiliar with the period which the play presented, almost\ntearfully deplored the fact that the actors did not seem to pay any\nattention to the audience during the production. The fact that they did\n_not_ do so was one of the charms of the whole presentation. They were\nnot playing a part but giving a most realistic presentation of life,\nand were, as they should have been, as if there were no audience. To\nthose who saw the motif of the play, it would have been a blur if the\nplayers had shown any consciousness of the audience, or had in any way\n\"played to the gallery\" or for personal attention.\n\nItem by item, one might mention everything that was seen or heard, and\none would remain certain that however perfect and beautiful each might\nbe in itself, and even however perfect might be the harmony of them as\nan ensemble, they yet were not enough to explain the total value: and\nthat even if you were able to explain the total value artistically,\nfrom the standpoint of art as we understand the term, there would yet\nbe a kind of value, an invoking of one's inner nature without words,\nwhich for lack of a better term one must call a _spiritual_ value--not\nonly moral, or mental--which would remain unexplained. In short, that\nthere was here shown an element, a kind of value, which is wholly\nunfamiliar to the critics of the present day.\n\nWhen we speak of the drama as an educational element, we conceive of\nits possible effects along artistic lines, or as setting forth moral\nprinciples, or high intellectual ideas. This play did all that, it is\ntrue; but it did all that, plus _x_; and what that _x_ represents is\nnot known in our present civilization--or at least, so one suspects.\nIt produced a silence of the senses and of all personal voices within,\nan uplift and a reverent feeling: yes, a sense that one had been given\na revelation of what the great mystics of the world have meant by the\nword _spiritual_. Deeper places in one's being were touched, than any\nthat respond to the work of the greatest actors of the present or of\nrecent times.\n\nSo that any enthusiasm, any praise, seems something like an insult.\nTo speak of the Genius of the one that produced the play--Katherine\nTingley--that too seems a kind of insult. We have not attached to the\nterm genius, a breadth of meaning great enough to include the qualities\nnecessary for the production of a result so unlike anything that has\ngone before.\n\nWe have seen it compared with the work of the premier actors of the\nage, and that to the advantage of the Point Loma production. The remark\nis not good criticism. The difference is not one of degree, but one of\nkind. No actor manager, probably, would have handled this play; none\ncould produce, with any play of the greatest dramatists, results that\nso baffle description, so affect one's conceptions in those parts\nof one's being that lie behind and deeper than formal mentality or\nimagination, or artistic appreciation. Perhaps Katherine Tingley could\nexplain how it is done. I think no one else could.\n\nIt is delightful to hear that Mrs. Tingley is making plans for larger\nfacilities for seating the people, as even with its present great\nsize, the Greek Theater at Point Loma cannot meet the demands. It is\nwhispered also that she has several more Greek and other plays in\npreparation, which in course of time will be presented in the Greek\nTheater, and possibly at her Isis Theater in San Diego as well.\n\n\nTHE PROLOG\n\n You are in Athens now, and you shall see\n The splendor of that age of long renown\n When Perikles was prince in Pallas' town\n Amidst a people mighty-souled and free\n Whose eminence and bright supremacy\n Made Zeus grow jealous, and wan Clotho frown,\n So that the nations rose to bring her down,\n To bring high Athens down, till she should be\n A name, a memory only; yet a name\n That burns--a beacon on the heights of time,\n Lighting the ages' darkness, making sublime\n The fame of Hellas with its smokeless flame.\n And you shall see and hear now, all those men\n That shone round Perikles: Thucydides,\n Ariston, Crito, Phidias, Sokrates,\n And many high-souled women, famous then,\n Teachers and seers and sages whose far ken\n Pierced deep the hidden realms of being.\n These\n Are gathered midst the Academian bowers\n To keep their Anthesterian Feast of Flowers\n Held every year in Athens. To their feast\n Comes one sent by that Great King in the East\n Whose sire was countered in the perilous hours\n Of Salamis and Marathon. But now\n To seal a pact with Athens, with high vow\n Linking the Athenian and the Persian powers\n Against the martial Spartan--Xerxes' son,\n Enthroned Artaxerxes, sendeth one\n Whom you shall see here in great pomp attend,\n An honored guest, well-welcomed--Athens' friend,\n The Persian Pharnabazus. In his hands\n Is given the sway of those Bithynian meads\n Where roam innumerable herds of steeds\n Much sought by war-kings in a thousand lands.\n Mighty with Median strength he comes--with gold\n Of Ind and Araby, and those nations old\n Which the strong Persian tamed, bedecked; and gems\n That erst adorned great princes' diadems\n Of fallen dynasties--pearls of Oman, dyes\n Wrought in Turanian vats to out-do the blooms\n Of Yemen spicy-breezed, and webs from looms\n The deft Cashmirian or Cathayan plies--\n A strong and courteous lord.\n Right well he knows\n By what stern virtues Persia broke her foes,\n Bringing the jeweled throne of Croesus down,\n And Phrygia's wealth, and Egypt's twofold crown;\n What Magian training molds the Persian youth\n To scorn of luxury, worship of truth,\n Honor and gratitude; but in Athene's town\n Findeth a bloom of soul and wit, in sooth,\n He knows no secret for; and must inquire\n By what strange kindling of what inward fire\n Athenian, by what quest of deathless dream,\n Athens is made so wondrously to gleam\n Above the rest of the world.\n Him answering there,\n The Athenian citizens, the violet-crowned,\n Speak one by one deep wisdom, and propound\n Those balanced views that made their land so fair.\n But even while they speak, lo, in the air\n Gathers a cloud, a menace--trumpets sound--\n The Spartan herald comes.\n Stern words are these\n He utters; sternly answereth Perikles--\n There shall be war: Athens stoops not to a peace\n Ignoble, though the untamed Lakonian bands\n Be loosed against her, and a hundred lands\n Enleague with Lakedaimon; yea, though all Greece\n Compass her splendor round with threatened doom--\n War shall it be.\n Therewith a gathering gloom\n Enfolds their vision, and their chief of seers\n Makes known the menace of the darkening years--\n Greece shall fall; ruined fanes shall mark her tomb,\n The tomb of all her glory waned from the land;\n Her broken, marble-pillared fanes shall stand,\n And move the unborn to marvelings and to tears\n For so much beauty waned in such decay.\n Yet see, his vision brightens! Wane away\n You barren ages! Speed, you desolate years!\n Give place, sad night-time, to the dawn of day!\n Hellas shall fall indeed; Athens shall wane,\n Yet shall be born again! Greece born again,\n Athens reborn in unknown lands, shall rise!\n High on a hill beside the western seas,\n That hath more wealth than Hybla for the bees,\n That hath more blueness than the Aegean skies,\n Athens shall rise again, most fair, most wise,\n To shine upon the world!\n --Thus Sokrates\n Foretelling our own glorious Lomaland;\n And what shall go forth from this western strand\n In these last days, to herald peace, and blend\n Nation with nation, hostile land with land,\n Firm friends forever.\n So the play hath end.\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo.\nand Engraving Dept. TABLEAUX FROM THE ILIAD AS GIVEN DURING THE\nPRESENTATION OF \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS,\" APRIL 17, 1911 PARTING OF HECTOR\nAND ANDROMACHE.]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo.\nand Engraving Dept. ANDROMACHE FAINTING ON THE WALLS OF TROY]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. THE FUNERAL PYRE OF HECTOR]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo.\nand Engraving Dept. PUPILS OF THE R\u00c2JA YOGA COLLEGE, POINT LOMA, IN\nATHENIAN FLOWER FESTIVAL]\n\n\n\n\nHAWTHORNE'S PSYCHOLOGY: contributed by C. T.\n\n\nHawthorne's _Blithedale Romance_ is a study of the psychology\nunderlying the human relations that arise from the subtle inner\nfeelings within the deepest and most diaphanous regions of the human\nheart.\n\nWith an incomparable delicacy and precision of touch, revealing the\nhidden framework of the underlying design, he clothes with apt speech\nthese specter glimpses into the realm of human motive.\n\nPity 'tis that his glimpses into these depths should be clouded by the\ntemperamental gloom of his own nature--always seeking justification of\nits own pessimism, always weaving despondent tragedies that the light\nof Theosophy would have transformed into inner victories in the midst\nof outward defeat. Yet he seems only to have penetrated to certain\ndepths of gloom and doubt, and then to hesitate to take that one step\ndeeper where forever dwells the light that dispels all shadows.\n\nLike a modern Virgil he leads us to the brink of the deepest chasms,\nand then abandons us to our own intuitions. Possibly he saw farther\ninto the depths than he could record in human speech--and so wrote on\nfrom romance to romance in search of the expression that forever eluded\nhis pen.\n\n\n\n\nLIFE AND TEACHINGS OF PYTHAGORAS: by F. S. Darrow, PH. D., A. M.\n\n\nI. LIFE\n\n Pythagoras, the pure philosopher deeply versed in the profounder\n phenomena of nature, the noble inheritor of the ancient lore, whose\n great aim was to free the soul from the fetters of sense and force it\n to realize its powers, must live eternally in human memory.--_H. P.\n Blavatsky_\n\nThis world-famous Greek teacher of \"the Heart Doctrine\" was born about\n580 B. C. on the island of Samos and died about 500 B. C. Before his\nbirth it was prophesied to his father that a son was about to be\nborn to him who would be a great benefactor of mankind. Some even\nwent so far as to declare that Pythagoras was a human incarnation of\nHyperborean Apollo.\n\nIt is related that when a mere youth he left his native city to begin\na series of travels to the wise men of all countries, from the Hind\u00fbs\nand Arabs in the East, to the Druids of Gaul in the West. We are told\nthat he spent twelve years in Babylon, conversing freely with the\nMagi, by whom he was instructed in all their Mysteries and taught\nthe most perfect form of worship. He spent twenty-two years in Egypt\nas an intimate of the most learned hierophants, under whose tutelage\nhe mastered the three styles of Egyptian writing, the common, the\nhieroglyphic, and the sacerdotal. He brought with him a personal letter\nof introduction to Amasis, the reigning Pharaoh, who forthwith wrote to\nthe hierophants and requested them to initiate Pythagoras into their\nmysteries. Pythagoras first went to the priests of Heliopolis, but\nthey, true to the inveterate Egyptian suspicion of foreigners, although\nhesitating to disobey Amasis openly, tacitly refused to initiate\nPythagoras and advised him to go to the sacred school at Memphis,\nostensibly because it was of greater antiquity than that of Heliopolis.\nAt Memphis also he met with the same finesse, and was next sent to the\nschool at Thebes, where finally under the most severe tests--tests\nwhich nearly cost him his life--he was fully initiated into the\nEgyptian Mysteries and thereafter had free access to the treasures of\nthe hierophants.\n\nAfter leaving Egypt Pythagoras returned to Greece by way of Crete,\nwhere he descended the Idaean cave in company with Epimenides, the\ngreat Cretan prophet and seer, who in return for the removal of the\nplague at Athens in 596 B. C. accepted from the grateful people only\na branch of the sacred olive of Athena, and refused the large sums of\nmoney which were offered, because he declared that spiritual gifts can\nnot be bought and sold. From Epimenides and Themistoklea, the Delphic\nPythia, Pythagoras received further instruction. In the course of his\ntravels he became an initiate not only in the mysteries of India,\nBabylonia, Egypt, Greece, and Gaul, but also in those of Tyre and Syria.\n\nPythagoras studied the various branches of knowledge, especially\nmathematics, astronomy, music, gymnastics, and medicine, and\ncontributed very greatly to the development of these sciences among\nthe Greeks, for he was a man both of singular capabilities and of\ngreat acquirements. His personal appearance was noteworthy. He was\nvery handsome and dignified; regularly dressed in white, and wore\na long, flowing beard. He never gave way to grief, joy, or anger,\nbut was accustomed to sing hymns of Homer, Hesiod, and Thales, to\npreserve the serenity of his mind, and he was very eminent for his\npower of attracting friends. The religious element was predominant\nin his character, and his entire life was ruled by humanitarian and\nphilanthropic motives. He was opposed to animal sacrifice, and on one\noccasion purchased a large draught of fish, which had just been caught\nin a net, and set them free as an object-lesson in kindness.\n\nPythagoras was a practical occultist, and is said to have understood\nthe \"language\" of animals so as to be able to converse with them and\ntame even the most ferocious. It is said of him that upon one occasion\nhe was seen and heard publicly speaking at far distant places both in\nItaly and in Sicily, on the same day, a physical impossibility. It is\nalso stated that he healed the sick, had the power of driving away evil\nspirits, foresaw the future, recognized character at a glance, and had\ndirect communication with the gods.\n\nFinally at the age of nearly fifty, Pythagoras went to southern\nItaly or Magna Graecia, after an unsuccessful attempt to establish a\nsociety in his native city, and in 529 B. C. founded the Pythagorean\nBrotherhood and the School of the Mysteries at Crotona. He gained\nextensive influence immediately and attracted great numbers of all\nclasses, including many of the nobles and the wealthy, so that the\nsociety grew with wonderful strides and soon similar schools were\nestablished at many other cities of Magna Graecia: at Sybaris,\nMetapontum, Tarentum, and elsewhere. Each of these consisted of three\nhundred members accepted under inviolable pledges of secrecy and bound\nto Pythagoras and to each other by the most sacred of obligations.\n\nThe statement as to the death of Pythagoras, which occurred when he\nwas about eighty, vary. One account says that he was banished from\nCrotona and fled to Metapontum where he died after a self-imposed\nfast of forty days. Another says that he was murdered by his enemies\nwhen the temple of the school at Crotona was burned to the ground,\neither by the nefarious Kylon who because of his unworthiness had been\nrefused admittance to the Brotherhood and his wicked associate Ninon,\nor by the frenzied townspeople. At the same time similar persecutions\nin the other cities where the branch schools had been established\nresulted in the (supposed) murder of all but a few of the younger\nand stronger members, who succeeded in escaping to Egypt. Thereafter\nindividual Pythagoreans, unorganized in Schools, which were everywhere\nsuccessfully suppressed, continued to keep the light burning for\ncenturies. The doubtful point is, whether the temple and the various\nassembly halls of the Pythagoreans were burned at the end of the\nLeader's life, or about a hundred years after his banishment and death\nby starvation. Telauges, his \"son,\" is said to have succeeded his\nfather as the Head of the shattered society, but little is known of\nhim. It is significant that the Pythagorean Brotherhood and School of\nthe Mysteries at Crotona flourished during the last twenty-five years\nof the sixth century B.C., the accepted date of its overthrow being\nabout 500 B. C.\n\n\nII. THE SCHOOL\n\nIt was a Pythagorean maxim that \"everything ought not to be told to\neverybody.\" Therefore membership in the society was secret, silent, and\nguarded by the most solemn forms of obligatory pledges and initiations.\nMembers were classified as Akousmatikoi or Listeners, Probationary\nMembers, who did not live at the School, and Mathematikoi or Students,\nAccepted Members, who lived with their families at the central School\nof the Mysteries or at one of its branches. Probably the Mathematikoi\nwere further divided into two classes: the Pythagoristae or exoteric\nmembers, and the Pythagoreans or esoteric members.\n\nPractically any candidate of an upright and honest life was admitted at\nrequest as a Listener, but only the fit and the worthy were accepted as\nStudents. Listeners, wishing to become Students, were forced to pass\nthrough a period of probation lasting from two to five years, during\nwhich their powers of maintaining silence were especially tested as\nwell as their general temper, disposition, and mental capacity. A good\nworking knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music, (the\nfour branches of Pythagorean mathematics), was required preliminary to\nadmission to the School. Only the most approved members were admitted\nto the Esoteric Section. Women were admitted (an innovation from the\nGreek standpoint). Among these Theano was the most distinguished. She\nhad general supervision of the women.\n\nThe members were devotedly attached to their Leader and to one another.\nThey were enabled to recognize other members even when unacquainted\nby means of their secret symbols, and it is recorded: \"If Pythagoras\never heard that any one used symbols similar to his, he at once made\nhim a companion and a friend.\" Unquestioning loyalty was given to the\ncounsels of Pythagoras by his disciples, for whom the _ipse dixit_\nof the master settled all controversy, and the rank and admission\nof candidates depended solely upon the intuitive discernment of\nPythagoras, who made all appointments.\n\nThe Students wore a special dress and had vows. They were trained\nto endure fatigue, sleep little, dress very simply, never to return\nreproaches for reproaches, and to bear contradiction and ridicule with\nserenity. The School of the Mysteries was a school of life, not a\nmonastery. Pythagoras did not aim to have his disciples withdraw from\nactive life, but taught them how to maintain a calm bearing and an\nelevated character under all circumstances. The intention was to train\nthem to exhibit in their personal and social capacities a reflection of\nthe order and harmony of the universe. The membership was international.\n\nAs it was a Pythagorean maxim that \"friends should possess all things\nin common,\" new members upon entering the School handed over their\npersonal possessions to the proper official who turned them into the\ncommon treasury. A student was at liberty to depart from the School\nat pleasure and at his departure he was given double his original\ncontribution, but over his former seat was erected a tomb, funeral\nrites were performed, and he was ever afterwards referred to by the\nloyal members as deceased.\n\nPurity of life was required and temperance of all kinds was strictly\nenjoined. All members ate at a common refectory in groups of ten, as\nat the Spartan _syssitia_. The diet was subject to a most careful\nregulation and consisted largely of bread, honey, and water. Animal\nfoods and wine were forbidden. It is stated also that beans were\ntabooed because of their indigestibility and tendency to produce\nagitated dreams.\n\nMuch importance was attached to music, and to the physical exercise\nof the disciples. Each day began with a meditation upon how it could\nbe best spent and ended with a careful retrospect. The students arose\nbefore the sun, and after breakfast studied for several hours, with\nan interval of leisure, which was usually spent in solitary walks and\nsilent contemplation. The hour before dinner was devoted to athletic\nexercises. In the course of the day there were mutual exhortations\nnot to sunder the God in each and all but to preserve the union with\nthe Deity and with one another. The students were accustomed to visit\nPythagoras at night, and went to sleep with music.\n\nIn a subsequent article some of the main tenets of the Pythagorean\nBrotherhood will be outlined.\n\n\n\n\nTHE AMERICAN WOMAN IN POETRY: by Grace Knoche\n\n\nCurrent literature, from the freshly printed book to the literary\ncolumns of the daily press, affords certain unique opportunities\nfor reviewing woman's work in the light of past achievement and\nfuture promise. Take, for instance, the single factor of woman in\npoetry--where past centuries number their woman poets by the twos and\nthrees, as the last generation has done by little more than the threes\nand fours, the present finds them springing up thicker than clover in a\nfallow field and in many cases with a sweetness and fragrance in their\nsongs as of clover blossoms themselves.\n\nTo the thinking mind this has a certain significance as relating to the\ninner unseen tides of that spiritual awakening now so seeming near for\nall mankind. For what holds poesy at its heart holds music there, and\nharmony and rhythm and something of that divine potency that lies in\nnumber; and with Theosophy at our doors we do not need Plato to tell us\nthat\n\n rhythm and harmony find their way into the secret places of the soul,\n on which they mightily fasten, bearing grace in their movements and\n making the soul graceful in him who is rightly educated.\n\nThe following are a handful of poems by women--most of them,\nsignificantly enough, by wholly or comparatively unknown\nwriters--from among the last month's journals and papers, by no\nmeans a representative list, but just a few that found their way in\nthe natural course to the study desk. Some compel attention because\nof the wholesomeness of sentiment and a certain honest openness in\ntheir delivery, others because of their musical lilt and flow, still\nothers because of both. There are a few that may live, some that of a\ncertainty will not and that yet have a value now. But that may be said\nof a hastily gathered handful of anything in its era.\n\nThey are typical of a surprisingly large class, while none of those\nwhose poems are herewith quoted, with the exception of Edith M. Thomas,\nhave so far written very much.\n\nThe first, by Angela Morgan in the _Cosmopolitan_, is a real\nTheosophical challenge, a veritable battle-cry, with something of the\ntrenchant force and fire that flashes and thunders from out the lines\nof the old _Beowulf_:\n\n Reined by an unseen tyrant's hand,\n Spurred by an unseen tyrant's will,\n Aquiver at the fierce command\n That goads you up the danger hill,\n You cry: \"O Fate, O Life, be kind!\n Grant but an hour of respite--give\n One moment to my suffering mind;\n I cannot keep the pace and live.\"\n But Fate drives on and will not heed\n The lips that beg, the feet that bleed.\n Drives, while you faint upon the road,\n Drives, with a menace for a goad;\n With fiery reins of circumstance\n Urging his terrible advance\n The while you cry in your despair,\n \"The pain is more than I can bear.\"\n\n Fear not the goad, fear not the pace,\n Plead not to fall from out the race--\n It is your own Self driving you,\n Your Self that you have never known,\n Seeing your little self alone,\n Your Self, high-seated charioteer,\n Master of cowardice and fear,\n Your Self that sees the shining length\n Of all the fearful road ahead;\n Knows that the terrors that you dread\n Are pigmies to your splendid strength;\n Strength you have never even guessed,\n Strength that has never needed rest.\n Your Self that holds the mastering rein,\n Seeing beyond the sweat and pain\n And anguish of your driven soul\n The patient beauty of the goal.\n\n Fighting upon the terror field\n Where man and Fate come breast to breast,\n Pressed by a thousand foes to yield,\n Tortured and wounded without rest,\n You cried, \"Be merciful, O Life!\n The strongest spirit soon must break\n Before this all-unequal strife,\n This endless fight for failure's sake.\"\n But Fate, unheeding, lifted high\n His sword and thrust you through to die.\n And then there came one strong and great,\n Who towered high o'er Chance and Fate,\n Who bound your wound and eased your pain\n And bade you rise and fight again.\n And from some source you did not guess\n Gushed a great tide of happiness--\n A courage mightier than the sun--\n You rose and fought, and fighting, won.\n\n It was your own Self saving you,\n Your Self no man has ever known,\n Looking on flesh and blood alone;\n The Self that lives as close to God\n As roots that feed beneath the sod.\n That one who stands behind the screen,\n Looks through the window of your eyes--\n A being out of Paradise.\n The Self no human eye hath seen,\n The living one who never tires,\n Fed by the deep eternal fires.\n Your flaming star, with two-edged sword,\n Made in the likeness of the Lord.\n Angel and guardian at the gate,\n Master of Death and King of Fate.\n\nPerhaps more musical and exquisite in its technic is the following (by\nEdith M. Thomas in the _Century_), yet one looks in vain for the note\nof positive assurance that sings and rings out of the poem just quoted.\nNow one expects in poetry something more than rhymed philosophy, of\ncourse, and sheer beauty of rhythm has more than once endowed paucity\nof thought with an almost immortality. But the content is important,\nnone the less. In the preceding poem one feels a mighty conviction\nforcing its way through every limitation to the goal of expression. The\nwork of the older and better known poetess is more clearly poetic--to\nthose who know the path and know the way its Sphinx-like questionings\nevoke their own answer in the deeps of consciousness. To the many,\nhowever, the first poem must reveal more.\n\nTHE UNKNOWING\n\n I know not where I am:\n Beneath my feet a whirling sphere,\n And overhead (and yet below)\n A crystal rampart cutting sheer--\n The traveling sun its oriflam.\n What do I know?\n I know not what I do:\n I wrought at that, I wrought at this,\n The shuttle still perforce I throw;\n But if aright or if amiss\n The web reveals not, held to view.\n What do I know?\n\n I know not what I think:\n My thoughts?--As in a shaft of light\n The dust-motes wander to and fro,\n And shimmer in their flight;\n Then, either way, in darkness sink.\n What do I know?\n\n I know not who am I:\n If now I enter on the Scheme,\n Or revenant from long ago;\n If but some World-Soul's moment-dream,\n Or, timeless, in Itself I lie.\n What do I know?\n\nHere is a sweet touch from the Kansas City _Star_. The very name of the\nwriter of it is so in keeping with tender dutifulness and so suggestive\nof clean-swept hearths and ministries to tiny, clinging hands, that\none wonders if it be not a pseudonym. A miniature \"psalm of daily duty\"\nis it:\n\n At morn I yearned a song to sing\n That would inspire and teach\n In words so true all men would hear\n In them their own soul's speech.\n\n But Duty stopped my pen and showed\n The day's dull round of care--\n The service to another's need--\n A burden I should share.\n\n At night the Day sung to the past\n Her record clear and strong,\n And richer, sweeter than I dreamed\n I heard complete my song.\n\n --_Emily Householder_\n\nAnd from the same paper another ringing note on the sacredness of the\nday's duty--but this is no psalm, rather a trumpet call, gorgeous,\nfull, and technically so splendid that it suggests the ancients:\n\nTODAY\n\n Voice, with what emulous fire thou singest free hearts of old fashion,\n English scorners of Spain sweeping the blue sea-way,\n Sing me the daring of life for life, the magnanimous passion\n Of man for man in the mean populous streets of Today.\n\n Hand, with what color and power thou couldst show, in the ring\n hot-sanded,\n Brown Bestiarius holding the lean, tawn tiger at bay,\n Paint me the wrestle of Toil with the wild-beast Want, bare-handed;\n Shadow me forth a soul steadily facing Today.--_Helen Gray Cone_\n\nWill you have music? Then read these, so different in content, so\nunlike in the touch, for one is threaded through with compassion and\ntenderness while the other is just a little note of joy in life, which\nmight rise out of self as well as unself in certain not yet conscious\nnatures.\n\nCANDLEMAS\n\n O hearken, all ye little weeds\n That lie beneath the snow,\n (So low, dear hearts, in poverty so low!)\n The sun hath risen for royal deeds,\n A valiant wind the vanguard leads;\n Now quicken ye, lest unborn seeds\n Before ye rise and blow.\n\n O furry living things, adream\n On winter's drowsy breast,\n (How rest ye there, how softly, safely rest!)\n Arise and follow where a gleam\n Of wizard gold unbinds the stream,\n And all the woodland windings seem\n With sweet expectance blest.\n\n My birds, come back! the hollow sky\n Is weary for your note.\n (Sweet-throat, come back! O liquid, mellow throat!)\n Ere May's soft minions hereward fly,\n Shame on ye, laggards, to deny\n The brooding breast, the sun-bright eye,\n The tawny, shining coat!--_Alice Brown_\n\nTHE WAVES OF BREFFNY\n\n The grand road from the mountain goes shining to the sea,\n And there is traffic on it and many a horse and cart;\n But the little roads of Cloonagh are dearer far to me\n And the little roads of Cloonagh go rambling through my heart.\n A great storm from the ocean goes shouting o'er the hill,\n And there is glory in it, and terror on the wind;\n But the haunted air of twilight is very strange and still,\n And the little winds of twilight are dearer to my mind.\n\n The great waves of the Atlantic sweep storming on their way,\n Shining green and silver with the hidden herring shoal;\n But the little waves of Breffny have drenched my heart in spray,\n And the little waves of Breffny go sweeping through my soul.\n\n --_Eva Gore-Booth_\n\nThe two following poems attack the same theme, a fruitful and varied\none to lovers of Lomaland where the winter rains are the year's\nbeneficence. But note the full rich lines of the work of the unknown\nwriter, albeit the sonnet is of course the more difficult poetic form.\n\nTHE FOUNTAINS OF THE RAIN\n\n The merchant clouds that cruise the sultry sky,\n As soon as they have spent their freight of rain,\n Plot how the cooling thrift they may regain:\n All night along the river-marsh they lie,\n And at their ghostly looms swift shuttles ply,\n To weave them nets wherewith the streams to drain;\n And often in the sea they cast a seine,\n And draw it, dripping, past some headland high.\n Many a slender naiad, with a sigh,\n Is in their arms uptaken from the plain;\n The trembling myrmidons of dew remain\n No longer than the flash of morning's eye,\n Then back unto their misty fountains fly:\n This is the source and journey of the rain.\n\n --_Edith Matilda Thomas_\n\nRAIN\n\n The patient rain at early summer dawn;\n The long, lone autumn drip; the damp, sweet hush\n Of springtime, when the glinting drops seem gone\n Into the first notes of the hidden thrush;\n The solemn, dreary beat\n Of winter rain and sleet;\n The mad, glad, passionate calling of the showers\n To the unblossomed hours;\n The driving, restless midnight sweep of rain;\n The fitful sobbing, and the smile again,\n\n Of spring's childhood; the fierce unpitying pour\n Of low-hung leaden clouds; the evermore\n Prophetic beauty of the sunset storm,\n Transfigured into color and to form\n Across the sky. O wondrous changing rain!\n Changeful and full of temper as man's life;\n Impetuous, fierce, unpitying, kind again,\n Prophetic, beauteous, soothing, full of strife:\n Through all thy changing passions hear not we\n Th' eternal note of the Unchanging Sea?\n\n --_Laura Spencer Portor_\n\nNothing is worse than bad poetry, unless it be bad art of every kind,\nof which the world today is having a surfeit. That we find a greater\nabundance of wretched verse, however, than of wretched painting and\nsculpture, and that there are still those who think that the poet's\nequipment need consist of little more than an unbalanced emotionalism,\nwe may attribute perhaps to the fact that the pen and ink are readier\nto hand with the majority than palette and brush or calipers and\nmodeling tool. Conceit and ignorance, working together, have made \"to\nwrite poetry\" almost a reproach.\n\nThe remedy would seem to be to diffuse a few simple truths, such\nas that true poetry has nothing to do with emotionalism, nor\nsentimentality, nor bad spelling, nor with metres that \"interfere,\"\nlike a clumsy horse's feet; and that where one in ten thousand who care\nfor poetry may try to write it and succeed, the rest will fail and will\nneglect their proper duties besides. It is so in art, in literature\ngenerally, in music, in all things--the safe path is to drop the gleam\nand fire and fragrance of the soul-touch into one's life _in the shape\nof a more courageous performance of the daily task, whatever it may\nbe_, and be content with that, which is the greatest thing in the\nworld, anyway. If the Muse should decide to pick us out, willy nilly,\nshe has ways of letting us know. Poesy has its technic, as has all art,\nand sentimental ignorance can never hope to pose as inspiration among\nthose who know.\n\nThe real point to be emphasized is that this is part of a certain\noutreaching on idealistic lines of which the wholly remarkable work\nof the young women of the present generation in music, composition,\npainting, and sculpture, constitutes other parts. And this outreaching\ntowards an art expression along various lines is so general, and is\nso differentiated in essence from the results of ordinary scholastic\nwork or the general movement for the higher education of woman, that it\ncannot justly be ignored.\n\nFew young women will, in the ordinary course, win a separate fame along\nthe solitary path of pure art. Most of them, and most of those who come\nwithin the radius of the influence of their aspirations and their art\nwork, will become wives, home-makers, mothers. Many more will become\nteachers, or are that now, wielding potent influence. It is these who\nwill strike the keynote for the quality of atmosphere that is to shape,\nas it will surround, the generations yet unborn; and, because of that,\nthe feeling and aspiration that many of the poems seen in our current\njournals disclose, is important and significant at this transitional\ntime.\n\n\n\n\nANCIENT ASTRONOMY: by Fred J. Dick, M. Inst. C. E.\n\n\nIn perhaps no department of thought has appreciation of the\nachievements of antiquity been more inadequate than in that of\nastronomy. This is all the more remarkable when we remember that many\nfacts have been published and are accessible, amply sufficient to\nconvince any unbiased student as to the hoary antiquity of the science;\nand also as to the fact that in the remotest times it was a science\nwhose exactitude surpassed that of modernity because based upon immense\nperiods of observation and a profound knowledge of the harmonious laws\nunderlying celestial motions; in comparison with which knowledge our\ngeneralizations and mathematical triumphs pale into insignificance.\n\nSuch statements are hardly likely to meet ready acceptance from those\nwho have not yet realized the immense antiquity of the human race,\nthe cyclic rises and falls of nations and races coeval with vanished\ncontinents, and the fact that there were times when humanity had divine\ninstructors in the arts and sciences. Yet without some recognition of\nthese basic ideas it is hardly possible to comprehend even faintly the\nsignificance of some statements made in the _S\u00fbrya-Siddh\u00e2nta_--one\nof the oldest treatises on astronomy extant. There are many\nothers--perhaps thousands--but they are not accessible at the present\ntime, probably because they would be still less understood.\n\nAnother thing hardly likely to be appreciated in some quarters is the\nfact that on account of the intimate connexion between the facts of\nastronomy and cyclic laws affecting human destiny, this science for\nlong ages was one of the sacred sciences, and its deeper mysteries were\ncarefully guarded--as they are still, for that matter.\n\nThis last consideration throws an interesting light on the performance\nof Hipparchos (whom our text-books dub \"the father of astronomy\"),\nfor he was not only silent as to the sources of his facts, but his\ndata have been shown to be inconsistent with his methods, and are only\nexplainable when calculated out on the principles enunciated in the\n_S\u00fbrya-Siddh\u00e2nta_. In short, he has been thus shown to have had access\nto Eastern sources of information, while at the same time some things\nwere withheld.\n\nThis is but an instance of a policy which had been pursued for a very\nconsiderable period anterior to the time of Hipparchos. Just so much\nwas given as would afford a stimulus for investigation; for humanity\nentered upon novel and strenuous conditions some five thousand years\nago, and has had to win for itself a new path in science, as in other\ndepartments of activity.\n\nKey-notes are sounded, and instruction given, at cyclic periods;\nyet man must win his own path to knowledge, and guarded sources of\ninformation could not help him, until he prove himself morally as well\nas intellectually fitted to advance.\n\nThis brings us naturally to a survey of modern achievement in\nastronomy, and the conclusion is almost irresistible that it has\nreached a point where further light must come, if only the enthusiastic\nfollowers of this kingly science would raise their eyes from the\nmechanical skeleton they have built so laboriously, and realize that\nthe universe is living and conscious--in the interstellar spaces, as\nwell as in the little fiery-looking balls that float therein. We should\nremember that it is part of human destiny to enter into the wider\nconsciousness which alone holds the master-clues.\n\nThe above conclusion is supported by the statement of Simon Newcomb\nthat the unsolved problems of astronomy seem to increase with every\nyear, instead of diminishing.\n\nIt is a curious reflection, in these days of \"exact\" science, that real\nexactitude can only be obtained, as in pure mathematics, by proceeding\nfrom universals to particulars, never from particulars to universals.\nYet the latter method has perforce to be adopted when no other way\nis in sight. That it fails, is shown by the simple fact that few of\nthe \"elements\" or \"constants\" in modern astronomy are exactly known.\nNo tables have yet been constructed, based upon purely mathematical\nformulae, which represent the actual motions, say of the superior\nplanets. Those in the _Nautical Almanac_ are simply derived from such\nhypothetical formulae, with corrections found necessary by experience\nextended over what is an almost ludicrously insufficient term of years.\nWe should like to see the astronomical formula in use which would show\nthat the obliquity of the ecliptic, 23,000 years ago, was slightly more\nthan 27\u00b0. No longer ago than August 1905 an eclipse of the sun began\ntwenty seconds before the predicted time.\n\nFortunately our astronomers do not live in ancient China, or they might\nhave been beheaded for this want of accuracy!\n\nOn the other hand, the achievements in the domain of theory during\nthe last two centuries or less have been so remarkable that it is\nto be hoped the methods and facts given in the _S\u00fbrya-Siddh\u00e2nta_ may\nyet receive some attention from competent mathematicians, once they\nperceive their importance. The apparent discrepancies with modern\nfacts, it may be pretty safely asserted, will be found to yield\nvaluable results upon careful analysis.\n\nInvestigators will find that, contrary to the assumptions of some\ncritics of Eastern chronology, a \"year\" does not mean a day, nor a\nmonth--although it is sometimes called \"a day of the gods\" in Eastern\nwritings.\n\nOne of the first things to arrest attention in the _S\u00fbrya-Siddh\u00e2nta_ is\nthat in a \"great age\" of 4320 thousand years there are exactly forty\nrevolutions of the Earth's apsides, one revolution of which occupies\n108 thousand years. (Young's _General Astronomy_, \u00a7 199.) The line of\napsides is the major axis of the Earth's orbit. Here we glimpse a basic\nconnexion between the great cycles of time and the apsidal revolutions.\n\nLet us quote a few aphorisms from Book I of this ancient work.\n\n 27. By their [the planets'] movement the revolution is accounted\n complete at the end of the asterism Revat\u00ee.\n\n 29. In an age the revolutions of the Sun ... are 4,320,000.\n\n 30. Of the Moon 57,753,336.\n\n 31. ... of Jupiter 364,220.\n\n 32. ... of Saturn 146,568.\n\n 33. Of the Moon's apsis 488,203. Of its node, in the contrary\n direction 232,238.\n\n 34. Of asterisms 1,582,237,828.\n\n 36. ... From rising to rising of the Sun are reckoned terrestrial\n civil days.\n\n 37. Of these there are in an age 1,577,917,828. Of lunar days\n 1,603,000,080.\n\nFrom these figures we find the mean value of the sidereal year during\na cycle of 4320 thousand years to be 0.002403 of a day longer than\nat present, which of course means that there are slow changes in the\nlength of the orbital major axis.\n\nThere is a point worthy of attention regarding the asterism Revat\u00ee,\nto which these revolutions are referred, and which is thus seen to\nmark the origin of the Hind\u00fb movable zodiac. The precise star has\neither disappeared, or has not, so far, been publicly indicated. But\nthe place of the origin was carefully calculated in 1883, and found\nto have a longitude of about 20.5 degrees. Again, from the numerous\nfacts connected with the important epoch of 3102 B. C., which marked\nthe beginning of the current cycle of 432,000 years (See _Trait\u00e9 de_\n_l'Astronomie Indienne et Orientale_, by M. Bailly, M. Acad. Fran\u00e7.,\n1787), its place was about five degrees westward of the other. This\nshows it to have a positive movement of 4\u00b4\u00b4 per year, giving one\ncomplete revolution in 324,000 years.\n\nThis proper motion, if that of an actual star, is of the same order\nof magnitude as that of many stars. It would perhaps be interesting\nto glance at the relation between stellar movements and the greater\ncycles dealt with in ancient astronomy, for all analogy would indicate\nrevolution in orbits to be a general law; and moreover, probabilities\nwould indicate that our system is not too remote from the center of the\nstellar system. Assuming the average cross speed to be twenty miles per\nsecond, stars at 7 light-years distance would make one revolution while\nthe Earth's apsides made four. Those at 70 light-years, one in a \"great\nage.\" Those at the estimated distance of the farthest visible stars,\n5000 light-years, would perform a revolution in just one manvantara of\n308 million years.\n\nDoubtless all such revolutions are superposed on other lesser\nrevolutions down to those known, as in cases of double stars, etc. And\nit may be suggested that there are not improbably a number of axes\nof revolution, or rather principal planes of revolution, having some\nharmonious mutual inclination.\n\nIn order properly to relate the above mean value of the sidereal year\nto its present value, we should have to know our place in this cycle\nof 4320 thousand years; and the same observation applies to the other\nfigures. We may return to this point at another time, as the necessary\ndata are given in the same work. The effect of stellar proper motions,\nalready referred to, would have to be considered.\n\nThe figures for the Moon make the mean value of the sidereal month\n1.103 seconds longer than its present estimated value.\n\nThose for Jupiter make its mean sidereal period about a quarter of\na day shorter than the present one of 4332.58 days; while those for\nSaturn come out 6.55 days more than the present period of 10,759.22\ndays.\n\nThe methods of calculation and tables connected with the\n_S\u00fbrya-Siddh\u00e2nta_ were rigorously applied by M. Bailly to an observed\ninterval extending from the epoch in 3102 B. C. to a certain moment\non May 21, 1282 of our era, at Benares--a period of 4383 years and 94\ndays; and the mean place of the Moon thus found was less than a minute\nof arc different from that calculated for the same interval by the\nmodern tables of Cassini. An astronomy which could achieve a result\nlike this by methods and tables at least five thousand years old,\npoints to the enormous duration of some prior high civilization.\n\nThe precessional movement of 54\u00b4\u00b4, peculiar to the _S\u00fbrya-Siddh\u00e2nta_,\nbeing referred to \"Revat\u00ee\" with its 4\u00b4\u00b4 direct motion, gives 50\u00b4\u00b4, like\nours.\n\nIt is as well perhaps to recall what Iamblichus states:\n\n The Assyrians have not only preserved the memorials of seven and\n twenty myriads [270,000] of years as Hipparchos says they have, but\n likewise of the whole apocatastases [planetary sidereal periods]\n and periods of the seven rulers of the world. (Proklos on Plato's\n _Timaios_, Bk. 1.)\n\nH. P. Blavatsky, commenting on this, says it is\n\n about 850,000 years since the submersion of the last large island\n (part of the Continent), the Ruta of the Fourth Race, or the\n Atlantean; while Daitya, a small island inhabited by a mixed race,\n was destroyed about 270,000 years ago, during the glacial period or\n thereabouts. But the Seven Rulers, or the seven great Dynasties of\n the _divine_ kings belong to the traditions of every great people of\n antiquity. (_The Secret Doctrine_, I, 651.)\n\nShe also informs us that\n\n The chronology and computations of the Br\u00e2hman Initiates[2] are based\n upon the Zodiacal records of India, and the works of ... Asuramaya.\n The Atlantean zodiacal records cannot err, as they were compiled under\n the guidance of those who first taught astronomy, among other things,\n to mankind. (_The Secret Doctrine_, II, 49.)\n\n[2] But these are not the modern Br\u00e2hmans, as is clearly explained in\nH. P. Blavatsky's own writings.--F. J. D.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PATH: by Gertrude Van Pelt, M. D.\n\n Thou wilt shew me the path of life.--_Psalms_, xvi. 11\n\n\nNothing so stirs the heart with gratitude as the thought of the Great\nSouls who have opened the Path, who keep it open, and who guide the\nsteps of the hungry searching multitude to its entrance. They have\ncarved the way through the rock of matter. They have waded through the\nmires of delusion. They have cleared away the confusing and entangling\nunderbrush of doubt. They have hewn down the mighty obstructions. With\ndauntless courage each one has destroyed the dragon which guarded the\ntreasure from himself, thus inspiring all who follow. They have erected\nsignposts all along the journey, and with their hearts' blood have\nwritten thereon the messages which every pilgrim may read, and so avoid\none step amiss. Not only this, but having achieved the goal, they have\nretraced their steps again and again, to direct the uncertain feet of\nthe children of earth, to combat ignorance, vice, and injustice; to\nencourage, uplift, and teach. Though unseen in many times and places,\nit is they who keep the lights burning.\n\nTerrible as are the difficulties, the discouragements, the disasters,\nwhich the human children encounter, it is the Great Souls who prevent\nthem from being impossible; who ward off the clouds of despair lest\nthey settle over the globe like a pall of darkness paralysing all\neffort. Without these Elder Brothers all would be lost in the labyrinth\nof matter, never finding the thread which could lead them out. But to\nbe without them is inconceivable, unthinkable; for all must sometime\nfind the Path and tread it. No means have been omitted to make it\nplain. All nature exists but to point the way. All experiences, all\nevents, difficulties, disappointments, all good, as well as so-called\nbad fortune: all tend to the same issue. It has been described in every\nlanguage of heart or head, that all, even the beasts of the fields, in\nsome vague way, may hear and gradually understand.\n\nOne of those who has gone before and returned to show the path to\nothers, said: \"I am the Way.\" Another, with a different sidelight on\nthe same truth, said: \"Each man is to himself absolutely the way.\" For\neach one in traveling it, does so by passing through the mazes of his\nown personality, first as one blindfolded, then as one slowly awakening\nto its meaning, and finally as one consciously subduing and transmuting\nit. And when he has reached the goal, he _becomes_ the way. His whole\nbeing is an expression, an exposition of the way--the mystic Path,\nwhich lies within and yet without; which is so far, and yet so near.\n_Light on the Path_ expresses it as follows:\n\n Seek out the way.... Seek it not by any one road. To each temperament\n there is one road which seems the most desirable. But the way is not\n found by devotion alone, by religious contemplation alone, by ardent\n progress, by self-sacrificing labor, by studious observation of life.\n None alone can take the disciple more than one step onward. All steps\n are necessary to make up the ladder. The vices of men become steps in\n the ladder, one by one, _as they are surmounted_. The virtues of men\n are steps indeed, necessary--not by any means to be dispensed with.\n Yet, though they create a fair atmosphere, and a happy future, they\n are useless if they stand alone. The whole nature of man must be used\n wisely by the one who desires to enter the way.\n\n\n\n\nSAN DIEGO: by Kenneth Morris\n\n\nThat San Diego has the greatest of futures before it, who shall deny?\nKatherine Tingley, Leader of The Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical\nSociety, foresaw its destiny, saw its possibilities, fifteen years\nago, and began forthwith to lay the foundations of peculiar greatness\nfor it. There are thousands of cities in the United States, doubtless\nin Canada too, centers in all the new worlds established from Europe,\nthat have before them a huge metropolitanism, and are to grow populous\nbeyond the Old World capitals. Why not? The wind of increase bloweth\nwhere it listeth, and we can only safely prophesy change and reversion,\nchange and reversion. Where the deserts are now, dwelt of old the\nbuilders of sky-scrapers; aeroplanes soared over lands the oceans\ncover; and Dreadnoughts floated and made war, perhaps, where now are\nAlps and Andes. Here is a land in its beginnings; many millennia lie\nbefore it in which to grow. We need the grand vision when we look\nout on the ages to be; only so can we sow the right seeds for their\nharvesting. We cannot tell what nations or cities are destined for\nhigh material greatness; probably there is room for every one to hope.\nBut for San Diego a peculiar and more excellent fate is reserved,\nwhose falling she may hasten by her clear-sightedness, or retard by\nher perversity; still, it lies before her. She is to be the City of\nRighteousness, the metropolis of the world's culture, the Mecca of\ndistant generations of poets, artists, philosophers, and musicians.\nIt is not mainly her own citizens who make this claim. They, with all\ntheir high ambitions, with all their golden dreams, are hardly alive to\nthe great possibilities of the town.\n\nIn an age pre-eminently of material progress, it is natural to lay most\nstress on the material advantages of site, climate, etc. So there is\nno end to the writing on the Bay--the one bay between San Francisco\nand somewhere far away in Mexico--with all it offers for commerce and\nfor strategy; or on the unwearying efforts of the sun; on the glorious\nhinterland, so rich and beautiful; or the new railway that is to open\nit up, and link San Diego with the east; on partial awakenings at\nWashington to the great strategic importance of this town, and the\ncertainty that these partial awakenings must become whole-hearted\nand thorough some time, and bear fruit a thousandfold. Time, time,\ntime--there is time for all these things. Innumerable palaces will be\nseen, surrounding this blue jewel of a bay; looking down on it from\namidst exquisite parks and gardens on the heights; there will be\ndrives as famed as any in Switzerland or Italy. Nature herself has\nprovided for this; and the tide of empire is rolling westward.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. VIEW OF SAN DIEGO\nWITH A GLIMPSE OF THE BAY CORONADO IN THE DISTANCE]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE U. S. GRANT\nHOTEL, FROM THE PLAZA, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA]\n\nTime and again San Diego has been named with two cities of the Old\nWorld; and there is something instructive in either comparison. She\nis \"the Naples of California,\" and again, \"the Athens of the Pacific\nCoast.\" Cuyamaca has been likened to Vesuvius, and our bay to the\nBay of Naples. Indeed, no doubt there is a physical resemblance. The\nconditions that made Naples are largely historic; but then they are\nlargely climatic, and matters of situation, also. As for history, the\nhistory of San Diego lies before her. All historic conditions--Camorra,\nlazzaroni, plague, pestilence, national inefficiency, vice, and famine,\nor the blessings which are the reverse of all these--are the fruitage\nof one cannot say what tiny seeds sown, one cannot say when or how\noften. You take a child, and give it no training or bad training in\nits first years: it was the offspring of highly cultured parents,\nperhaps; but what disasters may not lie before it? On the other hand,\nyou take a child, who has had no advantages, and give it a R\u00e2ja Yoga\ntraining such as Katherine Tingley is giving to so many at Point Loma\nand elsewhere--such, in truth, as only Katherine Tingley knows how to\ngive--and you need set no particular limits to the hopes you hold for\nthat child's future. There is a great parallelism with this in the\nearly years of a city or community.\n\nUp and down the world there are a thousand cities, as was said,\nwith huge material destinies lying before them, which by their very\nsituation they will not be able to escape. But in how many cases\nhave they not been without far foresight in their youth, to guard\nthem against the perils of that most perilous time? \"They sow their\nwild oats,\" we say; a phrase that is meant to cover a multitude of\niniquities. One can no more cheat the Law with such an excusive\nexpression, than one can write an I O U for one's debts, and\ncomfortably thank God that one need think no more of _them_. He who has\nsown his wild oats may have gained a certain wisdom and experience out\nof the sufferings resultant from them; but he will never be the man he\nmight have been. He will have lowered the whole of his possibilities,\nand can pay thereafter only so much per cent of his debt to the world\nand humanity.\n\nClimate and situation might have prepared for San Diego only such a\nfate as that of Naples; and there are other elements of possible\ndanger as well, which it would require no ordinary wisdom and foresight\nto guard against. Indeed, have there not been revelations here and\nthere in our cities, which should make us judge charitably the home of\nthe Camorra? But now there are many thousands up and down the world\nwho believe in San Diego; who cannot think she will fail or fall into\ngross error; who already look on her as a Mecca for their hopes; who\nknow that she will shed light around the world. Reference is made,\nof course, to the great membership of the Universal Brotherhood and\nTheosophical Society, which has its ramifications among all the peoples\nof the globe. For them, San Diego rose above the horizon when Katherine\nTingley declared her intention, some fifteen years ago, to found the\nCity of Learning, the World's Theosophical Headquarters, on the heights\nof Point Loma, within the city limits of San Diego. They had reason\neven then to know that what Katherine Tingley says she will do, is\ndone; and they have had a million times more reason for that certainty\ngiven them since.\n\nWhen this famous humanitarian came to San Diego, grass was growing in\nsome of the streets there, where there should have been boulevards\nbustling with life. The old first \"boom\" had long since spent itself,\nhelped to its grave by ready inimical hands; and there seemed no\nspecial reason for its resurrection. It was then that she made her\npromises. This little city of the quiet streets should come to be, not\nthe Naples, but the Athens of the west. It should have population;\nit should have riches and commerce and splendor; it should flourish\nabundantly when its enemies had long since faded out and been\nforgotten; and all this was the very least and most insignificant part\nof its destiny. There should be a new and timelong age of Perikles\nhere; new Phidian studios; new Groves of Akademe. Time--we must not be\nniggardly with that, perhaps; these things should not be in a day; but\nassuredly _they should be_.\n\nIt will be asked, on what grounds Katherine Tingley based these\npromises of hers. The answer is: on her own intentions with regard to\nthe place; and on her knowledge of the laws that govern the growth of\ncivic and national life. Is there no knowing the future? The farmer\nsows his seed under the impression that there is. He has cultivated\nthe soil; plowed and fertilized it; now he can put the seed in with\na certain confidence. Only it is not everybody that understands the\npreparing for these greater national or civic harvests.\n\nIt is safe to say that from that time the second great San Diego boom\ndates. The Theosophical Center was started on Point Loma, and from the\nfirst has been attracting life to the city across the bay. This is not\nthe place to give statistics as to the number of thousands of dollars\nthat have been spent in San Diego each year; nor as to the amount of\nlabor that has been employed. From the start it was enough to give the\ncity that new impetus of life which was needed--a fact proven by the\nrise in the population from 17,000 to 50,000 in ten years.\n\nThen came the founding of the R\u00e2ja Yoga system of education, with its\nfirst and chiefest exemplification in the College on Point Loma. Do\nall our citizens realize what this has meant for the city? On merely\nmaterial lines, for example? Not only from the eastern States, but from\nEurope and Asia as well, hundreds have made the pilgrimage to San Diego\nto investigate the R\u00e2ja Yoga College and system on the Point. They\nhave gone away and filled their own lands with the rumor of the fame\nof this wonderful new thing that has its Headquarters--at _San Diego_.\nThe press of England, of Japan, of Germany, of Holland, of Sweden, have\nbeen made abundantly aware of the fame of this Theosophical Center--at\n_San Diego_. A Greek play is given in the open-air theater on Point\nLoma, _San Diego_--and we read critiques of it in the morning papers\nof Bavaria. We pick up a Tokyo magazine of current date, and find in\nit a picture of a group of children who are receiving their education\nat Point Loma, _San Diego_. Katherine Tingley landed in Liverpool in\nthe summer of 1907; and the next morning's London papers teemed with\naccounts of her--pages of accounts of her--and of her colossal and\nbeneficent undertaking at Point Loma, _San Diego_. And so on, and so\non, and so on. With the best facilities in the world and a genius for\nadvertising, and with the expenditure of millions, San Diego could\nhardly have advertised herself in the way that Mrs. Tingley, through\nher Theosophical work, has caused her to be advertised; and it has cost\nSan Diego nothing.\n\nBut all this has been merely, or mainly, for the material advantage\nof the city. A man (or a place) may acquire a false fame, that he\ncannot or will not live up to; and he will be paid with contempt later,\nmore oppressive than the obscurity he had at first. Mrs. Tingley\nhas done more than this. She has laid down the lines, and labored\nwithout ceasing, for the real advance and benefit of the city. Is it\nnothing that San Diego should have in its core a Center such as this\nTheosophical one at Point Loma--a center where the higher life is\nbeing lived, where money is not the motive, where the greatest effort\nof the age is being made to uplift humanity? The greatest effort? Yes;\nbecause the one that knows best what must be done to attain success,\nand on what foundations in the nature of man this success must be based.\n\nConsider her fame throughout the world; her fame as an orator, that\nwill crowd the biggest halls in any city in Europe, and bring hundreds\nto the doors who cannot gain admission. There _may_ be some other\nliving Americans of whom as much can be said; but there are not many.\nHow many visitors are attracted to San Diego yearly by Katherine\nTingley's famous work at Point Loma, and because this world-renowned\norator will certainly be speaking at the Isis Theater twice or three\ntimes, or perhaps more often, in each season? And what will be the\nresult of these many speeches of hers, that so many thousands have\nheard?\n\nThe result may not be so visible yet that \"he who runs may read\";\nneither is the result of the great fertilizing you gave your\nfield--until the grain has sprouted, and the brown earth is covered\nwith greenness. But the result is that seeds of coming greatness, in a\nreal sense--seeds of a higher, cleaner, saner life--have been sown in\nthe life and thought of the city. In time you shall see the harvest.\nIt will be a clean city, such as Calvin, for example, strove to make\nof his Geneva; a city without stain or blemish, without saloon or\nredlight. Beyond that, it will be a city perhaps of many theaters, in\nwhich the highest, the most classical and beautiful of the world's\ndramas will be shown--and in which there will never be anything shown\napproaching the commonplace, the vulgar, the stupid. It will be a City\nBeautiful, a place of marvelous architecture, exquisite gardening. It\nwill be a city whose press will be clean, elevating, unsensational,\ninstructive; a press that will not lie nor slander nor _touch personal\nthemes_; that will give the news, and not rake hell and the gutters,\nfact and fancy, for all kinds of nauseousness and nonsense; a press\nthat will be a model to the press of the world. From all the world the\nbest people will be sending their children to be educated here.\n\nThere is no limit to the high possibilities of San Diego--the high\npossibilities that Katherine Tingley has helped to make possible. How\nlong, O San Diego, before these things shall be? It is for you to\nanswer; it is for you to answer.\n\n\n\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society\n\nEstablished for the Benefit of the People of the Earth and all Creatures\n\n\nOBJECTS\n\nThis Brotherhood is part of a great and universal movement which has\nbeen active in all ages.\n\nThis Organization declares that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature. Its\nprincipal purpose is to teach Brotherhood, demonstrate that it is a\nfact in Nature, and make it a living power in the life of humanity.\n\nIts subsidiary purpose is to study ancient and modern religions,\nscience, philosophy and art; to investigate the laws of Nature and the\ndivine powers in man.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nH. P. BLAVATSKY, FOUNDRESS AND TEACHER\n\nThe present Theosophical Movement was inaugurated by Helena Petrovna\nBlavatsky in New York in 1875. The original name was \"The Theosophical\nSociety.\" Associated with her were William Q. Judge and others.\nMadame Blavatsky for a time preferred not to hold any outer official\nposition except that of Corresponding Secretary. But later, in 1888,\nshe dissolved a Center in France and cancelled its by-laws, which\naction was afterwards formally ratified by the Executive Council of the\nSociety. Referring to this she wrote in her English magazine as follows:\n\n This settles the question of the actual right of the Corresponding\n Secretary--one of the founders--to interfere in such exceptional cases\n when the welfare and reputation of the Theosophical Society are at\n stake. In no other, except such a case, would the undersigned have\n consented or taken upon herself the right of interfering.\n\nLater she assumed the Presidency of the British Section of the\nTheosophical Society. Further, in response to the statement published\nby a then prominent member in India that Madame Blavatsky is \"loyal to\nthe Theosophical Society and to Adyar,\" Madame Blavatsky wrote:\n\n It is pure nonsense to say that \"H. P. B. ... is loyal to the\n Theosophical Society and to Adyar\"(!?). _H. P. B. is loyal to death to\n the Theosophical cause and those Great Teachers whose philosophy can\n alone bind the whole of Humanity into one Brotherhood_.... The degree\n of her sympathies with the Theosophical Society and Adyar depends upon\n the degree of the loyalty of that Society to the CAUSE. Let it break\n away from the original lines and show disloyalty in its policy to the\n cause and the original program of the Society, and H. P. B., calling\n the T. S. disloyal, will shake it off like dust from her feet.\n\nAll true students know that Madame Blavatsky held the highest\nauthority, the only real authority which comes of wisdom and power, the\nauthority of Teacher and Leader, the real head, heart, and inspiration\nof the whole Theosophical Movement. It was through her that the\nteachings of Theosophy were given to the world, and without her the\nTheosophical Movement could not have been.\n\n\nBRANCH SOCIETIES IN EUROPE AND INDIA\n\nIn 1878 Madame Blavatsky left the United States, first visiting\nGreat Britain and then India, in both of which countries she founded\nbranch societies. The parent body in New York became later the Aryan\nTheosophical Society and HAS ALWAYS HAD ITS HEADQUARTERS IN AMERICA;\nand of this, William Q. Judge was President until his death in 1896.\n\nTo one who accepts the teachings of Theosophy it is plain to see that\nalthough Theosophy is of no nationality or country but for all, yet\nit has a peculiar relationship with America. Not only was the United\nStates the birthplace of the Theosophical Society, and the home of the\nParent Body up to the present time, but H. P. Blavatsky, the Foundress\nof the Society, although a Russian by birth, became an American\ncitizen; William Q. Judge, of Irish parentage and birth, also became\nan American citizen; and Katherine Tingley is American born. America\ntherefore not only has played a unique part in the history of the\npresent Theosophical Movement, but it is plain to see that its destiny\nis closely interwoven with that of Theosophy; and by America is meant\nnot only the United States or even the North American continent, but\nalso the South American continent, and, as repeatedly declared by\nMadame Blavatsky, it is in this great Western Hemisphere as a whole,\nNorth and South, that the next great Race of humanity is to be born.\n\n\nENEMIES OF PROGRESS\n\nWhile the main object of the Society from the first was to establish a\nnucleus of Universal Brotherhood, there were some, we regret to state,\nwho joined the Society from far different motives. Many were wholly\nsincere in their interest and efforts to benefit the human race, but as\nin other societies, so in this, there were a few who entered its ranks\nseeking an opportunity to gratify their ambition and love of power.\nStill others, in their carping egotism thought that they knew more\nthan their Teacher, H. P. Blavatsky, and were jealous of that Teacher,\nand later of the one whom she left as her successor and Teacher in her\nplace.\n\nThus it was that there were attacks from the very first against the\nteachings of Theosophy, but more than all against the one who brought\nagain these teachings to the world--Madame H. P. Blavatsky--and on\nhanding the guidance of the Theosophical Movement on to her successors\nthey too have been subject to similar attacks from the forces of evil,\nwhose very existence is threatened by the spread of the teachings of\nTheosophy, which are the teachings of truth.\n\nMadame Blavatsky's mission was in part to tear down the materialism\nof the age on one hand, and dogmatic domination on the other, and\nthis made for her many bitter enemies. It was not long before enmity\nand unbrotherliness met her on every side, and these culminated in\na plan to overthrow the influence of Theosophy and discredit her\nbefore the world. It was in India, in 1884, that this plan unfolded.\nTwo ingrates, (French people, man and wife) who had been befriended\nby Madame Blavatsky when they were starving and ragged, and who\nlater attempted to blackmail some of the members of the Society,\nand confessed themselves to be bribe-takers, liars, and forgers,\nassociated themselves with the Christian College of Madras, India, and\nsought to destroy Madame Blavatsky and her work. It was afterwards\ndiscovered--admitted by the missionaries themselves, and published\nin the Madras _Mail_--that these missionaries had agreed to pay a\nlarge sum of money to the above-referred-to people for letters of\nMadame Blavatsky. These letters, as was afterwards proven, were gross\nforgeries.\n\nAt the same time the Psychical Research Society sent out as its agent a\nyoung man who had just left college, to investigate and make a report.\nThis young man, wholly inexperienced, had all his traveling expenses\npaid on his long trip of sight-seeing, and no doubt felt that he must\nmake some report to warrant the large outlay for his expenses, and\nin order to earn his salary. The whole source of this young man's\ninformation, on which he based his report, was the testimony of the two\npeople above referred to, who later confessed their fraud. Furthermore,\nthe young man published as his own a drawing made by William Q. Judge\nof something that the young man had no possibility of seeing, as it\ndid not exist in that state when the young man arrived in India.\nNevertheless, the Psychical Research Society accepted the young man's\nunsupported testimony, without asking for any answer from Madame\nBlavatsky, nor did they ask her friends, but made their report solely\non the testimony of two perjured ingrates, and of a young man, who\nappropriated the work of another as his own.\n\n\nMADAME BLAVATSKY FOUNDS THE ESOTERIC SCHOOL\n\nHER LIFE-LONG TRUST IN WILLIAM Q. JUDGE\n\nIn 1888, H. P. Blavatsky, then in London, on the suggestion and at the\nrequest of her Colleague, William Q. Judge, founded the Esoteric School\nof Theosophy, a body for students, of which H. P. Blavatsky wrote\nthat it was \"the heart of the Theosophical Movement,\" and of which\nshe appointed William Q. Judge as her sole representative in America.\nFurther, writing officially to the Convention of the American Societies\nheld in Chicago, 1888, she wrote as follows:\n\n To William Q. Judge, General Secretary of the American Section of the\n Theosophical Society:\n\n My dearest Brother and Co-Founder of the Theosophical Society:\n\n In addressing to you this letter, which I request you to read to the\n Convention summoned for April 22nd, I must first present my hearty\n congratulations and most cordial good wishes to the Society and\n yourself--the heart and soul of that body in America. We were several\n to call it to life in 1875. Since then you have remained alone to\n preserve that life through good and evil report. It is to you chiefly,\n if not entirely, that the Theosophical Society owes its existence in\n 1888. Let me thank you for it, for the first, and perhaps for the\n last time publicly, and from the bottom of my heart, which beats only\n for the cause you represent so well and serve so faithfully. I ask\n you also to remember that on this important occasion, my voice is but\n the feeble echo of other more sacred voices, and the transmitter of\n the approval of Those whose presence is alive in more than one true\n Theosophical heart, and lives, as I know, pre-eminently in yours.\n\nThis regard that Madame Blavatsky had for her Colleague William Q.\nJudge continued undiminished until her death in 1891, when he became\nher successor.\n\n\nTHE TRUE AND THE COUNTERFEIT\n\nIn giving even such a brief sketch as the present necessarily is of the\nobjects and history of the Theosophical Society, it is nevertheless\ndue to all honest and fair-minded people that an explanation should be\ngiven why there are small bodies of people here and there which are\nlabeled Theosophical but which are in no way endorsed or recognized by\nthe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society. These small bodies\nhave sprung up from year to year in different parts of the world, and\nthough in the aggregate their efforts and influence have been weak,\nthey have nevertheless been more or less successful in misleading\nhonest minds from the truth. It becomes a duty therefore to call\nattention to these matters and to give warning lest others be misled.\nIn other words a distinction must be drawn between the true and the\ncounterfeit.\n\nMadame Blavatsky, in 1889, writing in her Theosophical magazine\npublished in London, said that the purpose of the magazine was not\nonly to promulgate Theosophy, but also and as a consequence of such\npromulgation, \"to bring to light the hidden things of darkness.\" She\nfurther says:\n\n As to the \"weak-minded Theosophists\"--if any--they can take care\n of themselves in the way they please. IF THE \"FALSE PROPHETS OF\n THEOSOPHY\" ARE TO BE LEFT UNTOUCHED, THE TRUE PROPHETS WILL BE VERY\n SOON--AS THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN--CONFUSED WITH THE FALSE. IT IS HIGH\n TIME TO WINNOW OUR CORN AND CAST AWAY THE CHAFF. The Theosophical\n Society is becoming enormous in its numbers, and if the _false_\n prophets, the pretenders, or even the weak-minded dupes, are left\n alone, then the Society threatens to become very soon a fanatical body\n split into three hundred sects--like Protestantism--each hating the\n other, and all bent on destroying the truth by monstrous exaggerations\n and idiotic schemes and shams. We do not believe in allowing the\n presence of _sham_ elements in Theosophy, because of the fear,\n forsooth, that if even \"a false element in the faith\" is _ridiculed_,\n the latter is \"apt to shake the confidence\" in the whole.\n\n ... What _true_ Christians shall see their co-religionists making\n fools of themselves, or disgracing their faith, and still abstain\n from rebuking them publicly as privately, for fear lest this _false_\n element should throw out of Christianity the rest of the believers.\n\n THE WISE MAN COURTS TRUTH; THE FOOL, FLATTERY.\n\n However it may be, let rather our ranks be made thinner, than the\n Theosophical Society go on being made a spectacle to the world through\n the exaggerations of some fanatics, and the attempt of various\n _charlatans_ to profit by a ready-made program. These, by disfiguring\n and adapting Occultism to their own filthy and immoral ends, bring\n disgrace upon the whole movement.--_Lucifer_, Vol. iv, pp. 2 & 3.\n\n\nTHE DUTY OF A THEOSOPHIST\n\nIn regard to the above it should be remembered that Madame Blavatsky\nwrote this in 1889 and had in view certain people who were advocating\nimmoral teachings and practices in the sacred name of Theosophy,\nand it shows clearly what she would have done and what would be a\nTheosophical duty should ever a similar occasion arise. Thanks to the\nsafe-guarding of the Theosophical Movement by the Constitution of\nthe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, such cannot ever\narise in the Society itself, but just as there is no legal means of\npreventing anyone from calling himself a Christian however much his\nlife may depart from the teachings and ideals of the Teacher whose name\nhe so dishonors, so there is no means of preventing unworthy people\nfrom using the sacred name of Theosophy and giving out teachings or\nadvocating practices which are absolutely contrary to the teachings of\nTheosophy as given first by our Teacher, H. P. Blavatsky, and later by\nher successors, William Q. Judge and Katherine Tingley.\n\nIt is a matter of great regret that we have to refer to these things,\nbut although unpleasant it is nevertheless a duty. It is for the\nabove-named reasons and to forestall misconception on the part of the\npublic that we make mention here of those enemies to true Theosophy\nwho sprang up not only outside but within the ranks of the Society. H.\nP. Blavatsky had her enemies and those who sought to discredit her not\nonly before the public but before her own students; and so too William\nQ. Judge had his, and Katherine Tingley has hers also. In fact, was\nthere ever a Teacher who came to do good and help humanity who was not\nmaligned and persecuted?\n\n\nWILLIAM Q. JUDGE ELECTED PRESIDENT FOR LIFE\n\nIn 1893 there openly began what had been going on beneath the surface\nfor some time, a bitter attack ostensibly against William Q. Judge, but\nin reality also against H. P. Blavatsky. This bitter attack threatened\nto disrupt the whole Society and to thwart the main purpose of its\nexistence, which was to further the cause of Universal Brotherhood.\nFinally the American members decided to take action, and at the annual\nconvention of the Society held in Boston in 1895, by a vote of 191\ndelegates to 10, re-asserted the principles of Theosophy as laid down\nby H. P. Blavatsky, and elected William Q. Judge president for life.\nSimilar action was almost immediately taken by members in Europe,\nAustralia, and other countries, in each case William Q. Judge being\nelected president for life. In this action the great majority of the\nactive members throughout the world concurred, and thus the Society\nwas relieved of those who had joined it for other purposes than the\nfurtherance of Universal Brotherhood, the carrying out of the Society's\nother objects, and the spiritual freedom and upliftment of Humanity.\nA few of these in order to curry favor with the public and attract a\nfollowing, continued among themselves to use the name of Theosophy,\nbut it should be understood that they _are not connected with the\nTheosophical Movement_.\n\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY SUCCEEDS WILLIAM Q. JUDGE\n\nOne year later, in March 1896, William Q. Judge died, leaving as his\nsuccessor Katherine Tingley, who for several years had been associated\nwith him in the work of the Society. This Teacher not only began\nimmediately to put into actual practice the ideals of Theosophy as had\nbeen the hope and aim of both H. P. Blavatsky and William Q. Judge, and\nfor which they had laid the foundations, thus honoring and illustrating\nthe work of her illustrious predecessors, but she also struck a new\nkeynote, introducing new and broader plans for uplifting humanity.\nFor each of the Teachers, while continuing the work and building upon\nthe foundations of his predecessor, adds a new link, and has his own\ndistinctive work to do, and teachings to give, belonging to his own\ntime and position.\n\nNo sooner had Katherine Tingley begun her work as successor, than\nfurther attacks, some most insidious, from the same source as those\nmade against H. P. Blavatsky and William Q. Judge, as well as from\nother sources, were inaugurated against her. Most prominent among\nthose thus attacking Katherine Tingley were some referred to by Madame\nBlavatsky in the article above-quoted (pp. 79-80), who by their own\nactions had removed themselves from the ranks of the Society. There\nwere also a few others who still remained in the Society who had not\njoined hands with the disintegrators at the time the latter were\nrepudiated in 1895. These now thought it to their personal advantage\nto oppose the Leader and sought to gain control of the Society and\nuse it for political purposes. These ambitious agitators, seeking to\nexploit the Society for their own ends, used every means to overthrow\nKatherine Tingley, realizing that she was the greatest obstacle to\nthe accomplishment of their desires, for if she could be removed they\nexpected to gain control. They worked day and night, stooping almost to\nany means to carry out their projects. Yet it seemed that by these very\nacts, i. e., the more they attacked, the more were honest and earnest\nmembers attracted to the ranks of the Society under Katherine Tingley's\nleadership.\n\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY GIVES SOCIETY NEW CONSTITUTION\n\nSOCIETY MERGES INTO BROADER FIELD OF WORK\n\nTo eliminate these menacing features and to safeguard the work of\nthe Theosophical Movement for all time, Katherine Tingley presented\nto a number of the oldest members gathered at her home in New York\non the night of January 13th, 1898, a new Constitution which she had\nformulated for the more permanent and broader work of the Theosophical\nMovement, opening up a wider field of endeavor than had heretofore been\npossible to students of Theosophy. One month later, at the Convention\nof the Society, held in Chicago, February 18th, 1898, this Constitution\nwas accepted by an almost unanimous vote, and the Theosophical Society\nmerged itself into the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society.\nIn this new step forward, she had the heartiest co-operation and\nsupport of the vast majority of the members throughout the world. Only\na few were unable to accept the wider opportunity now afforded them and\nremoved themselves from the ranks, seeking other fields in which to\nexploit their ambitious plans. The members were truly greatly relieved\nthat the Constitution of the Society made it virtually impossible for\nagitators to remain members. The Society in order to fulfil its great\nmission must necessarily be unsectarian and non-political, and any\nattempts to use it for political purposes would be subversive of its\nhigh aims and have always been discouraged by our Leaders. As the years\nwent on, it appeared that there were still a few not yet prepared to\nco-operate fully in the broader interests of the Society, and these\nfinally dropped out.\n\n\nTHEOSOPHY IN PRACTICE\n\nIt is of interest here to quote our Teacher's own words regarding this\ntime. In an article published in the _Metropolitan Magazine_, New York,\nOctober, 1909, she says:\n\n Later, I found myself the successor of William Q. Judge, and I began\n my heart work, the inspiration of which is partly due to him.\n\n In all my writings and associations with the members of the\n Theosophical Society, I emphasized the necessity of putting Theosophy\n into daily practice, and in such a way that it would continuously\n demonstrate that it was the redeeming power of man. More familiarity\n with the organization and its workers brought home to me the fact that\n there was a certain number of students who had in the early days begun\n the wrong way to study Theosophy, and that it was becoming in their\n lives a death-like sleep. I noticed that those who followed this line\n of action were always alarmed at my humanitarian tendencies. WHENEVER\n I REMINDED THEM THAT THEY WERE BUILDING A COLOSSAL EGOTISM INSTEAD\n OF A POWER TO DO GOOD, THEY SUBTLY OPPOSED ME. AS I INSISTED ON THE\n PRACTICAL LIFE OF THEOSOPHY, THEY OPPOSED STILL MORE. They later\n exerted personal influence which affected certain members throughout\n the world. It was this condition which then menaced the Theosophical\n Movement, and which forced me to the point of taking such action as\n would fully protect the pure teachings of Theosophy and make possible\n a broader path for unselfish students to follow. Thus the faithful\n members of the Theosophical Movement would be able to exemplify the\n charge which Helena Petrovna Blavatsky gave to her pupils, as follows:\n\n \"Real Theosophy is altruism, and we cannot repeat it too often. It is\n brotherly love, mutual help, unswerving devotion to truth. If once men\n do but realize that in these alone can true happiness be found, and\n never in wealth, possession or any selfish gratification, then the\n dark cloud will roll away, and a new humanity will be born upon the\n earth. Then the Golden Age will be there indeed.\"\n\nHere we find William Q. Judge accentuating the same spirit, the\npractical Theosophical life:\n\n \"The power to know does not come from book-study alone, nor from mere\n philosophy, but mostly from the actual practice of altruism in deed,\n word, and thought; for that practice purifies the covers of the soul\n and permits the divine light to shine down into the brain-mind.\"\n\n\nTHE PARTING OF THE WAYS\n\nOn February 18, 1898, at the Convention of the Theosophical Society\nin America, held at Chicago, Ill., the Society resolved, through its\ndelegates from all parts of the world, to enter a larger arena, to\nwiden its scope and to further protect the teachings of Theosophy. Amid\nmost intense enthusiasm the Theosophical Society was expanded into the\nUniversal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, and I found myself\nrecognized as its leader and official head. The Theosophical Society\nin Europe also resolved to merge itself into the Universal Brotherhood\nand Theosophical Society, and the example was quickly followed by\nTheosophical Societies in other parts of the world. The expansion of\nthe original Theosophical Society, which Madame Blavatsky founded and\nwhich William Q. Judge so ably sustained, now called the Universal\nBrotherhood and Theosophical Society, gave birth to a new life, and the\nmembership trebled the first year, and ever since that time a rapid\nincrease has followed.\n\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY'S PRACTICAL HUMANITARIAN WORK\n\nUNITED STATES GOVERNMENT GIVES ASSISTANCE\n\nIn 1898 Katherine Tingley established the International Brotherhood\nLeague, the department of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical\nSociety for practical humanitarian work, and under its auspices\nrendered aid to thousands of soldiers at Montauk after the close of the\nSpanish-American War. Later she took a relief expedition into Cuba,\nthe United States Government affording her free transportation for\nphysicians, nurses, and supplies. Thus began her work in Cuba, which\nhas resulted in the establishment of R\u00e2ja Yoga Colleges at Santiago de\nCuba, Santa Clara, and Pinar del Rio, and now in preparation at San\nJuan on the site of the famous battlefield which Katherine Tingley has\nrecently purchased.\n\nIn these Colleges, besides the world-famous R\u00e2ja Yoga College at Point\nLoma, a great educational work is being carried on in which are being\ntaught the highest ideals of patriotism and national life in addition\nto the development of character and the upbuilding of pure-minded and\nself-reliant manhood and womanhood to the end that each pupil may be\nprepared to take an honorable self-reliant position in the world's\nwork. Other school sites acquired by Mrs. Katherine Tingley are in the\nNew Forest, England, and also on the Island of Visings\u00f6, Sweden.\n\n\nINTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS AT POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA\n\nIn 1900 the Headquarters of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical\nSociety were moved from New York to Point Loma, California, which\nis now the International Center of the Theosophical Movement. This\nOrganization is unsectarian and non-political; none of its officers or\nworkers receives any salary or financial recompense.\n\nIn her article in _The Metropolitan Magazine_ above referred to,\nKatherine Tingley further says:\n\n The knowledge that Point Loma was to be the World-center of the\n Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, which has for its\n supreme object the elevation of the race, created great enthusiasm\n among its members throughout the world. The further fact that the\n government of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society rests\n entirely with the leader and official head, who holds her office for\n life and who has the privilege of appointing her successor, gave\n me the power to carry out some of the plans I had long cherished.\n Among these was the erecting of the great Homestead Building. This I\n carefully designed that it might not stand apart from the beautiful\n nature about it, but in a sense harmonize with the sky, the distant\n mountains, the broad blue Pacific, and the glorious light of the sun.\n\n So it has been from the first, so that the practical work of Theosophy\n began at Point Loma under the most favorable circumstances. No one\n dominated by selfish aims and ambitions was invited to take part in\n this pioneer work. Although there were scores of workers from various\n parts of the world uniting their efforts with mine for the upbuilding\n of this world-center, yet there was no disharmony. Each took the duty\n allotted him and worked trustingly and cheerfully. Many of the world's\n ways these workers gladly left behind them. They seemed reborn with an\n enthusiasm that knew no defeat. The work was done for the love of it,\n and this is the secret of a large part of the success that has come to\n the Theosophical Movement.\n\n Not long after the establishment of the International Theosophical\n Headquarters at Point Loma, it was plain to see that the Society was\n advancing along all lines by leaps and bounds. Letters of inquiry were\n pouring in from different countries, which led to my establishing\n the Theosophical Propaganda Bureau. This is one of the greatest\n factors we have in disseminating our teachings. The International\n Brotherhood League then opened its offices and has ever been active\n in its special humanitarian work, being the directing power which has\n sustained the several R\u00e2ja Yoga schools and academies, now in Pinar\n del Rio, Santa Clara, and Santiago de Cuba, from the beginning. The\n Aryan Theosophical Press has yearly enlarged its facilities in answer\n to the demands made upon it through the publication of Theosophical\n literature, which includes THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH and several other\n publications. There is the Isis Conservatory of Music and Drama, the\n Department of Arts and Crafts, the Industrial Department, including\n Forestry, Agriculture, Roadbuilding, Photo-engraving, Chemical\n laboratory, Landscape-gardening, and many other crafts.\n\n\nDO NOT FAIL TO PROFIT BY THE FOLLOWING\n\nCONSTANTLY THE QUESTION IS ASKED, WHAT IS THEOSOPHY, WHAT DOES IT\nREALLY TEACH? EACH YEAR THE LIFE AND WORK OF H. P. BLAVATSKY AND\nTHE HIGH IDEALS AND PURE MORALITY OF HER TEACHINGS ARE MORE CLEARLY\nVINDICATED. EACH YEAR THE POSITION TAKEN BY WILLIAM Q. JUDGE AND\nKATHERINE TINGLEY IN REGARD TO THEIR PREDECESSOR, H. P. BLAVATSKY, IS\nBETTER UNDERSTOOD, AND THEIR OWN LIVES AND WORK ARE SEEN TO BE ACTUATED\nBY THE SAME HIGH IDEALS FOR THE UPLIFTING OF THE HUMAN RACE. EACH YEAR\nMORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE COMING TO REALIZE THAT NOT ALL THAT GOES\nUNDER THE NAME OF THEOSOPHY IS RIGHTLY SO CALLED, BUT THAT THERE IS A\nCOUNTERFEIT THEOSOPHY AS WELL AS THE TRUE, AND THAT THERE IS NEED OF\nDISCRIMINATION, LEST MANY BE MISLED.\n\n\n\"THEOSOPHIST IS WHO THEOSOPHY DOES\"\n\nFrom the earliest days of the present Theosophical Movement has it\nbeen necessary to make this distinction, but there is one unfailing\ntest expressed in the words of H. P. Blavatsky: \"Theosophist is who\nTheosophy does.\" In the past many have been attracted to the ranks\nof the Society through motives other than those which lead, not only\nto the _study_ of Theosophy, the Wisdom-Religion, but to the making\nof it a factor of purification of their daily lives; some seeking\nadmission from motives of ambition or other self-interest, some for\nmere entertainment or for the acquirement of so-called \"occult\"\npowers--thinking they could gain the knowledge without the practice\nof Theosophy, the first step of which is altruism; and some from mere\ncuriosity, hoping to find in Theosophy a new fad. The presence of such\npseudo-Theosophists in the ranks has at times necessitated drastic\naction, and on one or two occasions reorganization of the whole Society\nin order that it might be held to its original high ideals and the\nlines on which it was founded. And though the Universal Brotherhood and\nTheosophical Society is not for saints, the demand is made upon all who\nare in its ranks that there shall be a constant effort to live up to\nits high ideals of purity and altruistic endeavor, that there shall be\npractice and not mere theory, and that both by word and deed the lives\nof the members shall be an example to all men and especially to the\nyoung.\n\nIn certain cases as before referred to, those who have been removed\nfrom the ranks of the Society have with their associates formed small\ncenters of their own, using the name Theosophy and to some extent the\nwritings of Madame Blavatsky. This has caused confusion in the minds of\nsome who look at things merely superficially, accepting the professions\nof people without regard to their motives or lives; and hence it is\nnecessary from time to time to clear the air, as it were, and, sweeping\naway the veneer of mere profession, show the facts as they really are.\n\nCounterfeits exist in many departments of life and thought, and\nespecially in matters relating to religion and the deeper teachings of\nlife. Hence, in order that people who are honestly seeking the truth\nmay not be misled, we deem it important to state that the Universal\nBrotherhood and Theosophical Society is not responsible for, nor is it\naffiliated with, nor does it endorse, any other society which, while\ncalling itself Theosophical, is not connected with the International\nTheosophical Headquarters at Point Loma, California. Having a knowledge\nof Theosophy, the ancient Wisdom-Religion, we deem it as a sacred\ntrust and responsibility to maintain its pure teachings, free from the\nvagaries, additions, or misrepresentations of ambitious self-styled\nTheosophists and would-be teachers. The test of a Theosophist is not in\nprofession, but in action, and in a noble and virtuous life. The motto\nof the Society is \"There is no religion higher than Truth.\" This was\nadopted by Madame Blavatsky, but it is to be deeply regretted that\nthere are no legal means to prevent the use of this motto in connexion\nwith counterfeit Theosophy, by people professing to be Theosophists,\nbut who would not be recognized as such by Madame Blavatsky.\n\nIt is a regrettable fact that many people use the name of Theosophy\nand of our Organization for self-interest, as also that of H. P.\nBlavatsky, the Foundress, and even the Society's motto, to attract\nattention to themselves and to gain public support. This they do in\nprivate and public speech and in publications. Without being in any way\nconnected with the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, in\nmany cases they permit it to be inferred that they are, thus misleading\nthe public, and honest inquirers are hence led away from the original\ntruths of Theosophy.\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society welcomes to\nmembership all who truly love their fellow men and desire the\neradication of the evils caused by the barriers of race, creed, caste,\nor color, which have so long impeded human progress; to all sincere\nlovers of truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than\nthe mere pleasures and interests of a worldly life, and are prepared to\ndo all in their power to make Brotherhood a living energy in the life\nof humanity, its various departments offer unlimited opportunities.\n\nThe whole work of the Organization is under the direction of the Leader\nand Official Head, Katherine Tingley, as outlined in the Constitution.\n\n\nOBJECTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD LEAGUE\n\n1. To help men and women to realize the nobility of their calling and\ntheir true position in life.\n\n2. To educate children of all nations on the broadest lines of\nUniversal Brotherhood and to prepare destitute and homeless children to\nbecome workers for humanity.\n\n3. To ameliorate the condition of unfortunate women, and assist them to\na higher life.\n\n4. To assist those who are or have been in prisons to establish\nthemselves in honorable positions in life.\n\n5. To abolish capital punishment.\n\n6. To bring about a better understanding between so-called savage\nand civilized races, by promoting a closer and more sympathetic\nrelationship between them.\n\n7. To relieve human suffering resulting from flood, famine, war, and\nother calamities; and, generally, to extend aid, help, and comfort to\nsuffering humanity throughout the world.\n\n JOSEPH H. FUSSELL\n Secretary\n\n Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society.\n\n International Headquarters Point Loma, California.\n\n\n\n\n BOOK LIST\n OF WORKS ON\n THEOSOPHY, OCCULTISM, RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE, AND ART\n\n PUBLISHED OR FOR SALE BY\n\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY\n INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL HEADQUARTERS\n POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.\n\n _The office of the Theosophical Publishing Company is at Point Loma,\n California_\n\n _It has_ NO OTHER OFFICE _and_ NO BRANCHES\n\n\nFOREIGN AGENCIES\n\n _=THE UNITED KINGDOM=_--Theosophical Book Co., 18 Bartlett's\n Buildings, Holborn Circus, LONDON, E. C., England\n\n _=GERMANY=_--J. Th. Heller, Vestnertorgraben 13, N\u00dcRNBERG\n\n _=SWEDEN=_--Universella Broderskapets F\u00f6rlag, Barnhusgatan, 10,\n STOCKHOLM\n\n _=HOLLAND=_--Louis F. Schudel, Hollandia-Drukkerij, BAARN\n\n _=AUSTRALIA=_--Willans and Williams, 16 Carrington St., Wynyard Sq.,\n SYDNEY, N. S. W.\n\n _=CUBA=_--H. S. Turner, Apartado 127; or Heredia, Baja, 10, SANTIAGO\n DE CUBA\n\n _=MEXICO=_--Samuel L. Herrera, Calle de la Independencia, 55 altos,\n VERA CRUZ, V. C.\n\n\n ADDRESS BY KATHERINE TINGLEY at San Diego Opera House,\n March, 1902 $ .15\n\n AN APPEAL TO PUBLIC CONSCIENCE: an Address delivered by\n Katherine Tingley at Isis Theater, San Diego, July 22, 1906.\n Published by the Woman's Theosophical Propaganda League,\n Point Loma .05\n\n ASTRAL INTOXICATION, and Other Papers (W. Q. Judge) .03\n\n BHAGAVAD G\u00ceT\u00c2 (recension by W. Q. Judge). The pearl of the\n scriptures of the East. American edition; pocket size;\n morocco, gilt edges 1.00\n\n CONCENTRATION, CULTURE OF (W. Q. Judge) .15\n\n DEVACHAN; or the Heavenworld (H. Coryn) .05\n\n ECHOES FROM THE ORIENT; a broad Outline of Theosophical Doctrines.\n Written for the newspaper reading public. (W. Q. Judge)\n Sm. 8vo, cloth .50\n Paper .25\n\n EPITOME OF THEOSOPHICAL TEACHINGS, AN (W. Q. Judge); 40 pages .15\n\n FREEMASONRY AND JESUITRY, The Pith and Marrow of the Closing and\n Coming Century and Related Position of, (Rameses) .15\n 8 copies for $1.00; per hundred, $10.00\n\n KATHERINE TINGLEY, Humanity's Friend; A VISIT TO KATHERINE TINGLEY\n (by John Hubert Greusel); A STUDY OF R\u00c2JA YOGA AT POINT LOMA\n (Reprint from the San Francisco _Chronicle_, Jan. 6, 1907).\n The above three comprised in a pamphlet of 50 pages, published\n by the Woman's Theosophical Propaganda League, Point Loma .15\n\n HYPNOTISM: _Hypnotism_, by W. Q. Judge (Reprint from _The Path_,\n vol. viii, p. 335); _Why Does Katherine Tingley Oppose\n Hypnotism?_ by a Student (Reprint from _New Century Path_,\n Oct. 28, 1906); _Evils of Hypnotism_, by Lydia Ross, M. D. .15\n\n INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT;\n by Joseph H. Fussell. 24 pages, royal 8vo. .15\n\n ISIS UNVEILED, by H. P. Blavatsky. 2 vols, royal 8vo, about 1500\n pages; cloth; with portrait of the author. _Point Loma Edition,\n with a preface._ Postpaid 4.00\n\n KEY TO THEOSOPHY, THE: by H. P. Blavatsky. _Point Loma Edition_,\n with _Glossary_ and exhaustive _Index_. Portraits of H. P.\n Blavatsky and William Q. Judge. 8vo., cloth, 400 pages.\n Postpaid 2.25\n\n LIFE AT POINT LOMA, THE: Some Notes by Katherine Tingley.\n (Reprinted from the _Los Angeles Saturday Post_,\n December, 1902) .15\n\n LIGHT ON THE PATH (M. C.), with Comments, and a short chapter on\n Karma. Authoritative rules for treading the path of a higher\n life. _Point Loma Edition_, pocket size edition of this classic,\n leather .75\n Embossed paper .25\n\n MYSTERIES OF THE HEART DOCTRINE, THE. Prepared by\n _Katherine Tingley_ and her pupils. Square 8vo, cloth 2.00\n Paper 1.00\n A SERIES OF 8 PAMPHLETS, comprising the different Articles\n in above, paper, each .25\n\n NIGHTMARE TALES (H. P. Blavatsky). _Illustrated by R. Machell._\n A collection of the weirdest tales ever written down. Cloth .60\n Paper .35\n\n THE PLOUGH AND THE CROSS. A story of New Ireland; by William\n Patrick O'Ryan. 12mo, 378 pages. Illustrated. Cloth 1.00\n\n SECRET DOCTRINE, THE. The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and\n Philosophy, by H. P. Blavatsky. _Point Loma Edition_; with\n Index. Two vols., royal 8vo, about 1500 pages; cloth. Postage\n prepaid 10.00\n Reprinted from the original edition of 1888, as issued by\n H. P. Blavatsky\n\n SOME OF THE ERRORS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. Criticism by H. P.\n Blavatsky and W. Q. Judge .15\n\n VOICE OF THE SILENCE, THE. (For the daily use of disciples.)\n Translated and annotated by H. P. Blavatsky.\n Pocket size, leather .75\n\n YOGA APHORISMS (translated by W. Q. Judge), pocket size, leather .75\n\n\n _=GREEK SYMPOSIA=_, as performed by students of the Isis League of\n Music and Drama, under direction of Katherine Tingley. (Fully\n protected by copyright.)\n 1 THE WISDOM OF HYPATIA. 2 A PROMISE. Each .15\n\n\n _=NEW CENTURY SERIES.=_ THE PITH AND MARROW OF SOME SACRED WRITINGS.\n\n Ten Pamphlets; Scripts, each .25\n Subscription (Series of 10 Pamphlets) 1.50\n\n SCRIPT 1--_Contents_: The Relation of Universal Brotherhood to\n Christianity--No Man can Serve Two Masters--In this Place is a Greater\n Thing\n\n SCRIPT 2--_Contents_: A Vision of Judgment--The Great\n Victory--Co-Heirs with Christ--The \"Woes\" of the Prophets--Fragment:\n from Bhagavad G\u00eet\u00e2--Jesus the Man\n\n SCRIPT 3--_Contents_: Lesson of Israel's History--Man's Divinity and\n Perfectibility--The Man Born Blind--The Everlasting Covenant--Burden\n of the Lord\n\n SCRIPT 4--_Contents_: Reincarnation in the Bible--The Money-Changers\n in the Temple--The Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven--The Heart\n Doctrine--The Temple of God\n\n SCRIPT 5--_Contents_: Egypt and Prehistoric America--Theoretical and\n Practical Theosophy--Death, One of the Crowning Victories of Human\n Life--Reliance on the Law--Led by the Spirit of God\n\n SCRIPT 6--_Contents_: Education Through Illusion to Truth--Astronomy\n in the Light of Ancient Wisdom--Occultism and Magic--Resurrection\n\n SCRIPT 7--_Contents_: Theosophy and Isl\u00e2m, a word concerning\n Sufism--Archaeology in the Light of Theosophy--Man, a Spiritual Builder\n\n SCRIPT 8--_Contents_: The Sun of Righteousness--Cant about the Classics\n\n SCRIPT 9--_Contents_: Traces of the Wisdom-Religion in Zoroastrianism,\n Mithraism, and their modern representative, Parseeism--The Druses of\n Mount Lebanon\n\n SCRIPT 10--_Contents_: The Religions of China\n\n SCRIPT 11--(Supplementary Number) _Contents_: Druidism--Druidism and\n its Connexion with Ireland\n\n\n _=OCCULTISM, STUDIES IN=_ (H. P. Blavatsky). Pocket size, 6 vols.\n cloth; each .35\n Per set of six vols. 1.50\n Vol. 1. Practical Occultism. Occultism _vs._ the Occult Arts.\n The Blessing of Publicity\n Vol. 2. Hypnotism. Black Magic in Science. Signs of the Times\n Vol. 3. Psychic and Noetic Action\n Vol. 4. Kosmic Mind. The Dual Aspect of Wisdom\n Vol. 5. The Esoteric Character of the Gospels\n Vol. 6. Astral Bodies; The Constitution of the Inner Man\n\n\n _=THEOSOPHICAL MANUALS.=_ Elementary Handbooks for Students.\n 16mo, price, each, paper 25c; cloth .35\n\n No. 1 ELEMENTARY THEOSOPHY\n No. 2 THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF MAN\n No. 3 KARMA\n No. 4 REINCARNATION\n No. 5 MAN AFTER DEATH\n No. 6 K\u00c2MALOKA AND DEVACHAN\n No. 7 TEACHERS AND THEIR DISCIPLES\n No. 8 THE DOCTRINE OF CYCLES\n No. 9 PSYCHISM, GHOSTOLOGY, AND THE ASTRAL PLANE\n No. 10 THE ASTRAL LIGHT\n No. 11 PSYCHOMETRY, CLAIRVOYANCE, AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE\n No. 12 THE ANGEL AND THE DEMON (2 vols., 35c each)\n No. 13 THE FLAME AND THE CLAY\n No. 14 ON GOD AND PRAYER\n No. 15 THEOSOPHY: THE MOTHER OF RELIGIONS\n No. 16 FROM CRYPT TO PRONAOS; an Essay on the Rise and Fall of Dogma\n No. 17 EARTH: Its Parentage, its Rounds and its Races\n No. 18 SONS OF THE FIREMIST: a Study of Man\n\n\n _=THE PATH SERIES.=_ Specially adapted for Inquirers in Theosophy.\n\n _Already Published_:\n\n No. 1 THE PURPOSE OF THE UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD AND THEOSOPHICAL\n SOCIETY .05\n No. 2 THEOSOPHY GENERALLY STATED (W. Q. Judge) .05\n _Reprinted from Official Report, World's Parliament of\n Religions, Chicago, 1893_\n No. 3 MISLAID MYSTERIES (Herbert Coryn, M. D.) .05\n No. 4 THEOSOPHY AND ITS COUNTERFEITS .05\n No. 5 SOME PERVERTED PRESENTATIONS OF THEOSOPHY (H. T. Edge, B.A.) .05\n Thirty Copies of above Path Series, $1.00;\n one hundred copies, $3.00\n\n\n _=MISCELLANEOUS.=_ SOUVENIR POSTAL CARDS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL\n HEADQUARTERS. Two for 5c; postage 1c. extra; 50 copies, postpaid,\n $1.00; 100 copies, postpaid, $1.50\n\n LOMALAND. An Album of Views and Quotations; 10\u00bd \u00d7 13\u00bd in.\n (postage 6c. extra) .50\n\n REPRODUCTIONS OF FAMOUS PAINTINGS BY R. MACHELL. _The Path_--\n _Parsifal_--_The Prodigal_--_The Bard_--_The Light of the\n Coming Day_--_'Twixt Priest and Profligate_--_The Hour of\n Despair_--_The Dweller on the Threshold_.\n Size of photographs, 8 \u00d7 6 in., approximate. Price, unmounted,\n 50c; mounted .75\n\n PATH MAGAZINE, THE--Vol. ix ('94-95); Vol. x ('95-96); each 2.00\n\n PATH MAGAZINE, THE--Index to Vols. I to VIII; cloth .50\n\n PATH MAGAZINE, THE--Back Numbers; each .20\n\n SEARCHLIGHT, No. 6--Full Report of Great Debate on Theosophy and\n Christianity held at Fisher Opera House, San Diego, Cal.,\n September and October, 1901.\n 72 pages. Special number issued to the public .15\n\n SEARCHLIGHT, No. 7 .15\n\n SEARCHLIGHT, Vol. II, No. 1 .15\n\n UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD PATH }\n UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD MAGAZINE } Back numbers .20\n Vols. xiii (1898-9), xiv (1899-00), xv (1900-01),\n xvi (1901-2), each 2.00\n\n\n_LOTUS GROUP LITERATURE_\n\n_Introduced under the direction of Katherine Tingley_\n\n No. 1 THE LITTLE BUILDERS, and their Voyage to Rangi (R. N.) .50\n No. 2 THE COMING OF THE KING (Machell); cloth, .35\n LOTUS SONG BOOK. Fifty original songs with copyrighted music;\n boards .50\n LOTUS SONG: \"_The Sun Temple_,\" with music .15\n\n\nFRENCH\n\n TH\u00c9OSOPHIE \u00c9L\u00c9MENTAIRE .05\n LES MYST\u00c8RES DE LA DOCTRINE DU C\u0152UR (1^{re} Section) .50\n\n\nSPANISH\n\n ECOS DEL ORIENTE (W. Q. Judge) .50\n EP\u00cdTOME DE LAS ENSE\u00d1ANZAS TEOS\u00d3FICAS (W. Q. Judge). 40 p\u00e1ginas .25\n LA TEOSOF\u00cdA EXPLICADA .05\n LA TEOSOF\u00cdA Y SUS FALSIFICACIONES. Para uso de investigadores .05\n 30 copies $1.00; 100 copies $3.00\n LA VIDA EN POINT LOMA (Notas por Katherine Tingley). .15\n\n Libros Teos\u00f3ficos Elementales para uso de los Estudiantes\n 16mo, precios cada uno, en papel 25c; en tela .35\n\n N\u00fam. 1 Teosof\u00eda Elemental\n N\u00fam. 2 La Constituci\u00f3n Septenaria del Hombre\n N\u00fam. 3 Karma\n N\u00fam. 4 Reencarnaci\u00f3n\n N\u00fam. 5 El Hombre despu\u00e9s la Muerte\n N\u00fam. 6 K\u00e2maloka y Devach\u00e1n\n N\u00fam. 7 Los Maestros y sus Disc\u00edpulos\n N\u00fam. 8 La Doctrina de los Ciclos\n N\u00fam. 9 Psiquismo, Fantasmalog\u00eda, y el Plano Astral\n N\u00fam. 10 La Luz Astral\n N\u00fam. 11 Psicomancia, Clairvoyancia, y Telepat\u00eda\n N\u00fam. 12 El Angel y el Demonio (dos tomos, cada uno 35c)\n N\u00fam. 13 La Llama y el Barro\n N\u00fam. 14 Sobre Dios y las Oraciones\n N\u00fam. 15 Teosof\u00eda, la Madre de las Religiones\n N\u00fam. 16 Desde la Cripta \u00e1 Pronaos: un Ensayo sobre la Elevaci\u00f3n y\n Decadencia del Dogma\n N\u00fam. 17 La Tierra\n N\u00fam. 18 Los Hijos de la Neblina Ardiente: un Estudio del Hombre\n\n _Order above from the Theosophical Publishing Company, Point Loma,\n California._\n\n The following in other languages may be procured by writing direct to\n the respective Foreign Agencies (see first page) for Book List and\n prices.\n\n\nGERMAN\n\n AN IHREN FR\u00dcCHTEN SOLLT IHR SIE ERKENNEN--WER IST EIN THEOSOPH?--WAS\n THEOSOPHIE \u00dcBER MANCHE PUNKTE LEHRT UND WAS SIE WEDER LEHRT NOCH\n BILLIGT\n\n AUSBILDUNG DER KONZENTRATION (von William Q. Judge).\n\n DAS LEBEN ZU POINT LOMA (Katherine Tingley). Sch\u00f6n Illustriert.\n (Recommended)\n\n DIE BHAGAVAD-G\u00ceT\u00c2 (nach der englischen Ausgabe von William Q. Judge).\n\n DIE WISSENSCHAFT DES LEBENS UND DIE KUNST ZU LEBEN\n\n ECHOS AUS DEM ORIENT (von William Q. Judge).\n\n STUDIEN \u00dcBER DIE BHAGAVAD G\u00ceT\u00c2 (William Q. Judge).\n\n THEOSOPHIE ERKL\u00c4RT\n\n R\u00dcCKBLICK UND AUSBLICK AUF DIE THEOSOPHISCHE BEWEGUNG\n\n WAHRHEIT IST M\u00c4CHTIG UND MUSS OBSIEGEN!\n\n POSTKARTEN MIT ANSICHTEN VON POINT LOMA\n\n\nTheosophische Handb\u00fccher:\n\n No. 1 ELEMENTARE THEOSOPHIE\n No. 2 DIE SIEBEN PRINZIPIEN DES MENSCHEN\n No. 3 KARMA\n No. 4 REINKARNATION\n No. 5 DER MENSCH NACH DEM TODE\n No. 6 K\u00c2MALOKA UND DEVACHAN\n No. 7 LEHRER UND IHRE J\u00dcNGER\n No. 8 DIE THEORIE DER ZYKLEN U. S. W.\n\n\nDUTCH\n\n DIE BHAGAVAD-G\u00ceT\u00c2: Het Boek van Yoga; with Glossary. Bound in morocco\n or paper\n\n DE KLEINE BOUWERS EN HUN REIS NAAR RANGI; een Geschiedenis voor\n Kinderen door R. N. (_met illustraties van R. Machell_)\n\n DE OCEAAN DER THEOSOPHIE (door William Q. Judge)\n\n DE RIDDERS VAN KEIZER ARTHUR--Een Verhaal voor Kinderen, door _Ceinnyd\n Morus_\n\n DRIE OPSTELLEN OVER THEOSOPHIE. In verband met Vraagstukken van den Dag\n\n ECHO'S UIT HET OOSTEN; een algemeene schets der Theosophische\n Leeringen door William Q. Judge (_Occultus_)\n\n HET LEVEN TE POINT LOMA, Enkele Aanteekeningen door Katherine Tingley\n\n HOOGERE EN LAGERE PSYCHOLOGIE. Enkele Aanteekeningen door Katherine\n Tingley (_met Portret en Illustratie_)\n\n H. P. BLAVATSKY EN WILLIAM Q. JUDGE, De Stichters en Leiders der\n Theosophische Beweging (_Leerling_). pp. 42\n\n KATHERINE TINGLEY, DE AUTOCRAAT (_De Geheimen van de Leer van het\n Hart_)\n\n LICHT OP HET PAD (door M. C.) Bound in morocco or paper\n\n PIT EN MERG, uit sommige Heilige Geschriften, 1^e Serie\n\n _Inhoud_: Theosophie en Christendom. \"Niemand kan twee heeren dienen.\"\n Iets Meerders dan de Tempel. Een Gezicht des Oordeels. De Mensch Jezus\n\n PIT EN MERG VAN DE EINDIGENDE EN KOMENDE EEUW, en de daarmede in\n betrekking staande positie van _Vrijmetselarij_ en _Jesuitisme_, door\n _Rameses_\n\n Theosophical Manuals, Series No. 1\n\n No. 1 IN DEN VOORHOF\n No. 2 EEN HEILIG LEERSTUK\n No. 3 VERLOREN KENNIS WEERGEVONDEN\n No. 4 EEN SLEUTEL TOT MODERNE RAADSELEN\n No. 5 HET MYSTERIE VAN DEN DOOD\n No. 6 \"HEMEL\" EN \"HEL\"\n No. 7 LEERAREN EN HUN LEERLINGEN\n No. 8 EEN UNIVERSEELE WET\n No. 9 DWAALWEGEN (HYPNOTISME, CLAIRVOYANCE, SPIRITISME)\n No. 10 DE ZIEL DER WERELD\n\n Theosophical Manuals, Series No. 2\n\n No. 1 PSYCHOMETRIE, CLAIRVOYANCE, EN GEDACHTEN-OVERBRENGING\n\n\nSWEDISH\n\n DEN HEMLIGA L\u00c4RAN, 2 band (H. P. Blavatsky)\n NYCKEL TILL TEOSOFIEN (H. P. Blavatsky)\n ASTRAL BERUSNING, DEVACHAN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n BREV, SOM HJ\u00c4LPT MIG (William Q. Judge)\n DEN CYKLISKA LAGEN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n DOLDA VINKAR I DEN HEMLIGA L\u00c4RAN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n D\u00d6DSSTRAFFET I TEOSOFISK BELYSNING. M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n REINKARNATIONSL\u00c4RAN I BIBELN, OM KARMA, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n STUDIER \u00d6VER BHAGAVAD-G\u00ceT\u00c2 (William Q. Judge)\n TEOSOFIENS OCEAN (William Q. Judge)\n VETENSKAPEN OCH TEOSOFIEN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n \u00d6VNING I KONCENTRATION (William Q. Judge)\n HEMLIGHETERNA I HJ\u00c4RTATS L\u00c4RA (Katherine Tingley och hennes l\u00e4rjungar)\n EN INTERVJU MED KATHERINE TINGLEY (Greusel)\n KATHERINE TINGLEY, AF M. F. N. (levnadsteckning)\n EXISTENSLINJER OCH UTVECKLINGSNORMER (Oscar Ljungstr\u00f6m)\n KAN ETT T. S. SAKNA MORALLAG? (Protest m\u00f6te)\n TEOSOFI OCH KRISTENDOM, Genm\u00e4le till Prof. Pfannenstill\n (Dr. G. Zander och F. Kellberg)\n ASIENS LJUS (Edwin Arnold)\n BHAGAVAD G\u00ceT\u00c2, H\u00e4ngivandets bok\n DEN TEOSOFISKA INSTITUTIONEN (Baker)\n FRIMURERI OCH JESUITV\u00c4LDE (Rameses)\n LJUS P\u00c5 V\u00c4GEN\n LOTUSBLAD, f\u00f6r barn\n LOTUSS\u00c5NGBOK, ord och musik\n R\u00c2JA YOGA, OM SJ\u00c4LENS UTVECKLING\n SKILLNADEN MELLAN TEOSOFI OCH SPIRITISM\n STJ\u00c4RNAN, SAGO- OCH POEMSAMLING, f\u00f6r barn\n TEOSOFIENS INNEB\u00d6RD\n TYSTNADENS R\u00d6ST\n VISINGS\u00d6 (Karling)\n\nTeosofiska Handb\u00f6cker\n\nEnkelt och l\u00e4ttfattligt skrivna framst\u00e4llningar av Teosofiska l\u00e4ror\nKlotband. Pris f\u00f6r varje bok, kronor 2.00\n\n Nr 1 Element\u00e4r Teosofi\n Nr 2 M\u00e4nniskans Sju Principer\n Nr 3 Karma\n Nr 4 Reinkarnation\n Nr 5 M\u00e4nniskan efter D\u00f6den\n Nr 6 K\u00e2maloka och Devachan\n Nr 7 L\u00e4rare och deras L\u00e4rjungar\n Nr 8 L\u00e4ran om Cykler\n Nr 9 Psykiska Fenomen och Astral-planet\n Nr 10 Astral-ljuset\n Nr 11 Psykometri, Clairvoyance och Tanke\u00f6verf\u00f6ring\n Nr 12 \u00c4ngeln och Demonen (2 delar \u00e0 kronor 2.00)\n Nr 13 Anden och Stoftet\n Nr 14 Om Gud och B\u00f6nen\n Nr 15 Teosofien, Religionernas Moder\n Nr 16 Fr\u00e5n Crypt till Pronaos. En essay \u00f6ver dogmernas uppkomst\n och f\u00f6rfall\n Nr 17 Jorden: Dess h\u00e4rkomst, dess runder och raser\n Nr 18 Eldt\u00f6cknets S\u00f6ner. En studie \u00f6ver m\u00e4nniskan\n\n\nPERIODICALS\n\n _=INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL CHRONICLE.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly.\n Yearly subscription, postpaid 1.00\n The Theosophical Book Co., 18 Bartlett's Buildings, Holborn\n Circus, London\n\n _=DEN TEOSOFISKA V\u00c4GEN.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid 1.50\n Universella Broderskapets F\u00f6rlag, Barnhusgatan 10,\n Stockholm 1, Sweden\n\n _=DER THEOSOPHISCHE PFAD.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly.\n Yearly subscription, postpaid 1.50\n J. Th. Heller, Vestnertorgraben 13, N\u00fcrnberg, Germany\n\n _=HET THEOSOPHISCH PAD.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid .75\n A. Goud, Steentilstraat 40, Groningen, Holland\n\n _=EL SENDERO TEOS\u00d3FICO.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid 1.50\n El Sendero Teos\u00f3fico, Point Loma, California\n\n _=RAJA YOGA MESSENGER.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription .50\n Unsectarian publication for Young Folk, conducted by a staff\n of pupils of the R\u00e2ja Yoga School at Lomaland.\n _Address_: Master Albert G. Spalding, Business Manager,\n R\u00e2ja Yoga Messenger, Point Loma, California.\n\n Subscriptions to the above five Magazines may be secured also through\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING CO., Point Loma, California, U. S. A.\n\n_Neither the Editors of the above publications, nor the officers of\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, or of any of its\ndepartments, receive salaries or other remuneration. All profits\narising from the business of the Theosophical Publishing Co., are\ndevoted to Humanitarian work. All who assist in that work are directly\nhelping that cause._\n\n\n[Illustration: THE PATH]\n\n The Theosophical Path\n\n An International Magazine\n Unsectarian and nonpolitical\n\n Monthly Illustrated\n\n [Illustration]\n\n Devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, the promulgation\n of Theosophy, the study of ancient & modern\n Ethics, Philosophy, Science and Art, and to the uplifting\n and purification of Home and National Life\n\n Edited by Katherine Tingley\n International Theosophical Headquarters, Point Loma, California, U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\n _Man ought to be ever striving to help the divine evolution of_ IDEAS,\n _by becoming to the best of his ability a_ CO-WORKER WITH NATURE _in\n the cyclic task. The ever unknowable and incognizable_ K\u00c2RANA _alone,\n the_ CAUSELESS _Cause of all causes, should have its shrine and\n altar on the holy and ever untrodden ground of our heart--invisible,\n intangible, unmentioned, save through \"the still small voice\" of our\n spiritual consciousness. Those who worship before it, should to do so\n in the silence and the sanctified solitude of their Souls;[3] making\n their spirit the sole mediator between them and the_ UNIVERSAL SPIRIT,\n _their good actions the only priests, and their sinful intentions the\n only visible and objective sacrificial victims to the_ PRESENCE.--H.\n P. BLAVATSKY, in _The Secret Doctrine_, vol. 1, page 280\n\n[3] \"_When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are ...\nbut enter into_ THINE INNER CHAMBER AND HAVING SHUT THY DOOR, PRAY TO\nTHY FATHER WHICH IS IN SECRET.\" (_Matt. vi._) _Our Father is_ WITHIN US\n_\"in Secret,\" our seventh principle, in the \"inner chamber\" of our Soul\nperception. \"The Kingdom of Heaven\" and of God_ \"IS WITHIN US\" _says\nJesus, not_ OUTSIDE.\n\n_Why are Christians so absolutely blind to the self-evident meaning of\nthe words of wisdom they delight in mechanically repeating?_\n\n\n\n\nTHE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n\nMONTHLY ILLUSTRATED\n\nEDITED BY KATHERINE TINGLEY\n\nNEW CENTURY CORPORATION, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.\n\nApplication for entry as second class matter at the Post Office at\nPoint Loma, California, pending.\n\nCopyright, 1911, by Katherine Tingley\n\n\nCOMMUNICATIONS\n\nCommunications for the Editor should be addressed to \"KATHERINE\nTINGLEY, _Editor_, THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH, Point Loma, Cal.\"\n\nTo the BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, including subscriptions, address the \"New\nCentury Corporation, Point Loma, California.\"\n\n\nMANUSCRIPTS\n\nThe Editor cannot undertake to return manuscripts; none will be\nconsidered unless accompanied by the author's name and marked with the\nnumber of words.\n\nThe Editor is responsible only for views expressed in unsigned articles.\n\n\nSUBSCRIPTION\n\nBy the year, postpaid, in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico,\nPorto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines, TWO DOLLARS; other countries\nin the Postal Union, TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS, payable in advance;\nsingle copy, TWENTY CENTS.\n\n\nREMITTANCES\n\nAll remittances to the New Century Corporation must be made payable to\n\"CLARK THURSTON, _Manager_,\" Point Loma, California.\n\n\n VOL. I NO. 2 CONTENTS AUGUST 1911\n\n\n Scene from _The Aroma of Athens_ _Frontispiece_\n\n Theosophy and Modern Scientific Discoveries by Charles J. Ryan 87\n\n The Bridges of Paris (_illustrated_) by G. K. 96\n\n Old Brynhyfryd Garden (_verse_) by Kenneth Morris 97\n\n Misused Powers by R. W. Machell 98\n\n Is Education Wasted? by H. T. Edge. B. A. (Cantab.) 102\n\n The Temple of Theseus, Athens (_illustrated_) by R. 106\n\n Stoa, Gymnasium of Hadrian, Athens (_illustration_) facing 107\n\n Recent Admissions by Archaeologists by a Student 107\n\n Monument of De Lesseps, Port Said (_illustration_) facing 110\n\n Great Names in Art. Sculptures from the Albert Memorial\n (_illustrated_) by an Art Student 111\n\n The Two Fairylands: A Study in the Literature of\n Wonder by Kenneth Morris 115\n\n Light Physical and Metaphysical by H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S. 122\n\n _Eros_: Painting by Julius Kronberg\n (_illustrated_) by R. W. Machell 125\n\n Tempting Counterfeits vs. Reality by Lydia Ross, M. D. 126\n\n Life and Teachings of Pythagoras\n by F. S. Darrow, A. M., PH. D. (Harv.) 130\n\n Photography and the Invisible by Philip A. Malpas 142\n\n Visingsborg Castle, Visings\u00f6, The Canal, Trollh\u00e4ttan, Sweden\n (_illustrations_) facing 142\n\n High Sluice and the Palace of Industry, Amsterdam\n (_illustrations_) facing 143\n\n Heredity and Biology by H. T. Edge. B. A. (Cantab.) 145\n\n Incorrodible Bronze by Travers 148\n\n Scientific Oddments by the Busy Bee 149\n\n Linnaeus and the Divining-Rod contributed by P. F. 154\n\n Lomaland Ca\u00f1ons (_illustrated_) by W. J. Renshaw 155\n\n Notices 158\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. SCENE FROM \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS,\" A GREEK DRAMA GIVEN\nAT POINT LOMA IN APRIL, 1911, BY KATHERINE TINGLEY AND STUDENTS AT THE\nINTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL HEADQUARTERS CENTRAL FIGURES ARE: PHEIDIAS\nSEATED, PERIKLES STANDING]\n\n\nTHE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY, EDITOR\n\n VOL. I AUGUST, 1911 NO. 2\n\n I produced the golden key of Pre-existence only at a dead lift, when\n no other method could satisfy me touching the ways of God, that by\n this hypothesis I might keep my heart from sinking.--_Henry More_\n\n\nTHEOSOPHY AND MODERN SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES: by Charles J. Ryan\n\n\nThe attitude of the leaders of science and philosophy concerning the\nsignificance and probable causes of natural phenomena has greatly\nchanged since 1888 when H. P. Blavatsky wrote her _magnum opus, The\nSecret Doctrine_. The comfortable feeling that the fruit of the Tree\nof Knowledge is ripe for our picking, or at least very nearly so, has\nlargely disappeared with the widening of our perceptions gained through\nthe surprising discoveries in physics, chemistry, psychology, etc., of\nthe intervening period. Happily for the world, the truly leading minds\nof the present day in science and philosophy are escaping from the\ncrass materialism into which they seemed to be sinking not so long ago;\nthe \"camp followers\" are also catching up.\n\nParadoxically, and yet naturally, the more we have learned of Nature's\nmethods, the less dogmatic we have become. The present, although a time\nof great fertility in the production of theories, is one of comparative\nmodesty in the putting forth of assertions that such a thing cannot\nbe, or that such another is against established laws and therefore not\nto be investigated. We are seeing something similar in the affairs of\nnations--new experiments in statecraft are being tried in apparently\nunlikely places.\n\nThe wisdom of the ancients is being more justly estimated; the cheap\nsneers against their scientific attainments are less often heard. The\nnewest Chemistry regards the much-derided Alchemy more sympathetically;\nthe latest Psychology finds that Mesmer was not the complete fraud\nalleged by the materialism of the nineteenth century. A well-founded\nsuspicion is arising that our own civilization is not on the rightest\nbasis, and that it has neglected many of the sterling virtues of the\npast in favor of luxury and ease. The claims of the older religions\nof the world are more fully acknowledged as worthy of respect; the\nTheosophical idea is dawning upon the people of Christendom that they\nare not all foolishness.\n\nIn her presentation of the teachings of Theosophy, the ancient\nWisdom-Religion, H. P. Blavatsky had to devote a large amount of time\nto a dissection of the dogmatic claims of the materialistic science\nof the nineteenth century. It was only natural, of course, that the\nleaders of scientific research, and a large number of the rank and\nfile, just emancipated from the fetters of dogmatic theology, should\nhave proclaimed their new theories of life in very positive terms,\nand should have attributed greater finality to them than now seems\npossible. In the latter quarter of the nineteenth century the reaction\ntowards the negation of the spiritual was going too far, so it became\npart of H. P. Blavatsky's duty to show in what the materialistic\nhypotheses were as deficient as the superstitious dogmas they were\ntrying to supplant, while admitting, of course, that as iconoclastic\nweapons of destruction they served a necessary purpose. And who can\ndeny the far-reaching effect of her work. Almost every magazine\narticle or book on advanced lines offers palpable traces of the ideas\nshe had to bring to the attention of the Western world; not only\nthe principles, but often the very expressions originated in the\nTheosophical literature, are becoming widely spread. The thinking world\nis rapidly--more rapidly than the earlier students of Theosophy dared\nto hope--reaching the place where some at least of the teachings of\nTheosophy will be accepted among the unprejudiced everywhere, as the\nonly logical thing; when this is done we may reasonably expect further\nclues to the understanding of natural law, from the source whence H. P.\nBlavatsky drew her inspiration. At the present time it is the practical\ndemonstration of the basic principles of Theosophy in conduct, such\nas is found in the lives of the Theosophical students under Katherine\nTingley, that is the greatest need of humanity. There is plenty of\ntheory; let us see it work out in the changed lives of the multitude.\n\nIt may prove interesting and not unprofitable to glance at a few of the\nrecent developments on scientific and philosophic lines which are now\nmoving in the Theosophical direction.\n\nThe enormous antiquity of man, which was until lately frowned upon\nseverely, is now a perfectly safe subject to teach: man's residence on\nearth is no longer considered to be a matter of thousands of years but\nof hundreds of thousands. The \"Englishman's\" skeleton of the Thames\nvalley of which we have lately heard so much is conservatively reckoned\nto be 170,000 years old, and the \"Gibraltar woman\" is believed to have\nflourished half a million years ago or more! Neither of these antique\npersonages represents the \"missing link\" in the least. The English\nskull is well-developed and of modern type; the woman's is not quite so\ngood. Well, from 4004 B. C.--until lately the supposed date of man's\ncreation according to Western belief founded on false interpretation\nof the Hebrew scriptures--to the five or six hundred thousand years\nnow accepted, is a big jump. It is bigger in proportion than that\nfrom the half million to the eighteen millions of years that man has\nbeen embodied, according to the Theosophical records, which yet has\nto be made. We shall probably not have to wait long to see a further\nextension of time demanded and granted.\n\nIt is noteworthy, and particularly interesting to students of\nTheosophy, that an increasing number of biologists are inclining to\nthe belief that the human mind did not develop through an immensely\nprotracted series of years, but that it came almost to its present\nperfection very quickly; that there was, in fact, _a sort of\nincarnation of mind_ into the highest and most suitable animal form\navailable. The famous Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, the \"co-discoverer\nof Darwinism,\" uses many convincing arguments in favor of the high\nintelligence of \"primitive\" man. He says that\n\n Our intellectual and moral nature has not advanced in any perceptible\n degree.\n\nA writer in _Records of the Past_, says:\n\n A further evidence of the high intelligence of primeval man is found\n in the manner in which he maintained himself against the swarms\n of monstrous and ferocious beasts by which he was surrounded. Not\n only did he hold his own against them, but even, so we are told,\n exterminated many of them. We must remember also that man achieved\n this astounding victory over these mighty animals by means of stone\n weapons, which were of the rudest possible character. His triumph\n therefore, was solely due to his wonderful intelligence.\n\nThe civilized inhabitants of modern India have not been able to\nexterminate the devastating tigers and snakes, etc., whose toll of\nhuman lives is still very heavy.\n\nAccording to Theosophy, \"primitive\" man in Europe was as the successor\nof a highly civilized man who lived ages before on the sunken continent\nof Atlantis, passing through a cycle of degradation as a consequence\nof his abuse of his opportunities in previous incarnations. Though\nthe cubic capacity of the skulls of the earliest primitive races,\nso-called, is about the same as that of modern races, the possession\nof a large brain does not imply that they had a high civilization.\nThis can be seen clearly in the case of the Eskimo, who have even more\ncapacious skulls than some highly civilized races. A low condition of\nlife amid a people who possess good brain development means either\nthe presence of undeveloped Egos of limited experience, or of those\nwho are suffering disabilities in consequence of past wrong-doing. In\neither case they are necessarily using the physical vehicles provided\nby heredity. H. P. Blavatsky says the evil Karma (the influence set in\nmotion by past actions) generated by the sins of the Atlanteans heavily\nhandicapped those Egos when they reappeared on the newly-forming\nEuropean and Asiatic (in part) continents, and prevented them for long\nages from rising out of the primitive conditions in which they found\nthemselves.\n\nIt is a fact that man's mind is an incarnation from something very\ndifferent from the material plane; it comes into humanity from its\nown plane. The Theosophical teachings show how each of the complex\n\"principles\" or constituents which compose the human personality, the\nvehicle of the Immortal Ego, is derived from its own plane or source,\ni. e., the physical body from the material, molecular world; the\nbody-center of passions and desires from the plane or world of Desire,\nK\u00e2ma-Loka; and so forth. This is fully explained in the Theosophical\nliterature, especially, of course, in the writings of the Theosophical\nLeaders. It is a most important clue, leading to many practical\nconsequences, owing to the better understanding it gives of the causes\nof many of our human sufferings, of the rationale of the death-process,\nof the spread of epidemics, both physical and mental, and so forth.\nTheosophy does not fall into the materialistic error of imagining that\nmind is the product of some jugglery of blind forces playing with the\nmolecules of inert matter--that the less can be the origin of the\ngreater. When our psychologists have learned how the mind comes from\nits own plane, evolving in its own way, and incarnating in material\nforms to help them on in _their_ evolution, they will find a new sphere\nof research, and the text-books will have to be rewritten.\n\nWhile the idea, now being dimly suspected by some anthropologists, that\nman's mind is not the result of a _very long and slow_ development\nfrom the beast, is correct according to the records of Theosophy, we\nmust remember that the incarnation of the \"Manas\" or Thinker, which\nmade incomplete man into the perfect septenary he is today, took place\nlong before the temporary decline of the \"primitive\" man after the\ndisappearance of Atlantis. One eminent scientist at least, Professor\nF. Soddy, F. R. S., lecturer on physical chemistry and radio-activity\nat Glasgow University, has lately suggested that in his opinion some\ngreat civilization may have existed (long before the \"primitive\" Stone\nAges) which ruined itself and descended into barbarism by the abuse of\nthe power to disintegrate matter and so to release forces of terrible\npotency whose existence the discovery of the properties of radium\nhas faintly revealed to us, but which we have, fortunately, not the\nslightest idea how to unloose. Theosophy tells us that something of the\nkind did happen; but the mind of man was even then long ages posterior\nto the time when the \"Sons of Mind\" settled into the forms which only\nthen, properly, could be called mankind.\n\nFor many years the existence of hundreds of giant portrait-statues on\nthe wild volcanic Easter Island, two thousand miles from the coast of\nSouth America, has been known, and their origin and meaning is still\none of the greatest of the world's enigmas. What was the mysterious\nrace that carved them? How is it that such works, which obviously\nrequired the presence of a large and intelligent population, should\nbe found on such a small island, so far from the continental lands?\nArchaeologists in general seem to avoid the problem; certainly no\nadequate theory has been advanced by the recognized authorities to\nmeet the case. H. P. Blavatsky gave us the key to the mystery when she\nbriefly described parts of the pre-Atlantean continent of Lemuria:\nEaster Island is an Atlantean vestige of that really primitive land\nwhose truly primeval inhabitants were of larger proportions than\nourselves. Well, lately we have seen three or four articles in\ndifferent American and other magazines discussing the problem and\ntrying to explain it upon the very lines of the Theosophical teachings,\nno other being considered reasonable.\n\nDuring the past ten years the trend toward the Theosophical\ninterpretations of some of the most pressing astronomical problems\nhas been very marked. The re-opening of questions hither considered\nclosed or else insoluble, has been an interesting feature of recent\ntimes. For instance, the belief that gravitation alone explained the\nmovements of the stars has been seriously shaken lately, and, if we\nmay venture to prophesy, it looks as if physics will have to return to\nthe ancient and Theosophical acceptance of dual forces, attraction and\nrepulsion--perhaps magnetic--to explain the new problem of astronomy,\nhaving found that gravitation is only a half-understood truth, as\nTheosophy teaches. In his inaugural address, Professor Bergstrand,\nnewly appointed to the chair of astronomy at the university of Upsala,\nSweden, made a special point of the fact that some utterly unknown\nforce or forces besides gravitation must be operating to explain\nsome of the newest discoveries in stellar physics. He was alluding\nparticularly to the binding together of certain groups of stars in\nconnected drifts across the depths of space. Several of such drifting\ncollections of stars moving together across the vast depths of\nkosmos at equal speed are now known. There would not be anything so\nextraordinary in this, and nothing that might call for the postulate\nof some unknown law, but for the fact that in some cases members of\nthe same star-group are found _at far distant parts of the heavens_\nseparated from each other by many other stars drifting in various\ndirections between them--our sun for one. What is the mysterious\nbinding tie, and how may it be reconciled with the known action of\ngravitation? One of the fundamental principles in nature, according\nto Theosophy, is the Duality of manifested forces: in _The Secret\nDoctrine_ H. P. Blavatsky treats of this very fully, plainly declaring\nthat the _other half_ of gravitation will have to be reckoned with\nbefore long by physical science in the West. In the East there is\npractical knowledge of it, among a chosen few.\n\nThe newest speculations about the processes of solar and planetary\ndevelopment from nebulae are bound to lead to the discovery of the\ntruth of the Theosophical teaching that there is an archetypal world, a\nworld of causes, lying concealed behind all manifested material forms.\nOnce this is admitted by scientists, once a sane metaphysical basis\nfor the universe is found logically necessary, there will be a great\nchange in the way of looking at phenomena, including the problem of\nhuman life, and we know that what the most advanced thinkers proclaim\nwill be followed before long by the great mass; see, for instance, the\nstrong effect the Darwinian theory of Natural Selection, incomplete\nand materialistic as it is, has already made in every department of\nmodern thought. Of course the acceptance of a merely metaphysical\nfoundation for the facts recorded by our ordinary senses does not mean\nthe acceptance of the reality of a _spiritual_ world; that is a far\ndeeper problem, and has to be approached through the experience of the\nintuition, trained and untrained, but a long step will be made when\nit is thoroughly realized that the material plane is not the plane of\nultimate causes.\n\nAccording to one of the nebular hypotheses of today the collision of\ntwo suns, (dark and \"dead\" or otherwise) crashing into each other\nat tremendous speed, results in a vast nebula, in which, owing to\nthe enormous heat produced, the atoms would be reduced to the state\nof \"corpuscles,\" the root of matter on our plane, all alike, and\nwithout any of the characteristics of the elements, even in the most\nrudimentary form; there would be no metallic vapors, no gases, not\neven helium or coronium, nothing but the primitive corpuscular basis\nof matter. Then, as the nebula formed by the collision condensed\nand perhaps cooled, it would begin to rebuild its substance into\nthe well-known elements, combinations would take place, and the\nevolution of a new solar system would be started. But now arises the\nimportant question: What causes the perfectly homogeneous or uniform\n\"corpuscular\" substance, the mass of _sub-atoms_ of unknown nature, to\nperform the astonishing feat of transforming itself into the marvelous\ncomplexity we find even in the simplest star? The problem is similar to\nthat of the egg. In a new-laid egg the great mass of its constituent\nmaterials is structureless, but in a short time of incubation the\neggshell is completely filled with a most complicated living organism.\nIs it not clear that behind both nebula and egg there must be an\narchetype or model form, invisible to ordinary eyesight, which is\nbeing used as the pattern into which the simple materials are being\nwoven? and that there are Builders, who know the plan and work it out\nin a conscious harmony that we call the correlation of \"natural laws\"?\n\"Blind forces,\" \"necessity,\" \"unconscious laws,\" are meaningless terms\nwhich only disguise ignorance, or _stave off_ the anti-materialistic\nand dreaded so-called \"teleological\" view that there must be \"a\nDivinity that shapes our ends.\"\n\nTheosophy offers as a fact, demonstrable from the very presence within\nof the higher, divine nature, that men in time will attain the stature\nof Creative powers, Builders of future world-systems, just as the\nHigher Beings who are the guides and directors of the present evolution\nwere once men and lower than men in past aeons. Evolution of men will\nnot stop with the perfecting of the mental and moral nature; once the\ngodlike nature of the Higher Self is admitted, it follows that there\ncan not be a limit assigned beyond which man may not go.\n\nThere may be some truth in the collision-theory of the origin of\ncertain nebulae; it seems to explain the sudden appearance of\n\"temporary stars,\" at least; but, by its very nature, it cannot\nexplain the origin of the universe of suns as a whole. Again, after\neach collision the speed of the new body formed from the material of\nthe two colliding spheres would be less than their combined speed,\nbecause much or all of their motion would be arrested and transformed\ninto the energy which would be needed to scatter their substance in\nall directions. If two equal bodies, moving at equal speed, met in a\nline joining their centers, the resulting nebula would have no motion\nat all. It has been pointed out that if the collision theory alone is\nrelied upon to explain the structure of the universe it must fail,\nbecause during the infinity of past time a condition of absolute\nstagnation would have been attained, the universe would have \"run\ndown,\" nothing being left but one gigantic dead and dark globe!\n\nIn this idea of \"running down\" there is a paradox, which is apparent\nenough, and we need not trouble to follow it further. We have to\nseek a reasonable hypothesis--a theory such as Theosophy presents\nof a universe which can wind itself up again after it has finished\nits cyclic career--a theory which does not overlook the fact that\nthe material cosmos is the manifestation of intelligent Mind. The\nimpressive system which was worked out in the Orient (and before that\nelsewhere) ages ago, of the transformation of energies from visible\nto invisible planes under Cyclic or Periodic Law, the universality\nof alternations of manifestation and rest, clears up the primary\ndifficulties of the case. It is to H. P. Blavatsky, the great\nTheosophist, that we are indebted for making this reasonable hypothesis\nclear. Fortunately, the time-spirit of science in this century is\nless atheistic than that of the nineteenth, and the broad principle\nof Theosophy, that there are great spiritual Beings, the glorious\nefflorescence of past ages of development, guiding and controlling the\nformation and maintenance of the worlds, is becoming the subject of\nserious consideration among some of the most advanced thinkers, for\nthe atheistic hypothesis that matter \"runs itself\" is almost at its\nlast gasp.\n\nIn another subject, the nature of Light, many new and interesting\nspeculations are being advanced as the result of the discoveries of\nthe extraordinary properties of radium and the _x_-rays. To students\nof Theosophy these are significant, for H. P. Blavatsky, in _The\nSecret Doctrine_, goes deeply into the question whether light is an\nactual substance of some kind, or a mere undulation of an ethereal\nmedium. She points out some of the difficulties of both theories,\ngiving special attention to Sir W. Grove's celebrated lecture in 1842\nwherein he considered he proved that light and heat must be affections\nof matter itself, and not the effects of an imponderable fluid--a\nfiner state of matter--penetrating it. Sir Isaac Newton held to the\nPythagorean theory that light was made of almost infinitely minute\ncorpuscles, but the phenomenon of diffraction is supposed to have\nupset this. H. P. Blavatsky does not reject the wave theory as part of\nthe explanation, but she contends that the ultimate causes of light,\nheat, and electricity must be sought in a form of matter existing\nin supersensuous states, states, though, \"as fully objective to the\nspiritual eye of man as a horse or a tree to the ordinary mortal\";\nand, above all, that these forces and others are \"propelled and guided\nby Intelligences.\" She devotes many chapters of the third part of the\nfirst volume of _The Secret Doctrine_ to this subject, throwing an\nentirely new light upon it in its deeper bearings, and showing the\nenormous importance of a proper understanding of it if we are ever to\nlearn our true relationship with the external universe. She says:\n\n To know what light is, and whether it is an actual substance or a mere\n undulation of the \"ethereal medium,\" Science has first to learn what\n are in reality Matter, Atom, Ether, Force. Now, the truth is, that _it\n knows nothing of any of these_, and admits it. (_The Secret Doctrine_,\n Vol. I p. 482)\n\nSince she wrote _The Secret Doctrine_, though hardly twenty-three\nyears have elapsed, several discoveries in physics and chemistry have\nbeen made which have greatly modified the scientific view as to the\nnature of the atom, of the electric current, and of matter in general;\nall these modifications are leading straight in the direction of her\nteachings. It is even claimed that\n\n Matter can vanish without return.... Force and matter are two\n different forms of one and the same thing.... By the dissociation of\n matter, the stable form of energy termed matter is simply changed\n into those unstable forms known by the name of light, heat, etc.\n (_Evolution of Matter_, by Gustave Le Bon)\n\nThis leads to the startling suggestion that what is force on this\nplane may be substantial on another, and we are now seeing, as a\nresult of the study of the _x_-rays, and the [alpha], [beta], [gamma]\nrays of radium, all of which can pass through ordinary matter with\nease, a revival of the ancient and supposedly extinct theory held\nby Newton, and others before him, that light is a body composed of\ncorpuscles--whatever they may be. Professor Bragg, of the Leeds\nUniversity (England), has been investigating the problem with great\ncare, with the result that he has come to the conclusion, as he\nannounced to the members of the Royal Institution, London, the other\nday, that the \"gamma\" rays of radium and the _x_-rays are corpuscular,\nand not merely pulsations in the ether. He thinks they are probably\nelectrons, corpuscles of negative electricity\n\n which have assumed a cloak of darkness in the form of sufficient\n positive electricity to neutralize them.\n\nIt seems also that as ultra-violet light, which exists in ordinary\nsunlight, possesses many of the properties of the above rays, Professor\nBragg may not be far wrong in his further suggestion that it also may\nbe corpuscular in its nature. He asked, very pertinently, that if this\nlight be corpuscular, why may not all other forms of light be so? When\nwe recollect that the \"corpuscles\" themselves are a purely metaphysical\nconcept, it is plain that science is moving rapidly towards a very\ndifferent and far more reasonable and Theosophical idea of the universe\nthan the materialistic one. _Vivat!_\n\n\n\n\nTHE BRIDGES OF PARIS: by G. K.\n\n\nThe Bridges of Paris are of distinctive interest and their very\nnames suggest in part the fascinating panorama of French history and\nlegend--Tolbiac, Bercy, Austerlitz, Sully, Marie and Louis Philippe,\nNotre Dame, Pont San Michel, Solferino, La Concorde, Alma, I\u00e9na, Passy,\netc. The Seine flows for seven miles through the city and is at its\nwidest (nearly 1000 feet) at the extremity of the island called La\nCit\u00e9. This island communicates with the right bank of the Seine by the\nbridges of Notre Dame and Au Change. The latter, as is evident from\nthe familiar device sculptured above the piers (see illustration), was\nbuilt by the first Napoleon.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PARIS: THE PONT AU\nCHANGE AND THE PALAIS DE JUSTICE]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PARIS AND THE SEINE]\n\nThe Palais de Justice is located in La Cit\u00e9 and the Greek fa\u00e7ade by\nDuc is considered one of the finest examples of this style in modern\narchitecture.\n\n From the Boulevard du Palais on the east it is separated by a\n magnificent eighteenth-century railing in wrought iron and gilt. On\n this side lie the Salle des Pas Perdus and the Sainte-Chapelle. The\n fine square tower known as the Clock Tower stands at the corner formed\n by the Quai du Mord and the Boulevard du Palais; and on the north side\n lies the Conciergerie prison with the dungeon once occupied by Marie\n Antoinette.--_Gaston Meissas_\n\n\n\n\nOLD BRYNHYFRYD GARDEN\n\nby Kenneth Morris\n\n\n There's a quiet old enchantment of the heart that's calling, calling\n From when Myrddin wielded magic powers, and Gwydion wove his tales;\n And you'll hear it any April morn, when the apple-bloom is falling\n In old Brynhyfryd Garden, in White, Wild Wales.\n\n There's an Ousel in the Orchard there, and dear knows what he's\n telling;\n But I think there's Welsh comes welling from his throat when no\n one's nigh,\n And it's he that in Cilgwri in the olden days was dwelling,\n And he saw the Quest of Cilhwch, and the old worlds die.\n\n There's a lonely, lofty spirit that will fire your soul with craving\n For the kind and haughty glory of the old, Heroic Kings,\n Where the foxglove and sweet-william on the turf-topped walls are\n waving\n In old Brynhyfryd Garden, when the West Wind sings.\n\n There's a ruin filled with nettles, where I think Ceridwen lingers\n When she's out to gather herbage for the Wisdom Broth she brews:\n And maybe you'll close your eyes there, and you'll feel the touch of\n fingers,\n Or the dropping down of healing with the cool June dews.\n\n Ancient Magic of the World, it's the fires of you are burning\n When the Wind is in the pine tops, and the moon is o'er the vales;\n It's a rumor of immortal hopes, Immortal Hearts returning\n That's in old Brynhyfryd Garden in the white West of Wales.\n\n International Theosophical Headquarters,\n Point Loma, California\n\n\n\n\nMISUSED POWERS: by R. W. Machell\n\n\n\"Use with care those living messengers we call words.\" So said William\nQ. Judge, a very wise man.\n\nThe misuse of words seems a trifling matter to those who habitually\nmisuse every function of mind and body; but the results of perversion\nare disastrous to body, mind, and soul. The misuse of terms, when\nnot due to ignorance of their legitimate meaning, is in itself an\nindication of a perverted mind diseased by habitual misuse of the\nfunctions of both body and mind, which two are so intimately related as\nto share inevitably the consequences of right or wrong living.\n\nThe words we use and the way we use them are not mere accidents but\nare sure indications of our mental condition, and the mind and body\nare so mutually responsive that it is hard to say which affects the\nother and which is the affected one, for habits of body are induced\nby habits of mind and the mind in turn is influenced by the bodily\ncondition resulting from those habits. With self-indulgence as the\nunfortunate rule of life, and with the ignorance of our own nature\nand of our relation to others, which is almost universal, it is not\nsurprising that wrong living should be the general rule, and that\nmisuse of the powers of mind and body should be so common; nor is it\nat all strange that there should be so much unhappiness in the world,\nnor need we marvel if people in these conditions should think that\ntheir sufferings, mental and physical, are due to everything except\ntheir own misconduct. And if men can not see that they are indeed the\nmakers of their own sufferings, how shall they be able to realize their\nresponsibility to others? With selfishness as the rule of life, and\nwith ignorance of our interdependence, and of our intimate union one\nwith another throughout the whole world, it is quite natural that we\nshould feel little responsibility to others for the effects we produce\nin the world by the use or misuse of words: a responsibility that is\nincreased by the spread of education and by the increase in the number\nof persons who read without thinking, and who take thoughts from\nbooks as they take water from a tap, unquestioning as to its quality.\nPure water is now recognized as essential to health and is supplied\nin all civilized communities, but pure language and pure thought are\nleft to chance; and while the supply of literature is as plentiful as\nthe supply of water, the quality of our literature is not subject to\nthe same scrutiny as is our water-supply, and the stream of thought\nthat flows through the channels of our publications is frequently\ncontaminated by unhealthy and unwholesome matters. Purity of thought\nand purity of words are essential values, for words are embodied\nthoughts, and from thoughts spring deeds, and the deeds of man are his\nlife.\n\nThe responsibility of writers and speakers has hardly yet been\nrecognized; though illustrations of the dangers of trifling with\nessential values, or of misusing talents, or indeed of perverting\nfrom its right use any function, are actually supplied by some of\nour brilliant writers, who have recklessly and often ignorantly\nbecome apostles of mere degeneracy and powerful instruments for the\ndemoralization of the people. Even those who see the evils scarcely\nseem to appreciate either the causes or the consequences of the\ncorruption of literature and the confusion of language.\n\nSome recent reviewers, however, have begun to question more closely the\ncharacter of the influence exercised upon the world by some writers,\nwhose works have excited general or special admiration, even calling\nsome of them defaulters, for that, holding great talents, they have\nused the light they held to dazzle the eyes and to confuse the minds of\nothers, so as to make them blind to the path of right living, which is\nvirtue or morality.\n\nOne of these critics, Paul Elmer More, literary editor of the New York\n_Evening Post_, in a study of the influence of Walter Pater, distinctly\nsuggests that the author confused the truth and in fact misrepresented\nhistory, reading his own desires and inclinations into the teachings of\nPlato in one case, and in another of doing the same for Christianity,\nmaking them appear to exalt sensuous beauty above spiritual beauty\nwhich is the soul of virtue; whereas Plato himself exclaims: \"When\nanyone prefers beauty to virtue, what is this but the real and utter\ndishonor of the soul?\" Mr. More suggests that Christianity is equally\nmisrepresented by this brilliant writer, but in his perversion of the\nreal meaning and purpose of true Christianity he is simply drifting\nwith the tide of so-called Christian civilization, which has been,\nalmost from its first appearance as a politically established religion,\na clear departure from those teachings concerning the Christos in man,\nattributed to Jesus, the supposed founder of the system, and which in\ntheir original purity are identical with Universal Theosophy of which\nthey are a part and upon which they are drawn.\n\nFurther, Mr. More suggests that the demoralizing effect of Pater\nmay have largely affected that brilliant apostle of decadence, Oscar\nWilde, whose tragic collapse in the hour of his literary success drew\nattention to an evil whose ravages have ruined multitudes of lives and\nwrecked every civilization that has become tainted with the poison of\nperversion. For this man exalted perversion into a cult, his wit was\nentirely based upon it, his ethics steeped in it, and his own life\nwrecked by it. He himself shows that he was not unaware of the truth,\nat times, for he wrote:\n\n Surely there was a time I might have trod\n The sunlit heights, and from life's dissonance\n Struck one clear chord to reach the ears of God;\n Is that time dead? lo! with a little rod\n I did but touch the honey of romance--\n And must I lose a soul's inheritance?\n\nAnd later, in that awful page of the tragedy of a fallen soul, _The\nBallad of Reading Gaol_, there is a sort of blind recognition of the\njustice of Karma, which tolerates no perversion of Nature's order on\nany plane, coupled with a noble and generous plea for the removal of\nthe unnecessary horrors of the prisons, in which we grind out the last\nvestige of man's inherent love of virtue, and crush the last buds of\ngrowth that the fallen soul may yet be able to put forth.\n\nHere again was one, who exalted the beauty of the senses above the\nbeauty of the soul, and so soiled the whole nature and so perverted\nthe mind, which is the mirror of the man, that he produced a vortex of\nvice, in which all who entered were bewildered and lost their guiding\nstar; in which many were utterly wrecked, and all defiled.\n\nProfessor Henderson in his critical interpretation of five authors,\npoints out so much of the evil that one can only regret that his grasp\nof true psychology was not deep enough to enable him to make more clear\nthe distinction between the spiritual soul and the animal soul (not to\ngo further into the complex nature of the Soul), the great duality in\nman that is the clue to all these mysteries. With this key one feels\nthat his study of Maeterlinck's philosophy would have become more\nluminous, for surely this is a case, in which an author continually\nconfuses his audience, and perhaps also himself, by exalting the\nsensuous joys of the animal soul, and the emotions of the imagination,\nabove the pure joy of true beauty, which is, as all poets, not only\nKeats, have seen, the same as truth. Keats himself may have known the\ndifference, but his readers certainly must in most instances have\nbeen misled and may have found in his lines a justification of their\nown indulgence of morbid tastes, for however morbid may be a man's\ncondition he will still see beauty in pleasure of any kind, no matter\nhow vile may be its source. We may endorse the axiom in the first line\n\n Beauty is truth, truth beauty\n\nbut must protest against the fallacy in the next line\n\n ... that is all\n Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.\n\nNo! we need to know what we mean by beauty, and we need to know that\nthe word conceals pitfalls innumerable for him who has no knowledge\nof the true nature of man, for one who thinks he is his body, and who\nbelieves his passions are the voices of his soul and who mistakes the\nintoxication of sensuality for spiritual illumination, lust for love,\nand perversion for genius. We need the teaching so clearly given in\n\"The Two Paths\" translated by H. P. Blavatsky from _The Book of the\nGolden Precepts_. We need to know that there is a chasm deep as hell\nbetween these two souls in man, and that when the higher nature is the\nslave of the lower then the man is in hell indeed; for as said by H. P.\nBlavatsky, there is no other hell than that of a man-bearing planet.\nThose who have stood on the brink of this hell with even partially\nopened eyes, know that the terrors of hell invented by churchmen are\nbut as a comic interlude to the reality of horrors that life on earth\nholds for masses of humanity, and from which there is no escape except\nby the path of right living, based upon right perception of our own\ntrue nature, and discrimination between the higher and the lower nature\nin man, which is so often veiled by the false teachings of perverted\nminds. We need the truth to discriminate the spiritual beauty that is\npure joy from the sensual beauty that intoxicates, blinds, and destroys\nthe life--and we need the guiding power of pure altruism to make our\nwritings useful to others and a full recognition of the responsibility\nof those who now so lightly use \"those living messengers we call\nwords.\"\n\n\n\n\nIS EDUCATION WASTED? by H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.)\n\n\nNo question is agitating us more than that of how to educate our young\npeople. We know there is something wrong about our achievements in\neducation, but we are often mistaken as to where the fault lies. The\ncommonest mistake is to confound principles with practice and to blame\nthe former where perhaps it is the latter which is at fault. We fail\nto carry out certain plans, and we blame the plans and want to make a\nclean sweep of them; when perhaps inefficiency in applying them is what\nis really the matter. In fact, it is probably inefficiency, rather than\nwrong principles, that is the matter with our educational doings, as\nit is in the case of so many others of our doings. Before we condemn a\nmethod, we should ask whether that method is being given a fair trial.\nIf we sweep away the system, without removing the general inefficiency,\nthen the same failure will attend our efforts to apply any new system\nthat may be devised. We shall have exchanged one evil for another.\n\nThere is more than one side to every question; but many of the\nutterances on the educational difficulty give only one side. The result\nis views that are extreme and ill-considered. Let us take a case.\n\nMuch of education is considered by some critics to be superfluous and\nwasted, for the reason that it seems to bear no immediate and visible\nfruit. Hence they wish to abolish it. Yet it is always possible that\nit may bear fruit after all, but not of the kind they are able to see.\nTake, for instance, the case of a girl of ordinary type, without any\ndefinite characteristics whether good or bad. She is sent to school\nand college. She is taught algebra and geometry, Latin and Greek,\nmusic and painting, with many other subjects. She is reasonably clever\nand absorbs all this with interest and ease. She leaves college--and\nnever again opens a book. The whole is quietly forgotten with as much\nnonchalance as it was acquired. Is all the time and money and effort,\non the part of pupil and teachers, wasted?\n\nOr let it be a boy, who has been taught similar subjects, but takes up\na calling in which they are not used. Is the instruction wasted? The\nquestion arises in various forms, of which these two cases may be taken\nas typical examples.\n\nIf it is true that the education thus given is really wasted, what\nfolly could be greater than that of continuing to impart it! Yet we\nknow that somehow the view taken is too extreme; that it is not in\naccordance with the fitness of things that work involving so much\nzeal, enthusiasm, and other good qualities should fall fruitless; that\npeople would not go on doing it if they did not have some intuition\nthat the labor is not really in vain.\n\nIn short, may it not be possible that this is one of those cases in\nwhich a dilemma has arisen through the limitation of our knowledge\nof human nature and the laws of life; a dilemma resolvable by the\nwider knowledge shed by Theosophy? A knowledge of Reincarnation, the\ndual nature of man, and other related matters, clears up many of the\nenigmas of life, as for instance what becomes of all the abilities and\nexperience which a man has garnered during life, when he dies. May not\na similar knowledge shed light on the present problem also? If so, then\nour beliefs would be reconciled with our intuitions, and practices\nwhich logic has seemed to condemn might be vindicated in the light of\nfuller knowledge.\n\nFor one thing, a conviction of the continuity of individual existence\nbeyond the grave, in other earth-lives, more or less similar to the\npresent life, affects the whole question profoundly. For we may at\nonce infer that knowledge accumulated now, but not immediately used,\nmay be used later on. And indeed this idea quite agrees with what many\nanalogies from Nature suggest. Youth is the time for study; maturer\nage brings other duties. Let us compare a lifetime with a day. In the\nmorning a man studies many subjects; but after noon he shuts his books,\nnever thinks of them again, and spends the remainder of the day in\nother occupations, followed by recreation and ending in sleep. Has his\nlabor been wasted? Nay, for he will resume it next morning. Can we not\napply this analogy to the case of the young person whose education has\nhad, or seemed to have, no immediate practical result?\n\nWe thus see how limited views as regards the duration of life may\ninfluence the question. But there are other limitations in our views;\nlet us see how these in turn may affect the question.\n\nWe are accustomed to pay too much attention to a man's capacity as a\nseparate individual, and not enough to his capacity as a part of a\nwhole. No being in the universe is entirely separate from other beings\nhowever much he may try to make himself so or imagine himself to be so.\nThis is especially applicable to Mind. How much of our mind is our own?\nIt has been argued that Mind is a kind of common atmosphere, in which\nall partake, and that thoughts are interchanged freely, the notion that\nthey belong particularly to oneself being chiefly an illusion. The\nmore this is true, the more it must be true that in teaching one person\nwe are in reality teaching many persons, teaching mankind in general.\nDoes a teacher teach persons or minds? To him it often seems as if he\nwere developing Mind, and the distinction of personalities is apt to\ndisappear. Yet this attitude on his part may not be mere carelessness\nand indifference to the interests of his pupils; it may be founded on\nan intuitive perception of the fact that personality does not count\nfor so much and that his pupils also have a collective capacity, an\naggregate value, which counts for a great deal.\n\nAnother way in which we limit our outlook, and thus obtain a false\nperspective, is in regarding too intently the immediate (and, as we\nsay, \"practical\") outcome of education. There is such a thing as a\ngeneral education, an education not directed to any immediate or\ndefinite end, but having in view the general culture and refinement of\nthe pupils. It is true, of course, that this argument can be used, and\nis used, to justify kinds of teaching which really are undesirable;\nit is true that in aiming at a general education, we may overdo the\nprocess; it is true that such overdoing puts a weapon into the hands of\nour opponents and goes some way towards justifying their arguments. But\naside from these abuses, the principle itself remains true. There must\nbe a certain amount of general culture, culture of a kind that has no\nimmediate practical end in view.\n\nLet us try to imagine the results of applying some of the wrongly\ncalled \"practical\" methods to an extreme degree. This boy is to be a\nshoemaker: teach him shoemaking and nothing else. This girl is to sew\nor cook: teach her sewing and cooking, but nothing else. At that rate\nsociety would become a world of machines, and general culture and love\nof knowledge would disappear.\n\nFinally, to name a fourth limitation in our outlook, there is the error\nof mistaking the principle itself for its application, the system for\nthe way in which it is carried out, the institution for the use that\nis made of it. Thus we often lay the blame in the wrong place. Before\nwe sweep away a system, let us find out whether it is the system that\nis at fault or the application of it; otherwise we may find equally\nfaulty results proceeding from any new system which we may adopt. Is it\ninefficiency which is at the root of the evil? If so, let us remedy the\ninefficiency and then it will be time to see about changing the system.\n\nThe education question, like so many other questions, is in a state of\nchaos. Something is the matter, but people do not know just what it is.\nThe suggested cures are many. Rash experiments are made. The remedies\nthreaten to be worse than the disease. One thing seems generally agreed\nupon--that our education does not confer perfect efficiency. What\nwe really need is a general education that will give efficiency in\nreading, writing, speaking, ciphering; in power of attention, memory,\nconcentration; in adaptability, readiness of resource; obedience,\norder, self-command. No need to enumerate all the requirements;\neverybody knows what they are and what is needed. Efficient people\nare needed everywhere; but, above all, people with self-command and\nfree from weaknesses. If we could but turn out this kind of product,\nmuch less in the way of technical schools would be needed; for such\npupils would be so apt and teachable that they could readily master\nanything. The difficulties as to the nature of the curriculum, whether\nit should include Greek and Latin, and, if so, how much; what history\nshould be taught, and how it should be taught; whether theoretical\ngrammar should be taught, or whether the pupil should acquire grammar\nunconsciously from his reading--all these and many more problems would\nsettle themselves, or at least our point of view concerning them\nwould be altogether altered. As it is, most of these problems resolve\nthemselves into the one problem of how to produce good fruit from a\nneglected tree. So long as the pupils have not been trained in the\ncontrol of their faculties, moral and mental, it is difficult to teach\nthem anything, no matter which method you adopt. And if they have been\nproperly trained in their early years, the question of what to teach\nthem sinks into comparative unimportance, because they will be able to\nmake use of all their opportunities.\n\nThe root of the whole difficulty, therefore, is this: that people have\nno definite philosophy of life to serve as a foundation for efforts.\nWith religious beliefs all undermined and mixed up, and nothing to\ntake their place but various theories wrongly labeled \"scientific,\" it\nis no wonder if folk should find themselves incompetent to solve the\neducational problem. We need to understand first what a man is and what\nis his destiny; we need to think of the Soul as having existed before\nit entered its present body, and as being destined to exist again\nafter it has left that body. We need to know the difference between\nthe higher and the lower nature in a person, and how the two are\ninterblended. Then we should not have rash schemes which ignore this\ndistinction and propose to let the lower nature run wild. We should\nthen know how to give the higher nature its freedom without letting the\nlower nature run wild.\n\nIt all comes to this: that tools are not of use without men to handle\nthem; and that in our scheming we are trying to devise tools which will\nturn unskilled workmen into skilled. The primary factor in education\nis the man itself. The question begins at birth--even before birth.\nWhen the time comes, as come it must, when people will find themselves\ncompelled by necessity to recognize the efficacy of Theosophy, then\nmany problems will be solved. Theosophy means a getting back to simple\nyet profound truths--such simple truths as can be applied to any\ncircumstances. These alone can grapple successfully with the problems.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TEMPLE OF THESEUS, ATHENS: by R.\n\n\nThe Theseion, the so-called Temple of Theseus, in Athens, belongs\nto the second period of classical Greek architecture, which may be\nconsidered to have flourished between B. C. 470 and 338, the dates\nof the Persian war and the Macedonian supremacy. It is one of the\nmost beautiful examples of the Doric order, and is more perfect than\nany other building we have of ancient Greece. It probably owes its\nexcellent preservation to the fact that it was turned into a Christian\nchurch during the Middle Ages. It is made of the famous white Pentelic\nmarble, which has changed, by lapse of time, to a lovely golden yellow\nhue. It greatly resembles the Parthenon, but covers a little less than\nhalf the area, and is not so exquisitely proportioned. The Theseion was\nerected a few years before the Parthenon, probably about B. C. 460. It\nis one hundred and four feet long by forty-five wide, and the columns\nare nineteen feet high. Like most of the finest Grecian buildings it\ndoes not depend upon mere size for impressiveness. From the remains of\nsculpture still existing the following subjects have been ascertained:\nThe achievements of Theseus (whence the name); The Labors of Hercules;\nand the battle of the Athenians, the Lapithae, and the Centaurs.\nFifty of the _metopes_ (the squares into which the frieze is divided)\nwere never adorned with sculpture, but were probably painted, for the\nDoric Temples are now known to have been painted both externally and\ninternally. The groups in the pediments (the uppermost triangular\nportions) are entirely lost.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. TEMPLE OF THESEUS,\nATHENS, GREECE]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. STOA, GYMNASIUM OF\nHADRIAN, ATHENS]\n\n\n\n\nRECENT ADMISSIONS BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS: by a Student\n\n\nA good summary of some of the changes wrought in our views of history\nby recent archaeological research is afforded by an article on ancient\nhistory in the new edition of the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_. The\narticle is written by Professor J. B. Bury, Regius Professor of Modern\nHistory in Cambridge University, and is contributed to _The Sphere_,\nthe well-known London illustrated weekly.\n\n During the past thirty years our knowledge of the beginnings of\n Greek history has undergone a transformation, which is associated\n with the now familiar names of Mycenae and Cnossus. Nearly all that\n was written on early Greece by Grote and the other brave men before\n Agamemnon--who is Schliemann--may now be safely left unread. The\n striking discoveries of Schliemann, however, at Mycenae, Tiryns, and\n Troy, did not revolutionize our view of pre-Homeric Greece, though\n they suggested a new perspective. It is the startling facts revealed\n by the Cretan exploration of Mr. Arthur Evans that have opened the\n door into a new world full of surprises--an unsuspected civilization\n reaching back through a period measured not by centuries but by\n millennia. The prolegomena to Greek history now consist of an entirely\n new set of facts and a new set of problems. At the same time we have\n been learning a great deal more about the old civilizations in the\n near East contemporary with this Aegean civilization which has sprung\n upon our vision like a magic castle built in a night. Our knowledge of\n Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria has become not only more extensive but\n clearer and more precise; and the importance of the Hittites in Asia\n Minor and Syria, though their own documents are still a sealed book,\n is emerging from obscurity.\n\nOne of the first thoughts that occur in connexion with the above is\nthat we must still be careful about the statements of historians,\nwhenever they tend to minimize or restrict; for, as they have altered\ntheir views before, so they may alter them again. We are bidden to\nthrow our Grote into the waste-basket; but many will say that the\nclaims made on behalf of that now despised scholarship were not lacking\nin positiveness. The views founded on this older scholarship have been\nmade the basis for attacks on the views put forward and advocated by\nTheosophists; but now we find the opinions of scholarship revised,\nand altered more into conformity with some of the Theosophical views.\nNaturally, therefore, Theosophists infer that another thirty years will\nhave witnessed yet further concessions on the part of scholarship;\nand they look forward to seeing all the statements of H. P. Blavatsky\nverified one by one as time goes on. They likewise conceded the\napparent necessity, due to certain traits of human nature which we all\nhave, of assuming a positive and dogmatic attitude with each new step\nin discovery, regardless of the logic of the case which would bid one\napply to the future the lesson of the past, and put forward with due\nmodesty views that are liable to change.\n\nSaid H. P. Blavatsky, in the Introduction to _The Secret Doctrine_,\npublished in 1888:\n\n No one styling himself a \"scholar,\" in whatever department of exact\n science, will be permitted to regard these teachings seriously. They\n will be derided and rejected _a priori_ in this century; but only in\n this one. For in the twentieth century of our era scholars will begin\n to recognize that the _Secret Doctrine_ has neither been invented nor\n exaggerated, but, on the contrary, simply outlined; and finally, that\n its teachings antedate the Vedas.\n\nOther writers before H. P. Blavatsky, and from whom she quotes, had\nshown that the accessible facts of history, tradition, and archaeology,\nif interpreted in the light of a logic unbiased by preconceived\nopinion, demonstrate the extreme antiquity of civilization. But such\nwriters have been regarded by the body of orthodox scholarship as\ncranks and paradoxists. In _The Secret Doctrine_, H. P. Blavatsky\ngathers together the evidence referred to by these writers, adds much\nmore collected by herself, and throws upon the whole the light of\nTheosophy. By means of the clues thus afforded, a consistent pattern is\nseen to pervade the apparently tangled skein, and the harmony between\nthe Theosophical truths and the facts thus adduced strikes home to\nthe unprejudiced mind with the force of conviction. To clinch the\nmatter, living Theosophists can now point in triumph, as above said,\nto the admissions made by scholars since _The Secret Doctrine_ was\nwritten--admissions which agree better with what H. P. Blavatsky said a\nquarter of a century ago than with their own utterances at that time.\n\nIt is seldom, indeed, whatever be the reason, that Theosophists have\nthe pleasure of seeing H. P. Blavatsky's name and work mentioned in\nthis connexion; though, as her works are still being issued and are\nreadily available, it might seem strange that no mention should be\nmade of them in connexion with matters so intimately related to the\nsubjects of which they treat. The question as to whether scholars have\nread these works or not is debatable; but in either case Theosophists\nmay find a source of gratification. For if scholars have read them,\nthat at least is a tribute of respect, even though the indebtedness\nbe unacknowledged. While if they have not read them, the inference is\nthat the teachings of Theosophy have been confirmed from an independent\nsource.\n\nIn assuming the duties of a pioneer, H. P. Blavatsky was doubtless\naware of the drawbacks incidental to such a r\u00f4le in the present age;\nbut she seems to have been so wrapped up in the enthusiasm of her\npurpose as to have been somewhat reckless of the consequences to\nherself. This however is quite consistent with the known character\nof pioneers. But, though too much interested in their work to seek\nrenown or even recognition, they doubtless achieve this unsought\nboon eventually; for the law of rebirth may bring them back to earth\nin time to see their own monuments and to realize that now their\nall-too-inconvenient personality has been removed by Time to a\ndistance, their harmless name may be safely honored. H. P. Blavatsky\nwas much derided; then ignored; her generosity was not appreciated;\nshe was accused of the most impossible motives. But now many of her\nteachings are found to be true--not in archaeology alone, but in\ncomparative religion, science, and several other fields. Shall we then\nexpect amends? Ask the shades of Mesmer and Elliotson, the persecuted\nadvocates of a since rediscovered treatment; of Dr. B. W. Richardson,\nwho suffered for his ideas on \"nervous ether,\" now being rehabilitated,\nbut without amends to the author; or the shades of many another\npioneer. We dare not expect too much of humanity in this age; few will\nbe those whose generosity will allow them to make such amends; and even\nof these, fewer still will be those who will break the rule of silence\nthat seems to bind the tongues of the well-disposed.\n\nThere are always some, however, who are more interested in knowing\nthe truth than in vindicating any personal or orthodox point of view;\npeople whose vision, thus unblinded, sees further and clearer; and to\nthese it may occur that the teachings of _The Secret Doctrine_, thus\nfar vindicated, may be worthy of attention in view of the natural\ninference that the rest of them will likewise be vindicated. The\nTheosophical teachings, reintroduced to Western civilization by H. P.\nBlavatsky, have been neglected by some and grotesquely travestied by\nothers; but they contain the science and scholarship of the future--if\nthat future but remain loyal to truth. Loyalty to truth can only\nresult in its establishment--in the vindication of Theosophy. And the\nparticular truths to be established in the present case--the antiquity\nof civilization, the greatness of past humanity--are important in\nno mere academic sense. Medieval theology, much of whose spirit was\ninherited by scientific theorists, has belittled man and weakened his\nconfidence in himself. The recognition of man's past achievements gives\nrenewed hope for his future possibilities. Closely interwoven with the\nTheosophical teachings about the antiquity of civilization are the\nteachings about the Divine nature of Man. The Theosophical teachings\nare a consistent whole. Hence these wider views in archaeology,\nscience, and religion, must tend to the widening of views concerning\nthe nature of man and the destruction of old superstitions about his\nbeing born in sin or descended from the beasts.\n\nWhile archaeology will naturally endeavor to go as slow as it can and\nto keep its discoveries well in hand, so to say, digesting them and\nincorporating them with the body of orthodox academic opinion, it is\nnevertheless true that it will be obliged to give way and expand its\nborders. For one thing, there are many explorers investigating in\ndifferent fields; and these, in their theories, do not exhibit such\nuniformity and conformity as might be desired. One archaeologist will\nmake admissions which others are not willing to make, because these\nparticular admissions do not damage his own particular theory. Thus,\ntaking all together, many admissions are made; the errors tend to\ncancel one another; the truth tends to add itself up. Another factor is\nwhat may be called \"newspaper archaeology.\" The Sunday editions and the\npopular illustrated magazines familiarize the public with the latest\ndiscoveries and most advanced theories; and they frequently go a little\ntoo fast for the authorities. But what these popular accounts lack in\naccuracy they make up in freedom from prejudice.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. MONUMENT OF DE\nLESSEPS, PORT SAID]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. HIGH RELIEF FROM THE\nALBERT MEMORIAL, LONDON A GROUP OF ARCHITECTS]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PANEL FROM THE\nALBERT MEMORIAL]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ANOTHER PANEL FROM\nTHE ALBERT MEMORIAL]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PORTION OF\nDECORATIVE FRIEZE FROM THE ALBERT MEMORIAL]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. CONTINUATION OF\nDECORATIVE FRIEZE FROM THE ALBERT MEMORIAL]\n\n\n\n\nGREAT NAMES IN ART. SCULPTURES FROM THE ALBERT MEMORIAL: by an Art\nStudent\n\n\nThe first illustration represents a group of architects of modern, or\ncomparatively modern times; the majority are British. This, and the\nfour other groups which follow, are from the high-relief or frieze on\nthe pedestal of the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, London, and were\nexecuted by J. B. Philip, about forty years ago.\n\nAlthough the immense sum of $600,000 was lavished upon the monument to\nPrince Albert, the estimable consort of Queen Victoria, the memorial\nhas never been regarded as a satisfactory work of art. The general\ndesign has some original and interesting features, but the structure is\noverloaded with gilding and mosaic, and the execution is mechanically\nrather than aesthetically distinguished. The statue of the Prince\nhimself is inadequate, and the large groups of figures representing the\nFour Quarters of the World, Industry, etc., though they may have passed\nmuster in the mid-Victorian period of the '60s and '70s, are not up to\nthe artistic standard of today. London has been singularly unfortunate\nin the quality of its public monuments, and it is to be feared that the\nnew Memorial to Queen Victoria which has just been unveiled, will not\nraise the average.\n\nThere are one hundred and nine figures on the pedestal, a large portion\nof which are shown in our illustrations. They include painters, poets,\narchitects, sculptors, and some heroes and reformers. They are of far\ngreater interest from the historical associations they arouse than from\ntheir artistic quality.\n\nThe seated figure in the center of the first illustration is the famous\nSir Christopher Wren, (1632-1723) the builder of St. Paul's Cathedral,\nLondon, and pre-eminently the most distinguished British architect\nwho has flourished since the Gothic period. He was one of the most\noriginal geniuses of the Renascence. Wren had an extraordinary field\nfor his talents opened to him by the immense destruction caused by the\nGreat Fire of London in 1666, and he was certainly the right man in the\nright place. Not only did he rebuild St. Paul's Cathedral but fifty\nother London churches. Up to date, St. Paul's is the largest and finest\nProtestant Cathedral in the world. Though open to criticism in some of\nits minor details and constructive arrangements, it is allowed to stand\nforemost among buildings of its class in Europe, St. Peter's possibly\nexcepted.\n\nStanding beside Wren is Inigo Jones, one of the first and most highly\naccomplished English architects of the Renascence. His fame chiefly\nrests upon his design for the palace of Whitehall, commanded by\nJames I. The Banqueting Hall was the only part actually carried into\nexecution. A window of this splendid building is still pointed out as\nthe fatal one from which Charles I stepped to the block.\n\nVanbrugh, standing behind Wren, was the latter's famous pupil. He built\nBlenheim, the seat of the great Duke of Marlborough. To the right of\nInigo Jones is Mansart or Mansard, the French architect whose memory\nis immortalized in the \"Mansard roof,\" which he invented. Palladio\nand Vignola, to the extreme right, were Italian Renascence architects\nwhose influence upon the classic revival was very great in England\nand France; the Palladian style being particularly followed in the\nformer and that of Vignola in the latter country. A striking group of\nbuildings was erected by Palladio in Vicenza, Italy, in the sixteenth\ncentury, which became the model on which a large proportion of the\nRenascence work in England was based.\n\nOf the modern English architects on the left, Sir Charles Barry is the\nmost notable. He was among the first to depart from the fashion so long\nprevalent of introducing Greek and Roman forms into every building\nof importance, and was one of the pioneers of the Gothic revival of\nthe nineteenth century, a century without a distinctive style of its\nown. He designed the British Houses of Parliament, which, in spite of\nsome weaknesses, is a striking building with an eminently picturesque\nsky-line.\n\nThe kneeling figure at the right of the second illustration is the\ngreat art reformer Giotto, (1276-1336) the admirable Florentine who\nliberated the art of painting from the stiff Byzantine traditions which\nhad been dominant for many centuries. He exercised a lasting influence\nupon the arts in every part of Italy, and thereby, upon the whole\nwestern world. Carved in low relief as a background are the Dome and\nCampanile of Florence Cathedral, the latter being a masterpiece proving\nthat Giotto had supreme ability as a builder in addition to his skill\nwith the brush.\n\nSeated beside Giotto is Arnolfo di Lapo, a successor of the celebrated\nNiccolo Pisano, one of the few great sculptors of the Gothic period.\nOn Giotto's left is Brunelleschi (1377-1446), sculptor and architect.\nTo him we owe the completion of the great Dome of Florence Cathedral,\nwhich is unequaled for beauty though not so high as several later\nones. He is also noted for his treatment of the \"rusticated\" work on\nthe Pitti Palace, Florence.\n\nWilliam of Wykeham, a great man in many walks of life, is famous\nin architecture for the nave of Winchester Cathedral (of which he\nwas bishop), one of the finest examples of the Perpendicular style\nexisting. Bramante, the next figure, (1441-1514) was the first\narchitect of the present St. Peter's at Rome, a position afterwards\nheld by Peruzzi, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Bramante built many palaces\nin Rome; his style was simple and dignified, and he adhered as far as\npossible to the classical forms.\n\nSansovino (1479-1570) is best known for his picturesque Library of\nSt. Mark, Venice. San Gallo was another of the splendid galaxy of\nFlorentine architects of the Renascence. Vignola, at the extreme left,\nwas one of Michelangelo's successors in the building of St. Peter's;\nbut unfortunately he altered the design in such a way that the great\ndome of Michelangelo cannot be seen from the front except at a great\ndistance. On Vignola's right stands Delorme, the favorite architect\nof the French king Henri II; he is remembered chiefly as the first\ndesigner of the Palace of the Tuileries.\n\nThe third picture contains, among others, the portraits of some famous\nEnglish, German and French architects of the later Middle Ages. Erwin\nvon Steinbach (died 1318) is famous for his magnificent west front of\nStrasburg Cathedral, of which, unfortunately, one of the magnificent\nopenwork steeples was never finished. The Abb\u00e9 Suger was the patriotic\nadviser of the French kings Louis VI and VII, and was justly celebrated\nfor his efforts for the welfare of the poorer classes at a time when\ntheir interests were generally disregarded (twelfth century).\n\nAnthemius, to the right of the Abb\u00e9, was the great Grecian architect\nand mathematician who designed for Justinian (A. D. 532) the daring and\noriginal plans of St. Sophia at Constantinople. He is credited with\nknowing the ancient secret of making \"burning-glasses\" (magnifying\nglasses) which was not rediscovered for hundreds of years. He is also\nsaid to have understood the making of gunpowder, and the application of\nsteam as a motive power.\n\nThe seated figure to the left in the fourth illustration is the great\npainter, sculptor and architect, Michelangelo. At his right are\nTorrigiano, his early rival, who is famous for the fine carvings on the\ntomb of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey; Gian di Bologna (1524-1608), a\nfollower of Michelangelo, and Bandinelli, another rival whom he soon\noutdistanced. Next to Peter Vischer, (died 1524), one of the early\nbronze workers in N\u00fcrnberg, renowned for his tomb of St. Sebald in\nthat city, is the erratic, bloodthirsty, gallant, and most eminent of\nall metal-workers, Benvenuto Cellini. His Diana of Fontainebleau, and\nPerseus of Florence, are his finest large works, but he principally\ndevoted himself to smaller articles such as chased vases, etc. His\nautobiography is one of the most delightfully na\u00efve \"human documents\"\nexisting. In the background is a model of the Perseus.\n\nThe next seated figure is Jean Goujon, (1530-1572) one of the restorers\nof French sculpture as an independent art; he is well known for his\ndecoration of the Louvre. Beside him is the martyr-artist Bernard\nPalissy (1499?-1589), who after sixteen years of incessant and\nunremunerated labor discovered a pure white enamel ground for pottery\nwhich was suitable for the application of decorative art. He was\nreduced to the extremity of poverty before he made his great discovery,\neven having to burn his furniture to feed his furnaces. But as soon as\nhis animal sculpture in pottery became famous and prosperity began to\nshine upon him, he became the victim of religious persecution. Charged\nwith being a Calvinistic preacher, it was only by the aid of powerful\nfriends who admired his genius that he escaped for some years, and\nfinally he was thrown into the Bastile, where he perished.\n\nIn our last illustration Michelangelo is at the extreme right. At\nhis left stands Donatello (1386-1468) the forerunner of the greatest\nof the Florentines, and probably the next best known name in Italian\nsculpture. His most famous works are in low relief, but several of his\nfull-sized statues, such as the St. George in Florence, are very fine.\nLuca della Robbia, (seated,) and Ghiberti were almost contemporary\nwith Donatello, and, next to Michelangelo, these three are perhaps the\ngreatest glory of Florence in sculpture. Luca della Robbia invented the\nprocess of enameling terra cotta; his groups of Singers at Florence are\nhis most famous work. Ghiberti is chiefly known by his wonderful bronze\ngates to the Baptistery at Florence. Looking over Donatello's shoulder\nis Andrea Verrocchio (1432-1488), painter and sculptor, a follower of\nDonatello, and the teacher of the universal genius Leonardo da Vinci.\n\nNiccolo Pisano, the third figure from the left is of earlier date than\nthose hitherto mentioned. He was architect, sculptor and painter;\nunder the inspiration of his genius sculpture was revived in Italy,\nand every branch of art was influenced. Imitation of nature in place\nof conventionalism was introduced. He is one of the few really great\nsculptors of the Gothic period; he may be considered really to be the\nforerunner of the Renascence. His most famous work, the marble pulpit\nin the baptistery at Pisa, was finished in 1260.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO FAIRYLANDS--A Study in the Literature of Wonder: by Kenneth\nMorris\n\nI\n\n\nOne has been reading a fairy-tale of our own day, which has made a\ngreat stir in literary and dramatic circles, and it has given rise to\ncertain ideas as to canons of criticism. Its name, and its author's, do\nnot matter; there will be more freedom if they remain unmentioned.\n\nWhat a charm is here! Millions of colors that never were in the rainbow\nnor the sea-shell; a subtle, exquisite loveliness--which yet, in the\nafter-taste--somehow repels. Always mystery; what we call inanimate\nthings waking to life (as they should do, indeed, in any right-minded\nfairy-tale); a sense of mutable, inconsequent horizons, over which no\nsun has ever risen or set. And, as there should be in fairy-tales,\na kind of esotericism glimmering through; a meaning concealed yet\nobvious. Yet there is fairy gold and fairy gold. The best kind has the\naspect of a petal or a pebble; but with the dawn, lo, some diamond or\nmagical tiara. We are a little doubtful that this moon-wan opalescence\nwill not turn out to be only a good worthy piece of Birmingham-ware.\nWithal, there are fine notes at the end, that touch deep centers in us;\nfor these one can but be duly and truly thankful.\n\nThere are certainly two methods of imagination; and we find them shown\nforth excellently in fairy literature. By that we mean all mythology;\nevery tale wherein non-human or magical agents play their part. It\nwill include a good part of our poetry; Shakespeare, Keats, Shelley,\nColeridge, Poe, and Tennyson all dipped into it at times, or moved\nhabitually among its haunted valleys.\n\nThere are two roads running out from our actual world, and they run\nthrough two separate Fairy-Lands. You shall go out by your front\ndoor when the sun is shining, and come upon the one of them. It\nleads through a wood of daffodils--Wordsworth's and Shakespeare's\ndaffodils--in whose company you will find yourself strangely exultant:\nthese are they that \"take the winds with beauty\"; hence their jocundity\nand infectious mirth. Alive? Why, certainly; and wise also--only\nperhaps you shall not yet be allowed to pry too curiously into their\ncounsels. All the flowers are alive in this fairyland; and they all\nhave their own secrets, which are sunbright and beneficent. Sunbright,\nor sundark like the hyacinth--but still beneficent: poppy and\nmandragora are not allowed to grow here.\n\nAs you ride on, you shall still feel the shining of the sun and the\nvigor of the wind; or perhaps there will be sweet intimate grayness of\nclouds, or perhaps the sweetness of rain. Rain or wind, you will feel\nthe touch of either on your face, and smell the earth-scent. There is\none valley there, where the sky is always clouded and windy; the sedge\nis withered on the lake there, and no birds sing. But for that, you\nmight mistake it at first for a place in the other fairyland, because\nof the haggard and woe-begone knight-at-arms you are to meet with,\n\"alone and palely loitering.\" Keats came to this valley, and heard his\nwhole story from him: it was this knight-at-arms who met _La Belle Dame\nSans Merci_.\n\nLike everything else in this fairy-land, it is true; in this case the\nbeauty of its truth is awful. For you are not to suppose there are no\ntragedies enacted here: there are as many as there are in the world.\nThere are a thousand wanderers in the valleys and on the mountains, who\nwould lure you away from the sunlight and the rain. Here, often and\noften, it is written: \"_Look not behind, or thou art lost_.\" Yet no\nruin can come upon you that is not definitely evitable: one holds one's\nfate in one's own hands, and need fear nothing but himself.\n\nIn another hundred of fairyland, your road runs by over windy wolds of\nrye and barley, and down past the island in the river where dwells the\nLady of Shalott. While she weaves her web, finding her whole delight\nin the pictures, note that the sun or the moon is still shining;\nafterwards, when she has turned and the curse has come upon her, the\nlow skies are raining ever so heavily. By the presence of the sun and\nmoon and wind and rain, by the earth-smell and the water-song, you\nshall know that you are in the fairyland of the Right Hand, and that\neverything about you is true. The story of the Lady of Shalott true?\nWhy, yes; a million and a million times. A tragedy again; fairyland is\nfull of tragedies. Yet she need not have left the web, need not have\nseen the bloom on the water-lilies, need not ever have looked down to\nCamelot.\n\nAnd how nearly a tragedy is this scene too--of Titania, poor lady,\nfalling in love with the Ass! For, if you go far enough, you shall come\nupon Oberon and his court; you shall find sweet Bully Bottom also,\nstrangely wandered from his own world, and with that queer, inevitable\nheadpiece clapped upon him. What else should he wear, in fairyland? As\nwas said, everything is so desperately true here; and sage and simple\nare alike to come by their own. Should you stray here, no silk hat\nhas potent enough magic of the modern to protect your respectability:\na wandering wind will whisk it away, and you will appear in crown or\nass-head, according to your merits; or perchance in a dinted, war-worn\nhelmet, or wearing a garland of oak or laurel or bay. No one may wear\nany colors but his own in fairyland.\n\nThere are innumerable provinces here, reigned over by innumerable\npotentates; but you are to look for sun and moon and wind and rain in\nall of them. Perseus and Theseus and Herakles; Roland and the good\nknight Charlemain; Cuchullain and the Red Branch; the men of the\nEmperor Arthur, and Oisin and Oscar and Finn--they are all here; here\nare fought Moytura, Fontarabbia, Camlan. Ulysses flies the Island of\nCalypso anew; and Odin comes anew into the Hall of the Dwarfs. There\nis always a feast at Gwalas in Penfro; and the door that looks out\ntowards Aberhenfelen and Cornwall is flung wide by Heilyn again and\nagain--tragedy of tragedies; no one had opened that door until then,\nfrom the time the sea and the sky and that old palace were made. But\nhark! it is the scream of a real seagull that is blown down the hall.\nInnumerable are the beauties and wonders and sorrows of this region;\nand they are all true, true, true: you can hear the natural winds and\nwaves always, and taste the salt of natural wind-driven spray.\n\nYet in a sorrowless Italy here, Saturn still is reigning: and here\n\n The wind in the reeds and the rushes,\n The bees in the bells of thyme,\n The birds in the myrtle bushes,\n The cicale above in the lime,\n And the lizards below in the grass\n Are as silent as ever old Tmolus was,\n\nlistening to the sweet pipings of Pan: for the Golden Age has not faded\nand you may come on Brugh-na-Boinne and the Hills of Arcady and the\nIsland of the Appletrees; you may come on all the haunts of Plenydd,\nAlawn, Angus, Baldur, and Apollo.\n\n\nII\n\nSo much, then, for the Fairyland of the Right-hand, as we may call it;\nthere is also a Left-hand fairyland, however; and its character and\ndenizens are altogether different.\n\nYou come to it by a road that never goes out of doors. I suspect that\nyou lock and bar your study door, and draw the curtains, and make\nfearfully sure of your solitude. Then you sally forth by uncanny\ngateways, and come where never hay was mown. There is light there,\nespecially at first; but the end is a dreadful darkness. The light\nis of a kind, indeed, that never was on land or sea; but we may be\nthankful for that. Our lands and seas are the wholesomer for the lack\nof it.\n\nAt first it is not all so different, as to let us see at once we are\nin no hallowed region. There is beauty, and color; but the beauty is\nneither from the sun nor from the moon, and the color from no dawn\nnor sunset, from no sky nor sea. Shifting mists may give place to a\ndazzling Moorish palace, or to a peasant's cottage inhabited by the\ndead. Mirth or sadness may lurk in such dwellings; but beware of any\nintimacy with them: you cannot tell what fair seeming masks the ghoul.\nThere is no order nor established nature of things, nothing you can\ndepend on. The fig grows on the thistle; but any hunger is better than\nto eat it; vines and figtrees are prolific of innumerable thorns.\nGorgeous blooms prophesy only of doom and impending horror. That is,\nwhen you have journeyed some little while. At first, perhaps, they will\ntell no tale but of sweetness and fragrance for the senses. Luxurious\npoppies are on every roadside, haunted with night and dreams: but\nbeware of the whitest lily, the deepest rose; besides these the poppies\nare but flower children innocent of guile.\n\nVery early on the way to this fairyland, you shall come to Xanadu,\nwhere Kublai Khan decreed his stately pleasure-dome. A beautiful place?\nYes, but mark; here Alph, the sacred river runs \"through _caverns\nmeasureless to man, down to a sunless sea_.\" There is much wonder\nin that; but also darkness, and--incipient terror. Your true and\nright-hand fairyland, \"bards in fealty to Apollo hold.\" _It_ is all \"in\nthe Face of the Sun and the Eye of Light.\"\n\nFor a lone reminder of better things, the forests of Xanadu do inclose\nsunny spots of greenery; but the heart of the place! It is \"as holy and\nenchanted as e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted By woman _wailing\nfor her demon lover_.\" Heavens! is that your mark of holiness? They\ndo not so reckon it in the right fairyland, where the tragedies are\neffects flowing from causes. And the beauty of the place? \"The shadow\nof the dome of pleasure Floated midway on the waves\":--a scintillant\nmirage, a sensuous unreal efflorescence of phantasmagoria; and midst it\nall, \"ancestral voices prophesying war.\"\n\n_Christabel_, _Genevieve_, and _The Ancient Mariner_ all belong to\nthis fairyland; the first two near the hither frontier, and the last\nmuch farther in. For one has to note how beauty wanes as the sun-known\nhorizons recede, and how its place is taken by a new kind of harmony,\na chiaroscuro of keen terror and gloom. This also holds one, as beauty\ndoes; indeed, plays on the emotion with a more compelling, because\nwilder and louder, touch. So we call the pictures and poems of the\nleft-hand fairyland also beautiful, also works of Art. Some day I\nthink we shall be wiser; our critics will use a deeper discrimination.\nBeauty is not that which most stirs the emotion, but that which most\nstirs it in a certain way. There is the evolutionary urge upward to be\nconsidered; what works against that has no real right to the name of\nbeauty. You are to note here, that the further one travels in this dark\nfairyland, the more Wonder transforms itself into horror. Wonder went\nwith us all through the bright realm, and grew from the mere wizardry\nof flowers and mountains, into the atmosphere of majesty that surrounds\nthe soul and the judgments of Spiritual Law. The wizard-glow in the\nwoodlands waxes, and resolves itself into one of the elder gods. But\nin the other case, the Daughter of Glamor that leads us is like the\n_Gwrach y Rhibyn_ in the Celtic tales; subtly luring and exquisite at\nfirst, she turns into a fearful terrifying hag, and he who accompanies\nher does well if he escapes with his reason.\n\nGlamor fills both regions; the one, a clean natural magic; the other,\nnot so decadent in the beginning, as to be wanting in some few waning\nrays of the sun. In either case, it is partly the sense of a certain\ndepth in the things seen or heard; you know that the words of the\npoem or story stand for something more than is actually spoken. Fairy\ndwellings again; the grass-grown hillock that melts and reveals itself\na palace of the Immortals. In the poetry of the Right-hand Fairyland,\nthis is precisely what we find; beautiful is the seen, but infinitely\nmore beautiful and grander that which it symbolizes or indicates. In\nthat magical country, there is nothing not quickening with ancient\ntruth, and all the dramas enacted are leaves out of the diary of the\nhuman soul. Hence the many tragedies, the many fallings of fate, dooms\nthat flow out of deeds done or undone. But in the other, we find none\nof this. There, the esotericism is poorer than the outward form.\nFate is fate there, no longer Karma. At the best there may be some\nmoral taught; yet even then, it is doubtful if the lesson will be of\nsupreme value. It will not equal in weight the great superstructure\nof art raised over it; as if one should sack the caves of the whole\nsea, to find some not too-precious stone. It will be an after-thought,\na gem added, an excuse; not the seed and reason of the whole work.\nMore often, it will be some mere allegory of the passions, void of\ntruth in the deeper sense; or the deliberate esotericizing of a\nSandford-and-Mertonism. Yet these will be the very best the left-hand\nfairyland has to offer; go a little further in, and you have simply\nriot on the planes of delirium. Coleridge's _Genevieve_ and Keat's\n_Belle Dame_ will point the difference. There is something of the same\ncolor and mystery, even a parallelism in the subject-matter of the two\npoems: but the first is mere sound and beauty, signifying nothing, and\nthe second a picture of the fate of one who has been lured away by\npassion from the true paths of the Soul. They are surely wrong, who\nascribe to Coleridge the originality, and say that Keats followed him.\nThe truth is that the two are not comparable; Keat's voyagings were to\nthe right hand, Coleridge's, here, to the left.\n\nAnd the last places in the witch-land? The House of Usher rears itself\ngauntly beside its tarn there, and incontinently and dreadfully falls.\nIt is an \"ultimate dim Thule,\" reached by a road haunted only of evil\nangels. It is the home of decay, horror, and death; there is a godless\nphosphorescence about it.\n\nBut, you say, did not Dante wander there, and Milton? No. Whither\nthey went, they went armed in the uprightness of spiritual strength.\nThey made their hells somber, terrible, _august_; not glamorous or\nattractive. In Malebolge and Pandemonium alike, there is a certain\nstability also, a procession of cause and effect; there are horrors,\nbut they are not inconsequential; they take their place in a definite\nscheme of things. And here is a literary touchstone; both Milton and\nDante wielded that supreme quality of style which is called the _Grand\nManner_, so that the mere boom and march of their verses arouses the\nfeeling of heroism, of titan strength: a thing it was never given the\ndecadents and drug-fed to do. Dante had his safe guide and teacher\nwith him; as he walked through the wonders and terrors of hell, he\nhimself was the thing most aloof and wonderful. Unscathed he might\npass to his meeting with Beatrice, and walk with her in heaven as\nmajestically, as he had walked with Virgil through hell. Milton, too,\nwith all his limitations, remains a thing majestic for our vision;\npoet or politician, he is still the armed and terrible warrior of\nGod. In his characteristic and later mood, he seeks never beauty, but\nalways righteousness; indeed, his chief fault is that he lost sight\nof any unity in the two. _Comus_ and _Lycidas_ will show us from what\nfairyland he had graduated, to take part in the stern earthly labors of\nhis prime.\n\nBut here is the mark of the later Coleridge, and of all true wanderers\nin the fairyland of the left. When they see him, \"All should cry\nBeware, beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair.\" Yes--in one of\nhis moods. But what when the inspiration had passed; when the turbulent\ndark glory that held them had waned from before his eyes; when the Dead\nSea Fruit of his fairyland had withered, and left him to be nourished\nwith filth and cinders? Then, too, wholesome men cry _Beware!_--but of\na victim of opium, a morphiomaniac, or one sodden with cocaine; a poor\nwreck of a man, at sight of whom if you close your eyes, it will not be\nin \"holy dread,\" but in mere sorrow and pity.\n\nPoor Coleridge! it was laudanum, and not honey-dew or the milk of\nParadise that inspired him. And perhaps we might trace all that part\nof the literature of wonder which comes from the dark, left-hand\nfairyland, to drugs; which would remove from the category of genius\nmany a name that figures there now.\n\n\n\n\nLIGHT PHYSICAL AND METAPHYSICAL: by H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S.\n\n\nA metal is fixed and crystallized light, said H. P. Blavatsky--and was\nlaughed at. Light was not then, nor is it yet, substantive, but a mode\nof motion--of the ether and of matter. The days when it was substantive\nand corpuscular, the days of Newton, had gone by.\n\nBut there are several indications of their return--with additions, the\nadditions warranting H. P. Blavatsky's definition of a metal.\n\nA crystal of metal consists of molecules, and they of the still smaller\natoms. Each atom, in its turn, is made of the still smaller electrons\nor corpuscles. If these either _are_ light, or are made of even smaller\nbodies which are, the definition is justified. This is the suggestion,\nor contention, of Professor Bragg, developed at a recent lecture\ndelivered before the English Royal Institution.\n\nLight is regarded as a spreading etheric pulsation, waves in ether. We\nhave it as the visible seven colors from red up to violet, and beyond\nvisibility as the ultra-violet. Still higher etheric pulses, according\nto the usual theory, are the _x_-rays. Professor Bragg applies his new\ncorpuscular theory to the last alone, though he suggests that it also\nincludes the ultra-violet rays--in which case it must include all the\nrest. He thinks the _x_-rays corpuscular because of a certain behavior;\nbut the ultra-violet rays have the same behavior--and no one doubts\n_their_ continuity with the lower rays down to--and far below--the red.\nWhat is the behavior on which the argument rests?\n\nThe term _x_-rays or kathode rays, as popularly used, covers three\nkinds of emanation in the tube or from radium. The first and grossest\ningredient is ordinary matter, whirling atoms of the element helium.\nThe next and finer, the intermediate, is electrons, corpuscles. The\nthird and finest is _x_-rays proper, hitherto considered as merely\netheric pulses. Professor Bragg calls them _gamma_ rays, restricting\nthe other term, _x_-rays, for other rays of properties so nearly the\nsame that he includes them in the same argument.\n\nWhen _gamma_ (or _x_-) rays fall on an atom of matter they cause it to\ndischarge one or more of its electrons or corpuscles, the intermediate\nof the three emanations popularly included under the term _x_-rays. In\nthis connexion they are called _beta_ rays.\n\nThe professor points out that when _gamma_ (or _x_-) rays produce this\ndischarge from an atom\n\n the _beta_ rays to a large degree continue the line of motion of the\n _gamma_ rays, as if the latter pushed them out of the atoms; and,\n lastly, that the number of the _beta_ rays depends on the intensity of\n the _gamma_ rays.\n\nThe _gamma_ ray, entering an atom, pushes out a corpuscle, a _beta_\nray, and takes its place. It behaves, in fact, as if it were itself a\ncorpuscle, and the word ray is not well descriptive either of it or the\n_beta_. Nor can it be a mere ether-pulse. The professor suggests that\nit is a corpuscle, an electron, which has had the ordinary negative\ncharge of electricity proper to electrons neutralized by a positive.\nThen he proceeds:\n\n Many insist that my neutral corpuscle is too material, and that\n something more ethereal is wanted, for it appears that ultra-violet\n light possesses many of the properties of _x_- and _gamma_ rays....\n They propose therefore a quasi-corpuscular theory of light, _gamma_\n and _x_- rays being included.... The light corpuscle which is proposed\n is a perfectly new postulate. It is to move with the velocity of light\n ... and to be capable of replacing and being replaced by an electron\n which possesses the same energy but moves at a slower rate, and, of\n course, it has to do all that the old light waves did. The whole\n situation is most remarkable and puzzling.\n\nSo at this rate matter consists of molecules, as before; which consist\nof atoms, as before; which consist of electrons, as before--but may\nalso in part or altogether consist of still more ethereal corpuscles\n_which are light_.\n\nIt is but a step to the suggestion that the electrons consist of light\ncorpuscles, standing to them as they stand to the positive or negative\natom of matter. Then metals will be crystallized light.\n\nBut whence the light corpuscles? How did they manage to get born in\nspace? An answer to this question means a step-over from science into\nmetaphysics. If and when we have reached the last line of matter we\nmust begin to consider _consciousness_.\n\nIntellectual light, spiritual light--we think we are using only\nmetaphors in those phrases. Possibly we are not. Physical light may\nbe the last stage of higher lights. If physical light is divine\nthought-energy appealing to our sense, it may have passed down through\nhigher stages at which it appeals only to mind and heart and spirit.\n\nIf we think of Cosmic Spirit as pulsing its will and thought into that\npassive and uniform essence which will afterwards become active and\ndifferentiated matter, condensing and precipitating it into centers for\nevolutionary work, we must surmise that it is these intensely conscious\ncenters that will subsequently be suns. Science would say that this\ncondensation would already involve the liberation of heat, that the new\ncenter must at once be hot. But that is only true of condensing matter\nas we know it, matter which already contains latent energy. But the\nkind of matter we are considering now is what _will become matter_,\nhas no possessions nor qualities till these are conferred on it by\ndivine ideation and will. A sun at its first stage would be luminous\nonly to a _spiritual_ cognition--that is, it would be charged with, and\nradiating, divine ideation. At the _very_ first it would not be even\nthat; it would be but a _receiving_ center--for divine thought and will.\n\nBut at last would come its first heart-beat, so to speak. Some of the\naggregated substance would be pulsed out to the surface charged with\naccumulated energy, dissipated as corpuscular light. And now it would\nfall within the range of human vision. It is illuminating not only to\nsense but to mind; for it contains mind; and not only to mind but to\nspirit; for that also it contains.\n\nTheosophy teaches that the sun's envelopes do _not_ contain the\nterrestrial elements _in their terrestrial condition_. It is their\nantetypes that are alone there, transient, in perpetual aggregation\non the inner side of the envelope (towards the solar nucleus), in\ndisintegration as light on the outer. And this light, charged with\ndivine ideation--septenary--has the power on earth of building elements\nlike to, but lower down than, those found in the sun's envelopes--and\nof destroying them. The planets owe the elements they have to the\nformative power in the solar light; rather say the keynotes of the\nelements they have, according to which keynotes the elementary matter\naggregates. Besides that every molecule is crystallized and fixed\nlight, it contains as its soul some of that light in its highest or\nfirst state. And so has every cell, every compound of cells, every\nliving thing. If we had another kind of spectroscope we could find\ntheir antetypes too on the sun. Every cell and molecule contains latent\nwhat in man has begun to manifest--that _self_-consciousness which is a\ndirect reflection of the absolute Self-consciousness of that point or\ncenter which is everywhere and whose circumference nowhere because the\nuniverse has a limit nowhere. That self, latent or manifest, has in man\nand molecule its first or highest embodiment in a layer or envelope of\nlight in its first or highest condition. As we say, \u00c2tman is enshrined\nin Buddhi.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. A FAMILY\nGROUP: JULIUS KRONBERG, THE FAMOUS ARTIST MADAME SCHOLANDER, HIS\nMOTHER-IN-LAW, A WELL-KNOWN SWEDISH THEOSOPHIST AND MR. KRONBERG'S\nCHILDREN. STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. \"EROS\": PAINTING BY\nJULIUS KRONBERG]\n\n\n\n\nEROS: by R. W. Machell\n\n[Suggested on first seeing the painting by Julius Kronberg, entitled\n_Eros_]\n\n\nI looked into the depths and saw amid the writhing forms that filled\nthe abyss, a running stream of fire that flowed among them, and seared\nand shriveled some and twisted others into strange shapes, but still\nitself preserved its own undying energy insatiate. A monster that\ndevoured its devotees, for at times I seemed to see it as a being\nhaving a form defined though monstrous. It fascinated me, and, as I\nlooked longer and more intensely it took form more definite, with a\nstrange beauty, wild and weird, yet strangely potent to attract and\nhold the gazer in the spell of admiration that bewildered all the mind,\nand fired the sense with strange thrills and throbbings of unsatisfied\ndesires, vague but intense, painful yet so seductive that the mind,\nbathed in oblivion of former joys, craved only the consuming kiss\nof that fierce flame. The form was superhuman, but as yet I saw no\nface nor knew to what to liken the strange shape, so wild and yet so\nstrangely human that it seemed a part of me when first I looked. But in\na little while I knew that I was but a part of it--scarce even that, a\nshadow looking towards a light that must consume it. I fought against\nthe fascination that seemed as if it would absorb my soul and scorch my\nmind and sweep my body into its seething vortex of undying fire; and as\nI fought to hold myself against the influence, it seemed as if it, that\nliving fire, took form and features and became the image of a God with\nwondrous eyes that glowed as do the embers of the fire when burning\nclear with caverns of throbbing radiance and unresting palpitations,\nflushing and gleaming, or sinking into momentary dulness like a sulky\nface swept by a passing cloud of temper. But strange and fascinating\nas it was, that beauty seemed to be unable to define itself; there\nwas a _want_ that left in the beholder a wild yearning, in itself so\nkeen as to appear the most intense delight mingled and tinged with\nwoe unutterable. And then I knew that this on which I gazed was a\nreflection of some higher thing, an _image only_ on the waves of that\ndeep ocean in which the world and all things corporeal float formless\nand uncreate until the creative fire of Eros pierces its depths, and\nawakening all its energies into activity, mirrors itself upon the\nseething vortex of illusion.\n\nEach one who looks into the depths shall see this image; they who have\nno heart to search the depths of beings shall feel the fire within\ntheir veins and hail the presence of a God and feed the flame with\ntheir own substance, giving their lives in acts of impious sacrifice to\nthe consuming fires of the lower world, responsive to the passions that\nso insistingly demand the tribute of self-immolation on the altar of\ndesire.\n\nAnd from his place beside the throne on high the God of Love looks\ndown and sees the distorted image of himself torturing, deceiving,\nand destroying all who fall beneath the spell of his pervading magic,\nwhile tears of pity for the woes of men fall silently; and he waits,\ndivinely patient, for the hour when man shall rise from his long dream\nof passion, and turning his eyes up towards the Sphere of Light,\nshall know that he too is divine. Then shall man recognize the God of\nLove who stands beside the throne and call to him to show the path by\nwhich he can regain his place and once more sit upon the throne of\nhis divinity and rule within the kingdom of the soul, the soul of all\nhumanity.\n\n\n\n\nTEMPTING COUNTERFEITS VS. REALITY: by Lydia Ross, M. D.\n\n\nVisitors at Point Loma who learn something of the high moral tone\nof the R\u00e2ja Yoga College here and of the way in which the young\npeople are protected from evil influences, are much impressed with\nthese educational conditions, as desirable as they are unique.\nCompared with the average youth's environment, which modern life\nkeys to an ever-increasing pitch of excitement, self-indulgence, and\nartificiality, the serene, disciplined, natural life of the Point Loma\nyoung folk makes an atmosphere of quite another world. Even the keenest\ncritics admit this.\n\nThe judgment, however, becomes so colored by the prevailing customs and\nideas and the critical minds are so skeptical from previous failures\nin fulfilment, that even friendly visitors are prepared to find a flaw\nsomewhere. So it is not surprising to hear them say: \"Well, there is\nsomething wonderful here and it is the right way to live; but how will\nit be with these young people when they leave the school and go out to\nmeet the unknown temptations of ordinary life? How will they stand the\ntest?\"\n\nThat question touches the point wherein the R\u00e2ja Yoga method differs\nfrom prevailing educational systems, in training the pupil, not for\nexamination day, but for _practical life_.\n\nIn analysing temptations of any kind they may be traced to a common\nroot: the promise of giving the tempted more power--the power to feel\nmore, to think more, to do more. This proffered power is the naturally\nalluring counterfeit of that conscious inner sense which longs _to be_\nmore.\n\nFirst take the physical appetites which so often develop a mastery of\nthe thoughtless or deliberately indulgent. The normal sense of taste\nenlarges the feeling of pleasure, and agreeable food stimulates the\nbody's latent nutritive forces to an output of strength and action.\nUsually the desire of the alcoholic and drug habitu\u00e9s is not primarily\nfor the _taste_ of the drink or the drug but for the coveted feeling\nof attainment that they (apparently) give, the temporary, apparent\nreturn of waning poise and power. Even when unable to stand steadily,\nthe inebriate is convinced of his own strength and importance by the\nfeeling of energy and largeness he has recklessly lashed into an\noutgoing, aimless tide of exhausting sensation. The maudlin type finds\nhimself the central figure of a fictitious emotional sphere, while the\nambitious but incompetent man basks in the pleasing delusion of his own\nwealth and dignity. The craving for stimulants and sedatives grows with\nthe indulgence which weakens the will, shatters the nerves, dulls the\nmind, and debases the spirit. The wretched habitu\u00e9 feels a vital lack\nof selfhood and clutches at even a passing furlough for his mutilated\nand chaotic sense of identity.\n\nThe sense of smell is not only intensified by favorite odors, but\nthese recall and vivify other scenes and sensations. A fragrant flower\nmay suggest a realm of beauty and poetry and sweetness. Savory odors\nappeal to the sense of taste and the appetite becomes the means of\nstill further arousing one through the memory and imagination. The\ndegenerate nature enjoys even offensive odors as the means of making\nhim more alive to the possibilities of his degenerate world. A dog's\nmarkedly developed olfactory sense is not attracted by aesthetic odors\nas he smells impartially at everything, and follows up--tempted, if you\nwill--those odors that make him more aware of his canine capacity for\nsensation and action: that, in short, make him more of a dog.\n\nThe auditory sense is also the gateway to a larger range of feeling\nand power. The savage responds to his own defiant war-cry, and the\nsmall boy dilates with his noisy activities, as the refined expand\nunder nature's finished rhythm of sound and the tones of inspiring\nmusic.\n\nThe eye also lights up old and new scenes of thought and feeling and\nthe characteristic sensations are reflexly stimulated whether one seeks\nan exciting round of changing pictures or chooses more beautiful and\nuseful things, whether the higher or the lower nature is appealed to,\nit is the larger sense of power to feel or to think or to know that is\nthe attraction of vision.\n\nThe sensual appetites are impelling because the creative quality\nupon the physical plane counterfeits the unity of masculine and\nfeminine principles in the final perfection of human consciousness.\nThe attraction of the sexes depends upon an awakening not only to the\nqualities of the opposite, but also to an exaltation of the lover's\nsense of his or her own manhood or womanhood. Exercised merely for\ngratification the lower appetites fill the indulger's world with\ninsistent desires, capable of leading to degrading depths. But when the\ncreative energy is consciously expended along the uplifting lines of\nnoble and altruistic endeavor it arouses in all the auto-creative sense\nof power, which, reproductive in its own right, has the satisfying\nsense of attainment. Unselfish love so far awakens the higher nature\nto its own richness and strength and beauty that its royal impulse to\ngive would sacrifice the personal self in protecting and idealizing the\nbeloved.\n\nThe temptations of ambition spring from a love of power--the power of\nknowledge, of courage, of beauty, of strength, of influence--those\nthings which arouse the possessor to an enlarged or intensified sense\nof himself. That the ruling personal ambition too often sacrifices the\ngreatest elements of the nature to obtain the gratification of seeming\ngreatness does not discount the fact of the Real Self which sacrifices\nits lesser desires to be great.\n\nBack of all counterfeits must be the genuine coin to give the false\nits spurious value. So beyond the many byways of sense and sensation\nwherein humanity seeks to feel and to think and to do more there is\nthe sunlit highway of the natural soul-life wherein one grows more\nconscious of his divine power and possibilities. Normal growth during\nincarnation is not found in a repeated round of sensational climaxes,\nbut in a progressive journey with an ever-expanding horizon where the\nsoul dominates the nature forces within and without the body. The child\nwho learns to know the divine reality of his dual nature inevitably\ncomes to find that \"pleasure within himself\" that is satisfying in its\nexpansive sense of power and beauty and largeness.\n\nThat the child is incapable of realizing so profound a truth as that of\nhis divine origin is questioned by a world psychologized with centuries\nof false teachings of natural depravity, etc. But in the teaching of\nthe dual nature in the R\u00e2ja Yoga training that calls upon the higher\nside to master and utilize the force of the lower impulses, the reality\nof innate power becomes the satisfying keynote of daily life. In the\nplastic period of child growth, he should be spared the usual external\ndistractions while acquiring the habit of looking within to \"find\nhimself.\" Protection from the taint of artificial life is no more\nenervating than the suitable care the gardener gives to seedlings while\nthey take firm root for future growth and resistance.\n\nTemptation can only tempt where there is lack and longing. One who\nhas learned how to live in the fulness and richness of the reality\ncan easily estimate the worth of any imitation, familiar or unknown.\nTheosophy does not haggle over theological minutiae. It broadly asserts\nthat the divine man incarnating becomes dual in nature. R\u00e2ja Yoga\ntraining confidently challenges the indwelling soul to come forth and\ndeclare itself.\n\n\n\n\nLIFE AND TEACHINGS OF PYTHAGORAS: by F. S. Darrow, A. M., Ph. D. (Harv.)\n\n\nIII. THE TEACHINGS\n\nAs Pythagoras met with the immemorial fate of the world's great\nteachers, many fantastic distortions of his teachings were published;\nsome of them, in his name by his enemies, for the express purpose of\nbringing his teachings into disrepute; and many things were imputed\nto him which he certainly never said or did. Probably he did not\ncommit any of his teachings to writing, but it is certain that his\ndisciples memorized his sayings and treasured them as the oracles of\nthe Deity. He had two forms of teaching: one public or exoteric, and\none private or esoteric. It is noteworthy that wherever his teachings\nprevailed, sobriety and temperance displaced licentiousness and luxury,\nfor the distinguished Pythagoreans were men of great uprightness,\nconscientiousness, and self-control, capable of devoted and enduring\nfriendships.\n\n\n(a) EXOTERIC TEACHINGS\n\nThe public teachings of Pythagoras consisted principally of practical\nmorals of the purest and most spiritual type and emphasized the virtues\nof self-restraint, reverence, patriotism, sincerity, conscientiousness,\nuprightness, truth, justice, and purity of heart. He insisted upon\nthe highest ideals of marriage and of parental duties, and always\nexerted his influence to suppress wars and dissensions. He was the\nfirst to apply the term philosopher or lover of wisdom to himself, as a\nsubstitute for the earlier term sage, for he said: \"The Deity only is\nwise; men at their best are merely lovers of wisdom.\" He was also the\nfirst to use the word _kosmos_ or \"order,\" as applied to the universe.\nHe used to say:\n\n Drunkenness is synonymous with ruin.\n\n No one ought to exceed the proper quantity of meat and drink.\n\n Strength of mind depends upon sobriety, for this keeps the reason\n undiverted by passion.\n\nIn answer to the question, \"When may I indulge in the pleasures of\npassion?\" he replied: \"Whenever you wish to be weaker than your _Self_.\"\n\n Never say or do anything in anger.\n\n Virtue is harmony; health, the Universal Good.\n\nHe urged his disciples not to kill animals, because he declared that\nthey have a right to live, as well as men.\n\n It is the part of a fool to attend to every opinion of all men, above\n all to that of the mob.\n\n Do what you believe to be right, whatever people think of you. Despise\n alike their censure and their praise.\n\n Add not unto your grief by discontent.\n\n Do not speak few things in many words, but many things in a few words.\n\n Either be silent, or speak words better than silence.\n\n It is hard to take many paths in life at the same time.\n\n Youth should be accustomed to obedience, for it will thus find it easy\n to obey the authority of reason.\n\n Men should associate with one another in such a way as not to make\n their friends enemies, but to make their enemies friends.\n\n We ought to wage war only against the ignorance of the mind, the\n passions of the heart, the distempers of the body, sedition in cities,\n and ill-will in families.\n\n No man should deem anything _exclusively_ his own.\n\n Every man ought so to train himself as to be worthy of belief without\n an oath.\n\nHe used to call admonishing, \"feeding storks.\"\n\n Philosophers are seekers after truth.\n\n The discourse of a philosopher is vain, if no passion of man is healed\n thereby.\n\n Choose the best life; use will make it pleasant.\n\n Man is at his best when he visits the temples of the gods.\n\n A man should never pray for anything for himself, because he is\n ignorant of what is really good for him.\n\n Do not the least thing unadvisedly.\n\n Advise before you act, and never let your eyes\n The sweet refreshings of soft slumber taste,\n Till you have thence severe reflections passed\n On th' actions of the day from first to last.\n Wherein have I transgressed? What done have I?\n What duty unperformed have I passed by?\n And if your actions ill on search you find,\n Let grief, if good, let joy, possess your mind.\n This do, this think, to this your heart incline,\n This way will lead you to the Life Divine.\n\n * * * * *\n\n This course, if you observe, you shall know then\n The constitution both of gods and men.\n And now from ill, Great Father, set us free,\n Or teach us all to know ourselves in Thee.\n\n The noblest gifts of heaven to man are to speak the truth and to do\n good. These two things resemble the works of the Deity.\n\n Place intuition as the best charioteer or guide for thy acts.\n\n Possess not treasures except those things which no one can take from\n you.\n\n Be sleepless in the things of the Spirit, for sleep in them is akin to\n death.\n\n Each of us is a soul, not a body, which is only a possession of the\n soul.\n\n The tyrant death securely shalt thou brave,\n And scorn the dark dominion of the grave.\n\n The greatest honor which can be paid to the Deity is to know and\n imitate Its perfection.\n\n The wise men say that one community embraces heaven and earth,\n and gods and men and friendship and order and temperance and\n righteousness; for which reason they call this whole a kosmos or\n orderly universe.\n\n Of all things learn to revere your _Self_.\n\n Likeness to the Deity should be the aim of all our endeavors. The\n nobler, the better the man, the more godlike he becomes, for the gods\n are the guardians and guides of men.\n\n There is a relationship between men and gods, because men partake of\n the Divine Principle.\n\n You have in yourself something similar to God; therefore use yourself\n as the Temple of God.\n\n Be bold, O man! Divine thou art.\n\n Truth is to be sought with a mind purified from the passions of the\n body. Having overcome evil things, thou shalt experience the union of\n the immortal God with the mortal man.\n\n\n(b) THE ESOTERIC TEACHINGS\n\n\n(1) Symbols\n\nThe esoteric teachings of Pythagoras, which he called \"the Gnosis of\nThings that Are,\" or \"the Knowledge of the Reality,\" so far as they\ncan be gathered from the extant fragments, dealt with (1) Symbols,\n(2) Number, that is, the inner meaning of arithmetic and geometry,\n(3) Music, (4) Man, and (5) the Earth and the Universe. In his\nesoteric teachings Pythagoras gave out the keys to the system of\npractical ethics outlined in his exoteric sayings. Such of his public\nutterances as were called Symbols were mere blinds, capable of several\ninterpretations with several distinct and highly important meanings\nattached to them. H. P. Blavatsky, speaking of these, says:\n\n Every sentence of Pythagoras, like most of the ancient maxims, had\n (at least) a dual signification; and while it had an occult physical\n meaning expressed in its words, it embodied a moral precept.\n\nIt is no mere coincidence that many of the maxims were and still are\ncurrent among widely separated nations. The following are examples of\nsome Pythagorean Symbols together with their possible meanings as moral\nprecepts:\n\n\"Do not devour your heart\": that is, do not consume your vitality in\nfutile grief.\n\n\"Do not devour your brain\": that is, do not waste your time in idle\nthoughts.\n\n\"When you are traveling abroad, turn not back, for the furies will go\nwith you\": that is, do not dally or cry over spilt milk but hasten\nto accomplish whatever you have begun; otherwise you will fail, and\nremorse and sorrow will thereafter attend you.\n\n\"Do not indulge in immoderate laughter\": that is, restrain the unstable\nparts of your nature.\n\n\"Do not stir fire with a sword\": that is, do not return angry words to\nan angry man, for \"hatred ceaseth not by hatred but by love--this is an\neverlasting truth.\"\n\n\"Turn away from yourself every sharp edge\": that is, control your\npassions.\n\n\"Nourish nothing which has crooked talons or nails\": that is, cultivate\nonly kindliness of disposition.\n\n\"Help a man to take up a burden but not to lay it down\": that is, by\ntoils and sorrows men are strengthened.\n\n\"Do not step above the beam of the balance\": that is, live a life of\nperfect justice.\n\n\"Spit not upon the cuttings of your hair or the parings of your nails\":\nthat is, even trifles are important.\n\n\"Destroy the print of the pot in the ashes\": that is, correct all\nmistakes.\n\n\"Put the shoe on the right foot first but put the left foot first into\nthe bath-tub\": that is, act uprightly and honestly, washing away all\nimpurities.\n\n\"Look not in a mirror by lamplight\": that is, do not be misled by the\nphantasies of the senses, but be guided by the pure, bright light of\nspiritual knowledge.\n\n\"Transplant mallows in your garden but eat them not\": that is,\ncultivate spirituality and destroy it not.\n\n\"Do not wear a ring\": that is, philosophize truly, and separate your\nsoul from the bonds of the body.\n\n\"When the winds blow, give heed unto the sound\": that is, when the\nDeity speaks, attend closely.\n\n\"When you rise from bed, disorder the covering, and efface the\nimpression of the body\": that is, when you have attained unto wisdom,\nobliterate all traces of your former ignorance.\n\n\"Leaving the public ways, walk in unfrequented paths\": that is, lead a\nspiritual, not a worldly, life.\n\n\"Do not offer your right hand lightly\": that is, do not make pledges\nwhich you cannot or will not keep, and do not divulge the Mysteries to\nthose who are unfit and uninitiated.\n\n\"Do not receive a swallow into your house\": that is, do not disclose\nthe Mysteries to one who is flighty and unstable.\n\n\"Speak not about Pythagorean concerns without light\": that is, do not\nassume to be a teacher until you have become a student.\n\n\"When treading the Path divide not\": that is, truth is one but\nfalsehood is multifarious; choose that philosophy in which there is no\ninconsistency or contradiction.\n\n\"Above all things learn to govern your tongue when you follow the\ngods\": that is, learn the power of silence.\n\n\"Disbelieve nothing admirable concerning the gods or the divine\nteachings\": that is, the Deity is perfect justice and perfect love;\n\"the Divine wisdom is the science of life, the art of living.\"\n\n\"Do not cut your nails while sacrificing\": that is, in praying,\nremember even those who are most distant.\n\n\"Sacrifice and worship unshod\": that is, approach the Mysteries with a\nreverent heart.\n\n\"Entering a temple, neither say nor do anything which pertains to\nordinary life\": that is, preserve the Divine, pure and undefiled; the\ndivine science cannot be judged by the ordinary standards of human\nopinion.\n\n\"Enter not into a temple negligently nor worship carelessly, not\neven though you stand only at the doors\": that is, seek the Divine\nwholeheartedly without reference to personal advantage, no matter\nhowever humble your position.\n\n\"Approach not gold in order to gain children\": that is, beware of all\nteachers who barter the things of the Spirit; \"by their fruits ye shall\nknow them.\"\n\n\"Inscribe not the image of the Deity on a ring\": that is, do not think\nof the Supreme as either finite or personal.\n\n\n(2) Number\n\nThe esoteric teachings of Pythagoras in regard to number dealt\nprincipally with the significance of arithmetic and geometry, and\nemphasized the importance of the application of number to weights and\nmeasures. He was the first to explain the multiplication table to\nthe Greeks. The leading idea of his system was that of the Unity in\nMultiplicity. Therefore the Pythagorean concept of harmony was based\nupon the relationship of the One and the Many, the idea of the One in\nMany and the Many in One--\"as above, so below.\" By number Pythagoras\nmeant not merely figures, but regulated motion or vibration, rhythm,\nlaw, and order; for he made number equivalent to intelligence. He said:\n\n Number is that which brings what is obscure within the range of our\n knowledge, rules all true order in the universe and allows of no\n errors.\n\nHe assumed, as first principles, the numbers and the symmetries\nexisting in them, which he called harmonies. He taught:\n\n Virtue is a proportion or harmony. Happiness consists in the\n perfection of the virtues of the soul, the perfect science of numbers.\n Nature is an imitation of number.\n\nPythagorean arithmetic was concerned especially with the first ten\ndigits, which were \"hieroglyphic symbols, by means of which Pythagoras\nexplained his ideas about the nature of things.\" He taught that unity,\nthe monad or one, is no true numeral, for one multiplied any number\nof times by itself always equals one; that is, unity unlike the true\nnumerals, has not an infinite series of varying powers, for its square,\ncube, and other powers, are one and all equal to one, the first term of\nthe series. Another peculiarity, which proves unity not to be a true\nnumeral, is its indivisibility into whole numbers.\n\n The monad is God and the good, which is the origin of the one and is\n itself Intelligence. The monad is the beginning of everything. Unity\n is the principle of all things and from Unity went forth an infinite\n or indeterminate duality, the duad, which is subordinate to the monad\n as its cause.\n\nPythagoras taught that the duad, the first concept of addition, was the\nfirst true figure and regarded the one as a symbol for the Primitive\nUnity or the Deity, the Absolute, behind and above the indeterminate\nor infinite duad, which symbolized chaos or spirit-matter. The triad\nor the three, the monad plus the duad, symbolized the Divine, the\nHeavenly, as opposed to the Earthly.\n\n The Pythagoreans say that the All and all things are defined by\n threes; for beginning, middle, and end constitute the number of all\n and also the number of the triad.\n\nThe tetrad or the four exists in two forms, its actual form the\nquaternary or the four, the symbol of Earth as opposed to Heaven, and\nits potential form, the tetraktys, which contains in germ the sum total\nof the universe, manifested and unmanifested, the Pythagorean dekad or\nten, thus, 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10. The tetraktys, therefore, was regarded\nas a very sacred symbol. The pentad or number five, symbolized man. The\nsenary or number six, is, of course, composed of two threes, and was\nregarded as an abbreviation for the alpha and omega of evolutionary\ngrowth. The hebdomad or number seven, is the perfect number, par\nexcellence, symbolizing both heaven and earth. In the words of H. P.\nBlavatsky\n\n The ogdoad or 8 symbolizes the eternal and spiral motion of the\n cycles, and is symbolized in its turn by the Caduceus (or herald's\n staff of Hermes). The nine is the triple ternary, reproducing itself\n incessantly under all shapes and figures in every multiplication.\n The ten or dekad brings all these digits back to unity and ends the\n Pythagorean table.\n\n\"It is,\" Pythagoras says, \"the starting point of number.\"\n\nPassing from the arithmetic to the geometry of Pythagoras, Plato's\nstatement that \"God geometrizes\" is undoubtedly Pythagorean in origin,\nfor it is said that Pythagoras perfected geometry among the Greeks,\nand the two well-known theorems that the triangle inscribed in a\nsemi-circle is right-angled, and that the square of the hypothenuse\nof a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the\nsides, are still associated with his name. Pythagoras taught:\n\n From the monad and the duad proceed numbers; from numbers signs; from\n signs lines, of which plane figures consist; from plane figures solid\n bodies. The Kosmos is endued with life and intellect and is of a\n spherical figure.\n\nFrom one point of view, One corresponds to the dot or point, Two to the\nline, Three to the plane, and Four to the concrete solid. The dekad\nwas represented geometrically in the form of a tetradic equilateral\ntriangle of ten dots, with one dot at the apex, and four along the base\nline, thus [10-dot triangle]. This shows graphically how the tetraktys\nas 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10, contains potentially the dekad. This ten-dot\ntriangle filled out by lines becomes an equilateral triangle, with the\ndot at the apex and at the center remaining as generating-points for\nadjacent figures, and especially as the centers of circles, inscribed\nin and circumscribed about the original triangle.\n\nThe principal plane geometrical figures known to have been explained\nby Pythagoras are the circle in its three forms: one with the\ncenter unmarked, the second with a dot at the center, and the third\nwith the diameter drawn: [plain circle] [circle with dot] [circle\nwith diameter]; the triangle: [triangle] the square: [square]; the\npentagram, or five-pointed star: [pentagram]; and the hexagram, the\nsix-pointed star or so-called Pythagorean Pentacle: [6-pointed star].\n\nThe circle was called by Pythagoras \"the most beautiful of all plane\nfigures\" and in its form with the center unmarked, corresponding to the\nmonad or the one in arithmetic, was placed in a category by itself. The\ncircle with a dot at its center corresponds to the duad, the triangle\nto the triad, the square to the tetrad in its actual as opposed to\nits potential form, which is that of the tetradic dotted triangle,\nas previously explained, the potential equivalent of the decad. The\npentagram or five-pointed star corresponds to the pentad, and the\nhexagram to the senary. The circle with its diameter indicated the\nactual dekad or 10 (for we no longer write the one within the circle to\nrepresent ten) as opposed to the potential equivalent of the dekad, the\ntetraktys. In his solid geometry Pythagoras taught that \"the sphere was\nthe most beautiful of all solid figures,\" and in its form corresponding\nto the monad, it was classed by itself. Pythagoras explained that both\nthe earth and the kosmos were spherical in shape, and added that the\nuniverse was made up of five basic solid figures, which were built up\nfrom the triangle and the square: namely, the cube; the tetrahedron;\nthe octahedron, a figure with its eight sides formed by equal\nequilateral triangles; the dodecahedron, a figure with twelve faces\nformed by regular pentagons; and the icosahedron, a figure composed of\ntwenty equal and similar triangular pyramids whose vertices meet at the\ncenter of a sphere, which is supposed to circumscribe it.\n\n\n(3) Music\n\nTurning to Pythagoras' teachings in regard to music, which he regarded\nas a very important help in controlling the passions, it is said that\nhe was the first to teach the Greeks the tonic relations of the musical\nscale, and invented for them the monochord, a one-stringed instrument,\nused in measuring the musical intervals. Upon these relations he built\nhis celebrated doctrine of the Harmony or Music of the Spheres, that\nis, that the heavenly bodies, composing our solar system, in the course\nof their rotations emit the notes of the scale. H. P. Blavatsky and the\nancients explain this by saying that Pythagoras called\n\n a \"tone\" the distance of the Moon from the Earth; from the Moon to\n Mercury \u00bd a tone, thence to Venus the same; from Venus to the Sun 1\u00bd\n tones; from the Sun to Mars a tone; from thence to Jupiter \u00bd a tone;\n from Jupiter to Saturn a tone; and thence to the Zodiac a tone; thus\n making seven tones, the diapason harmony. All the melody of nature is\n in those seven tones and therefore is called \"the Voice of Nature.\"\n\nPythagoras declared that the harmony of the spheres is not heard by the\nordinary human ear either because it has always been accustomed to it\nfrom the beginning of life, or because the sound is too powerful for\nthe capabilities of the physical ear. In substantiation of this theory\nit is interesting to note that modern science expresses the intervals\nof music by proportions similar to those which mark the tonal distances\nof the planets.\n\n\n(4) Man\n\nSelf-contemplation was strongly insisted upon and played a most vital\npart in the Pythagorean training. To his esoteric section Pythagoras\ntaught the immortality of the soul, its pre-existence, and its rebirth;\nkarma; and the septenary constitution of man, partially veiled, it is\ntrue, under the form of a triple division of the soul into animal,\nhuman, and divine parts.\n\n There is a doctrine whispered in secret that man is a prisoner, who\n has no right to open the door and run away. The gods are our guardians.\n\n The soul is a harmony and the body its prison.\n\n We choose our own destiny and are our own good or bad fortune.\n\n Rash words and acts are their own punishment.\n\n We are our own children.\n\nIntentional perversions of the teachings of Pythagoras, mere travesties\nof his ideas, are plainly evident in what has come down to us in regard\nto his belief in metempsychosis. Thus we are told that his enemies\ncirculated the story that Pythagoras had declared that one of his\nrelatives had passed into a bean, a vicious joke based on the fact\nthat beans were excluded from the Pythagorean diet. Another similar\nmalicious fiction about Pythagoras is thus referred to by Xenophanes, a\ncontemporary philosopher.\n\n They say that once, as passing by he saw\n A dog severely beaten, he did pity him,\n And spoke as follows to the man who beat him:\n \"Stop now, and beat him not; since in his body,\n Abides the soul of a dear friend of mine,\n Whose voice I recognized, as he was crying.\"\n\nThat Pythagoras, himself, did not believe in transmigration after\nsuch fashion, is shown quite plainly by the following statements of\nHierocles, the Neo-Platonist in his commentary upon the _Golden Verses_\nof Pythagoras:\n\n If through a shameful ignorance of the immortality of the human soul,\n a man should persuade himself that his soul dies with his body,\n he expects what can never happen; in like manner he who expects\n that after death he shall put on the body of a beast and become an\n irrational animal because of his vices, or a plant because of his\n dulness and stupidity--such a man, I say, acting quite contrary to\n those who transform the essence of man into one of the superior\n beings, is _infinitely deceived_ and _absolutely ignorant_ of the\n _essential form_ of the _soul_, which can never change; for being\n and continuing always man, it is only said to become God or beast by\n virtue or vice, though it cannot be either the one or the other.\n\nThe following quotations give us true representations of Pythagoras'\nideas on pre-existence and rebirth.\n\n Souls cannot die. They leave a former home,\n And in new bodies dwell and from them roam.\n Nothing can perish, all things change below,\n For spirits through all forms may come and go.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Thus through a thousand shapes, the soul shall go\n And thus fulfil its destiny below.\n Death has no power th' immortal soul to slay;\n That, when its present body turns to clay,\n Seeks a fresh home and with unminish'd might\n Inspires another frame with life and light.\n So I myself (well I the past recall)....\n\nPythagoras regarded rebirth as a gradual process of purification and\ntaught that the soul by reason of nobility of character gained by\nstruggles upon earth was destined to be exalted eventually into far\nhigher modes of life. \"Imagination,\" he explained:\n\n is the remembrance of precedent spiritual, mental, and physical\n states, while fancy is the disorderly production of the material\n brain.\n\n Man is perfected first by conversing with gods, which he can do only\n when he abstains from evil and strives to resemble divine natures;\n secondly, by doing good to others, which is an imitation of the gods;\n thirdly, by leaving the mortal body.\n\n By our separation from the Deity, we lost the wings which raised us\n towards celestial beings and were thus precipitated into the region\n of death where all evils dwell. By putting away earthly passions and\n devoting ourselves to virtue, our wings will be renewed and we shall\n rise to that existence where we shall find the true good without any\n admixture of evil.\n\n The soul of man being between spirits who always contemplate the\n Divine Essence and those who are incapable of contemplating it, can\n raise itself to the one, or sink itself to the other.\n\n Every quality which a man acquires originates a good or bad spirit,\n which abides by him in this world and after death remains with him as\n a companion.\n\nPythagoras taught that man is a microcosm, a compendium of the\nuniverse, with a triple nature, composed of (1) an immortal spirit,\nthe Spiritual Soul, intuitive perception, the _Nous_, a portion of\nthe Deity; (2) a human intelligence, the Human Soul, the rational\nprinciple, the _Phren_; and (3) the sensitive irrational nature, the\nAnimal Soul, the seat of the passions and desires, the _Thymos_.\nThe Nous and the Thymos, he stated, are common to man and the lower\nanimals, but the Phren, which in its higher aspect is immortal, is\npeculiar to man.\n\n The immortal mind of man is as much more excellent than his sensitive\n irrational nature as the sun is more excellent than the stars.\n\nThe physical body is but a temporary garment of the soul, into which\n\"the Nous enters from without.\" \"The sense perceptions are deceptive.\"\n\n The principle of life is about the heart, but the principle of reason\n and intelligence in the head.\n\nPythagoras added that at death the ethereal part of man freed from\nthe chains of matter is conducted by Hermes Psychopompos, the Guide\nof Souls, into the region of the dead, where it remains in a state\naccording to its merit until it is sent back to earth to inhabit\nanother body. The object of rebirth is gradually to purify the soul by\nsuccessive probations, until finally it shall be fitted to return to\nthe immortal source whence it emanated.\n\n\n(5) The Earth and the Universe\n\nIt is well-known that the ideas expressed by Plato in his _Timaeus_,\nthe dialog which he named after his Pythagorean teacher, are derived\nalmost entirely from Pythagorean sources. Therefore it is probable that\nPythagoras taught about the earlier continents, which were destroyed\nalternately by fire and water, and in particular about the legends of\nAtlantis, including the account of an Atlantean invasion of Greece\nabout 10,000 years B. C. before the Greeks lived in the Greek lands--an\ninvasion which was repelled by the inhabitants of prehistoric Athens,\nwho were akin to the ancient Egyptians.\n\nIn regard to our solar system, Pythagoras knew not only that the earth\nis spherical, but also taught that the sun, likewise spherical, not the\nearth, is the center--a theory rediscovered more than 2000 years later\nby Copernicus and Galileo. Pythagoras also explained the obliquity of\nthe ecliptic, the causes of eclipses, that the morning and evening star\nare the same, that the moon shines by light reflected from the sun, and\nthat the Milky Way is composed of stars. He held that \"the Universe has\nneither height nor depth but is infinite in extent,\" that\n\n there is a void outside the Universe into which the Universe breathes\n forth and from which it breathes in,\n\nand that\n\n the Universe is brought into being by the Deity and is perishable\n so far as its shape is concerned, for it is perceived by sense, is\n therefore material, but that (its Essence) will not be destroyed.\n\nPythagoras declared that all nature is animate, for\n\n Soul is extended through the nature of all things and is mingled with\n them\n\nand he believed in one Deity, ruling and upholding all things.\n\n There is One Universal Soul diffused through all things--eternal,\n invisible, unchangeable; in essence like Truth, in substance\n resembling Light; not to be represented by any image; to be\n comprehended only by the _Nous_; not, as some conjecture, exterior to\n the Universe, but in itself entire, pervading the sphere which is the\n Universe.\n\nFrom this One Universal Soul proceed Spiritual Intelligences, above,\nbelow, and inclusive of man; the subtle ether out of which they are\nformed becoming more and more gross, the further it is removed from the\ndivine Source. He classified these Hosts or Hierarchies of Spiritual\nIntelligences into gods or major divinities, daemones or lesser divine\nbeings of good and bad natures, and thirdly heroes or disembodied human\nsouls, \"immortal minds in luminous bodies,\" in position intermediate\nbetween men and the daemones. He declared \"the whole air is filled with\nsouls.\"\n\nH. P. Blavatsky says:\n\n In the Pythagorean Theurgy these hierarchies of the Heavenly Host and\n the gods were expressed numerically.\n\nThe Pythagoreans believed that the forces of nature were spiritual\nentities. They taught that there are ten spheres formed by the\nHeavenly bodies, those of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the\nfixed Stars, the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, and the Counter-earth or\nthe Antichthon, about which little has come down to us but which\nis presumably connected with \"the riddle of the Eighth Sphere.\"\nFurthermore the Pythagoreans taught that there were ten cardinal pairs\nof opposites or ten antithetical principles, which constitute the\nelements or Stoicheia of the Universe, namely, (1) the limited and the\nunlimited; the finite and the infinite; (2) the One and the Many; (3)\nlight and darkness; (4) good and bad; (5) rest and motion; (6) the\nmasculine and the feminine; (7) the straight and the crooked; (8) the\nodd and the even; (9) the square and the oblong; and (10) the right and\nthe left.\n\n\n\n\nPHOTOGRAPHY AND THE INVISIBLE: by Philip A. Malpas\n\n\nIf a spectrum be thrown on a blackboard with a lantern, in a dark room,\none end will be violet and the other red, to the ordinary eye. If a\nplain photographic sensitized plate is placed against the blackboard\nso as to receive the spectrum on its central portion during a suitable\nexposure and is then developed, fixed, and replaced in its original\nposition, the result shown is remarkable. At the red end the plate is\nunaffected; the orange and yellow and green are scarcely recorded; the\nblue and violet are well represented, but the part of the plate most\naffected is that beyond the visible violet far into the \"darkness\" of\nthe blackboard.\n\nHere is a sensitive surface or substance which can \"see,\" as though\nbrilliantly lighted, a surface which to the ordinary eye is invisible,\nbut, on the other hand, has some difficulty in seeing the red and\nyellow, which the eye can see quite plainly. Needless to remark that\nthis is why a true red or yellow light is \"safe\" for ordinary plates\nand for dark-rooms. On the other hand it would be possible to have a\ndark-room which would be to the plate a very light room indeed, being\nfilled with these invisible rays beyond the violet end of the spectrum.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. VISINGSBORG CASTLE,\nVISINGS\u00d6, SWEDEN]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE CANAL,\nTROLLH\u00c4TTAN, SWEDEN]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. HIGH SLUICE AND\nPALACE OF INDUSTRY, AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND (At Amsterdam a stone arch\nbridge is called a sluice)]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PALACE OF INDUSTRY,\nAMSTERDAM]\n\nAnd yet there are some eyes which can plainly distinguish the fact that\na substance or surface is giving off these powerful rays, invisible\nto less sensitive eyes. Perhaps this is one of the thousands of\nlittle forerunner facts which testify to the increase of sensibility\nprophesied by H. P. Blavatsky for this present century.\n\nNow if a solution of one per cent of sulphate of quinine, one\ncentimeter thick, is used in a glass cell before a lens or plate it\nmay delay the exposure by perhaps six times the normal time, thus\nshowing that of our photographs taken under ordinary conditions on\nordinary plates we have been accustomed to accepting as true pictures\nreproductions of the invisible, although much of that invisible\ncoincides with the visible, since these rays are emitted by so many\nsubstances.\n\nBut a false standard has been established unconsciously in our minds.\nWhere blue skies should be, we are content to see a pure white in a\nphotograph. Where reds and yellows abound we expect altogether too dark\na representation, as with grass and green trees.\n\nThe quinine light-filter (aesculine, extracted from the horse-chestnut,\nserves as well) absorbs or is largely opaque to these rays and such\na filter is much used now with specially sensitized plates to allow\nthe colors to be reproduced in monochrome in truer relation. A yellow\nfilter will also absorb some of the visible blue. The glass of the lens\ntoo is responsible for the absorption of a proportion of these rays.\nBy an action not yet understood the dyeing of plates with certain dyes\nrenders the silver in them far more sensitive to the various colors in\nthe green, yellow, and red of the spectrum.\n\nIs it not probable that silver has the power of sensing these rays\nso keenly, while the human eye, for reasons best known to the human\nmind, has had and lost that power, but may be now beginning to regain\nit? Such a recovery is not made without strain and natures that can\nbegin to sense these invisible rays must either strengthen and purify\nthemselves to the utmost degree possible or suffer what dry leaves\nsuffer in the flames, a burning out of the particles that are not tuned\nto withstand the red fire that burns them. Hence the theosophical\nreason for purity and strength, first, last, and all the time, in\npreparation for the burning fiery flames of added sensitiveness which\ncome and have come quite soon enough for us to prepare against rather\nthan seek.\n\nKnowing what is now known of the efficacy of light in curing certain\naffections, especially the violet and blue light, is it too early to\nsuggest that much of the power of quinine is due to the body being\nsaturated with this \"colorless\" dye and so cutting off light which the\nconstituents of the body are not strong enough to bear without their\nbalancing power being impaired, and so leaving the battlefield at the\nmercy of inimical fever forces?\n\nTropical travelers are warned not so much to use quinine after attack,\nbut to saturate the body (with minute doses) commencing several days\nbefore entering the dangerous zone.\n\nIn spite of endless fraud and humbug and \"fake\" photography, it has\nlong been suspected that the invisible can be photographed. As shown,\nwe have never been doing anything else in our photography except\nphotographing much of the invisible. Without saying that it has or has\nnot been done, we may well ask if it is really so difficult to imagine\nthat much of what inhabits the \"seeming void\" may be made visible to\nthe lunar surface of the plate?\n\nProfessor Wood's experiments on the lines of photography by invisible\nrays are of absorbing interest. Not only has he made interesting\nphotographs of objects by means of the invisible violet rays, but also\nby means of the invisible rays below the red end of the spectrum. And\nhe shows one very interesting result of photographing Chinese white\nby these ultra-violet rays--as though the pigment were a pure black!\nThis illustrates the fact long known to photo-engravers' artists that\nChinese white is a bad white to use except in a mixed tint. The Chinese\nwhite cuts off so much of this invisible chemically-active \"white\" as\nto appear gray even to an ordinary plate's \"lunar eye.\"\n\nAnother startling result is that by the ultra-violet light a man's\nshadow may entirely disappear when he is photographed in sunlight. One\nwonders if the strange Eastern \"superstitions\" as to shadows and men\nwithout shadows do not have a real scientific basis. Perhaps R. L.\nStevenson's little child who rose so early that his \"naughty little\nshadow had stayed at home ... and was fast asleep in bed,\" could tell\nus.\n\n\n\n\nHEREDITY AND BIOLOGY: by H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.)\n\n\nThe word \"heredity\" is one that is much conjured with nowadays, so that\nit is important to understand its meaning and import. In so far as its\nmeaning covers facts ascertained by reliable observation, and correct\ninferences therefrom, we must be prepared to accord the word the\nrespect which in that case it deserves; but in so far as it may stand\nfor imperfect observations and the faulty theories inferred therefrom,\nwe must be equally prepared to apply scrutiny and reserve.\n\nOne thing we find is that the word is frequently used, even by\naccredited authorities on biology, in a variable sense; in the course\nof an argument the word has two or more distinct meanings, and the\narguer does not seem to be aware of the variation. This of course\nindicates a nebulosity in the reasoning and leads to confusion and\nwrong conclusions. For instance, in a particular case, where a lecturer\nis reported, we find that he uses the word (1) in the sense of \"the\nfact that organic cells reproduce their kind,\" and (2) in the sense of\n\"some power or faculty in virtue of which they reproduce their kind.\"\nThese two senses are quite distinct, and would have been given separate\nheads in a dictionary; to ignore the distinction in an argument both\narises from and creates confusion.\n\nBut let us at present consider the second meaning--that of some power\nor property in virtue of which an organic cell can reproduce its kind.\nBiology, within its present scope, must confine itself to admitting\nthe existence of this power and to tracing its workings. The source\nof the power lies outside the field of ordinary biological research.\nFor, granted that physical matter is actuated by an agency, that agency\nmust be immaterial; or at least, if material, then material in another\nsense than that in which physical matter is material. Now biologists\nmay claim that this phase of the subject does not concern them; and\nthat point we should be willing to concede in all cases where the\ninvestigations were confined to their appropriate limits--that is, to\nthe limits appropriate to a confessedly limited science. But what we\noften actually find is that theorists overstep these limits and assume\nan attitude of positiveness and authority to which (by the logic of\ntheir own admission) they are not entitled. We even find proposals to\nbase legislation upon biological theories; and there is the danger that\nin small self-governed communities such experiments may actually be\ncarried into effect. When it comes to this therefore we are justified\nin inquiring more jealously into the credentials of biology; for we\ndo not readily concede the right to be governed by people who have\nconfessed that certain vital phases of their subject do not concern\nthem.\n\nHence, however the case may stand as regards merely theoretical\nscience, when there is an attempt to apply theories to matters of\ngovernment and public policy, the restrictions become a matter of vital\nimportance. If we are to achieve successful results in applied biology,\nthen we must positively know something about these mysterious potencies\nwhich lie behind matter and which many biologists say do not concern\nthem; for these forces actually exist and count, whether biologists\nunderstand them or not; and though they may be ignored on paper, their\neffects cannot be ignored.\n\nThat which lies behind matter is mind--something well known to our\nexperience but not definable in terms of space. The mental aspect of\nheredity is far more important than the merely physical. The bearing of\nthis truth upon the question of race-improvement and the elimination\nof degenerate types is important. In paying so much attention to the\nphysical side of the question we are ignoring the important factors and\nexaggerating those of lesser importance.\n\nIn agriculture, attention to the soil is all very well and necessary;\nbut attention to the nature of the seed planted is generally considered\nas counting for a good deal in determining the nature of the crop to be\nreaped. Biological theorists are flooding us with schemes for improving\nthe soil in which the human plant grows; and very excellent some of\nthese schemes are. But what about the seeds of the human plant? Nay\nmore; we have not even exhausted the question of the soil; for besides\nthe physical soil, is there not the mental soil? In short, an abundance\nof factors enter into the question, all of which are of vital import,\nyet of which but a few fall under the attention of biological theorists.\n\nHeredity includes the two factors of innate potentiality and\nenvironment; but the former, since it escapes the observation of\nphysical science, is minimized in favor of the latter. There is an\nattempt to make environment account for the whole set of phenomena; as\nthough the nature of the crop depended entirely upon the soil and not\nat all upon the nature of the seed.\n\nIn the question of parental transmission the same considerations apply.\nWhile it is true that the offspring derives many of its characteristics\nfrom its parents, and others from its surroundings, we know that\nparentage and environment cannot explain everything. There is another\nfactor; and this factor is what corresponds to the seed in our\nillustration from agriculture. In fact it is the _innate character_\nof the individual. For of a man's character, part is due to parentage\nand environment and part is inherent in the individual himself. The\ncharacter is the resultant of these two components. The influence\nof this inherent factor is seen in families, where, though all the\nchildren have the same parents, the characters may be widely different.\nWe are aware that an attempt is made to explain this fact by saying\nthat the different children have combined the characteristics of the\nparents in different proportions; but this is not an explanation of the\ncause, but merely a restatement of the problem in another form.\n\nInto the processes of generation and birth there enter many different\nfactors, each of which calls for study, if we would know the truth and\narrive at safe and practical conclusions. Even plants and animals have\nwhat may be called _vital souls_ or _monads_, which, working behind\nphysical matter, cause it to grow and develop. In the case of man there\nis still more, for such a process would produce merely an idiot. There\nis the human Soul, and this has its own character and destiny--its\nKarma--brought from its previous lives. This Karma is a potent\ndetermining influence in heredity, and it operates much more powerfully\nin some individuals than in others, this depending upon the stage of\ndevelopment which the particular Soul has reached.\n\nThe principle of heredity, as defined by most biologists, is incomplete\nand needs the Theosophical teachings to complete it. It is often\nwrongly supposed to conflict with the Theosophical teachings, but so\nfar as it conforms to facts it cannot do this. Theosophists may find\nthemselves unable to accept all the speculations of biologists, but\nthey can never have any quarrel with the facts.\n\nIn biological and anthropological works, in quasi-scientific or\nquasi-sociologic novels by immature and frequently morbid thinkers,\nand to some extent even in stage plays, we see the speculations of\ntheorists brought forward as the basis for proposed social polities;\nand bad indeed would be our case should such experimenters ever attain\nthe influence they covet. Frightful doctrines regarding marriage and\nparentage, inhuman suggestions as to the treatment of malefactors and\nweaklings, and other horrors, now growing familiar, will readily\nsuggest themselves to the reader. And as these signs spring from a\nmisuse of science, which science itself seems unable to prevent; while\nno religious organization seems competent to deal with the problem; the\nimportance of teachings which really can tell us something about our\nown nature is evident. But it is not of new dogmas that we speak; the\nteachings referred to are of the nature of demonstrations. When anyone\nis _shown_ something which he did not before perceive, and recognizes\nit for a truth, and makes effectual use of it, then he is satisfied and\nneeds not inquire into its authenticity. The purpose of Theosophy is\nto _demonstrate_ the laws of human nature and nature in general. Its\nappeal is to the understanding.\n\n\n\n\nINCORRODIBLE BRONZE: by Travers\n\n\nIt has frequently been maintained that ancient nations, some of whose\nart-works remain to us, knew secrets in metallurgy which have been\nlost and not yet recovered by us; and that in this way they were able\nto make bronze tools as hard as steel, or harder, to make metals which\nwould not corrode, etc. Where one has a wish to prove that ancient\nraces did not possess such knowledge, there is a conflict between\ntheories and facts, resulting in attempts to find an explanation which\nwill solve the dilemma. But where one has no reason for desiring to\nrepresent the ancients as not being so endowed, the facts present no\ndifficulty. On the one hand we have monuments of the hardest stone,\nelaborately engraved with deep and accurate intaglio. On the other\nhand we know that many ancient civilizations were of extremely long\nduration, and that surviving offshoots of these great civilizations\nshow a remarkable skill in many arts and industries. There is an _a\npriori_ probability that many processes were known which have not yet\nbeen rediscovered; and the fact that these architectural and sculptural\nremains exist merely increases that probability.\n\nWith regard to incorruptible bronze, the following, which is condensed\nfrom the _Journal_ of the Royal Society of Arts (Britain), is\ninteresting.\n\nFigures of the Buddha are found in the north of Siam in great numbers,\non the sites of ancient temples which have been crumbling for\ncenturies, leaving the figures standing amid the forest trees. The\ninteresting thing about these figures is the perfect condition of the\nbronze after centuries of exposure to tropical suns and rains.\n\nThis bronze is called by the natives \"samrit\"--the perfect or\nauspicious alloy--and its composition for a long time remained a\nsecret, until, according to the American Consul at Bangkok, a few years\nago the formula was discovered in an old Siamese manuscript belonging\nto the late King of Siam. The following is a translation:\n\n Take twelve ticals (one tical is equal to one half-ounce avoirdupois)\n weight of pure tin, melt it at a slow fire, avoiding bringing it to\n red heat. Pour two ticals weight of quicksilver, stir until the latter\n has become thoroughly absorbed and amalgamated, then cast the mixture\n in a mold, forming it into a bar. Take one catty in weight (eighty\n ticals) of refined copper and melt it; then gradually incorporate with\n it the amalgam, keeping in the meantime the fused mass well stirred.\n When this has been done, throw into the crucible a sufficient quantity\n of ashes obtained from the stems of the bua-bok (lotus) creeper so as\n to cover the molten metal. Remove the dross with an iron ladle. The\n metal remaining is samrit bronze.\n\nIt is surely easy to understand that many such formulas might have been\nknown and never hit upon since. The possibilities in the way of making\nalloys are endless, especially when it comes to using ingredients\nor reagents other than metals. It would be strange indeed if an\nindustrious, highly intelligent, and very patient people, working for\nages, inspired by enthusiastic motives, should _not_ have discovered\nmany things which are unknown to us whose history is so recent and\nwhose records have been so largely concerned with less peaceful arts.\n\n\n\n\nSCIENTIFIC ODDMENTS: by the Busy Bee\n\n\nThe largest flower in the world is said to be _Rafflesia_, a native\nof Sumatra. It is composed of five round petals of a brickish color,\neach measuring a foot across. These are covered with numerous irregular\nyellowish white swellings. The petals surround a cup nearly a foot\nwide, the margin of which bears the stamens. The cup is filled with a\nfleshy disk, the upper surface of which is covered with projections\nlike miniature cows' horns. When empty, the cup will hold about twelve\npints. The flower weighs about fifteen pounds, the petals being\nthree-quarters of an inch thick.\n\n * * * * *\n\nQUITE a field of discovery lies open in connexion with photography\nby invisible light, for it can reveal objects whose existence was\nnot suspected, especially on the moon and other celestial bodies.\nThe photograph is taken through a quartz lens coated with silver,\nwhich is impenetrable to visible light but not to ultra-violet rays.\nWhite flowers come out black, and a glass porch looks as if made of\nsheet-iron. A man standing in the sunlight was seen to have no shadow,\nwhich shows that the ultra-violet rays do not come directly from the\nsun but are present in diffused light.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIT is often desirable, in delicate scientific measuring, to convey a\ncool beam of light to a small scale which is to be read; and one clever\ndevice for doing this is to send the light along a glass rod. It might\nbe thought that the light would escape through the sides of the rod\nand that it would therefore be necessary to coat them with some opaque\nsubstance; but this is not the case. Light does not pass through glass\nwhen it strikes the glass very obliquely. If we look very obliquely at\na sheet of glass, we do not see the objects on the other side of it,\nbut we see the reflection of those on the same side as that from which\nwe look; the glass acts as if it were silvered. This is what is known\nas \"total reflection\"; and in accordance therewith the beam cannot\nescape through the sides of the rod. Thus the rod acts like a tube\nalong which the light, as though a fluid, runs; rather a suggestive\nfact in connexion with currents and transmission generally.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNOW that we know of radium emanation, we have a scientific explanation\nof the difference between natural curative waters when drunk at the\nspring and the same waters after being bottled and exported. Things\nmay be chemically identical, and yet different--a reflection that\nshould help to prevent us from becoming too dogmatic. This discovery\nabout mineral waters has led to the invention of what may be called\n\"artificial genuine waters\"; they are mineral waters artificially\nimpregnated with radium emanation. These have been used curatively with\nsuccess. Following their use came that of radium baths, and then radium\nair-baths and radium inhalers. Patients can be put into a room whose\nair is impregnated with emanation, or they can inhale through a nozzle\nconnected with a bottle. One naturally wonders how many more influences\nthere may be in nature which have not yet been detected, and how many\nhygienic beliefs are consequently based on imperfect knowledge. What\nhappens to the fresh air after it has been drawn into a building,\nheated in an apparatus, and distributed? Chemically the same it may\nbe, but it differs a good deal in its effects from the air outside.\nAnd there is the question of prepared foods; is it enough that they be\nchemically the same as the natural product?\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE devising of new luxuries is of doubtful advantage; for not only is\nluxury itself enervating, but it is often not even achieved, for our\nneeds and susceptibilities increase with their satisfaction.\n\nSoon it will not be necessary to have any circulation in your feet;\nnor to use warm foot-gear or warm your feet at the fire. The carpet\non which you tread will itself be warm; or if it is not, you can make\nit so in a moment by merely pressing the ubiquitous and indispensable\nbutton in the wall. Stoop down and examine this magic carpet; it looks\njust like any ordinary unpretending piece of floor-furniture. But\nunravel some of its threads and you will find that they contain that\nall-pervading nerve of modern life--a wire. Upon a woolen thread is\nwound a tape made up of fine strands of nickel wire; over this again\ngoes more wool, and so the wire is made invisible and flexible. A cord\nending in a plug connects the carpet with the wall or the lighting\nfixture. One would think there was risk of the carpet going up in a\npuff of blue smoke; nor is one much reassured by the statement, in\na scientific paper, that \"when overheated, the resistance rises and\ncuts down the current, so that an automatic regulating action is given\nwhich prevents overheating.\" The rise of resistance would increase\nthe quantity of heat generated, whereas the lessening of the current\nstrength would only reduce the quantity of heat in the proportion of\nthe square root of the diminution in current strength.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA NEW method of chemical analysis has been discovered by Sir J. J.\nThomson. It makes use of the Crookes vacuum tube, which, as is well\nknown, consists of a glass vessel containing a residuum of air or other\ngas in a highly rarefied state. A platinum wire is sealed into each end\nof the tube, each wire connected with an electrode within the tube. A\nhigh-potential electric current is transmitted across the rarefied gas,\nbeing carried by the particles, which, owing to the rarefaction, have\na greater freedom of movement. When these charged particles strike the\nwalls of the tube or an obstacle placed in their path they produce\nbeautiful luminous effects. Professor Thomson, in his new method of\nanalysis, pierces the negative electrode with a tube of very fine\nbore, and it is found that the charged particles of gas pass through\nthis tube into the space behind, where they will produce luminosity\non a screen in their path. Now, as is known, these particles can be\ndeflected from their straight path and caused to take curved paths by\ncertain electric and magnetic methods. But the amount of deflection so\nproduced varies according to the mass and velocity of the particle.\nProfessor Thompson has so arranged the experiment that the amount of\ndeflection produced in the various particles present is indicated\nby the spot at which they strike the screen. If they proceeded in a\nstraight path, they would strike the screen in the center; the more\nthey are deflected, the further from the center is the point at which\nthey strike. This affords a means of analysing the composition of the\ngases present; but it is also necessary to take into account the fact\nthat the amount of deflection depends not only on the mass and velocity\nof the particles but upon the amount of electric charge they are\ncarrying. But this merely multiplies or divides the results by integral\nquantities.\n\nIt was found by these experiments that no matter what gas was being\nexamined, hydrogen was always present, and also carbon, nitrogen,\nand mercury; mercury would be likely to be present in the air of\na laboratory. In examining marsh gas (CH_{4}), besides curves\ncorresponding to marsh gas, carbon, and hydrogen, there were found\nother curves which by calculation would correspond to CH, CH_{2}, and\nCH_{3}, compounds which are not known to the chemist and which must be\nmomentary transition stages in the decomposition of marsh gas.\n\nThis method of analysis is rapid, can be performed with minute\nquantities, and is not hindered by the presence of impurities, for\nthese register themselves without interfering with the other elements.\n\nTwo prophecies by H. P. Blavatsky in _The Secret Doctrine_ were that\nchemistry and biology were the twin magicians of the coming time,\nand that it would soon be admitted by men of science that the Occult\nteaching is true--that every cell, atom, and speck in the universe is\nalive.\n\nThe microscopic germ is every day pushing more to the front and\nthreatening to elbow the mere molecule out of the field. Even familiar\nchemical reactions will not come off if nothing else but the chemicals\nconcerned is present; there has to be something to start the reaction,\nsomething electrical or who knows what. So we are told. Any day we\nmay expect to hear that the electrons are alive; at any rate they are\npretty lively and capable for \"dead\" things.\n\nBacteria are not all deadly or even maleficent. There are bacteria\nthat are good for us, necessary for our existence. The human body can\nbe described as made up of minute organisms. Disease means that the\ndestructive ones have prevailed over the constructive; but when there\nis a proper balance of the two sorts we are healthy.\n\nAnd now we learn that some of the beneficent bacteria shine--emit\nlight--a sure token of their saintly character! But they do not merely\nabsorb it and give it out again like some chemicals and phosphorescent\nbodies; they create their own light. \"_Fiat Lux_,\" they say, _et lux\nfit_. This light, too, is without heat, wherefore it is the most\neconomical light possible. When _we_ create light we create with it\nenough heat to run a hell, and all this represents waste. The most\nefficient electric filament, it is said, gives only 5% of the energy\nin the form of light. The luminous bacteria must have a nutritive\nsubstance and oxygen. They abound most in sea-water, and on the Pacific\nCoast the sea at certain seasons is a magnificent spectacle at night,\neach wave shining with a soft bright light of undefinable colors.\nBut they can be experimented with in the laboratory. _Photobacterium\nphosphorescens_ is obtained from the herring, duly fed and bottled, and\ncan be used to read by. A scientific magazine shows a photograph of a\npicture of Lord Lister most appropriately illuminated by bacteria which\nare contained in glass tubes near the picture.\n\nLight has been regarded mainly as a means of vision; but it is\nevidently more than this. In ancient science it is spoken of as one of\nthe creative powers. In physics we recognize it as among the active\ntransforming forces. We can regard it either as a form of energy or\nas a form of matter--these amounting to little more than alternative\npoints of view. Behind the various phenomena classed as \"light\" lies\ntheir ultra-physical _cause_--the _being_, the _thing-in-itself_.\nWhen we speak of light as illuminating the mind or emanating from the\nsource of inspiration, we are commonly held to be employing a figure\nof speech, a metaphor. But we might as well turn the matter around and\nregard the scientific use of the word light as a metaphor.\n\nThere are various kinds of light. Moonlight may be mistaken for the\nlight of the sun by some creatures that have not seen the latter; also\nthere are owls and bats which prefer it. Candles prove a source of\ndestruction to ignorant moths. The lowliest germs, as we see, can emit\na certain luminosity; even decaying matter shines. And so there are\nvarious kinds of light in the world of mind; but best of all is the\nsunlight.\n\n Twinkle, twinkle, little germ,\n How I wonder why you squirm,\n Down among my flesh and blood,\n Like a diamond in the mud.\n\n How doth the little busy bug\n Improve each shining hour\n By causing it to shine some more\n With half a candle-power.\n\n _Dr. What's-his-name_\n\n\n\n\n LINNAEUS AND THE DIVINING-ROD:\n Contributed by P. F.\n\n\nLinnaeus in one of his works relates an experience he had in the\nfinding of noble metals by means of the divining-rod, and does it in\nthe simple good-humored way that marks all his writings and makes them\nsuch delightful reading. He says:\n\n The divining-rod is a curious contrivance, and people will have us\n believe that the rod can tell where metals are hidden. Now and again\n my secretary would take a twig of hazel forked evenly at one end and\n would amuse the company with it. This happened also at this place, one\n person concealing his silver snuff-box, another his watch, here and\n there in the bushes, and in most cases the secretary found them. Now\n I had never believed in the divining-rod and did not like to hear it\n mentioned. It provoked me that it should be recommended in this way,\n and I imagined that my friends and my secretary were in collusion to\n deceive the company. So going to a large field north of the barn,\n I cut out a piece of turf, placed my little purse in the hole, and\n covered it up so carefully that nobody could see the least trace\n of it. My own mark was a great ranunculus growing near the place,\n and there was no other tall flower in the whole field. When all was\n arranged I went back to the company, told them that I had concealed my\n purse in the field, and asked the secretary to find it with the help\n of his divining-rod. If he found it, then I would believe in the rod,\n so sure was I that no mortal but myself knew the place where the money\n was.\n\n The secretary was delighted with such an opportunity to make me think\n better of the rod which I used always to ridicule; and the company too\n were most anxious to watch this master-test. The secretary searched\n for a long while, a full hour at least, and my host and hostess and I\n had the pleasure of seeing the rod work in vain; and as we did not get\n the money back, the rod was held up to ridicule.\n\n At last I repaired to the spot with the intention of recovering my\n purse, but only to find that our rod-walkers had trampled down all the\n grass by their perambulations. Not a trace was left of my ranunculus,\n and I was compelled to search for my money with the same uncertainty\n as the rod. I felt no inclination to bet a hundred crowns on\n the rod, for all of us were engaged in a vain search which provoked\n both irritation and amusement. Finally I had to give it up, but the\n baron and the secretary asked me to tell them the place approximately,\n which I did. The wicked rod, however, refused to strike and pointed\n to a place right opposite. Finally, when all of us were tired of it,\n and I most of all, the secretary stopped at a place quite far from\n the one I had indicated, saying that if the purse was not there it\n would be useless to try to tell the place. I did not care to seek, as\n it was not at all in this direction that I had (as I thought) placed\n the purse. But Baron Oxenstjerna lay down upon the ground and put his\n fingers around the little piece of turf where the money was lying!\n\n Thus the rod was right that time, and gave me back the money I should\n otherwise have lost. This is fact. If I see more such instances, I\n suppose I must believe what I do not want to believe. For it is quite\n different from the magnet and attraction between iron and iron; that\n a hazel twig can tell me the place where noble metals are--to that\n neither our outer nor our inner senses consent. Still I am not settled\n as to the divining-rod; yet I will not venture to bet as many crowns\n on it another time.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. I. THE HEAD OF A\nCA\u00d1ON, POINT LOMA: A STUDY OF COLOR AND SHADE]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. II. ENTRANCE TO A\nCA\u00d1ON, POINT LOMA: A VIEW OF SINGULAR BEAUTY]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. III. ANOTHER\nSTRIKING VIEW IN A LOMALAND CA\u00d1ON\n\n \"Spirit that formed this scene ...\n These formless wild arrays, for reasons of their own....\"]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. IV. WHERE THE CA\u00d1ON\nLEAVES THE DAYLIGHT The last glimpse of bay and mountains before\ndescending 150 feet. At the bottom it is chill and damp, the sky a blue\nribbon.]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. V. IN THE HEART OF\nTHE CA\u00d1ON Though too large for the camera, every foot of the rock's\nsurface is interesting and beautiful to the eye.]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. VI. A CA\u00d1ON, POINT\nLOMA; VIEW FROM ABOVE]\n\n\n\n\nLOMALAND CA\u00d1ONS: by W. J. Renshaw\n\n\nPoint Loma is an age-old peninsula at the extreme south of southern\nCalifornia, close to the Mexican border, \"Table\" and \"Tent\" mountains\nin old Mexico forming part of the unsurpassable view across San Diego\nBay. It is situated between the thirtieth and thirty-fifth parallels\nof latitude (N.), about half way between the latitudes of Gibraltar\nand Cairo. It runs within a few points of due south from the mainland\nand is roughly wedge- or pennant-shaped, its eastern curve forming the\nwestern shore of San Diego Bay, its rocky west receiving the impact\nof \"the league-long rollers\" of the Pacific. Except on the eastern\nsand flats there is probably not five hundred yards of the main road\nalong the Point that is either level or straight, but up and down it\ngoes from level to level, winding in and out along the contours of\nthe ridge. From the ridge the sides fall away in slopes, terraces or\ncliffs. On the flats on the eastern side are Roseville and La Playa and\nthe government coaling station, quarantine station, and military fort.\nThe western side is mainly abrupt cliffs fifty to sixty feet high,\naffording descent to the shore in few places, and hollowed with caves.\n\nThe major surface formation of Point Loma is a friable sandstone\ncontaining clays, gypsum, marls, pebbles, and a curious reddish iron\nnodule varying in size from a small pea to a large marble. This occurs\nin great quantities and is apparently of igneous origin, though whether\nvolcanic or meteoric is not known.\n\nOn both sides of the ridge deep ca\u00f1ons have been washed out by the\nrains and here and there are irregular amphitheaters as if a former\ncave had fallen in. Such a spot is shown in illustration No. I, the\ncharacteristic washing of the adobe face of the break being very\npicturesque, giving wonderful light and shade and color effects in the\nbrilliant sunshine. The prevailing color is a rich brown, shading from\ngold to red, which seems to complement the intense blue of the sky. The\nshrubs and vines add every gradation and \"tone\" of green. Wild flowers,\nferns, and cacti abound in these ca\u00f1ons, and many of the shrubs are\naromatic, not only beautiful to the eye when in bloom, but a fragrant\nbalsam to the sense of smell. Large owls and hawks nest in inaccessible\nplaces, living on the prolific smaller fauna; and a large tufted-eared\nwild cat has been met with.\n\nThe ca\u00f1ons on the west side are tame and uninteresting compared with\nthose on the east. Here many a delightful outing can be had, with a\nspice of adventure in negotiating difficult ascents and descents,\nneeding agility and a quick strong frame and muscles; or, if one\ndoes not possess such, the help of those who do. In some of the most\ndifficult places niches have been cut with a hatchet, making the climb\nfairly easy.\n\nEvery few yards the character of these ca\u00f1ons alters, revealing views\nof the most varied beauty. One such is shown in illustration No. II,\nthe entrance to one of the ca\u00f1ons: the silver sand of the bottom, the\nvaried greens of the scrub, the rich red-gold-brown of the cliffs with\nthe green chaparral peeping over, all flooded with golden sunshine\nalmost palpitating with vibrant life, and over all the bluest blue\nsky, make a feast of color which must be seen to be appreciated. Or\nagain, as in illustration No. III, there is rugged and savage grandeur\nrecalling Whitman's words:\n\n Spirit that formed this scene\n These tumbled rock-piles grim and red\n\n * * * * *\n\n These formless wild arrays, for reasons of their own\n I know thee savage spirit--we have communed together.\n\nMany of the finest views cannot be photographed because they recede\ndeep, deep out of the light of day. This can be seen by the center\nforeground of illustration No. IV, the detail of which is quite lost\nin a veritable yawning gulf. Here one catches the last glimpse of the\nbay and the distant mountains before descending in five or six stages\nsome one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet. At the bottom it is\nso narrow that one has to work his way along sideways. It is damp and\nchill and earthy down there, the sky a narrow ribbon of blue away up,\nand one emerges later feeling like an emancipated troglodyte.\n\nOr as shown in illustration No. V--which is a view of the rock face\non the right-hand side of No. IV, about half-way down--the scene\nis too large for the camera, while every foot of it is interesting\nand beautiful to the eye: \"no jutty, frieze, buttress nor coign of\nvantage\" but hath its festoon of vines, clump of ferns, or mass of wild\nflowers, while the flat rock is stained and mottled with lichens--sage\ngreen, old gold, brown, red; and only in such a place could mere light\nand shade work such magic: fairy towers, demon caves, faces in the\nrock--grotesque, fantastic, weird, beautiful, majestic, are the tricks\nof sunshine in this miniature cataclysmic playground of nature.\n\nThe ca\u00f1ons are full of surprises. At one place--a winding defile\nbetween bare rocks, just wide enough for _one_ to scramble through--the\nmembers of a party while near enough to converse, are invisible to each\nother because of the sudden turnings and doublings of the crack every\nfew feet. Some of the ca\u00f1ons open out almost imperceptibly from others.\nPerhaps a rest will be called on the silver sand of some opening.\nThe older members of the party wish to drink in the beauty of the\nsurroundings. The younger ones work off superfluous energy--scaling the\nsides, exploring the branchings, or making a toboggan of some thirty\nfeet or so of loose sand-slide. After a while someone will say: \"It is\ntime to return.\" So we retrace our steps and after proceeding a little\nway, if there be a newcomer in the party he is likely to say: \"I don't\nremember this on the way down; it is altogether different.\" Being told\nthat it is another ca\u00f1on, he will say: \"_When_ did we enter it?\"\n\nSo we climb up and out again another way, someone perhaps climbing\nup on another's shoulders and then hauling the rest up; and within\nabout two hours of starting out we are back home again, braced and\nexhilarated by the exercise, refreshed and inspired by the unique and\nvaried beauty of these Lomaland ca\u00f1ons.\n\n\n\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society\n\nFounded at New York City in 1875 by H. P. Blavatsky, William Q. Judge\nand others\n\nReorganized in 1898 by Katherine Tingley\n\nCentral Office, Point Loma, California\n\n The Headquarters of the Society at Point Loma with the buildings and\n grounds, are no \"Community\" \"Settlement\" or \"Colony.\" They form no\n experiment in Socialism, Communism, or anything of similar nature,\n but are the Central Executive Office of an international organization\n where the business of the same is carried on, and where the teachings\n of Theosophy are being demonstrated. Midway 'twixt East and West,\n where the rising Sun of Progress and Enlightenment shall one day\n stand at full meridian, the Headquarters of the Society unite the\n philosophic Orient with the practical West.\n\n\n MEMBERSHIP\n\n in the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society may be\n either \"at large\" or in a local Branch. Adhesion to the principle\n of Universal Brotherhood is the only pre-requisite to membership.\n The Organization represents no particular creed; it is entirely\n unsectarian, and includes professors of all faiths, only exacting from\n each member that large toleration of the beliefs of others which he\n desires them to exhibit towards his own.\n\n Applications for membership in a Branch should be addressed to\n the local Director; for membership \"at large\" to G. de Purucker,\n Membership Secretary, International Theosophical Headquarters, Point\n Loma, California.\n\n\nOBJECTS\n\nThis Brotherhood is a part of a great and universal movement which has\nbeen active in all ages.\n\nThis Organization declares that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature. Its\nprincipal purpose is to teach Brotherhood, demonstrate that it is a\nfact in Nature, and make it a living power in the life of humanity.\n\nIts subsidiary purpose is to study ancient and modern religions,\nscience, philosophy, and art; to investigate the laws of Nature and the\ndivine powers in man.\n\n\nH. P. BLAVATSKY, FOUNDRESS AND TEACHER\n\nThe present Theosophical Movement was inaugurated by Helena Petrovna\nBlavatsky in New York in 1875. The original name was \"The Theosophical\nSociety.\" Associated with her were William Q. Judge and others. Madame\nBlavatsky for a time preferred not to hold any outer official position\nexcept that of Corresponding Secretary. But all true students know that\nMadame Blavatsky held the highest authority, the only real authority\nwhich comes of wisdom and power, the authority of Teacher and Leader,\nthe real head, heart, and inspiration of the whole Theosophical\nMovement. It was through her that the teachings of Theosophy were given\nto the world, and without her the Theosophical Movement could not have\nbeen.\n\n\nBRANCH SOCIETIES IN EUROPE AND INDIA\n\nIn 1878 Madame Blavatsky left the United States, first visiting\nGreat Britain and then India, in both of which countries she founded\nbranch societies. The parent body in New York became later the Aryan\nTheosophical Society and HAS ALWAYS HAD ITS HEADQUARTERS IN AMERICA;\nand of this, William Q. Judge was President until his death in 1896.\n\nIt is important to note the following:\n\nIn response to the statement published by a then prominent member in\nIndia that Madame Blavatsky is \"loyal to the Theosophical Society and\nto Adyar,\" Madame Blavatsky wrote:\n\n It is pure nonsense to say that \"H. P. B. ... is loyal to the\n Theosophical Society and to Adyar\" (!?). _H. P. B. is loyal to death\n to the Theosophical_ CAUSE _and those Great Teachers whose philosophy\n can alone bind the whole of Humanity into one Brotherhood._... The\n degree of her sympathies with the Theosophical Society and Adyar\n depends upon the degree of the loyalty of that Society to the CAUSE.\n Let it break away from the original lines and show disloyalty in its\n policy to the cause and the original program of the Society, and H. P.\n B., calling the T. S. disloyal, will shake it off like dust from her\n feet.\n\nTo one who accepts the teachings of Theosophy it is plain to see that\nalthough Theosophy is of no nationality or country but for all, yet\nit has a peculiar relationship with America. Not only was the United\nStates the birthplace of the Theosophical Society, and the home of the\nParent Body up to the present time, but H. P. Blavatsky, the Foundress\nof the Society, although a Russian by birth, became an American\ncitizen; William Q. Judge, of Irish parentage and birth, also became\nan American citizen; and Katherine Tingley is American born. America\ntherefore not only has played a unique part in the history of the\npresent Theosophical Movement, but it is plain to see that its destiny\nis closely interwoven with that of Theosophy; and by America is meant\nnot only the United States or even the North American continent, but\nalso the South American continent, and, as repeatedly declared by\nMadame Blavatsky, it is in this great Western Hemisphere as a whole,\nNorth and South, that the next great Race of humanity is to be born.\n\n\nMADAME BLAVATSKY FOUNDS THE ESOTERIC SCHOOL; HER LIFE-LONG TRUST IN\nWILLIAM Q. JUDGE\n\nIn 1888, H. P. Blavatsky, then in London, on the suggestion and at the\nrequest of her Colleague, William Q. Judge, founded the Esoteric School\nof Theosophy, a body for students, of which H. P. Blavatsky wrote\nthat it was \"the heart of the Theosophical Movement,\" and of which\nshe appointed William Q. Judge as her sole representative in America.\nFurther, writing officially to the Convention of the American Societies\nheld in Chicago, 1888, she wrote as follows:\n\n To William Q. Judge, General Secretary of the American Section of the\n Theosophical Society:\n\n My dearest Brother and Co-Founder of the Theosophical Society:\n\n In addressing to you this letter, which I request you to read to the\n Convention, summoned for April 22nd, I must first present my hearty\n congratulations and most cordial good wishes to the Society and\n yourself--the heart and soul of that body in America. We were several\n to call it to life in 1875. Since then you have remained alone to\n preserve that life through good and evil report. It is to you chiefly,\n if not entirely, that the Theosophical Society owes its existence in\n 1888. Let me thank you for it, for the first, and perhaps for the\n last time publicly, and from the bottom of my heart, which beats only\n for the cause you represent so well and serve so faithfully. I ask\n you also to remember that on this important occasion, my voice is but\n the feeble echo of other more sacred voices, and the transmitter of\n the approval of Those whose presence is alive in more than one true\n Theosophical heart, and lives, as I know, pre-eminently in yours.\n\nThis regard that Madame Blavatsky had for her colleague William Q.\nJudge continued undiminished until her death in 1891, when he became\nher successor.\n\nMadame Blavatsky, in 1889, writing in her Theosophical magazine\npublished in London, said that the purpose of the magazine was not\nonly to promulgate Theosophy, but also and as a consequence of such\npromulgation, \"to bring to light the hidden things of darkness.\" She\nfurther says:\n\n As to the \"weak-minded Theosophists\"--if any--they can take care of\n themselves in the way they please. IF THE \"FALSE PROPHETS OF\n THEOSOPHY\" ARE TO BE LEFT UNTOUCHED, THE TRUE PROPHETS WILL\n BE VERY SOON--AS THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN--CONFUSED WITH THE FALSE. IT\n IS HIGH TIME TO WINNOW OUR CORN AND CAST AWAY THE CHAFF. The\n Theosophical Society is becoming enormous in its numbers, and if the\n _false_ prophets, the pretenders, or even the weak-minded dupes, are\n left alone, then the Society threatens to become very soon a fanatical\n body split into three hundred sects--like Protestantism--each\n hating the other, and all bent on destroying the truth by monstrous\n exaggerations and idiotic schemes and shams.\n\n We do not believe in allowing the presence of _sham_ elements in\n Theosophy, because of the fear, forsooth, that if even \"a false\n element in the faith\" is _ridiculed_, the latter is \"apt to shake the\n confidence\" in the whole.\n\n ... What _true_ Christians shall see their co-religionists making\n fools of themselves, or disgrace their faith, and still abstain from\n rebuking them publicly as privately, for fear lest this _false_\n element should throw out of Christianity the rest of the believers?\n\n THE WISE MAN COURTS TRUTH; THE FOOL, FLATTERY.\n\n However it may be, let rather our ranks be made thinner, than the\n Theosophical Society go on being made a spectacle to the world through\n the exaggerations of some fanatics, and the attempt of various\n _charlatans_ to profit by a ready-made program. These, by disfiguring\n and adapting Occultism to their own filthy and immoral ends, bring\n disgrace upon the whole movement.--_Lucifer_, Vol. iv, pp. 2 & 3\n\n\nWILLIAM Q. JUDGE ELECTED PRESIDENT FOR LIFE\n\nIn 1893 there openly began what had been going on beneath the surface\nfor some time, a bitter attack ostensibly against William Q. Judge, but\nin reality also against H. P. Blavatsky. This bitter attack threatened\nto disrupt the whole Society and to thwart the main purpose of its\nexistence, which was to further the cause of Universal Brotherhood.\nFinally the American members decided to take action, and at the annual\nconvention of the Society held in Boston in 1895, by a vote of 191\ndelegates to 10, re-asserted the principle of Theosophy as laid down\nby H. P. Blavatsky, and elected William Q. Judge President for life.\nSimilar action was almost immediately taken by members in Europe,\nAustralia, and other countries, in each case William Q. Judge being\nelected President for life. In this action the great majority of the\nactive members throughout the world concurred, and thus the Society\nwas relieved of those who had joined it for other purposes than the\nfurtherance of Universal Brotherhood, the carrying out of the Society's\nother objects, and the spiritual freedom and upliftment of Humanity.\nA few of these in order to curry favor with the public and attract a\nfollowing, continued among themselves to use the name of Theosophy,\nbut it should be understood that they _are not connected with the\nTheosophical Movement_.\n\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY SUCCEEDS WILLIAM Q. JUDGE\n\nOne year later, in March 1896, William Q. Judge died, leaving as his\nsuccessor Katherine Tingley, who for several years had been associated\nwith him in the work of the Society. This Teacher not only began\nimmediately to put into actual practice the ideals of Theosophy as had\nbeen the hope and aim of both H. P. Blavatsky and William Q. Judge, and\nfor which they had laid the foundations, thus honoring and illustrating\nthe work of her illustrious predecessors, but she also struck a new\nkeynote, introducing new and broader plans for uplifting humanity.\nFor each of the Teachers, while continuing the work and building upon\nthe foundations of his predecessor, adds a new link, and has his own\ndistinctive work to do, and teachings to give, belonging to his own\ntime and position.\n\nNo sooner had Katherine Tingley begun her work as successor, than\nfurther attacks, some most insidious, from the same source as those\nmade against H. P. Blavatsky and William Q. Judge, as well as from\nother sources, were inaugurated against her. Most prominent among\nthose thus attacking Katherine Tingley were some referred to by Madame\nBlavatsky in the article above-quoted (pp. 159-60), who by their own\nactions had removed themselves from the ranks of the Society. There\nwere also a few others who still remained in the Society who had not\njoined hands with the disintegrators at the time the latter were\nrepudiated in 1895. These now thought it to their personal advantage\nto oppose the Leader and sought to gain control of the Society and\nuse it for political purposes. These ambitious agitators, seeking to\nexploit the Society for their own ends, used every means to overthrow\nKatherine Tingley, realizing that she was the greatest obstacle to\nthe accomplishment of their desires, for if she could be removed they\nexpected to gain control. They worked day and night, stooping almost to\nany means to carry out their projects. Yet it seemed that by these very\nacts, i. e., the more they attacked, the more were honest and earnest\nmembers attracted to the ranks of the Society under Katherine Tingley's\nleadership.\n\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY GIVES SOCIETY NEW CONSTITUTION\n\nSOCIETY MERGES INTO BROADER FIELD\n\nTo eliminate these menacing features and to safeguard the work of\nthe Theosophical Movement for all time, Katherine Tingley presented\nto a number of the oldest members gathered at her home in New York\non the night of January 13th, 1898, a new Constitution which she had\nformulated for the more permanent and broader work of the Theosophical\nMovement, opening up a wider field of endeavor than had heretofore been\npossible to students of Theosophy. One month later, at the Convention\nof the Society, held in Chicago, February 18th, 1898, this Constitution\nwas accepted by an almost unanimous vote, and the Theosophical Society\nmerged itself into the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society.\nIn this new step forward, she had the heartiest co-operation and\nsupport of the vast majority of the members throughout the world.\n\n\nTHEOSOPHY IN PRACTICE\n\nIt is of interest here to quote our Teacher's own words regarding this\ntime. In an article published in _The Metropolitan Magazine_, New York,\nOctober, 1909, she says:\n\n Later, I found myself the successor of William Q. Judge, and I began\n my heart work, the inspiration of which is partly due to him.\n\n In all my writings and associations with the members of the\n Theosophical Society, I emphasized the necessity of putting Theosophy\n into daily practice, and in such a way that it would continuously\n demonstrate that it was the redeeming power of man. More familiarity\n with the organization and its workers brought home to me the fact that\n there was a certain number of students who had in the early days begun\n the wrong way to study Theosophy, and that it was becoming in their\n lives a death-like sleep. I noticed that those who followed this line\n of action were always alarmed at my humanitarian tendencies. WHENEVER\n I REMINDED THEM THAT THEY WERE BUILDING A COLOSSAL EGOTISM INSTEAD\n OF A POWER TO DO GOOD, THEY SUBTLY OPPOSED ME. AS I INSISTED ON THE\n PRACTICAL LIFE OF THEOSOPHY, THEY OPPOSED STILL MORE. They later\n exerted personal influence which affected certain members throughout\n the world. It was this condition which then menaced the Theosophical\n Movement, and which forced me to the point of taking such action as\n would fully protect the pure teachings of Theosophy and make possible\n a broader path for unselfish students to follow. Thus the faithful\n members of the Theosophical Movement would be able to exemplify the\n charge which Helena Petrovna Blavatsky gave to her pupils, as follows:\n\n \"Real Theosophy is altruism, and we cannot repeat it too often. It is\n brotherly love, mutual help, unswerving devotion to truth. If once men\n do but realize that in these alone can true happiness be found, and\n never in wealth, possession or any selfish gratification, then the\n dark cloud will roll away, and a new humanity will be born upon the\n earth. Then the Golden Age will be there indeed.\"\n\n Here we find William Q. Judge accentuating the same spirit, the\n practical Theosophical life:\n\n \"The power to know does not come from book-study alone, nor from mere\n philosophy, but mostly from the actual practice of altruism in deed,\n word, and thought; for that practice purifies the covers of the soul\n and permits the divine light to shine down into the brain-mind.\"\n\n\n THE PARTING OF THE WAYS\n\n On February 18, 1898, at the Convention of the Theosophical Society\n in America, held at Chicago, Ill., the Society resolved, through its\n delegates from all parts of the world, to enter a larger arena, to\n widen its scope and to further protect the teachings of Theosophy.\n Amid most intense enthusiasm the Theosophical Society was expanded\n into the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, and I found\n myself recognized as its leader and official head. The Theosophical\n Society in Europe also resolved to merge itself into the Universal\n Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, and the example was quickly\n followed by Theosophical Societies in other parts of the world. The\n expansion of the original Theosophical Society, which Madame Blavatsky\n founded and which William Q. Judge so ably sustained, now called the\n Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, gave birth to a new\n life, and the membership trebled the first year, and ever since that\n time a rapid increase has followed.\n\n\nINTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS AT POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA\n\nIn 1900 the Headquarters of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical\nSociety were removed from New York to Point Loma, California, which\nis now the International Center of the Theosophical Movement. This\nOrganization is unsectarian and non-political; none of its officers or\nworkers receives any salary or financial recompense.\n\nIn her article in _The Metropolitan Magazine_ above referred to,\nKatherine Tingley further says:\n\n The knowledge that Point Loma was to be the World-center of the\n Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, which has for its\n supreme object the elevation of the race, created great enthusiasm\n among its members throughout the world. The further fact that the\n government of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society rests\n entirely with the leader and official head, who holds her office for\n life and who has the privilege of appointing her successor, gave\n me the power to carry out some of the plans I had long cherished.\n Among these was the erecting of the great Homestead Building. This I\n carefully designed that it might not stand apart from the beautiful\n nature about it, but in a sense harmonize with the sky, the distant\n mountains, the broad blue Pacific, and the glorious light of the sun.\n\n So it has been from the first, so that the practical work of Theosophy\n began at Point Loma under the most favorable circumstances. No one\n dominated by selfish aims and ambitions was invited to take part in\n this pioneer work. Although there were scores of workers from various\n parts of the world uniting their efforts with mine for the upbuilding\n of this world-center, yet there was no disharmony. Each took the duty\n allotted him and worked trustingly and cheerfully. Many of the world's\n ways these workers gladly left behind them. They seemed reborn with an\n enthusiasm that knew no defeat. The work was done for the love of it,\n and this is the secret of a large part of the success that has come to\n the Theosophical Movement.\n\n Not long after the establishment of the International Theosophical\n Headquarters at Point Loma it was plain to see that the Society was\n advancing along all lines by leaps and bounds. Letters of inquiry were\n pouring in from different countries, which led to my establishing\n the Theosophical Propaganda Bureau. This is one of the greatest\n factors we have in disseminating our teachings. The International\n Brotherhood League then opened its offices and has ever been active\n in its special humanitarian work, being the directing power which has\n sustained the several R\u00e2ja Yoga schools and academies, now in Pinar\n del Rio, Santa Clara, and Santiago de Cuba, from the beginning. The\n Aryan Theosophical Press has yearly enlarged its facilities in answer\n to the demands made upon it through the publication of Theosophical\n literature, which includes THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH and several other\n publications. There is the Isis Conservatory of Music and Drama, the\n Department of Arts and Crafts, the Industrial Department, including\n Forestry, Agriculture, Roadbuilding, Photo-engraving, Chemical\n laboratory, Landscape-gardening, and many other crafts.\n\n\nDO NOT FAIL TO PROFIT BY THE FOLLOWING\n\nCONSTANTLY THE QUESTION IS ASKED, WHAT IS THEOSOPHY, WHAT DOES\nIT REALLY TEACH? EACH YEAR THE LIFE AND WORK OF H. P. BLAVATSKY AND\nTHE HIGH IDEALS AND PURE MORALITY OF HER TEACHINGS ARE MORE CLEARLY\nVINDICATED. EACH YEAR THE POSITION TAKEN BY WILLIAM Q. JUDGE AND\nKATHERINE TINGLEY IN REGARD TO THEIR PREDECESSOR, H. P. BLAVATSKY, IS\nBETTER UNDERSTOOD, AND THEIR OWN LIVES AND WORK ARE SEEN TO BE ACTUATED\nBY THE SAME HIGH IDEALS FOR THE UPLIFTING OF THE HUMAN RACE. EACH YEAR\nMORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE COMING TO REALIZE THAT NOT ALL THAT GOES UNDER\nTHE NAME OF THEOSOPHY IS RIGHTLY SO CALLED, BUT THAT THERE IS\nA COUNTERFEIT THEOSOPHY AS WELL AS THE TRUE, AND THAT THERE IS NEED OF\nDISCRIMINATION, LEST MANY BE MISLED.\n\nCounterfeits exist in many departments of life and thought, and\nespecially in matters relating to religion and the deeper teachings of\nlife. Hence, in order that people who are honestly seeking the truth\nmay not be misled, we deem it important to state that the Universal\nBrotherhood and Theosophical Society is not responsible for, nor is it\naffiliated with, nor does it endorse, any other society, which, while\ncalling itself Theosophical, is not connected with the International\nTheosophical Headquarters at Point Loma, California. Having a knowledge\nof Theosophy, the ancient Wisdom-Religion, we deem it as a sacred\ntrust and responsibility to maintain its pure teachings, free from the\nvagaries, additions, or misrepresentations of ambitious self-styled\nTheosophists and would-be teachers. The test of a Theosophist is not\nin profession, but in action, and in a noble and virtuous life. The\nmotto of the Society is \"There is no religion higher than Truth.\" This\nwas adopted by Madame Blavatsky, but it is to be deeply regretted that\nthere are no legal means to prevent the use of this motto in connexion\nwith counterfeit Theosophy, by people professing to be Theosophists,\nbut who would not be recognized as such by Madame Blavatsky.\n\nIt is a regrettable fact that many people use the name of Theosophy\nand of our Organization for self-interest, as also that of H. P.\nBlavatsky, the Foundress, and even the Society's motto, to attract\nattention to themselves and to gain public support. This they do in\nprivate and public speech and in publications. Without being in any way\nconnected with the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, in\nmany cases they permit it to be inferred that they are, thus misleading\nthe public, and honest inquirers are hence led away from the original\ntruths of Theosophy.\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society welcomes to\nmembership all who truly love their fellow men and desire the\neradication of the evils caused by the barriers of race, creed, caste,\nor color, which have so long impeded human progress; to all sincere\nlovers of truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than\nthe mere pleasures and interests of a worldly life, and are prepared to\ndo all in their power to make Brotherhood a living energy in the life\nof humanity, its various departments offer unlimited opportunities.\n\nThe whole work of the Organization is under the direction of the Leader\nand Official Head, Katherine Tingley, as outlined in the Constitution.\n\n\nOBJECTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD LEAGUE\n\n 1. To help men and women to realize the nobility of their calling and\n their true position in life.\n\n 2. To educate children of all nations on the broadest lines of\n Universal Brotherhood and to prepare destitute and homeless children\n to become workers for humanity.\n\n 3. To ameliorate the condition of unfortunate women, and assist them\n to a higher life.\n\n 4. To assist those who are or have been in prisons to establish\n themselves in honorable positions in life.\n\n 5. To abolish capital punishment.\n\n 6. To bring about a better understanding between so-called savage\n and civilized races, by promoting a closer and more sympathetic\n relationship between them.\n\n 7. To relieve human suffering resulting from flood, famine, war, and\n other calamities; and, generally, to extend aid, help, and comfort to\n suffering humanity throughout the world.\n\n JOSEPH H. FUSSELL, Secretary\n\n\n\n\n BOOK LIST\n OF WORKS ON\n THEOSOPHY, OCCULTISM, RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE, AND ART\n\n PUBLISHED OR FOR SALE BY\n\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY\n INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL HEADQUARTERS\n POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.\n\n _The office of the Theosophical Publishing Company is at Point Loma,\n California_\n\n _It has_ NO OTHER OFFICE _and_ NO BRANCHES\n\n\nFOREIGN AGENCIES\n\n _=THE UNITED KINGDOM=_--Theosophical Book Co., 18 Bartlett's\n Buildings, Holborn Circus, LONDON, E. C., England\n\n _=GERMANY=_--J. Th. Heller, Vestnertorgraben 13, N\u00dcRNBERG\n\n _=SWEDEN=_--Universella Broderskapets F\u00f6rlag, Barnhusgatan, 10,\n STOCKHOLM\n\n _=HOLLAND=_--Louis F. Schudel, Hollandia-Drukkerij, BAARN\n\n _=AUSTRALIA=_--Willans and Williams, 16 Carrington St., Wynyard Sq.,\n SYDNEY, N. S. W.\n\n _=CUBA=_--H. S. Turner, Apartado 127; or Heredia, Baja, 10, SANTIAGO\n DE CUBA\n\n _=MEXICO=_--Samuel L. Herrera, Calle de la Independencia, 55 altos,\n VERA CRUZ, V. C.\n\n\n ADDRESS BY KATHERINE TINGLEY at San Diego Opera House,\n March, 1902 $ .15\n\n AN APPEAL TO PUBLIC CONSCIENCE: an Address delivered by\n Katherine Tingley at Isis Theater, San Diego, July 22, 1906.\n Published by the Woman's Theosophical Propaganda League,\n Point Loma .05\n\n ASTRAL INTOXICATION, and Other Papers (W. Q. Judge) .03\n\n BHAGAVAD G\u00ceT\u00c2 (recension by W. Q. Judge). The pearl of the\n scriptures of the East. American edition; pocket size;\n morocco, gilt edges 1.00\n\n CONCENTRATION, CULTURE OF (W. Q. Judge) .15\n\n DEVACHAN; or the Heavenworld (H. Coryn) .05\n\n ECHOES FROM THE ORIENT; a broad Outline of Theosophical Doctrines.\n Written for the newspaper reading public. (W. Q. Judge)\n Sm. 8vo, cloth .50\n Paper .25\n\n EPITOME OF THEOSOPHICAL TEACHINGS, AN (W. Q. Judge); 40 pages .15\n\n FREEMASONRY AND JESUITRY, The Pith and Marrow of the Closing and\n Coming Century and Related Position of, (Rameses) .15\n 8 copies for $1.00; per hundred, $10.00\n\n KATHERINE TINGLEY, Humanity's Friend; A VISIT TO KATHERINE TINGLEY\n (by John Hubert Greusel); A STUDY OF R\u00c2JA YOGA AT POINT LOMA\n (Reprint from the San Francisco _Chronicle_, Jan. 6, 1907).\n The above three comprised in a pamphlet of 50 pages, published\n by the Woman's Theosophical Propaganda League, Point Loma .15\n\n HYPNOTISM: _Hypnotism_, by W. Q. Judge (Reprint from _The Path_,\n vol. viii, p. 335); _Why Does Katherine Tingley Oppose\n Hypnotism?_ by a Student (Reprint from _New Century Path_,\n Oct. 28, 1906); _Evils of Hypnotism_, by Lydia Ross, M. D. .15\n\n INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT;\n by Joseph H. Fussell. 24 pages, royal 8vo. .15\n\n ISIS UNVEILED, by H. P. Blavatsky. 2 vols, royal 8vo, about 1500\n pages; cloth; with portrait of the author. _Point Loma Edition,\n with a preface._ Postpaid 4.00\n\n KEY TO THEOSOPHY, THE: by H. P. Blavatsky. _Point Loma Edition_,\n with _Glossary_ and exhaustive _Index_. Portraits of H. P.\n Blavatsky and William Q. Judge. 8vo., cloth, 400 pages.\n Postpaid 2.25\n\n LIFE AT POINT LOMA, THE: Some Notes by Katherine Tingley.\n (Reprinted from the _Los Angeles Saturday Post_,\n December, 1902) .15\n\n LIGHT ON THE PATH (M. C.), with Comments, and a short chapter on\n Karma. Authoritative rules for treading the path of a higher\n life. _Point Loma Edition_, pocket size edition of this classic,\n leather .75\n Embossed paper .25\n\n MYSTERIES OF THE HEART DOCTRINE, THE. Prepared by\n _Katherine Tingley_ and her pupils. Square 8vo, cloth 2.00\n Paper 1.00\n A SERIES OF 8 PAMPHLETS, comprising the different Articles\n in above, paper, each .25\n\n NIGHTMARE TALES (H. P. Blavatsky). _Illustrated by R. Machell._\n A collection of the weirdest tales ever written down. Cloth .60\n Paper .35\n\n THE PLOUGH AND THE CROSS. A story of New Ireland; by William\n Patrick O'Ryan. 12mo, 378 pages. Illustrated. Cloth 1.00\n\n SECRET DOCTRINE, THE. The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and\n Philosophy, by H. P. Blavatsky. _Point Loma Edition_; with\n Index. Two vols., royal 8vo, about 1500 pages; cloth. Postage\n prepaid 10.00\n Reprinted from the original edition of 1888, as issued by\n H. P. Blavatsky\n\n SOME OF THE ERRORS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. Criticism by H. P.\n Blavatsky and W. Q. Judge .15\n\n VOICE OF THE SILENCE, THE. (For the daily use of disciples.)\n Translated and annotated by H. P. Blavatsky.\n Pocket size, leather .75\n\n YOGA APHORISMS (translated by W. Q. Judge), pocket size, leather .75\n\n\n _=GREEK SYMPOSIA=_, as performed by students of the Isis League of\n Music and Drama, under direction of Katherine Tingley. (Fully\n protected by copyright.)\n 1 THE WISDOM OF HYPATIA. 2 A PROMISE. Each .15\n\n\n _=NEW CENTURY SERIES.=_ THE PITH AND MARROW OF SOME SACRED WRITINGS.\n\n Ten Pamphlets; Scripts, each .25\n Subscription (Series of 10 Pamphlets) 1.50\n\n SCRIPT 1--_Contents_: The Relation of Universal Brotherhood to\n Christianity--No Man can Serve Two Masters--In this Place is a Greater\n Thing\n\n SCRIPT 2--_Contents_: A Vision of Judgment--The Great\n Victory--Co-Heirs with Christ--The \"Woes\" of the Prophets--Fragment:\n from Bhagavad G\u00eet\u00e2--Jesus the Man\n\n SCRIPT 3--_Contents_: Lesson of Israel's History--Man's Divinity and\n Perfectibility--The Man Born Blind--The Everlasting Covenant--Burden\n of the Lord\n\n SCRIPT 4--_Contents_: Reincarnation in the Bible--The Money-Changers\n in the Temple--The Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven--The Heart\n Doctrine--The Temple of God\n\n SCRIPT 5--_Contents_: Egypt and Prehistoric America--Theoretical and\n Practical Theosophy--Death, One of the Crowning Victories of Human\n Life--Reliance on the Law--Led by the Spirit of God\n\n SCRIPT 6--_Contents_: Education Through Illusion to Truth--Astronomy\n in the Light of Ancient Wisdom--Occultism and Magic--Resurrection\n\n SCRIPT 7--_Contents_: Theosophy and Isl\u00e2m, a word concerning\n Sufism--Archaeology in the Light of Theosophy--Man, a Spiritual Builder\n\n SCRIPT 8--_Contents_: The Sun of Righteousness--Cant about the Classics\n\n SCRIPT 9--_Contents_: Traces of the Wisdom-Religion in Zoroastrianism,\n Mithraism, and their modern representative, Parseeism--The Druses of\n Mount Lebanon\n\n SCRIPT 10--_Contents_: The Religions of China\n\n SCRIPT 11--(Supplementary Number) _Contents_: Druidism--Druidism and\n its Connexion with Ireland\n\n\n _=OCCULTISM, STUDIES IN=_ (H. P. Blavatsky). Pocket size, 6 vols.\n cloth; each .35\n Per set of six vols. 1.50\n Vol. 1. Practical Occultism. Occultism _vs._ the Occult Arts.\n The Blessing of Publicity\n Vol. 2. Hypnotism. Black Magic in Science. Signs of the Times\n Vol. 3. Psychic and Noetic Action\n Vol. 4. Kosmic Mind. The Dual Aspect of Wisdom\n Vol. 5. The Esoteric Character of the Gospels\n Vol. 6. Astral Bodies; The Constitution of the Inner Man\n\n\n _=THEOSOPHICAL MANUALS.=_ Elementary Handbooks for Students.\n 16mo, price, each, paper 25c; cloth .35\n\n No. 1 ELEMENTARY THEOSOPHY\n No. 2 THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF MAN\n No. 3 KARMA\n No. 4 REINCARNATION\n No. 5 MAN AFTER DEATH\n No. 6 K\u00c2MALOKA AND DEVACHAN\n No. 7 TEACHERS AND THEIR DISCIPLES\n No. 8 THE DOCTRINE OF CYCLES\n No. 9 PSYCHISM, GHOSTOLOGY, AND THE ASTRAL PLANE\n No. 10 THE ASTRAL LIGHT\n No. 11 PSYCHOMETRY, CLAIRVOYANCE, AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE\n No. 12 THE ANGEL AND THE DEMON (2 vols., 35c each)\n No. 13 THE FLAME AND THE CLAY\n No. 14 ON GOD AND PRAYER\n No. 15 THEOSOPHY: THE MOTHER OF RELIGIONS\n No. 16 FROM CRYPT TO PRONAOS; an Essay on the Rise and Fall of Dogma\n No. 17 EARTH: Its Parentage, its Rounds and its Races\n No. 18 SONS OF THE FIREMIST: a Study of Man\n\n\n _=THE PATH SERIES.=_ Specially adapted for Inquirers in Theosophy.\n\n _Already Published_:\n\n No. 1 THE PURPOSE OF THE UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD AND THEOSOPHICAL\n SOCIETY .05\n No. 2 THEOSOPHY GENERALLY STATED (W. Q. Judge) .05\n _Reprinted from Official Report, World's Parliament of\n Religions, Chicago, 1893_\n No. 3 MISLAID MYSTERIES (Herbert Coryn, M. D.) .05\n No. 4 THEOSOPHY AND ITS COUNTERFEITS .05\n No. 5 SOME PERVERTED PRESENTATIONS OF THEOSOPHY (H. T. Edge, B.A.) .05\n Thirty Copies of above Path Series, $1.00;\n one hundred copies, $3.00\n\n _=MISCELLANEOUS.=_ SOUVENIR POSTAL CARDS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL\n HEADQUARTERS. Two for 5c; postage 1c. extra; 50 copies, postpaid,\n $1.00; 100 copies, postpaid, $1.50\n\n LOMALAND. An Album of Views and Quotations; 10\u00bd \u00d7 13\u00bd in.\n (postage 6c. extra) .50\n\n REPRODUCTIONS OF FAMOUS PAINTINGS BY R. MACHELL. _The Path_--\n _Parsifal_--_The Prodigal_--_The Bard_--_The Light of the\n Coming Day_--_'Twixt Priest and Profligate_--_The Hour of\n Despair_--_The Dweller on the Threshold_.\n Size of photographs, 8 \u00d7 6 in., approximate. Price, unmounted,\n 50c; mounted .75\n\n PATH MAGAZINE, THE--Vol. ix ('94-95); Vol. x ('95-96); each 2.00\n\n PATH MAGAZINE, THE--Index to Vols. I to VIII; cloth .50\n\n PATH MAGAZINE, THE--Back Numbers; each .20\n\n SEARCHLIGHT, No. 6--Full Report of Great Debate on Theosophy and\n Christianity held at Fisher Opera House, San Diego, Cal.,\n September and October, 1901.\n 72 pages. Special number issued to the public .15\n\n SEARCHLIGHT, No. 7 .15\n\n SEARCHLIGHT, Vol. II, No. 1 .15\n\n UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD PATH }\n UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD MAGAZINE } Back numbers .20\n Vols. xiii (1898-9), xiv (1899-00), xv (1900-01),\n xvi (1901-2), each 2.00\n\n\n_LOTUS GROUP LITERATURE_\n\n_Introduced under the direction of Katherine Tingley_\n\n No. 1 THE LITTLE BUILDERS, and their Voyage to Rangi (R. N.) .50\n No. 2 THE COMING OF THE KING (Machell); cloth, .35\n LOTUS SONG BOOK. Fifty original songs with copyrighted music;\n boards .50\n LOTUS SONG: \"_The Sun Temple_,\" with music .15\n\n\nFRENCH\n\n TH\u00c9OSOPHIE \u00c9L\u00c9MENTAIRE .05\n LES MYST\u00c8RES DE LA DOCTRINE DU C\u0152UR (1^{re} Section) .50\n\n\nSPANISH\n\n ECOS DEL ORIENTE (W. Q. Judge) .50\n EP\u00cdTOME DE LAS ENSE\u00d1ANZAS TEOS\u00d3FICAS (W. Q. Judge). 40 p\u00e1ginas .25\n LA TEOSOF\u00cdA EXPLICADA .05\n LA TEOSOF\u00cdA Y SUS FALSIFICACIONES. Para uso de investigadores .05\n 30 copies $1.00; 100 copies $3.00\n LA VIDA EN POINT LOMA (Notas por Katherine Tingley). .15\n\n Libros Teos\u00f3ficos Elementales para uso de los Estudiantes\n 16mo, precios cada uno, en papel 25c; en tela .35\n\n N\u00fam. 1 Teosof\u00eda Elemental\n N\u00fam. 2 La Constituci\u00f3n Septenaria del Hombre\n N\u00fam. 3 Karma\n N\u00fam. 4 Reencarnaci\u00f3n\n N\u00fam. 5 El Hombre despu\u00e9s la Muerte\n N\u00fam. 6 K\u00e2maloka y Devach\u00e1n\n N\u00fam. 7 Los Maestros y sus Disc\u00edpulos\n N\u00fam. 8 La Doctrina de los Ciclos\n N\u00fam. 9 Psiquismo, Fantasmalog\u00eda, y el Plano Astral\n N\u00fam. 10 La Luz Astral\n N\u00fam. 11 Psicomancia, Clairvoyancia, y Telepat\u00eda\n N\u00fam. 12 El Angel y el Demonio (dos tomos, cada uno 35c)\n N\u00fam. 13 La Llama y el Barro\n N\u00fam. 14 Sobre Dios y las Oraciones\n N\u00fam. 15 Teosof\u00eda, la Madre de las Religiones\n N\u00fam. 16 Desde la Cripta \u00e1 Pronaos: un Ensayo sobre la Elevaci\u00f3n y\n Decadencia del Dogma\n N\u00fam. 17 La Tierra\n N\u00fam. 18 Los Hijos de la Neblina Ardiente: un Estudio del Hombre\n\n_Order above from the Theosophical Publishing Company, Point Loma,\nCalifornia._\n\n The following in other languages may be procured by writing direct to\n the respective Foreign Agencies (see first page) for Book List and\n prices.\n\n\nGERMAN\n\n AN IHREN FR\u00dcCHTEN SOLLT IHR SIE ERKENNEN--WER IST EIN THEOSOPH?--WAS\n THEOSOPHIE \u00dcBER MANCHE PUNKTE LEHRT UND WAS SIE WEDER LEHRT NOCH\n BILLIGT\n\n AUSBILDUNG DER KONZENTRATION (von William Q. Judge).\n\n DAS LEBEN ZU POINT LOMA (Katherine Tingley). Sch\u00f6n Illustriert.\n (Recommended)\n\n DIE BHAGAVAD-G\u00ceT\u00c2 (nach der englischen Ausgabe von William Q. Judge).\n\n DIE WISSENSCHAFT DES LEBENS UND DIE KUNST ZU LEBEN\n\n ECHOS AUS DEM ORIENT (von William Q. Judge).\n\n STUDIEN \u00dcBER DIE BHAGAVAD G\u00ceT\u00c2 (William Q. Judge).\n\n THEOSOPHIE ERKL\u00c4RT\n\n R\u00dcCKBLICK UND AUSBLICK AUF DIE THEOSOPHISCHE BEWEGUNG\n\n WAHRHEIT IST M\u00c4CHTIG UND MUSS OBSIEGEN!\n\n POSTKARTEN MIT ANSICHTEN VON POINT LOMA\n\n\nTheosophische Handb\u00fccher:\n\n No. 1 ELEMENTARE THEOSOPHIE\n No. 2 DIE SIEBEN PRINZIPIEN DES MENSCHEN\n No. 3 KARMA\n No. 4 REINKARNATION\n No. 5 DER MENSCH NACH DEM TODE\n No. 6 K\u00c2MALOKA UND DEVACHAN\n No. 7 LEHRER UND IHRE J\u00dcNGER\n No. 8 DIE THEORIE DER ZYKLEN U. S. W.\n\n\nDUTCH\n\n DIE BHAGAVAD-G\u00ceT\u00c2: Het Boek van Yoga; with Glossary. Bound in morocco\n or paper\n\n DE KLEINE BOUWERS EN HUN REIS NAAR RANGI; een Geschiedenis voor\n Kinderen door R. N. (_met illustraties van R. Machell_)\n\n DE OCEAAN DER THEOSOPHIE (door William Q. Judge)\n\n DE RIDDERS VAN KEIZER ARTHUR--Een Verhaal voor Kinderen, door _Ceinnyd\n Morus_\n\n DRIE OPSTELLEN OVER THEOSOPHIE. In verband met Vraagstukken van den Dag\n\n ECHO'S UIT HET OOSTEN; een algemeene schets der Theosophische\n Leeringen door William Q. Judge (_Occultus_)\n\n HET LEVEN TE POINT LOMA, Enkele Aanteekeningen door Katherine Tingley\n\n HOOGERE EN LAGERE PSYCHOLOGIE. Enkele Aanteekeningen door Katherine\n Tingley (_met Portret en Illustratie_)\n\n H. P. BLAVATSKY EN WILLIAM Q. JUDGE, De Stichters en Leiders der\n Theosophische Beweging (_Leerling_). pp. 42\n\n KATHERINE TINGLEY, DE AUTOCRAAT (_De Geheimen van de Leer van het\n Hart_)\n\n LICHT OP HET PAD (door M. C.) Bound in morocco or paper\n\n PIT EN MERG, uit sommige Heilige Geschriften, 1^e Serie\n\n _Inhoud_: Theosophie en Christendom. \"Niemand kan twee heeren dienen.\"\n Iets Meerders dan de Tempel. Een Gezicht des Oordeels. De Mensch Jezus\n\n PIT EN MERG VAN DE EINDIGENDE EN KOMENDE EEUW, en de daarmede in\n betrekking staande positie van _Vrijmetselarij_ en _Jesuitisme_, door\n _Rameses_\n\n\nTheosophical Manuals, Series No. 1\n\n No. 1 IN DEN VOORHOF\n No. 2 EEN HEILIG LEERSTUK\n No. 3 VERLOREN KENNIS WEERGEVONDEN\n No. 4 EEN SLEUTEL TOT MODERNE RAADSELEN\n No. 5 HET MYSTERIE VAN DEN DOOD\n No. 6 \"HEMEL\" EN \"HEL\"\n No. 7 LEERAREN EN HUN LEERLINGEN\n No. 8 EEN UNIVERSEELE WET\n No. 9 DWAALWEGEN (HYPNOTISME, CLAIRVOYANCE, SPIRITISME)\n No. 10 DE ZIEL DER WERELD\n\nTheosophical Manuals, Series No. 2\n\n No. 1 PSYCHOMETRIE, CLAIRVOYANCE, EN GEDACHTEN-OVERBRENGING\n\n\nSWEDISH\n\n DEN HEMLIGA L\u00c4RAN, 2 band (H. P. Blavatsky)\n NYCKEL TILL TEOSOFIEN (H. P. Blavatsky)\n ASTRAL BERUSNING, DEVACHAN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n BREV, SOM HJ\u00c4LPT MIG (William Q. Judge)\n DEN CYKLISKA LAGEN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n DOLDA VINKAR I DEN HEMLIGA L\u00c4RAN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n D\u00d6DSSTRAFFET I TEOSOFISK BELYSNING. M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n REINKARNATIONSL\u00c4RAN I BIBELN, OM KARMA, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n STUDIER \u00d6VER BHAGAVAD-G\u00ceT\u00c2 (William Q. Judge)\n TEOSOFIENS OCEAN (William Q. Judge)\n VETENSKAPEN OCH TEOSOFIEN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n \u00d6VNING I KONCENTRATION (William Q. Judge)\n HEMLIGHETERNA I HJ\u00c4RTATS L\u00c4RA (Katherine Tingley och hennes l\u00e4rjungar)\n EN INTERVJU MED KATHERINE TINGLEY (Greusel)\n KATHERINE TINGLEY, AF M. F. N. (levnadsteckning)\n EXISTENSLINJER OCH UTVECKLINGSNORMER (Oscar Ljungstr\u00f6m)\n KAN ETT T. S. SAKNA MORALLAG? (Protest m\u00f6te)\n TEOSOFI OCH KRISTENDOM, Genm\u00e4le till Prof. Pfannenstill\n (Dr. G. Zander och F. Kellberg)\n ASIENS LJUS (Edwin Arnold)\n BHAGAVAD G\u00ceT\u00c2, H\u00e4ngivandets bok\n DEN TEOSOFISKA INSTITUTIONEN (Baker)\n FRIMURERI OCH JESUITV\u00c4LDE (Rameses)\n LJUS P\u00c5 V\u00c4GEN\n LOTUSBLAD, f\u00f6r barn\n LOTUSS\u00c5NGBOK, ord och musik\n R\u00c2JA YOGA, OM SJ\u00c4LENS UTVECKLING\n SKILLNADEN MELLAN TEOSOFI OCH SPIRITISM\n STJ\u00c4RNAN, SAGO- OCH POEMSAMLING, f\u00f6r barn\n TEOSOFIENS INNEB\u00d6RD\n TYSTNADENS R\u00d6ST\n VISINGS\u00d6 (Karling)\n\n\nTeosofiska Handb\u00f6cker\n\nEnkelt och l\u00e4ttfattligt skrivna framst\u00e4llningar av Teosofiska l\u00e4ror\nKlotband. Pris f\u00f6r varje bok, kronor 2.00\n\n Nr 1 Element\u00e4r Teosofi\n Nr 2 M\u00e4nniskans Sju Principer\n Nr 3 Karma\n Nr 4 Reinkarnation\n Nr 5 M\u00e4nniskan efter D\u00f6den\n Nr 6 K\u00e2maloka och Devachan\n Nr 7 L\u00e4rare och deras L\u00e4rjungar\n Nr 8 L\u00e4ran om Cykler\n Nr 9 Psykiska Fenomen och Astral-planet\n Nr 10 Astral-ljuset\n Nr 11 Psykometri, Clairvoyance och Tanke\u00f6verf\u00f6ring\n Nr 12 \u00c4ngeln och Demonen (2 delar \u00e0 kronor 2.00)\n Nr 13 Anden och Stoftet\n Nr 14 Om Gud och B\u00f6nen\n Nr 15 Teosofien, Religionernas Moder\n Nr 16 Fr\u00e5n Crypt till Pronaos. En essay \u00f6ver dogmernas uppkomst\n och f\u00f6rfall\n Nr 17 Jorden: Dess h\u00e4rkomst, dess runder och raser\n Nr 18 Eldt\u00f6cknets S\u00f6ner. En studie \u00f6ver m\u00e4nniskan\n\n\nPERIODICALS\n\n _=INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL CHRONICLE.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly.\n Yearly subscription, postpaid 1.00\n The Theosophical Book Co., 18 Bartlett's Buildings, Holborn\n Circus, London\n\n _=DEN TEOSOFISKA V\u00c4GEN.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid 1.50\n Universella Broderskapets F\u00f6rlag, Barnhusgatan 10,\n Stockholm 1, Sweden\n\n _=DER THEOSOPHISCHE PFAD.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid 1.50\n J. Th. Heller, Vestnertorgraben 13, N\u00fcrnberg, Germany\n\n _=HET THEOSOPHISCH PAD.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid .75\n A. Goud, Steentilstraat 40, Groningen, Holland\n\n _=EL SENDERO TEOS\u00d3FICO.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid 1.50\n El Sendero Teos\u00f3fico, Point Loma, California\n\n _=RAJA YOGA MESSENGER.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly.\n Yearly subscription .50\n Unsectarian publication for Young Folk, conducted by a staff\n of pupils of the R\u00e2ja Yoga School at Lomaland.\n _Address_: Master Albert G. Spalding, Business Manager,\n R\u00e2ja Yoga Messenger, Point Loma, California.\n\n Subscriptions to the above five Magazines may be secured also through\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING CO., Point Loma, California, U. S. A.\n\n_Neither the Editors of the above publications, nor the officers of\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, or of any of its\ndepartments, receive salaries or other remuneration. All profits\narising from the business of the Theosophical Publishing Co., are\ndevoted to Humanitarian work. All who assist in that work are directly\nhelping that cause._\n\n\n[Illustration: THE PATH]\n\n The Theosophical Path\n\n An International Magazine\n Unsectarian and nonpolitical\n\n Monthly Illustrated\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDevoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, the promulgation of Theosophy,\nthe study of ancient & modern Ethics, Philosophy, Science and Art, and\nto the uplifting and purification of Home and National Life\n\n Edited by Katherine Tingley\n International Theosophical Headquarters, Point Loma, California, U.S.A.\n\n\n_The philosophy that teaches selflessness contains the balm for the\npain and suffering of today. False ideas, false ambitions, inharmonious\nmethods of living, selfishness, and an unbrotherly spirit, are\naccountable for the unhappiness and dissatisfaction...._\n\n_Humanity has long wandered through the dark valley of bitter\nexperiences; but the mountain heights are again seen, suffused with the\nglow of dawn and the promise of a new Golden Age, and a pathway is once\nmore shown to that realm where the gods still abide._\n\n KATHERINE TINGLEY\n\n\n\n\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n MONTHLY ILLUSTRATED\n\n EDITED BY KATHERINE TINGLEY\n\n NEW CENTURY CORPORATION, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.\n\n Entered as second-class matter July 25, 1911, at the Post Office\n at Point Loma, California\n under the Act of March 3, 1879\n Copyright, 1911, by Katherine Tingley\n\n\n COMMUNICATIONS\n\n Communications for the Editor should be addressed to \"KATHERINE\n TINGLEY, _Editor_, THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH, Point Loma, California.\"\n\n To the BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, including subscriptions, address the \"New\n Century Corporation, Point Loma, California.\"\n\n\n MANUSCRIPTS\n\n The Editor cannot undertake to return manuscripts; none will be\n considered unless accompanied by the author's name and marked with the\n number of words. The Editor is responsible only for views expressed in\n unsigned articles.\n\n\n SUBSCRIPTION\n\n By the year, postpaid, in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico,\n Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines, TWO DOLLARS; other countries\n in the Postal Union, TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS, payable in advance;\n single copy, TWENTY CENTS.\n\n\n REMITTANCES\n\n All remittances to the New Century Corporation must be made payable to\n \"CLARK THURSTON, _Manager_,\" Point Loma, California.\n\n\nVOL. I NO. 3 CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 1911\n\n Southwest Corner of the Temple in the Greek Theater,\n Point Loma, Cal. _Frontispiece_\n The New Cycle by H. P. Blavatsky 165\n Recent Confirmation of H. P. Blavatsky's Teachings\n by H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 172\n View in the Grounds of the International Theosophical\n Headquarters (_ill._) facing 172\n Lomaland Ca\u00f1on and Hillside (_illustration_) facing 173\n The Origin and Nature of Folk-music by Kenneth Morris 174\n Lapland (_illustrated_) by P. F. 180\n Cultivating Genius for Music by E. A. Neresheimer 182\n Glimpses of Scandinavian Mythology by Per Fernholm, M. E. 184\n The Dipylon and the Outer Ceramicus (_ill._)\n by F. S. Darrow, A. M., PH. D. (Harv.) 189\n The Theosophic Torch by Grace Knoche 190\n The Pythagorean Solids\n by F. J. Dick, M. INST. C. E., M. INST. C. E. I. 194\n The \"Black Age\" by Ariomardes 196\n Egyptian Art Under the XXVIth Dynasty (_illustrated_) by C. J. 200\n The House of Lords, London (_illustrated_) by R. 201\n Music Notes by Charles J. Ryan 202\n Ancient Calendars by Travers 205\n The Mysteries of Eleusis (_illustrated_) by H. T. E. 207\n Glaciation, Past and Present (_illustrated_) by T. Henry 209\n God and the Child (_verse_) 211\n Power by Lydia Ross, M. D. 212\n Sokrates (_illustrated_) by F. S. Darrow, A. M., PH. D. (Harv.) 215\n Sokrates and Seneca (_illustration_) facing 222\n Scenes in Cuba and Florida (_illustrations_) facing 223\n A Visit to a Louisiana Sugar Plantation by Barbara McClung 223\n The Lorelei (_illustrated_) by a Student-Traveler 225\n The Western Four-Toed Salamander (_illustrated_)\n by Percy Leonard 227\n The Real Man by H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S. 229\n Book Reviews (by Carolus); and Notices 233\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo.\nand Engraving Dept. SOUTH-WEST CORNER OF THE GREEK TEMPLE IN THE\nGREEK THEATER INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL HEADQUARTERS, POINT LOMA,\nCALIFORNIA]\n\n\n\n\nTHE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY, EDITOR\n\n VOL. I SEPTEMBER, 1911 NO. 3\n\n There is but one Eternal Truth, one universal, infinite and changeless\n spirit of Love, Truth, and Wisdom, impersonal, therefore, bearing a\n different name in every nation, one Light for all, in which the whole\n Humanity lives and moves and has its being.--_H. P. Blavatsky_\n\n\nTHE NEW CYCLE: Extracts from an Article Written by H. P. Blavatsky,\nthe Foundress of the Theosophical Society, for the first number of \"La\nRevue Th\u00e9osophique,\" 1889\n\n\nThe principal aim of our organization, which we are laboring to make\na real brotherhood, is expressed in the motto of the Theosophical\nSociety: \"There is no religion higher than truth.\" As an impersonal\nSociety we must be ready to seize the truth wherever we find it,\nwithout permitting ourselves more partiality for one belief than for\nanother. This leads directly to a logical conclusion. If we acclaim and\nreceive with open arms all sincere truthseekers, there can be no place\nin our ranks for the bigot, the sectarian, or the hypocrite, enclosed\nin Chinese Walls of dogma, each stone bearing the words \"No admission.\"\nWhat place indeed could such fanatics occupy in them, fanatics whose\nreligions forbid all inquiry and do not admit any argument as possible,\nwhen the mother idea, the very root of the beautiful plant we call\nTheosophy is known as--absolute and unfettered liberty to investigate\nall the mysteries of nature, human or divine!\n\nWith this exception the Society invites everyone to participate in its\nactivities and discoveries. Whoever feels his heart beat in unison with\nthe great heart of humanity; whoever feels his interests are one with\nthose of every being poorer and less fortunate than himself; every man\nor woman who is ready to hold out a helping hand to the suffering;\nwhoever understands the true meaning of the word \"Egoism\"; is a\nTheosophist by birth and by right. He can always be sure of finding\nsympathetic souls among us.\n\nWe have already said elsewhere, that \"Born in the United States the\nTheosophical Society was constituted on the model of its mother\ncountry.\" That as we know, has omitted the name of God from its\nConstitution, for fear, said the fathers of the Republic, that the word\nmight one day become the pretext for a state religion: for they desired\nto grant absolute equality to all religions under the laws, so that\neach form would support the State, which in its turn would protect them\nall. The Theosophical Society was founded on that excellent model....\n\nEach Body, like each member, being free to profess whatever religion\nand to study whatever philosophy it prefers, provided all remain united\nin the tie of solidarity or Brotherhood, our Society can truly call\nitself a \"Republic of conscience.\"\n\nThough absolutely free to pursue whatever intellectual occupations\nplease him the best, each member of our Society must, however, furnish\nsome reason for belonging thereto, which amounts to saying that each\nmember must bear his part, small though it be, of mental or other\nlabor for the benefit of all. If one does not work for others one\nhas no right to be called a Theosophist. All must strive for human\nfreedom of thought, for the elimination of selfish and sectarian\nsuperstitions, and for the discovery of all the truths that are within\nthe comprehension of the human mind. That object cannot be attained\nmore certainly than by the cultivation of unity in intellectual labors.\nNo honest worker, no earnest seeker can remain empty-handed; and there\nis hardly a man or woman, busy as they may think themselves, incapable\nof laying their tribute, moral or pecuniary, on the altar of truth....\n\nIn the present condition of the Theosophical history it is easy\nto understand the object of a Review exclusively devoted to the\npropagation of our ideas. We wish to open therein new intellectual\nhorizons, to follow unexplored routes leading to the amelioration of\nhumanity; to offer a word of consolation to all the disinherited of\nthe earth, whether they suffer from the starvation of soul or from the\nlack of physical necessities. We invite all large-hearted persons who\ndesire to respond to this appeal to join with us in this humanitarian\nwork. Each co-worker, whether a member of the Society or simply a\nsympathizer, can help. We are face to face with all the glorious\npossibilities of the future. This is again the hour of the great cyclic\nreturn of the tide of mystical thought in Europe. On every side we are\nsurrounded by the ocean of the universal science--the science of Life\nEternal--bearing on its waves the forgotten and submerged treasures\nof generations now passed away, treasures still unknown to the modern\ncivilized races. The strong current which rises from the submarine\nabysses, from the depths where lie the prehistoric learning and arts\nswallowed up with the antediluvian Giants--demigods, though with but\nlittle of mortality--that current strikes us in the face and murmurs:\n\"That which has been exists again; that which has been forgotten,\nburied for aeons in the depths of the Jurassic strata may reappear to\nview once again. Prepare yourselves.\"\n\nHappy are those who understand the language of the elements. But\nwhere are _they_ going for whom the word element has no other meaning\nthan that given to it by physics or materialistic chemistry? Will\nit be towards well-known shores that the surge of the great waters\nwill bear them, when they have lost their footing in the deluge which\nis approaching? Will it be towards the peaks of a new Ararat that\nthey will find themselves carried, towards the heights of light and\nsunshine, where there is a ledge on which to place the feet in safety,\nor perchance is it a fathomless abyss that will swallow them up as soon\nas they try to struggle against the irresistible billows of an unknown\nelement?\n\nWe must prepare ourselves and study truth under every aspect,\nendeavoring to ignore nothing, if we do not wish to fall into the abyss\nof the unknown when the hour shall strike. It is useless to leave it\nto chance and to await the intellectual and psychic crisis which is\npreparing, with indifference, if not with crass disbelief, saying that\nat the worst the flowing tide will drive us all in the course of nature\ntowards the farther shore; for it is far more probable that the tidal\nwave will cast up nothing but a corpse. The strife will be terrible in\nany case between brutal materialism and blind fanaticism on the one\nhand, and philosophy and mysticism on the other--mysticism, that veil\nof more or less translucency which hides the eternal Truth.\n\nBut it is not materialism that will gain the upper hand. Every\nfanatic whose ideas isolate him from the universal axiom that \"There\nis no religion higher than Truth\" will see himself by that very fact\nrejected, like an unworthy stone, from the Archway called Universal\nBrotherhood. Tossed by the waves, driven by the winds, reeling in that\nelement which is so terrible because unknown, he will soon find himself\nengulfed....\n\nYes, it must be so, it cannot be otherwise when the chilly and\nartificial gleam of modern materialism will disappear for want of fuel.\nThose who cannot form any idea of a spiritual Ego, a living soul and\nan eternal Spirit within their material shell (which owes its very\nexistence to these principles); those for whom the great hope of an\nexistence beyond the grave is a vexation, merely the symbol of an\nunknown quantity, or else the subject of a belief _sui generis_, the\nresult of theological and mediumistic hallucinations--these will do\nwell to prepare for the serious troubles the future has in store for\nthem. For from the depths of the dark, muddy waters of materiality\nwhich hide from them every glimpse of the horizons of the great\nBeyond, there is a mystic force rising during these last years of the\ncentury. At most it is but the first gentle rustling, but it is a\nsuperhuman rustling--\"supernatural\" only for the superstitious and the\nignorant. The spirit of truth is passing over the face of the waters,\nand in dividing them, is compelling them to disgorge their spiritual\ntreasures. This spirit is a force that can neither be hindered nor\nstopped. Those who recognize it and feel that this is the supreme\nmoment of their salvation will be uplifted by it and carried beyond the\nillusions of the great astral serpent. The joy they will experience\nwill be so poignant and intense that if they were not mentally isolated\nfrom their body of flesh, the beatitude would pierce them like sharp\nsteel. It is not pleasure that they will experience but a bliss which\nis a foretaste of the wisdom of the gods, the knowledge of good and\nevil, of the fruits of the tree of life.\n\nBut although the man of today may be a fanatic, a sceptic, or a mystic,\nhe must be well convinced that it is useless for him to struggle\nagainst the two moral forces at large today engaged in the supreme\ncontest. He is at the mercy of these two adversaries and there is\nno intermediary capable of protecting him. It is but a question of\nchoice, whether to let himself be carried along on the wave of mystical\nevolution, or to struggle against this moral and psychic reaction and\nso find himself engulfed in the maelstrom of the rising tide. The\nwhole world, at this time, with its centers of high intelligence and\nhumane culture, its political, artistic, literary, and commercial life,\nis in a turmoil; everything is shaking and crumbling in its movement\ntowards reform. It is useless to shut the eyes, it is useless to hope\nthat anyone can remain neutral between the two contending forces;\nthe choice is whether to be crushed between them or to become united\nwith one or the other. The man who imagines he has freedom, but who,\nnevertheless, remains plunged in that seething caldron of foulness\ncalled the life of Society--gives the lie in the face of his divine\nEgo, a lie so terrible that it will stifle that higher self for a\nlong series of future incarnations. All you who hesitate in the path\nof Theosophy and the occult sciences, who are trembling on the golden\nthreshold of truth--the only one within your grasp, for all the others\nhave failed you one after the other--look straight in the face the\ngreat Reality which is offered you. It is only to mystics that these\nwords are addressed, for them alone have they any importance; for\nthose who have already made their choice they are vain and useless.\nBut you Students of Occultism and Theosophy, you well know that a\nword, old as the world though new to you, has been declared at the\nbeginning of this cycle. You well know that a note has just been struck\nwhich has never yet been heard by the mankind of the present era; and\nthat a new thought is revealed, ripened by the forces of evolution.\nThis thought differs from everything that has been produced in the\nnineteenth century; it is identical, however, with the thought that has\nbeen the dominant tone and key-stone of each century, especially the\nlast--absolute freedom of thought for humanity.\n\nWhy try to strangle and suppress what cannot be destroyed? Why hesitate\nwhen there is no choice between allowing yourselves to be raised on the\ncrest of the spiritual wave to the very heavens beyond the stars and\nthe universes, or to be engulfed in the yawning abyss of an ocean of\nmatter? Vain are your efforts to sound the unfathomable, to reach the\nultimate of this wonderful matter so glorified in our century; for its\nroots grow in the Spirit and in the Absolute, they do not exist, yet\nthey _are_ eternally. This constant union with flesh, blood, and bones,\nthe illusion of differentiated matter, does nothing but blind you.\nAnd the more you penetrate into the region of the impalpable atoms of\nchemistry the more you will be convinced that they only exist in your\nimagination. Do you truly expect to find in material life every reality\nand every truth of existence? But Death is at everyone's door, waiting\nto shut it upon a beloved soul that escapes from its prison, upon the\nsoul which alone has made the body a reality; how then can it be that\neternal love should associate itself absolutely with ever-changing and\never-disappearing matter?\n\nBut you are perhaps indifferent to all such things; how then can you\nsay that affection and the souls of those you love concern you at\nall, since you do not believe in the very existence of such souls?\nIt must be so. You have made your choice; you have entered upon that\npath which crosses nothing but the barren deserts of matter. You are\nself-condemned to wander there and to pass through a long series of\nsimilar lives. You will have to be contented henceforth with deliriums\nand fevers in place of spiritual experiences, of passion instead of\nlove, of the husk instead of the fruit.\n\nBut you, friends and readers, you who aspire to something more than the\nlife of the squirrel everlastingly turning the same wheel; you who are\nnot content with the seething of the caldron whose turmoil results in\nnothing; you who do not take the deaf echoes of the dead past for the\ndivine voice of truth; prepare yourselves for a future of which you\nhave hardly dared to dream unless you have at least taken the first few\nsteps on the way. For you have chosen a path, although rough and thorny\nat the start, that soon widens out and leads you to the divine truth.\nYou are free to doubt while you are still at the beginning of the way,\nyou are free to decline to accept on hearsay what is taught respecting\nthe source and the cause of truth, but you are always able to hear what\nits voice is telling you, and you can always study the effects of the\ncreative force coming from the depths of the unknown. The arid soil\nupon which the present generation of men is moving at the close of this\nage of spiritual dearth and of purely material satisfaction, has need\nof a divine symbol, of a rainbow of hope to rise above its horizon. For\nof all the past centuries our Nineteenth has been the most criminal.\nIt is criminal in its frightful selfishness, in its scepticism\nwhich grimaces at the very idea of anything beyond the material; in\nits idiotic indifference to all that does not pertain to personal\negotism--more than any of previous centuries of ignorant barbarism or\nintellectual darkness. Our century must be saved from itself before\nits last hour strikes. This is the moment for all those to act who see\nthe sterility and folly of an existence blinded by materialism and\nferociously indifferent to the fate of the neighbor; now is the time\nfor them to devote all their energies, all their courage to the great\nintellectual reform. This reform can only be accomplished by Theosophy\nwe say, by the Occultism of the Wisdom of the Orient. The paths that\nlead to it are many; but the Wisdom is one. Artistic souls foresee it,\nthose who suffer dream of it, the pure in heart know it. Those who\nwork for others cannot remain blinded to its reality, though they may\nnot recognize it by name. Only light and empty minds, egotistical and\nvain drones, confused by their own buzzing will remain ignorant of\nthe supreme ideal. They will continue to exist until life becomes a\ngrievous burden to them.\n\nThis is to be distinctly remembered, however: these pages are not\nwritten for the masses. They are neither an appeal for reforms, nor\nan effort to win over to our views the fortunate in life; they are\naddressed solely to those who are constitutionally able to comprehend\nthem, to those who suffer, to those who hunger and thirst after some\nReality in this world of Chinese Shadows. And for those, why should\nthey not show themselves courageous enough to leave their world of\ntrifling occupations, their pleasures above all and their personal\ninterests, at least as far as those interests do not form part of their\nduty to their families or others? No one is so busy or so poor that\nhe cannot create a noble ideal and follow it. Why then hesitate in\nbreaking a path towards this ideal, through all obstacles, over every\nstumbling-block, every petty hindrance of social life, in order to\nmarch straight forward until the goal is reached?\n\nThose who would make this effort would soon find that the \"strait\ngate\" and the \"thorny path\" lead to the broad valleys of the limitless\nhorizons, to that state where there is no more death, because\none has regained one's divinity. But the truth is that the first\nconditions necessary to reach it are a disinterestedness, an absolute\nimpersonality, a boundless devotion to the interests of others, and a\ncomplete indifference to the world and its opinions. The motive must be\nabsolutely pure in order to make the first steps on that ideal path;\nnot an unworthy thought must attract the eyes from the end in view,\nnot one doubt must shackle the feet. There do exist men and women\nthoroughly qualified for this whose only aim is to dwell under the\nAegis of their divine Nature. Let them, at least, take courage to live\nthe life and not conceal it from the eyes of others! The opinion of no\nother person should be taken as superior to the voice of conscience.\nLet that conscience, developed to its highest degree, guide us in the\ncontrol of all the ordinary acts of life. As to the conduct of our\ninner life, we must concentrate the entire attention on the ideal we\nhave proposed to ourselves, and look straight ahead without paying the\nslightest attention to the mud upon our feet.\n\nThose who make this supreme effort are the true Theosophists.\n\n\n\n\nRECENT CONFIRMATION OF H. P. BLAVATSKY'S TEACHINGS ABOUT ANCIENT\nCONTINENTS AND RACES: by H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.)\n\n\nThe London _Times' South American Supplement_ (May 30) contains the\nfirst half of an article on the ancient people of Peru, in which the\nwriter speaks of the gigantic works in masonry wrought by a people who\nlived there ages before the Incas. Being on the wrong side of the Andes\nfor fertility, these people built the enormous irrigation systems which\nstill exist; and the writer asks why they did not cross the Andes to\nthe well-watered slopes and plains on the east. The extent to which\nthey had explored their own country and its mountain heights proves\nthat the other country should have been within their grasp. Yet they\ntook all this trouble to make the western slopes fertile.\n\nThe answer given is--that in those days perhaps there _was_ no land to\nthe east of the Andes.\n\nThe writer then goes on to speak of the ancient continental\ndistribution of land, of Atlantis, of the connexion between South\nAmerica and Australasia, etc., in a way that is now growing familiar.\nPeople whose opinions are of weight are coming to see that the true\nexplanation of the ancient American civilizations, as well as those of\nsuch isolated spots as Easter Island, with its marvelous statues, is to\nbe sought along these lines. At the same time the subject has afforded\na fertile field for cranks and others who pin their various fads or new\ngospels thereto. The latter, however, cannot last, but the truth is\neternal. The myths will be exploded, but the actual facts as to past\nhistory will be proved.\n\nIn _The Secret Doctrine_ H. P. Blavatsky sums up all the available\nspeculation and information on the subject of these ancient continents\nand weaves it into consistency by applying to it the keys of the\nWisdom-Religion. There is little doubt that her writings have\ncontributed largely, in more or less direct ways, to many of the other\npublished utterances on the question.\n\nIt is maintained, and with reason, by Theosophists, that the statements\nof H. P. Blavatsky refer to actual facts and must therefore one day\nbe verified. The history of discovery and speculation since she wrote\nhas already done much to confirm this conviction. But as her teachings\nwith regard to the ancient continents are inseparably bound up with her\nstatements as to the ancient races of mankind, and indeed with the\nTheosophical teachings in general, it follows that these also will be\nconfirmed.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. LOOKING EASTWARD\nOVER PART OF THE GROUNDS OF THE INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL\nHEADQUARTERS, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. LOMALAND CA\u00d1ON AND\nHILLSIDE]\n\nThe great importance of this enlarged knowledge about the human race\nand its history is that it so enlarges and ennobles our view of human\nlife. Before the light of knowledge all narrow dogmas fade away. The\nerrors of theology, the mistakes of scientific theory, our inadequate\nsociological ideas--all these must fade in the light which will be shed\nwhen the Theosophical teachings are more fully recognized. And all this\nremarkable progress in archaeology may be welcomed as one of the signs.\n\nThe publication to which reference has been made speaks of other\ncountries of South America, but seems unable to do so without\nmentioning their antiquities. The Aztecs of Mexico, the Aymar\u00e1s of\nPeru, come in for notice. The ancient people of Peru present analogies\nto the Egyptians, Babylonians, Indian peoples, Polynesians, and Malays,\nit is said; and some writers have theories about their connexion with\nJews and Chinese. It is easy to see that speculation, left to itself,\nruns amuck among the theories.\n\nThe same writer, Comyns Beaumont, concludes his article on the ancient\nPeruvians in the issue for June 27, and says that:\n\n Central America, as the \"Enterprise\" or \"Easter Divide,\" a large\n submarine ridge, indicates, was connected to the Pacific Continent.\n On the other side Central America was connected in the East with the\n Mediterranean by another continental mass that spread across the\n Atlantic Ocean, and of which today the Antilles, Azores, Canaries, and\n the Atlas Mountains in Morocco are the existing remains. Peru also\n was a member of this vast continental system. Apart from the evidence\n of geological strata, confirmation of this is obtained from the\n study of sea fauna. The marine deposits of Peru, Chile, and Ecuador\n belong to the same genus as those of Central America, and to find the\n corresponding genus elsewhere one must search in the Mediterranean.\n Precisely, therefore, as Europe, Asia, and Africa possess a continuous\n land connexion, at the epoch when the Peruvians were in the forefront\n of civilization there existed a world which comprised the regions\n of the Mediterranean (then very different from nowadays), the lost\n Atlantic Continent, Central America, and Peru, and the lost Pacific\n Continent which embraced lands not only in the Pacific Ocean, but\n continued to where the Indian Ocean now washes the shores of Africa,\n India, and Mesopotamia.\n\nThus a step is made in the fulfilment of H. P. Blavatsky's prophecy\nthat the present century would witness a recognition of many of the\nteachings she outlined in her writings.\n\nBut there is still much to be done. And not the least important\npoint is to distinguish carefully between the \"Sons of Light\" and the\n\"Sorcerers\" among the mighty men of these perished lands. There was a\ntrue Wisdom and a false knowledge; and H. P. Blavatsky never fails to\ndiscriminate between those who preserved the light and those who fell\ninto darkness. The Easter Island statues, for instance, she describes\nas resembling the sensual type of the Atlantean sorcerers rather than\nthat of the \"Buddhas\" (so-called) of the Bamian colossi. The writer\nin the _Times Supplement_ calls the Easter Island statues \"Turanian,\"\nemploying thereby such familiar classifications as he finds to hand;\nand in any case he distinguishes them from that higher type loosely\ndesignated by the term \"Aryan.\" This \"Turanian\" type he finds also in\nChaldaea, India, Central America, etc., and alludes to their habit of\nbuilding pyramids.\n\nFinally he shows how inadequate are the speculations of many\nanthropologists as to the antiquity of man. Human bones disintegrate\nafter a comparatively short time; so that the few we find are such\nas have been accidentally preserved. And these ancient civilizations\ntend to disprove the conventional theories of human evolution--which\ntheories, however, change from year to year.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF FOLK-MUSIC, as Exemplified in the Welsh\nNational Melodies: by Kenneth Morris\n\n\nGreat attention is being paid nowadays to the collecting of old\nfolk-songs in such countries as Ireland, Wales, and England; and\nthere has been much discussion raised as to the nature and origin of\na folk-song, properly so called. The subject is one of considerable\ninterest, because it leads one to a point where the known and visible\nthings melt away, and forces and influences of a deeper nature are at\nwork. These may be called spiritual and formative; there is a hand\nguiding, but no one can see any hand; there is a creative mind at\nfunction, but it is not the mind of any human being.\n\nIn Wales one can still see the genuine folk-song coming into being;\none can still watch, more or less, the processes incidental to its\nbirth. In that country, poetry was never held to be a mere string\nof words that you could repeat as if you were reading an article\nfrom the newspaper; conversational methods of utterance are kept\nfor conversation, or for the lower levels of prose, and there is a\npeculiar chant used for verse. The poem is born with a music of its\nown; and if it have no such music innate in it, and inseparable from\nits words, then for all its rhymes and scansion it is no poetry. So in\nspeaking their poems the bards give full value to this music, using a\nkind of chant which is called \"_hwyl_.\" The word means simply \"sail\";\nthe idea being that the inner music of the poem swells and extends\nand drives along the words, as the wind will fill and drive the sails\nof a ship. The method is perfectly natural; the least introduction of\nartificiality into it is absolutely damning: there you would get the\ndesolating thump, thump, thump, of the motor boat instead of the free\nflow of the winds of heaven.\n\nAs regards the musical scale, this _hwyl_ is mainly monotonous; there\nis another kind or direction of scale in it, depending on the varying\nvowel sounds, which, though you chant them upon one musical note, have\na certain rise and fall in them proper to themselves. If one imagines\nthe scale of _do_, _re_, _mi_, _fa_, and the rest as being in a\nvertical line; then this scale of _a_, _e_, _i_, _o_, _oo_, etc., would\nfall horizontally; we can think of no better way of making a likeness\nfor it. The richness of the vowels will make the music, and therefore\nthe poetry. One can see this by comparing two lines, both popularly\nsupposed to be poetry.\n\n I am monarch of all I survey;\n\nthere is no music in that, and if one should attempt to put the\nhwyl into it, he would be guilty of the sin of untruth, which is\nthe greatest of the crimes against poetry, according to the ancient\ndoctrine of the bards.\n\n I saw Osirian Egypt kneel adown\n\nAnd one would be guilty of the same sin, should one repeat that\nlifelessly, and without the hwyl that existed around the mind of Keats\nbefore the line took verbal form, and out of which magical and alchemic\nelement it was precipitated.\n\nThe bard, then, chants his poem, and the words are noted down, and pass\nfrom mouth to mouth; and as they pass, the horizontal scale takes on\ngradually some coloring of the vertical scale, and the chant becomes\nmore and more a tune. The process is natural, and dependent upon no\nbrain-mind; no composer gets to work upon it, and no one inserts in it\nconsciously any ideas of his own. The Dorian mode, which (we quote\nfrom Mrs. Mary Davies, an authority on Welsh music) has a minor third\nas well as a minor seventh; and the Aeolian or _la_ mode, in which the\nthird as well as the sixth and seventh are minor, are still largely in\nuse in Wales; and we believe that these two modes represent a stage in\nthe passing of the chanted poem, or the chant of the poem, into the\nfull-fledged folk-tune. For one will sometimes hear an air which, in\nthe printed collections is given in the arbitrary modern major or minor\nscales, sung a little differently, according to these older modes; and\nit would appear that all or nearly all the well-known Welsh national\ntunes have passed through such or similar stages.\n\nIt is here worthy of note that the Welsh hwyl--which is used not only\nin poetry, but in all the higher levels of prose as well, particularly\nin pulpit rhetoric--is not found, we believe, elsewhere in Europe, at\nany rate as a popular custom (for all poets _chant_ and do not _say_\ntheir verses); but it is to be heard in Morocco, along the coast of\nNorthern Africa, in Arabia, Persia, and throughout the East; where\nalso certain of these older modes of music, such as the Dorian, are\nsaid to be in vogue to some extent. We imagine that the chant and the\nmusic-modes both vary as they go eastward; but it is a gradual growth\nor differentiation, not an abrupt change. The Persian poet, chanting\nhis Hafiz, and the Welsh preacher, giving out the hymn, have much more\nin common with each other than either has with the modern conventional\ndrawing-room reciter.\n\nAnd then there is the national air, the last stage in the growth of\nthat which began with some village bard's arrangement of his deep\nvowels and diphthongs. Long ago the words were forgotten, or lost all\nconnexion with the tune they gave birth to; because at a certain stage\nthe harpers took the tune up, and sang whatever words to it they might\nmake up for the occasion. Such a tune as _All through the Night_, for\nexample, would set out with such and such a bard on his wanderings. He\nwould come to a wedding, and play it there, singing extempore verses\nto it filled full of joy and merriment. Then he would come to a house\nwhere there might be one newly dead; and his tune would again be called\nfor; now it would be a dirge laden with mystical wailing and the joy\nthat hides behind wailing. At the village fair it would appear as a\ndance; in the house of the warward chieftain it would ring and clamor\nwith all the pomp and surging and uplift of the old wild, Quixotic,\nridiculous wars. There would be different songs for it on each\noccasion; one hardly troubled much with the preservation of them, for\nsong was a thing that a gentleman could call upon himself for at any\ntime. Why keep the songs you sang today, when tomorrow you would surely\nsing other songs as good? Poetry was of all things the cheapest and\nmost general where every other man, as you might say, was a poet.\n\nOne hears this kind of thing at the present day. Very few of the Welsh\nnational tunes have any traditional words to them. If there is any\nspecial song attached to this tune or that, it will probably be the\nwork of Ceiriog, who may be called the Robert Burns of Wales, or of\nsome individual bard in the last two or three centuries, who sang such\nand such words to the tune on such an occasion, or in whose tragic or\namusing history those words and that tune blended were pivotal, and\nhave passed into a popular tradition.\n\nGenerally speaking, the words sung to all these airs are what\nare called _Pennillion_--_hen bennillion_, old verses; a kind\nof traditional folk-poetry arising no one knows from whom, and\ncommemorating popular wisdom, historical events, personal peculiarities\nand eccentricities of long dead countryside celebrities, the beauties\nand delights of this or that locality, and so on. There will be\nwar-songs, love-songs, dance-songs, dirges and nature-songs; a pennill\non the three best dancers of Wales, and a pennill on the three prized\nthings of three neighboring villages: the yews of Bettws, the bridge\nat Llandeilo, the sacred well at Llandybie. Unnumbered are these\npennillion; perhaps more many than the tunes themselves to which they\nmay be sung.\n\n\nII\n\nThe old Welsh choirs and singing-parties--and they still do it, though\nof course foreign music, both the work of the great composers and the\nribald stuff of the music halls, is making grand inroads--the old\nchoirs would delight to take such and such a tune for the work of their\nevening, and sing song after song to it, now a dance, now a war-song,\nand now a dirge, one after the other; and whichever kind of song they\nmight be singing, you would say that that tune was composed as, and\ncould inevitably be, only suitable for that. You would say that, of\ncourse, by its very structure it would be impossible for it to be\nanything but martial; there was the very pride and beat of war in it;\nno blood could keep still, no feet forget to march at the sound of it.\nAnd then you would change your mind, and know that it could never be\nanything but a dirge; there as obviously the whole secret of sorrow in\nit; you were at one, hearing it, with everyone who might be mourning\nfor their dearest dead; and you too, with them, were initiated into\nmarvelous hopes and superhuman certainties and joy--carried out of time\nwherein men die, into that timelessness wherein they neither die nor\nare born. And that too would pass, and the singers would bring you into\ncareless summer-evening merriment, and for the life of you, there was\nno keeping your feet from the shaking and wandering of dance.\n\nOne hears the multifold music of the world; the innumerable rhythms and\nvariations of melody; combinations and intricacies many as the thoughts\nin the minds of terrestrial beings. And of those thoughts themselves,\nthere will be all manner of ranks and no democratic equality. Some\nwill be clansmen, so to say, in the house of merriment, others in the\nhouse of grief; mere commonalty of the mind, wearing at any time all\nthe badges of their clan. These are cheap, every-day wayfarers, and\nstir the same emotion, or bring the same colorlessness, into whatever\nmind they may enter and whenever they may enter it. Others will be\nchieftains and tribal leaders, entering with greater circumstance, and\nimposing a larger subjection. Good or evil, they too bear always their\nown colors; grief will be grief and joy will be joy; love will be love,\nand hatred never anything but hatred, of the emotions that follow in\ntheir train.\n\nBut there are some few archetypal thoughts that you cannot so docket\nand always rely upon. They are the kings and high bards, standing\nbeyond the limitations of tribe and sept. They will come in what\ninsignia and royal robings they may choose, and rouse up gladness or\nsorrow, stillness or militancy according to their will. Such thoughts\nare those of death, of duration, of humanity, of compassion. You have\nspoken no true nor final word on death, when you have proclaimed him\nthe king of terrors; though indeed, the thought of august death comes\noften in sorrowful and terrible disguise. Yet behind that dark regalia,\nwhat serenity, what unstirred meditative calm, what \"peace that passeth\nall understanding,\" lie hidden! Compassion, too, comes doubly robed\nin the purple; dark with the sorrow that is in pity; glowing with the\nregality and gladness of unity with universal life. It is at once the\nmartial conqueror of the world, boundless in hope and exultation; the\nsweet ministrant of the wounded, and the mourner at the graves of the\nfallen.\n\nI think that there are expressions of music that correspond to these\nsupernal and superpersonal thoughts; and that they are in fact simple\ntunes, and that many of them must be to be found in the folk-music\nof all nations. They are, as it were, archetypal patterns of song,\nroot rhythms, sprung absolutely from the fountains of feeling, where\nfeeling has not yet been diversified into all its countless forms of\npain and delight. I think that the most beautiful of the Welsh airs\nfall into this class, or into that other corresponding with what we\nhave called the tribal leaders of the thought plane. The Marches of\nthe Men of Harlech, of Glamorgan or Meirionydd--indeed every district\nin Wales seems to have had its own war-tune in the ancient days--these\nare always distinctly martial, and there is no possibility of mistaking\nthem or of making them anything else. _Y Galon Drom_, _Anhawdd\nYmadael_, _Morfa Rhuddlan_ and a thousand others, again, are always\ndirges; to _Gyrru'r Byd o'm Blaen_, or to _Pwt ar y Bys_, you would\nnever dream of doing anything but dance. All have with them a certain\ndistinction and aristocracy in their own kind: about folk-music there\nis nearly always a bearing and a value, and vulgarity is impossible\nto the bulk of it. But beyond and higher than these there are those\narchetypal tunes which stir the source of whatever feeling they may be\ndirected towards; one might mention perhaps _Llwyn On_ the Ash Grove,\nas a good example. There are hundreds of them among the Welsh airs.\n\nNow the whole point of our inquiry is this--what was the creative or\ndirecting mind that brought these things to be? It was not the bard\nwho first chanted the song; it was no one of the thousands of singers\nwho modified and modified it as they passed it on, until presently\nthe fixed tune was evolved, and changes and modifications ceased.\nThese were all instruments in its evolution; but there was also an\nevolver. For it was brought, if indeed it is a primeval and radical\nthing, to no haphazard conclusion. The music that you make up is one\nthing; the music of the spheres is another: though it might happen\nindeed, that sitting down to compose, there should be revealed to\nyou a measure from the music of the spheres. No doubt that would\nhave happened occasionally--probably only occasionally--with the\ngreat transcendent geniuses of music: but then, there was no great\ntranscendent genius, neither Wagner nor Bach nor Beethoven, concerned\nin the making of the folk-tune. We can posit the soul of Beethoven,\nwrapt up into the universal soul, hearing immortal immeasurable\nthings, and after, producing some fragment of them in a sonata or a\nsymphony! But what soul was it here, who heard the rhythm and measure\nof the star-music, and what the mountains are singing in their hearts\nto make them eternal, and the song that drives the rivers and the\nrain, and the bardic carol of the sun, and the ineffable yearning\nof the souls of men, upward towards their divinity and evolutionary\ndestined grandeur--who heard, and set all these things bleakly and\nmagnificently down in the folk-song? I will not apologize for speaking\nof the folk-song and the sonata in one breath: of the gods also are the\nmountain and the pansy.\n\nDo we not see here the working of a Soul greater than that of any\nindividual; the soul of the nation; the God that is this people or\nthat? His compositions are marked by a unity, as are those of any\ncomposer: you can tell an Irish Air at a hearing, or a Welsh Air. And\nHe, or It, reveals through them greater and deeper things than are\nknown to any individual among his people; ancient memories that _they_\nmay have wholly forgotten; aspirations after spiritual glories which\nnot one of them may have ever foreseen or hoped for. So all the deepest\nthings that are in the national consciousness may be poured through\nthe playing of these composerless compositions; and we cannot doubt\nthat they remain a most potent link between the people and its hidden\ndivinity.\n\n\n\n\nLAPLAND: by P. F.\n\n\nMore than one-fourth of Sweden is occupied by that vast wilderness,\nLapland. It is a remnant of archaic nature; its majestic snow-crowned\npeaks are all of the very oldest geological structure. In primeval\ntimes it was a compact mass of rock-ground; but time, with the aid of\nwater and ice, has formed a network of valleys between the remaining\nranges and peaks, and great lakes receive the melting snow and preserve\nits crystalline purity, mirroring the snow-capped giants; from them\nthe water seeks its way to the sea by numerous mighty rivers, winding\naround the towering masses and making many a daring leap down gorges in\nfoaming and roaring and whirling play.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. SKERFE, LAPLAND,\nSWEDEN Photo by L. W\u00e4stfelt Jokkmokk.]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE RAPA VALLEY,\nLAPLAND, SWEDEN Photo by L. W\u00e4stfelt Jokkmokk.]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE RAPA VALLEY,\nLAPLAND, SWEDEN Photo by L. W\u00e4stfelt Jokkmokk.]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. LAJDAURE, LAPLAND,\nSWEDEN Photo by L. W\u00e4stfelt Jokkmokk.]\n\nIt is a wilderness of singular beauty and serene atmosphere, and one\nwho has once tasted of its life will ever thereafter feel the longing\nfor its grandeur and silence; for where can man feel the pulse\nof real life better than in places like this where the eternal snow\nprotects the original purity of Nature? It has been found that the\nfarther north one passes, the more alive become the soil and rock,\nradiating life in such abundance that it can often be actually seen as\na kind of electric discharge. In summer-time, there is no vegetation\nlike that around and above the Polar Circle, no colors and fragrance of\nflowers like those to be found in the sanctuary of these remote valleys\nwhere human foot so seldom intrudes. And where can one witness such\ninterplay between Earth and its outer atmospheric layers, manifesting\nin all the varied phenomena of northern lights and mystic, trembling\ncolor-screens? One could sometimes fancy himself in the very forecourt\nof a grander mode of existence.\n\nH. P. Blavatsky tells us in _The Secret Doctrine_ that these mountain\nranges were part of previous great continents occupied by earlier\ngreat races of humanity. What have they not witnessed? At one time in\nfar-past aeons, enjoying a tropical climate, fertile soil, and a golden\nhuman life in all the bounteousness of Nature; at another, resting for\nages below the water, or stripped of their luxuriant garb by a mighty\nice-cover. Truly the history of it all is written somewhere and somehow\neven now; and as one treads the archaic rock-ground in a solitude that\nseems teeming with life, one begins to understand something of the\nlanguage of the great silence around, and to feel the presence of the\nancient past.\n\nSince prehistoric times the Lapps, with their nomadic herds of\nreindeer, have been the warders of this pristine land. But like\nmost ancient remnants of human races they are at present rapidly\ndisappearing, and the \"Sons of the Sun,\" as the Lapps call themselves,\nhave had to give up much of their ground to the children of the present\ncivilization. Lapland is entering upon a new era; railroads have\nalready found their way across the wastes to bring its immense reserves\nof iron-ore out to the world; its waterfalls are being harnessed in the\nservice of man; and its natural resources utilized in many novel ways.\nThough at the same latitude as southern Greenland, its climate is by no\nmeans so forbidding; it is, moreover, undergoing a slow but sure change\nwhich seems to be one of the causes why the reindeer are dying out.\nEvidently there are mighty forces at work, rendering hitherto shielded\nplaces on Earth accessible to our civilization as a preparation for a\nnew phase of life awaiting all humankind.\n\n\n\n\nCULTIVATING GENIUS FOR MUSIC: by E. A. Neresheimer\n\n\nThe natural gift for music which during recent years is so frequently\nfound in very young children of all civilized nations, is a\nphenomenon that has given rise to much speculation on the part of\nactive theorists. However, the \"brain molecule\" scientists have been\nsignificantly silent on that--to them--perplexing question, and so have\nthe other doctors of learning who explain every human quality on a\ntheory of \"hereditary transmission.\" Nor does the \"gift of God, or Holy\nSpirit\" theory explain this wonderful but most natural manifestation of\nthe progress of the human soul.\n\nNo theory will account for these and other gifts in children, that has\nnot for its basis knowledge of the natural growth from one life to\nanother--reincarnation.\n\nWhen we reflect how diligently the smallest accomplishment must be\nearned before we can call it our own, and how delightfully secure we\nare in its possession when once we have attained to it, the question is\nthen more like this: May it not be that a musical prodigy is after all\n_the Soul himself_ that has labored through many lives on earth with\nceaseless diligence, following its aspirations and love for music, and\nis now earning the fruitage thereof?\n\nMany people say: \"Oh! I am so fond of music\"; but they never go to a\nconcert or to an opera; nor are they any more fond of music in reality\nthan of hearing themselves talk, because the beginning of music is to\nthem the sign to begin a conversation quickly. To the majority music\nscarcely yet exists.\n\nThere are some people who have a quiet love for music; they go\nunobtrusively to places where good music is made, listen with\nattention, and go home in a serene, satisfied mood. Such persons,\nfrom their youth on, embrace every opportunity to hear music in high\nand low places; they look longingly at the instruments displayed in\nmusic-stores and, perchance, in the hours that others devote to rest or\nfolly, they plod away for years unaided, practising on some unsuitable\ninstrument. No one pays particular attention to such a budding artist.\nPerhaps he himself is not aware that his judgment grows better, riper,\nkeener; that the finer distinctions of music are becoming to him\nsharply defined and thus satisfactory to his consciousness; his ear,\ntoo, waxes critical at dissonances, and his very soul also delights in\nthe musical gems, in the flowing rhythms and harmonies.\n\nThe long weary days that are drowned for the multitude in an ocean of\nsensation, do not exist for the person who is deeply, truly, interested\nin music. Such a one may not hear music for days or weeks, nor have any\nparticular melody running through his brain; but in his sub-conscious\nmind there is such a reservoir of harmonies that flow and flow all the\ntime, making him thoughtful, meditative, happy. He laughs or sighs\nlike other people, but there is something besides, that shows in his\ncountenance or manner, something that one instinctively feels is lofty;\nperhaps it is music running through his blood, singing all the while.\n\nThere are some who by Karma's decree have a father or a mother who\nrecognize a little talent for music in the child and let him be taught,\nand by encouragement promote his musical development. This is like\nbestowing a priceless treasure on the one so favored, for now he enters\nupon the realm of one of the mysteries of the Eternal.\n\nOnce begun, there is no end. On and on goes the progress, revealing\nwith each step an ever-widening horizon of beauty, love, happiness.\n\nThe musician goes inward, ever inward. All is being transformed and\nremodeled in his soul. The tears are music, the joys are music, the\nwhole world is music; men and women are like harps on which to play; he\ncan sway them from one extreme mood to another; and he?--he really owns\nthe world, never to lose it!\n\nOn the other hand there are some who practise on a musical instrument\nfor hours every day. Years roll by, but there seems to be no progress\nmade, at least there is no appreciation of progress at the hands of\nother persons. Still, the musicians belonging to this class do not\nseem to be discouraged. They may grow old the while, but never relax\nin their aspirations. What for? Think you, perhaps, that all this\none-pointedness, this expenditure of energy to attain to an ideal,\nwill be lost when the man dies? Not so! Nothing is ever lost. Nature\npreserves everything. Every single effort leaves its imprint upon the\nsoul in which the result finally inheres. When such a life has come to\nits end the people may say: \"Poor musician! he labored all his lifetime\nand accomplished nothing!\" But see! when a boy suddenly appears who\nat the age of eight years can play an instrument, surmounting the\nmost difficult technique with great ease, almost as if he had known\nit before he commenced--what then? We begin to look around for the\nhereditary connexion; and here we see quite often that neither his\nparents nor cousins or any relations have or had any trace of such\ntalent.\n\nHow comes it then that the prodigy can do this without having to learn\nit like other people? May it not be that he has really learned it at\nsome time, _in another life_ and stored it away in his soul, and now,\nhe simply manifests most naturally what is his own?\n\nTruly, artists are not made out of nothing. They are made out of all\nthese things that they previously, diligently and persistently, labored\nfor. Every bit of it, every feeling, every emotion, and every touch\nof the heart, of the head, and of the hand that they now manifest is\nof their own making, without any miracle or extraneous grace. Thus is\nGenius for music cultivated.\n\n\n\n\nGLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY: by Per Fernholm, M. E., Royal\nInstitute of Technology (Stockholm)\n\n\nWhen the fragments still left of Scandinavian mythology, scattered\nin the Icelandic sagas and tales, are carefully put together, they\ngive a grand picture of the history of Earth and Man from the first\ndawn of the present great Day of evolution. Clear and scientific in\nthe broad outlines, they will some day surely prove a gold-mine of\nuseful knowledge for future researches into the past. Nor do they\nstop with the history of the past and its blending with the present,\nbut go farther and picture the destruction of life as we know it in a\npurifying fire, and show how a new earth arises from the sea, whereon a\nnew and lasting Golden Age will be enjoyed by Gods and men.\n\nWhen Earth had assumed its shape and was ready to receive living\nbeings, the Creative Wisdom permeated the elements and in the ensuing\nfermentation the cow Audumla appeared. Licking the salt rocks she\nliberated from the life-germs of the various elements a great and\nbeautiful being endowed with a divine spirit. He became the father of\nthe Gods who rule and protect the world of Man in this cycle.\n\nDrops of venom from the Fount of Frost grew to another being, the\ngiant Ymer, who nourished by Audumla's milk brought into being various\ngiants, some good, but many evil and horrible. Among the good are the\nwise Mimer, the guardian of the Fount of Wisdom at one of the three\nroots of the world-tree, Yggdrasil; and the three Norns, Urd, Verdande\nand Skuld--Urd, the Norn of the Present, being the guardian of the\nFount of Life at another of Yggdrasil's roots.\n\nOdin knew his mighty task as chief ruler of human life in this cycle.\nBut he was not yet perfect and felt himself lacking in strength;\ntherefore he went to Mimer to drink from the Fount of Wisdom. None, not\neven the Gods, can, however, win this precious drink without proving\nhis worthiness, and here at the very outset we meet with the great\nexample of self-sacrifice. Odin gave up himself to his greater Self,\nremained for \"nine days and nights\" in Yggdrasil without food or drink,\nlooking inward to the roots of things, listening to the mystic song out\nof the depth. Purified and prepared, he was allowed to drink from the\nwater of Wisdom and learned from Mimer nine wonderful and potent songs.\nAnd Odin grew henceforth rapidly in knowledge and creative power.\n\nPresiding over the Gods and the various hierarchies in Nature he then\nbegan to make Earth a fitting habitation for man. That done, Odin\nvisited Midgard with his two brothers, H\u00f6ner and Lodur, and there on\nthe shore they found two trees, \"powerless and without destiny.\" Lodur\nloosened them from their connexion with earth, giving them power to\nmove and act from inner impulses, and made them images of the Gods;\nH\u00f6ner endowed them with a human Ego, having consciousness and will; and\nfinally Odin gave them the most precious gift, the spirit.\n\nIn the childhood of the Earth men long lived in a golden age of\nunbroken peace, knowing of no evil. But there came a time when two\nbeings among the giants, both adopted by the Gods as members of the\nAsgard family, appeared among men tempting them to evil things, the\nman Loke, and the woman Gullveig (the golden way, or stream), Gullveig\nbeing the worse. To strengthen the good in human hearts, enlighten them\nand prepare them for coming days of strife, the Gods sent to Midgard as\nTeacher Heimdall, the Shining One, the God of the pure and most sacred\nfire. He brought with him many things not before seen in Midgard, and\nas the ruler of the people he instructed them in cultivating the soil,\nin sowing the seed he had brought, and in preparing bread; in carving\nand forging, spinning and weaving, cutting runes and reading. He taught\nthem how to tame animals for domestic use, to build houses and to\nform families and communities; also the use of weapons in protection\nagainst animals. And further he informed them of the rules laid down\nby the Norns for a righteous life, and of the names and functions of\nthe Gods. He showed them how to build altars and temples for worship,\nand brought to them the pure and undefiled fire produced by friction,\nthe only one worthy of burning in the shrine of the Gods; and then he\ntaught them the sacred songs that ever since have sounded from the lips\nof men in praise of divine powers.\n\nBut even now Gullveig began her wanderings among men and secretly\ntaught them runes and songs which counteracted Heimdall's teachings.\nWhen the Gods became aware of this, they had her burned; but her heart\nwas proof against fire. Loke found it, and swallowing it he brought\ninto the world the monster-wolf Fenris, which feeds on all the evil\nthoughts and feelings among men.\n\nGullveig soon incarnated again and continued her ways unrecognized\nfor a long period. When discovered she was burned a second time, Loke\nagain finding her heart and giving life to the giantess of pestilence,\nLeikin. The same thing happened a third time, and then was born the\nMidgard-Snake, destined to grow rapidly and finally to encircle the\nwhole earth.\n\nWhile Gullveig spread ruin in human life, Loke caused enmity and\nstrife among the powers of nature and even among the Gods. Many were\nthe resulting wars in Asgard, besides the constant warfare against\nthe giants; and always they were followed by wars in Midgard. At last\nthe Gods were divided to such a degree that Odin, rather than cause\nthe death of many of his nearest kin, left Asgard and the guidance of\nhumanity in the care of the Vaner Gods, who otherwise presided over\nthe regular course of the processes of Nature. When the giants learned\nthis they thought it a fit time to gain supremacy not only over Midgard\nbut even over Asgard itself. Odin knew this in good time, through his\npower of prevision, and he issued from his retreat \"far in the East\" to\nwarn the Vaner Gods and offer them assistance. The fearful resulting\nwar united the Gods once more, after which Odin was freely offered the\nhigh seat in Asgard, where, purified and perfected by experience and\nadversity he now rules with wisdom until the last day of the cycle.\n\nHeimdall \"died\" in Midgard before the golden age was over, and he was\nfollowed by his son Sk\u00f6ld-Borgar. His son, Halfdan, became the first\nking, and led the people in all the battles that followed in the new\nage, while constantly overshadowed by the Gods. On the other side the\nchief was Od-Svipdag, a most heroic and valiant champion. War after war\nraged, one of them being so frightful that a new generation had to grow\nup before new armies could be collected.\n\nSvipdag is a most remarkable character, who journeys to the Underworld\nand obtains the \"avenging sword\" which nothing can resist, not even\nthe hammer of Thor. The fate of the world seems to depend on his mind,\nwhen at the critical moment his love for the Goddess Fr\u00f6ja turns his\nsteps to Asgard, in order to make peace with the Gods. He then lives\nmostly in Asgard with Fr\u00f6ja and is sent by the Gods on many difficult\njourneys, even to the Underworld to find whether Balder, the God of\npurity, who had died when strife came into the world, could not return\nfrom his safe retreat near the Fount of Wisdom.\n\nThe great Ice period is described as coming in Halfdan's days, the\npeople being obliged to leave the Northern countries for more southern\nclimes. But when the ice at last receded they went back step by\nstep northward, fighting continual battles. Halfdan at last dies by\nSvipdag's sword, and is followed by his brave son, Hadding. And thus we\nreach the present age, which is depicted as one of supreme darkness.\nSeldom nowadays the Gods appear before men, for they are few who by\na righteous and sincere life keep the link unbroken with the regions\nin the crown of Yggdrasil. The evil is increasing all the time; men\nhave forgotten their divine birth, and they prostitute their divine\npowers. Yet above the veil of darkness the Gods rule as ever, helping\nwherever there is an opportunity; while elves and dwarfs and all the\nother nature sprites continue to fulfil their duties in the economy of\nnature, although no longer seen by men.\n\nMuch is said about the process of death. Man is made up of six\nprinciples, and death is a purification whereby the higher and purer\nelements, after passing through the second death, go to the bliss of\nthe presence of the Gods. If man in life has developed his \"inner body\"\nby noble living, then he passes easily through the trials and the\njudgment of the Gods. If not, then he is held down by the demons of\npassion and lust and meets torture and suffering.\n\nOf Reincarnation there is little in the form of direct statement,\nprobably partly because carefully removed in Christian times, and\npartly because it forms an integral part of the whole conception of\nlife found in all ancient sagas. Some of the heroes are, however,\nnamed in more than one incarnation, showing the same soul in different\ngarments. The noblest and the worst reincarnate almost immediately; for\nothers some time has first to elapse.\n\nIn the efflorescence of time the hour will at length arrive for\nRagnar\u00f6k, the great purifying battle and fire, when evil will be\ndestroyed in the final war between good and evil. The Gods assemble\nwith their faithful, Odin leading, majestic, calm and wiser than ever,\nknowing that he and most of the Gods will have to buy the victory with\ntheir lives. The different groups on both sides are pictured with\nmatchless boldness and vividness, and we see how each has to meet his\nfate. Odin is killed by the Fenris Wolf; Thor kills the Midgard Snake,\nbut falls dead from its venom. The giants who have possessed themselves\nof the \"avenging sword\" use it in the battle, but at the same moment\ntheir fate is sealed. For this sword was so forged that if swung by a\ngiant it would destroy the giant world.\n\nAt the close of the fearful battle the very foundations of the earth\nseem to tremble. Fires rise towards heaven, and amid flame and smoke\nand destruction--the Gods still living--Odin's sons Vidar and Vale,\nand Thor's sons Magne and Mode, ride to the Underworld, to Balder's\npeaceful land, where neither death nor destruction are.\n\nAnd the old earth finally sinks into the sea, dissolved into slag\nand ashes. The flames die. The air is purified by the fire, the sky\nis bluer than ever. From the sea arises a new earth, covered with\nluxuriant vegetation. It is the regions of the Underworld near the\nFounts of Wisdom and Life, the lands of Mimer and Urd, that now appear.\nThose founts, so long nearly dry, again flow copiously, and Yggdrasil\nis fresh and green. The days of golden life return to Gods and men.\nBalder assumes full sway, and the new earth is peopled from the two\nraces who have been spared for that purpose, living in purity unstained\nalong with Balder during the age of darkness. Even animals have been\nspared in the same way and enjoy the new Day. It is the happy Day of\nBalder the Pure and Righteous.\n\nBut even this is not the final scene, according to the Northern\nmythology. A mightier Being than even Balder will come after him,\ndescending upon a still higher and more purified earth. It is the\nunnamed God whose servant Urd is, One whose spirit blendeth with all\nliving things by virtue of the Fount of Wisdom--an omnipotent God, a\nGod bringing highest peace, who will then \"establish a worship that\nwill endure forevermore.\"\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. RUINS OF THE DIPYLON\nGATE OF ANCIENT ATHENS]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ANCIENT ATHENIAN\nTOMBS ALONG THE SACRED WAY]\n\n\n\n\nTHE DIPYLON AND THE OUTER CERAMICUS: by F. S. Darrow, A. M., Ph. D.\n(Harv.)\n\n\nThe Dipylon or \"Double Gate\" (so named because it consisted of an\ninner and an outer gateway, separated by a court), was the principal\nentrance of classical Athens at the west end of the city. Probably,\nit was built under Perikles' directions on the site of the still\nolder Thriasian Gate, but the extant remains which are shown in the\naccompanying illustration belong to a somewhat later alteration. The\ngateway itself, because of its size and position (it was at the lowest\npoint of the city walls) was surrounded by massive fortifications. The\ninner wall with the upright stone, marking one of the boundaries of the\nOuter Ceramicus or ancient Potters' quarters just outside the city, was\nbuilt by Themistokles, but the outer wall shown in the illustration\nwas probably added by Perikles. About sixty yards to the west of\nthe Dipylon, that is to the right of the illustration, is a smaller\ngateway, which is thought to be the Sacred Gate, used for the exit and\nentrance of the Procession of Mystics during the celebration of the\nEleusinian Mysteries.\n\nIn ancient times three roads lined with tombs led from the Dipylon,\nnamely, the Road to the Academy, the Sacred Way leading to Eleusis,\nand the Road to the harbor, the Peiraeeus. Along the Road leading to\nthe Academy were buried those who had died fighting for their country\non land and on sea. The public burials were made at the end of each\ncampaign, when the bones of the slain were placed in coffins of cypress\nwood, one coffin for each of the ten Athenian tribes, and an empty\none, serving symbolically for the burial of those whose bodies could\nnot be recovered. Citizens and strangers alike were permitted to join\nin the procession, and as the coffins were lowered, a speaker publicly\nappointed ascended a lofty pulpit and delivered an oration in honor of\nthe dead.\n\nThukydides says:\n\n The public cemetery is situated in the most beautiful spot outside\n the walls and there the Athenians always bury those who fall in war;\n but after the battle of Marathon the dead in recognition of their\n pre-eminent valor were interred on the field.\n\nIt was here in the winter of 431 B. C., while delivering his immortal\nfuneral oration that Perikles declared:\n\n It is difficult to say neither too little nor too much. I do not\n commiserate the parents of the dead: I would rather comfort them.\n Those men may be deemed fortunate who have gained the greatest honor.\n To you who are sons and brothers of the departed I see that the\n struggle to emulate them will be an arduous one. The dead have been\n honorably interred and it remains only that their children should be\n maintained at the public charge until they are grown up; this is the\n solid prize with which, as with a garland, Athens crowns her sons,\n living and dead.\n\nThe tombs of many of the most famous figures in Greek history were in\nthis public cemetery, including those of Harmodios and Aristogeiton,\nthe Tyrannicides; Kleisthenes, the Law-giver; Perikles, the greatest\nAthenian Statesman; Thrasybulos, the Liberator, who overthrew the\nThirty Tyrants; Chabrias; Phormio; Konon and Timotheus, father and\nson, \"second only to Miltiades and Kimon for their brilliant feats\";\nand Lykurgos, the son of Lykophron, the Athenian orator and statesman,\nwho finished the Dionysiac Theater in stone and built the Docks at the\nPeiraeeus.\n\nThe public tombs which once lined the Road to the Academy seem to have\nbeen almost entirely destroyed, but many of the private tombs along the\nSacred Way may still be seen _in situ_. Some of these, which have been\nwell preserved (thanks to the fact that they were covered by a huge\nmound in 86 B. C. when the Roman Cornelius Sulla was besieging Athens),\nare shown in the second illustration.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THEOSOPHIC TORCH: by Grace Knoche\n\n O the great benefactor who points the Way! To Triptolemus have\n all men erected temples and altars, because he gave us food by\n cultivation; but to him who discovered truth, and brought it to\n light and communicated it to all--not the truth which shows us how\n to live _but how to live well_--who of you has built an altar for\n this, or a temple, or has dedicated a statue, or who worships God for\n this?--_Epictetus_\n\n\nThe final stitches are taken in the little garment which has stood for\nthe evening's duty. It is folded and laid aside, to fill on the morrow\na need as impersonal as the service that need inspired, silent tribute\nto a system of work so practical and so perfect in its conservation\nof energy that the world is already clamoring at Lomaland gates to be\nlet into the secret. A pile of loved books--very tiny ones, _The Voice\nof the Silence_, the _Bhagavad-Git\u00e2_, _Pata\u00f1jali_, and the rest--lies\nbeside the sewing-basket, jostling the newspaper, which, because of the\ntemporary need of another, at present has to be given room. But I brush\nit aside to take up one of the little writings--any one of them, from\ncover to cover, would hardly make up a newspaper page--thankful that\nif the frothy and distempered bilge-water of current crime and gossip\n_does_ have to lie before me, I do not have to drink of it; grateful\nthat even in the present heyday of lower psychological influences I am\nfree to drink what I will, free to pick my associates from among the\nimmortals--if I choose. And so we parry, and give and take, question\non my part and answer on his--small wonder that H. P. B. paid tribute\nto his philosophy and W. Q. J. to his life, this grand old Roman whose\ncompany for an hour any one would be proud to have--Epictetus!\n\n O the great benefactor who points the Way!\n\nThis, a tribute to the Helpers of Humanity by one who was humbly, yet\nwith the courage of Hercules, trying to fire the mind of his age with\nthe torch-gleam of a true philosophy of life--Theosophy in fact, but\nadapted to the conditions of his time, a fevered and cruel time, though\nwith gleams of nobility and spiritual splendor here and there.\n\nWhat a picture comes before one of this brave old Roman Socrates,\nbanished in his last years from Rome by the Emperor Domitian--for\nthe crime of being a philosopher! And then another picture--of the\nEpictetus as the Rome of Nero knew him, young but never strong, weakly,\nlame, the abused slave of Nero's profligate secretary; allowed by\nhis owner to study philosophy because it chanced to be the fashion\nin wealthy Rome to number wise men among one's \"possessions\" as one\nnumbered cocks and fine horses; Epictetus, a slave, often in chains,\ntortured at his master's whim--but a Torch-bearer of the Truth!\n\nAlthough a disciple of Rufus, the great Stoic teacher of the time,\nEpictetus himself claiming no superiority to his teacher whom he\nlovingly quotes, the conviction forces itself upon one that the latter\nbathed in a wider ocean of truth than that of Stoicism as a doctrine.\nHe quotes Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, far more than Zeno; he had no part\nin the tolerance of many Stoics to the idea of suicide. And we hear him\ndown the ages fulminating against the Academics, the Epicureans, the\nSkeptics; declaring the Godhood, the Divinity, of man; immortality, the\nhigher law, man's obligation to study human nature _in its duality_;\nKarma, the power of the Spiritual Will, the royal road to happiness;\nand man's obligation to integrity, fidelity, compassion, reverence,\ngratitude, trust, love, wisdom and a noble use of power. What was he\nbanished for? what is it that he said?\n\n If Caesar should adopt you, no one could endure your arrogance; to\n know, then, that you are the son of Zeus--will you not be elated?...\n You are a superior thing; you are a portion separated from the\n Deity; you have in yourself a certain portion of Him. Why then are\n you ignorant of your own noble descent? When you are in social\n intercourse, when you are exercising yourself, when you are engaged in\n discussion, _know you not that you are nourishing a god, that you are\n exercising a god_?\n\n But give me directions, you say. Why should I give you directions? Has\n not Zeus given you directions? What directions, what kind of orders,\n did you bring _when you came from Him_? To keep what is your own; not\n to desire what is not your own. Fidelity is your own, and integrity,\n and modesty and virtue; for who can take these things from you? who,\n excepting yourself, can hinder you from using them? Having such\n promptings and commands from Zeus, what kind do you still ask from me?\n Am I more powerful than he, am I more worthy of confidence?\n\n If you would make anything a habit, do it; if you would not make it\n a habit, do not do it.... So with respect to the soul: when you have\n been angry you must know that not only has this evil befallen you, but\n that you have also increased the habit, and in a manner increased the\n habit thrown fuel on the fire.... For he who has had a fever, and has\n been relieved from it, is not in the same state that he was before,\n unless he has been completely cured. _Something of the kind happens\n also in diseases of the soul. Certain traces and blisters are left in\n it, and unless a man shall completely efface them, when he is again\n lashed in the same places, the lash will produce not welts but sores._\n\n It is circumstances (difficulties) which show what men are. Therefore,\n when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of\n wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man. For what purpose?\n you may say. Why, that you may become an Olympic conqueror; _but it\n is not accomplished without sweat_.... Hercules, when he was being\n exercised by Eurytheus, never deemed himself wretched; but fulfilled\n courageously all that was laid upon him. But he who shall cry out and\n bear it hard when he is being exercised by Zeus, is he worthy to bear\n the scepter of Diogenes?\n\n The philosopher's school, ye men, is a surgery; you ought not to\n go out of it with pleasure but with pain, for you are not in sound\n health when you enter: one has dislocated his shoulder, another has\n an abscess ... another a headache. And shall I sit and utter to you\n little thoughts and exclamations, that you may praise me and go away,\n one with his shoulder in the same condition as when he entered,\n another with his head still aching, and a third with his fistula or\n his abscess just as they were? Is it for this that young men quit\n home and leave their parents and friends, their kinsmen and property,\n that they may say to you, Wonderful! when you are uttering your\n exclamations? Did Socrates do this, or Zeno, or Cleanthes?\n\n Diogenes well said to one who asked from him letters of\n recommendation, \"That you are a man he will know as soon as he\n sees you; and he will know whether you are good or bad if he has,\n through experience, the skill to distinguish the good and the bad;\n but if he has not, he would not know though I were to write him ten\n thousand times.\" For it is just the same as if a drachma asked to be\n recommended to a person. If he is skilful in testing silver, he will\n know you (the drachma) for what you are. We ought then in life to be\n able to have some such skill as in the case of silver coin, that we\n may be able to say, like the judge of silver, Bring me any drachma and\n I will test it.\n\n When Florus was deliberating whether he should go down to Nero's\n spectacles, and also perform in them, he asked Agrippinus for advice,\n and Agrippinus said, Go down. But why do you not go down? said Florus;\n and Agrippinus replied, I do not even deliberate about the matter;\n _for he who has brought himself to calculate the value of external\n things, is very near to those who have forgotten their own character_.\n\n But if I do not take part, I shall have my head struck off. Go then,\n said Agrippinus, and take part; but I will not. Why? Because you\n consider yourself to be only one common thread in the tunic; it is\n then fitting for you to take thought how you shall be like the rest of\n men. But I wish to be purple, that small part which is bright, _and\n makes all the rest appear graceful and beautiful_.\n\nKatherine Tingley said recently in one of her intimate talks on the\nsubject of the individual responsibility of students in being given the\nopportunity to bring a deeper than the common touch into the production\nof _The Aroma of Athens_:\n\n We are just now at a strange point in the cycle and in many ways are\n linking ourselves with the past.\n\nMay not one evidence of this be an easier recognition of the Theosophic\nLight that has been passed from hand to hand down the ages? Many have\nbeen its disguises, many and strange the lamps holding it, often\nobscured it has been, again nameless--but ever the one Light, the one\nFlame, shining upon and enlightening all men.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PYTHAGOREAN SOLIDS:\n\nby F. J. Dick, M. INST. C. E., M. INST. C. E. I.\n\n\nStudents of _The Secret Doctrine_ and of ancient teachings such as\nthose of Pythagoras, the Kabala, and the sacred books of different\nraces and epochs, are often puzzled by the frequent references to\nNumber, and to elementary plane forms like the circle, triangle, and\nsquare. It may be surmised that these symbols refer to _meta_-physical\nforces of various orders concealed within the \"atom\" and within nature\ngenerally. For nature is built, obviously enough, upon some internal\nprinciples of structural harmony. Without discussing the many avenues\nof thought suggested by a study of the five regular solids, the main\nfeatures of these forms may be briefly summarized.\n\nIn the first place, they may be all considered as generated by Twelve\nPoints on the surface of the Sphere, at equal adjacent distances, or by\nsix diameters of the sphere mutually inclined at angles whose tangent\nis 2, the number of the octave in music. Joining each of the twelve\nwith every other point, we have 66 lines, of which 36 are internal.\nSix of the latter being diameters, there remain 30, intersecting at 20\npoints, which give the 30 edges of the internal DODECAHEDRON. The 30\nouter, or external lines of the 66, form the edges of the ICOSAHEDRON.\n\nJoining one set of alternate corners of the Dodecahedron by 12 lines,\na CUBE appears. So far, there are 33 points defined, including the\ncenter of the sphere. Joining opposite corners on each Cube-face by 12\nlines, _two_ interlaced TETRAHEDRONS appear. These define, by their\nintersection, 6 new points and 12 new lines forming the OCTAHEDRON,\nbeautifully poised in the heart of the Sphere.\n\nThus only 39 points, including the central point, are needed to define\nthe Pythagorean solids, only one solid form being repeated, the\nTetrahedron, which in fact is seen to repeat itself ten times. For\nbetween the interlaced Tetrahedron corners and the eight faces of the\nincluded Octahedron, eight smaller Tetrahedrons are seen.\n\nThe interlaced Tetrahedrons suggest the origin of the plane symbol--the\ninterlaced triangles; but the full beauty of the symbol does not appear\nuntil we notice that the axis of symmetry of the Tetrahedrons coincides\nwith the diagonal of the Cube, and that the orthographic projection\nof all these on a plane perpendicular to the diagonal gives a perfect\nhexagon with the interlaced triangles in the center. The interlaced\nTetrahedrons--one a reflection of the other--in fact define the eight\ncorners of the Cube. The Tetrahedron is \"3,\" and the Cube is \"4\" (or\n6). So we see one way in which the \"three fall into the four,\" and\nwhy it is a septenary, and a decad, as well as a three, or a four,\naccording to the various aspects and interrelations considered of the\nelectric, rotary, magnetic, or vibratory forces symbolized by the\nvarious lines.\n\nScience has already reached the speculation that the hypothetical\ncarbon \"atom\" has a tetrahedronal form. Let us look at this Tetrahedron\nwith the eye opposite the middle of an edge and in line with the\ncenter. The two opposite edges now form the Cross, composed of two\nequal lines, but separated by a space. One is reminded of an electric\nwire, and a magnetized needle placing itself at right angles to,\nalthough at some distance from, the current in the wire. Thus the\nopposite edges, whether as rotational vectors or in some other way,\nindicate a connexion with the dual forces of attraction and repulsion.\nThe Tetrahedron, a triangular pyramid, may be a Fire-symbol. In any\ncase the following passage is suggestive:\n\n When the molecules of salt, clustering together, begin to deposit\n themselves as a solid, the first shape they assume is that of\n triangles, of small pyramids and cones. It is the figure of _fire_,\n whence the word \"_pyramids_\"; while the second geometrical figure\n in _manifested_ nature is a square or a cube, 4 and 6; for, \"the\n particles of earth being cubical, those of fire are pyramidal\"\n truly--(Enfield). The pyramidal shape is that assumed by the\n pines--the most primitive tree after the fern period. Thus the two\n opposites in cosmic nature--fire and water, heat and cold--begin their\n metrographical manifestations, one by a trimetric, the other by a\n hexagonal system. For the stellate crystals of snow, viewed under a\n microscope, are all and each of them a double or treble six-pointed\n star, with a central nucleus, like a miniature star within the larger\n one. (_The Secret Doctrine_, II, 594.)\n\nThe number Five penetrates the whole system of the Five solids in a\nremarkable way. Thus there are 24 pentagons visible, and by joining\nother corners of the Dodecahedron, Five Cubes are seen, which of course\nproduce Five Octahedrons, and twice that number of principal interlaced\nTetrahedrons. Five has been said to be the Number of Life.\n\nConfining ourselves to one rectangular system, we find Four axes of\nsymmetry for the Tetrahedrons and Three for Cube and Octahedron. Thus\nthere are really 73 principal lines in the complete system defined by\nthe 39 points. A study of the three principal orthographic projections\nshows that the circle should be divided into 3, 4, 5, 6, parts, and\nthe products of these, or 360 degrees. Certain angles are found in\nabundance, such as 36, 60, 72, 90, 108, 144; and their combinations\nand products by 10 and 12, and their multiples, give figures bearing a\nstrong resemblance to the various cyclic periods of eastern chronology.\nPeriodic orbits are vibrations on a large scale.\n\nTwice the perimeter of an Icosahedron-face divided by the perimeter\nof a Dodecahedron-face is 3.1416, the value of \u03c0 used in all\nordinary scientific and constructional work.\n\nThe actual error is so small that if both were accurately made of\ncopper at the same temperature, the Icosahedron-face would only have to\nbe brought rather more than one degree Fahrenheit below the temperature\nof the other for the \u03c0 value to be absolutely correct. Accuracy of this\nsort is unattainable outside of specially equipped laboratories. So the\nPythagorean solids may be said to \"square the circle.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE \"BLACK AGE\": by Ariomardes\n\n\nLet us imagine a romance, such as most people must have heard, wherein\nsome royal child is stolen away and reared amidst peasants in ignorance\nof his birth; and where some wise man comes and reveals to the youth\nthe secret of his parentage. The young man forthwith steps out from his\nlowly life, and clothed in a new self-respect, begins to acquit himself\nworthily of his origin and destiny.\n\nThus has Theosophy declared to outcast humanity, \"Thou art the king's\nson\"; and in proof it has referred him to his ancestry. This is why H.\nP. Blavatsky, pointing out in the skein of history certain clues which\nscholars have hitherto overlooked, started that greater enthusiasm for\narchaeology which since her day has already borne such wonderful fruit.\n\nIn a dark age there is the danger that man might forget his divine\norigin altogether. The revelations of archaeology confirm the teachings\nof Theosophy that before the dark age of our historical period set in,\nthere were brighter ages; and by showing what man has been, they are\nindicating what he may again be in the future.\n\nThe epochs and durations of the various ages are not uniform all over\nthe earth, so that it cannot be said that the black age began, for the\nearth generally, at any definite time. The ancient Hind\u00fbs have their\nown chronology, showing the dates of the different ages for their race.\nWe find in a very ancient work, the _Vishnu-Pur\u00e2na_, a prophecy of\nthe characteristics of Kali-Yuga or the \"Black Age,\" from which the\nfollowing extracts are taken:\n\n Then property alone will confer rank; wealth will be the only source\n of devotion; passion will be the sole bond of union between the\n sexes; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation; and\n women will be objects merely of sensual gratification. Earth will be\n venerated but for its mineral treasures; the Brahm\u00e2nical thread will\n constitute a Br\u00e2hman; external types (as the staff and red garb) will\n be the only distinctions of the several orders of life; dishonesty\n will be the (universal) means of subsistence; weakness will be the\n cause of dependence; menace and presumption will be substituted\n for learning; liberality will be devotion; simple ablution will be\n purification; mutual assent will be marriage; fine clothes will be\n dignity.... Amidst all castes, he who is the strongest will reign over\n a principality thus vitiated by many faults.--iv, ch. xxiv. (From H.\n H. Wilson's translation, vol. iv, pp. 226-228.)\n\nSome of these details may be thought to apply more to the East, some to\nthe West; we can surely recognize many of the characteristics of our\nown civilization. What is particularly striking is the way in which\nthings which we regard as inevitable qualities of human nature are\nhere spoken of with horror and classed among the iniquities. And there\nare signs in our contemporary literature that some of the standard\nhuman frailties are now being exalted into virtues. One of the signs\nof decadence mentioned is the fact that passion will be regarded as\nthe sole bond of union between the sexes. And we have philosophers\nwho would persuade us that passion is and always has been and always\nwill be the bond of union! For some writers, passion, even in its most\nmaterial form, is the origin and supreme fact of all union. Here,\nthen, is the danger--that having allowed our ideals to drag down our\npractices, we afterwards suffer our practices to drag down our ideals,\nthus descending by a continuous and periodical process of leveling down.\n\nIt seems as if the saying that \"property alone will confer rank\" has\nsome meaning for us today, as also the phrase \"wealth will be the\nonly source of devotion.\" What is said about falsehood in litigation\nreflects no discredit on our jurisprudence, but surely it describes\nmuch of what occurs in practice. That about the mineral treasures\nof earth is very true; for we consider people simpletons when they\nfail to tear out the bowels of their homeland in order to coin them\ninto \"the only source of devotion.\" When the ancient scribe says that\ndishonesty will be the means of subsistence, he may seem to be going\ntoo far; but what does he mean by dishonesty? If it includes every form\nof insincerity and injustice, the statement may not be too extreme\nafter all. The question, \"Shall I do as the others do or let my family\nstarve?\" becomes every day more difficult to answer.\n\n\"Menace and presumption will be substituted for learning.\" This may\nallude to the fact that most people argue for the purpose of pushing\ntheir own ideas, losing their temper and resorting to tricks in\norder to attain this end; and that the attainment of knowledge is so\noften subordinated to the desire to compel assent or gain notoriety.\n\"Liberality will be devotion,\" may be better understood if we\nsubstitute the word \"munificence,\" as applying to large donations to\nchurches and also to the prevalence of the charity of the purse rather\nthan the charity of the heart.\n\nA difficult subject to speak upon, in view of the mental chaos reigning\ntoday, is the hint that there can be higher motives for marriage than\nmere mutual attraction or worldly convenience. The quotation gives a\nrebuke to those who, seeing no farther back than the Black Age, argue\nthat there never have been any higher ideals of marriage. We may point\nto the ancient Egyptian religion as an instance of a culture that is\nfree from the erotic element; while in the quotation given above the\nerotic idea is expressly condemned. Clearly, then, that idea belongs\nto the age of decadence. The word \"love\" having now become practically\nuseless from its association with passion, we must seek our clue to the\nreal meaning of marriage in the word \"duty.\" Regarded as a sacred rite\ninvolving vows of unselfishness and self-restraint, undertaken only\nin sober earnestness and with a vision undimmed by the colored mists\nof selfish romance, marriage might take its place among the blessings\ninstead of among the problems of life.\n\nIn days when philosophicules try to define honor in terms of vanity,\nand devotion in terms of self-interest, it is beneficial to receive\nfrom antiquity a hint that may help us to understand that honor and\ndevotion are the breath of the Soul. Pretended reformers, claiming a\nsuperior acumen and to be quite grown-up and out of leading-strings,\nmay dissect before us the animal nature of man, pointing out its\nsordid details and requesting us to believe that these represent our\nentire endowment. Some prominent writers, whose outlook upon life has\nsomehow suffered from unfortunate circumstances, would have us accept\ndepravity and neurotic conditions as inevitable concomitants of human\nnature; and, profanely invoking Freedom, they recommend open license\nas a means of purity! Signs like these justify one in thinking that\nthe Black Age is casting the shadow of its pinions over the firmament\nof modern thought; and we are grateful for the smallest hint of the\npossibility of an age free from the all-absorbing morbidity and itching\nself-consciousness that seem to dominate every department of inquiry.\n\nWill society ever again be so constituted that honor and reverence and\nduty shall be a universal atmosphere, a currency in which all share,\na life-force that flows from man to man, a common possession in the\nmaintenance of whose integrity all are involved--as we are now all\ninvolved in the maintenance of commercial credit and the upkeep of\nstandards of outer respectability? Can we imagine a society wherein\nno man would dare to sully the purity of this inner atmosphere by\nany unworthy thought? If so, then we might call honor and morality\nreal existences instead of mere abstractions; these words might then\nconvey the genuine qualities they were meant to denote, instead of\nthe spurious imitations which they now seem to stand for in the minds\nof those who try to express them in terms of selfishness and passion.\nIt is well to think that such things have been upon earth; and it is\neasier thus to account for some of the deeds of antiquity whose signs\nremain. It is easier to see in religion the faint echo of a former\nknowledge and conduct, than to interpret it as an outgrowth of fear and\ncharlatanry. We need a greater faith in human nature.\n\n\n\n\nEGYPTIAN ART UNDER THE XXVIth DYNASTY: by C. J.\n\n\nThe statue of Neshoron, of which we give an illustration, is a very\nfine example of the work of the XXVIth Dynasty (B. C. 666 to 528).\nThis was a period of great prosperity for Egypt, after long years of\ndepression. Rawlinson says:\n\n The entire valley of the Nile became little more than one huge\n workshop, where stone-cutters and masons, bricklayers and carpenters,\n labored incessantly. Under the liberal encouragement of the king and\n his chief nobles, the arts recovered themselves and began to flourish\n anew. The engraving and painting of the hieroglyphs were resumed with\n success, and carried out with a minuteness and accuracy that provoke\n the admiration of the beholder. Bas-reliefs of extreme beauty and\n elaboration characterize the period. There rests upon some of them \"a\n gentle and almost feminine tenderness, which has impressed upon the\n imitations of living creatures the stamp of an incredible delicacy\n both of conception and execution.\" Statues and statuettes of merit\n were at the same time produced in abundance.\n\nUnder King Psametik I, the first king of the XXVIth Dynasty, a\nsemi-Libyan devoid of Egyptian prejudices, foreigners, especially\nGreeks, were encouraged to settle in the Delta and to establish\ncommercial relations on a large scale--a hitherto unheard-of\ninnovation. The effect of this was a great change in the character\nof the Egyptians, perhaps not for the better. A mercenary army was\nenlisted, and the beginning of Egypt's downfall and subjugation\ndrew nigh. In the reign of Apries (Uah-ab-R\u0101, the \"Pharaoh Hophra\"\nof Jeremiah xliv, 30) an unsuccessful attempt was made to restore\nthe greatness of the ancient Egyptian empire. Apries, or Hophra,\nfinding the Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was unable to reduce Phoenicia\nto subjection, concluded a treaty with Zedekiah, king of Judah, in\nB. C. 588, promising him assistance if he would help him to attack\nthe Babylonians. The war that followed resulted in the capture and\ndestruction of Jerusalem, and the transfer of the Jews to Babylon.\nApries failed to protect Zedekiah, though he appears to have done his\nbest. He retreated before the victorious Babylonians, and with the\nfall of Palestine, the two great powers of Babylon and Egypt became\nconterminous. Within a few years Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Egypt,\nmaking it a tributary kingdom.\n\nThe statue of Neshoron is remarkable for the realism shown in the\ntreatment of the face, which is obviously an excellent portrait. The\nfeet are also treated in a naturalistic manner, but the rest of the\nfigure is more conventional in accordance with the prevailing custom.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. STATUE OF NESHORON,\nA DIGNITARY UNDER KING APRIES LOUVRE MUSEUM, PARIS]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE HOUSE OF LORDS,\nLONDON]\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOUSE OF LORDS, PALACE OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON: by R.\n\n\nThough such an important chamber, the House of Lords is only forty-five\nfeet wide, forty-five feet high, and ninety feet long, yet it is\nvery well adapted to its purpose. There is none of the crowding from\nwhich the House of Commons suffers when all the members wish to be\npresent at some important debate. Like the rest of the Palace of\nWestminster, the House of Lords is built in the Tudor-Gothic style,\nbut it does not date back to the fifteenth century. The old House of\nParliament, a patched-up and unimposing building, was almost completely\ndestroyed in 1835--an important service to architecture being rendered\nthereby--and the new one was commenced upon the same site in 1840.\nIt took twenty-seven years to build and it is generally admitted,\nin spite of many weaknesses, to be a worthy home for \"the Mother of\nParliaments,\" and the most impressive modern Gothic building in Europe.\nOne important though indirect result of the fire which burned down the\nold Parliament House was that public competition, almost unknown in\nEngland, was adopted as the safest way to obtain a good design. Sir\nCharles Barry, the architect, was greatly helped by the famous Pugin in\nthe superintendence of the detail, which, as can be seen in the plate,\nis well-designed and executed, _for modern work_. Of course no modern\nimitation-Gothic possesses the life and vigor of the old; there is a\nmechanical feeling about it which can never be avoided in some degree;\nthere is want of spontaneity, a rigidity and formal correctness, which\nis entirely absent in the old work. The House of Peers and the King's\nApartments occupy the western portion of the palace; the House of\nCommons the eastern.\n\nBeing so new, there are few important historical associations connected\nwith the House of Lords, and in recent times the most thrilling scenes\nin parliamentary life have taken place in the other House, where the\nexpression of the emotions has always been allowed freer play, and\nwhere the Government of the day has to meet its strongest opponents in\ndebate, but a very impressive ceremony takes place when the Sovereign\nin person opens Parliament. He then takes his seat on the throne,\nwhich can be seen in the plate, and reads his speech from it before a\nbrilliant audience. The British monarchy being a constitutional one,\nthis speech is, of course, really an outline of the policy of the\nMinistry in office, and it usually says very little.\n\nThe composition of the members of the House of Lords consists of Lords\nspiritual (Bishops), and Lords temporal. The latter include the five\ndignities of Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. No new dignity\nhas been created since the time of Henry VI, when the rank of viscount\nwas established. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth there were only\nfifty-nine temporal peers, but the present number is about ten times as\nmany. The principle under which a peer holds his seat is in the main\nthe hereditary one, but there are a few peerages which are bestowed for\nlife only. The peers who are judges, sitting as a judicial tribunal,\nconstitute the Supreme Court of British Law, and the presiding peer of\nthe whole House, the Lord Chancellor, is a lawyer, and always belongs\nto the party of the government in power. The Lord Chancellor's seat\nis known as the Woolsack; this peculiar term comes from a period in\nElizabeth's reign when wool was the staple industry of England and its\nexport was forbidden; sacks of wool were kept in the Chamber of Peers\nto remind them of its importance.\n\n\n\n\nMUSIC NOTES: by Charles J. Ryan\n\n\nRichard Wagner's autobiography, just published to the world at\nlarge, though it does not include the last twenty years of his\nlife when he had attained success, has made a great stir among all\nwho are interested in the study of human nature. It is an amazing\nself-revelation, and, from the Theosophical standpoint, a striking\nexample of the duality of man. The popular conception of Wagner is\namply confirmed by this \"human document.\" But why should we waste\nour time, and perhaps feed our own sense of self-righteousness\ninjudiciously, by dwelling on the failings of genius? Have not the\ngreat men given us, in their immortal works, that which is really\nworthiest of remembrance? Whatever his personal shortcomings were,\nWagner never failed in his loyal devotion to his ideal in music-drama;\nhe dared everything and suffered greatly in his protracted efforts\nto lead the incredulous world to listen to his novel and glorious\nrevolutionary forms, which he knew to be superior to those of his\ntime. The soul behind stands out in his immortal music, high above the\nlimitations of his personality, for there was that in him which had\nlistened to the music of the spheres and which lived serenely apart\nfrom the jar and jangle of the petty life. That it is possible for an\ninspired Soul in touch with the Realities to force its way through\nall kinds of difficulties, even the greatest--the incarnation in a\nhindering personality--and to deliver its message of living beauty to\nmen, seems to be the principal lesson this ill-advised autobiography\nteaches. It would have been better perhaps that it had never seen the\nlight, for there are not many who have the understanding of the complex\nnature of man, the higher and the lower, which alone can interpret so\nunusual a character.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE SPIRIT of revolution was in the air of Europe when Wagner was\nmeditating upon the imperfections of the grand opera of his youth. He\nsays, \"The spirit of revolution took possession of me once forever.\"\nIn 1842 _The Flying Dutchman_ was brought out in Dresden, and in 1845\n_Tannh\u00e4user_ appeared and set all musical Europe by the ears. For\nthe rest of his life, till 1882, Wagner was at war with his fellow\nmusicians and critics. His keen perception of natural beauty and\nartistic fitness is shown in the following passage from his _Life_:\n\n One solitary flash of brightness was afforded by our view of the\n Wartburg, which we passed during the only sunlit hour of this journey.\n The sight of this mountain fastness, which from the Fulda side is\n clearly visible for a long time, affected me deeply. A neighboring\n ridge further on I at once christened the H\u00f6rselberg, and as I drove\n through the valley pictured to myself the scenery for the third act of\n my _Tannh\u00e4user_. The scene remained so vividly in my mind that long\n afterwards I was able to give Despl\u00e9chin, the Parisian scene painter,\n exact details when he was working out the scenery under my directions.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE DEATH of Felix Mottl came as a sudden blow to all music lovers.\nIt was known for a little while that the great Viennese conductor\nwas in bad health, but not that he was dangerously ill. He was only\nfifty-five. His reputation was made at an early age; in 1885 he was\nconducting _Tristan_ at Baireuth. Mottl was virtually the last of the\ngreat conductors who had received the true Wagnerian tradition by\npersonal contact with the great composer. He was also distinguished\namong German conductors of his time by his liking and understanding of\nFrench music, and for the success with which he conducted French music\nbefore the most discriminating Parisian audiences. He was well known\nin New York; where his conducting of the Nibelungen Ring series made\na profound impression. His remains were cremated. At his funeral in\nMunich no clergy were present, but Richard Strauss gave an eloquent\naddress.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"THERE are women in Boston,\" says the _Boston Herald_, \"who are\nundoubtedly as good violinists as some of the younger members of the\nBoston Symphony Orchestra, and perhaps better. But the old prejudice\nthat woman is necessarily inferior to man and for the same work should\nreceive less pay, is still to be reckoned with.\" Miss Maud Powell is\nperhaps the only American woman violinist who has reached the highest\nsuccess in this country, but there are many others who have spent many\nyears at the best European Conservatories and who are quartet and solo\nplayers of distinction, and yet while a male violinist of fair quality\ncan find employment, it is often difficult for women of equal ability\nto be admitted into the best orchestras. They have to become teachers,\nor to give up.\n\n * * * * *\n\nPADEREWSKI'S eloquent patriotic address at the Chopin Centenary\nFestival has just been translated into English. He says: \"Music is the\nonly art that actually lives. Her elements, vibration, palpitation, are\nthe elements of life itself.\" The great pianist is repeating exactly\nwhat Katherine Tingley said many years ago. In her R\u00e2ja Yoga system\nof training, music is given a prominent position, and the effect upon\nthe character has been very marked. To produce the best results and\nto avoid the undesirable ones which the ordinary musical training\nsometimes engenders, great discrimination in the method of teaching is\nnecessary. In the R\u00e2ja Yoga system of education music is taught in such\na way that the interest is sustained without the egotism and vanity of\nthe pupil being stimulated. Can this be said of musical training in\ngeneral?\n\n * * * * *\n\nFRANCE is certainly the land of great opportunities. A caf\u00e9 singer,\nM. Couyba, who, fifteen years ago was earning a precarious salary at\na Montmartre restaurant by singing his own songs, is now Minister of\nCommerce in the new French cabinet.\n\n\n\n\nANCIENT CALENDARS: by Travers\n\n\nAmong features of the Chinese calendar we find:\n\nThe connexion of the five planets and the sun and moon in a septenate\ncalled the Seven Regulators, with a corresponding septenary week, and\nin some cases a sabbath marked as inauspicious for doing work.\n\nThe Ten Celestial Stems, representing the Father Heaven or masculine\nprinciple.\n\nThe Twelve Earthly Branches, representing the Mother Earth or feminine\nprinciple; also standing for the twelve houses of the zodiac, which are\nof uneven size, and are denoted by symbolic animals.\n\nThe year is lunar, but its commencement is regulated by the sun, the\nnew year falling on the first new moon after the sun enters Aquarius.\n\nThese features are supposed to have been \"introduced,\" mostly from\nChaldaea; but whether the Chinese got them from the Chaldees or the\nChaldees from the Chinamen, the question as to how and by whom they\nwere originated remains the same.\n\nThe subject of ancient calendrical systems is extensive, and no\nspeculation can be of much account which has not been prefaced by\nan examination of the various systems. It would be pertinent, for\ninstance, to see what is known about the calendars which have came down\nto us from the ancient Central Americans. These evince an accurate\nknowledge of the periods of the celestial movements, together with\nknowledge of another kind; for the Mexicans had both a civil and a\nsacred year. The former was 365 days, with 13 added every 52 years; the\nlatter 260 days, with 13 months of 20 days each, each month divided\ninto 4 weeks of 5 days each.\n\nIt is evident that the entire system from which all these various\nancient systems of computation were derived was complex and profound,\nand that it comprised a mathematical knowledge having sound reason at\nthe bottom of it, but whose keys have not yet been discovered. The\ncompetency of the computers is shown by their ability to ascertain with\nexactitude all natural cycles, such as those of the solar year and the\neclipses, when such was their purpose; and this relieves them from the\nimputation that their secret and sacred years were due to ignorance\nand mal-observation. These cycles were not due to ignorance, but to a\nknowledge and a purpose which remains to be discovered by research free\nfrom both theological and scientific bias.\n\nThe septenate of planets is of course a very familiar symbol in ancient\nlore; the number seven was recognized as the principal key-number in\ncosmic architecture. The reason why the sun and moon are included\namong the number of planets is not due to ignorance; and it is evident\nthat such an alleged ignorance is not compatible with the knowledge\ndisplayed in other particulars. It was due to the fact that the real\nseptenate of planets was esoteric, an item of arcane knowledge, and\nthat when the septenate was mentioned exoterically, the place of two\nsecret planets had to be supplied, the sun and moon being introduced\nfor this purpose.\n\nThe question whether the number of zodiacal signs was originally twelve\nor ten receives a suggestive hint from the fact that in the above\ncalendar both a denary and a duodenary were used. The ten and the\ntwelve are combined in some of these calendars by taking their least\ncommon multiple, 60, and using that number to designate a period of 60\nyears. Ten and twelve are likewise said to be combined by addition in\nthe 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.\n\nFrom such gleanings of archaic science as are accessible to us, we\nmay infer that it consisted largely in a marvelous application of\nfundamental mathematical principles to mensuration and the measurement\nof time. The computers, so far from being ignorant experimenters,\nwere very brainy people, as we find some of their descendants to be\nstill. The still unexplained existence of the very ancient \u00c2ryan Hind\u00fb\nastronomy of the _S\u00fbrya-Siddh\u00e2nta_ and other works, proves that, when\nexact calculation of natural cycles was the object, the calculators\nwere fully as competent as ourselves. We must infer, then, that their\nsecret and sacred cycles were based on the like competence and not upon\nignorance.\n\nAs to mathematics, there are some who think that our great progress in\nthat science may represent merely a partial recovery of what was known\nbefore; and that logarithms and the calculus may be but a fraction of\nwhat has been known. And there is much yet to be found out as to the\nrelation between numbers and dimensions. It is hardly to be expected,\nhowever, that a culture so recent as our own should have reached the\npoint that must have been attained by civilizations of such duration as\nthose of the past.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MYSTERIES OF ELEUSIS: by H. T. E.\n\n\nEleusis is sacred as one of the last, and to us best known, spots where\nthe Ancient Mysteries survived in publicly recognized form until the\ndays when corruption and dogmatism caused their withdrawal. The name\nwakes an echo in the recesses of our consciousness, for do we not\nbelong to the same humanity as that which flourished when the Mysteries\nwere recognized and venerated?\n\nIn considering the Mysteries we must choose between two hypotheses.\nEither the whole thing was a delusion and a fraud, or the Mysteries\nheld and could impart knowledge inaccessible to the outsider and\nsince departed from among men. To maintain the former theory we must\ndiscredit our own judgment and invalidate all human testimony on any\nsubject whatever, by supposing that whole nations and ages of competent\nand highly cultured people were deluded. As so well argued by Thomas\nTaylor, relatively to the ancient oracles (_Century Path_, Sept. 25,\n1910), such a theory is altogether preposterous. The only thing which\nstands in the way of our admitting in this particular case the true\nvalue of evidence is our own foolish vanity and juvenile insularity\nas regards the merits of our own culture. We are reluctant to admit\nthat anything we do not know can be knowledge; any one who contradicts\nus must be wrong. A fine attitude to take! Yet of late years our\nconfidence has somewhat wavered. For one thing we have found that\nour scientific universe is not so complete as we once thought it was\nand that we have merely been exploring an anteroom; but now we find\nourselves on the threshold of a vast unexplored region. For another\nthing, we find a few little difficulties arising in connexion with the\nmanagement of the affairs of civilized life, which makes us a little\nmistrustful of the efficiency of our knowledge. Little details like\nphysical health bother us; there are insurrections of vice we cannot\nquell; our religion is decaying; our philosophy is composed mostly of\ndoubts and questionings.\n\nThe Mysteries of Eleusis date from times to us prehistoric; but our\nhistorians have at last been forced to admit that the period of Grecian\ncivilization covered by our history books was but the tail end of a\nperiod equal in culture and antiquity to those of Egypt and Chaldaea.\nThe rites consisted of the Greater and the Lesser Mysteries, the former\ncelebrated between harvest and seed-time, the latter in the spring. The\ninner teachings were kept secret by effectual means; for the public\nthere were \"dramas,\" in which the exoteric teachings were symbolically\npresented. The institutions of all past times were based on what\nfiltered out through many channels from the veiled Mysteries. The\nDrama can be traced back through the plays of Aeschylus and the choric\ndances in honor of Dionysus to the exoteric rites of the Mysteries.\nOur own religious symbolism is derived therefrom: our term \"Christ,\"\nour sacraments, our Cross, etc., etc. The Mysteries are the eternal\nroot of religions. For the gateway of knowledge is Man's own inner\nfaculties, by which, when purified, he comes into direct relation with\nthe mysteries of the Unseen. Hence the preliminary requisite for the\ncandidate was always purification; his attainments were conditioned on\nhis success in that respect.\n\nIt is even so today; for none but the pure, who have given guarantees\nof unselfishness and integrity, can attain. Those who lust after\nknowledge without having thus earned the right to it fall into\ndelusions--of which also the world today is not without illustrations.\nSo great is the power of these words, \"Mysteries\" and \"Eleusis,\" in the\ninner consciousness of man, that they are even now used by \"magicians\"\nas part of the paraphernalia which, together with rabbits and top-hats,\nthey carry about in their carpet bags as a means of relieving the idle\nof some of their spare cash.\n\nIf anybody today thirsts after knowledge the old way is still open.\nHe can either belong to \u03bf\u1f31 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03bb\u03bf\u03af, the crowd, or seek to\nenrol himself of the elect. But the latter dignity is not a matter of\nprivilege. He can neither be admitted nor refused, except according\nto his qualifications. The desire to join a movement for uplifting\nhumanity is the key that will open the first door. Students of\nTheosophy will find that that condition has always been made essential;\nsee H. P. Blavatsky's writings, as also those of her successors, W. Q.\nJudge and Katherine Tingley. He who desires to be initiated into the\nmysteries of his own Soul must first purify his heart and mind. Thus\nalone can he distinguish between the false and the true. Otherwise\nhe must go by the erring light of his fallible judgment and accept\nteachings on the authority of the teachers. But the man who relies on\nthe guidance of his own pure motives will not be imposed upon and will\nfollow only such teachings as give him the light he seeks.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PART OF THE RUINS OF\nELEUSIS]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. HAINES, ALASKA]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. AN ALASKAN VALLEY]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. AN ALASKAN GLACIER]\n\n\n\n\nGLACIATION, PAST AND PRESENT: by T. Henry\n\n\nThe stupendous effects of ice in ages long gone by have been\nelaborately studied by geologists, who have given us fascinating\ndescriptions thereof. The enormous power of ice as an agent in\ntransforming the land is shown by the study of its doings at the\npresent day. Much has been done in this direction in the Alps, but\nin America we have Alaska, which, besides the prospects of material\nresources which it holds out to the future, is already affording a fine\nfield for the observer of nature. Here we may see glaciers at work;\nand though the action of the ice-sheet at its bottom is hid from view,\nwhat goes on at the advancing margin is evident from year to year,\nand even from day to day. All the phenomena of moraines, the pushing\nforward of rocks and trees, the damming up of valleys to form lakes,\nthe scraping up of boulder-clay, the rounding-off of the rocks, etc.,\nmay be witnessed; together with many details that could not easily have\nbeen inferred from a study of the sites of past glaciation. One of the\nmost interesting of these effects is the way in which the glacier acts\nindirectly through the force of the huge waves it produces when it\nenters a river. Vast blocks from the ice-front fall off with a splash\nand send up a wave and a series of waves that sweep over the bank and\ninto the forest beyond, achieving more erosion than ever rain or river\ndid. The greater erosive effects follow on brief sudden movements.\n\nIn the _National Geographical Magazine_ (Washington) for June, 1911,\nthere is a most interesting article recording the field-studies of the\nNational Geographical Society in Alaska. Many of the glaciers which\nthey studied had advanced during the last year or two, and others had\nbeen retreating. The reasons why some should advance while others\nretreat were not satisfactorily determined, and further study must\nprecede a decision in this respect. But earthquakes, of which there\nwere twenty-six days in September, 1899, are assigned a chief r\u00f4le. The\neffect of an earthquake was to produce a sudden advance and great but\nbrief transformations.\n\n One of the largest glaciers in Yakutat Bay, the Nunatak, had changed a\n great deal since the year before. It had advanced decidedly, different\n parts of its front having come out 700 to 1000 feet up to June 17,\n 1910. From 1890 to 1909 the Nunatak Glacier receded steadily, going\n back over two miles and a half in this time.... The forward movement\n commenced between July 6, 1909 and June 1910. This was due to the\n accession of unusually large quantities of snow to the reservoirs\n of this glacier by avalanches during the twenty-six days of severe\n earthquakes of September, 1899.\n\nThe size of glaciers is illustrated by the following description:\n\n On the lower Copper River is Childs Glacier, which is seriously\n threatening to destroy a steel railway bridge just completed. The rate\n of forward motion in Childs Glacier increased during the winter of\n 1909-10 so that part of the margin of the glacier changed its forward\n movement from nothing to two and as much as eight feet a day....\n Childs Glacier is ten to twelve miles long, not much over a mile wide\n in the mountain valley, but it widens to over three miles in Copper\n River Valley.\n\n Its front is a precipitous white wall 250 to 300 feet high, and is\n swept at the base by Copper River....\n\n In August, 1909, Childs Glacier was advancing at about its normal\n rate--four feet a day at a point near the north side and perhaps six\n or seven feet a day in midglacier. The melting and the many icebergs\n discharged from the terminal cliff at that time just about balanced\n this advance, so that the front of the glacier remained in about the\n same place.... During the winter and early spring of 1909-10, however,\n the glacier began to advance more rapidly, buckling up the ice of the\n frozen river. In June 1910 the ice-front had moved forward from 920 to\n 1225 feet, narrowing the river to 400 or 500 feet.\n\n Every time the ice cliff was sufficiently undercut by the river, great\n masses of ice would cascade down the front, raising a gigantic wave in\n the river.... During the advance the waves washed up over a bank five\n to twenty-five feet in height and rushed back 100 or 200 feet into\n the alder thicket. Ice blocks, up to ten tons in weight were thrown\n in among the trees. Stones a foot or two in diameter were hurled into\n the thicket. Alders nine to eleven inches in diameter were stripped of\n leaves and bark and bent backward or broken off short, or uprooted or\n buried beneath the gravel and boulders and macerated trunks of other\n trees.\n\n The river bank, which was cut back some in the preceding year was in\n 1910 being fairly eaten up by the iceberg waves which crossed the\n river, fifty to sixty feet by actual measurement having been removed\n along the bank of the stream facing the glacier.\n\n It was a rare opportunity to see the visible forward movement of\n Childs Glacier into the forest. A series of lobes developed, though\n some of them were not persistent, and at the end of these lobes the\n day-to-day changes were most pronounced. Ice blocks were sliding down\n the frontal slope some of them being rolled many feet into the forest;\n trees were overturned, turf and grass were ploughed up and carried on\n the ice of the glacier. Yet one saw and heard little of a spectacular\n nature while traversing the ice-front. It was an irresistible steady\n movement, but slow, as the movement of the hour hand of a clock is\n slow. As impressive as anything was to find tons of ice resting where\n one stood to take a photograph the day before, or to find some great\n tree, 100 years old, prone on the ground with the butt beneath the\n glacier, where the day before the tree was upright with the ice just\n touching it.\n\n A whole grove ... was overturned between 1909 and 1910, ...\n practically not a tree remaining which was not overturned or leaning.\n Peat bogs were rolled up in great bolsters five or six feet high.\n Isolated trees in the peat were pushed forward a hundred feet or more\n without being overturned.... In the bay east of Heather Island marine\n deposits with shells are being pushed up above sea-level.\n\n On the east margin of the glacier a lake was formed where there was\n only a marginal stream.\n\nIt is evident that in ice we have an agent which in the past has played\na great part in cosmic changes and cataclysms, and may do so at any\ntime in the future. When we consider the changes in climate to which\nthe earth is believed to be liable, owing to certain cyclic changes in\nthe gearing of its revolving pinions, the conviction becomes stronger.\nIt is now generally admitted that the words \"Ice Age\" or \"Glacial Age\"\nshould be spelt with a final _s_ indicating the plural number; for if\nthere was one there were many. What we study in the north of America\nand Europe is the effects of the last, or the last few, of these\nperiodic phenomena.\n\n\n\n\nGOD AND THE CHILD\n\n\"For in Him we live and move and have our being.\"--_St. Paul_\n\n\n God and I in space alone\n And nobody else in view:\n \"And where are the people, oh Lord,\" I said,\n \"The earth below and the sky o'erhead\n And the dead whom once I knew?\"\n\n \"That was a dream,\" the good God said,\n \"A dream that seemed to be true;\n There are no people living or dead,\n There is no earth and no sky o'erhead,\n There is only Myself--and you.\"\n\n \"Why do I feel no fear?\" I asked,\n \"Meeting you here this way,\n For I have sinned, I know full well--\n And is there heaven and is there a hell\n And is this the judgment day?\"\n\n \"Nay, all are but dreams,\" the great God said;\n \"Dreams that have ceased to be.\n There is no such thing as fear or sin,\n There is no you and never has been--\n There is nothing at all but Me.\"--_Selected_\n\n\n\n\nPOWER: by Lydia Ross, M. D.\n\n\nHis hearers agreed that the pastor of their ultra-fashionable church\nhad transcended himself that Sunday morning. This was no small praise,\nfor his trained mind and wide experience, his analysis of men, his\ndelicate wit, his eloquence, and the fervid poetry of his prayers made\nthe congregation regard his ordinary efforts with patronizing pride.\nWhen he began with the beatitudes, in clear, resonant tones, his voice\nseemed to radiate a grateful calm through the softly lighted interior.\nThen he painted a graphic picture of the compensations of unselfish\nwork and sacrifice, artistically coloring the whole theme with the glow\nof noble peace which comes to those who give themselves generously.\n\nThere was a responsive awakening in the cultured, ennuied minds of his\nhigh-bred audience which was like wine to the speaker. The interest\nwhich he had aroused reacted as a pungent mental stimulus. The very air\nseemed to scintillate with new thoughts which he swiftly grasped and\nclothed in vivid words.\n\nMy Lady Luxury, who had played the game of \"slumming\" for diversion,\nbreathed a little deeper in her faultless gown. The commonplace\ncreatures of work and weariness had never seemed quite the same kind\nof flesh and blood as the members of her exclusive set. The poor were\ninteresting enough as authors' types or artists' models but she had\nnot supposed they had any of the finer feelings. She assumed that\nthe narrow ugliness of their lives could be no trial since they had\nnever known anything else. How skilfully the minister was analysing\nthings. After all, there was some comfort in religion when a man could\npreach like that. If the homely struggles of the weary, dulled mothers\nand fathers of poverty and toil had these compensating pleasures of\nsacrifice, they could not complain. It really was an indifferent\nmatter, then, whether one gave alms or not, though of course, the\nfashionable charities ought to be sustained. She was not stirred to\ntaste the higher sense of sacrifice so well described, but a complacent\nfeeling of the fitness of things came over her. How absurd the less\nfortunate were to think this an unjust world. The toilers' backs were\nfitted to their burdens as hers was meant for soft purple and fine\nlinen. This was not exactly what the minister was saying, but it suited\nher to regard him as the author of her translation.\n\nThe members of the pulpit committee in their pews secretly\ncongratulated themselves upon their foresight in having selected this\ncandidate. The demands of the position were exacting, but he was equal\nto them--even his physique fitted the pulpit admirably. His culture and\nlearning were a credit to even this patrician parish, which believed in\nhaving the best that money could procure.\n\nDown the central aisle was the clear-cut, immobile face of a financier\nwhose opinions in the money world were never discounted. His keen eyes\nrested upon the speaker in admiration. Personally he played the game\nof gold so intensely he forgot to calculate what life meant to the\nindividuals who composed \"the market.\" He was rather hypnotized with\nhis own success: but he recognized his peer in this man who ruled in\nhis own world of thought. Why, he was making the game of life appear so\nvivid and real that the whole financial play grew dull and artificial\nbeside it. The listener's quick eye noted the alert, interested faces\naround him. Ah, it were indeed a great thing so to play upon the minds\nof men and women as to win this tribute of silent, rapt attention. The\neloquent voice aroused in him no impulse of envy or of aspiration; but\nhis own ability inwardly saluted this master of words who could so\npaint the atmosphere with sound.\n\nA gratified flush crept into the minister's face as he looked over the\naudience. Was this not ready proof of the compensations of work? He had\nput his mind's best effort into this sermon, and there was not one in\nthe great church who was not touched, mentally.\n\nThat sense of the unreality of the market-place followed the financier\nafter the artistic music had ended the service. Later in the day he\nwandered along the country roads in the spring sunshine, thinking of\nthe sermon. How dramatic it all had been and how perfect a performance!\nIt seemed a part of the fresh spring day as the inviting green fields\nmelted into his reverie and he followed the path with careless strides.\n\nThe wind gently stirred the branches and a delicate shower of fragrant\npetals fell at his feet, while a strangely familiar odor filled the air\nwith its long-forgotten charm. Apple blossoms! How sweet they were!\nWith delicious subtlety the perfumed breath from the boughs filled him\nwith its own ethereal magic. Nature was playing a glorious game of\nsound and color and form and fragrance. Deep in his slumbering heart\nsomething stirred and fluttered and sprang up at the first touch of\nthis enchantment. The power in the fragile petals swept the sordid\nearth from under his feet. The dear old apple orchard of his boyhood\nwas before him. Again he stood upon the threshold of joyous, strong,\nyoung life. The taste of sweet belief in an untried world was on his\nlips, the wine of high impulse tingling in every nerve. The harmony\nof life's song thrilled him into vibrant sympathy with its purity and\nbeauty and his heart glowed with the faith which only youth knows.\n\nOh that he might crystallize the wondrous meaning of this perfumed\nvision of unfolding life into sound or color or form that would make\nthe dreary world of men feel that this, this was the reality! His\npulses throbbed with a longing for toil and struggle and sacrifice--no\neffort was too great, no price too much to pay, if only he might help\nto voice this living poetry. He would valiantly espouse this cause of\nbeauty until mankind's glad belief should liberate the truth imprisoned\nin a selfish world. No lesser ambition should lure him from the task:\nthis was the only thing worth while. Other champions might prove more\nable, and he might sadly fail; but oh, how he longed to lose himself in\nthe glory of the attempt.\n\nWith uncovered head the financier stood disciple-wise among the\ntrees. Long and deeply he drank of the redolent air, feasting his\neyes upon the marvel of perfectly tinted petals and countless buds of\npromise still brighter in their tender curves. It was all too subtle\nfor analysis, yet his heart recognized the meaning of the message\nso strangely sweet and strong. What revelation lay at the heart of\nthis unfoldment, with its touch of the eternal spring which sleeps\nbeneath all forms! Oh the power and inspiration and the rare, old-time\nenchantment of returning apple-blossoms!\n\n\n\n\nSOKRATES: by F. S. Darrow, A. M., Ph. D. (Harv.)\n\n\nSokrates was born in 469 B. C. and was put to death in 399 B. C. at the\nage of seventy. He grew to manhood among the splendors of the Periklean\nAge; took an active and honorable part in the Peloponnesian War;\nsaw the Long Walls, extending from Athens to its harbor, Peiraeeus,\ndestroyed at the blast of Lysander's trumpet, and displayed the\nfearlessness and nobility of his nature during the Reign of Terror when\nthe Thirty Tyrants ruled at Athens. Finally he was accused of heresy\nand was condemned by his fellow-citizens to drink the hemlock--the\nimmemorial fate of great believers, to be condemned for unbelief by\nunbelievers.\n\nThree dialogs of Plato depict the last month of his master's life,\nthe _Apology_, the _Crito_, and the _Phaedo_. The _Apology_ is a\nreproduction of the extemporaneous defense made by Sokrates at his\ntrial. The _Crito_ is a discussion between Sokrates and his old friend\nKriton on the subject: Would it be right and just for Sokrates to\naccept Kriton's proffered assistance and escape? The _Phaedo_ is a most\nbeautiful and inspiring account of the last day of Sokrates' life, when\nin prison surrounded by a few devoted disciples, in discussing the\nnature and destiny of the soul he avowed his belief in its immortality,\nits pre-existence, and its rebirth.\n\nThe personality of Sokrates was strikingly unique. He was unusually\nrobust and strong, capable of enduring fatigue and hardship to a\nsurprising degree. He went barefoot throughout the year, even when\ncampaigning at Potidaea and among the severe snows of Thrace. The same\nclothing sufficed him in winter as in summer. His diet was simple\nand temperate, and \"he used to say in jest that Circe transformed\nmen into hogs by entertaining them with an abundance of luxury,\nbut that Odysseus through his temperance was not changed into a\nhog.\" Nevertheless, at festivals and banquets when joviality and\nindulgence were in order, Sokrates was able to outdo all the others.\nHe consciously limited the number of his wants and repressed all\nartificial tastes. He was just, moderate, and above all independent\nin thought and action, absolutely regardless of danger when confident\nthat he was acting rightly. His features were extremely ugly and\ngrotesque: his nose was flat, his nostrils large, his lips thick, his\neyes bulging; so that his companions jokingly compared him to the\nmythical old Satyr, Silenus. He purposely avoided politics and never\nheld any public office until 406 B. C., when for a single day, as\nchairman of the Prytanes, he presided at a meeting of the Popular\nAssembly and refused to put to vote the unconstitutional proposal that\nthe victorious generals of Arginusae be condemned collectively and be\nexecuted for their alleged neglect of duty. Heedless of threats and\nprotests, at the greatest personal risk Sokrates persisted in his noble\nrefusal to listen to the clamor of the mob. He was so law-abiding,\nsuch an advocate of peace and stranger to violence, so diligent in\nthe performance of the duties of an upright man and of a brave and\nrighteous citizen, that despite his many enemies he was never summoned\nto appear in court until in his seventieth year he was accused of\natheism and impiety. He was pre-eminently a teacher of ethics, a\npreacher of morality, a defender of right, an earnest believer in duty.\nHe is the Prophet of Reason, who \"more than any other one of the great\nteachers of religion sought to sanctify the mind and to give to common\nsense a sacramental power.\"\n\nThree peculiarities mark Sokrates as a loyal member of that splendid\nband of brothers who possess that wisdom which in all ages, entering\ninto noble souls, makes them prophets and reformers. First, he passed\nhis long life teaching in contented poverty, and devoted all his\nenergy to pointing out piety, self-control, and justice to all, young\nand old alike. Secondly, he was of a deeply sensitive, religious\nnature, and firmly believed that he had a divine mission to perform\nunder the inspiration of his Daemon or Higher Self. Thirdly, he was\nintellectually original both in choice of subject and in method of\nteaching. Plato calls him \"a cross-examining God.\"\n\n His lecture-room was the street; his auditors were shoemakers,\n tanners, sailors, and other craftsmen; his philosophy was for the\n market-place. His disciples were young men whose minds he had\n quickened and whose lives he had elevated. He aimed to prick the\n bubble of pretension everywhere.... To Sokrates the precept inscribed\n on the Delphian temple, \"Know thyself,\" was the holiest of all texts.\n\nHe accepted no salary for the instruction he gave and refused the\nmany rich gifts which were offered to him, spending the entire day in\nconversing with all who cared to listen to him, treating without any\ndistinction rich and poor, never withholding his assistance from any\none who consulted him in the spirit of truth. As his words were both\ninteresting and instructive, some regularly attended him in public,\nand these were commonly called his disciples of students, although\nneither Sokrates nor his personal friends used the terms teacher and\ndisciple because of the disrepute then attached to them as a result of\nthe mercenary and casuistical teachings of the Sophists. Early in the\nmorning Sokrates frequented the public walks, the gymnasia, and the\nschools. Then later, between nine and ten, he went to the market-place,\nwhen it was most crowded.\n\nSokrates' power of meditation was developed very exceptionally.\nFrequently for hours at a time the strength of his inner life made him\nentirely oblivious to the outer world. In proof of this it is recorded\nthat while he was a soldier at Potidaea\n\n One morning he was thinking about something which he could not\n resolve; and he would not give it up but continued thinking from\n early dawn until noon--there he stood fixed in thought; and at noon\n attention was drawn to him and the rumor ran through the wondering\n crowd that Sokrates had been standing and thinking about something\n ever since the break of day. At last, in the evening after supper,\n some Ionians out of curiosity (I should explain that this was not in\n winter but in summer), brought out their mats and slept in the open\n air that they might watch him and see whether he would stand all\n night. There he stood all night as well as all day and the following\n morning; and with the return of light he offered up a prayer to the\n sun and went his way.\n\nTwo nights before he died, when the date of his execution was not known\nby him or his friends, it was revealed to him by a vision \"in the\nlikeness of a woman, fair and comely, clothed in white raiment, who\ncalled out and cried: 'O Sokrates, the third day hence, to Phthia shalt\nthou go.'\" Sokrates also declares:\n\n In the course of my life I have often had intimations in dreams that\n \"I should make music.\" The same dream came to me sometimes in one form\n and sometimes in another but always saying the same or nearly the same\n words: \"Make and cultivate music,\" said the dream. And hitherto I\n imagined that this was only intended to exhort and encourage me in the\n study of philosophy, which has always been the pursuit of my life and\n is the noblest and best of music.\n\nAlso, Sokrates heard even in childhood a divine voice, which all\nthrough his life acted as a restraining influence whenever he was about\nto take a false step. This never urged him to adopt any particular\nline of action but always served as a prohibitory warning. He heard\nit not only on great but also on small occasions when it frequently\nprevented him from continuing what he had begun to say or do. Later\nwriters refer to this as the Daemon or Genius of Sokrates, but he\nalways spoke of it as a \"Divine Sign, a Prophetic Voice,\" and obeyed\nit implicitly, referring to it publicly and familiarly to others. It\nhad continually forbidden him to enter public life, and after he was\nindicted it forbade him to take any thought of what he should then do\nor say, bidding him to trust that all would come out for the best.\nSo completely, he tells us, did he walk with a consciousness of this\nbridle that whenever he felt no check he was confident that all was\nwell. His enemies asserted that this belief was an offensive heresy,\nan impious innovation on the orthodox creed, atheistic and immoral.\nHence they accused him of not worshiping the recognized gods but of\nintroducing new and false divinities of his own. The truth is that\nSokrates believed in One Divine Life, the One in All and the All in\nOne, while he did not deny the existence of the popular gods but\ndeclared that the popular conceptions were erroneous and imperfect.\n\nTo appreciate the mission of Sokrates, the message he had to deliver,\nit is necessary to refer to the Oracle of Delphi, in which Apollo\nproclaimed to Chaerephon, an intimate friend and enthusiastic follower,\nthat Sokrates was the wisest of all men of his time. This declaration\nexerted a very great influence upon the subsequent life of Sokrates in\nthat it caused him to inquire continually, What is wisdom? and made him\nnot only a philosopher but a religious reformer as well. In the words\nof Cicero: \"Sokrates labored to bring philosophy from heaven to earth.\"\n\nSokrates taught:\n\n There is no better way to true glory than to endeavor to _be good_\n rather than to _seem so_.\n\n A man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of\n living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything\n he is doing right or wrong--acting the part of a good man or of a bad.\n For wherever a man's place is, whether the place he has chosen or that\n in which he has been placed by a commander, there he ought to remain\n in the hour of danger; he should not think of death or of anything but\n of disgrace.\n\n The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding\n unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death.\n\n Let every man be of good cheer about his soul, who has ruled his body\n and followed knowledge and goodness in this life; for if death be a\n journey to another place and there all the dead are, what good can be\n greater than this? Be of good cheer about death and know this of a\n truth that no evil can happen to a good man either in life or after\n death.\n\n To want as little as possible is to make the nearest approach to the\n Deity.\n\n Knowledge is the food of the soul.\n\n We ought not to retaliate and render evil for evil to any one,\n whatever evil we may have suffered from him. Neither injury nor\n retaliation nor warding off evil by evil is ever right. Act toward\n others as you would have others act toward you. Forgive your enemies,\n render good for evil, and kiss even the hand that is upraised to smite.\n\n Grant me to be beautiful in soul and may all I possess of outward\n things be at harmony with those within. Teach me to think wisdom the\n only riches.\n\n If thou wouldst know what is the wisdom of the gods and what their\n love is, render thyself deserving the communication of some of those\n divine secrets, which may not be penetrated by man and which are\n imparted to those alone who consult, adore, and obey the Deity.\n\nSokrates, speaking of his life-work, says:\n\n In this research and scrutiny I have been long engaged. I interrogate\n every man of reputation. I prove him to be defective in wisdom but I\n can not prove it so as to make him sensible of the defect. Fulfilling\n the mission imposed upon me, I have established the veracity of the\n god (Apollo), who meant to pronounce that human wisdom is of little\n reach and worth; and that he who like Sokrates feels most convinced of\n his own worthlessness as to wisdom is really the wisest of men, for\n the truth is, O men of Athens, the Deity only is wise. My service to\n the god has not only constrained me to live in constant poverty and\n neglect of political estimation, but has brought upon me a host of\n bitter enemies in those whom I have examined and exposed, while the\n bystanders talk of me as a wise man because they give me credit for\n wisdom respecting all the points on which my exposure of others turns.\n\n Whatever be the danger and obloquy which I may incur, it would be\n monstrous indeed, if having maintained my place in the ranks as an\n hoplite under your generals at Delium and Potidaea, I were now from\n fear of death or anything else to disobey the oracle and desert\n the post which the god has assigned to me, the duty of living for\n philosophy and cross-questioning both myself and others. And should\n you even now offer to acquit me, on condition of my renouncing this\n duty, I should tell you with all respect and affection that I will\n obey the god rather than you and that I will persist until my dying\n day in cross-questioning you, exposing your want of wisdom and virtue\n and reproaching you until the defect be remedied. My mission as your\n monitor is a mark of the special favor of the gods to you and if you\n condemn me it will be your loss; for you will find none other such.\n Perhaps you will ask me, Why cannot you go away, Sokrates, and live\n in peace and silence? This is the hardest of all questions for me to\n answer to your satisfaction. If I tell you that silence on my part\n would be disobedience to the god, you will think me in jest and not\n believe me. You will believe me still less, if I tell you that the\n greatest blessing which can happen to man is to carry on discussions\n every day about virtue and those other matters which you hear me\n conversing, when I cross-examine myself and others and that life\n without such examination is no life at all. Nevertheless so stands the\n fact, incredible as it may seem to you.\n\n I certainly have my enemies [the Pharisaical party and the High\n Priests of orthodoxy] and these will be my destruction if I am\n destroyed; of that I am certain; not that Meletos, nor yet Anytos, but\n the envy and detraction of the world, which has been the death of\n many more--there is no danger of my being the last of them.\n\nLater, after his condemnation, he added:\n\n And I prophesy to you, my murderers, that immediately after my death,\n punishment far heavier than you have inflicted on me will surely await\n you. Me you have killed because you wanted to escape the accuser and\n not to give an account of your lives. But that will not be as you\n suppose; far otherwise. For I say that there will be more accusers of\n you than there are now. For if you think that by killing men you can\n avoid the accuser censuring your lives, you are mistaken--that is not\n a way of escape which is either possible or honorable; the easiest\n and noblest way is not to be crushing others but to be improving\n yourselves. This is the prophecy which I utter to the judges who have\n condemned me.\n\nHow true have the last twenty-three centuries proved these words to be!\nHow many deaths and ruined lives have been accomplished by that same\nspirit of intolerance! It led the way from Gethsemane to Golgotha. It\nis responsible for the death of the martyrs in all ages. It lighted the\nfagots that consumed the bodies of Giordano Bruno and Joan of Arc. Yes,\nand hundreds of others. How just is the praise with which the Saint\nMark of Sokrates ends the _Memorabilia_ of his master:\n\n Of those who know what sort of a man Sokrates was, such as are lovers\n of virtue continue to regret him above all other men even to the\n present date, as having contributed in the highest degree to their\n advancement in goodness. To me, being such as I have described him, so\n pious that he did nothing without the sanction of the gods; so just,\n that he wronged no man even in the most trifling affair, but was of\n service in most important matters to those who enjoyed his society; so\n temperate that he never preferred pleasure to virtue; so wise that he\n never erred in distinguishing the better from the worse, needing no\n counsel from others but being sufficient in himself to discriminate\n between them; and so capable of discovering the character of others,\n of confuting those who were in error and of exhorting them to virtue\n and honor, he seemed to be such as the best and happiest of men would\n be.\n\n Then to side with Truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,\n Ere her cause bring fame and profit and 'tis prosperous to be just,\n Then it is the brave man chooses, while the coward stands aside,\n Doubting in his abject spirit, till his Lord is crucified,\n And the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.\n\n Count me o'er earth's chosen heroes--they were souls that stood alone\n While the men they agonized for, hurled the contumelious stone;\n Stood serene, and down the future saw the golden beam incline,\n To the side of perfect justice, mastered by their faith divine.--\n They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth.\n\nSokrates was early canonized as a Christian Saint, and Professor\nJohn Stuart Blackie (1808-1895) \"Scotland's greatest Greek scholar,\"\nhas taken the idea of his Latin refrain in the following poem from a\nrosary by an early Christian father beginning \"Sancte Socrates, ora pro\nnobis:\"--\"O, Sainted Socrates, pray for us.\"\n\n\nO SANCTE SOCRATES, ORA PRO NOBIS!\n\n Dear God by wrathful routs\n How is thy church divided,\n And how may he that doubts\n In such turmoil be guided!\n When weeping I behold\n How Christian people quarrel,\n Ofttimes from Heathens old\n I fetch a saintly moral;\n And while they fret with rage\n The sore-distraught community,\n I look for some Greek sage\n Who preaches peace and unity.\n And thus I pray:\n O Sancte Socrates, ora pro nobis!\n Let faith and love and joy increase,\n And reason rule and wrangling cease,\n Good saint, we pray thee!\n\n They pile a priestly fence\n Of vain scholastic babble,\n To keep out common sense\n With the unlearned rabble.\n A curious creed they weave,\n And, for the church commands it,\n All men must needs believe,\n Though no man understands it;\n Thus while they rudely ban\n All honest thought as treason\n I from the Heathen clan\n Seek solace to my reason.\n And thus I pray:\n O Sancte Socrates, ora pro nobis!\n From creeds that men believe because\n They fear a damnatory clause,\n Good saint, deliver us!\n\n Some preach a God so grim\n That when his anger swelleth,\n They crouch and cower to him\n When sacred fear compelleth;\n God loves his few pet lambs,\n And saves his one pet nation,\n The rest he largely damns\n With swinging reprobation.\n Thus banished from the fold,\n I wisely choose to follow\n Some sunny preacher old\n Who worshiped bright Apollo.\n And thus I pray:\n O Sancte Socrates, ora pro nobis!\n From silly flocks of petted lambs,\n And from a faith that largely damns,\n Good saint, deliver us!\n\n * * * * *\n\n Such eager fancies vain\n Shape forth the rival churches;\n And each man's fuming brain\n God's holy light besmirches;\n And thus they all conspire\n The primal truth to smother,\n And think they praise their sire\n By hating well their brother.\n Such wrangling when I see\n Such storms of godly rancor,\n To Heathendom I flee\n To cast a peaceful anchor.\n And thus I pray:\n O Sancte Socrates, ora pro nobis!\n Let love and faith and joy increase,\n And reason rule and wrangling cease,\n Good saint, we pray thee!\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. SOKRATES AND SENECA\n(Berlin Museum)]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. AVENUE OF ROYAL\nPALMS, CUBA]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. CUBAN COUNTRY SCENE]\n\n\n[Illustration: FLORIDA PALMETTOS ONE-HALF MILE AVENUE]\n\n[Illustration: A CASUARINA AVENUE TREES 13 YEARS OLD]\n\nROYAL POINCIANA HOTEL, PALM BEACH, FLORIDA\n\nPhotos by Puffer, New York and Palm Beach\n\n\n\n\nA VISIT TO A LOUISIANA SUGAR PLANTATION: by Barbara McClung\n\n\nThe writer recently made a visit to a section of the country that still\nretains much of its own distinctive individuality and charm, most\ndelightful in these days, when the various widely-differing regions\nof our vast commonwealth seem to be trying to become as much alike as\npossible, and the very word _provincial_ is a name of scorn. We left\nNew Orleans in the early morning and much time was consumed in crossing\nthe Mississippi on a ferry. Soon after reaching the other side, the\nsugar plantations began, and our way lay through mile after mile of\nbrown furrowed fields stretching, as flat as the sea, to the distant\nriver levee, the only high ground in sight. What a glorious scene it\nmust be in the spring, when the young green cane begins to sprout, or\nin the fall, when it stands drawn up full height, waiting to be cut! It\nis an extremely wet country, full of countless ditches and trenches,\nand there is something about the flat land and straight, intersecting\ncanals that reminds one of Holland. As the train swept through one\nplantation after another, we could see in the distance, gleaming white\nhomesteads, set in little islands of green live-oaks, cut off by a\nfence from the spreading sea of bare fields. Each plantation had its\nsugar-house, lifting four or five tall smoke-stacks in air, and its\nlaborers' quarters--quite a little village of cabins or cottages, and\nsometimes, we ran close enough to see old-time darkies in actual red\nbandannas, staring at the train.\n\nThere is a class of French \"poor whites\" in this region, called\n\"Cajins\"--a corruption of \"Arcadians\"--and they are indeed a forlorn\nremnant of those unfortunate exiles who wandered all the way from\nNova Scotia to the bayous of Louisiana. The writer's memory reverted\nin a flash to the fields of Grandpr\u00e9, which she had visited only last\nsummer, and to the vision of the lonely well-sweep and straggling line\nof ancient French willows, which once bordered the vanished village\nstreet. Strange to say, there is a noticeable resemblance between the\nflat, inlet-threaded meadows of the Minas Basin and the winding bayous\naround us. Occasionally the plantations would give way to swamps, where\npalmettos, bamboos, and cypresses with their weirdly beautiful trailing\nmoss, were growing out of a watery, glassy floor, and it was hard to\nrealize that if drained, these marshes would be quite as good soil as\nthe rest. We saw a solitary hunter, gun in hand, standing on a bit of\ntree trunk in the bog; how he could have gotten there without a boat or\nelse wings, is a mystery.\n\nThe house at which we visited, realized in every way one's ideal\nof what an old plantation home should be. It is an immense square\nbuilding with double galleries, tall white columns and green shutters;\nit faces the Mississippi, which, however, cannot be seen from the\nground floor on account of the levee. The architecture is of engaging\nsimplicity--four large rooms, each exactly twenty-five feet square,\nupstairs and down, with a hall eighteen feet wide between. At the\nrear is a long wing, perhaps a later addition, with the inevitable\nand delightful gallery around it. The house contains many treasures\nof beautiful antique workmanship and mementos of a by-gone time. Our\nhostess pointed with pride to an immense pair of glass candle shields,\nabout two feet high, which had belonged to her grandmother. They stood\non each side of the mantelpiece, over tall silver candlesticks, whose\nflame they could protect from all possible draughts. We slept in a high\nfour-poster bed, with a canopy, lined with red pleated cloth, like the\ninside of a mushroom, which would have done credit to a lady of the\nancient r\u00e9gime.\n\nThough the sugar-making season was over on our host's plantation, he\ntook us to one in the neighborhood that was still in operation. The\nequipment was of the most up-to-date kind--great iron claws to rake the\ncane from the cars to a sort of traveling trough, called a conveyor,\nwhich carries it up to the chopper: from whence it travels through\nseveral crushers until all the juice is squeezed out and the remaining\npulp is as dry as tinder. This is carried off to be used as fuel or\nfertilizer. The cane juice goes from one boiling vat to another, being\npurified with lime and sulphur, and refined again and again, smelling\nmore and more delicious at every stage of its progress. We watched the\nsyrup being changed to sugar by a very interesting centrifugal process,\nand then shaken into barrels. Two barrels at a time were placed upon\nmetal plates, and by means of an electric current, were made to dance\ngaily, shaking down the sugar as it fell until it was firmly packed.\nIt was an absurd sight, and the writer was reminded at once of dancing\nfurniture at a spiritualistic s\u00e9ance. We were surprised to learn that\none-third of the ground has to be planted in corn to supply the stock;\nthe crops are rotated so as to allow sugar-cane for two successive\nyears, then corn the third, etc.\n\nOur host and hostess and their family were true types of southern\nhospitality. The occasion of our visit was a wedding, and the old house\nwas crowded to its utmost capacity, with new guests arriving on every\ntrain. Yet there was no stir of nervous excitement: everything moved\nwith a tranquil gaiety, and we felt a delightful sense of informality\nas if we were a part of the household. Perhaps the strongest\nsense-impression which remains with the writer, is the memory of waking\nin the early morning and looking out, at the dawn-flushed sky beyond\nthe white pillars of the verandah and the gray Spanish moss draping the\nlive-oak trees. That tender, peaceful moment, full of color and soft\nbrightness, seemed to seal upon the mind something of the poetry and\nthe romance of the old South.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LORELEI: by a Student-Traveler\n\n\nJust where the river Rhine narrows and inclines, making a drop of\nfive feet which causes the water to flow more swiftly, towers the\nRock of the Lorelei, four hundred and fifty feet high and nearly\nperpendicular, at the base of which sunken rocks form a whirlpool in\nthe rapidly flowing stream. At the top of the high rock in olden days,\nso the legend runs, a maiden sat and sang, and as she sang she combed\nher golden hair. And her song was so full of magic that boatmen on\nthe river below, falling under the spell of her enchantment, as they\nlistened to the song, forgot the dangers of the whirling waters and\nwere dashed to pieces on the sunken rocks underneath.\n\nIs the tale of the Lorelei a mere poetical personification of the\nwhirlpool and rocks? If so, how account for the tale being universal?\nWho does not know the story of Ulysses and the Sirens? Virgil's Harpies\nhad the faces of maidens, but ended in foul feathers and talons. And\nso with many another destructive enchantress in ancient myth. People\nseem to have loved to trace out in the topography of their native land\nits analogies with that internal region wherein the Soul goes its\npilgrimage. In every land there were sacred mountains, healing founts,\ncaves of the Sibyl, rocks of the Lorelei, etc. The eternal drama of the\nhuman Soul has been allegorized again and again, always with the same\nfeatures, though the topography is changed to suit the race and time.\nEvery man knows the luring enchantress, for who has not been seduced\nby the captivating charms of promised pleasure, only to be mocked and\npunished?\n\nAnd why these cheating experiences of the Soul? Are they the chiding\nhand of a God or the mocking malice of a fiend; or are we the sport\nof a Chance whose utter indifference outclasses alike the wrath of\ndeity and the malice of devil? The answer is a commonsense one. Life\nis not a cradle of down nor a pleasure-garden. It is a drama full of\nincident, an enterprise full of adventure, a world full of people.\nIn it we find the helper and the adversary; and if there are sirens\nand wicked giants, there are also the meed of victory, the bride won,\nthe warrior's home-coming. Life is worth while, for the triumphs it\ncontains; and it is because we aspire to the triumphs that we engage in\nthe fights, though our lower nature, the mere varlet, may cry out at\nthe discomfort. The Dragon, once defeated, becomes our ally.\n\nIf we would win beauty and truth, we must not seek in them mere balm\nfor the senses, but rise in our strength and be worthy of them. What is\nworth having is not to be had for the taking.\n\n Beauty rhymes with duty.\n Truth rhymes with ruth.\n\nTarry not in the pleasure grounds of sense, heed not the sweet voices\nof illusion, thou who aspirest to wisdom--say the ancient teachings.\nIt is the illusion produced by the senses and desires that we have to\novercome, if we would not be dashed on the rocks of the Lorelei.\n\n\nLORELEI\n\n(Heinrich Heine)\n\n Ich weisz nicht was soll es bedeuten\n Dass ich so traurig bin,\n Ein M\u00e4rchen von alten Zeiten\n Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.\n\n Die Luft ist k\u00fchl und es dunkelt\n Und ruhig flieszt der Rhein,\n Der Gipfel des Berges funkelt\n Im Abendsonnenschein.\n\n Die sch\u00f6nste Jungfrau sitzet\n Dort oben wunderbar,\n Ihr gold'nes Geschmeide blitzet,\n Sie k\u00e4mmt ihr goldenes Haar;\n\n Sie k\u00e4mmt es mit goldenem Kamme\n Und singt ein Lied dabei\n Das hat eine wundersame\n Gewaltige Melodei.\n\n Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe\n Ergreift es mit wildem Weh'\n Er sieht nicht die Felsenriffe\n Er schaut nur hinauf in die H\u00f6h'.\n\n Ich glaube die Wellen verschlingen\n Am Ende Schiffer und Kahn,\n Und das hat mit ihrem Singen\n Die Lorelei gethan.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE ROCK OF THE\nLORELEI]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE WESTERN\nFOUR-TOED SALAMANDER (_Batrachoseps attenuatus_)]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WESTERN FOUR-TOED SALAMANDER: by Percy Leonard\n\n\nThe Batrachians occupy a place between the reptiles proper and the\nfishes. They are distinguished from the fishes by the possession of\npaired limbs furnished with four fingers and a thumb, and though\ntheir early days are passed beneath the water, breathing like fishes\nthrough their gills, yet when fully grown, almost without exception\nthey breathe through well-developed lungs. There is a superficial\nresemblance between the reptilian lizard and the batrachian newt or\nsalamander, and they are often confounded together in the popular mind.\nTrue reptiles, however, are easily distinguished from batrachians by\ntheir overlapping scales, quite different from the smooth moist skins\nof the latter. Reptiles breathe as we do by expanding the ribs and\ndrawing the air into the hollow thus formed; but batrachians, lacking\nribs, are obliged to swallow their air, and a glance at a toad or a\nsalamander will reveal the incessant palpitation of the throat as the\nair is forced into the lungs. Reptiles are hatched, or born, as the\ncase may be, perfect copies in miniature of their parents and never go\nthrough the tadpole stage. Batrachians are divided into two groups: the\nSalientia (or Jumpers), and the Urodela. The Salientia (or Jumpers)\ncomprise the frogs and toads; and the Urodela include the numerous\ntribes of newts, water-dogs, efts, and salamanders.\n\nThe illustration shows one of the lowliest of the order of Urodela, the\nwestern four-toed salamander (_Batrachoseps attenuatus_). The legs are\nridiculously small in comparison to the long, unwieldy body. That the\ntail is fat and cylindrical is only to be expected, because being a\nterrestrial salamander, it has no need of a flat tail for swimming like\nthe water-haunting newts. Probably the bulky tail serves as a store\nof nourishment in reserve for use in time of famine, as does the hump\nof a camel under similar circumstances. Here at Point Loma these odd\ncreatures may be found under stones in the damp ca\u00f1ons. In the absence\nof pools they cannot pass through the tadpole stage under water and so\nthe various phases of tadpole transformation are gone through while\nin the egg. The males are glossy black; but the female figured in the\npicture has a light brown skin with irregular blotches of flesh color\non the tail.\n\nA male once captured by the writer exhibited a curious case of mimicry.\nHe coiled up just like a rattlesnake and looked so venomous and\nthreatening as to inspire terror in anyone who was unaware of his utter\npowerlessness to do an injury.\n\nThe abnormal humidity of the air enables this delicate animal to\nsurvive the rainless months of summer, and probably he never ventures\nfrom his shelter till the sun goes down and the dew provides a little\nmoisture. The mere contact of his skin with a dewy surface would\nprobably be as refreshing as a draught of water to a thirsty man; but\nthe salamander, like the frog, does not drink: he simply \"blots up\" his\nwater through the skin.\n\nThus the four-toed western salamander passes his uneventful days\nand nights. His pleasures are few and simple and his sorrows\ncorrespondingly light.\n\nAccording to Theosophy, the inner Essence of every creature in this\nbroad universe either is, was, or prepares to become, man; but the mind\nstaggers in the attempt to conceive the enormous stretches of time\nbefore such dull, inert, insensitive beings will arrive at the human\nstage. But pain is a grand stimulant and spur to advance, and perchance\nwhen the salamander gets eaten by a snake or a stoat, he gains as\ncompensation for the pangs of death some slight promotion to a higher\norder of batrachians in his next rebirth! So mote it be.\n\n\n\n\nTHE REAL MAN: by H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S.\n\n\n\"Now we know the real man,\" is the usual comment when some heretofore\nrespectable citizen is convicted of forgery and sent to jail: \"_Now_ we\nknow his real character.\"\n\nDo we?\n\nA fire breaks out in the prison and the forger reveals himself a hero,\nrisking life without a second's hesitation for the rescue of his jailer\nor fellow-prisoners.\n\nDo we _now_ know his \"real character\"?\n\nLater on, his confinement, throwing him in upon himself, provides\nopportunity for the manifestation of a marked vein of poetry, and from\nhis prison he issues a volume which at once takes high rank in the\nliterature of the day.\n\nSome will now put away their _moral_ standard of measurement, produce\nanother, and remark that the \"real man\" after all turns out to have\nbeen a poet.\n\nYou can photograph half of a man's face, right or left, throw the\npicture over upon itself and get a whole face composed of two lefts,\nand another of two rights--often quite different.\n\nWe judge character in that way, taking any one aspect of it upon which\nwe choose to dwell or which alone we see, and of that one constructing\na whole. Thus the same man viewed by various knowers of him is a\nphilosopher, a sharp lawyer, a skilful amateur actor, or an ever-ready\nhelper and friend in times of trouble or perplexity. To his cook he may\nbe solely a grumbler, and to his son at school a supply-machine whose\ncrank is not always easy to turn.\n\nTo come back to the prisoner. The \"respectable citizen\" was evidently\nnot the whole of him. Under stress he revealed the weakness and\ndishonesty which led to the forgery. Environment, the temptation,\nbrought them to the surface. We need not say that his character\nchanged. Nevertheless, as we all know, a change of character is\npossible--so thorough that after emergence from prison no stress of\ntemptation and no assurance from discovery would provoke another theft.\nOn the other hand we cannot conceive of his change from a hero into a\ncoward, nor hardly of his loss of the poetic vein. Environment--the\nfire and the conditions of prison life--brought those traits out too.\nBut, once out they are out.\n\nBeing in search of the essence of character, the _really_ \"real man,\"\nwe cannot accept anything which may vanish or be surmounted, nothing\nwhich in the normal course of individual evolution, gone far enough,\nwill for certain be surmounted. No man is essentially a thief, but he\nmay be essentially a hero or a poet or both.\n\nConsider the question in the light of evolution, the evolution of each\nof us. We sometimes make imaginary pictures of the ripened humanity\nof the far future, a noble flower of which there are as yet but\nindications of the bud. Let us add another touch. Let us recognize in\nthat far humanity, however godlike, _ourselves_. Many, many births and\nlifetimes and deaths lie between this and that for all of us. But the\nlines of continuity are unbroken. It is we ourselves who shall be that\nsplendid and radiant humanity. The evolution of the human race means\nthe evolution of the present members of the human race. We shall \"meet\neach other in heaven\" because we are always children of the earth that\nwill _be_ that heaven.\n\nWe note that some qualities, such as a tendency to theft, have every\nencouragement to vanish. Sooner or later, in one or another lifetime,\nthey bring about so much disgrace and pain or are found so incompatible\nwith an ever increasing love of right and inner peace, that they are\ncast out and away, are outgrown and done with. The last dirty fiber is\nripped out of the ever perfecting pattern.\n\nOn the other hand the germs of some other qualities will have a\nconstant and in the long run irresistible tendency to grow, root and\nbranch.\n\nShall we say \"real character\" of traits destined to grow or of those\ndestined to disappear? So far we only use the words of so much as\nwe can see of a man: a poor enough application. We talk of the\n\"respectable citizen,\" and behold a thief. In the next change the thief\n\"turns out to be a hero\"; and whilst we are admiring the hero we are\ninvited to read a volume of poetry.\n\nWe had better restrict the words \"real character\" to that which time\nshall at last unveil and develop, to the permanent germs and their\nripened product; not to the spores and fungi which, however noticeable\nnow, will sometime be entirely cleaned away. _There is no thief; there\nare men who thieve_--at present, but who will cease to do so. There\n_are_ poets and heroes; for these men will not only not cease to create\nand do, but will create and do more and more worthily as they go\nforward through time to the great light. There are some men whom _no_\nstress of temptation would force into theft. Are there any men in whom\n_no_ circumstances would evoke some smallest gleam of heroism?\n\nStill we are not clear about real character. For there some qualities,\nfor example courage and love of the race and sensitiveness to the\nsupernal light, which time will perfect in _all_ men. We must put\naside all the elements, however splendid, in whose possession men will\n_resemble_ each other and seek for what will be peculiar to each.\nWithin the unity of essence, apart from common sensitiveness to the\ngreat light, there will be essential diversity. And it is to this\nfinally appearing individuality, this uniqueness of each, that the\nwords \"real character\" properly belong. In a few men only has this germ\nof true individuality yet achieved much manifestation.\n\nThe end of man, said Carlyle, is not a thought, were it the noblest,\nbut a deed.\n\nThe aphorism cries aloud for completion. What sort of a deed would\nbe that which had no thought behind it? The end of man is a deed\nfaithfully manifesting a worthy \"thought,\" and the mere writing down\nof a thought is often its sufficient and only possible manifestation.\nEven the careful nurture of a thought may be a deed. The universe is\nthe ideation of the divine getting itself written down on the face of\nsubstance. Man's entire business is to aid that, to make manifest as\nmuch of the divine, the light, as he can come at or get aware of in\nhis inner conscience or consciousness. If he constantly tries to live\nin that way, the divine will presently take turns and come at _him_.\nInspiration is the final reward of aspiration. But the light has a\nseparate and special ray or aspect of itself in store for each man, so\nthat the _whole_ of it can only shine through _all_ men.\n\nThere is a part of the divine essence unborn as yet into the world,\nunmanifest. And there is a part of it which men and gods have wrought\ninto the manifest, each according to his nature and comprehension of\nhis duty. From the highest to the lowest departments of human life this\nway of work is possible, to search out duty and do it.\n\nBut \"duty\" has here a very full meaning. The soul of the Beethoven\nsearches, and is illumined by, the divine essence, _whatever his name\nfor it or thought of it_. Then he renders it or manifests it for the\nworld. The craftsman might search it as he designed a wall-paper; he\nwho did so, who worked that he might manifest it for men, would find\nhis invention grow ever richer and readier. The divine has no _one_\nkind of manifestation or inspiration. The mother might search it to\nlearn the highest ways of conduct with her children, not even waiting\nfor their birth; and their souls would in time show her what she had\ndone for them. The gardener might thus work among his flowers and would\nfind in them a new responsiveness. There is no one who has not some\nwork which can be fruitfully done in this spirit of bringing forth for\nthe world. This use of will in no metaphoric sense is the real magic.\nWhen all men and women work in this way the world will begin to be for\nthe first time an expression of the divine plan, governed--through them\nand of their will and choice--by the divine. By that time work will\nhave been raised to its highest terms and there will be modes of work\nas inconceivable to us now as the work of Beethoven to a savage. Each\nof us will have found _his_ work--that is, will have found that aspect\nof the divine which he is uniquely constituted to deliver forth to the\nrest. No one can be spared. All will need all the others. All will\nstand unveiled as artists, creators, or showers-forth or thinkers-out\nof something good and necessary for the work of their fellows. We have\nourselves made life dark and work monotonous, stifled the latent or\nnascent craftsman or thinker in ourselves and the others, and created\nforms of work that should never have been to do at all. Now we must\nlive them through and be thankful that some few, the thinkers, the\nmusicians, the poets, the artists, have in some sort broken through\ninto a corner of their heritage and can serve us and lighten our lives\nand make the day nearer when we too can break through.\n\nHere then is what we may mean by \"real character.\" It is the veiled\ncreator or shower-forth. No man is what he seems. He is waiting for\nhis own nature, and the divine in nature is waiting for him, to give\nhim the ray he alone can transmit. Neither H\u00e4ndel nor Beethoven could\nhave given us the music of the other; and the music of both was made\npossible by every bit of divine-serving and divine-revealing work that\nwas ever done since man began. That principle holds throughout, in\nsmall and great. The humblest work, if it have one ray of the divine\nput into it, helps the whole world for all time to come. And no work\nneed lack that ray, no life need lack such work.\n\n\n\n\nREVIEWS\n\n\n\"Life of Leonardo da Vinci\" by Professor Osvald Sir\u00e9n\n\nby Carolus\n\nWe have just received another important work from the indefatigable and\naccomplished pen of Professor Osvald Sir\u00e9n, PH. D., of the Stockholm\nUniversity. It is a study of Leonardo da Vinci's life and work, a\nmost complete and thorough monograph of 468 pages, magnificently\nillustrated by hundreds of full-page and smaller reproductions, the\nmajority taken from Leonardo's pictures, sketches and diagrams; the\nrest are mostly from the works of other painters which throw light upon\nthe special points discussed; there are also some pleasing views of\nplaces referred to. The first edition consists of 700 numbered copies,\nbeautifully printed on thick paper, and is in all respects but one a\nperfect example of what such a book should be; the one thing lacking\nis an index to the subject-matter and illustrations. This can easily\nbe remedied in the next edition, for there is no doubt that another\nwill immediately be called for, as the work will be invaluable to all\nlovers of art who wish to read the latest and most complete analysis of\nLeonardo's career and to learn the results of the most recent research.\nThis edition is, of course, written in Swedish, but we understand that\nin response to the demand, it will soon appear in other languages, and\nso be made accessible to a much larger public. Dr. Sir\u00e9n has spent a\nlong time in Italy and elsewhere studying everything connected with\nLeonardo and his contemporaries, and this volume is largely the result\nof his original researches. It has been very favorably received by the\nmost competent Swedish critics.\n\nThe monograph is founded upon a series of lectures lately given in\nthe University of Stockholm (in which Dr. Sir\u00e9n occupies the chair\nof Art-history) and it has been the author's aim to show the great\nmaster as he appears in his works and writings, with as little of the\n\"personal equation\" of the writer visible as possible--to make Leonardo\ntell his own story--but at the same time, one cannot help feeling and\napproving of the warm glow of appreciation which inspires every word\nDr. Sir\u00e9n writes about his hero. His admiration for the master seems\nto have influenced his style, for there is a greater simplicity and\nclearness, and a more easy flow of words and sentences than we have\nobserved in previous works from his able pen.\n\nThe book is arranged in four main sections. The first consists of\nextracts from the famous Italian art-historian, Vasari's almost\ncontemporary life of Leonardo, translated into Swedish and freely\ncommented upon and greatly expanded by Dr. Sir\u00e9n. Many illustrations\nare given showing Leonardo's extraordinary knowledge of mechanics,\nengineering, architecture, fortification, anatomy, etc. Dr. Sir\u00e9n\nfinally demolishes one of our pet illusions, i. e., that Leonardo died\nin the arms of Francis I of France, by showing that King Francis was\nat St. Germain-en-Laye, attending the birth of a son, at the moment\nwhen Leonardo was breathing his last at Cloux in Touraine. It appears\nthis was one of Vasari's occasional \"decorations of the truth\" for the\nsake of picturesqueness. Another myth was that Leonardo prostrated\nhimself at the feet of the church at his last hour with tears and\ncries of repentance for the independence of thought for which he\nhad consistently stood. In this connexion it is noteworthy that he\nstudiously avoided introducing halos or nimbuses round the figures in\nhis religious pictures! Neither is there more than one example of the\ncross in any of his undoubted works, and that may have been added by\nanother hand afterwards. His object was plainly to accentuate the\nsimple human and natural side in everything that he touched. Even the\nhead of the Christ in _The Last Supper_ has no radiance; the Teacher\nis painted just as he might have been seen by ordinary vision. The\ndistinction of Leonardo's sacred figures depends upon the superior\nbeauty and majesty of expression and bearing. This was a very daring\ninnovation on Leonardo's part.\n\nThe second portion of Dr. Sir\u00e9n's learned volume treats of Leonardo's\npictures and sculptures in more detail; his scientific work is\nsufficiently dealt with in the earlier part of the volume, for after\nall, his fame depends mainly upon his standing as an artist. Special\nchapters are devoted, respectively, to the work of his youth: _The\nAdoration of the Magi_, the _Madonna among the Rocks_, _The Last\nSupper_, _The Battle of the Standard_, _Leda and the Swan_, _John the\nBaptist_, _St. Anne_, and his studies for equestrian statues, etc.\n\nDr. Sir\u00e9n strongly accentuates the fact that Leonardo's leading motive\nwas Movement. While he rivaled Michel Angelo in form, Titian and\nGiorgione in color, and Raphael in composition, his greatest efforts\nwere concentrated upon the true rendering of life and action. His\nbrilliant effects of light and shade, for which he was particularly\nnoted, were skilfully used to emphasize the impression of vital energy\nwhich he felt to be the principal object of the true painter's art.\n\nDr. Sir\u00e9n has most carefully weighed the evidence concerning the rival\nclaims of the two or three replicas of the _Virgin among the Rocks_,\none of which is in London and the others in Paris and Copenhagen,\nand he conclusively establishes the authenticity of the one in the\nLouvre, Paris. That one, the famous _Vierge aux Rochers_, is by far\nthe most satisfactory in composition, and the faces and figures of the\nchildren are much more beautiful than those of the others. The one in\nthe National Gallery, London, is by Ambrogio Preda, who was a close\nimitator of Leonardo. The figures have nimbuses in that one, but not in\nLeonardo's. Dr. Sir\u00e9n illustrates his argument with a large number of\nplates.\n\nWith respect to _The Last Supper_ at Milan, it is satisfactory to learn\nthat Professor Cavenaghi, who has just finished a long and extremely\ncareful scientific examination of the work, has proved that it is far\nbetter preserved than was believed. It turns out that very little\nindeed has been repainted; the heads are quite untouched, and though\ngreatly damaged and obscured in places, we really are able to look at\nthe actual work of the master. This has been a great surprise to the\nartistic world.\n\nThe third part of the book deals with Leonardo's personality, and\nseveral good portraits of him are given. It is to be regretted that\nthere is not one surviving that was taken when he was young, for it\nis related of him that he was almost divinely beautiful. In his old\nage his countenance is very impressive. Dr. Sir\u00e9n discusses the moot\nquestion of Leonardo's alleged visit to Oriental countries, and he\nthrows the weight of his opinion in favor of the journey. Certainly\nit is difficult to see how Leonardo could have given such accurate\ndescriptions unless he had been to the places and undergone certain\nexperiences. There are many gaps in his life which are yet unfilled by\nreliable evidence. When one reflects upon the extraordinary character\nand knowledge of the great man it seems not unlikely that he spent some\ntime in the East receiving instruction which it was impossible to get\nin Europe.\n\nThe fourth part consists of a translation into Swedish of his _Treatise\non Painting_, and it gives, as Dr. Sir\u00e9n says:\n\n a glimpse of a section through a soul-life filled with all that is\n possible or thinkable for a human being, of observation of nature, of\n experience of the world, of search for truth, and passion for beauty.\n One lays the treatise down with the grateful and humble feeling that\n one has stood before one of the greatest of our race, has met his eye\n and heard him speak.\n\nWe may learn almost more about him from this work and from his sketches\nthan from his pictures, for as Dr. Sir\u00e9n says:\n\n What Leonardo painted and carved constitutes only a small part of his\n creative activity, a fragment of that great soul's universality....\n Many of his designed works never reached expression ... others were\n left half done, and those which were carried out, have, moreover, in\n no small degree, had the misfortune to be destroyed or corroded and\n defaced by time. Many of Leonardo's most important works which are\n spoken of by the old writers, seem to have disappeared without leaving\n a trace. The great work of his prime, _The Last Supper_, is little\n more than a shadow of what it once was, and the powerful monumental\n composition of his old age, _The Battle of the Standard_, was only\n carried out in paint to a partial degree, and now can only be studied\n through imperfect copies. The stately equestrian statues which truly\n denoted the culminating point of that branch of art did not reach\n final material expression either, and only live in rough sketches and\n sundry imitations, while of the noble architectural projects for domed\n cathedrals, for mausoleums and palaces, for entire towns, not even one\n has come to anything.... The art historian has to trust to preparatory\n studies, to copies or imitations, to reports, in order to get an idea\n of the appearance and quality of the works of the master.... For\n analysis we have to lean on sketches when the finished work fails us.\n It cannot indeed be denied that herein lies a deplorable limitation\n and a special difficulty in the way of popularizing his work, but\n perhaps the limitation is not so great as many are inclined to assume.\n A great musical composer's preludes and fantasias may contain the\n beautiful motives of the entire symphony, even if the instrumentation\n is incomplete and the execution imperfect.... Leonardo has been placed\n before us as an ideal man, because his life and work are stamped by\n a sovereign balance which in our time is so greatly coveted and so\n rarely obtained.\n\n To the degree that the author has succeeded in letting Leonardo\n express himself, free from all fanciful embellishments and arbitrary\n hypotheses--speaking to the reader through his own words and art--he\n will consider his mission fulfilled and his work to possess something\n more than temporary value.\n\nThere is no doubt that Dr. Sir\u00e9n has done this and more than this,\nand we must heartily congratulate him upon the production of a most\nvaluable contribution to the literature of art. It may interest our\nreaders to know that engrossed as he is in his labors for the cause of\nthe higher intellectual education, Dr. Sir\u00e9n is able to find time to\nwork strenuously for the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society\nof which he is a very active member.\n\n Note. Just as this is going to press the startling news has arrived\n that Leonardo's great masterpiece, the so-called _Mona Lisa_, has been\n stolen from the Louvre, an almost unprecedented event. Its recovery\n will be anxiously awaited by the whole art-loving world of the two\n continents.\n\n\n\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society\n\nFounded at New York City in 1875 by H. P. Blavatsky, William Q. Judge\nand others\n\nReorganized in 1898 by Katherine Tingley\n\nCentral Office, Point Loma, California\n\n The Headquarters of the Society at Point Loma with the buildings and\n grounds, are no \"Community\" \"Settlement\" or \"Colony.\" They form no\n experiment in Socialism, Communism, or anything of similar nature,\n but are the Central Executive Office of an international organization\n where the business of the same is carried on, and where the teachings\n of Theosophy are being demonstrated. Midway 'twixt East and West,\n where the rising Sun of Progress and Enlightenment shall one day\n stand at full meridian, the Headquarters of the Society unite the\n philosophic Orient with the practical West.\n\n\n MEMBERSHIP\n\n in the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society may be\n either \"at large\" or in a local Branch. Adhesion to the principle\n of Universal Brotherhood is the only pre-requisite to membership.\n The Organization represents no particular creed; it is entirely\n unsectarian, and includes professors of all faiths, only exacting from\n each member that large toleration of the beliefs of others which he\n desires them to exhibit towards his own.\n\n Applications for membership in a Branch should be addressed to\n the local Director; for membership \"at large\" to G. de Purucker,\n Membership Secretary, International Theosophical Headquarters, Point\n Loma, California.\n\n\nOBJECTS\n\nThis brotherhood is a part of a great and universal movement which has\nbeen active in all ages.\n\nThis Organization declares that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature. Its\nprincipal purpose is to teach Brotherhood, demonstrate that it is a\nfact in Nature, and make it a living power in the life of humanity.\n\nIts subsidiary purpose is to study ancient and modern religions,\nscience, philosophy, and art; to investigate the laws of Nature and the\ndivine powers in man.\n\n\nH. P. BLAVATSKY, FOUNDRESS AND TEACHER\n\nThe present Theosophical Movement was inaugurated by Helena Petrovna\nBlavatsky in New York in 1875. The original name was \"The Theosophical\nSociety.\" Associated with her were William Q. Judge and others. Madame\nBlavatsky for a time preferred not to hold any outer official position\nexcept that of Corresponding Secretary. But all true students know that\nMadame Blavatsky held the highest authority, the only real authority\nwhich comes of wisdom and power, the authority of Teacher and Leader,\nthe real head, heart, and inspiration of the whole Theosophical\nMovement. It was through her that the teachings of Theosophy were given\nto the world, and without her the Theosophical Movement could not have\nbeen.\n\n\nBRANCH SOCIETIES IN EUROPE AND INDIA\n\nIn 1878 Madame Blavatsky left the United States, first visiting\nGreat Britain and then India, in both of which countries she founded\nbranch societies. The parent body in New York became later the Aryan\nTheosophical Society and HAS ALWAYS HAD ITS HEADQUARTERS IN AMERICA;\nand of this, William Q. Judge was President until his death in 1896.\n\nIt is important to note the following:\n\nIn response to the statement published by a then prominent member in\nIndia that Madame Blavatsky is \"loyal to the Theosophical Society and\nto Adyar,\" Madame Blavatsky wrote:\n\n It is pure nonsense to say that \"H. P. B. ... is loyal to the\n Theosophical Society and to Adyar\" (!?). _H. P. B. is loyal to death\n to the Theosophical_ CAUSE _and those Great Teachers whose philosophy\n can alone bind the whole of Humanity into one Brotherhood_.... The\n degree of her sympathies with the Theosophical Society and Adyar\n depends upon the degree of the loyalty of that Society to the CAUSE.\n Let it break away from the original lines and show disloyalty in its\n policy to the cause and the original program of the Society, and H. P.\n B., calling the T. S. disloyal, will shake it off like dust from her\n feet.\n\nTo one who accepts the teachings of Theosophy it is plain to see that\nalthough Theosophy is of no nationality or country but for all, yet\nit has a peculiar relationship with America. Not only was the United\nStates the birthplace of the Theosophical Society, and the home of the\nParent Body up to the present time, but H. P. Blavatsky, the Foundress\nof the Society, although a Russian by birth, became an American\ncitizen; William Q. Judge, of Irish parentage and birth, also became\nan American citizen; and Katherine Tingley is American born. America\ntherefore not only has played a unique part in the history of the\npresent Theosophical Movement, but it is plain to see that its destiny\nis closely interwoven with that of Theosophy; and by America is meant\nnot only the United States or even the North American continent, but\nalso the South American continent, and, as repeatedly declared by\nMadame Blavatsky, it is in this great Western Hemisphere as a whole,\nNorth and South, that the next great Race of humanity is to be born.\n\n\nMADAME BLAVATSKY FOUNDS THE ESOTERIC SCHOOL; HER LIFE-LONG TRUST IN\nWILLIAM Q. JUDGE\n\nIn 1888, H. P. Blavatsky, then in London, on the suggestion and at the\nrequest of her Colleague, William Q. Judge, founded the Esoteric School\nof Theosophy, a body for students, of which H. P. Blavatsky wrote\nthat it was \"the heart of the Theosophical Movement,\" and of which\nshe appointed William Q. Judge as her sole representative in America.\nFurther, writing officially to the Convention of the American Societies\nheld in Chicago, 1888, she wrote as follows:\n\n To William Q. Judge, General Secretary of the American Section of the\n Theosophical Society:\n\n My dearest Brother and Co-Founder of the Theosophical Society:\n\n In addressing to you this letter, which I request you to read to the\n Convention, summoned for April 22nd, I must first present my hearty\n congratulations and most cordial good wishes to the Society and\n yourself--the heart and soul of that body in America. We were several\n to call it to life in 1875. Since then you have remained alone to\n preserve that life through good and evil report. It is to you chiefly,\n if not entirely, that the Theosophical Society owes its existence in\n 1888. Let me thank you for it, for the first, and perhaps for the\n last time publicly, and from the bottom of my heart, which beats only\n for the cause you represent so well and serve so faithfully. I ask\n you also to remember that on this important occasion, my voice is but\n the feeble echo of other more sacred voices, and the transmitter of\n the approval of Those whose presence is alive in more than one true\n Theosophical heart, and lives, as I know, pre-eminently in yours.\n\nThis regard that Madame Blavatsky had for her colleague William Q.\nJudge continued undiminished until her death in 1891, when he became\nher successor.\n\nMadame Blavatsky, in 1889, writing in her Theosophical magazine\npublished in London, said that the purpose of the magazine was not\nonly to promulgate Theosophy, but also and as a consequence of such\npromulgation, \"to bring to light the hidden things of darkness.\" She\nfurther says:\n\n As to the \"weak-minded Theosophists\"--if any--they can take care of\n themselves in the way they please. IF THE \"FALSE PROPHETS OF\n THEOSOPHY\" ARE TO BE LEFT UNTOUCHED, THE TRUE PROPHETS WILL\n BE VERY SOON--AS THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN--CONFUSED WITH THE FALSE. IT\n IS HIGH TIME TO WINNOW OUR CORN AND CAST AWAY THE CHAFF. The\n Theosophical Society is becoming enormous in its numbers, and if the\n _false_ prophets, the pretenders, or even the weak-minded dupes, are\n left alone, then the Society threatens to become very soon a fanatical\n body split into three hundred sects--like Protestantism--each\n hating the other, and all bent on destroying the truth by monstrous\n exaggerations and idiotic schemes and shams.\n\n We do not believe in allowing the presence of _sham_ elements in\n Theosophy, because of the fear, forsooth, that if even \"a false\n element in the faith\" is _ridiculed_, the latter is \"apt to shake the\n confidence\" in the whole.\n\n ... What _true_ Christians shall see their co-religionists making\n fools of themselves, or disgrace their faith, and still abstain from\n rebuking them publicly as privately, for fear lest this _false_\n element should throw out of Christianity the rest of the believers?\n\n THE WISE MAN COURTS TRUTH; THE FOOL, FLATTERY.\n\n However it may be, let rather our ranks be made thinner, than the\n Theosophical Society go on being made a spectacle to the world through\n the exaggerations of some fanatics, and the attempt of various\n _charlatans_ to profit by a ready-made program. These, by disfiguring\n and adapting Occultism to their own filthy and immoral ends, bring\n disgrace upon the whole movement.--_Lucifer_, Vol. iv, pp. 2 & 3.\n\n\nWILLIAM Q. JUDGE ELECTED PRESIDENT FOR LIFE\n\nIn 1893 there openly began what had been going on beneath the surface\nfor some time, a bitter attack ostensibly against William Q. Judge, but\nin reality also against H. P. Blavatsky. This bitter attack threatened\nto disrupt the whole Society and to thwart the main purpose of its\nexistence, which was to further the cause of Universal Brotherhood.\nFinally the American members decided to take action, and at the annual\nconvention of the Society held in Boston in 1895, by a vote of 191\ndelegates to 10, re-asserted the principle of Theosophy as laid down\nby H. P. Blavatsky, and elected William Q. Judge President for life.\nSimilar action was almost immediately taken by members in Europe,\nAustralia, and other countries, in each case William Q. Judge being\nelected President for life. In this action the great majority of the\nactive members throughout the world concurred, and thus the Society\nwas relieved of those who had joined it for other purposes than the\nfurtherance of Universal Brotherhood, the carrying out of the Society's\nother objects, and the spiritual freedom and upliftment of Humanity.\nA few of these in order to curry favor with the public and attract a\nfollowing, continued among themselves to use the name of Theosophy,\nbut it should be understood that they _are not connected with the\nTheosophical Movement_.\n\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY SUCCEEDS WILLIAM Q. JUDGE\n\nOne year later, in March 1896, William Q. Judge died, leaving as his\nsuccessor Katherine Tingley, who for several years had been associated\nwith him in the work of the Society. This Teacher not only began\nimmediately to put into actual practice the ideals of Theosophy as had\nbeen the hope and aim of both H. P. Blavatsky and William Q. Judge, and\nfor which they had laid the foundations, thus honoring and illustrating\nthe work of her illustrious predecessors, but she also struck a new\nkeynote, introducing new and broader plans for uplifting humanity.\nFor each of the Teachers, while continuing the work and building upon\nthe foundations of his predecessor, adds a new link, and has his own\ndistinctive work to do, and teachings to give, belonging to his own\ntime and position.\n\nNo sooner had Katherine Tingley begun her work as successor, than\nfurther attacks, some most insidious, from the same source as those\nmade against H. P. Blavatsky and William Q. Judge, as well as from\nother sources, were inaugurated against her. Most prominent among\nthose thus attacking Katherine Tingley were some referred to by Madame\nBlavatsky in the article above-quoted (pp. 159-60), who by their own\nactions had removed themselves from the ranks of the Society. There\nwere also a few others who still remained in the Society who had not\njoined hands with the disintegrators at the time the latter were\nrepudiated in 1895. These now thought it to their personal advantage\nto oppose the Leader and sought to gain control of the Society and\nuse it for political purposes. These ambitious agitators, seeking to\nexploit the Society for their own ends, used every means to overthrow\nKatherine Tingley, realizing that she was the greatest obstacle to\nthe accomplishment of their desires, for if she could be removed they\nexpected to gain control. They worked day and night, stooping almost to\nany means to carry out their projects. Yet it seemed that by these very\nacts, i. e., the more they attacked, the more were honest and earnest\nmembers attracted to the ranks of the Society under Katherine Tingley's\nleadership.\n\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY GIVES SOCIETY NEW CONSTITUTION\n\nSOCIETY MERGES INTO BROADER FIELD\n\nTo eliminate these menacing features and to safeguard the work of\nthe Theosophical Movement for all time, Katherine Tingley presented\nto a number of the oldest members gathered at her home in New York\non the night of January 13th, 1898, a new Constitution which she had\nformulated for the more permanent and broader work of the Theosophical\nMovement, opening up a wider field of endeavor than had heretofore been\npossible to students of Theosophy. One month later, at the Convention\nof the Society, held in Chicago, February 18th, 1898, this Constitution\nwas accepted by an almost unanimous vote, and the Theosophical Society\nmerged itself into the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society.\nIn this new step forward, she had the heartiest co-operation and\nsupport of the vast majority of the members throughout the world.\n\n\nTHEOSOPHY IN PRACTICE\n\nIt is of interest here to quote our Teacher's own words regarding this\ntime. In an article published in _The Metropolitan Magazine_, New York,\nOctober, 1909, she says:\n\n Later, I found myself the successor of William Q. Judge, and I began\n my heart work, the inspiration of which is partly due to him.\n\n In all my writings and associations with the members of the\n Theosophical Society, I emphasized the necessity of putting Theosophy\n into daily practice, and in such a way that it would continuously\n demonstrate that it was the redeeming power of man. More familiarity\n with the organization and its workers brought home to me the fact that\n there was a certain number of students who had in the early days begun\n the wrong way to study Theosophy, and that it was becoming in their\n lives a death-like sleep. I noticed that those who followed this line\n of action were always alarmed at my humanitarian tendencies. WHENEVER\n I REMINDED THEM THAT THEY WERE BUILDING A COLOSSAL EGOTISM INSTEAD\n OF A POWER TO DO GOOD, THEY SUBTLY OPPOSED ME. AS I INSISTED ON THE\n PRACTICAL LIFE OF THEOSOPHY, THEY OPPOSED STILL MORE. They later\n exerted personal influence which affected certain members throughout\n the world. It was this condition which then menaced the Theosophical\n Movement, and which forced me to the point of taking such action as\n would fully protect the pure teachings of Theosophy and make possible\n a broader path for unselfish students to follow. Thus the faithful\n members of the Theosophical Movement would be able to exemplify the\n charge which Helena Petrovna Blavatsky gave to her pupils, as follows:\n\n \"Real Theosophy is altruism, and we cannot repeat it too often. It is\n brotherly love, mutual help, unswerving devotion to truth. If once men\n do but realize that in these alone can true happiness be found, and\n never in wealth, possession or any selfish gratification, then the\n dark cloud will roll away, and a new humanity will be born upon the\n earth. Then the Golden Age will be there indeed.\"\n\n Here we find William Q. Judge accentuating the same spirit, the\n practical Theosophical life:\n\n \"The power to know does not come from book-study alone, nor from mere\n philosophy, but mostly from the actual practice of altruism in deed,\n word, and thought; for that practice purifies the covers of the soul\n and permits the divine light to shine down into the brain-mind.\"\n\n\n THE PARTING OF THE WAYS\n\n On February 18, 1898, at the Convention of the Theosophical Society\n in America, held at Chicago, Ill., the Society resolved, through its\n delegates from all parts of the world, to enter a larger arena, to\n widen its scope and to further protect the teachings of Theosophy.\n Amid most intense enthusiasm the Theosophical Society was expanded\n into the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, and I found\n myself recognized as its leader and official head. The Theosophical\n Society in Europe also resolved to merge itself into the Universal\n Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, and the example was quickly\n followed by Theosophical Societies in other parts of the world. The\n expansion of the original Theosophical Society, which Madame Blavatsky\n founded and which William Q. Judge so ably sustained, now called the\n Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, gave birth to a new\n life, and the membership trebled the first year, and ever since that\n time a rapid increase has followed.\n\n\nINTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS AT POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA\n\nIn 1900 the Headquarters of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical\nSociety were removed from New York to Point Loma, California, which\nis now the International Center of the Theosophical Movement. This\nOrganization is unsectarian and non-political; none of its officers or\nworkers receives any salary or financial recompense.\n\nIn her article in _The Metropolitan Magazine_ above referred to,\nKatherine Tingley further says:\n\n The knowledge that Point Loma was to be the World-center of the\n Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, which has for its\n supreme object the elevation of the race, created great enthusiasm\n among its members throughout the world. The further fact that the\n government of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society rests\n entirely with the leader and official head, who holds her office for\n life and who has the privilege of appointing her successor, gave\n me the power to carry out some of the plans I had long cherished.\n Among these was the erecting of the great Homestead Building. This I\n carefully designed that it might not stand apart from the beautiful\n nature about it, but in a sense harmonize with the sky, the distant\n mountains, the broad blue Pacific, and the glorious light of the sun.\n\n So it has been from the first, so that the practical work of Theosophy\n began at Point Loma under the most favorable circumstances. No one\n dominated by selfish aims and ambitions was invited to take part in\n this pioneer work. Although there were scores of workers from various\n parts of the world uniting their efforts with mine for the upbuilding\n of this world-center, yet there was no disharmony. Each took the duty\n allotted him and worked trustingly and cheerfully. Many of the world's\n ways these workers gladly left behind them. They seemed reborn with an\n enthusiasm that knew no defeat. The work was done for the love of it,\n and this is the secret of a large part of the success that has come to\n the Theosophical Movement.\n\n Not long after the establishment of the International Theosophical\n Headquarters at Point Loma it was plain to see that the Society was\n advancing along all lines by leaps and bounds. Letters of inquiry were\n pouring in from different countries, which led to my establishing\n the Theosophical Propaganda Bureau. This is one of the greatest\n factors we have in disseminating our teachings. The International\n Brotherhood League then opened its offices and has ever been active\n in its special humanitarian work, being the directing power which has\n sustained the several R\u00e2ja Yoga schools and academies, now in Pinar\n del Rio, Santa Clara, and Santiago de Cuba, from the beginning. The\n Aryan Theosophical Press has yearly enlarged its facilities in answer\n to the demands made upon it through the publication of Theosophical\n literature, which includes THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH and several other\n publications. There is the Isis Conservatory of Music and Drama, the\n Department of Arts and Crafts, the Industrial Department, including\n Forestry, Agriculture, Roadbuilding, Photo-engraving, Chemical\n laboratory, Landscape-gardening, and many other crafts.\n\n\nDO NOT FAIL TO PROFIT BY THE FOLLOWING\n\nCONSTANTLY THE QUESTION IS ASKED, WHAT IS THEOSOPHY, WHAT DOES\nIT REALLY TEACH? EACH YEAR THE LIFE AND WORK OF H. P. BLAVATSKY AND\nTHE HIGH IDEALS AND PURE MORALITY OF HER TEACHINGS ARE MORE CLEARLY\nVINDICATED. EACH YEAR THE POSITION TAKEN BY WILLIAM Q. JUDGE AND\nKATHERINE TINGLEY IN REGARD TO THEIR PREDECESSOR, H. P. BLAVATSKY, IS\nBETTER UNDERSTOOD, AND THEIR OWN LIVES AND WORK ARE SEEN TO BE ACTUATED\nBY THE SAME HIGH IDEALS FOR THE UPLIFTING OF THE HUMAN RACE. EACH YEAR\nMORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE COMING TO REALIZE THAT NOT ALL THAT GOES UNDER\nTHE NAME OF THEOSOPHY IS RIGHTLY SO CALLED, BUT THAT THERE IS\nA COUNTERFEIT THEOSOPHY AS WELL AS THE TRUE, AND THAT THERE IS NEED OF\nDISCRIMINATION, LEST MANY BE MISLED.\n\nCounterfeits exist in many departments of life and thought, and\nespecially in matters relating to religion and the deeper teachings of\nlife. Hence, in order that people who are honestly seeking the truth\nmay not be misled, we deem it important to state that the Universal\nBrotherhood and Theosophical Society is not responsible for, nor is it\naffiliated with, nor does it endorse, any other society, which, while\ncalling itself Theosophical, is not connected with the International\nTheosophical Headquarters at Point Loma, California. Having a knowledge\nof Theosophy, the ancient Wisdom-Religion, we deem it as a sacred\ntrust and responsibility to maintain its pure teachings, free from the\nvagaries, additions, or misrepresentations of ambitious self-styled\nTheosophists and would-be teachers. The test of a Theosophist is not\nin profession, but in action, and in a noble and virtuous life. The\nmotto of the Society is \"There is no religion higher than Truth.\" This\nwas adopted by Madame Blavatsky, but it is to be deeply regretted that\nthere are no legal means to prevent the use of this motto in connexion\nwith counterfeit Theosophy, by people professing to be Theosophists,\nbut who would not be recognized as such by Madame Blavatsky.\n\nIt is a regrettable fact that many people use the name of Theosophy\nand of our Organization for self-interest, as also that of H. P.\nBlavatsky, the Foundress, and even the Society's motto, to attract\nattention to themselves and to gain public support. This they do in\nprivate and public speech and in publications. Without being in any way\nconnected with the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, in\nmany cases they permit it to be inferred that they are, thus misleading\nthe public, and honest inquirers are hence led away from the original\ntruths of Theosophy.\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society welcomes to\nmembership all who truly love their fellow men and desire the\neradication of the evils caused by the barriers of race, creed, caste,\nor color, which have so long impeded human progress; to all sincere\nlovers of truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than\nthe mere pleasures and interests of a worldly life, and are prepared to\ndo all in their power to make Brotherhood a living energy in the life\nof humanity, its various departments offer unlimited opportunities.\n\nThe whole work of the Organization is under the direction of the Leader\nand Official Head, Katherine Tingley, as outlined in the Constitution.\n\n\nOBJECTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD LEAGUE\n\n 1. To help men and women to realize the nobility of their calling and\n their true position in life.\n\n 2. To educate children of all nations on the broadest lines of\n Universal Brotherhood and to prepare destitute and homeless children\n to become workers for humanity.\n\n 3. To ameliorate the condition of unfortunate women, and assist them\n to a higher life.\n\n 4. To assist those who are or have been in prisons to establish\n themselves in honorable positions in life.\n\n 5. To abolish capital punishment.\n\n 6. To bring about a better understanding between so-called savage\n and civilized races, by promoting a closer and more sympathetic\n relationship between them.\n\n 7. To relieve human suffering resulting from flood, famine, war, and\n other calamities; and, generally, to extend aid, help, and comfort to\n suffering humanity throughout the world.\n\n JOSEPH H. FUSSELL, Secretary\n\n\n\n\n BOOK LIST\n OF WORKS ON\n THEOSOPHY, OCCULTISM, RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE, AND ART\n\n PUBLISHED OR FOR SALE BY\n\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY\n INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL HEADQUARTERS\n POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.\n\n _The office of the Theosophical Publishing Company is at Point Loma,\n California_\n\n _It has_ NO OTHER OFFICE _and_ NO BRANCHES\n\n\nFOREIGN AGENCIES\n\n _=THE UNITED KINGDOM=_--Theosophical Book Co., 18 Bartlett's\n Buildings, Holborn Circus, LONDON, E. C., England\n\n _=GERMANY=_--J. Th. Heller, Vestnertorgraben 13, N\u00dcRNBERG\n\n _=SWEDEN=_--Universella Broderskapets F\u00f6rlag, Barnhusgatan, 10,\n STOCKHOLM\n\n _=HOLLAND=_--Louis F. Schudel, Hollandia-Drukkerij, BAARN\n\n _=AUSTRALIA=_--Willans and Williams, 16 Carrington St., Wynyard Sq.,\n SYDNEY, N. S. W.\n\n _=CUBA=_--H. S. Turner, Apartado 127; or Heredia, Baja, 10, SANTIAGO\n DE CUBA\n\n _=MEXICO=_--Samuel L. Herrera, Calle de la Independencia, 55 altos,\n VERA CRUZ, V. C.\n\n\n ADDRESS BY KATHERINE TINGLEY at San Diego Opera House,\n March, 1902 $ .15\n\n AN APPEAL TO PUBLIC CONSCIENCE: an Address delivered by\n Katherine Tingley at Isis Theater, San Diego, July 22, 1906.\n Published by the Woman's Theosophical Propaganda League,\n Point Loma .05\n\n ASTRAL INTOXICATION, and Other Papers (W. Q. Judge) .03\n\n BHAGAVAD G\u00ceT\u00c2 (recension by W. Q. Judge). The pearl of the\n scriptures of the East. American edition; pocket size;\n morocco, gilt edges 1.00\n\n CONCENTRATION, CULTURE OF (W. Q. Judge) .15\n\n DEVACHAN; or the Heavenworld (H. Coryn) .05\n\n ECHOES FROM THE ORIENT; a broad Outline of Theosophical Doctrines.\n Written for the newspaper reading public. (W. Q. Judge)\n Sm. 8vo, cloth .50\n Paper .25\n\n EPITOME OF THEOSOPHICAL TEACHINGS, AN (W. Q. Judge); 40 pages .15\n\n FREEMASONRY AND JESUITRY, The Pith and Marrow of the Closing and\n Coming Century and Related Position of, (Rameses) .15\n 8 copies for $1.00; per hundred, $10.00\n\n KATHERINE TINGLEY, Humanity's Friend; A VISIT TO KATHERINE TINGLEY\n (by John Hubert Greusel); A STUDY OF R\u00c2JA YOGA AT POINT LOMA\n (Reprint from the San Francisco _Chronicle_, Jan. 6, 1907).\n The above three comprised in a pamphlet of 50 pages, published\n by the Woman's Theosophical Propaganda League, Point Loma .15\n\n HYPNOTISM: _Hypnotism_, by W. Q. Judge (Reprint from _The Path_,\n vol. viii, p. 335); _Why Does Katherine Tingley Oppose\n Hypnotism?_ by a Student (Reprint from _New Century Path_,\n Oct. 28, 1906); _Evils of Hypnotism_, by Lydia Ross, M. D. .15\n\n INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT;\n by Joseph H. Fussell. 24 pages, royal 8vo. .15\n\n ISIS UNVEILED, by H. P. Blavatsky. 2 vols, royal 8vo, about 1500\n pages; cloth; with portrait of the author. _Point Loma Edition,\n with a preface._ Postpaid 4.00\n\n KEY TO THEOSOPHY, THE: by H. P. Blavatsky. _Point Loma Edition_,\n with _Glossary_ and exhaustive _Index_. Portraits of H. P.\n Blavatsky and William Q. Judge. 8vo., cloth, 400 pages.\n Postpaid 2.25\n\n LIFE AT POINT LOMA, THE: Some Notes by Katherine Tingley.\n (Reprinted from the _Los Angeles Saturday Post_,\n December, 1902) .15\n\n LIGHT ON THE PATH (M. C.), with Comments, and a short chapter on\n Karma. Authoritative rules for treading the path of a higher\n life. _Point Loma Edition_, pocket size edition of this classic,\n leather .75\n Embossed paper .25\n\n MYSTERIES OF THE HEART DOCTRINE, THE. Prepared by\n _Katherine Tingley_ and her pupils. Square 8vo, cloth 2.00\n Paper 1.00\n A SERIES OF 8 PAMPHLETS, comprising the different Articles\n in above, paper, each .25\n\n NIGHTMARE TALES (H. P. Blavatsky). _Illustrated by R. Machell._\n A collection of the weirdest tales ever written down. Cloth .60\n Paper .35\n\n THE PLOUGH AND THE CROSS. A story of New Ireland; by William\n Patrick O'Ryan. 12mo, 378 pages. Illustrated. Cloth 1.00\n\n SECRET DOCTRINE, THE. The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and\n Philosophy, by H. P. Blavatsky. _Point Loma Edition_; with\n Index. Two vols., royal 8vo, about 1500 pages; cloth. Postage\n prepaid 10.00\n Reprinted from the original edition of 1888, as issued by\n H. P. Blavatsky\n\n SOME OF THE ERRORS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. Criticism by H. P.\n Blavatsky and W. Q. Judge .15\n\n VOICE OF THE SILENCE, THE. (For the daily use of disciples.)\n Translated and annotated by H. P. Blavatsky.\n Pocket size, leather .75\n\n YOGA APHORISMS (translated by W. Q. Judge), pocket size, leather .75\n\n\n _=GREEK SYMPOSIA=_, as performed by students of the Isis League of\n Music and Drama, under direction of Katherine Tingley. (Fully\n protected by copyright.)\n 1 THE WISDOM OF HYPATIA. 2 A PROMISE. Each .15\n\n\n _=NEW CENTURY SERIES.=_ THE PITH AND MARROW OF SOME SACRED WRITINGS.\n\n Ten Pamphlets; Scripts, each .25\n Subscription (Series of 10 Pamphlets) 1.50\n\n SCRIPT 1--_Contents_: The Relation of Universal Brotherhood to\n Christianity--No Man can Serve Two Masters--In this Place is a Greater\n Thing\n\n SCRIPT 2--_Contents_: A Vision of Judgment--The Great\n Victory--Co-Heirs with Christ--The \"Woes\" of the Prophets--Fragment:\n from Bhagavad G\u00eet\u00e2--Jesus the Man\n\n SCRIPT 3--_Contents_: Lesson of Israel's History--Man's Divinity and\n Perfectibility--The Man Born Blind--The Everlasting Covenant--Burden\n of the Lord\n\n SCRIPT 4--_Contents_: Reincarnation in the Bible--The Money-Changers\n in the Temple--The Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven--The Heart\n Doctrine--The Temple of God\n\n SCRIPT 5--_Contents_: Egypt and Prehistoric America--Theoretical and\n Practical Theosophy--Death, One of the Crowning Victories of Human\n Life--Reliance on the Law--Led by the Spirit of God\n\n SCRIPT 6--_Contents_: Education Through Illusion to Truth--Astronomy\n in the Light of Ancient Wisdom--Occultism and Magic--Resurrection\n\n SCRIPT 7--_Contents_: Theosophy and Isl\u00e2m, a word concerning\n Sufism--Archaeology in the Light of Theosophy--Man, a Spiritual Builder\n\n SCRIPT 8--_Contents_: The Sun of Righteousness--Cant about the Classics\n\n SCRIPT 9--_Contents_: Traces of the Wisdom-Religion in Zoroastrianism,\n Mithraism, and their modern representative, Parseeism--The Druses of\n Mount Lebanon\n\n SCRIPT 10--_Contents_: The Religions of China\n\n SCRIPT 11--(Supplementary Number) _Contents_: Druidism--Druidism and\n its Connexion with Ireland\n\n\n _=OCCULTISM, STUDIES IN=_ (H. P. Blavatsky). Pocket size, 6 vols.\n cloth; each .35\n Per set of six vols. 1.50\n Vol. 1. Practical Occultism. Occultism _vs._ the Occult Arts.\n The Blessing of Publicity\n Vol. 2. Hypnotism. Black Magic in Science. Signs of the Times\n Vol. 3. Psychic and Noetic Action\n Vol. 4. Kosmic Mind. The Dual Aspect of Wisdom\n Vol. 5. The Esoteric Character of the Gospels\n Vol. 6. Astral Bodies; The Constitution of the Inner Man\n\n\n _=THEOSOPHICAL MANUALS.=_ Elementary Handbooks for Students.\n 16mo, price, each, paper 25c; cloth .35\n\n No. 1 ELEMENTARY THEOSOPHY\n No. 2 THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF MAN\n No. 3 KARMA\n No. 4 REINCARNATION\n No. 5 MAN AFTER DEATH\n No. 6 K\u00c2MALOKA AND DEVACHAN\n No. 7 TEACHERS AND THEIR DISCIPLES\n No. 8 THE DOCTRINE OF CYCLES\n No. 9 PSYCHISM, GHOSTOLOGY, AND THE ASTRAL PLANE\n No. 10 THE ASTRAL LIGHT\n No. 11 PSYCHOMETRY, CLAIRVOYANCE, AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE\n No. 12 THE ANGEL AND THE DEMON (2 vols., 35c each)\n No. 13 THE FLAME AND THE CLAY\n No. 14 ON GOD AND PRAYER\n No. 15 THEOSOPHY: THE MOTHER OF RELIGIONS\n No. 16 FROM CRYPT TO PRONAOS; an Essay on the Rise and Fall of Dogma\n No. 17 EARTH: Its Parentage, its Rounds and its Races\n No. 18 SONS OF THE FIREMIST: a Study of Man\n\n\n _=THE PATH SERIES.=_ Specially adapted for Inquirers in Theosophy.\n\n _Already Published_:\n\n No. 1 THE PURPOSE OF THE UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD AND THEOSOPHICAL\n SOCIETY .05\n No. 2 THEOSOPHY GENERALLY STATED (W. Q. Judge) .05\n _Reprinted from Official Report, World's Parliament of\n Religions, Chicago, 1893_\n No. 3 MISLAID MYSTERIES (Herbert Coryn, M. D.) .05\n No. 4 THEOSOPHY AND ITS COUNTERFEITS .05\n No. 5 SOME PERVERTED PRESENTATIONS OF THEOSOPHY (H. T. Edge, B.A.) .05\n Thirty Copies of above Path Series, $1.00;\n one hundred copies, $3.00\n\n _=MISCELLANEOUS.=_ SOUVENIR POSTAL CARDS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL\n HEADQUARTERS. Two for 5c; postage 1c. extra; 50 copies, postpaid,\n $1.00; 100 copies, postpaid, $1.50\n\n LOMALAND. An Album of Views and Quotations; 10\u00bd \u00d7 13\u00bd in.\n (postage 6c. extra) .50\n\n REPRODUCTIONS OF FAMOUS PAINTINGS BY R. MACHELL. _The Path_--\n _Parsifal_--_The Prodigal_--_The Bard_--_The Light of the\n Coming Day_--_'Twixt Priest and Profligate_--_The Hour of\n Despair_--_The Dweller on the Threshold_.\n Size of photographs, 8 \u00d7 6 in., approximate. Price, unmounted,\n 50c; mounted .75\n\n PATH MAGAZINE, THE--Vol. ix ('94-95); Vol. x ('95-96); each 2.00\n\n PATH MAGAZINE, THE--Index to Vols. I to VIII; cloth .50\n\n PATH MAGAZINE, THE--Back Numbers; each .20\n\n SEARCHLIGHT, No. 6--Full Report of Great Debate on Theosophy and\n Christianity held at Fisher Opera House, San Diego, Cal.,\n September and October, 1901.\n 72 pages. Special number issued to the public .15\n\n SEARCHLIGHT, No. 7 .15\n\n SEARCHLIGHT, Vol. II, No. 1 .15\n\n UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD PATH }\n UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD MAGAZINE } Back numbers .20\n Vols. xiii (1898-9), xiv (1899-00), xv (1900-01),\n xvi (1901-2), each 2.00\n\n\n_LOTUS GROUP LITERATURE_\n\n_Introduced under the direction of Katherine Tingley_\n\n No. 1 THE LITTLE BUILDERS, and their Voyage to Rangi (R. N.) .50\n No. 2 THE COMING OF THE KING (Machell); cloth, .35\n LOTUS SONG BOOK. Fifty original songs with copyrighted music;\n boards .50\n LOTUS SONG: \"_The Sun Temple_,\" with music .15\n\n\nFRENCH\n\n TH\u00c9OSOPHIE \u00c9L\u00c9MENTAIRE .05\n LES MYST\u00c8RES DE LA DOCTRINE DU C\u0152UR (1^{re} Section) .50\n\n\nSPANISH\n\n ECOS DEL ORIENTE (W. Q. Judge) .50\n EP\u00cdTOME DE LAS ENSE\u00d1ANZAS TEOS\u00d3FICAS (W. Q. Judge). 40 p\u00e1ginas .25\n LA TEOSOF\u00cdA EXPLICADA .05\n LA TEOSOF\u00cdA Y SUS FALSIFICACIONES. Para uso de investigadores .05\n 30 copies $1.00; 100 copies $3.00\n LA VIDA EN POINT LOMA (Notas por Katherine Tingley). .15\n\n Libros Teos\u00f3ficos Elementales para uso de los Estudiantes\n 16mo, precios cada uno, en papel 25c; en tela .35\n\n N\u00fam. 1 Teosof\u00eda Elemental\n N\u00fam. 2 La Constituci\u00f3n Septenaria del Hombre\n N\u00fam. 3 Karma\n N\u00fam. 4 Reencarnaci\u00f3n\n N\u00fam. 5 El Hombre despu\u00e9s la Muerte\n N\u00fam. 6 K\u00e2maloka y Devach\u00e1n\n N\u00fam. 7 Los Maestros y sus Disc\u00edpulos\n N\u00fam. 8 La Doctrina de los Ciclos\n N\u00fam. 9 Psiquismo, Fantasmalog\u00eda, y el Plano Astral\n N\u00fam. 10 La Luz Astral\n N\u00fam. 11 Psicomancia, Clairvoyancia, y Telepat\u00eda\n N\u00fam. 12 El Angel y el Demonio (dos tomos, cada uno 35c)\n N\u00fam. 13 La Llama y el Barro\n N\u00fam. 14 Sobre Dios y las Oraciones\n N\u00fam. 15 Teosof\u00eda, la Madre de las Religiones\n N\u00fam. 16 Desde la Cripta \u00e1 Pronaos: un Ensayo sobre la Elevaci\u00f3n y\n Decadencia del Dogma\n N\u00fam. 17 La Tierra\n N\u00fam. 18 Los Hijos de la Neblina Ardiente: un Estudio del Hombre\n\n_Order above from the Theosophical Publishing Company, Point Loma,\nCalifornia._\n\n The following in other languages may be procured by writing direct to\n the respective Foreign Agencies (see first page) for Book List and\n prices.\n\n\nGERMAN\n\n AN IHREN FR\u00dcCHTEN SOLLT IHR SIE ERKENNEN--WER IST EIN THEOSOPH?--WAS\n THEOSOPHIE \u00dcBER MANCHE PUNKTE LEHRT UND WAS SIE WEDER LEHRT NOCH\n BILLIGT\n\n AUSBILDUNG DER KONZENTRATION (von William Q. Judge).\n\n DAS LEBEN ZU POINT LOMA (Katherine Tingley). Sch\u00f6n Illustriert.\n (Recommended)\n\n DIE BHAGAVAD-G\u00ceT\u00c2 (nach der englischen Ausgabe von William Q. Judge).\n\n DIE WISSENSCHAFT DES LEBENS UND DIE KUNST ZU LEBEN\n\n ECHOS AUS DEM ORIENT (von William Q. Judge).\n\n STUDIEN \u00dcBER DIE BHAGAVAD G\u00ceT\u00c2 (William Q. Judge).\n\n THEOSOPHIE ERKL\u00c4RT\n\n R\u00dcCKBLICK UND AUSBLICK AUF DIE THEOSOPHISCHE BEWEGUNG\n\n WAHRHEIT IST M\u00c4CHTIG UND MUSS OBSIEGEN!\n\n POSTKARTEN MIT ANSICHTEN VON POINT LOMA\n\n\nTheosophische Handb\u00fccher:\n\n No. 1 ELEMENTARE THEOSOPHIE\n No. 2 DIE SIEBEN PRINZIPIEN DES MENSCHEN\n No. 3 KARMA\n No. 4 REINKARNATION\n No. 5 DER MENSCH NACH DEM TODE\n No. 6 K\u00c2MALOKA UND DEVACHAN\n No. 7 LEHRER UND IHRE J\u00dcNGER\n No. 8 DIE THEORIE DER ZYKLEN U. S. W.\n\n\nDUTCH\n\n DIE BHAGAVAD-G\u00ceT\u00c2: Het Boek van Yoga; with Glossary. Bound in morocco\n or paper\n\n DE KLEINE BOUWERS EN HUN REIS NAAR RANGI; een Geschiedenis voor\n Kinderen door R. N. (_met illustraties van R. Machell_)\n\n DE OCEAAN DER THEOSOPHIE (door William Q. Judge)\n\n DE RIDDERS VAN KEIZER ARTHUR--Een Verhaal voor Kinderen, door _Ceinnyd\n Morus_\n\n DRIE OPSTELLEN OVER THEOSOPHIE. In verband met Vraagstukken van den Dag\n\n ECHO'S UIT HET OOSTEN; een algemeene schets der Theosophische\n Leeringen door William Q. Judge (_Occultus_)\n\n HET LEVEN TE POINT LOMA, Enkele Aanteekeningen door Katherine Tingley\n\n HOOGERE EN LAGERE PSYCHOLOGIE. Enkele Aanteekeningen door Katherine\n Tingley (_met Portret en Illustratie_)\n\n H. P. BLAVATSKY EN WILLIAM Q. JUDGE, De Stichters en Leiders der\n Theosophische Beweging (_Leerling_). pp. 42\n\n KATHERINE TINGLEY, DE AUTOCRAAT (_De Geheimen van de Leer van het\n Hart_)\n\n LICHT OP HET PAD (door M. C.) Bound in morocco or paper\n\n PIT EN MERG, uit sommige Heilige Geschriften, 1^e Serie\n\n _Inhoud_: Theosophie en Christendom. \"Niemand kan twee heeren dienen.\"\n Iets Meerders dan de Tempel. Een Gezicht des Oordeels. De Mensch Jezus\n\n PIT EN MERG VAN DE EINDIGENDE EN KOMENDE EEUW, en de daarmede in\n betrekking staande positie van _Vrijmetselarij_ en _Jesuitisme_, door\n _Rameses_\n\n\nTheosophical Manuals, Series No. 1\n\n No. 1 IN DEN VOORHOF\n No. 2 EEN HEILIG LEERSTUK\n No. 3 VERLOREN KENNIS WEERGEVONDEN\n No. 4 EEN SLEUTEL TOT MODERNE RAADSELEN\n No. 5 HET MYSTERIE VAN DEN DOOD\n No. 6 \"HEMEL\" EN \"HEL\"\n No. 7 LEERAREN EN HUN LEERLINGEN\n No. 8 EEN UNIVERSEELE WET\n No. 9 DWAALWEGEN (HYPNOTISME, CLAIRVOYANCE, SPIRITISME)\n No. 10 DE ZIEL DER WERELD\n\nTheosophical Manuals, Series No. 2\n\n No. 1 PSYCHOMETRIE, CLAIRVOYANCE, EN GEDACHTEN-OVERBRENGING\n\n\nSWEDISH\n\n DEN HEMLIGA L\u00c4RAN, 2 band (H. P. Blavatsky)\n NYCKEL TILL TEOSOFIEN (H. P. Blavatsky)\n ASTRAL BERUSNING, DEVACHAN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n BREV, SOM HJ\u00c4LPT MIG (William Q. Judge)\n DEN CYKLISKA LAGEN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n DOLDA VINKAR I DEN HEMLIGA L\u00c4RAN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n D\u00d6DSSTRAFFET I TEOSOFISK BELYSNING. M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n REINKARNATIONSL\u00c4RAN I BIBELN, OM KARMA, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n STUDIER \u00d6VER BHAGAVAD-G\u00ceT\u00c2 (William Q. Judge)\n TEOSOFIENS OCEAN (William Q. Judge)\n VETENSKAPEN OCH TEOSOFIEN, M. M. (William Q. Judge)\n \u00d6VNING I KONCENTRATION (William Q. Judge)\n HEMLIGHETERNA I HJ\u00c4RTATS L\u00c4RA (Katherine Tingley och hennes l\u00e4rjungar)\n EN INTERVJU MED KATHERINE TINGLEY (Greusel)\n KATHERINE TINGLEY, AF M. F. N. (levnadsteckning)\n EXISTENSLINJER OCH UTVECKLINGSNORMER (Oscar Ljungstr\u00f6m)\n KAN ETT T. S. SAKNA MORALLAG? (Protest m\u00f6te)\n TEOSOFI OCH KRISTENDOM, Genm\u00e4le till Prof. Pfannenstill\n (Dr. G. Zander och F. Kellberg)\n ASIENS LJUS (Edwin Arnold)\n BHAGAVAD G\u00ceT\u00c2, H\u00e4ngivandets bok\n DEN TEOSOFISKA INSTITUTIONEN (Baker)\n FRIMURERI OCH JESUITV\u00c4LDE (Rameses)\n LJUS P\u00c5 V\u00c4GEN\n LOTUSBLAD, f\u00f6r barn\n LOTUSS\u00c5NGBOK, ord och musik\n R\u00c2JA YOGA, OM SJ\u00c4LENS UTVECKLING\n SKILLNADEN MELLAN TEOSOFI OCH SPIRITISM\n STJ\u00c4RNAN, SAGO- OCH POEMSAMLING, f\u00f6r barn\n TEOSOFIENS INNEB\u00d6RD\n TYSTNADENS R\u00d6ST\n VISINGS\u00d6 (Karling)\n\n\nTeosofiska Handb\u00f6cker\n\nEnkelt och l\u00e4ttfattligt skrivna framst\u00e4llningar av Teosofiska l\u00e4ror\nKlotband. Pris f\u00f6r varje bok, kronor 2.00\n\n Nr 1 Element\u00e4r Teosofi\n Nr 2 M\u00e4nniskans Sju Principer\n Nr 3 Karma\n Nr 4 Reinkarnation\n Nr 5 M\u00e4nniskan efter D\u00f6den\n Nr 6 K\u00e2maloka och Devachan\n Nr 7 L\u00e4rare och deras L\u00e4rjungar\n Nr 8 L\u00e4ran om Cykler\n Nr 9 Psykiska Fenomen och Astral-planet\n Nr 10 Astral-ljuset\n Nr 11 Psykometri, Clairvoyance och Tanke\u00f6verf\u00f6ring\n Nr 12 \u00c4ngeln och Demonen (2 delar \u00e0 kronor 2.00)\n Nr 13 Anden och Stoftet\n Nr 14 Om Gud och B\u00f6nen\n Nr 15 Teosofien, Religionernas Moder\n Nr 16 Fr\u00e5n Crypt till Pronaos. En essay \u00f6ver dogmernas uppkomst\n och f\u00f6rfall\n Nr 17 Jorden: Dess h\u00e4rkomst, dess runder och raser\n Nr 18 Eldt\u00f6cknets S\u00f6ner. En studie \u00f6ver m\u00e4nniskan\n\n\nPERIODICALS\n\n _=INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL CHRONICLE.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly.\n Yearly subscription, postpaid 1.00\n The Theosophical Book Co., 18 Bartlett's Buildings, Holborn\n Circus, London\n\n _=DEN TEOSOFISKA V\u00c4GEN.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid 1.50\n Universella Broderskapets F\u00f6rlag, Barnhusgatan 10,\n Stockholm 1, Sweden\n\n _=DER THEOSOPHISCHE PFAD.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid 1.50\n J. Th. Heller, Vestnertorgraben 13, N\u00fcrnberg, Germany\n\n _=HET THEOSOPHISCH PAD.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid .75\n A. Goud, Steentilstraat 40, Groningen, Holland\n\n _=EL SENDERO TEOS\u00d3FICO.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\n subscription, postpaid 1.50\n El Sendero Teos\u00f3fico, Point Loma, California\n\n _=RAJA YOGA MESSENGER.=_ _Illustrated._ Monthly.\n Yearly subscription .50\n Unsectarian publication for Young Folk, conducted by a staff\n of pupils of the R\u00e2ja Yoga School at Lomaland.\n _Address_: Master Albert G. Spalding, Business Manager,\n R\u00e2ja Yoga Messenger, Point Loma, California.\n\n Subscriptions to the above five Magazines may be secured also through\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING CO., Point Loma, California, U. S. A.\n\n_Neither the Editors of the above publications, nor the officers of\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, or of any of its\ndepartments, receive salaries or other remuneration. All profits\narising from the business of the Theosophical Publishing Co., are\ndevoted to Humanitarian work. All who assist in that work are directly\nhelping that cause._\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE PATH]\n\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n\n An International Magazine\n Unsectarian and nonpolitical\n\n Monthly Illustrated\n\n Devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, the promulgation\n of Theosophy, the study of ancient & modern\n Ethics, Philosophy, Science and Art, and to the uplifting\n and purification of Home and National Life\n\n Edited by Katherine Tingley\n International Theosophical Headquarters, Point Loma, California, U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\n_Among many ideas brought forward through the Theosophical Movement\nthere are three which should never be lost sight of. Not speech, but\nthought, really rules the world; so, if these three ideas are good let\nthem be rescued again and again from oblivion._\n\nTHE FIRST IDEA _is, that there is a great Cause--in the sense of\nan enterprise--called the Cause of Sublime Perfection and Human\nBrotherhood. This rests upon the essential unity of the whole human\nfamily, and is a possibility because sublimity in perfectness and\nactual realization of brotherhood on every plane of being are one and\nthe same thing._\n\nTHE SECOND IDEA _is, that man is a being who may be raised up to\nperfection, to the stature of the Godhead, because he himself is God\nincarnate. This noble doctrine was in the mind of Jesus, when he said\nthat we must be perfect even as the Father in Heaven. This is the idea\nof human perfectibility. It will destroy the awful theory of inherent\noriginal sin which has held and ground down the western Christian\nnations for centuries._\n\nTHE THIRD IDEA _is the illustration, the proof, the high result of\nthe others. It is, that the great Helpers of Humanity--those who have\nreached up to what perfection this period of evolution and this solar\nsystem will allow--are living veritable facts, and not abstractions\ncold and distant. They are, as our old H. P. Blavatsky so often said_,\nLIVING MEN. _These Helpers as living facts and high ideals will fill\nthe soul with hope, will themselves help all who wish to raise the\nhuman race._\n\n_Let us not forget these three great ideas._\n\n WILLIAM Q. JUDGE\n\n\n\n\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n MONTHLY ILLUSTRATED\n\n EDITED BY KATHERINE TINGLEY\n\n NEW CENTURY CORPORATION, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.\n\n Entered as second-class matter July 25, 1911, at the Post Office at\n Point Loma, California under the Act of March 3, 1879\n Copyright, 1911, by Katherine Tingley\n\n\n COMMUNICATIONS\n\n Communications for the Editor should be addressed to \"KATHERINE\n TINGLEY, _Editor_, THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH, Point Loma, California.\"\n\n To the BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, including subscriptions, address the \"New\n Century Corporation, Point Loma, California.\"\n\n\n MANUSCRIPTS\n\n The Editor cannot undertake to return manuscripts; none will be\n considered unless accompanied by the author's name and marked with the\n number of words. The Editor is responsible only for views expressed in\n unsigned articles.\n\n\n SUBSCRIPTION\n\n By the year, postpaid, in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico,\n Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines, TWO DOLLARS; other countries\n in the Postal Union, TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS, payable in advance;\n single copy, TWENTY CENTS.\n\n\n REMITTANCES\n\n All remittances to the New Century Corporation must be made payable to\n \"CLARK THURSTON, _Manager_,\" Point Loma, California.\n\n\n VOL. I NO. 4 CONTENTS OCTOBER 1911\n\n\n Scene from _The Aroma of Athens_ _Frontispiece_\n Karma, Reincarnation, and Immortality\n H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 243\n Scenes from _The Aroma of Athens_ (_illustrations_)\n 246-247, 254-255, 266-267\n Poetry and Criticism Kenneth Morris 247\n \"The Music of the Spheres\" H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S. 258\n Does Nirv\u00e2na mean Annihilation? T. H. 261\n Cathedrals in Ancient Crete A Student 262\n The World of Womanhood Grace Knoche 264\n \"Magnetons,\" Force and Matter H. Travers 267\n The Natural History Museum, London (_illustrated_) 270\n Scenes in Geneva and near Champ\u00e9ry, Switzerland (_illustrations_) 271\n Was H. P. Blavatsky a Plagiarist? H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 271\n A Farmhouse on the Norfolk Broads, England (_illustration_) 274\n Buckingham Palace, London (_illustrated_) 275\n The Golden Chain of Platonic Succession\n F. S. Darrow, A. M., PH. D. (Harv.) 276\n Classical Cyrene Ariomardes 280\n Killarney, Ireland (_illustrated_)\n F. J. Dick, M. INST. C. E., M. INST. C. E. I. 282\n The Vrbas Defile, Bosnia (_illustrated_) F. J. B. 286\n Rocking-Stone Pinnacle, Tasmania (_illustration_) 287\n Astronomical Notes C. J. Ryan 287\n St. Paul's Cathedral from Ludgate Hill (_illustrated_) Carolus 293\n Who Made the Eucalypts? (_illustrated_) Nature-Lover 295\n Australian Marsupials (_illustrated_) Nature-Lover 296\n Hoa-Haka-Nana-Ia (_illustrated_) P. A. Malpas 299\n Sun-Life and Earth-Life Per Fernholm, M. E. (Stockholm) 300\n The Spade of the Archaeologist Ariomardes 303\n The Lands now Submerged Durand Churchill 305\n Scene in Amsterdam. Oil Creek Falls, Alberta, Canada\n (_illustrations_) 306-307\n Book Reviews: _Il est ressuscit\u00e9_ (Charles Morice) H. A. Fussell 307\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. SCENE FROM \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS,\" AS PRESENTED IN THE\nGREEK THEATER, INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL HEADQUARTERS, POINT LOMA,\nCALIFORNIA, APRIL 17, 1911 PROCLAMATION OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR BY\nMELESIPPOS, THE SPARTAN HERALD]\n\n\n\n\nTHE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY, EDITOR\n\nVOL. I OCTOBER, 1911 NO. 4\n\n HE who thinks himself holier than another, he who has any pride in his\n exemption from vice or folly, he who believes himself wise, or in any\n way superior to his fellow-men, is incapable of discipleship.--_Light\n on the Path_\n\n\nKARMA, REINCARNATION, AND IMMORTALITY: by H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.)\n\n\nPeople habitually discuss the past and the future of the human race\nwith a zeal and interest that clashes strangely with their professed\nviews on the subject of immortality; for what living interest could we\nhave in the drama and prospects of a world if our appearance on the\nstage were actually limited to the term of a single mortal life? This\nconstitutes the strongest kind of argument against the conventional\nviews, theological or otherwise. It would seem that we are really\nconscious, though in a dim and undefined way, of our immortality--or,\nrather, of the immortality of our essence. The same conviction also\narises when we consider the readiness with which people will face\ndeath, sooner than sacrifice some ideal of love or duty; a readiness\nquite inconsistent with professed beliefs.\n\nWhile most of that which goes to make up a man has grown together\nduring the period since his birth, and will fall asunder again when he\ndies, there is an immortal seed which was before and shall be again.\n\nWhat is needed is to make our philosophy agree with our inner\nconvictions, instead of contradicting them. If the consciousness of\nimmortality in the young were preserved, and not destroyed by wrong\nteachings, the old would not have to spend so much time and energy\nin trying to solve problems that would never have arisen. We do not\nsufficiently realize what we owe to centuries of theological dogmatism\nand other forms of materialism; and consequently we underestimate the\neffect which would be produced if the rising generations were guided on\nhigher, broader, and more generous lines of thought.\n\nTheosophy justly claims that its philosophy enables us to interpret our\nown intuitions. Its teachings do not contradict our innate conviction\nof the justice of universal law. Theosophy may be called a science,\ninasmuch as it interprets nature, studying the effects and unraveling\ntheir causes, finding explanations that will account for the facts. It\nmight also be called rationalism, since it imposes no dogmas but points\nout facts. But both science and reason must be understood in a vastly\nwider sense than the conventional one. Nature is not limited to her\nexternal manifestations; for the body is but the vesture of the soul\nwithin--whether in man or in the earth. Nor can the function of science\nbe limited to physics.\n\nThe justice and harmony of a human life cannot be discerned if we\nregard that life separately--apart from its sequel and apart from that\nof which it is the sequel. This circumstance accounts for most of the\nstrivings and strainings to reconcile faith with experience and to\nfind a place for God in philosophy. But the idea of Reincarnation is\nso unfamiliar to Western culture and habits of thought that reasonable\nas it is it will take some time to win its appeal. The process of\nfamiliarizing this truth is rendered slower by the fact that much\nnonsense is talked about it, and reasonable inquirers thereby warned\noff. Yet it is possible to speak of Reincarnation in a sane and serious\nway.\n\nWhat people most often forget is to distinguish properly between\nthat which survives and that which does not, and this may lead them\nto expect proofs of a kind that cannot logically be demanded. They\nalso confound memory with recollection, assuming, quite illogically,\nthat where there is no recollection there can be no memory. But it is\nconceivable that memories may be stored up beyond our present reach,\nand yet be accessible to stronger efforts which we may be able to\nmake at some future time. It may be true that we do not _recollect_\nour past lives, but we are not warranted in inferring that the memory\nis obliterated or that there never was any such record made. The\nrecollection of past lives is a question of memory training; but it is\nprobably unnecessary to say that anyone who should venture on such a\ntask in the expectation of achieving speedy results by his own unaided\nefforts would be liable to disappointment and delusion. For this\nattainment lies a long way ahead of us on the Path.\n\nIf people were habituated from birth to regard their present life as\nonly one of a series, a great benefit would accrue. The fear of death\nwould disappear; in time it might come to be looked upon as a mere\nincident. The haste to achieve disproportionate material prosperity\nwould be seen to be needless. There could never be any ground for the\nphilosophy, \"Let us eat, drink, and be merry; for tomorrow we die!\"\nBut, more important still, confidence and courage would be restored.\nIt would never be too late to mend; the oldest man might begin a new\nstudy or enterprise. Things left undone in this life could confidently\nbe left for completion in the future. Failings not entirely overcome\nwould be left behind, and a clean start would be in prospect. We do\nindeed already act as though we believed in Reincarnation; for old\nmen begin new studies, and in many other ways people behave as though\nthey were not going to die for good. Our intuitions are better than\nour philosophy; they tell us true, but we give them the lie; hence we\nmarvel at our \"inconsistency\" or say that \"God moves in a mysterious\nway,\" when it is ourselves who are moving in a mysterious way, our\nwonders to perform. How much more reasonable it would be, if we could\ngive up these dogmas and mold our philosophy into harmony with our\ninner perceptions. And, speaking of dogmas, be it remembered that there\nare dogmas and dogmas; and one of the latter is that nothing is true\nunless it can be shown to follow from certain arbitrary rules of reason.\n\nAnother mistake made in thinking of immortality consists in regarding\nit merely in relation to time. Yet the Soul exists all the time; and\nwhile the personality is living its temporal life, the Soul, free from\nthe limitations of time and sense, is living its eternal life. Hence we\nmay truly be said to be experiencing immortality while in the flesh;\nand though we but faintly realize it, we do so in different degrees,\nsome people more than others.\n\nA useful comparison is that between death and sleep, between a lifetime\nand a day. During the period of a day we pass through successive\nphases similar to youth, maturity, and old age. At night we cheerfully\nlay down our work, confident that we shall resume it. Each day is\ndetermined to a large extent by preceding days, and is in its turn the\nparent of following days. In every day our free initiative works amid\nconditions imposed by our actions on preceding days, and here we find\nan analogy with the workings of the law of Karma during a lifetime. If\nwe but regard a lifetime as a longer day, the analogy will clear up\nmany difficulties.\n\nContinuing this analogy further, we find that as regards the successive\ndays of our lifetime, our mind is conscious of them all; in fact our\nmind is in the same position with regard to the days as the Higher Mind\nis with regard to the successive lives. Knowing this, we do not make\nthe mistake of scolding Providence for conditions which we know we have\ncreated ourselves. The only difference, in the case of a lifetime, is\nthat we are not yet cognizant of the continuity of our existence, and\nfind ourselves in circumstances whose origin we have forgotten. Yet\nthese circumstances are the logical consequence of past actions. The\nopportunities we enjoy and the drawbacks under which we suffer were\nmade by ourselves.\n\nIt is maintained by Theosophists that the doctrines of Karma and\nReincarnation are perfectly adaptable to ordinary life; that they are\nnot mere theories such as a scholar might amuse himself with; that they\nrepresent actual facts and constitute an interpretation--indeed the\nonly logical interpretation--of things as they are. It may be regarded\nas certain that these tenets will eventually become generally adopted;\nthere is great vitality behind them, and the human mind is at present\nin a fluid condition, during which it is rapidly assimilating new\nideas. The future may be forecast by a comparison of present ideas with\nthose of a few years ago. The important thing is to provide that the\npure teachings, and not any absurd travesty of them, shall prevail.\n\nIt is a solemn and oft-repeated truth that no real reform in human\ncircumstances can be made unless the characters of the people are\nreformed. And how can these be reformed so long as there is such a\nchaos of beliefs and non-beliefs, theological dogmas that teach us\nto fear ourselves, so-called \"scientific\" theories that magnify our\nanimal nature and animal heredity? What is needed is views of life\nbased upon common sense, views which dignify man and inspire him with\nself-confidence of the right kind. The Theosophical teachings as to\nKarma, Reincarnation, and the sevenfold nature of man can achieve this;\nbut they need to be seriously studied, and above all made the basis of\naction. Theosophist is who Theosophy does.\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. THE CROWNING OF HOMER A TABLEAU PRESENTED IN THE GREEK\nTHEATER, INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL HEADQUARTERS ON APRIL 17, 1911, IN\nTHE GREEK PLAY \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\"]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. IRIS ADVISING PRIAM TO RANSOM HEKTOR'S BODY ANOTHER\nTABLEAU PRESENTED IN \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\"]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. CHILDREN'S SCENE IN \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\"]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. ANOTHER CHILDREN'S SCENE IN \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\"]\n\n\n\n\nPOETRY AND CRITICISM: by Kenneth Morris\n\n\nI\n\nMatthew Arnold will have it that the function of Poetry is the\nCriticism of Life; and the work of a poet will be important, according\nto him, only in so far as it throws light on human life and character.\nBut in the work of all poets there is a kind of cream that may be\nskimmed off (_provided that there is a cream_, and that it was not all\nsky-blue wretchedness from the first); and when it has been so skimmed,\none may say that the poetry is the cream, and the criticism of life\nthe skim-milk. \"Such and such a lyric, by so and so,\" says your poet\nor poetry-lover, \"is of equal value with Hamlet or the Odyssey, all\nthree being absolute in their beauty.\" \"Gammon!\" says your man of the\nworld in letters; \"there is the criticism of life to be thought of.\nHow shall ten lines be equal to ten thousand?\" Which is right? The\nsecond will get all the votes; which is no great argument, perhaps.\nThe epic took longer in the writing; but one never knows what may lie\nbehind the lyric. The didactic or philosophic poem, the work full\nof this criticism, will influence the thought of the world; and if\nthinking is to be the judge, it will win unquestionably. But the lyric\nwill be singing itself through thousands of minds, in the sunshine,\nin the mines, over the washtub, heaven knows where: without noise, it\nwill shed its brightness through a million eyes, its sweetness on a\nmillion tempers, its clearness and magic on a million imaginations.\nTo the writer of the most perfect lyric, I am not sure that we do not\nowe as much gratitude as to the writer of the greatest epic or drama:\nI am almost positive that we owe him more than to the best writer of\ncriticism of life; though it be a dozen lines against a dozen volumes.\n\nMost of the English-writing poets have been also, and many of them\nmainly, philosophers; writing their thought in verse form, and perhaps\nsprinkling it from the spice-box of pure poetry, and perhaps not.\nOften and often we find stories or philosophic disquisitions in verse,\nthat might have been told as well in prose; although it has been\nsaid rather wisely that nothing should have verse form that could be\ntold honorably without metre. There is a class of idea that journeys\nleisurely and step by step through the mind; this should be reserved\nfor prose. There are other classes that have the sweep and charge of\ncavalry, and you build epics and all heroic poetry of them; others\nthat soar singing like the skylark, or that wander from bloom to bloom\ndroning out a magical and honey-laden monody, secrets of a learning\nincomprehensible to the minds of men. These will be the right stuff for\nyour pure lyrics, these bees and birds in the golden regions west of\nthought. Their revelations are more esoteric than philosophy; they home\nto deeper places.\n\nBut one cannot deal with all poetry or all life in one article; and it\nis the intention here to consider narrative poetry alone. Narrative\npoetry, when it is anything more than a ballad, is epic: and epic is\nheroic poetry; not by any convention, I believe, but in accordance\nwith deep-seated law. There is room for nothing personal or limited\nhere; for no dissection of personal characteristics, no consideration\nor criticism of problems of exterior life. Those things all belong to\nprose; poetry proclaims the actions and perceptions of the soul. Heroic\nor epic poetry tells of the soul as hero, warrior, redeemer; as Sigurd\ngoing out against Fafnir, Arthur ferried in a dark barge to The Island\nof the Apples; as Satan unconquered in the lake of flame; as Christ on\nGolgotha, or Prometheus on Caucasus. It has to show forth the glory,\nthe indomitableness, the magnanimity of the soul, dwelling in those\nlofty regions and letting who will come to it for general strength\nand inspiration. It is the Mountain; it will not descend from itself\nfor any Mohammed. For this reason is its aloofness, its tendency to\nconcern itself with periods _apparently_ in the far past, but really\nin the eternal. That atmosphere all narrative poetry must retain,\nunder penalty of sinking into berhymed or bemetred prose; or into the\nballad--which, indeed, can be good, at its best, but not supremely\ngood. Yet how many stories there are, beautifully written in verse,\nwhich are neither epic in spirit nor ballad in form; which are, if the\ntruth should be told, novels strayed from their proper fold of prose,\nvalley wanderers by no means at home on the mountain.\n\nOne thinks, for example, of such a work as Mrs. Browning's _Aurora\nLeigh_. If she had only written it in prose! With that faultlessness of\nexpression, that delicate insight and unerring justness of criticism\nwhich mark it, it would have become a classic; we should have said,\n\"Why, this is a prose poem, a literary treasure among novels.\" But\nbeing in verse, it remains, however beautiful, only versified prose;\nand it is to be feared that we neglect it; to be feared, but hardly to\nbe wondered at. If she had only written it in prose!\n\nOr one thinks of nearly all Tennyson's narrative poetry. The aim, one\nfeels, was nearly always criticism of life, the life of all these\nmyriads of personalities; not poetry, which is the illumination of\nthe hidden life of the soul. It was for this reason that _Idylls of\nthe King_, although flaming up here and there with such poetry as has\nnot been excelled in any known literature, perhaps--yet fails as a\nwhole to be a great poem. The Nineteenth Century was too insistent,\nand the troubles and problems of the day. Milton, dealing with matters\nbeyond the crystalline and the brink of time, achieved the epic; but\neven Milton, coming down to Eden, heaven, and the familiar things of\ndogmatic theology, attained only to be ... Well, well, all honor to\nhim; he deserves that all that should be lost and forgotten. Poetry and\npersonality cannot be blended; they are a veritable God and Mammon.\n\nThen there are those charming stories of Tennyson's: _Dora_, _Enoch\nArden_, _Almer's Field_, _The Princess_. He dignified them all with\nhis own high gift of style; stamped on every line his own noble and\nmelodious manner; adorned them all richly, and with consummate taste,\nwith the best color of English rural life. Yet they remain essentially\nof the nature of prose; and we should not have been lured into thinking\nthem poetry, but for the wonderful genius with which Tennyson handled\nthem. The matter is the matter of the novel; and the style--what a\nwonderful style it is!--is rather the polished style that reflects\nlight, the style of prose, than the white-hot luminosity of the genuine\nepic.\n\nLet us take, for example, _The Princess_, perhaps the most romantic\nand beautiful of this series, the one it takes the greatest temerity\nto speak of as not really poetic. Its aim is to throw light on, or\nto consider, or discuss, a certain present-day problem, that of the\n\"emancipation of women\"; and who shall say that that might not be done\nin prose? Is poetry to throw no light on our modern problems, or on\ncontemporary problems, then? Turn to your Milton for an answer:\n\n Dare ye for this adjure the civil sword\n To force our consciences that Christ set free,\n And ride us with a classic hierarchy\n Taught ye by mere A. S. and Rutherford?\n Men whose life, learning, faith, and pure intent\n Would have been held in high esteem with Paul\n Must now be named and printed heretics\n By shallow Edwards and Scotch What-d'ye-call!\n But we do hope to find out all your tricks.\n\nPoetry? By heaven, yes! And on a contemporary problem? Look at\nthe title of it: \"On the New Forcers of Conscience under the Long\nParliament\"; and the date given, too; 1646. But does he discuss? Does\nhe consider? Indeed he does not. He flames forth from the standpoint of\nthe soul; he is still God's Warrior, and you dare not mention truce to\nhim. So those prosaic names, that \"mere A. S. and Rutherford,\" \"shallow\nEdwards,\" and above all the ridiculous \"Scotch What-d'ye-call,\" become\nflaming and terrible poetic utterances on his lips; he blasts with them\nthe fools that dare stand up against the liberty and supremacy of the\nsoul. But suppose, instead of this terse, burning sonnet so entirely\nfree from the atmosphere of argumentation, he had written a long story\ndesigned to thrash the matter out from the standpoint of pure reason?\nSome one might do so; and the work might be one of great value; but it\nwould not be poetic; it could not be Miltonic; it would be a novel with\na purpose, not an epic poem.\n\nThere are problems and problems; those which poetry may specifically\nhandle, are, I think, the same yesterday, today and forever. Who is\nto hinder her handling what problems she likes; will you set down\nrules for her? Heaven forbid! it were more profitable to build a fence\nabout the cuckoo. But the fact remains that she will touch these, and\nwill not touch those others. Charm you never so wisely, she will not\ncome from her own ground. For all your birdlime of earnestness, of\nenthusiasm, of excellent purpose, it is some masquerading jackdaw you\nwill have captured, not the Bird of Paradise; unless it is the trees of\nParadise you have limed. Poetry hardly deals with any historic period,\nold or new; she leaves those to the historians, and has a period of her\nown, which is eternal. What then, you say, of those \"New Forcers of\nConscience in the Long Parliament?\" This! that that parliament is so\nlong that it has been sitting any time this two thousand years, and is\nsitting now, in all our towns and villages. \"New Presbyter is but old\nPriest writ large\"; A. S. and Rutherford, Shallow Edwards and Scotch\nWhat-d'ye-call--they all preach in a thousand pulpits every Sunday.\nFor they are prototypal figures, and plot and persecute wherever there\nis bigotry or ecclesiastical dominance. Against them, and, so far as\none has been able to discover, against them _only_, does poetry ever\ncome forth armed, enangered, utterly ruthless. It is she that has pity\nand pardon for the Magdalene and the publican; but a whip of bitter\nsmall chords for those that have made her Father's house into a den\nof thieves. Do you doubt it? Then find some passage where anger is\nexpressed, not in rhetoric, not in mere fustian bombast, but with the\nsublime music and undertone, the ring of genuine poetry; perhaps an\nanger without mercy, a declaration of utter war; and see whether it is\nnot directed _always_ against this same ecclesiasticism.\n\nBut we set out to discuss the epic; and here we have wandered off to\nconsider a sonnet with particular gusto; a grave digression, surely?\nI think not. You shall not judge a poem's right to the epic name by\nits length. This little sonnet is an epic too, with Milton on Pegasus\nfor hero; and A. S., Rutherford, Edwards, and What-d'ye-call for\nfour-headed Chimaera. I think the very archaeus of the epic is the\neternal battle of the world; and that all epics have their root in\nthat, and are great and regal in proportion to their nearness, inwardly\nand spiritually speaking, to it. Tennyson knew it when he set out to\nwrite in his _Idylls of the King_ a record of the Soul at war with\nsense; only perhaps he knew it too personally and consciously; and lost\nthe grand epic symbolism in his quest after actual _criticism_ of life.\n\n\nII\n\nBut to return to _The Princess_. Here, the objective is not to set\nforth eternal verity, but to discuss, perhaps throw light on, a problem\nof our own day; a social, in a sense, rather than a spiritual problem.\nWhat figure can stand for the battling soul, and what for the principle\nof evil? There are epic places in the _Idylls of the King_, where this\nsymbolism stands forth majestically, and style and glory correspond. We\nhave the story of that \"last, dim battle in the west\" and the passing\nof Arthur thereafter; clean, antique, touched with the infinite and\nwith eternity; therein, if you will, is the epic atmosphere. But here\nit is the benevolent, thoughtful Tennyson that is speaking, troubled\nby the evils that he sees around him; not Tennyson the great Bard on\nfire with ultimate and secret truth. You see, there was the duality\nthere; and both sides of it are honorable, to be revered and loved.\nIf criticism has a work to perform in discriminating between the two,\nshe does no dishonor to the thinker in separating him from the poet.\nWe have to ask what there is in this work, _The Princess_, that might\nentitle it to be considered poetry, in the highest sense.\n\nThe style? Style is there, undoubtedly. Every line has been molded,\nheightened, shaped, polished, chiseled. But let us compare it with the\nstyle of poetry, and we shall see the difference. Here is one of the\nmost fiery passages; one in which you can feel that the invitation was\nto the supreme, super-personal compassion to enter in:\n\n \"O brother, you have known the pangs we felt,\n What heats of indignation when we heard\n Of those that iron-cramp'd their women's feet;\n Of lands in which at the altar the poor bride\n Gives her harsh groom for bridal-gift a scourge;\n Of living hearts that crack within the fire\n Where smoulder their dead despots; and of those--\n Mothers--that, all prophetic pity, fling\n Their pretty maids in the running flood, and swoops\n The vulture, beak and talon, at the heart\n Made for all noble motion; and I saw\n That equal baseness lived in sleeker times\n With smoother men: the old leaven leaven'd all:\n Millions of throats would bawl for civil rights,\n No woman named: therefore I set my face\n Against all men, and lived but for mine own.\n Far from all men I built a fold for them.\"\n\nSo speaks the princess of the story; profusely, if with great dignity;\nbitterly, but argumentatively: it is a heightened, an exalted prose\nstyle; but it has not taken that leap into infinity which is the mark\nof the poetic grand manner. For a contrast, consider this; the work of\nanother Victorian bard; one not greater than Tennyson, but here with\nhis poet's blue mantle upon him, robed with the infinite. He, too, is\nsmitten with compassion for certain women; and the flame leaps up from\nthe blow in this wise:\n\n Here, down between the dusty trees,\n At this lank edge of haggard wood,\n Women with labour-loosened knees,\n With gaunt backs bowed by servitude,\n Stop, shift their loads, and pray, and fare\n Forth with souls easier for the prayer.\n\n * * * * *\n\n God of this grievous people, wrought\n After the likeness of their race,\n By faces like thine own besought,\n Thine own blind helpless eyeless face,\n I too, that have nor tongue nor knee\n For prayer, I have a word to thee.\n\n It was for this then, that thy speech\n Was blown about the world in flame,\n And men's souls shot up out of reach\n Of fear or lust or thwarting shame--\n That thy faith over souls should pass\n As sea-winds burning the young grass?\n\n It was for this, that prayers like these\n Should spend themselves about thy feet.\n And with hard overlaboured knees\n Kneeling, these slaves of men should beat\n Bosoms too lean to suckle sons,\n And fruitless as their orisons?\n\nIt is the first and the last verses quoted that count; and I think much\nmight be learned from a careful comparison of them with the passage\nfrom _The Princess_. Tennyson has made a catalog, in the manner of\nprose, of the sorrows of women; his mind traveling with passion,\nbut with a certain artistic, conscious discrimination, from China,\nIndia, Arabia, to the hustings of Victorian England (for it is that,\nin reality). The style of prose we say; well, the style of rhetoric:\npicture by picture has been chosen with a view to make the case strong,\nto impress who should hear it. \"Ida's answer ... Oration-like,\" says\nTennyson, knowing well what he was writing. Swinburne, in the supreme\nmanner of poetry, has burned upon our vision that solemn, terrible\npicture, bare, unornate, unforgetable, of the women at the wayside\ncrucifix; \"slaves of men\" beating \"bosoms too lean to suckle sons\":\nand with the picture there is that impression of augustness, that\nsense as of the presence of a great avenging angel, or perhaps, of\nthe majesty of the Law. The attitude of the Princess Ida towards the\nevils that she condemns, is one of personal protest; she dwells on the\nsame plane as they do, albeit in the brighter regions of it; she is a\nhuman personality, and speaks with a human and quite personal voice.\nBut the anger of Swinburne here, the condemnation that he deals out,\nis not personal: the words are such as might be spoken by a god from\nhis throne. They come from a loftier place than the thing condemned\noccupies, as though they were a sentence passed from the tribunal\nagainst whose decrees there is no appeal. So they are indeed. For this\nis Poetry, which is the voice of the Soul; and the Soul is deific,\nsovereign, aloof; and it does look down and pass sentence on the things\nof this world--a sentence damnatory or compassionate, but based on\nthe evidence of direct vision and certitude, never on argument and the\nweighing up of pros and cons.\n\nLook at those last lines again; with what sure intensity the\nwhole tragedy is revealed! Compassion, in her own manner loftily\n_disdainful_, we might almost say, is suddenly focused; nine-tenths\nof the story are left untold, but the one-tenth that remains has the\nwhole cry, the whole tragedy in it of a world blighted by lies: it is\n\"dowered with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn,\" and, _mirabile\ndictu_, with the \"love of love,\" or compassion, in a breath.\n\nWe get that same strange glorious blending of compassion and\nscorn--pride or scorn, one does not know what to call it; it is\nneither of those things in reality, but rather the native accent\nof divinity in the voice of the soul--we hear that same majestic\nblending of compassion and haughtiness pre-eminently in a line from\nthe _Purgatorio_ which Arnold justly gives as one of the most perfect\nexamples of the Grand Manner of poetry, the highest style than can be\nimpressed on written or chanted words; the line: _Che drizza voi che il\nmondo fece torti_, \"Which straightens you whom the world made crooked.\"\nWe see here, I think, as in the passage from Swinburne, the same\nimpatience of words and details; the same godlike aloofness; the same\npity too compressed, too burning and intense, to reveal itself fully\nor tenderly: the feeling has passed beyond the limits of the power of\ntenderness, we might say, to be tender: it is such a super-passional\npassion of tenderness, suppressed, governed, boiling, that it must be\nstern, swift, momentary--or nothing. Is it not the very naked voice\nof the august divinity hidden within us?--the greatest fashion that\ncan be burned and infused into the brute stuff of language; because\nringing with the dominance of that hidden Master? It bears the mark of\ncompassion, because compassion is the inevitable attitude of the soul\noutward from itself; and it bears the stamp of sublime titanism--that\nthing that would be scorn, were it bitter and hostile, and that would\nbe mere majesty, might it remain passive and in repose--because the\nsoul is a god, and knows itself to be a god, and breathes out the\natmosphere of godhood. Here it is in Milton, again:\n\n His form had not yet lost\n All her original brightness, nor appeared\n Less than archangel ruined:\n\nand of course, it is Milton and Dante who are the supreme masters in\nmodern literature of the Grand Manner; as poets, the greatest of the\npoets.\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. PHEIDIAS, EURIPIDES, AND ARISTON GROUP IN \"THE AROMA OF\nATHENS\"]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. KRITON, THUKYDIDES, PHEIDIAS, ARISTON, AND HIPPONIKOS\n(READING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\"]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. HIPPARETE, PERIKTIONE, POTONE, ASPASIA, AGATHOKLEIA,\nDIOTIMA, DEINOMACHE, AND MYRTO (READING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) \"THE AROMA\nOF ATHENS\"]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. DIOTIMA, PERIKLES, AND ASPASIA, SEATED \"THE AROMA OF\nATHENS\"]\n\nNow it will be said that there is compassion in the passage quoted from\n_The Princess_; and undoubtedly there is; but is not the effort all to\nmanifest it, to make it plain to every one that it is there, to lead it\nfrom picture to picture that will feed and excite it? We may say that\nit is a voice from below upward, an inspiration; it has the style and\natmosphere of a great endeavor of the personal self towards the soul:\nwhereas in the other cases, it is the comment and utterance of the soul\nitself. _There_, there is no effort to manifest compassion; the effort\nis all to suppress and control it. The effort is like the metal walls\nof a bomb, without which the explosive would only fizzle and waste.\nThe poet--Swinburne, Milton, or Dante--had no doubt of his dynamite;\nit was too mighty, too awesome a thing; all he must do is to make the\nbomb walls strong, strong, strong. So, in reading, we get the effect,\nand are blown up--to the altitudes of consciousness. Tennyson, being\nalso a poet, and therefore knowing the nature of dynamite; but writing\nhere, not poetry, but mere criticism of life in the guise of poetry,\nputs what he can, out of his memory, of dynamite into his work: infuses\nwhat he may of the atmosphere of compassion into it. Swinburne and\nDante and Milton have a Niagara to deal with, and they must make the\nchannel of it as small as they may; they must dam it as well as they\ncan, or heaven knows where they and the world would be swept to--mere\nincoherence and blind fury perhaps, or silence. Tennyson (in this case)\nhas to deal with an irrigation scheme, and must make his channels as\nwide and deep as he can, and coax the waters of the world into them.\nThen, too, see how he deals with that other quality. He knew well\nenough that it is integral in the Grand Manner of Poetry, and he will\nweave it in here, if he may. So we have:\n\n Far from all men I built a fold for them:\n\n * * * * *\n\n And prospered; till a _rout of saucy boys\n Brake on us at our books_.\n\nThere is no doubt what quality that is; scorn, indignation,\nseparateness, bitterness, hostility. It is a personal imitation of\nloftiness, the compassionate element has quite vanished from it; there\nis all the difference in the world between it and the fierce pity of--\n\n these slaves of men should beat\n Bosoms too lean to suckle sons,\n And fruitless as their orisons:\n\nor the sudden stern mercy implied in--\n\n la Montagna\n Che drizza voi che il mondo fece torti:\n\nor the serene, august luminance of compassion shining through--\n\n His form had not yet lost\n All her original brightness.\n\nOr, since the compassion is out of it, we might compare it with those\nmany lines from Milton that convey only the sense of the grandeur,\nwithout the compassion, of the soul; lines such as these:\n\n An old and haughty nation, proud in arms;\n\nor:\n\n Standing on earth, not rapt above the pole,\n More safe I sing with mortal voice, _unchanged_\n To hoarse or mute, _though fallen on evil days,\n On evil days though fallen, and evil tongues,\n In darkness, and with dangers compassed round_;\n\nor:\n\n Let such bethink them, if the sleepy drench\n Of that forgetful lake benumb not still,\n _That in our proper motion we ascend\n Up to our native seat; descent and fall\n To us are adverse_:\n\n--these speak of the majesty of the soul; but the other only of the\nbitterness of the personality.\n\nBut you will say, Tennyson was putting words into the mouth of a very\nhuman, limited personality; and so the piece is more artistic as it is,\nand would be inappropriate otherwise. These are the words she actually\nwould have said. True. The personality does speak in prose. Prose is\nthe language of personality; and no doubt it was first invented when\nfirst the souls rayed out personalities from themselves; no doubt\npoetry is the older, as it is the more august. So the style used in\n_The Princess_ is suitable, well-chosen, artistic; it fits the subject\nadmirably; which proves that the subject is essentially a prose one.\nFor prose--history, philosophy, criticism--examines and criticises life\nfrom without; but poetry illumines it from within. Prose considers and\npasses judgment on the external, the seeming, the current: Poetry\ndwells within the holy of holies and her whole burden is the story of\nthe Soul.\n\nIf she looks outward at all--and she does that too, at times--it is\nfrom her own standpoint, and in the eternal manner. She does not then\ncriticise; her tones do not mince nor falter. The bardic schools had a\nlaw, that the office of the Bard was solely to extol what was noble;\nthere were other orders, not sacred like the bardic, whose business was\nto satirize or to amuse. One can see that such a law must have come\nfrom a time when that one force which, as was said above, alone can\nmove poetry to anger absolute, was not in evidence: for, except that\nthey must fight that force, that old law holds for the bards now. So\npoetry, looking down into this world, criticises no one and nothing.\nShe exalts whom she will; she mantles humanity with godhood: and whom\nshe will--the antihumanists, the plotters against the freedom and\nbeauty of the soul--she thunders upon.\n\nSwinburne, looking at the roadside crucifix ghastly in its deification\nof decay and death, criticises _that_--nay, scourges the idea it\nsymbolizes, the soul-fettering dogmatism; pours on it the hate of hate,\nthe scorn of scorn, if you like--but it is because the awful vision of\nthe real Crucified burns up before him; the tragedy of the ages, the\nenslaved, thwarted, hindered, persecuted _Soul of Man_. Dante beholds\nthe severe mercy of the Great Law, \"that straightens us, whom the\nworld has made crooked.\" Milton, vainly endeavoring to be orthodox,\nto write within the limits of the dogmas, justifying the ways of his\nstrange deity, and holding up Satan for our abhorrence, gives way to\nthe great spirit of the Poet within him time and again; and shows, time\nand again, the sublime pathos of the Soul, Unchanged, though fallen on\nevil days. Nay, but they do not tell of these things; they make them\nlive; they are revelations shown before us; so that our own eyes have\nseen, and the universe has undergone transfiguration, and ourselves.\nFor Poetry is no little thing, no mere refinement. It is magic; it is\nthe life of the Gods; it is the secret and spiritual nature of things.\nWithout it, this Universe like a rotten bough, would break off from\nthe Tree of Life. Without it, there would be no Tree of Life. It is\nthe living sap, the greenness, the subtle vigor, and the beauty of the\nTree.\n\n\n\n\n\"THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES\":\n\nby H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S.\n\n\nHegel, commenting upon the Pythagorean doctrine of number as the basis\nof all things says:\n\n Numbers have been much used as the expression of ideas. This, on one\n side, has a look of depth. For, that another meaning is implied in\n them than they immediately present, is seen at once; but how much is\n implied in them is known neither to him who proposes, nor by him who\n tries to understand.... The more obscure the thoughts, the deeper they\n seem; the thing is, that what is most essential, but also what is\n hardest, namely, the expression of one's self in definite notions--is\n precisely what the proposer spares himself.\n\nUpon which Stirling remarks:\n\n But the curious point is that Hegel himself adopts this very numerical\n symbolism, so far as it suits _the system_! It is only, indeed, when\n that agreement fails, that the agreement of Hegel fails also. The\n moment it does fail, however, his impatience breaks out. The one, the\n two, the three, he contentedly, even warmly and admiringly accepts,\n nay, \"as far as five,\" he says, \"there may well be something like\n a thought in numbers, _but_ on from six there are simply arbitrary\n determinations!\"\n\nEspecially, said Hegel, there is meaning in _three_, the Trinity. The\nTrinity is only unintelligible when considered as three separate units;\nits divine meaning appears when we take it as a whole.\n\n It would be a strange thing if there were no sense in what for two\n thousand years has been the holiest Christian idea.\n\nIt would be stranger if one of the profoundest thinkers that ever\nlived, a teacher whose grandeur of character made him almost an object\nof worship to his pupils, had selected his symbols to \"spare himself\"\nthe labor of clear conception (or had let them conceal from himself the\nconfusion of his own thought). According to Hegel we must respectfully\nsee philosophy in the Christian Trinity; in the Pythagorean Dekad, none.\n\nPythagoras wrote nothing. And his teaching was esoteric, delivered\nunder pledge of secrecy. The essence of the echoes that reach us\namounts to this: that numbers and ratio are the soul of things; that\nthe soul itself is a number and a harmony.\n\nIs there any possible reading of this from which it might appear\nprofoundly true and illuminating?\n\nWe sometimes estimate savage intelligence by the power of counting,\nof adding units. From one point of view the power does not seem to go\nvery far with ourselves. We cannot in one act of perception count more\nthan a very few dots irregularly placed on a sheet of paper. If more\nthan that few they must have some arrangement. Nine must be perhaps in\nthree threes, twelve in four threes or three fours. But even before\ntwenty is reached, no arrangement will permit one act of perception to\naccomplish the numbering. There is merely a considerable number, and\nactual unitary counting--of units or groups--is necessary to know how\nlarge it is.\n\nBut now let there be a sufficient number of dots to suggest to the eye\nsay a flower form or a frieze pattern, and let them be so arranged.\nBefore that arrangement they were a mere horde of _ones_; in their\ndefinite arrangement they have a _meaning_, excite an idea, a state of\nconsciousness. Is not the advent of this meaning, the perception of\nthis form as a whole, a new and transcendental kind of counting? Number\nin this sense, is form; and the form is form and not inchoateness,\nchaos, just because of its meaning; that is, because of the state of\nconsciousness it excites in us.\n\nYou can count the ticks of the clock--as ones. If they were four\ntimes as fast you could perhaps still count them. As they became more\nrapid than that they would pass beyond the power of counting. As they\nbecame still more rapid they would presently cease to be units at all\n_and become a musical note_. Now they excite what might be called an\nidea, a state of feeling peculiar to that number per second. Is not\nthe perception of that number _as a note_ a kind of counting? Let the\nnumber per second be now suddenly doubled. Are we aware of the ratio of\nthis new number to the previous one? Yes, but as a rise of an octave\nin the note, not as a counted doubling. To this corresponds another\nstate of feeling, partly due to the new note as it is, partly due to\nits relation to the old one. It is a perception of ratio appearing in\nconsciousness as aesthetic feeling.\n\nSet this clock to beat twice as fast again, and having listened a\nmoment so as to get the sense of the new note, stop it. Set a second\nclock to beat _five_ for the first one's four. Listen so as to get the\nsense of it and then stop that clock also. Set a third to beat _six_\nfor the first one's four and do the same.\n\nNow start them all at once. You cannot by counting ascertain that\nwhilst one beats six the other two are respectively beating five and\nfour. But your appreciation of the fact takes the form of _hearing\nthe musical chord do, mi, sol_, C, E, G, the common chord in its\nfirst position. Is not the perception of that chord, the acceptation\nof that state of feeling, really a recognition of the ratio, a highly\ntranscendental counting? In the feeling you have the _meaning_ of the\nnumbers and of the ratios between them. It is those numbers themselves\nviewed from a high standpoint.\n\nThe same might be said of every other chord. Listening to music is\nperceiving ratios of vibratory speed between the successive notes and\nchords, transcendental counting. The feelings aroused are what those\nratios _mean_. The meaning, the feeling, of the composer gets out into\nexpression through those numbers and ratios. Number in the ordinary\none-plus-one sense is the body of music; number in the transcendental\nsense is its soul.\n\nWe cannot in the ordinary sense count ether-touches on the optic\nnerve. But when they reach a certain number of trillions per second we\nsuddenly perceive the _meaning_ of that number--which we call the color\nred or the sensation of redness. When the rapidity is seven-fourths as\nmany we get the sensation violet. But there is more than a sensation;\nthe colors have an _aesthetic_ and emotional value. And when colors,\nthat is rates, are juxtaposited in certain ways we get _art_ and the\nvalue may become _spiritual_.\n\nBut no two people are affected in exactly the same way by the same\npiece of music or of art work, though the souls of both may be touched.\nSince, as we have seen, the highest aspect of number and ratio is\n_spiritual meaning_, we can already see something in the Pythagorean\nsaying that the soul is a number and a ratio or harmony. In its\nself-consciousness it has a spiritual meaning for itself; it means\nsomething to itself; it understands itself. And so each soul, each with\nits own special nature or meaning, reacts a little differently to the\nspiritual meaning of numbers and ratios coming to it from without.\n\nNature herself, thought the Pythagoreans, is instinct with spiritual\nmeanings. Whilst the soul is embodied and limited by the senses she\ncannot ordinarily or easily get these meanings direct. They have\nto be clothed or bodied in those masses of units and ratios that\nare color, sound, and form. She touches these ordered aggregations\n(numbers them, understands them) on three planes: first as sensation;\nthen as aesthetic feeling; then, perhaps, in their spiritual meaning.\nThe musician, as he composes, does receive direct a bit of nature's\nspiritual meaning and then aggregates such numbers and ratios of\nvibration as will express it. And if his music, carrying this meaning,\nbe so sounded as to affect plates of sand or other fine powder, forms\nwill result such as nature herself makes--perhaps in the same way,\nthough we cannot hear the sound for its subtlety--forms of flowers,\ntrees, groves, and what not. For any of nature's meanings may get out\nalong the ways of sound, color, or form. We can conceive that the whole\nof evolution is guided by number, ordered number, ratio. The electrons\nin an atom and the atoms in a molecule and the molecules in a cell or\ncrystal are not only so many in number but definite in arrangement,\nin form. They _mean_ something; they express in arrangement and in\nsuccessive changes in arrangement a unitary spiritual idea of nature's,\nand in that is the force of evolution. If the units disintegrate and\nscatter so that we speak of death, the idea, the real life, remains\nand embodies again in a new harmonized mass of units. The idea is the\nmagnet that attracts and arranges them and incarnates among them. It\nis their spiritual number, the cause of their countable number and\nscientifically ascertainable arrangement.\n\nNumber, therefore, in the highest sense, is not the same as a heap, a\nmass, an anyhowness; it is an order expressive of a spiritual meaning.\nIn the highest sense it is that spiritual meaning itself even before\nexpression in an ordered mass of items or vibrations. And in this sense\nthe soul is a number and nature the synthesis of numbers; both finding\nexpression, the one in the soul's several garments (one only known to\nscience) and works; the other in what we call \"nature.\" Pythagoras will\nyet find his full vindication in philosophy. He is of the future, not\nthe past.\n\n\n\n\nDOES NIRV\u00c2NA MEAN ANNIHILATION? by T. H.\n\n\nIt is sometimes said by superficial students that Nirv\u00e2na means total\nannihilation; while more accurate scholars point out that it means the\nextinction of the impermanent part of our nature, whereby the permanent\nprevails. This is well brought out in the following quotation from _The\nKashf al-Mahj\u00fbb_, the oldest Persian treatise on S\u00fbfiism, translated by\nReynold A. Nicholson.\n\n Annihilation is the annihilation of one attribute through the\n subsistence of another attribute.... Whoever is annihilated from his\n own will subsists in the will of God, as the power of fire transmutes\n to its own quality anything that falls into it ... but fire affects\n only the quality of iron without changing its substance.\n\nIt is evident that what is annihilated is the _personality_, which,\naccording to the teachings, is an erroneous conception preventing the\nmanifestation of the real Self. Thus the doctrine of annihilation\nis seen to be a consistent part of a logical teaching and not the\nuntenable idea which some critics have represented it to be. The\nfact that most of us in our present state of development look with\nreluctance at the idea of losing our transitory personality does not\ninvalidate the truth of the teaching; for the teaching relates to the\ndestinies of the permanent Spirit, in which the wishes of our erring,\ntransitory personality play but little part. Were we washed clean,\nstanding forth in robes of light, as most religious believers hope to\nbe at some time or other, we might consent in will and understanding to\nthis teaching; seeing then that the personality is indeed a delusion\nand a source of woe, whose annihilation is even to be desired.\n\nIn the meantime, and for immediate practical purposes, we can\nconsider annihilation as a process applicable to the development\nof our character; substituting, however, a less harsh word--say\nneutralization. There are in our character many elements which we\nshould wish to reduce to nothing; there are many false selves which\nobtrude themselves on us, claiming a share of our life and crowding\nout the better phases of our character. The elimination of these, in\norder that the better elements may shine forth unobscured, is a process\nof purification. Why, then, may not Nirv\u00e2na be so considered? To what\nextent have our prejudices on the subject been aroused by the mere use\nof an inadequate word in translation? Nirv\u00e2na is extinction of the\n_false_. \"Ring out the false, ring in the true!\"\n\n\n\n\nCATHEDRALS IN ANCIENT CRETE: by a Student\n\n\nGreat as is the reverence which we have for our religion, we scarcely\nrealize how much more ancient and venerable it is than is usually\nsupposed. But archaeology is doing much to enlighten opinion on that\npoint. For instance, we read in _The Discoveries in Crete_, by Ronald\nM. Burrows, that\n\n It was long ago suggested that the Roman Basilica, which formed the\n earliest type of Christian church, was derived both in structure and\n in name from the \"Stoa Basilike\" or King's Colonnade at Athens.\n This was the place where the King Archon, the particular member of\n the board of nine annual magistrates who inherited the sacred and\n judicial functions of the old kings, tried cases of impiety. It had\n further seemed possible that the building as well as the title was a\n survival from some earlier stage, when a king was a king in more than\n name. What we have found at Knossos seems curiously to confirm this\n suggested chain of inheritance.\n\n At one end of a pillared hall, about thirty-seven feet long by fifteen\n wide there is a narrow raised dais, separated from the rest of the\n hall by stone balustrades, with an opening between them in which three\n steps give access to the center of the dais. At this center point,\n immediately in front of the steps, a square niche is set back in the\n wall, and in this niche are the remains of a gypsum throne.... We\n seem to have here ... a pillar hall with a raised \"Tribunal\" or dais\n bounded by \"Cancelli\" or balustrades, and with an \"Exedra\" or seated\n central niche which was the place of honor. Even the elements of a\n triple longitudinal division are indicated by the two rows of columns\n that run down the Hall. Is the Priest-King of Knossos, who here gave\n his judgments, a direct ancestor of Praetor and Bishop seated in the\n Apse within the Chancel, speaking to the people that stood below in\n Nave and Aisles?\n\nThe antiquity and universality of the doctrinal basis of Christianity\nforms the subject of frequent remarks in Theosophical writings, as it\nis a topic much to the fore in religious circles just now. But here the\nquestion is of ecclesiastical architecture; and that too, as we see,\nis ancient and pre-Christian. Little do many people seem to suspect\nthat the grand cathedral, with its nave and aisles, its transept, its\nchancel, and its altar, are founded on such ancient models. While\nsuch facts are for the most part unknown or deliberately ignored,\nthere are some Christian writers who admit them, but are disposed to\nregard Christianity as a capstone to the entire edifice of ancient\nwisdom, a final and complete revelation. Whether or not Christianity\nreally occupies or can occupy such a commanding position is of course\na question of fact; the proofs must be practical; by results we must\njudge.\n\nMere claims will not replace actualities, nor would claims be needed\nwhere actualities were present. If Christianity can maintain such a\nposition, it will doubtless win the respect it so yearns for.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORLD OF WOMANHOOD: by Grace Knoche\n\n\nThere are subjects which even thought floats round and round, as a\nbird above her nestlings or incense over the flame which gave it\nbirth--subjects which the brain-mind hesitates to touch directly,\nso reverential is the appeal they make to the inner and the best in\nheart-life. Words seem out of place. Even reason before them pauses,\nmakes obeisance, and dowered with glamor, passes on, as one might\npass who stands for a moment in the presence of a new light. There\nare events, though they are few, that so enshrine within themselves\nthe deeper sacredness of soul-life that words seem poor and mean as\ncarriers of their _largess_. The heart feels intuitively that silence,\n\"the great Empire of Silence,\" alone could hope to attune human lives\nto the voice of them.\n\nDeep answereth unto deep, but sometimes not by the Marconi messages of\nthe soul. There are times when from deep to deep the mystic, intangible\nbridge that is to be builded must use living words for its piers and\nmasonry. But they must be _living_ words, golden-tongued words, words\nglowing with the lambent touch of flame rekindling flame. They must\nbe vital, electric, surcharged with the mighty currents of compassion\nand that love that layeth down its life for a friend; heart-messengers\nof Wisdom herself they must be, and even then can build no bridge\nroyal enough for Wisdom's whole mighty _entourage_ to pass over when\nthe Event is such as recent days have brought forth in the world of\nwomanhood--the _world of womanhood_, bear in mind, which is a larger,\nmore soulful realm than the _world of women_, merely.\n\nYet words are the only masonry-stuff at hand, and so build we must with\nthem. Hearts that respond to the finer harmonies of life and nature,\nand minds that have touched understandingly to a degree the great\nproblem of woman's work and woman's true place in life, will quicken\nand respond.\n\nAt Isis Theater, San Diego, on the evening of Monday, February 19, and\nagain on February 27, _Anno Fraternitatis Universalis XIV_, Katherine\nTingley looked into the eager, upturned faces of more than a thousand\nwomen, respectful, waiting, aspiring, dead-in-earnest women. Both\nmeetings had been called for women only. As I glanced over pit and\ngallery while the strains of music announced that the meeting was\nabout to begin, the words which Mr. Judge once used in reference to\nright action and the altruistic life, seemed to sing out in tones of\nunmistakable triumph from the very bosom of the air: \"It is better than\nphilosophy, _for it enables us to know philosophy_.\"\n\nNothing in this world of unity can be rightly judged if conceived of\nas an isolated something, just a fragment. \"A primrose by the river's\nbrim\" is far other than \"a yellow primrose ... and nothing more\" to the\nrational, open mind. It is a part of all the rich nature-environment\nwhich, when we think of it _in_ parts, as some mosaicist might think of\nhis design, we call river and bank and forest-wildness and sedge and\nshimmer and sky. The distant mountain is no mountain, merely, but part\nof a noble panorama, its base melting into gentler slope and foreground\nat just what point no living soul can say, its heights suffused in\nsunshine, its edges softened and purpled and cooled and warmed in the\nshimmering atmosphere, its stature rising grandly undefined against\nthe misty, illimitable Beyond of azure or gold or gray. No more can\nthe artist in color say \"Here, definitely _here_, the foreground or\ndistance end and the mountain begins,\" than the artist in life can\nsay, \"Here we will mark off and limit _truthfulness_, and next to it,\n_virtue_, and beyond the next hard dividing-line, _compassion_, and a\ngoodly collection of such separate items we will call _character_.\" Ah\nno, life is no rag-bag of scraps and shreds and patches, nor is nature.\nIt is one grand whole and no part can be understood, or even seen _as\nit is_, unless looked at and studied in its relation to all the other\nparts which with it constitute the whole.\n\nSo also with historic truth. The mountain-peaks of history, rising as\nthey do above the plain and level of general human action, never rise\nseparate to the philosopher's vision from all that lies behind them,\nnor are they ever wholly unsuffused by the glow or the dimness that\nspeaks to the prescient mind of glories or of disillusionments ahead.\n\nThere could be no question, in the minds of those whose duties led\nthem both before and behind the scenes of action at the two meetings\nreferred to, that the twentieth century call for women had come.\nKatherine Tingley, in inaugurating this work, issued a challenge to\nall the nobler possibilities of womanhood. Those who could look beyond\nthe present into the dim aerial distance and adown the vistas of the\npast, knew the Event for what it was and made no mistake in prophesying\nwonderful things for the future from the glow of promise which fell\nupon it. It was part of the past, yes, but a nobler than the common\npart; one felt that it had somehow swung out from old limitations, as\nsome great glorious member of a star group might be conceived of as\nswinging out into space, into a greater orbit and an orbit of its own.\nIt was as a new note sounded in the long, ascending gamut of woman's\nevolution, a gamut in which there are, here and there, glorious notes,\nroyal notes, with echoing overtones of soulfulness and strength, but\nwhich has, alas! its burden of discord to carry, as well.\n\nThere has been no unity of soul in past efforts, as a whole, and the\nkeynote struck by Katherine Tingley had a ring of newness, somehow,\non very real lines. Which does not mean that women have not worked\ntogether, often in large bodies, as we see them doing today. But both\ntheir aims and the quality of result that grew from these showed that\nreal unity on lines of soul-strength and soul-effort has been lacking.\nFor example, we have today the apparently united body of women who\nare storming council-chambers and invoking hand-to-hand battles with\npolicemen; and yesterday we had their prototypes in old Rome, excited\ngroups of fad-ridden women who even barred the approaches to the Forum\nas an argument in support of their demands for political equality--and\nRoman homes going to pieces by the hundred for lack of true womanhood\nat the helm. Oh, if women would read history _in a new way_!\n\nEfforts characterized by a certain outer binding-together, while of\nreal inner unity there was none, there have been in all ages. But,\nstrange to say, until the inauguration of Theosophical work for women\nin this year of the twentieth century, the true note has been sounded,\nin most cases, by some one woman who was more or less _un_helped\nby the women about her. History inspires us with the virtues of\nAlcestis, that peerless wife; of Antigone; of that perfect exemplar of\nmotherhood, Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi; of the queenly Thusnelda;\nof Cleopatra, Semiramis, and Zenobia; and let us not forget the peasant\ngirl of Domremy, whose simple purity and absolute self-forgetfulness\ndid more for the \"woman movement\" of the ages than even her generalship\ndid for France.\n\nYet these are isolated types. Barring Sappho and her woman pupils,\nBirgitta of Sweden and her wonderful work for and with the women who\nflocked to the home centers that ecclesiastical enemies fortunately\ndid not prevent her from establishing, history has little to say as to\nwomen who have _worked together_ for some truly spiritual cause, in\nwhich the noblest they had was placed on Humanity's altar.\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. PHEIDIAS \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\"]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 KRATINOS IN CENTER,\nEURIPIDES TO LEFT, ATTENDANT AT RIGHT \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\"]\n\n\n\n\n\"MAGNETONS,\" FORCE AND MATTER: by H. Travers\n\n\nA man of science has presented to the Paris Academy of Sciences a paper\nin which he attempts to prove from the results of certain experiments\nthat the atoms of magnetic bodies, such as iron and manganese, contain\ndefinite quantities of an elementary magnetic _substance_, which he\nproposes to call \"magneton.\" This is regarded as a sequel to the new\nway of regarding electricity; for in the electrons we now seem to\nfind a means of defining electricity in terms of a unit of substance.\nElectricity, light, and other physical forces, have at different times\nbeen defined either as kinds of matter or as modes of motion. At the\npresent moment, many people think, we are passing from the kinetic to\nthe corpuscular view again. But it is more likely that our present\nstudies will end by giving us a more accurate and adequate notion of\nthe nature of force on the one hand and matter on the other. We shall\nsee more clearly that force and matter are inseparable, and that in\nour use of these words we are merely making mental abstractions for\nthe purpose of calculation. What was at one time considered to be\ninert matter was later found to be teeming with energy; so that this\nkind of matter, instead of being inert substance, was found to be the\nresult of forces acting in some finer kind of matter. This finer kind\nof matter--hypothetical so far--was denominated \"ether\"; and should\nwe succeed in examining this ether, we should probably find that it\ntoo is the result of forces acting in a still more recondite form of\nmatter--a sub-ether, as it were. At all events we should have no choice\nbut to describe it in that way. In the same way force must always be\ninseparably associated with mass, for the quantity denoted by the\nterm \"mass\" is included in the definition of force. Thus the question\nwhether electricity, magnetism, etc., are \"forces\" or \"forms of matter\"\nloses its meaning, since (strictly speaking) they cannot be either but\nmust be both.\n\nThe experiments mentioned seem to have shown that there is a definite\nphysical unit of quantity for magnetism, just as the negative electron\nis said to be a definite unit of quantity for negative electricity.\nIn this case we should have arrived at the conclusion that magnetic\nsubstances are those to whose atoms or molecules are attached these\nmagnetic atoms.\n\nAs to the kinetic theory of electricity, light, and other physical\nforces, we certainly know that kinetic effects attend the\nmanifestation of these forces; and where there is no physical matter\npresent we have predicated an ether to serve as a substratum for these\nkinetic effects. But is that the same as saying that electricity and\nlight are modes of energy or forms of motion? Later research has\nshown us that these physical forces are attended, not only by kinetic\neffects, but also by those other effects which we denote by such terms\nas \"mass,\" \"inertia,\" or \"substance.\" Again, are we entitled to say\nthat electricity, light, etc., _are_ substances, or forms of matter? It\nwould seem more reasonable to say that both energy and mass are to be\nclassed among the effects or accompaniments of electricity and light,\nelectricity and light themselves being something that is neither energy\nnor mass but parent to both.\n\nIn brief, the life or _vis viva_ of the physical universe escapes\nobservation and analysis, while its various effects, appearing in the\nforms which we describe as light, heat, electricity, etc., are defined\nby us in terms of our two mental concepts \"mass\" and \"energy.\" The\nfarthest limit to which physical observation has reached, or seems\nlikely to reach, is that of minute and extremely active particles,\nwhose motions are attended with luminous, thermal, and electric\nphenomena. To put the matter in a nutshell: we find that the so-called\ninert matter of the universe is composed of what are to all intents and\npurposes small beings, very much alive and endowed with proclivities.\nGiven our electron or magneton, we are obliged to take for granted its\ninnate properties of energy, etc., for we have no means of explaining\nthem except by reducing them to smaller factors of precisely the\nsame kind--and this is no explanation. That is, we have to assume\nthe universal presence of active and purposeful life--for that is\nwhat it amounts to, whatever names we may give. And behind all this\nmanifestation of life there of course lies _mind_; otherwise we must\nsuppose the existence of causeless and purposeless life--a conception\nwhich is highly arbitrary and unnecessary.\n\nScience has a great future before it, but at present it is laboring\nunder limitations due to the restriction of its sphere. A large portion\nof its proper domain having been usurped by theology and wild deductive\nphilosophy, science has confined itself to such limits as give it a\nfree field. But if the careful and logical methods of true science\ncould be applied to all departments of investigation, knowledge would\ntake a great leap. Of late years we have seen many foolish attempts to\nestablish a \"higher science,\" many of them associated with \"psychism\"\nand similar eccentricities. All this naturally arouses the antagonism\nof true men of science and causes them to shun the possibility of\nassociation with such movements. Take the psychical research movements,\nfor example; is it not evident that in many cases these are destined\nto achieve delusion rather than any useful truth? Or take hypnotism:\nhow can such a dangerous pseudo-science be adequately studied without\nthe grave risks which its knowledge brings upon society in the shape of\ncredulous folly and a cover for cowardly vice?\n\nIt seems evident that science is too unorganized and indiscriminate\nat present, and that when it extends its boundaries so as to include\nthe larger fields it will also have to raise its standards. Scientific\nwork, if valuable, should be treated like other valuables--that\nis, protected. This can only be done by intrusting it to worthy\nand competent people; from which we see that the character of the\nprofessors becomes an important matter. This principle is recognized\nin many of our departments; for we do not intrust the performing of\nsurgical operations nor the care of lunatics to all and sundry. Why\nthen should other departments be thrown open, allowing dangerous drugs\nand dynamite to pass into the hands of weaklings and criminals? Above\nall, why should the far more dangerous powers of hypnotism and so forth\nbe made thus free to all?\n\nIn brief, knowledge is as inseparably connected with conduct as\nforce is with matter. He who attempts to separate them and to pursue\nknowledge independently of duty and conduct, does not achieve\nknowledge; he achieves only partial knowledge or harmful knowledge.\nThe fair bride is won only by the pure and valiant knight. One of the\nmost important adjustments which our views have to undergo is that of\nrecognizing the proper relative positions of religion and science. They\nshould be one and not separate. But before this can be done there is\nmuch rubbish to be cleared away from the foundations.\n\n\n\n\nTHE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON\n\n\nThe British Museum was completed as recently as 1847, yet hardly\nthirty years elapsed before it was found to be too small to hold the\ncontinually accumulating specimens, and an enlargement had to be made.\nTo preserve and properly exhibit the enormous collection of natural\nhistory objects a commodious building was erected at South Kensington,\nnear the well-known Museum of Science and Art. It was finished in 1880\nand stocked with the old specimens from the British Museum and many\nnew ones; the crowded rooms from which the old specimens were taken\nbeing immediately filled with other objects which had been waiting for\nexhibition.\n\nThe Natural History Museum was designed by Waterhouse, and there has\nalways been a strong difference of opinion as to its architectural\nbeauty, at least externally. The interior design and decoration is\ngenerally approved. The large towers are 192 feet high, and the length\nof the building is 675 feet. The ornamental decoration is composed of\nterra cotta, and consists of bands and dressings of animals and other\nnatural objects.\n\nThe interior consists of a great central hall with long side galleries\nand basement. The eastern galleries are devoted to the geological,\nmineralogical, and botanical collections; the western to the zoological\ncollections. The great hall is an index or typical museum, arranged\nwith such specimens as to give a general idea of the scope of the\nsubject of natural history. The historical development of those species\nof whose past there is definite knowledge, the effect of seasonal\nchanges upon the colors of certain animals and birds, protective\nresemblances and mimicry, etc., are here displayed. Among the most\ninteresting and rare fossils are the gigantic kangaroo of Australia\n(six times larger than the present representative, which is placed near\nit), the gigantic armadillo of Buenos Aires and its modern dwarfed\ndescendant, the huge megatherium from Buenos Aires compared with the\nsloth of today, etc. The collection of stuffed birds shown in natural\npositions and with the correct surroundings always attracts admiring\nattention from the general public. In a commanding position on the\nfirst landing of the main staircase there is a fine statue by B\u00f6hm of\nthe great naturalist, Charles Darwin. The Natural History Museum faces\nCromwell road, a street of palatial residences, called after one of\nOliver Cromwell's sons, who lived in a house once existing there.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. NATURAL HISTORY\nMUSEUM, SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF\nPART OF GENEVA, SWITZERLAND SHOWING THE END OF THE LAKE OF GENEVA, THE\nRIVER RH\u00d4NE, AND \"OLD GENEVA\" IN THE CENTER]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. NEAR CHAMP\u00c9RY\n(VALAIS), SWITZERLAND THE ROUTE DU COL DE COUX; AND LA DENT DU MIDI]\n\n\n\n\nWAS H. P. BLAVATSKY A PLAGIARIST? by Henry T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.), a\nPupil under H. P. Blavatsky\n\n\nThis article, written by an old pupil under H. P. Blavatsky, and\nvoicing the feelings of other students, is a vindication of the memory\nof that great teacher against certain charges brought against her.\nThe charges are many and mutually inconsistent; so that if brought\ntogether they would confute each other and the various critics might be\nleft to settle their own quarrel. Thus H. P. Blavatsky is accused both\nof inventing her teachings, and also of plagiarizing them from other\npeople; her works are said to be at once a stale rehash, and a new\nfad. But, as any one of these charges may appear alone and thus gain a\nplausibility it would not otherwise have had, it is both the desire and\nthe duty of those who uphold the truth about H. P. Blavatsky to show up\nthe absurdity of the attacks.\n\nThe particular charge in question just now is that of unoriginality.\nIt has been based on a quotation from the Introduction to H. P.\nBlavatsky's great work, _The Secret Doctrine_, which is as follows:\n\n I may repeat what I have stated all along, and which I now clothe in\n the words of Montaigne: Gentlemen, \"I HAVE HERE MADE ONLY A NOSEGAY OF\n CULLED FLOWERS, AND HAVE BROUGHT NOTHING OF MY OWN BUT THE STRING THAT\n TIES THEM.\"\n\nThe attempt to construe this into a charge of plagiarism signifies\nthe wish to depreciate H. P. Blavatsky's writings, as being so stale\nand unoriginal that it is not worth while reading them. But, if this\nwere so, why did the critics deign to notice them at all, instead of\nsuffering them to sink into the rapid and perfect oblivion which awaits\nall works that are actually open to such a charge? Evidently there was\na desire to prejudice the mind of the inquirer, so that he would be\ndeterred from reading the works for himself and thus forming his own\nopinion. In short, the arguments of these critics, not resting upon\nfact, would have been disproved by such a reading; and therefore they\nhave preferred to rest their statements upon mere assertion.\n\nOf course the genuine truth-seeker will always derive his opinion from\nhis own investigations; and if he finds anywhere the help and knowledge\nfor which he is seeking, he will not hesitate to accept it from any\ndoubts as to the popularity of the author. Rather he will base his\nopinion of the author upon his or her works. But as the conditions of\nlife render it necessary for us to a great extent to be dependent\nupon the judgments of professional literary people, it is possible for\nany prejudice that may exist in that quarter to inflict much injustice\nby lending the weight of authority to false representations. We may\nfind, for instance, some standard work, having great influence and\nrepute, treating of H. P. Blavatsky and Theosophy in a way that would\nlead one to think the writers had studied these subjects; whereas the\ncontrary is the case, and the apparently scholarly treatise is actually\na misrepresentation of fact, amounting to throwing dust in the eyes of\nthe inquirer.\n\nThe inquirer, the sincere seeker for knowledge, is therefore referred\nto _The Secret Doctrine_ itself, where he may ascertain what the author\nreally does say in her Preface and Introduction and where he may study\nthe actual teachings she thus introduces. Her attitude is both plain\nand frank; there should be no difficulty in understanding it, and its\nsincerity is apparent to anyone who has studied the book enough to see\nwhether or not the writer has justified her claims. In the Preface we\nread:\n\n These truths are in no sense put forward as a _revelation_; nor\n does the author claim the position of a revealer of mystic lore now\n made public for the first time in the world's history. For what is\n contained in this work is to be found scattered throughout thousands\n of volumes embodying the scriptures of the great Asiatic and early\n European religions, hidden under glyph and symbol, and hitherto left\n unnoticed because of this veil.\n\nHere the charge of having invented a new system is met by the express\naffirmation that the materials are gleaned from ancient sources; while\nthe charge of unoriginality is rendered pointless. A plagiarist is one\nwho gives out the teachings of others as his own, and the charge of\nunoriginality is not usually brought against writers who set out with\nthe deliberate and announced intention of quoting and expounding other\nwriters. As H. P. Blavatsky herself says, in the very passage from\nwhich the words of the critic were selected, it would be as reasonable\nto charge Renan with having plagiarized his _Life of Jesus_ from the\nGospels, or Max M\u00fcller his _Sacred Books of the East_ from the Indian\nphilosophical writings.\n\nAnd what shall be said of the insinuation that _The Secret Doctrine_\nis merely a compost, a stale and profitless rehash? That it is equally\nabsurd. A nosegay is not a mere heap of flowers, nor does a heap of\nstones make a temple. The riddle of ancient knowledge is not solved by\nmerely collecting the scattered fragments. Anyone may bring together\na lot of colored threads, but only a weaver and artist can make them\ninto a beautiful and symmetrical fabric. The question is, What has H.\nP. Blavatsky made of her studies of the world's mystic lore? What use\nhas she made of her quotations and references? Has she succeeded any\nbetter than other writers who have delved in the same soil? Is _The\nSecret Doctrine_ really but one more of those numerous compilations\nthat find a speedy and eternal tomb on dusty shelves?\n\nOn consulting the Preface we find that the author has made the claim\nthat she has been able to weave the tangled threads into a symmetrical\nwhole, to put the various fragments in their right places, and to apply\na key that will unlock mysteries. In proof of her claim she refers the\nreader to the book itself. This is the only test she demands; surely\nnot an unreasonable one!\n\n It is written in the service of humanity, and by humanity and the\n future generations it must be judged. Its author recognizes no\n inferior court of appeal.--_Preface._\n\nOther authors who have compiled voluminous works on ancient lore have\nsignally failed to render them profitable to the student. They have\neither been mere compilers having no definite purpose other than the\nproduction of a learned book, or they have been overruled by some\ntheory or fad which they have sought to prove. But H. P. Blavatsky has\npointed out the real clues and for the first time made sense of what\nwas chaotic. To quote her words again:\n\n What is now attempted is to gather the oldest tenets together and to\n make of them one harmonious and unbroken whole. The sole advantage\n which the writer has over her predecessors is that she need not\n resort to personal speculations and theories. For this work is a\n partial statement of what she herself has been taught by more advanced\n students, supplemented, in a few details only, by the results of her\n own study and observation.\n\nIt is not easy to see how a plainer and franker statement could have\nbeen made. The indebtedness to other sources is freely admitted; and,\nas the reader can see, all references to sources are fully given in the\ntext. The author mentions her own teachers, but not for the purpose of\nlending a fictitious authority to her statements. For these statements\ndo not need any such support, consisting, as they do, of appeals to\nreason, to the weight of testimony, and to accepted authorities in the\ndifferent branches of learning. The reference to her teachers was made\nsimply in modest and honorable disclaim of credit which the writer\nfelt was due to others. As to the teachings thus received and thus\ntransmitted by her, they are to be judged on their merits, and should\nneither be accepted or rejected on any other principle. Information\nis information, however gained; and a man lost in a forest, who has\nactually been conducted out of it, does not need any testimonials to\nthe trustworthiness of his guide. If _The Secret Doctrine_ can really\nsolve problems, answer questions, and remove doubts, that fact alone is\nsufficient for the genuine truth-seeker; and the author's statement as\nto the source of her knowledge will be taken for what it was intended\nfor--a due acknowledgement of gratitude and indebtedness.\n\nIf H. P. Blavatsky's work is of the kind which these critics wish to\nmake it out to be, surely the student may be trusted to find out that\nfact for himself; but if it is not of this kind, then the statement\nthat it is, is a misrepresentation--founded possibly on ignorance,\nbut in any case unworthy of a scholar. She claims that she has\n_pointed out_ many things that have hitherto _escaped the attention_\nof scholars. And this is a statement which can only be tested by\ninvestigation; anyone presuming to affirm or deny it without such\ninvestigation is either a simpleton or a bigot. The pointing out of\ntruths is not an act of dogmatism, since the person to whom they are\npointed out is left perfectly free to use his own judgment (if he has\nany) as to whether that which he has been shown is true or not, whether\nit is what he was looking for or not.\n\nH. P. Blavatsky did not write for recognition, but she has succeeded in\nthe object for which she did write--that of arousing thought, calling\nattention. She desired to startle the world of thought; and this she\nhas certainly done; for her opponents cannot let her alone. Moreover\na kind of acknowledgement is to be found in the large and increasing\nnumber of facts, denied in her day but since admitted by scholars.\nIt is true that for these revised views credit is not given to their\noriginator; but that must be left to posterity when time shall have\nobliterated selfishness and ignorance. The question of originality may\nbe settled by calling H. P. Blavatsky a pioneer. The lands into which\nshe has led us are indeed ancient and many a foot has trod them of\nyore; yet to the modern world they were virgin forests.\n\nBut one word remains to be said. Fortunately for the credit due to\nTheosophy and its first promulgator in this age, H. P. Blavatsky's\nwritings do not constitute the whole of her work. She has left\nbehind her the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society,\nan organization which embodies many teachings which could never be\ncommunicated by books alone. This means that her work is in hands that\nwill take care that she gets the credit to which she is entitled, and\nthat the real Theosophical work is of a kind that can only be done by\nTheosophists, and so can not be plagiarized. And even the clues given\nin her writings will prove inadequate unless taken in connexion with an\napplication of Theosophy in the student's daily life; for she took good\ncare to show the inseparable connexion between knowledge and conduct.\nThus those who try to use _The Secret Doctrine_ as a mine from which\nthey may dig out something that they can use to their own private\nadvantage are more likely to serve the author's cause than their own;\nfor the only use that can be made of half-truths is to point the way to\nthe _missing_ halves.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. A FARMHOUSE ON\nTHE NORFOLK BROADS, ENGLAND A district to the west of Great Yarmouth\nwatered by three rivers with many open spaces called \"broads,\" roads\nand long narrow lanes, all of water. Many birds--water-fowl--nest and\nfeed amongst the sedges; pure white swans sail about with majestic\ndignity and grace, some carrying their cygnets on the back, between the\nraised wings.]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. BUCKINGHAM PALACE,\nLONDON: THE LONDON RESIDENCE OF THE BRITISH SOVEREIGN]\n\n\n\n\nBUCKINGHAM PALACE, LONDON\n\n\nThe illustration shows the eastern fa\u00e7ade of Buckingham Palace, the\nresidence of King George V when in London. It is taken from St. James'\nPark. The end of the lake, which is five acres in area, can be seen in\nthe picture. The private gardens occupy fifty acres. The eastern wing\nof the palace, 360 feet long, was added by Blore in 1846, making the\nbuilding a large quadrangle. Buckingham Palace was originally erected\nin 1703 by a Duke of Buckingham, on the site of Arlington House,\nwhere it is recorded that tea was first drunk in England. George III\npurchased it, and it was remodeled by Nash in 1825 for George IV. The\nexterior is generally condemned as an architectural failure, imposing\nonly from its size, but the interior has some good features. The white\nmarble staircase is considered very handsome. The palace contains a\nfine sculpture gallery, library, etc. The Throne Room is 66 feet long,\nthe State Drawing Room 110 feet by 60. The Picture Gallery, which is\n180 feet long, contains a very fine collection, chiefly Dutch pictures.\nThere are excellent examples of Rembrandt (the great _Adoration of the\nMagi_--1667), Hals, Teniers, Rubens, Osrade, Van Dyck (_Charles I on\nhorseback_), Cuyp, Potter, De Hooch, Titian, Carracci, Claude, etc.\nPermission for strangers to visit the gallery is difficult to obtain,\nbut may sometimes be obtained when the court is not in residence. The\nnew monument to Queen Victoria, just unveiled, stands in front of\nBuckingham Palace.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN CHAIN OF PLATONIC SUCCESSION: by F. S. Darrow, A. M., Ph.\nD. (Harv.)\n\n\nA key to the interpretation of Greek philosophy, generally neglected\nexcept by Platonists and Theosophists, is given by the following\nstatement of Proklos, the \"Platonic Successor\":\n\n What Orpheus delivered in hidden allegories, Pythagoras learned when\n he was initiated into the Orphic Mysteries, in which Plato next\n received a perfect knowledge from the Orphic and Pythagorean writings.\n\nIn this connexion it was pointed out by H. P. Blavatsky, the foundress\nof the Theosophical Society (_Isis Unveiled_, vol. II, p. 39, Point\nLoma edition) that Plato himself in his Letters declares that his\nteachings were derived from _ancient_ and _sacred_ doctrines. In the\nSeventh Letter of the collection which has come down to us he says:\n\n It is ever necessary to believe in the truth of the _Sacred Accounts_\n of the _Olden Time_, which inform us that the soul is immortal and has\n judges of its conduct and suffers the greatest punishments when it is\n liberated from the body. Hence it is requisite to regard it a lesser\n evil to suffer than to commit the greatest sins and injuries.\n\nIt is unjustifiable to assume as scholars usually do that we are in a\nposition to judge correctly of all of Plato's thoughts because, most\nfortunately, it appears that all of his published works have been\npreserved. The last thirty-eight years of Plato's life were spent as\nScholarch or Head of the Platonic School among the olive groves of\nthe Academy where the philosopher dwelt with some of his principal\nstudents, namely, his successor and pupil Speusippos, Xenokrates,\nand others, teaching Divine Wisdom freely to those who were able to\nunderstand. The fact that Aristotle refers to various teachings of\nPlato not now extant in the Platonic works, as well as the request in\nthe Second of our Platonic Letters that the letter be burned after its\nfrequent reading so that it may not fall into improper hands, both\nafford corroborative evidence of the tradition that Plato refused\nto _publish_ any of his numerous lectures and oral teachings. It is\ntherefore _a priori_ probable that Plato treated philosophy in two\ndistinct ways, one treatment intended for public circulation and the\nother intended for School instruction. If this be true, presumably\nhis published dialogs give mere indirect hints, illustrations, and\napplications of the central principles of his teachings, which were\nrevealed only orally to a selected audience. Doubtless the character\nof his oral instructions also varied and certain teachings were given\nonly to a few of his more advanced students, as even Grote admits.\nTherefore in seeking to understand Plato it is important to recollect\nthat today \"the Prince of Western Philosophers\" is known only from\nhis Dialogs, while his teachings as Scholarch are now unknown. It is,\nhowever, certain from the statement of Aristotle in regard to Plato's\nlectures \"On the Supreme Good,\" that Plato in his oral instructions\ntaught Pythagorean Doctrines, and dealt with the highest and most\ntranscendental concepts in a mystical and enigmatical way.\n\nIn regard to this there are important declarations in the extant\nLetters of Plato, Letters which it is orthodox to declare to be\napocryphal, but whose genuineness is rightly defended by Grote in his\n_Plato and Other Companions of Socrates_. In the Second Letter, which\nis addressed to Dionysios the Younger of Syracuse, Plato uses some very\nsuggestive language in referring to the effect upon the newly fledged\nstudent of entering the School:\n\n I must speak to you in enigmas that should this tablet meet with any\n accident by land or by sea, he, who might perchance read it, may\n not understand. This has not happened to you alone but in truth no\n one when he first hears me is otherwise affected. Some have greater\n troubles, others less but nearly every student has a struggle of no\n slight power from which in truth he is freed only with difficulty.\n Be careful, however, that these discussions do not become known by\n men devoid of knowledge--discussions which if continually heard for\n many years at length with great labor are purified like gold. Many\n persons apt at learning and remembering have heard them for not less\n than thirty years and after testing them in every way have recently\n declared that those things which formerly appeared to them to be least\n worthy of belief now appear to be most worthy of belief and perfectly\n clear. The most important protection is to learn but _not_ to _commit_\n to _writing_ because what is written will almost certainly become\n public knowledge. _Therefore on this account I have never myself at\n any time written anything on these subjects. There neither is nor ever\n shall be any treatise of Plato. The opinions called by the name of\n Plato are those of Socrates in his days of youthful vigor and glory._\n\nThese words of Plato, if admitted to be genuine, especially when linked\nwith the following statements made in the Seventh of our Letters, show\nthe futility of the current dogmatism of what purport to be correct and\ncomplete modern expositions and criticisms of Platonism, and ought to\ninstil more humility in the orthodox dogmatists who strive to interpret\nthe thoughts of the Master. The declarations referred to in the Seventh\nLetter are set forth as follows:\n\n In regard to all who either have written or who shall write\n confidently stating that they know about what I am occupied, whether\n they claim to have heard it from me or from others or to have\n discovered it themselves, _I can say that it is impossible for them to\n know anything as to my beliefs about these matters; for there is not\n and never will be any composition of mine about them_. _For a matter\n of this kind can not be expressed in words as other sciences are. But\n by a long acquaintance with the subject and by living with it suddenly\n a light is kindled in the mind, as from a fire bursting forth, which\n being engendered in the soul feeds itself upon itself._\n\nHe adds:\n\n I should consider it the proudest accomplishment of my life, as well\n as of signal benefit to mankind, to bring forward an exposition of\n Nature luminous to all. But I think the attempt would be in nowise\n beneficial except to a few who require merely slight guidance to\n enable them to find it out for themselves; to most persons it would do\n no good but would only fill them with the empty conceit of knowledge\n and with contempt for others, as if they had learnt something solemn.\n\nIt may therefore be safely assumed that Plato intentionally refused to\npublish his views upon the most important subjects in a world of spite\nand puzzling contention. Note what he says in the Seventh Letter of the\ntrue disciple who is\n\n _in fact_ a lover of Wisdom, related to it and worthy of it by reason\n of his own inherent divinity. He thinks that he has been told of a\n wonderful Path, on which he ought forthwith to travel and that any\n other manner of life is unendurable. After this he does not torture\n both himself and his Leader by departing from the Path before he\n reaches the Goal, thereby obtaining the power of journeying without a\n Guide to point out the way before him. But they, who are not really\n lovers of Wisdom, but have only a coating of color like those whose\n bodies are sunburnt, when they perceive how many things are to be\n learnt and find out how great is the labor and what temperance in\n daily nourishment is requisite, they deem it too difficult and beyond\n their powers and become unable to attend to it at all and some of them\n persuade themselves that they have sufficiently heard the whole and do\n not wish further to exert themselves.\n\nAt Plato's death in 347 B. C. the house, the library, and the garden in\nthe Academy, were bequeathed by the Master as the permanent property\nof the School, whose income in the course of the centuries was largely\nincreased by endowments. For about three hundred years the grounds at\nthe Academy remained uninterruptedly the Headquarters of the School,\nbut during the Siege of Athens by the Roman general Sulla in 87 B.\nC., the Teacher or Scholarch of that time was forced to retire within\nthe city walls and gave his instruction in the Gymnasium, called\nPtolemaeum, where Cicero heard the Scholarch Antiochos in 79 B. C.\nFor more than six hundred years longer the grounds at the Academy\nremained in possession of the School, which however soon degenerated\ninto a form of philosophical scepticism and eclecticism, from which\nit was later recalled by the so-called Neo- or New Platonists.\nFinally under the pressure of ecclesiastical bigotry and greed the\nEmperor Justinian confiscated the School property and forbade the\nlast Scholarch Damascius to teach. Accordingly a little band of seven\nPlatonic Pilgrim-sages, consisting of Damascius, Simplicius, Eulalius,\nPriscian, Hermeias, Diogenes, and Isidore, to avoid ecclesiastical\npersecution, were forced to wander away from the domains of Christendom\nover mountain and desert to the distant court of the Persian Emperor\nChosro\u00ebs, who four years later forced Justinian by treaty to let\nthe last of the Neoplatonists return to their native land and die a\nnatural death, guaranteeing them protection against further monkish\npersecution. It is a strange fact that as soon as the School grounds\nin the Academy were confiscated, a rumor, true or false, presently\nspread to the effect that the deserted property had become straightway\nunhealthy, a rumor which has persisted to this day, although it is\nimpossible for one who has visited the spot to perceive any reason why\nit should not under proper cultivation re-become the healthful and\nbeautiful garden it once was.\n\nThe following notice appeared in the _Bibliotheca Platonica_ for\nNovember-December, 1889:\n\n _Secure the Academy!_ We desire to call the attention of Platonists\n throughout the world to the fact that the site of the Ancient Academy\n at Athens, Greece, could probably be secured by prompt and concerted\n action. Proper measures should be taken at once to organize an\n association having for its object the purchase, preservation and\n restoration of the place where Plato lived and taught and where his\n disciples continued his sublime and enlightening work for centuries.\n It should be rescued from the hands of the profane, and set aside\n for the perpetual use and benefit of all true followers of Divine\n Philosophy. There is no good reason, why, in due time, the Platonic\n School should not again become, as it once was, the nursery of Science\n and Wisdom for the whole World.\n\nNote the significant words of Thomas Taylor, the great Platonist of a\nhundred years ago, who in the words of H. P. Blavatsky is \"one of the\nvery few commentators on old Greek and Latin authors who have given\ntheir just dues to the ancients for their mental development\":\n\n As to the philosophy (Platonism, as taught by Orpheus, Pythagoras,\n and Plato) by whose assistance these (the Eleusinian and Orphic)\n Mysteries are developed, it is coeval with the universe itself; and\n however its continuity may be broken by opposing systems, it will\n make its appearance at different periods of time, as long as the sun\n himself shall continue to illuminate the world. It has been, indeed,\n and may hereafter be violently assaulted by delusive opinions; but the\n opposition will be just as imbecile as that of the waves of the sea\n against a temple, built on a rock, which majestically pours them back,\n\n \"Broken and vanquish'd foaming to the main.\"\n\nSomewhat similar although less suggestive is the tribute of a recent\nwriter upon Neoplatonism:\n\n The Neoplatonist held that nothing perishes and Neoplatonism is still\n alive. Its mysticism has lived on. Its idealism can never die.\n\n\n\n\nCLASSICAL CYRENE: by Ariomardes\n\n\nWhat we call \"history\" is largely a dogma. It stands on a basis very\nsimilar to that on which some other dogmas, religious, literary,\nscientific, etc., stand; that is, it stands on a particular,\nrestricted, and local brand of culture, known as \"Western\ncivilization.\" And, like these other dogmas, it is destined to become\nseriously modified by later researches and discoveries.\n\nFor look at our classical history; it is founded chiefly upon a\nliterature--the literature of cultured circles in Greece and Rome. That\nthis literature does not reflect the life of the people to any adequate\nextent we know; for the spade of the archaeologists, instead of\nconfirmations, too often unearths surprises. The results of archaeology\ngo to show that ancient peoples were more advanced in many important\narts of life than we had surmised from our acquaintance with the said\nliterature. Hebraic tradition, too, backed by the weight of religious\nauthority, has colored our views of the past, and prevented us from\nestimating aright the claims of non-Christian peoples. In considering\nthe history of Hind\u00fbst\u00e2n, Persia, Egypt, etc., students have sought\nto make dates agree with their own sacred traditions. Again, we have\ntoo often shown a lack of appreciation of the form and style of other\nhistorians, when these have not adopted the literal and precise form\nfavored by our own historians; and have consequently, in a vain attempt\nto take poetical language in the sense of a scientific treatise,\nfrequently rejected it and its message altogether.\n\nAround that Mediterranean basin which was the classic theater, were\ngreat nations to whose history we have not hitherto had access, but\nof which we are now beginning to learn a little. The civilization--or\nrather, several distinct civilizations--that preceded Greece, and whose\ncenter at one time was Crete, at another the western shores of Asia\nMinor; the mysterious Nabatheans and Sabaeans; the equally mysterious\nHittites; empires in Africa, south of Egypt, and inland from the east\ncoast; these and other fragmentary remains slowly accumulate to confirm\nthe assurances made by H. P. Blavatsky in _The Secret Doctrine_ that a\nfar greater and longer past lies behind us than we have so far guessed.\n\nThe name Cyrene is suggestive along these lines, and forms the topic\nof a recent article by Professor Alfred Emerson of the Chicago Art\nInstitute, in _The Scientific American_.\n\nA number of Dorian islanders, we are there told, planted a European\ncolony on the great Libyan headland to the south of Greece proper,\n640 years B. C., so that Cyrene and its neighborhood had as long an\nauthentic history as ancient Rome itself. A dynasty of kings was\nsucceeded by a republic and the Libyans sometimes pressed the Greek\ncolony hard. Cyrene had its own school of philosophy and a famous\nschool of medicine. It had over 100,000 inhabitants, and the Ptolemies\ngave it kings again.\n\nSporadic explorations have brought to light a few relics, but\nheretofore the Ottoman government has repressed the curiosity of more\nsystematic researchers. Now, however, an American expedition has won a\nfirman to explore the ruins, and we shall soon have a record of this\npowerful but little known outlier of classic culture.\n\n\n\n\nKILLARNEY, IRELAND: by F. J. Dick, M. Inst. C. E., M. Inst. C. E. I.\n\n\nThose who pass hurriedly through the Killarney district know little\nof its manifold fascination. Even among natives few have thoroughly\nexplored its features. But to one who has made many more or less\nprolonged visits there, at all seasons, and who has gained a\nsympathetic interest in its people and in the legends that belong to\nevery rock, islet, and mountain, and who has seen it in storm and\nsunshine, at dawn and sunset, and by moonlight, the feeling grows that\nhere the immutable decree of Karmic law, \"there shall be no more going\nup and down,\" during this cycle, never fully descended--that, in fact,\nthis is no part of the ordinary world at all, but something distinct,\nsacred, set apart for some inscrutable reason and purpose. The very\natmosphere of some fairy-world of Light and Day hovers about these\nLakes and wooded mountain heights, and seems to penetrate everything.\nRight in the center, in the very heart of all the beauty, between\nDinish Island and Glena, rises the Shee, or Sidhe (Sanskrit _Siddhi_)\nMountain--the mountain of the Fairy World, next to Purple Mountain.\n\nStrange to say, it is just here, too, that the luxuriant vegetation of\nKillarney seems fairly to run riot, and we find trees and shrubs of\ntropical character growing side by side with those of temperate and\ncolder climes. Eucalyptus, palm, bamboo, jostle cedar and pine; while\nthe profusion of flowers of all kinds is amazing. And the delicious\nperfumes of the place, with just a faint suggestion of a turf-fire\nsomewhere a little way off, are something to remember. Some of the\nKillarney plants belong to what was once an unbroken coast-line\nextending to Spain. Such are _saxifraga umbrosa_ (London pride),\n_saxifraga geum_, _arbutus unedo_, and _pinguicula grandiflora_. The\narbutus grows in profusion at Killarney, although its real home, in a\nsense, is among the Pyrenees. Other plants are found along the west\ncoast, which are indigenous to the eastern shores of America.\n\nOne thinks of Breasil, and the Isles of the Western Sea, a later\ngeological period than that when there was unbroken, or practically\nunbroken, connexion between Ireland, Spain, and America. And then one\nbegins to wonder when the links of the past will be more clear.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE OLD WEIR BRIDGE,\nKILLARNEY]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE GAP OF DUNLOE,\nKILLARNEY]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. COLLEEN BAWN ROCK,\nKILLARNEY]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. AN OLD IRISH\nFARMYARD]\n\nThese memories of the past! Are they not pressing more strongly than\never on the hearts and imaginations--on the soul--of the Irish? No\nattempted deadening of this urge by half-hearted dry-as-dust methods\ningeniously forced on the poor folk by interested parties (vested\ninterests) will avail much. The unrest, which manifests in so many\nways in contemporary Irish life, has surely a deep source. There are\nincarnations and incarnations. Some kinds are racial, that is, belong\nto the larger sweep of things. No artificial barriers can stop them.\nNo pretended patronage of the Irish language movement will be able\nto check influences belonging to the inner life of a race-soul under\nrecurrent upward impulse.\n\nHy-breasil and the Isles of the West! Once the Coom-Dhuv, or Black\nValley, to the west of the Killarney Upper Lake, was an arm of the sea;\nand those who lived on the temple-crowned heights of Killarney could\nhave told us something of those Isles, which were in no shadow-world,\nbut were realities, relics of Atlantis, undoubtedly. These legends must\nfind their solution, partly by the names, partly by the details; and be\nstudied in the light of H. P. Blavatsky's writings, particularly _The\nSecret Doctrine_, where many a clue is given; and where the Sanskrit,\nChaldaean, and Irish names fail to give the clues, it seems the Welsh\nwill come triumphantly to the rescue. After all, the details have only\nrelative importance, for the broad facts are already plainly outlined\nin _The Secret Doctrine_; and it is no very difficult matter to see\nwhat is meant by Partholon, with the cow-faced and the goat-headed; by\nNemed; by the Tuatha de Danaan (Fourth Race Atlanteans of the Right\nPath), and Formorians (those of the Left); some of their descendants\nliving on in archaic Ireland; and the Milesians, the early arrivals of\nthe Fifth, from Central Asia via Egypt and Scandinavia, when Spain and\nAfrica were one and Ireland was part of Scandinavia. All of which was\nlong before what we call the Celts, crossed the Caucasus into Europe.\nIrish mythology is real history, some of it disfigured, as usual,\nby irreverent or ignorant hands. The worst of it is that the Irish\nseemed to enjoy having their past belittled, and their gods and heroes\ndethroned in favor of a piece of patchwork of alien growth; a kind of\ntravesty of Eastern and Egyptian teachings, belittled, like the Irish\ngods; and dethroned, truly! It was a \"magical and Druidic mist\" of the\nwrong kind unfortunately, which descended upon the heirs of Atlantean\nknowledge. And it will take some effort to dispel it, very probably. It\n_is_ dispelled though!\n\nThoughts like these are apt to cross one's mind among the regal\nsolitudes of Killarney, where for miles, as you look down from some\ncrag, no human habitation can be seen--one of the places where you can\nsit, and watch the Sword of Light, and the Spear of Victory getting\nbusy; so that the other two Jewels brought from the Isles of the West\nwill shine again.\n\nOne visible sign, at least, of the Sword of Light, is a growing\ntemperance movement among the youth of Ireland. Right conduct leads\nto light, whatever be the mists obscuring one's vision along the\nroad of life. Perhaps the youth of Ireland will next look into the\nancient past to discern vestiges of nobility as well as simplicity of\ncharacter; and note what manner of men some true kings were, and by\nwhom attended--bards, or poet-seers; lawgivers, or disciplinarians;\ncraftsmen; and warriors. Another kind of functionary was--well, he was\nnot needed.\n\nOne of the legends of Killarney, really connected, it would seem, with\nInisfallen, has no very exact parallel, and possesses some interesting\nand suggestive features. The story as given by Mr. Ockenden a century\nand a half ago is somewhat as follows. There lived in Inisfallen many\nhundred years ago a prince named O'Donoghoe. He manifested during his\nstay on earth great munificence, great humanity, and great wisdom;\nfor by his profound knowledge in all the secret powers of nature, he\nwrought wonders as miraculous as any tradition has recorded, of saints\nby the aid of angels, or of sorcerers by the assistance of demons;\nand among many other astonishing performances, he rendered his person\nimmortal. After having continued a long time on the surface of the\nglobe without growing old he one day took leave of his friends, and\nrising from the floor, like some aerial existence, passed through the\nwindow, shot away horizontally to a considerable distance, and then\ndescended. The water, unfolding at his approach, gave him entrance to\nthe sub-aqueous regions and then, to the astonishment of all beholders,\nclosed over his head, as they believed, for ever; but in this they were\nmistaken.\n\nHe returned again, some years after, revisiting--not, like Hamlet's\nghost \"the glimpses of the moon, making night hideous,\" but--the\nradiance of the sun, making day joyful, to those at least who saw him;\nsince which time he has continued to make very frequent expeditions to\nthese upper regions, sometimes three or four in a year; but sometimes\nthree or four years pass without his once appearing, which the\nbordering inhabitants have always looked upon as a mark of very bad\ntimes. Mr. Ockenden continues the tale of his experiences:\n\n It was feared this would be the third year he would suffer to elapse,\n without his once cheering their eyes with his presence; but the latter\n end of last August he again appeared, to the inexpressible joy of all,\n and was seen by numbers in the middle of the day. I had the curiosity,\n before I left Killarney, to visit one of the witnesses to this very\n marvelous fact.\n\n The account she gives is, that, returning with a kinswoman to her\n house at the head of the Lake, they both beheld a fine gentleman\n mounted upon a black horse, ascend through the water along with a\n numerous retinue on foot, who all moved together along the surface\n towards a small island, near which they again descended under water.\n This account is confirmed in time, place, and circumstance, by many\n more spectators from the side of the Lake, who are all ready to swear,\n and, not improbably, to suffer death in support of their testimony.\n\nAnother account says that at the feast, before he first disappeared, he\nwas engaged in a prophetic relation of the events which were to happen\nin the ages to come; and that after he reached the center of the Lake\nopposite them, he paused a moment, turned slowly round, looked toward\nhis friends, and waving his hand to them with the cheerful air of one\ntaking a short farewell, descended.\n\nMrs. S. C. Hall relates that an English soldier of the 30th Regiment,\nand an Irish comrade, were while she was at Killarney engaged in\nplowing up part of the old churchyard in Inisfallen, a work they both\ndisliked. As they were mooring the boat in which they came to the\nisland in the morning, a day or so after the work had commenced,\n\n they saw a procession of about two hundred persons pass from the\n old churchyard, and walk slowly and solemnly over the lake to the\n mainland. Reynolds (the soldier) himself was terribly alarmed, but his\n companion fainted in the boat.\n\nHe repeatedly afterward saw smaller groups of figures, but no crowd so\nnumerous.\n\n In answer to our questions, he expressed his perfect readiness to\n depose to the fact on oath; and asserted he would declare it if on his\n death-bed.\n\nSome say the best way to approach Killarney for the first time is\nby the wildly picturesque road over the mountains from Kenmare and\nGlengarriff. One obtains a magnificent view of the Upper Lake from the\nturn of the road a little north of the police barrack. Others again\nhave experienced the charm of an absolutely sudden surprise awaiting\nthem, when, arriving at Killarney by rail and driving south about a\nmile or more, during which nothing is seen but the over-arching trees,\nand turning to the left up a steep road south of the Flesk demesne,\ntoward one of the guest-houses there, the whole panorama of the\nLower Lake and the mountains bursts upon you just as you reach your\ndestination. Nothing has prepared you for a scene of so great beauty;\nso this way of arriving has its merits. From this situation, or from\nFlesk Castle; from a point above the Torc cascade; and from the point\nfirst mentioned, are obtained perhaps the three finest views of the\nLakes. But in truth unrivaled view-points seem endless, each having its\nown especial charm. The play of color, cloud, and shadow at various\nhours and seasons is so extraordinary that no brush of painter could\never do Killarney justice. As for photographs, they are merely like\npegs to hang one's memory-hats upon.\n\nTo know Killarney stay two months there at least, make friends with the\nnatives, learn the legends, and absorb the harmony of the region.\n\n And though many an isle be fair,\n Fairer still is Inisfallen,\n Since the hour Cuchullain lay\n In the bower enchanted.\n See! the ash that waves today,\n Fand its grandsire planted.\n\n When from wave to mountain-top\n All delight thy sense bewilders,\n Thou shalt own the wonder wrought\n Once by her skilled fingers\n Still, though many an age be gone,\n Round Killarney lingers.\n\n_William Larminie_\n\n\n\n\nTHE VRBAS DEFILE, BOSNIA: by F. J. B.\n\n\nBosnia, in Europe, best known as one of the Balkan Provinces, belonged\nin the fourteenth century to the kingdom of Stephen of Servia:\nit attained freedom in 1376, then fell again under the Turkish\ninvasion of Europe. In 1878 the treaty of Berlin provided for the\noccupation, by Austria-Hungary, of Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Dalmatia,\naccomplished only after severe conflict with the Mahommedans. Count\nCallay was appointed administrator and made it his life-work to\npromote harmony between the different races, as well as to develop\nthe country's resources. Ultimately the three provinces were annexed\nby Austria-Hungary; compensation was awarded to Turkey and the\nlong-feared European war averted. The Vrbas is a tributary of the\nSave, which divides Slavonia from Bosnia, on its northern border. The\naccompanying print exhibits the deep, narrow, rocky bed of the Vrbas\nand the precipitous height of the cliffs forming this magnificent\ndefile, the summits being invisible from certain parts of the road.\nThe river was once probably one of the underground watercourses of\nBosnia-Herzegovina. Nature is majestic there and hews out her own rock\ntemples.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE VRBAS DEFILE,\nBOSNIA]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ROCKING-STONE\nPINNACLE, MOUNT WELLINGTON, TASMANIA]\n\n\n\n\nASTRONOMICAL NOTES: by C. J. Ryan\n\n\nThere has lately been an interesting correspondence in _The English\nMechanic_ upon the subject of meteorites, and a remarkable conflict\nof opinion has been manifested, showing that there is really not much\npositive knowledge about them. The Earth's atmosphere is continually\nbeing bombarded by these missiles, and the dust into which they are\ntransformed during their passage through it falls upon the Earth,\nsprinkling it annually with a layer of dark mineral substance, which\nif evenly spread, would cover the surface to about the thickness of a\nmatch. For long it was denied by the Academies of Science that mineral\nmasses, varying in weight from a few ounces to several tons, ever fell\nfrom the sky, although they had been frequently seen in the act of\nfalling and had been handled while still warm. But the incredulity of\nthe astronomers was broken down about a century ago and they could no\nlonger hold to their axiom that \"as there are no stones in the sky,\nthey cannot fall out of it.\" The careful study of \"shooting-stars\" has\nnot been undertaken for much more than half a century. Although there\nis no doubt that meteoric masses do fall to the ground occasionally and\nthat the meteoric dust which is found in the enduring snows on high\npeaks and in the Arctic regions comes from the disintegration of such\nobjects, it is not certain that all of the shooting stars that flash\nacross our night skies (and day ones too, though we rarely see one by\nday) are of the same nature as the meteoric stones which we can examine\nin our museums.\n\nOne of the most difficult problems to explain is the cause of the\nluminosity of the meteors. Many of them start into brilliancy at the\nenormous heights of eighty or ninety miles above the Earth and, after\ndashing at planetary speed across a distance of perhaps a hundred\nmiles or more, disappear at heights of thirty or forty miles from the\nsurface. Compared with the rapidity of their motion the quickest bullet\nis practically at rest. The explanation most widely accepted is that\nthe friction of the meteorite in passing through our atmosphere at\nsuch an enormous speed ignites it and rapidly destroys it. Objection\nhas been raised to this theory on the ground that the atmosphere\nat great heights is exceedingly rare and that it is difficult to\nbelieve it could offer enough resistance. Another problem has hitherto\nproved quite insoluble; i. e., the long persistence of the train of\nluminous particles which remain drifting in the upper air after the\ndisappearance of the explosive bolides. For instance, on February 22,\n1909, such a luminous train was seen for several hours drifting across\nthe sky at high speed. Its height was so great that it was visible\nover a large part of England and France. Why these sparks do not go\nout instantly, in the same manner as those which follow the ordinary\nshooting-stars, is an unsolved mystery.\n\nThe only thing that is well established about meteor showers is\nthat most of them are periodic and come from well-defined quarters\nof the heavens. From the study of the directions from which these\nstreams come, it has been calculated that they travel round the sun\nin long elliptical orbits, and are members of his family. An orbit of\nthirty-three years has been computed for the famous November meteors.\nThey probably extend about as far as the planet Neptune on one side\nof the Sun. The wonderful displays of November meteors seen in 1833\nand 1866, which astonished the whole world, were probably caused by\nthe passing of the Earth through a particularly dense portion of the\nstream. In 1866 we met the same portion that we had encountered in\n1833. It was again looked for in 1899, thirty-three years later, but,\nto the surprise of the astronomers, there was but a very ordinary\ndisplay. Many reasons have been offered for this, but no one really\nknows enough to explain it satisfactorily. A few of the meteoric\nstreams follow the tracks of comets, and it is supposed that they may\nbe the disintegrated remains of comets, particularly in the cases where\nthe latter have faded away. There are many other peculiarities in the\nbehavior of meteorites and of the meteoric streams which are quite\nincomprehensible, but enough has been said to show that the problem is\nfull of interest to inquiring minds.\n\n * * * * *\n\nStudents of H. P. Blavatsky's teachings will not have failed to notice\nthat there is a continual effort being made by astronomers to find\nsome really satisfactory theory to explain the formation and behavior\nof comets' tails. She discusses the subject in _The Secret Doctrine_\nin such a way and gives such suggestive hints as to make it clear that\nwhen we do get the real clue to the mystery there will be need for\nfurther readjustments in our theories of matter. She also leads us to\nunderstand that partly through the discoveries which will be made in\nconnexion with the anomalies of comets' tails, science will find that\nthe present theory of gravitation is highly incomplete, and that there\nis an opposite force--repulsion--to be understood. Gravitation is only\none aspect of a mysterious force which is as definitely polarized as\nelectricity or magnetism. It is of interest to notice that Professor\nKapteyn, the famous Dutch astronomer of Groningen, has just declared at\nthe thirteenth Science Congress of Holland that the law of gravitation\nis abrogated among the spiral nebulae. His words are:\n\n All the known facts indicate that the so-called universal force of\n Gravitation exerts no influence upon the primordial matter from which\n all stars have been produced.\n\nA few years ago--even to a date considerably later than the time\nwhen H. P. Blavatsky wrote the daring suggestions in _The Secret\nDoctrine_--such a statement would have been considered the rankest\nheresy; no scientist would have dared to throw doubts upon the\nuniversal supremacy of the law of gravitation. Truly, indeed, did she\nprophesy that in the twentieth century it would be recognized that\nshe had but sketched an outline, which, though rejected at its first\nappearance, was based upon real knowledge.\n\nIn seeking a plausible hypothesis to explain comets' tails, Signor\nLuigi Armellini, an Italian astronomer, has advanced the revolutionary\nidea that they are optical illusions, merely the effect of light\npassing through the more or less lens-shaped head of the comet. He\npublishes, in the _Astronomische Nachrichten_, fourteen photographs of\ncomet-like forms which he produced by passing beams of light at various\nangles through lenses so as to fall upon sensitized plates. He claims\nthat the different angles at which the solar rays fall upon the nucleus\nof a comet as it moves round the sun sufficiently explain the familiar\nchanges in shape of the tail.\n\nThis hypothesis has not been favorably received, for it provokes more\ndifficulties than it solves, plausible though it may seem at first\nsight. For instance, there is the undeniable fact that comets' tails\ndisplay an entirely different spectrum from that of the Sun. Then\nthere is the fact that they are frequently most irregular in shape,\nwith strange bends and gaps in them, and sometimes they show bright\nprojections pointing _towards_ the Sun. Everyone who saw the great\ndaylight comet of the winter before last (Comet 1910 a) will remember\nthe curious bend half way down the tail which was plainly visible\nwithout optical aid. This was a curious freak for a comet!\n\nIt is singular that a somewhat similar hypothesis to that of Signor\nArmellini was offered by a correspondent to the _Century Path_ not long\nago (April 24, 1910), the difference being that he suggested that the\ncomet's tail was a _shadow_ of the nucleus thrown upon a surrounding\nspherical nebulosity and which became visible as a bright object when\nrelieved against the intensely black background of the sky. This\nhypothesis lies open to the same objection as the lens theory, and\nalso to others. But the important thing is that the mystery of comets\nhas not been cleared up, nor will it be until the properties of other\nstates of matter than those with which we are familiar are discovered\nby science.\n\nThe following quotation from _The Scientific American_ shows some of\nthe difficulties which comet theorists have to meet:\n\n The tail of Halley's comet has conducted itself in the most whimsical\n fashion.... It seems to have split longitudinally into three more or\n less well-defined parts. When we consider that Morehouse's comet of\n 1908 exhibited some extraordinary changes; that it repeatedly formed\n tails which were discarded to drift out bodily into space until they\n finally melted away; that in several cases tails were twisted or\n corkscrew shaped, as if they had gone out in a more or less spiral\n form; that areas of material connected with the tail would become\n visible at some distance from the head, where apparently no supply\n had reached it from the nucleus; that several times the matter of the\n tail was accelerated perpendicularly to its length; and that at one\n time the entire tail was thrown forward and curved perpendicularly\n to the radius vector in the general direction of the tail's sweep\n through space (_a peculiarity opposed to the law of gravitation_) it\n is evident that a comet presents important problems for the future\n astronomer to solve. (May 28, 1910, Italics ours).\n\nIn connexion with the profoundly interesting problem of gravitation\nand the dead mechanical theory of the universe _versus_ the living,\nspiritual teachings which H. P. Blavatsky brought us, the student\nshould consult Sections III and IV of Part III of _The Secret\nDoctrine_, Vol. I. Nothing displays more forcibly the strength and\nbeauty of the Theosophical position, which sees the working of Divine\nIntelligence and Control in every thing, from the least to the greatest.\n\nTo the general public as well as to astronomers the question of the\nhabitability of the planets is a perennial subject of interest, and it\nis curious to observe how the opinions of experts have been modified\nlately. A few years ago it would have appeared most unlikely that\nthe time was quickly coming when it would be seriously advanced by a\ndistinguished astronomer that _with the exception of Mars_ all the\nplanets are probably inhabited! Yet that is the position taken today\nby Professor T. J. J. See of the U. S. Observatory, Mare Island. \"Mars\nhas been inhabited in the past, but life has doubtless vanished there,\nas but little of the Martian atmosphere remains.\" Until recently it\nwas thought that the extensive dark shadings on Mars were oceans, but\nthe numerous observations made of late with finer telescopes and under\nmore favorable conditions than were formerly available have proved\nthat these dark areas, instead of being the smooth, even surfaces they\nshould be if composed of water, are irregularly mottled and actually\ncrossed in places by some of the fine lines called \"canals\" about\nwhich so much controversy has raged. Very limited dark blue regions\nsurrounding the white \"snowcaps,\" which are most distinctly visible\nduring the Martian summers, are most probably water, but these are so\nsmall that conditions must be very different on Mars from those on the\nEarth or any similar planet. The state of things upon Venus appears to\nbe far more like that to which we are accustomed. No mountains such\nas Venus possesses are to be traced on Mars. Professor See feels sure\nthat Mars must have been the seat of life in the past, and with respect\nto the families of planets which we are morally certain must surround\nthe myriads of gigantic suns which we see only as twinkling stars, he\nis convinced that they also must have been formed for the habitation\nof intelligent beings, for to regard them as barren deserts would make\nNature ridiculous.\n\nH. P. Blavatsky, in _The Secret Doctrine_ and elsewhere, and William Q.\nJudge in his writings, have plainly stated the Theosophical teaching\nabout the condition of Mars in its present cycle. According to this,\nthe planet is under \"obscuration,\" that is, it is not the seat of\nfull and complete active life, though there may be some lower vital\nforces at work. But this does not mean that Mars is becoming extinct\nor that it is a dead planet. According to the Esoteric philosophy, of\nwhich H. P. Blavatsky was permitted to unveil a little and to give a\npartial outline, the planets are subject to great periodic changes of\nstate. From a high condition of activity in which life in every form\nflourishes, they decline to a state of quiescence during which the\nvital forces are active in the unseen planes; but in due course the\nnearly extinct fires are re-lighted and a further and higher evolution\ncommences. We see this taking place on a smaller scale around us;\ncivilizations rise and fall only to rise again; nations and even races\ndisappear to be replaced by others commencing their upward march.\n\nDuring the intervals between the active manifestations on the physical\nplane the life-stream or wave passes into other and interior states\nwhich are necessary for the full development of perfected intelligence.\nWhat takes place in the case of the individual man in the comparatively\nshort cyclic alternations of earth-lives and Devachanic or Heavenly\nconditions is a reflection of the vast cosmic process of the planets\nand the suns. Modern science has not yet grasped the enormous and\nfar-reaching significance of Cyclic or Periodic laws, particularly in\ntheir application to human life, and how firmly everything, from the\nlowest animalcule to the great sun itself, is held in their grasp. When\nCyclic Law as the key to the greater mysteries of life is thoroughly\nunderstood we shall no longer find any opposition to the fact of the\nreincarnation of the human soul, which is simply a necessary corollary\nto it. The soul is not _supernatural_ in the sense of being outside\nNature's laws; it is a part of the whole.\n\nSo with respect to Mars. It is, as Professor See and others believe,\nunder obscuration today, but its energies will revive or reincarnate\nin some future age. It has not reached the state of our Moon, which is\na decaying corpse, having passed through its life-history long ago.\nThe Moon's life-principles \"reincarnating\" in the sphere of the Earth\nhundreds of millions of years ago, are now pursuing a higher evolution\nhere. The Earth will in its time \"reincarnate\" similarly.\n\n\n\n\nST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL FROM LUDGATE HILL: by Carolus\n\n\nThe great fire of London in September 1666 destroyed eighty-nine\nchurches, the city gates, hospitals, schools, libraries, and many other\npublic buildings, thirteen thousand two hundred dwelling houses, and\nthe fortunes of over two hundred thousand people; but only eight lives\nwere lost, and the plague, which only the year before had destroyed a\nhundred thousand persons in London alone, was never afterwards a cause\nof serious anxiety. Notwithstanding the temporary suffering the fire\nwas a great hygienic benefit, and the city rapidly recovered more than\nits former prosperity. One of the severest losses was that of the old\ncathedral of St. Paul, a magnificent thirteenth century Gothic building\nwith a central spire. Its dimensions were enormous; the total length\nbeing 700 feet, the height of the nave 102 feet, and the spire attained\nthe extraordinary altitude of 534 feet, 130 feet higher than Salisbury\nCathedral spire, which gives the impression, today, of enormous height.\nThe old cathedral had suffered many losses and injuries before the\nfire, its spire had been destroyed, and its monuments defaced, while\nmany outrages called restorations had injured its beauty.\n\nAfter the fire much of the work of rebuilding was entrusted to Sir\nChristopher Wren, the most renowned architect of modern times in\nEngland. In four years ten thousand houses had been rebuilt, and very\nsoon fifty-one churches were commenced by Wren. The greatest was new\nSt. Paul's. The first stone was laid on June 21, 1675, the last in\n1710. Just before the fire Wren had been commissioned by King Charles\nII to restore old St. Paul's, and he proposed to remodel all but\nthe choir in \"a good Roman manner.\" We may be thankful that such an\natrocity was providentially prevented. Wren made several designs for\nthe new building on the lines of his proposed remodeling of the old\none; but for various reasons none of them were finally carried out. The\nfinished building is very different from even the last approved design,\nand is generally considered far superior. In place of the one-storied\neffect produced by a single order of columns, which he originally\nintended, he divided the whole height into two orders. The result\nwas an immense gain in apparent size. St. Peter's in Rome is utterly\ndwarfed by the colossal size of the columns and pilasters of its single\norder, and it is a remarkable fact, that although the top of St. Paul's\ndome is only about the same height as the springing of that of St.\nPeter's, owing to Wren's ingenious design in this matter, the one looks\nabout as high as the other.\n\nIt is rather a singular fact that the greatest cathedral of\nthe Protestant Reformation should be called after the \"wise\nmaster-builder,\" St. Paul, while the central church of the Roman faith\nis dedicated to the apostle who thrice denied his Master.\n\nThe ground plan as finally built, is much smaller than that of the old\ncathedral, being only 500 feet long, by 250 across the transepts. The\nfront towers are 250 feet high, and the dome is 404. The dome is a\nwonderful example of Wren's constructive skill. The stone lantern at\nthe summit is quite independent of the external wooden and lead dome;\nit is supported on a cone of brickwork, concealed from the interior by\nan internal dome. Wren said he was building for eternity, and he was\nespecially careful about the strength of the foundations, but he had no\nsuspicion of the boring and tunneling that would before many centuries\ntake place around the cathedral, and serious anxiety has been caused of\nlate years by sundry cracks which have appeared in some of the walls\nand vaults.\n\nThere is good reason to suppose that the site of St. Paul's was once\ndedicated to the worship of Diana. Ox heads, which were sacred to that\ngoddess, were discovered near the church in 1316, and at other times\nfragments of vessels that seem to have been used in the old ceremonies\nhave been dug up. A chronicler of the fifth century speaks of the\nworship of Diana being restored in London in his time. The site of the\nbuilding is the highest in the city, and it is the most reasonable\nplace for the sacred Temple of pre-christian times to have been founded.\n\nFortunately there are no thirty-five-story skyscrapers in London to\ndwarf the picturesque mass of the majestic edifice which has an abiding\nplace in the heart of every Londoner--and indeed of every Englishman.\n\n See! how shadowy,\n Of some occult magician's rearing,\n Or swung in space of heaven's grace,\n Dissolving, dimly reappearing,\n Afloat upon ethereal tides\n St. Paul's above the city rides.\n\n_John Davidson_\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ST. PAUL'S\nCATHEDRAL, LONDON. VIEW TAKEN FROM LUDGATE HILL]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. A EUCALYPTUS GROVE,\nPOINT LOMA]\n\n\n\n\nWHO MADE THE EUCALYPTS? by Nature-Lover\n\n\nAustralia is a remnant of Lemuria, as geologists call that ancient\ncontinent which once stretched across the Southern hemisphere. In\nAustralia we find strange animals and plants, the relics of a bygone\nage. One plant is the Eucalyptus, of many varieties, a very perfect\ntree, with two systems of roots, one to catch surface water, the\nother to dig deep; formed for hardiness, yet distilling every kind of\nfragrant and health-giving balm. Is this tree a product of evolution?\nOr has Man had a hand in the perfecting of it?\n\nMen in our recent civilization are already learning how to manipulate\nplants so as to make them into better plants than they were before.\nIf it be true that the ancient continent of Lemuria was occupied by\nan ancient humanity, divided into races and sub-races, nations and\ntribes, enduring for millenniums, it must also be true that they made\ndiscoveries in science, of which agriculture is a branch. Perhaps they\nhad gone further than we have yet gone in the art of plant culture;\nperhaps they had carried it to a point of perfection; perhaps they made\nthe Eucalypts. There are many other plants and fruits and trees on the\nearth which seem as if they had been made at some time or another; and\nit is quite possible that bygone human races may have had something to\ndo with it.\n\nThe influence of man upon nature may have been underestimated. Plants\nand animals seem to remain about the same for very long periods; man\nis able to produce variations in them; and then the varieties often\nremain permanent and unaltered. It is quite conceivable that scientific\nagriculture on a large scale may have been practised at one time or at\nseveral times in the world's history, and that many now-existing forms\nmay be attributable thereto.\n\nThus far we have spoken only of the direct and purposeful influence\nof man upon nature; but man has also an indirect and undesigned\ninfluence. For just as the physical body of man is continually\ndiscarding atoms, which return to the soil, carrying thither vital\nelements that will be used over again in the lower kingdoms of nature;\nso man is as constantly throwing off other elements, not physical,\nand these likewise return to the lower kingdoms of nature to enter as\nvital forces into the constitution of lower forms. In other words, man\nexcretes used-up and superfluous elements from his mind; and these,\nthough no longer of use to man, and being now divested of everything\nhuman, may nevertheless serve to ensoul lowlier forms. It will thus be\nseen that some of the theories of evolution held by biologists are the\nreverse of the truth. The analogy between animals and the organs in man\nhas been regarded as pointing to a descent of man from the animals; but\nwhy might it not imply a descent of animals from man? Once get rid of\nthe idea that physical begetting is the only way in which one thing can\nbe derived from another, and the way is clear for postulating a descent\nor derivation of animals from man. The crab, all claws and stomach,\nworks off naturally and harmlessly certain proclivities which in man\nwere cultivated to an excess too great for their further expression in\nthe human kingdom. In the same way we have the spider, built perhaps\nfrom the cast-off atoms of a bogus-company promoter (!), the snake, the\npig, etc. It has been well said that in the Zoo one may meet all one's\nfriends and enemies--behind the bars of the cages; and the cartoonist\ncan represent faithfully his human characters by giving them animals'\nheads.\n\nBut let us not overdo the idea. It is true that many of the animals\nnow on earth appeared subsequently to man in the present \"Round\" of\nevolution; but this does not apply to all the animals. The facts are,\nas might be expected, not so simple as one might like them to be; for\nthe history of evolution in all its ramifications is a long and complex\none. To return to the main proposition: man plays an important part in\nthe evolution of nature, both conscious and unconscious.\n\n\n\n\nAUSTRALIAN MARSUPIALS: by Nature-Lover\n\n\nAustralia is one of the oldest lands, says H. P. Blavatsky; it can\nproduce no _new_ forms, unless helped by fresh races or artificial\ncultivation and breeding. This is in keeping with the native race whose\nhome it has been; for a portion of the present native tribes are the\ndescendants of those later Lemurians who escaped the destruction of\ntheir fellows when the main continent was submerged. This remnant has\nsince declined. Its environment is suggestive of a survival from a long\nbygone age. As Jukes says, in his _Manual of Geology_, it is a curious\nfact that the fossil marsupials found in Oxfordshire, England, together\nwith Trigonias and other shells, and even some fossil plants, should\nmuch more nearly resemble those now living in Australia than the living\nforms of any other part of the globe. This fact is interesting and\nsuggestive.\n\nFrom a recent article in _The English Mechanic_ we condense the\nfollowing.\n\nThe remains of some of the oldest mammals were discovered in the\nKeuper beds of bone breccia of Upper Triassic age near Stuttgart. They\nconsisted of the teeth of a small animal about the size of a rabbit,\nMicrolestes antiquus. Teeth of a similar animal were found in the\nRhaetic beds at Frome, England, while in the red sandstones of the\nUpper Trias in Virginia and North Carolina were found the lower jaws\nof Dromatherium sylvestre, and in beds of similar age in Basutoland\nthe skull of Tritylodon longaevus. All these are believed to have\nbeen marsupials, mammals that bring forth their young in an imperfect\ncondition and place them in a pouch formed by the skin of the abdomen,\nwhere their development is completed.\n\nIn the Australian regions there are about one hundred and sixty\nspecies of living marsupials including the kangaroo, kangaroo rat,\nphalanger, tarsipes, wombat, bandicoot, rat, koala, Tasmanian wolf or\nThylacine dasyure, and the Tasmanian devil or Ursine dasyure; while in\nthe remainder of the world there are only about forty-six, and these\nconfined to North and South America, the representatives being the\nopossum and the South American selvas. The kangaroo is also found in\nTasmania, New Guinea, New Ireland, and in the Aru and other islands of\nthese regions.\n\nUp to the present very few fossil remains of Monotremes have been\nfound. These are the lowest forms of mammals and lay eggs; they\nseem to form a link with the reptiles. Their skeletons exhibit very\nreptilian characters and true teeth are absent. They appear to have\nbeen followed by the Marsupials and finally by the Placentals, which\nbring forth matured young, and which seem to have made their appearance\nin the Upper Jurassic. The only representatives that now exist of the\nmonotremes are the duck-billed platypus or Ornithorhyncus, and the\nspiny anteater, both of Australia, and Parechidna of New Guinea. These\nlay soft-shelled eggs and have no teats, the milk being exuded from\npores in the skin, which the young ones lick when hatched. The fossil\nremains of Echidna have been brought to light in the bone breccia of\nTertiary times in Australia. In the Stonesfield Slate of Oxfordshire,\nwhich is Lower Oolitic, the lower jaws of several small marsupials\nhave been found, and these were contemporary with the great saurians.\nThe latter waned as the former increased. Similar lower jaws have been\nfound at Swanage in Dorsetshire, the lower jaw being the first bone\nto become detached and being left stranded while the rest of the body\nor skeleton was carried out to sea. There would seem to have been a\nworld-wide distribution of monotremes and marsupials; but they did not\ndevelop any size except in Australia, where they became isolated.\n\nIn the newer Tertiary deposits of Australia are the remains of a large\nmarsupial allied to the kangaroo and named Diprotodon Australis; and\nin the Post-Tertiary another named Nototherium; as also a few others\nincluding fossil kangaroos.\n\nThis concludes our abstract from the article. In reference to what\nis said therein about the first two forms of Mammals--the Monotremes\nand the Marsupials--their analogies with the types below and above\nthem, and the gradation in development which they exhibit, it may be\nrecalled that the teachings given in _The Secret Doctrine_, with regard\nto animal and human evolution, are not the same as the conjectures of\nmost modern theorists. The Mammalia, it is stated, are (_in the present\nRound_) posterior to Man on this globe. The evolutionary process which\nculminated in the production of a physical organism for Man took place\nin an earlier Round. Similarly, it is not in the present Round that the\nMonads inhabiting animals now living will progress so as to enter into\nthe composition of Man. That destiny awaits them in a future Round.\nHence these Monotremes and Marsupials do not represent early stages in\nthe evolution of our present humanity. Analogy in form does not always\nmean derivation of the one form from the other; and when it does, there\nstill remains the doubt as to which form was prior to the other. The\nsubject of evolution, as taught by ancient Science, is comprehensive\nand fascinating. It is evident that the actual facts must be far more\ncomplex and vaster in scale than tentative hypotheses.\n\nAustralia is a country with natural scenery of fascinating type. The\nillustrations accompanying this note give an idea of it.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. A CASCADE, NEW SOUTH\nWALES, AUSTRALIA]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. NEAR NATURE'S HEART,\nNEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. AN AUSTRALIAN PICNIC\nRESORT]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. WHERE THE RAINBOW\nSPORTS NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. WHERE THE FERNS\nTHRIVE: AUSTRALIA]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE AUSTRALIAN GUM]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ONE OF THE LESSER\nSTATUES BROUGHT FROM EASTER ISLAND THIS STATUE (NOW IN THE BRITISH\nMUSEUM) HAS BEEN CALLED \"HOA-HAKA-NANA-IA\"]\n\n\n\n\nHOA-HAKA-NANA-IA: by P. A. Malpas\n\n\nMuch has been written and said about the famous Easter Island statues\nin mid-Pacific. So little is really known about them that until H.\nP. Blavatsky called attention to their immense antiquity they were\nnot thought to be of any particular value. There were one or two\nspeculations which she, as with so many other scattered data, gathered\ntogether, sifted, confirmed, or refuted, adding a few details to\ncomplete the bare outline of the picture.\n\nThe one in the illustration stands at the entrance outside the British\nMuseum with a smaller, more shapeless companion. They were brought to\nEngland in Her Majesty's Ship _Topaze_, and presented in 1869 by Queen\nVictoria to the national collection in the Museum.\n\nAs they are said to be of hard trachyte and the ravages of time are\ngreat, therefore it is said they are very, very old. Presumably they\nwere carved in the \"Stone Age,\" wherever that mysteriously ancient (yet\nstill existing!) epoch of science may be situated in the years of the\nworld. It would be interesting to know by what \"Stone Age\" tools they\nwere carved. Perhaps Aladdin's diamonds may have helped in the carving?\n\nIn any case they are evident \"sun-worship\" monuments. So would our\nclocks and sundials be if we could emulate our \"Stone Age\" brothers\n(what wonderful masons they were!) in making them last a million years\nor so.\n\nWe would wish to remark that the cross on the backs of these very\nancient statues, made in one of the hardest kinds of stone, is a very\nremarkable case of testimony by anticipation. They were only \"Stone\nAge\" men, but they had shrewd powers of anticipation--almost as\nwonderful as their masonry!\n\n\n\n\nSUN-LIFE AND EARTH-LIFE: by Per Fernholm\n\nIndwelling\n\n If thou couldst empty all thyself of self,\n Like to a shell dishabited,\n Then might He find thee on the Ocean shelf,\n And say--\"This is not dead,\"--\n And fill thee with Himself instead.\n\n But thou art all replete with very thou,\n And hast such shrewd activity,\n That, when He comes, He says: \"This is enow\n Unto itself--'twere better let it be:\n It is so small and full, there is no room for Me.\"\n\n_T. E. Brown_, \"_Collected Poems_.\"\n\n\nThere, in your garden, is a plant, busily engaged in collecting\nmaterial for its future growth, although you can see nothing as yet\nabove the ground. Still in the darkness of the earth it is sending out\nnumerous root-threads amongst many strange material things, of which\nsome serve it as nourishment. Buried in the soil without any visible\nlink with the life of the air above, it lies, dormant and inactive\nuntil that life above reaches it with its beneficent influence in the\nform of rain and sunshine, quickening the soul of the plant to begin\nthe weaving of its material garb on the already present ideal form.\n\nAnd then, one day, the budding life breaks through the soil separating\nit from the air, and from now on a new life is entered upon, a double\nexistence. The roots in the dark \"prison of earth\" continue to collect\nnourishment for the redoubled activity needed to build the ideal form.\nBut the plant is now directly nourished and stimulated to growth by\nwater and air and sunshine by means of its leaves as well. And thus,\nin proper time, the culmination comes in form of the flower, in its\nbeauty really belonging to another world and a constant promise of a\nhigher life. When it has given its message, blended its note of form,\ncolor, and fragrance in the great symphony of vegetable life, it passes\naway to rest; but in doing so it produces a store of seeds for future\nplant-lives similar to its own, thus binding together past and future\nand securing the continuity of its species.\n\nHow much food for thought there is in a simple picture that we\nconstantly have before us! How thoughts and analogies built upon it\nhelp us--far better than the filling of our brains with narrow and\npetty theories without any spark of life, or the poisoning of our\nemotional life by our artificial aims and desires. Men are overburdened\nby false ideas and unsound emotions of their own making. Purification\nof heart, mind, and body, is surely needed, before the wholesome\ninfluences always reaching us from the Center of Life can make us grow\nrightly, intensely, though quietly and in silence.\n\n\"I am not of this world,\" said the great Master whom the Western\nworld professes to follow. It was the Christos that spoke thus, the\nspiritual, glorious, ideal being that breathes the air of the higher\nlife. Each of us has--nay, each one in essence is--the Christos, though\nfew have consciously and purposely taken up the great task before\nus all: to weave the worthy, shining garment that will allow this\nspiritual being to take actual form in manifested existence. Man is not\nlike the flower, he is self-conscious, and he cannot grow as the flower\ngrows until he freely uses his self-consciousness in full accordance\nwith the laws of life. He cannot hope to burst through the dark soil of\nmaterial existence that separates him from the air where the spiritual\nsun sheds its glory until, in every moment of daily life, he feels its\ninfluence and adjusts his life accordingly, gathering nourishment from\nall his duties, from all the opportunities that the threads of his mind\nmay encounter, and pushing upwards all the time.\n\n_Trust_ is the key to it all, the magic power that will bring the\nhuman plant to bloom. _Compassion_ is the guiding power for the mental\nroot-threads in their work of gathering nourishment; the giving of\nthe good tidings to all we can reach, the extending of aid to all as\nwe progress. And when the glorious moment arrives when the soil opens\nabove us, there comes redoubled activity in our earthly life, reaching\nout farther and farther, inspiring and stimulating more and more the\nhearts of the \"hosts of souls\" that grope blindly in the dark and\nfinally have come to doubt even the existence of any spiritual life.\n\nWe watch the plant in our garden and nurse it even before we see any\nvisible sign of its growth, knowing that it will blossom in due time.\nHave we ever thought that there may be beings in the spiritual world\nthat watch the humans in like manner and give them the tenderest care?\nHave we thought of how some already may have reached up into the air\nof spiritual existence, preparing to bloom, or already blooming, or,\nin going to rest, scattering all over the earth seeds of potential\nspiritual growth? How these may be working with all the powers of\nheart, mind, and body, to give the good tidings to us that still\nstruggle in the dark? How they are to be recognized by that divine\nCompassion that does not shut out anyone of the blind and faltering\nhuman beings, and how they are able to inspire that Trust which acts\nlike a kindling spark, producing light and order in a chaos?\n\nThe sun does not enter into the growth of a plant otherwise than\nspiritually, inspiring and drawing it upwards. It is not of this world;\nand yet it is the basis of all growth in this world. So even in human\nlife; the Christos stands apart from all nature's activity, and yet it\nis illuminating every particle therein, living in the heart-life of\nall. The mind can open to its rays by acting in unison with the heart,\nby finding its way upward in trust, and by expanding, as compassion\nmakes it embrace ever wider circles of earthly existence. Seen thus,\nearth-life, dark and confusing as it still often may be, has its great\npurpose and is felt to be the means of a glorious spiritual blossoming.\nEvery thought and act may then serve the interblending of the spiritual\ninfluences with the lives of our fellows, and as purification proceeds\nand the life-currents more and more easily and normally find their\ncourse through our hearts and minds, Joy becomes manifest and comes to\nstay with us, the Joy of True Living, precursor of the blossoming of\nthe spiritual life.\n\nIn this work of bursting through the dark soil of material existence,\nwoman has her predominant position. Being in close contact with nature\nshe can clothe the spiritual rays entering her heart in a thousand\nforms that make everything she touches radiant in its turn. And she\ncan protect the sanctuary thus brought down to earth. If her trust is\nsublime, her spiritual will unflinching, none will dare to desecrate\nit. She can challenge others to leave the false and cheap glitter of\nlife, for the precious jewels of the higher life. How glorious her\nposition as guardian of the home, if she enters into it in the right\nspirit, trustingly! The seeds of love and unselfishness, scattered\nover the earth by those who already have blossomed forth in the higher\nglory, may in such a home find the soil needed for their quickening.\nAnd what a reward for a mother to watch over and guide such a soul in\nacquiring a serviceable instrument for the delivering of its message of\nTruth, Light, and Liberation!\n\nThe most fertile soil is often composed of the most unpleasant and\nincongruous ingredients, and it is often the darkest. Our age is\ncertainly dark, but just _because_ of the swift vibrations of material\nlife it permits a growth that could not be equaled at any other time.\nThis century has to make a bold step forward towards the realization\nof a higher life. Let the woman who feels its urge and who longs to\nhelp and serve, know that by doing rightly the small duties that lie\nnearest at hand, her path will gradually widen. The plant blooms where\nthe seed falls. What woman cannot, deep within the heart, feel some\nhint of the glory and joy of stepping forth as a conscious worker with\nnature?\n\nOne of the most wonderful passages in the pearl of the Eastern\nscriptures, the Bhagavad-G\u00eet\u00e2, that poem of the spiritual life, is\nwhere Arjuna discovers the majesty of Krishna, whom he had taken\nfor a friend and at times had treated \"without respect in sport, in\nrecreation, in repose, in thy chair, and at thy meals, in private and\nin public\"; and where he exclaims: \"Forgive, O Lord, as the friend\nforgives the friend, as the father pardons his son, as the lover the\nbeloved.\" We will all some day waken to find Krishna, the Christos, at\nour side. But we must ask ere we can receive, we must call before the\ninner Christ can show himself in his true form, before he really can\nhelp us. We must change our whole attitude, our polarity, and drink in\nthe light from above. We must let Sun-life illuminate Earth-life and\ndraw forth the divine blossoms.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPADE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGIST: THE RESURRECTION OF TRUTH--ERROR'S\nFUNERAL: by Ariomardes\n\n\n The resurrection of the prehistoric age of Greece, and the disclosure\n of the astonishing standard of civilization which had been attained\n on the mainland and in the isles of the Aegean at a period at least\n 2000 years earlier than that at which Greek history, as hitherto\n understood, begins, may be reckoned as among the most interesting\n results of modern research into the relics of the life of past ages....\n\n All preconceived ideas may be upset by the results of a single\n season's spade work on some ancient site. The work is by no means\n complete; but already the dark gulf of time that lay behind the Dorian\n conquest is beginning to yield up the unquestionable evidences of a\n great and splendid and almost incredibly ancient civilization....\n\n Most surprising of all, in many respects, was the revelation of the\n amazingly complete system of drainage with which the palace was\n provided. Indeed the hydraulic science of the Minoan architects is\n altogether wonderful in the completeness with which it provided for\n even the smallest details....\n\n Perhaps the most striking and interesting result that has been\n attained is the remarkable confirmation given to the broad outlines\n of those traditions about Crete which have survived in the legends and\n in the narratives of the Greek historians.--_The Scientific American_,\n in a review of James Baikie's _Sea Kings of Crete_.\n\nPreconceived ideas may certainly be said to be in a precarious\nsituation, if they can be so easily upset by a spade. Pagan tradition,\nhowever, comes out triumphant. Should we not therefore, place more\nfaith in the pagan legends than in the preconceived ideas?\n\nRefusing to believe that the Greek legends were imaginary, Schliemann\nand his successors investigated the sites at Troy, Tiryns and Mykenae,\nthere discovering the old civilization described. Now we learn\nthat this was but the dying remnant of a still older and grander\ncivilization whose center was Crete. How much more has the spade to\nreveal to us? How much further will discovery go? It can but show, as\nrevelation follows revelation, that the map of ancient history sketched\nin H. P. Blavatsky's _The Secret Doctrine_ is correct; that our annals,\nas far as we can trace them back, record not a rise but a fall. The\npresent Fifth Root-Race of humanity, being in its middle course, has\nreached the lowest point of its cycle before its reascent; the earlier\nof its seven sub-races have lived; some of the most enduring of their\ncolossal works in masonry have survived, silent yet eloquent witnesses.\nThe spade is slowly uncovering the vestiges of civilization gradually\nrising in knowledge and culture as we go backwards; until at last the\ncompleted chain of history will conduct us to the glory of our Race in\nthe Golden Age of its birth.\n\nConfirmation, Theosophy has in plenty, as H. P. Blavatsky foretold of\nthe dawning years of this century. Recognition, it may get later. And\nthis important question arises: Will archaeologists, while admitting\nthe truth of the Theosophical teachings about history, also admit\nthose teachings as to the nature of Man and other kindred subjects,\nwhich logically depend on the historical teachings? If not, then,\nArchaeology, thy name is inconsistency. For Nineteenth Century views of\nthe origin of man will not fit.\n\nAnd let us not become so absorbed over the Aegeans as to forget the\nrest of the world and devise theories to account for our own particular\ndiscoveries regardless of the discoveries in other fields. The ancient\nChimu civilization recently uncovered in Peru claims our attention.\nHistory in America too goes back through rising stages to a mightier\npast. And linking all, we have the admissions, now being made on all\nsides, as to the truth of the Theosophical teachings (in _The Secret\nDoctrine_) about Atlantis. This links together the prehistoric cultures\nof the Old World and the New.\n\nEven in mechanical science there was prowess, as we learn in connexion\nwith these drainage works of Crete. Perhaps we have been wont to solace\nour pride by the reflection that if the Egyptians surpassed us in\nbuilding, and the Greeks in art, in science at least we bear the palm.\nBut is this consolation merely based on the fact that the civilizations\nwith which we have so far been familiar have not expended their genius\nin that particular direction? Could antiquity have surpassed us in\napplied science also, if it had had the mind to apply its abilities\nin that direction? Nay, have there actually been civilizations which\nsurpassed us? This particular Cretan culture seems to have been\ndistinguished by many features which connect it more with modern times\nthan with the intervening Greek culture. The same has been said with\nregard to the choice and treatment of subjects in the decorative and\nimitative pottery unearthed on the Chimu site in Peru.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LANDS NOW SUBMERGED: by Durand Churchill\n\n\nTo those persons who are interested in geographical facts and\ngeological statistics, as well as to those who are students of\nclimatology, the following remarkable features of the great bodies\nof water which cover such a large part of the surface of this globe,\na part of the surface which in bygone ages has borne upon it races\nof people from whom our remote ancestors were descended, will be of\ninterest.\n\nThanks to modern energy, skill, and perseverance, the great oceans have\nbeen sounded practically throughout, so that today we have published\nmaps, which show quite clearly enough the general contour of the ocean\nbottoms.\n\nFrom these we see that the floor of the ocean is an extensive plain, or\nseries of plains, lying at an average depth of about two and one-half\nmiles beneath the ocean surface. In some places, gigantic mountain\nranges rise up from these submerged plains to the very surface of the\nocean, or to within points so near the surface that they form dangerous\nreefs, and volcanic islands.\n\nThe depth of the ocean thus varies quite as irregularly and as\nprecipitously as does the level of dry lands in the mountain ranges of\nSwitzerland or South America or India. So far as is officially known\nin 1911, the greatest depth in the Atlantic Ocean is found between the\nWest Indies and Bermuda, at a point called the Nares Deep, which is\n4662 fathoms, or 27,972 feet. The greatest depth, so far discovered in\nthe Indian Ocean, is between Christmas Island and the coast of Java,\nwhich is 3828 fathoms, and is called the Wharton Deep.\n\nThe greatest depth, so far discovered in the Pacific Ocean is called\nthe Challenger (or Nero) Deep in the North Pacific, which is 5269\nfathoms (31,614 feet). To get a comparative idea of this great depth,\nwe can imagine the highest mountain in the world placed in this depth\nof water, and would then find that the peak of this great mountain\nwould be 2600 feet below the surface of the sea. Thus could Mount\nEverest be lost in the depths of the Pacific Ocean.\n\nThere are, at present on record, fifty-six of these great holes in the\nsea bottoms which exceed three miles in depth. There are ten areas\nwhich lie at a depth greater than four miles, and four places where the\ndepth exceeds five miles.\n\nThe depth seems to bear a certain relation to the salinity of the\nwater, for it is found that the amount of salt held in solution is less\nas the depth increases. This of course is the effect of temperature and\npressure changes, as well as the greater quietness of the subsurface\nwaters.\n\nThe composition of the salts found in sea-water, that is the\nproportional amounts of the various component salts, does not vary\nmaterially in the different parts of the ocean, although the degree of\nsaturation does vary, as above explained.\n\nThe temperature of the ocean varies, at the surface, from 28\u00b0 F. at the\npoles, to over 80\u00b0 F. in the tropics. The cold water, near the poles,\nat any given point, varies less than 10\u00b0 F.; and the warm water of the\ntropics, likewise has a variation, annually, of less than 10\u00b0 F., in a\nband that nearly encircles the earth; this band, it is interesting to\nobserve, is the region of coral reefs.\n\nBetween these regions of small annual variation, there are two bands\nsurrounding the earth, where the annual temperature variation is\ngreater, and may at some spots even exceed 40\u00b0 F.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. AMSTERDAM: THE\n\"GREEN CANAL,\" AND THE STEEPLE OF THE ZUIDERKERK (\"SOUTH CHURCH\")]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. OIL CREEK FALLS,\nWATERTON LAKES, ALBERTA, CANADA]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Screen of Time]\n\nBOOK REVIEWS: Charles Morice's \"Il est ressuscit\u00e9\":\n\nby H. A. Fussell\n\n Once to every man and nation\n Comes the moment to decide,\n In the strife of truth with falsehood,\n For the good or evil side.\n\n\nThat there do occur critical periods in the lives of nations and\nof individuals, when the irrevocable step is taken which allies\nthem definitely with the beneficent or maleficent forces which are\ncontending for the mastery of the world, has become a truism. It is\nseldom a spectacular contest--this \"battle of Armageddon\"; even when it\nis, at the moment of choice we are alone, face to face with the Higher\nSelf.\n\nThe many and varied ways in which this contest may occur furnish the\nmoralist and the preacher with occasions for the highest flights of\neloquence, and it forms the background of history, biography, and\nfiction. One of its most recent presentations is by Charles Morice in\nhis book _Il est ressuscit\u00e9!_ of which we give a r\u00e9sum\u00e9.\n\nOne day in the middle of December the Parisians were surprised on\nopening their daily papers to see the last page perfectly blank, all\nthe questionable advertisements had disappeared, no Stock Exchange\nnews, all the transactions by which clever financiers attract the\nunwary and pile up their millions, had been suppressed. Why? No one\ncould say! Amazement on all faces! It was the same the next day, and\nthe next--even the feuilleton, containing the inevitable sensational\nand sometimes salacious story was no more. At the Bourse itself there\nwas \"nothing doing\"; would-be purchasers were told of the watered\nstocks, were advised not to buy.\n\nIn the evening the leading journalists met as usual at the \"Lapin Cru.\"\nThey were no wiser than the rest. Consternation was on all faces.\nTheir occupation was gone, there was not a single piquant event in\nall Paris--suddenly become virtuous--to write up. On unfolding their\npapers--the first impression was always brought in at midnight by the\noffice-boys from the publishers--on one of the blank pages was this\nnotice in small print:\n\n The Son of God needs no advertising. He has put up at the Three Kings'\n Hotel, Place de l'\u00c9toile. He will be at home from noon to noon, all\n the day, the 14th of December and tomorrow.\n\nNarda, a prince among journalists, sat apart, moodily. Suddenly he\nbecame aware of a man opposite him at the next table.\n\n But what a man! There was in fact nothing remarkable about him, except\n that perhaps he lacked precisely those little peculiarities and\n idiosyncracies which distinguish one man from another. Yet he was a\n fine man, but his remarkable beauty did not cause surprise. The fact\n is, that one would have been surprised, nay scandalized, if it were\n not so, for his beauty, formed of the perfect equilibrium of all the\n elements of his person, revealed man in his ordinary and magnificent\n integrity. It was as if necessitated by the soul, sovereignly and\n ineffably serene, which shone in the eyes of the man: a constant,\n rich, intense light, eclipsing the crude brilliancy of the electric\n lights, and forming a halo in his unusually long hair. Narda was not\n dazzled by the light: on the contrary, he felt himself illuminated by\n it to the very depths of his being. He looked at this unknown man with\n a sympathy mingled with trust and deference. He had no desire to speak\n to him, to question him, fully satisfied by his presence alone, the\n presence of _a man_. A real man! he said to himself, and not a puppet\n like my comrades and myself.\n\nThe stranger went, Narda scarcely knew how; and without him the room,\nlife itself, seemed empty and vain again.\n\nThe subject is not new--the incompatibility of the Christ and modern\ncivilization. We are all acquainted with sensational pictures, painted\nby well-known artists, depicting Christ in the midst of decadent modern\nsociety, with all its revolting contrasts; or with lurid sketches\nwritten by clever journalists; but never have we seen the subject\ntreated with so much reverence and psychological insight as in the work\nbefore us. Read the scene the following night at the \"Lapin Cru,\" where\nNarda was sure he would meet again with the Son of God. They communed\nas of old the disciples with the Master.\n\n\"I thought, Lord, you were to come in a different manner.\"\n\n\"Are you also without intelligence?\" Jesus replied. \"Visible or\ninvisible the Son of Man comes every day.\"\n\nThe question rose to the lips of Narda: \"You come, doubtless, to finish\nthe work begun two thousand years ago?\"\n\n\"It is finished to all eternity.\"\n\n\"Why then have you not conquered?\"\n\n\"Because I wished to leave to you the merit of the victory.\"\n\nAfter some further talk, Narda, who has been led into the depths of\nhis own conscience, depths unsuspected by him before, exclaims: \"Lord,\nperhaps you are only _myself_, my self raised to perfectness....\"\n\n\"But has not one of your writers said: 'It is only God who is really\nman.' How do you know, if I have not become _little by little_ divine?\"\n\nAnd while they were speaking Jesus was giving, at \"the Three Kings,\"\nin its three hundred rooms, _private_ audience to three hundred\ninterviewers at the same time, and to each he appeared different. On\nleaving, some declared he had fair hair, others that it was dark. To\nthe philosopher he appeared a philosopher; to the artist more beautiful\nthan Apollo; to the soldier a divine warrior.\n\nLast of all came \"the Scribes and Pharisees,\" as of old, to question\nhim. \"Are you really the Son of God?\" \"Are you going to tell us again\nthat salvation is difficult for the rich?\" \"Are you going to be\ncrucified anew?\" and so on. The Churches held aloof. _He had not come\nas they expected._\n\nWe will not describe how our author solves the problems, economic,\nsocial, and religious, which this unsuspected advent of Jesus causes in\nParis. It suffices to say that the crisis was met and tided over for\nthe time being.\n\nOne circumstance, however, must be mentioned: woman was honored as\nnever before. Civil marriage alone is legal in France; in more than\nsixty per cent of the couples presenting themselves before the civil\nauthorities for the ratification of their marriage, the unexpected\nhappened. Instead of the perfunctory \"Yes\" which was almost invariably\nthe rule, one or other of the contracting parties would say \"No.\"\nThere were no more ill-assorted matches, none of those crimes against\nhumanity that the marriage service, not only among the French, but in\nevery nation, condones. And the children, they had never been so happy\nbefore, so unrestrained, and yet so well-behaved. Even the youths and\nmaidens, as they walked through the streets or wandered in the parks,\nshowed a self-restraint and tenderness for one another never remarked\nbefore. Older people stood and looked after them in wonder. Something\nidyllic and noble had entered into and stopped the bantering, mocking,\nscoffing tone of the average Parisian. It was beautiful, some thought\nit unnatural--would it last?\n\nTowards the end of December Jesus preaches to the people--this time\nfrom Montmartre. All Paris is gathered there to hear him. Again the\ngracious words are heard, but are received and interpreted by each in\naccordance with his own interests and prejudices. \"The common people\nheard him gladly,\" but the rich and learned murmured. He spoke of\nself-sacrifice and devotion to ideals; the majority, though convicted\nof sin, with seared hearts, felt revolt rising within. When Jesus had\nended and had betaken himself away, \"for their eyes were holden, that\nthey should not see,\" it was in a state of astonishment, deception,\nconsternation, even rage, that the crowd slowly melted away. Many\nmen, mere simulacra of humanity--though considered the pillars of\nsociety--made haste to flee the place where all they held most dear,\ntheir success, their station, their darling sins, were menaced. But the\ninnocent, the poor and the wretched, felt that it was an awakening from\nan all-too-sweet dream to the harsh realities of the pitiless struggle\nfor life.\n\nIt was the beginning of the end. Ere many days had passed, Jesus\nwas asked to leave the city, \"and normal life, with its political\ninstitutions, its scientific progress, its suffragettes, its railway\naccidents, theater-parties, and fashionably attired women, resumed its\nwonted course.\" By a kind of tacit agreement no one spoke any more of\nthe disconcerting events of the last days of December. The newspapers\nwore their wonted appearance; \"twenty lines, identical in every case,\"\nwas all the press notice of what had so profoundly stirred men's souls.\n\nAnd Narda, the veteran journalist, the new disciple of Jesus? Brought\nface to face with his divine self, he saw himself once again when\nin youth, with forehead high and heart full of hope, he had vowed\nallegiance to the highest. And now? Was it lack of courage? He lost\nhis grasp of that divine life to which all are called, and which had\nawakened once again with so much power in him. \"He has come in vain,\"\nhe cried, \"we cannot endure him.\"\n\nHow true, alas! are the sad words of Baudelaire, which Charles Morice\nprefixes to his work: \"_Mais le damn\u00e9 r\u00e9pond toujours: Je ne veux\npas!_\"--The lost soul always replies: I do not want to.\n\n\n\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society\n\nFounded at New York City in 1875 by H. P. Blavatsky, William Q. Judge\nand others\n\nReorganized in 1898 by Katherine Tingley\n\nCentral Office, Point Loma, California\n\n The Headquarters of the Society at Point Loma with the buildings and\n grounds, are no \"Community\" \"Settlement\" or \"Colony.\" They form no\n experiment in Socialism, Communism, or anything of similar nature,\n but are the Central Executive Office of an international organization\n where the business of the same is carried on, and where the teachings\n of Theosophy are being demonstrated. Midway 'twixt East and West,\n where the rising Sun of Progress and Enlightenment shall one day\n stand at full meridian, the Headquarters of the Society unite the\n philosophic Orient with the practical West.\n\n\n MEMBERSHIP\n\n in the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society may be\n either \"at large\" or in a local Branch. Adhesion to the principle\n of Universal Brotherhood is the only pre-requisite to membership.\n The Organization represents no particular creed; it is entirely\n unsectarian, and includes professors of all faiths, only exacting from\n each member that large toleration of the beliefs of others which he\n desires them to exhibit towards his own.\n\n Applications for membership in a Branch should be addressed to\n the local Director; for membership \"at large\" to G. de Purucker,\n Membership Secretary, International Theosophical Headquarters, Point\n Loma, California.\n\n\nOBJECTS\n\nThis Brotherhood is a part of a great and universal movement which has\nbeen active in all ages.\n\nThis Organization declares that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature. Its\nprincipal purpose is to teach Brotherhood, demonstrate that it is a\nfact in Nature, and make it a living power in the life of humanity.\n\nIts subsidiary purpose is to study ancient and modern religions,\nscience, philosophy, and art; to investigate the laws of Nature and the\ndivine powers in man.\n\nIt is a regrettable fact that many people use the name of Theosophy\nand of our Organization for self-interest, as also that of H. P.\nBlavatsky, the Foundress, and even the Society's motto, to attract\nattention to themselves and to gain public support. This they do in\nprivate and public speech and in publications. Without being in any way\nconnected with the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, in\nmany cases they permit it to be inferred that they are, thus misleading\nthe public, and honest inquirers are hence led away from the original\ntruths of Theosophy.\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society welcomes to\nmembership all who truly love their fellow men and desire the\neradication of the evils caused by the barriers of race, creed, caste,\nor color, which have so long impeded human progress; to all sincere\nlovers of truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than\nthe mere pleasures and interests of a worldly life and are prepared to\ndo all in their power to make Brotherhood a living energy in the life\nof humanity, its various departments offer unlimited opportunities.\n\nThe whole work of the Organization is under the direction of the Leader\nand Official Head, Katherine Tingley, as outlined in the Constitution.\n\nInquirers desiring further information about Theosophy or the\nTheosophical Society are invited to write to\n\n THE SECRETARY\n International Theosophical Headquarters\n Point Loma, California\n\n\n[Illustration: THE PATH]\n\n The Theosophical Path\n\n An International Magazine\n Unsectarian and nonpolitical\n\n Monthly Illustrated\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDevoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, the promulgation of Theosophy,\nthe study of ancient & modern Ethics, Philosophy, Science and Art, and\nto the uplifting and purification of Home and National Life\n\n Edited by Katherine Tingley\n International Theosophical Headquarters, Point Loma, California, U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\n_All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded\non our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts\nwith an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot\nof the ox that draws the carriage._\n\n_All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded\non our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts\nwith a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never\nleaves him._\n\n_\"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me.\"--in those\nwho harbor such thoughts hatred will never cease._\n\n_\"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me.\"--in those\nwho do not harbor such thoughts hatred will cease._\n\n_For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by\nlove, this is an ancient rule._\n\n DHAMMAPADA, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. (Translation by F. Max M\u00fcller, _Sacred\n Books of the East_, Vol. X.)\n\n\n\n\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n MONTHLY ILLUSTRATED\n\n EDITED BY KATHERINE TINGLEY\n\n NEW CENTURY CORPORATION, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.\n\n Entered as second-class matter July 25, 1911, at the Post Office at\n Point Loma, California under the Act of March 3, 1879\n Copyright, 1911, by Katherine Tingley\n\n\n COMMUNICATIONS\n\n Communications for the Editor should be addressed to \"KATHERINE\n TINGLEY, _Editor_, THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH, Point Loma, California.\"\n\n To the BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, including subscriptions, address the \"New\n Century Corporation, Point Loma, California.\"\n\n\n MANUSCRIPTS\n\n The Editor cannot undertake to return manuscripts; none will be\n considered unless accompanied by the author's name and marked with the\n number of words. The Editor is responsible only for views expressed in\n unsigned articles.\n\n\n SUBSCRIPTION\n\n By the year, postpaid, in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico,\n Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines, TWO DOLLARS; other countries\n in the Postal Union, TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS, payable in advance;\n single copy, TWENTY CENTS.\n\n\n REMITTANCES\n\n All remittances to the New Century Corporation must be made payable to\n \"CLARK THURSTON, _Manager_,\" Point Loma, California.\n\n\n VOL. I NO. 5 CONTENTS NOVEMBER 1911\n\n\n A Group from _The Aroma of Athens_ _Frontispiece_\n Evolution in the Light of Theosophy H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 311\n The Mysteries of Rotation A Student 316\n Scenes from The _Aroma of Athens_ (_illustrations_) 316-317, 322-323\n What are the Bases of an Intelligent Belief in Reincarnation?\n F. S. Darrow, A. M., PH. D. (Harv.) 317\n The Victory of the Divine in Man Rev. S. J. Neill 320\n Ancient America (_illustrated_) An Archaeologist 323\n The Parable of the Crucifixion Cranstone Woodhead 328\n Is Light Corpuscular? T. Henry 332\n Astronomical Lore A Student 334\n The Mystery of the Molars Medicus 336\n A Dutch House Court by Pieter de Hooch (_illustrated_) 338\n Point Loma Hills at Eventide (_illustration_) 339\n The Incarnation of Geniuses H. Travers 339\n The Plight of the Vivisector H. Coryn, M. D., M.R.C.S. 341\n The Ekoi: Children of Nature H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 344\n An Unknown American Nation (_illustrated_) H. S. Turner 347\n The Confines of Science Investigator 349\n The Tower of London and the Houses of Parliament (_illustrated_)\n Carolus 352\n Point Loma Notes C. J. R. 354\n The Woman's International Theosophical League\n A Member of the League 357\n Illusion and Reality Lydia Ross, M. D. 362\n Venice (_illustrated_) Grace Knoche 366\n Humanity and Theosophical Education Elizabeth C. Spalding 375\n Book Reviews: \"Commentary upon the Maya-Tzental Perez Codex\"\n (William E. Gates), C. J. Ryan. A New Magazine.\n _The Strange Little Girl_, a Story for Children 378\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. DIOTIMA, MYRTO, AND ASPASIA GROUP IN \"THE AROMA OF\nATHENS,\" AS PRESENTED IN THE GREEK THEATER INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL\nHEADQUARTERS, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA ON APRIL 17, 1911]\n\n\n\n\nTHE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY, EDITOR\n\n VOL. I NOVEMBER, 1911 NO. 5\n\n Spirit feeds and sustains the air and the earth and the liquid plains\n of the sea; also the shining globe of the moon, and the Titanian\n stars: while Mind pervading (the Universe) puts the whole in action,\n and blends itself with the mighty frame. Thence men, and the races\n of the beasts and of the flying kind, and the huge creatures brought\n forth by the Sea beneath his mottled surface. A fiery energy works\n through these elementals and a celestial origin in the seed, so far as\n heavy bodies, earth-sprung limbs, and mortal members, weigh not their\n vigor down.--Virgil, _Aeneid_, vi, 724-732\n\n\nEVOLUTION IN THE LIGHT OF THEOSOPHY: by H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.)\n\n\nAfter studying the various theories of biological evolution and the\ncontroversies of their respective exponents, one reaches the conclusion\nthat each of the theorists is worrying a small fragment of the truth,\nand that the actual facts comprehend not only all these theories\nbut a good deal more besides. There is (1) the theory of continuous\nevolution, which supposes that forms reproduce other forms in a\ncontinuous and uniform series; and there is (2) the theory of mutation\nor saltation, which supposes that new species appear suddenly. An\nAmerican professor of palaeontology is quoted as reconciling these\ntwo supposedly conflicting views by still another hypothesis, which\nsupposes that evolution is on the whole continuous, but with occasional\njumps and divergences.\n\nThen there is the controversy as to whether changes are produced by\nthe influence of external environment or whether they occur within the\ngerm; or whether, again, both these influences co-operate.\n\nThe confusion is due mainly to two causes: the attempt to define the\noperations of nature within too narrow limits; and the attempt to form\nan idea of evolution by considering its visible products only, and\napart from the invisible something which is manifesting itself in those\nproducts. Our thought should reach out to wider horizons.\n\nAll growth consists in the physical manifestation of something which\npreviously was not physical. Take the case of a tree growing from a\nseed. The tons of material composing the body of that tree have been\ncollected from the air and the soil. Within the seed was enshrined\n_something_ (which afterwards passes into the tree) having the power\nto perform this wonderful operation. We may say, if we like, that\nthe whole tree existed _in potentia_ in the seed; but unless this\nexpression is to remain a mere logical figure, we must attach a\nconcrete meaning to it. In other words, we must inquire _what_ was\nthat something which existed in the seed. Here we are driven right up\nagainst the real point at issue; out of the seed comes the tree, the\ntree cannot come from any other source than a seed or its equivalent\n(such as a slip); hence the whole future tree must be in some way\nlocked up within the seed. But in what guise? Is there perhaps a\nminiature tree folded up within that husk? But even so, whence that\nminiature tree and why does it grow? Theorists, in spite of their\nalleged practicality, are often contented with abstractions that would\nnot satisfy a more concrete mind; and for this reason many inquirers\nwill not be satisfied with the explanation that there is some \"force\"\nor \"tendency\" in the seed. Theorists may deal with \"tendencies,\" but\nthe Theosophist will demand something less imaginary and abstract. The\nprimary postulates demanded by theorists are often so comprehensive\nas to amount to a begging of the main question. Give Archimedes his\nstanding ground and he will move the whole earth; grant Euclid his\npostulates, and he will soon knock you off a few theorems; give a\nbiological theorist his \"tendencies,\" and the rest is as easy as\nrolling off a log. But the inquirer would like to know something about\nthose tendencies.\n\nSo then there is locked up in the seed, which is to become a tree,\na _tendency_. Translating this highly abstract and even theological\nexpression into the matter-of-fact language of Theosophy, we get this:\nthat the whole future physical tree has existed beforehand in some\nform other than physical, and complete in everything except the purely\nphysical attributes. Size and dimension, mass and solidity, being\nphysical attributes, do not pertain to the tree in this antecedent\nform. Is science prepared to say that that which has no dimensions\nnor any other physical attributes does not exist? If so, then we are\nreduced to the conclusion that the physical _visible_ universe is\nself-creative and all-sufficient and all-inclusive--in short, that\nphysical matter is the prime material, the source of all intelligence,\nsubstance, all energy, everything; in which case it is of course\nuseless to try to explain it, and it must be simply accepted as an\nirresolvable fact. But, setting aside such an untenable proposition, if\nphysical matter has not produced itself, if it is _not_ the ultimate\nunknowable, let us ask from what was it produced? Driven thus to the\nconclusion that there are states of existence prior to physical matter,\nis it out-of-the-way to suggest that the tree within the seed exists in\none of those states?\n\nAccustomed as we are to think in terms of physical matter and of its\nprincipal attribute--extension (or, as we wrongly call it, space)--we\ncannot imagine that there can be room in the universe for anything\nelse. We think that matter entirely fills space; we imagine that, if a\nthing is not in what we call \"space,\" it cannot be anywhere. But space\nis in reality immeasurable; it can have no dimensions, no up-and-down,\nno fore-and-aft, no right-and-left. It may well be that physical\nmatter, so far from crowding it, does not incommode it at all--that\nthere is \"plenty of room\" still, so to say.\n\nAnother consequence of our habit of regarding physical extension as\na plenum is that when we have to allow for the existence of anything\nelse, we think it necessary to suppose that that something else must\nbe _extremely small_. Thus the tree in the seed has to be extremely\nsmall, the atom has to be extremely small, and so on; and this simply\nbecause we imagine that space is packed full with the physical objects.\nBut what logical reason is there why there should not be a world full\nof trees, animals, and every other form that is become physical, all\nin a pre-physical state, and yet by no means interfering with anything\nin the physical world? Why, even in the familiar terms of physical\nscience, this view is quite reasonable; for the atoms, we are told, are\nso minute in comparison with the intervals between them that they are\nlike planets swimming in an ocean of ether. These atoms are of course\nutterly imperceptible to any of our senses; we know them only through\ntheir groupings and motions. Now suppose there are other atoms between\nthem, or even different groupings of the same atoms, what would we know\nabout these? Their vibrations might not happen to be attuned to our\nphysical senses.\n\nWe have imagined, then, our tree as existing, complete in all but\nphysical attributes, in this world, but in a state where it is beyond\nthe ken of our physical senses. The microscopic germ within the seed\nis the point through which the change from pre-physical to physical\nis operated--a door, as it were, through which the tree has to pass,\nadmitting it to its new state. This point is like one of the knots\nwhere the fabrics of these two worlds are woven together; the very\nsmall seems in some way to be the gateway to another world.\n\nBut let us extend the idea to the case of evolution generally. So far\nwe have taken a tree as an instance; but, on the same analogy, all\norganized physical beings will have pre-existed in this pre-physical\nstate. The germ, the point within the germ, is their gateway to\nphysical existence; but before passing through this portal, they have\nalready existed, complete in all but physical attributes, in another\nstate. To sum up the argument--we must predicate the existence of a\n_type-world_, wherein exist the prototypes, the models, of all that is\nto become physical; and we have already seen that it is necessary, on\nother grounds, to predicate the existence of such a world.\n\nThis hypothesis will explain the riddles of evolution readily. In one\npoint in particular does it clear up difficulties. If organisms grow\nand change in the physical state, why may they not also grow and change\nin the pre-physical state? This would fully account for the so-called\n\"saltations\" and for the \"missing links.\" An organism, after passing\nout of physical life, shedding all its physical atoms, and resuming\nonce more its former non-physical state, might undergo modification\nwhile in that state and before re-entering the physical condition.\nThus, when it reappeared, it would be different, and biologists would\ncall it a mutation or saltation.\n\nPalaeontology shows us that in past epochs there were on earth forms\nintermediate between different forms existing on earth now. This at\nleast indicates that the complete chain is not necessarily all upon\nthe earth at one time; and this again agrees with the idea that the\nearth is never at any one time fitted to support every form of life.\nThis being so, how can we possibly trace a chain of evolution by\nreproduction? A good idea of the process of evolution can be got by\nwatching from one side the ascending threads of a revolving screw. They\npass up and up, one after the other, but we cannot see where they are\nconnected; to see that, we must take an all-round view. In a similar\nway the organisms are passing around a spiral curve, of which curve but\none side comes to our view; hence we see it as a number of disconnected\nelements.\n\nThe process of evolution, in fact, is not carried on entirely within\nthe limits of our physical vision--surely not an unreasonable\nstatement. It would be strange indeed, if all that we see were all\nthat there is. Hence biologists should expect, as a logical inference\nfrom their own conditions of research, that the results at which they\narrive shall be incomplete; the imperfection of these results is rather\nto be regarded as evidence of their truth than the contrary.\n\nBut, instead of taking the case of animals, suppose we take that of\nhuman beings; for here we can view the matter more from the inside.\nWe are human beings ourselves and are conscious of our own mind. This\nmind, as we know, undergoes development; it gains experience from day\nto day and ends up with a very different outfit from that with which\nit started. When this inner being again enters into the make-up of\nphysical humanity, will it be the same as before? Shall we have the\nsame old horoscope at our next nativity? Jupiter and Saturn forbid! But\nin case any reader should cavil over the question of death and rebirth,\nwe can consider the matter apart from those. We are actually being\nreincarnated all the time; for does not our body continually discard\nold atoms and take on new ones? And does not the growing and changing\nbody accommodate itself to the requirements set by our mind? If not,\nwhat do habit and exercise amount to? We can create for ourselves\na body different from the one we have now, by muscular exercise,\ntemperance, intemperance, and other means. So here we have a definite\nexample of the process of growth and evolution. Death itself is but\na major change, similar in kind, if greater in degree, to the lesser\ndeaths that are taking place in us every day.\n\nThe physical structure is slow in its movements and conservative in its\nhabits; and so in the course of a life in the physical state a misfit\nis apt to result; and this is adjusted by death and rebirth. It is\nreasonable to suppose--indeed it is inevitable--that the animals, in\ntheir own smaller and slower way, learn while they live, and that the\nindwelling animal monad is not forever doomed to reside in the same\nkind of form, but passes very gradually on to higher forms.\n\nThe species that we see and study are the beads on the string. It is\nalmost like studying the different houses which a man may have built\nand left standing while he himself has gone elsewhere. These would give\na clue to his mental development; but we must presuppose the existence\nof the man.\n\nThe question of physical reproduction is closely involved with that\nof evolution; and here again biology investigates but a few of the\nfactors that enter into the process. Biology gets down as far as the\nmicroscopic germinal speck, and naturally enough has to stop there. A\nfertilized ovum provides the essential conditions for the entry of a\nlife, but it needs other kinds of research to trace the source of that\nlife.\n\nIn the light of Theosophy, evolution becomes a vast and entrancing\nstudy, for it concerns worlds and ages. Apart, however, from merely\ncurious interest, this study is of the greatest positive importance to\nhumanity, for the reason that inadequate theories are giving rise to\nvarious movements that we believe to threaten great harm, should all\ntheir ideas be carried out. A king who should ruthlessly slaughter all\nthose among his subjects who did not happen to suit his ideals of what\na subject should be, would justly be considered a cruel and stupid\ntyrant; yet there are proposed methods of eliminating the \"unfit,\"\nwhich, though clothed in ambitious language, seem none the less\nmonstrous. Hence the need of greater knowledge to prevent erroneous\nideas from incarnating as monstrous acts.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MYSTERIES OF ROTATION: by a Student\n\n\nOne of the most fascinating results of the attention bestowed in the\nlast few years upon gyroscopic effects, has been the almost final\nperfection of the gyrostat-compass, and the _Scientific American\nSupplement_ contains an excellent account of it, together with one of\nthe clearest popular explanations of its action which we have seen. The\ntests of the Ansch\u00fctz instrument as improved by Sperry, were carried\nout last April for five days on a steamer plying between New York and\na port in Virginia. Although the vessel rolled in heavy seas, it was\nfound that the compass kept practically absolutely on the meridian\nduring the whole period. The electric motor runs at 6000 revolutions\nper minute, and the instrument is in the steering-engine room,\nconnected electrically with a repeating compass on the bridge. It is\nstated that at all ordinary latitudes this compass has a directional\nforce some fifteen times greater than a corresponding magnetic compass.\nThis, however, diminishes on approaching the poles. The interesting\nfeature of the gyro-compass is that its action in pointing true north\ndepends upon the rotation of the Earth.\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo.\nand Engraving Dept. SCENE FROM \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\" IN THE CENTER\nIS PHARNABAZOS, THE PERSIAN ENVOY TO ATHENS, WITH HIS SUITE AND\nATTENDANTS]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. ANOTHER SCENE IN \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\" CENTRAL FIGURES\nARE PERIKLES AND PHEIDIAS]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. ARCHERS IN \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\"]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. ANOTHER SCENE IN \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\"]\n\n\n\n\nWHAT ARE THE BASES OF AN INTELLIGENT BELIEF IN REINCARNATION? by F. S.\nDarrow, A. M., Ph. D. (Harv.)\n\n\nReflection inevitably reveals the limitations of the actual, the\nconfines of the present. So narrow is the sphere within which our\ndaily life revolves that even the man who most prides himself on his\navoidance of philosophy is forced, perhaps unconsciously, to construct\na theory of metaphysics. How is it possible to do our daily duties\nwithout forming a working hypothesis as to the nature of the world\nwithin which those duties lie? Inarticulate and crude as the theory\nmay be, each and every man is forced to adopt a life-hypothesis and\nby it, as best he can, to mold his actions. No specious reasoning can\nfree us from speculation. Therefore it is a solemn duty which we owe\nto ourselves to choose intelligently our hypothesis as to life and its\nmeaning. This duty can be trusted neither to chance nor to tradition.\nTo shirk a moral responsibility incurs grave consequences.\n\nIt is necessary that our life-hypothesis shall fulfil two conditions:\nit must be thinkable and it must be livable. Life leads to thought\nabout life; but our judgment must concern itself with life. Therefore\nwhat we believe must be both logical and practical. Logical because\nfact makes the appeal to logic, and practical because logic must answer\nfact. Our life-hypothesis, since its subject-matter is the Self and the\nWorld in which the Self lives, must be both universal and particular.\n\nIn answering the query, What are the bases of an intelligent belief\nin Reincarnation? we are primarily concerned with the Self. Without\nconsidering the nature of the Self in detail, let me postulate that by\nthe Self I mean the Real You and the Real I, the Individual Life, which\nexpresses itself through your physical nature and through mine, the\nIndividuality at the basis of the Personality, the Character underlying\nthe physical man.\n\nThe conception of reincarnation or rebirth of soul, I grant, is\nspeculative, since it ranges far beyond the cramped present. So, if it\nis to become part of our life-hypothesis it must be both logical and\npractically imperative. If logic and practical requirements combine\nin their demands, then we must conclude that reincarnation has been\ndemonstrated to be true in so far as any hypothesis can be. The most\nprobable is and must be accepted actually as the true.\n\nMany circumstances suggest that the Self existed previously to its\nbirth in the present body. Poetry voices the thought as follows:\n\n Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:\n The soul that rises with us, our life's star,\n Hath had elsewhere its setting,\n And cometh from afar.\n\nChildren frequently instinctively believe that they have lived before.\nThe poets do not monopolize those tantalizingly vague sensations of\nfamiliarity, which sometimes accompany strange and apparently novel\nexperiences.\n\n Sometimes a breath floats by me,\n An odor from Dreamland sent,\n Which makes the ghost seem nigh me\n Of a something that came and went\n Of a life lived somewhere, I know not\n In what diviner sphere:\n Of mem'ries that come not and go not:\n Like music once heard by an ear\n That cannot forget or reclaim it--\n A something so shy, it would shame it\n To make it a show:\n A something too vague, could I name it\n For others to know:\n As though I had lived it and dreamed it,\n As though I had acted and schemed it\n Long ago.\n\nWhittier voices the impression of many when he says:\n\n A presence strange at once and known\n Walked with me as my guide:\n The skirts of some forgotten life\n Trailed noiseless at my side.\n\nSo, too, the recurrence of the seasons, the ebb and flow and re-ebb of\nthe tides, the cycles of day and night, the phenomenon of genius, and\ncountless other things, suggest that the old is continually reborn. Yet\nclassing all these together they amount merely to presumptive evidence,\nhints at possibilities, but not proof.\n\nWe are born with a sense of Justice, a sense which extends at least as\nfar as our private rights. Further, justice is so valued that we regard\nDeity as perfectly just. The kernel of justice is: \"As a man sows so\nshall he reap.\" The effect must be equal to the cause. To talk of the\njustice of a god who creates Souls is to babble nonsense. Personal\nresponsibility is an indispensable requirement for the maintenance of\njustice, and personal responsibility can exist only if souls are the\ncreators of their own destinies. Otherwise \"Justice\" is a mockery and\na delusion. Therefore, if we are to believe that the Universe is ruled\njustly, eternal pre-existence of soul must be a fact.\n\n The books say well, my brothers, each man's life\n The outcome of his former living is:\n The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrows and woes,\n The bygone right breeds bliss.\n So is a man's fate born.\n\n_Ex nihilo nihil fit_--from nothing nothing is made. Nineteenth century\nscience has succeeded in proving what the world's thinkers have long\nbelieved. Matter and energy are indestructible. \"Creation\" in the sense\nof manufacture out of nothing is unthinkable. If the soul is one with\nthe Universal Energy, \"it is not a thing of which a man may say, 'It\nhath been, it is about to be, or is to be hereafter,' for it is without\nbirth and meeteth not death.\" \"Nature is nothing less than the ladder\nof resurrection, which step by step leads upward.\" The eternal Soul,\nnow linked to a mortal body, has lived before and will live hereafter.\n\nThe last and most important of the logical imperatives demanding a\nbelief in reincarnation is the thesis: Immortality of soul demands\ncomplete eternity of soul. That which has a beginning, of necessity\nhas an end. The child is born, grows into youth and manhood, lives its\nlife, but it dies. Death's fingers clutch at birth. That which is born\nis mortal. Thus the soul must be birthless if it is to be deathless. It\nmust have lived before its present body and it will outlive any body\nwhich it may hereafter enliven. Reincarnation is merely the natural\ncorollary to eternity.\n\nLet us now turn to the practical considerations reinforcing our\nbelief. Even when discouraged we feel that life has a purpose and a\nmeaning. This is, to keep adding to experience and to knowledge. The\namount actually experienced and learned within the limits of a single\nlife is so small in comparison with the possibilities of experience\nand knowledge that it can only serve as an introduction into deeper\nmysteries. The scholar does not graduate until he has fulfilled the\nrequirements of a definite standard. The knowledge and experience of\none life is surely too low a standard to admit of graduation from\nearth. Our globe is a school and the souls are the scholars. What is\nonce gained is never lost. \"Be ye perfect even as your Father who is\nin heaven is perfect.\" Think of the hope! An infinite future with the\npossibility of an infinite progress in knowledge and attainment!\n\nAmbition, zeal, and love, demand an infinity to express themselves.\nLove of work, love of learning, love of loved ones, presuppose by their\nexistence the complete eternity of the Soul. So, too, all our impulses\nwhich tend toward expansion and increase, all those which break loose\nfrom the present into the expanse of the future, require that the soul\nbe immortal and consequently eternal.\n\nNotice, aside from logic, what a belief in rebirth and in the eternity\nof the Soul, means. It gives hope in the perfectibility of man,\ninspiration in his divinity, and comfort in the trials of life, trials\nthat are just and capable of teaching greater knowledge. There is no\ninspiration which in the future cannot be attained by honest effort.\nThese are a few of the blessings which the philosophy of Theosophy has\nto offer to you and to me, a philosophy of soul-evolution that is an\never-present help in trouble, one that is both logical and practical, a\n\"religious science, and a scientific religion.\" Search within yourself\nand listen to the message of Theosophy: Truth\n\n takes no rise\n From outward things, whate'er you may believe;\n There is an inmost center in us all,\n Where truth abides in fulness.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VICTORY OF THE DIVINE IN MAN: by Rev. S. J. Neill\n\n\nNothing moves on with even flow. It seems to be inherent in the very\nnature of the universe that there should be ripples in the great\nLife-Current of Existence, just as there are waves in the sea. A\nwell-known scientist once asked me if I had ever noticed how a stream\nof water, perfectly smooth, apparently flowing over a sheet of quite\nsmooth glass would nevertheless produce ripples. There is no known\nexplanation of this except it be that the water at its source had\nreceived unequal impulse which it never lost. So in the universe, the\ngreat impulse of the Creative Word in manifestation stamps cyclic law\non all things. We see this in the coming and going of the seasons; in\nthe recurrence of day and night; in the ebb and flow of the sea. Human\nlife too, is made up of cycles great and small. The seven ages of human\nlife, mentioned by Shakespeare, are distinctly marked. The four ages\ncorresponding to the changing seasons of the year, are also well known.\n\nThe wise note and take advantage of cyclic law. To educate during the\ntime of youth is like sowing seed in the springtime. Many people have\ndistinct moods at certain times: at one time they are happy, hopeful,\nbuoyant; at another time they are miserable and despondent. No doubt\nmuch of this moodiness is the result of people allowing themselves to\ndrift. We can, if we _will strongly enough_, rise above this condition\nof things. We can cast out the morose, sullen, discontented states of\nmind, and make the character firm and strong, calm and hopeful. We can\ncultivate a good temper and a sunny atmosphere. Just as man can make a\nclearing in the forest or on the hillside, so we can make a clearance\nwithin our minds and in our mental atmosphere. And the happy feeling\nthus produced will be part of the harvest we shall reap, for it will\nreturn and return, it will become cyclic, until at last it will be most\ntruly natural for us to dwell in light and sunshine. And we ourselves\nshall be producers of light and sunshine. Joy and peace will attend our\nsteps, and wherever we come it will be a sunny place.\n\nWe can do this; we can rise above circumstances and control them\nbecause at the center of our being the Light of Life ever shines forth.\nDwelling in Time, and therefore to some extent subject to heat and\ncold, summer and winter, joy and sorrow, we can, nevertheless, rise\nabove these things. We can create surroundings for ourselves. The more\nwe are truly alive the more we shall be able to do this. It may be\nthat the birds by some act of will, to them as simple as breathing,\ncan change their polarity and thus remain poised in air without a\nmotion. It should be possible, and it is possible, for us to change\nour moral or spiritual polarity when we will, and rise above all\nterrestrial attractions. All holy scriptures regard this as certain.\nThe _Bhagavad-G\u00eet\u00e2_ on nearly every page speaks of man overcoming his\nlower nature and being master of circumstances. The Bible teaches the\nsame thing: \"Cease to do evil; learn to do well.\" \"Resist the Devil and\nhe will flee from you.\" \"Overcome evil with good.\" \"Do good hoping for\nnothing again.\" Jesus treats his disciples as men who have within them\na divine possibility, and says: \"Where I am, there shall ye be also.\"\n\nThere is much darkness in the world, much evil; but we can lessen it;\nwe can to some extent remove it and annihilate it; and in the end we\ncan, if we so will, produce the reign of light everywhere.\n\nAs the moral sense in us is more and more sensitive we shall regard\nmany things as wrong which now we do not so regard. Just as we now\nregard many things as wrong which people in a less advanced stage do\nnot regard as evil at all. The brighter the light, the deeper the\nshadows. In this sense Light and Dark are the world's Eternal ways. But\na time will come when, as St. Paul says, \"Mortality will be swallowed\nup of Life\"; when the Great Light will shine so fully within us and\naround us that there will be nothing to cast a shadow.\n\nIs this not some of the meaning of such places as that in the book of\nRevelation, where it says, \"and there shall be no night there; and they\nneed no lamp, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them\nlight\"? Or as we read in the _Git\u00e2_, \"neither the sun nor the moon nor\nthe fire enlighteneth that place; from it there is no return; it is my\nsupreme abode.\" It is also written that \"the path of the just is as a\nshining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.\"\n\nSurely all this means, if words mean anything, that perfection can be\nand will be reached; and that even here a large degree of perfection\nmay be attained. \"Each victory will help us some other to win.\" Each\nstep we mount upward over our lower selves gives us a wider horizon and\na heavenlier air to breathe. The foes we slay today, we shall never\nhave to fight again. We not only become stronger but we become _much\nstronger relatively_ as our foes are weaker and fewer.\n\nThe more we live with perfect unselfishness then the more we come into\nthe \"Path of the Just.\" But if we do good things even, looking for the\nreward, we do not take the highest path. It is much to understand the\nnature of these two paths, for it is written: \"Knowing these two paths,\nO Son of Prith\u00e2, the man of meditation is not deluded.\" Or, in other\nwords, though we dwell in Time, and our lower nature belongs to it, yet\nin our inmost and only true Self, we belong, not to Time, but to the\nEternal; that is our Home and Place of Peace always.\n\nThe man who retires often to this fortress, to this place of peace,\nthough he may have to pass through much suffering, will be raised above\nits destroying influence. Like the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace\nhe will pass through the fire of affliction and not a hair will be\nsinged nor even the smell of fire be on his garments.\n\nWe are assured that Nirv\u00e2na is on both sides of death. We can take the\nhighest path now, and the sooner we take it the sooner shall we reach\nthe goal. So bright a hope should give us greater strength.\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 ASPASIA]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. ATHENIAN SOLDIERS]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. \"HEKTOR CHIDING PARIS\" TABLEAU PRESENTED IN \"THE AROMA\nOF ATHENS\"]\n\n[Illustration: Copyright by Katherine Tingley, 1911 Lomaland Photo. and\nEngraving Dept. \"THETIS BRINGING THE ARMOR TO ACHILLES\" ANOTHER TABLEAU\nIN \"THE AROMA OF ATHENS\"]\n\n\n\n\nANCIENT AMERICA: by an Archaeologist\n\n\nLike an oasis in a desert, like a moment of silence and a sound of\ndistant bells amid a din of discordant sounds, comes a brief note on\nprehistoric America in the midst of a monthly review devoted to a\nr\u00e9sum\u00e9 of the Babel of modern thought. Bewildered with foolish spite of\nparty politics, disgusted with lucubrations on \"The Coming Christ,\" and\na new Elixir of Life discovered in Africa, the reader achieves a moment\nof silence and inward joy inspired by this paragraph on an ancient City\nof the Sun, with its illustrations of the sublime architecture and\nsculpture of that epoch. These pictures inspire a reverence, similar in\nnature, if different in quality, to that which the ancient classical\narchitecture and statues inspire; it is more akin to that inspired by\nancient Egypt. It speaks of a _spirit_, so different from any that\npervades our modern life, yet arousing in the soul a response as of\nsomething familiar--familiar but very deep and ancient.\n\nWe read that in the _Bulletin of the Pan-American Union_ a writer\ndescribes Chich\u00e9n Itz\u00e1. The Itz\u00e1s were a tribe of the Mayas, whose\ncivilization reached a height equaled by no other people of the Western\nhemisphere. They excelled in architecture, sculpture, printing, and\nastronomy. The pyramid on which the temple stands is 195 feet long on\neach side at the base and covers nearly an acre. It is made of nine\nterraces of faced masonry. Up the center of each of its four sides\nrises a stairway thirty-seven feet wide. A picture of a temple fa\u00e7ade,\nin rectangular massive style like that of Egypt and covered with\nelaborate symbolic carving, while up from the roof rise tropical plants\nthat have grown there, is labeled, \"View of an Ancient Monastery\"\n(so-called). The impression it gives is anything but that given by the\nidea of a monastery. Its spirit is alien to that of any spirit familiar\nto the times in which monasteries have prevailed.\n\nIt is awe-inspiring to think that this continent of America has behind\nit such a past, more ancient than Egypt, as great and perhaps greater.\nThe Red Men must, many of them at least, be the remote descendants of\nthis past.\n\nThere is something about their physiognomy that reminds us of the faces\non the ancient pottery and carving; a broad-featured bronzed type--what\none might call a solar type. Peoples like the Zu\u00f1is and Moquis have\nmysteries, into which but few white men have even partially penetrated;\nwhich shows they are the remnants of a once greater race, a part of\nwhose knowledge they preserve in memory.\n\nThis subject of ancient America has not yet received from\narchaeologists the attention it deserves. Nevertheless there are\nexplorers who study in this field, and the results of their researches\nare frequently written up for the Sunday editions. In this way the\npublic gets acquainted with the subject independently of academical\ninstruction. Such periodicals as the _National Geographical Magazine_\nand _Records of the Past_ often give beautiful illustrated accounts of\nthe ruins.\n\nThus we read that Dr. Max Uhle, director of the University of\nCalifornia's archaeological work in Peru, has discovered that a great\ncivilization flourished at least 2000 years before the Incas, and that\na highly cultured race was in existence in Peru before the Trojan war.\n\nIn Guerrero, Mexico, in a region south of the Balsas River, over\nan area of fifty square miles, there are remains of thousands of\nprehistoric dwellings and scores of pyramids. The sculptured tablets\nbear the usual mystic geometrical symbols of the ancient Science of\nLife.\n\nA mining engineer, Mr. A. Lafave, is reported to have discovered\nin Arizona a prehistoric city older than Babylon or Nineveh, but\nnevertheless the center of a civilization very highly advanced. Great\narchitectural skill is shown, and the symbol of what is called a\nsun-god was found.\n\nThe British Museum recently acquired the collection of pottery and\nother relics discovered by Mr. Hubert Myring in the Chimcana Valley of\nPeru and stated by him to be at the lowest estimate 7000 years old.\nYet this pottery shows the highest possible degree of skill, while the\nsubjects represented prove that the artists had the materials of a\nhighly cultured and complex civilization to draw upon.\n\nIn Ecuador Dr. Marshall H. Saville of Columbia University discovered\nmany tombs, and the objects collected show that the district was\ndensely populated by a highly civilized people.\n\nWriting from New Orleans, May 13, Charles F. Lummis of Los Angeles\nrecords his excavations at Quirigu\u00e1, Guatemala. A trackless jungle had\nto be cleared, and numerous monuments of heroic size were found; one\nwas twenty-six feet above ground and sixteen feet below and weighed\nabout 140,000 pounds. The greatest discovery was a palace which must\nhave been magnificent. It was surrounded by columns and the frieze was\ncovered with carved heads.\n\nThe ruined temples of Palenque, Uxmal, Chich\u00e9n Itz\u00e1, etc., have often\nbeen described. The mysterious hieroglyphics of the Mayas have yet to\nbe deciphered; and when they are we shall have another epoch-making\nrevelation like that following the deciphering of the Egyptian\nhieroglyphics by Champollion.\n\nDr. Heath, a writer on Peruvian Antiquities, gives an account of the\nincredible size and quantity of the ruins, from which the following is\nselected. (See _Kansas City Review of Science and Industry_, Nov. 1878)\n\n The coast of Peru extends from Tumbez to the river Loa, a distance\n of 1233 miles. Scattered over this whole extent there are thousands\n of ruins ... while nearly every hill and spire of the mountains\n have upon them or about them some relic of the past; and in every\n ravine, from the coast to the central plateau, there are ruins of\n walls, cities, fortresses, burial vaults, and miles and miles of\n terraces and water-courses.... Of granite, porphyritic lime and\n silicated sandstone, these massive colossal cyclopean structures have\n resisted the disintegration of time, geological transformations,\n earthquakes, and the sacrilegious destructive hand of the warrior and\n treasure-seeker. The masonry composing these walls, temples, houses,\n towers, fortresses, or sepulchres, is uncemented, held in place by the\n incline of the walls from the perpendicular, and by the adaptation\n of each stone to the place designed for it, the stones having from\n six to many sides, each dressed and smoothed to fit another or others\n with such exactness that the blade of a small penknife cannot be\n inserted in any of the seams thus formed.... These stones ... vary\n from one-half cubic foot to 1500 cubic feet of solid contents, and if\n in the many many millions of stones you could find one that would fit\n in the place of another, it would be purely accidental.\n\nSpeaking of the terraces, he says:\n\n Estimating five hundred ravines in the 1200 miles of Peru, and ten\n miles of terraces of fifty tiers to each ravine, which would only be\n five miles of twenty-five tiers to each side, we have 250,000 miles of\n stone wall, averaging three to four feet high--enough to encircle this\n globe ten times.\n\nThe mention of hieroglyphs yet undeciphered, which may any day prove\nthe key to a new revelation of history, receives apposite illustration\nin an article in the _Los Angeles Times_ (Sunday magazine edition) for\nMay 14. This describes the discovery of several cylinders, resembling\nthe clay cylinders of Babylonian civilization, which have been\ndeciphered; and it is thought that these may prove the Rosetta stone of\nAmerican Egypt. They are about three inches long by an inch and a half\nin diameter, hollow, the walls a quarter of an inch thick. The clay\nhas turned to stone, thus being preserved, and the inscriptions repeat\nhieroglyphs known to correspond to familiar phrases.\n\nThe account in which this occurs is that of a discovery made by Prof.\nWilliam Niven, a field archaeologist of Mexico City; and his statements\nas to the age and value of his finds are confirmed by Dr. Edward E.\nSeler, head of the National School of Archaeology of the Republic of\nMexico. The latter authority declares the ruins and relics to be the\nevidences of a civilization new to archaeology, though bearing some\nresemblance to the ruins of the Tigris and Euphrates. This center of\ncivilization lies about forty minutes' ride from Mexico City, under the\nsuburb of Azcapotzalco.\n\nIt is eighteen feet beneath the surface, and from it have been produced\npottery of a type different from any hitherto found in Mexico, an\nentire goldsmith's outfit with patterns and molds for the making of\nornaments of gold and silver, pendants and rings and beads of jade,\ncopper knives _which cut like steel_, skulls containing teeth whose\ncavities are filled with cement and turquoise, the cylinders just\nmentioned, and many other objects.\n\nThese things were found in an immense basin containing the ruins of\na city some ten miles long by three or four wide. Its houses were of\nlaid stone, cemented with a white cement, unlike the black cement of\nMitla or the gray composition of Palenque. The rooms were of uniform\nheight--nine feet; the floors of tile--or, rather, of small squares of\ncement, colored and traced in beautiful patterns; the walls ornamented\nwith frescoes and friezes showing a remarkable development of the color\nart. _Paints used on these buildings, though evidently of vegetable\ncomposition and more than 3000 years old, are fresh and do not fade\nwhen exposed to light._\n\nThe skulls and arrowheads found in the soil above are similar to those\nfound in other parts, and relate to peoples having no connexion with\nthe occupants of this ancient city. Does not this prove that so-called\n\"primitive man\" was merely odd tribes of lowly nomads or settlers,\nbelonging to fallen remnants of earlier civilizations; whereas many\nanthropologists seem to try to make out that they represent an earlier\nstage in evolution? This ancient city flourished long before the\nowners of the skulls and arrow-heads. All through the period of Aztec\ncivilization it lay buried and unsuspected by the Aztecs.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PYRAMID, AND\nBUILDING COMMONLY CALLED \"THE CASTLE\"--CHICH\u00c9N ITZ\u00c1, YUCATAN\n(Photograph by A. P. Maudslay)]\n\n[Illustration: ANOTHER VIEW OF CHICH\u00c9N ITZ\u00c1 THE SO-CALLED \"TEMPLE OF\nTHE TIGERS,\" AND \"THE CASTLE\"]\n\n[Illustration: PORTION OF THE EASTERN FA\u00c7ADE OF THE SO-CALLED\n\"GOVERNOR'S HOUSE,\" UXMAL, YUCATAN]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PANORAMIC VIEW OF\nSAN JUAN TEOTIHUAC\u00c1N, TAKEN FROM THE NORTH (Sketched by W. H. Holmes)\nA. Pyramid of the Moon. B. Pyramid of the Sun. C. The Path of the Dead.\nFF. San Juan River. G. Town of San Juan.]\n\nThe great age of this civilization is amply proved by the fact that the\ncity was buried under the wash of a great river that came down from the\nmountains. Geological considerations enable us to fix the date of that\nriver back beyond other changes that have taken place in the ground\nsince. Hence the city must be older still. And even before this\nflood the city was probably already abandoned--through pestilence, war,\nor some such cause. It was quite by accident that it was found; the\nexploring party chanced to step into a cave-in. It lies beneath the\nthick and long-cultivated residual soil, and consequently there may be\nan indefinite number of such cities almost anywhere.\n\nAmong objects found was _a dental cast of a human mouth_.\n\nThe more we discover, the more do we confirm the teaching that\ncivilization is not of recent growth. The older the civilization,\nthe more advanced--this seems to be the rule everywhere. Clearly the\narts of modern civilization have been known before and we are but\nrediscoverers of them.\n\nWe might go on quoting indefinitely, but must pass on to comment. It\nis very clear that these mighty builders, whose achievements have\nnever since been equaled or even approached by any race in any part\nof the world were no barbarians or \"primitive men.\" And we have to\nremember that it is not only from America that such archaeological\naccounts come, but from Asia, Africa, Europe, New Zealand--practically\neverywhere. And always one tale is the same--that of ancient\ncivilizations and their prowess. Only recently the discoveries in Crete\nhave altered all our views of Greek history by showing the existence of\na great and widespread civilization in the Aegean, far preceding that\nof Greece.\n\nAnd side by side with all this we find the extraordinary fact that\nmany anthropologists are still deeply engaged in their attempts to\nestablish a gradual ascent of man from ape ancestors. Ignoring these\nevidences, they are diligently seeking and collecting the bones of\nunburied wanderers. But even these bones do not bear out the theory,\nfor the older bones are no more ape-like than the later ones. Men exist\non earth today, even among civilized peoples, as backward in type as\nthese bones. What is quite certain is that man degenerates as well as\nevolves. Culture moves in waves, having ebbs and flows. The so-called\naboriginal peoples are the remote and degenerated descendants of\ncivilizations.\n\nBut what is the real import of these discoveries? Are they mere\nsubjects of curiosity and wonder? No; the interest lies in what they\nimply. For if there is to be any coherence in our views, we must make\nthe rest of our ideas agree with our enlarged view of past history. And\nthe conventional views of man and his life do not thus agree; they are\ntoo insignificant, and out of tune with increasing knowledge.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PARABLE OF THE CRUCIFIXION:\n\nby Cranstone Woodhead\n\n\nFor nearly two thousand years the story of the Crucifixion which we\nfind in the four Gospels of the New Testament has appealed in various\nways to the deepest and most sacred feelings of the human heart. Yet it\nmay possibly be questioned whether its history and deeper meaning have\nbeen entirely comprehended by more than a very small fraction of those\nwho have fashioned the framework of their lives and aspirations upon\nthe tragic story.\n\nBefore attempting the explanation which modern enlightenment and\nresearch have thrown upon this deeper meaning, it may be useful to\nconsider what we really know of the origin of the gospels themselves;\nfor the investigations of the last half century or so, have thrown much\nlight upon this question.\n\nIt is now the opinion of most well-informed biblical critics, that the\ngospels, as we now know them, did not exist until about two centuries\nafter the beginning of the Christian era. They are merely different\neditions of the manuscripts containing the sayings and teachings of the\nNazarene initiate, which were handed round and copied by his disciples\nafter his death, with additions and interpolations added by later\nwriters.\n\nIt would not be profitable, nor have we time within the compass of this\npaper, to sketch even in outlines, the almost endless arguments which\nhave been educed in the elucidation of the questions involved. Only a\nvast library could contain all the books which have been written upon\nthe history of the gospels. Nearly all of them were written in days\nwhen the psychological influence of the ecclesiasticism of the middle\nages still enthralled the judgment of even the most learned. But as\ntime passes on, and the vast literary and archaeological treasures\nof the Eastern home of the gospels become more widely known, several\npoints stand out more and more clearly from the haze of controversy and\ndogmatic prejudice.\n\nFor instance, it is now well known that the gospel of Matthew is but a\nlater and much-changed edition in Greek, of the original gospel of the\nHebrews (a work constantly referred to by early Christian writers),\nwhich is now almost entirely lost, only a few fragments remaining.\nBut none of the numerous references to it lead us to suppose that it\ncontained anything more than a collection of the logia or especial\n\"sayings\" of the Master whom they revered and followed.\n\nThe gospel of Luke, on the other hand, was originally the gospel used\nby Marcion the Gnostic, derived from similar sources; and this gospel\nalso suffered the same kind of mutilation and addition at the hands of\nthe patristic fathers.\n\nThe early Christian writers of the first two centuries, such as Papias\nand his contemporaries, do not appear to have been aware of the\nexistence of the gospels which have come down to us in the present\ncanon of the New Testament. Their quotations from what they call the\n\"scriptures,\" are almost entirely from the books of the Old Testament.\nAnd when they quote the sayings of their Nazarene Master, they do it\nin such a way as to show that they reverenced them as ethical precepts\nto be followed, each man for himself, as counsels of perfection. Then\nthe words used in these quotations vary considerably from those of our\npresent gospels, and some of the quotations most often used, are not\nto be found in any of the four. They are evidently not drawn from that\nsource. Nor is there any word or sign in these early Christian writers\nthat they regarded their Teacher other than as a great philosopher.\nWe find no reference whatever to the Man-God whom later dogmatism\nrepresented as a sacrifice for the sins of Humanity.\n\nIt is therefore evident that before these earlier books were\nincorporated into our present gospels, a mystical story was superadded\ncontaining an account of his supposed death upon the cross. This story\nwas perfectly well understood by its writers to have an entirely\ndifferent meaning to that which has been given to it in later\ncenturies. It was a superb piece of poetic imagery derived partly from\nthe traditions of the ancient Mysteries, then just fading away into\noblivion, and partly from the teaching of the apostle Thomas, who, on\nhis return from India, had brought home the mystical parable of the\ndeified Krishna.[4]\n\n[4] _Isis Unveiled_, Vol. II, p. 539.\n\nThe contemporary history of the Christian era has been so beclouded by\nthe benumbing effect of misconceptions that it is exceedingly difficult\nto bring into play a dispassionate judgment of such data as are left to\nus. But there is no doubt that the gospels cannot be trusted as regards\nhistorical detail. The more reliable accounts show, however, that Jesus\nwas condemned to death by the Jewish Sanhedrim after he had wandered\nabout in Judaea for many years as a teacher. One definite tradition\nsays that when about sixty years of age, he was stoned to death, and\nhis body was hung upon a tree.\n\nHad it not been for the mad fanaticism which in the early centuries,\ntime and again, destroyed so much of the priceless literature of the\npast, all this would doubtless be widely known. All we can do now,\ntherefore, is to rise above the shadows which have obscured our vision\nfor so many centuries, and in reading for ourselves the true story\nof the crucifixion, find therein a message which is of the deepest\nimportance for man's real salvation. For the crucifixion is a parable\nand simile of the supreme mystery of evolution, the goal towards\nwhich every human soul is progressing in the course of its spiritual\ndevelopment.\n\nThe student who has realized the teachings of Theosophy that man is a\ndivine soul inhabiting a material body, on a dual line of evolution for\nthe perfection of both, knows well the opposing nature of the forces\ncontinually at work within his inner consciousness. He knows that in\nhis real Self, he is not the body in which he finds himself; and that\nthe task before him is the conquest and mastery of the lower animal\nnature by the aid of the God within him, which is, indeed, that real\nSelf, when he can so realize the fact so as to assume his own potential\ngodhood.\n\nSuch has been the teaching of the Wisdom-Religion of Humanity for\ncountless ages, and such has been the doctrine of all the divine\nTeachers whose wisdom has come down to us in the sacred books of the\nworld. Of these Teachers and Sages, Jesus was one of the illustrious.\n\nThose who have studied the religions of ancient times, the myths\nand allegories of all nations, especially in the poetic East from\nwhence all historical religions have sprung, have found that there\nare countless records of men who have so far advanced on the line of\ninterior enlightenment and evolution, that they have solved the supreme\nmystery of their own inner godhood, and have thenceforward devoted\nthemselves to the help and enlightenment of souls less advanced in the\nscale of spiritual progress. There have been such men in all ages of\nthe world, men who have accomplished the union with their own Higher\nSelves, and such men there are today, although little known to the\nworld at large.\n\nThe contest which thus takes place within the human heart, has been\nsymbolized in the imagery of every ancient civilization. The conquest\nof the dragon by St. Michael, of the python by Apollo, and the labors\nof Hercules to cleanse the Augean stable, are examples of these ancient\nallegories. Life after life, again and again, we slowly evolve towards\nthe great goal. And though the end may be far away, for the great mass\nof humanity, yet there are ages in advance of us, as there have been\nages in the past, and the Law must be fulfilled.\n\nThus the provision of the divine law of evolution is, that all have the\npotentiality of godhood. Yet some are in advance of the rest. There\nare gradations. Still, the unity of the one divinity in its countless\naspects is preserved by the law of love and helpfulness to one another.\nEach man becomes his brother's keeper, and the more he realizes this,\nthe nearer he is to his own divinity.\n\nIt is now well known that the symbolism of the crucifixion is many\nthousands of years older than the days of Jesus. It was created by some\nof the divine sages of prehistoric times to represent a great ideal,\nand to serve as a permanent metaphor for a great event which must come\nsooner or later in the history of every seeker for divine truth. This\nhas been expressed by a modern writer as follows.\n\n To put on armor and go forth to war, taking the chances of death\n in the hurry of the fight is an easy thing; to stand still amid\n the jangle of the world, to preserve stillness amid the turmoil of\n the body, to hold silence amid the thousand cries of the senses\n and desires, and then, stripped of all armor and without hurry or\n excitement, take the deadly serpent of self and kill it, is no easy\n thing. Yet that is what has to be done.\n\nIt will be evident that in these days, comparatively few attain the\ngreat enlightenment which follows this supreme victory. Yet, on our way\nthither, and in the experiences which follow the repeated conquests\nwhich must precede it, we may realize, that the voice of conscience,\n_when obeyed_, will gradually grow into intuition, and that intuition\nin its final victory becomes enlightenment. Thus self-denial, which is\nonly another name for self-conquest, is transmuted from a dismal task\ninto a joyful duty performed as a sacrifice to the God within.\n\nThus we see that the symbolism of the crucifixion is that of the\nconquest of the lower passional material self. Fixed upon the cross of\nmatter the body is pierced by the spear of the spiritual will, and the\nsoul is freed from the tyranny of the lower human self. Thenceforth,\nwhether in or out of a body, it lives not for self but for humanity.\n\nSuch was the well-understood symbolism of the crucifixion in ancient\ntimes. It was the supreme ceremonial enacted in the divine Mysteries\nof Ancient Egypt, India, and Greece. And the reason why we do not\nnow hear more about it, is that in recent centuries, these ancient\nteachings have been forgotten in the rush and strain of nations armed\nto the teeth, and in the allurements of material prosperity.\n\nIn the ignorance and darkness which followed the death of the ancient\nMysteries, the beautiful ancient symbolism of the Crucifixion was soon\nforgotten. It was very early degraded into a materialistic dogma which\nhas come down to our own times. The earliest Christians knew nothing of\nthe crucifixion as _now_ taught in the churches. It is entirely absent\nfrom their writings. All they had were manuscripts containing the words\nof their Master, and it was not till long afterwards that this poetic\nsymbol was added to the early versions.\n\nOf the esoteric teachings of Jesus, one version alone has come down\nto later times, the _Pistis-Sophia_, of the Gnostics; and it is to be\nnoted that therein, the teachings of Jesus are distinctly stated to\nhave been given for years _after his crucifixion_, implying thereby his\ninitiation into the mysteries of his own divinity.\n\n\n\n\nIS LIGHT CORPUSCULAR? by T. Henry\n\n\nThe latest scientific contribution to the reinstated corpuscular\ntheory of light has been made by Professor Bragg, of Leeds University,\nEngland, who in a recent lecture at the Royal Institution announced his\nconclusion that the _x_-rays are corpuscular. He said, as reported,\nthat the alpha and beta rays are considered to be electrons, while the\ngamma rays and the _x_-rays are held to be etheric vibrations. But he\nthinks that all four are corpuscular, also that ultra-violet light may\nbe corpuscular; and from this he infers that even ordinary light may\nbe so. As we have frequently found occasion to point out, the nature\nof either a corpuscle on the one hand or a vibration on the other has\nnot yet been sufficiently accurately defined to enable us to state\ndefinitely whether anything is the one or the other of the two. Light,\nand also electricity and other forces, are manifestations of _life_;\nand we view their effects alternately under their positive and negative\naspects, as best suits our temporary convenience, thus forming the\nideas of energy and matter. Speaking of matter or substantiality, as\ncontrasted with force or energy, what distinctive attributes may we\nassign to it? \"Mass\" or \"inertia\" is one of its supposed attributes;\nyet there is no definite idea of what this is; often it seems to reduce\nitself to a passive force or resistance. But then if we are to express\neverything, even matter, in terms of force and energy, how can we\nconceive a force without a substratum or vehicle? Is not the quantity\n\"mass\" a component of the mathematical definitions of force and energy?\nAll this confusion comes from the attempt to define physical matter in\nterms of physical matter. There are in physics certain primary notions\nof space, mass, dimension, etc., correlative with our five-sense\nphysical consciousness. These we may either accept as axioms without\nattempting to resolve them any further, or, if we do make that attempt,\nwe must resolve them into something other than themselves. This latter\ncourse means that we must leave the field of physics altogether; for it\nis necessary to conceive of things that are not in physical space and\nhave none of the attributes of physical nature. To analyse dimension,\nspace, etc., is a metaphysical inquiry. Yet it is surely essential if\nwe are to arrive at an explanation of the phenomena _antecedent_ to\nphysical phenomena.\n\nThen there is the purely practical side of physical science--applied\nscience. The worker in this field may leave metaphysics alone perhaps;\nbut let him either leave it alone or not--one of the two. And above\nall, let him not overstep that sphere to lay down laws for the\ngovernance of human life; such laws being based on a knowledge that is\nadmittedly restricted in its scope.\n\nTo return to the point at which we started--the corpuscles of light--we\nmay suggest a new way of looking at such matters. We have been\naccustomed to regard the minuteness of these corpuscles as a negative\nquality--to say that they are deficient in size. But why not speak of\nbulk as a negative quality and say that physical objects are deficient\nin smallness? The less bulk a thing has the quicker it gets about,\nthe more active and potent it is. There seems no limit to velocity,\nexcept the presence of objects that impede the motion of a body. Given\nthe absence of matter, a corpuscle can get across any distance in a\npractically negligible time. Thus what we call \"space\" seems rather\nlike an _obstacle_, and when we remove the matter we seem to remove\nthe distance also--for practical purposes. Logically, when two things\nhave nothing between them they are in contact; and the corpuscles\nseem to recognize this conclusion. The condition of greatest activity,\npower, and omnipresence, is that a thing shall have as little size as\npossible; size is a weakness. What we call space and dimension is a\ndelusion correlative with our physical consciousness. It is a reality\nrelatively to that consciousness, but a delusion relatively to those\ndeeper strata of consciousness which we penetrate when we try to\nanalyse our ideas.\n\nWe have arrived at the conception of light as a very refined,\nomnipresent, and active form of matter. We might as well call it a\nspirit; those who did so meant the same thing. At any rate it is a\nreality. When we call it a vibration in the ether, we reduce it to an\nabstraction; for a vibration is nothing in itself; nor does the device\nhelp us, for we are obliged to suppose an ether.\n\nThe universe is full of _life_ guided by _mind_. The life is on various\nplanes, in various grades. These forces we are studying are its\nphysical manifestation.\n\n\n\n\nASTRONOMICAL LORE: by a Student\n\n\nAmong the exhibits in the Science Section at the Coronation Exhibition\nin London, was a Chinese planisphere from the Royal Scottish Museum,\nwhich records observations that must have been made some thousands of\nyears before the Christian era and handed down to the time of the maker.\n\nAncient Hind\u00fb astronomy is a standing puzzle to modern astronomers,\nfor its records have preserved from the remotest antiquity accurate\ncalculations of the revolution periods of the heavenly bodies, their\nnodes, apsides, etc.; and the ordinary theories respecting the\nevolution of human knowledge are flatly contradicted thereby. The\n_S\u00fbrya-Siddh\u00e2nta_ gives the number of revolutions performed by each\nplanet in a period of 4,320,000 years; and the quotients obtained by\ndividing the period by the number of revolutions give in each case\nfigures agreeing with our own to a nicety. How were these results\nobtained?\n\nMoreover there are in some of these ancient treatises calculations\nthat go beyond anything our astronomy has yet accepted, dealing as\nthey do with those larger cycles concerned with apparent displacements\nof the fixed stars. The celebrated French astronomer Bailly made a\ncareful study of these. Despite certain limitations due to a natural\nreluctance to concede superiority to an ancient Oriental people, and\nconfessedly poor translations, he arrived at the conclusion that this\npeople had attained profound knowledge in astronomy, and drew the\ngeneral inference that civilization is extremely old, and that this\nearth has witnessed its rise and fall many times. Some of Bailly's\nconclusions are considered at length by H. P. Blavatsky in _The Secret\nDoctrine_, where they are used, together with those of other later\nwell-known writers, to show the consensus of evidence in support of\nthis branch of the teachings she outlines.\n\nWas this knowledge obtained by observations or deductively? In both\nways, probably. We know that ancient civilizations lasted for long\nages, and we known that indelible records in stone were kept. Modern\nastronomers have discovered that one object at least of Stonehenge\nand similar monuments was to fix epochs depending on the precessional\nmovement. But there is also a strong presumption that the ancient\ncalculators possessed numerical keys. In this case their method\nwould have been partly observation and partly deduction from general\nprinciples; a method we all apply, whether intentionally or not.\n\nThe existence of such mathematical clues--applicable to the measurement\nboth of time and of space--has often been suspected; and in our own\ntimes isolated workers have labored in this field of speculation,\ndiscovering sundry fragments. Their efforts being usually solitary,\nhowever, and unsupported (when not actually opposed) by the generality\nof workers, have not achieved recognized success. Some of such\nspeculations are considered in _The Secret Doctrine_, where it is shown\nthat not infrequently these so-called \"cranks\" arrived at results\ncommensurate with what we learn about the ancient science from other\nsources. Among these isolated workers may be mentioned Ralston Skinner\nand even Piazzi Smyth in connexion with the measurements of the Great\nPyramid and certain integral approximations to the ratio \u03c0.\n\nDoubtless mankind in bygone times, having brains and other faculties,\nas we have, but having studied for far longer periods than our\ncivilization has yet had time to study, reached results which for us\nare still in prospect. It is conceivable too that their faculties\nmay have been superior to ours in some respects--less materialistic,\nperhaps; and they may have been more united among themselves. Ancient\nastronomy is certainly a hard nut to crack for conventionalists.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MYSTERY OF THE MOLARS: by Medicus\n\n\nThe hero of Artemus Ward's story languished for twenty-seven long and\nweary years in jail. At last a happy thought struck him--he raised the\nwindow and got out.\n\nThe evolution of teeth in mammalia presents a problem which calls for\nan analogous feat of inventive genius. As the problem is representative\nof many others it is worth consideration. The study of these teeth is a\nspecialty of Professor Henry F. Osborn's, and though to the layman this\nmay seem a very small matter it is really big enough to concern not\nonly science but philosophy.\n\nAnyone who will look into the glass at his back teeth, the molars or\ngrinders, will perceive that their tops are not flat but raised into\nlittle promontories, tubercles, or \"cusps.\" An eye-tooth, on the other\nhand, is a single sharp peg or fang.\n\nWere the molars, then, far back in evolution, made by fusing together\ntwo or three original peg-shaped teeth, each component being now\nrepresented by a cusp? Or were they always single, each growing its own\nseveral cusps for grinding purposes?\n\nProfessor Osborn has shown that the latter was the case.\n\nWe used the words \"for grinding purposes.\" That was raising the window.\nIt has been raised before. Once in a long while a biologist gets out.\nAs a rule however they will not even see it, or, seeing it, they deny\nthat it is a window. If these words, implying something possessed of\nthe purposes, conscious and capable, will not do, how came the cusps to\ngrow? How came the original sharp peg tooth, a _cutter_ and _piercer_,\nto broaden and tuberculate its top so as to form, with its opposing\nfellow in the other jaw, a pair of convenient _grinders_?\n\nAccording to the Darwinian theory all sorts of small chance variations,\nuseful and useless, are constantly appearing among the progeny of all\nspecies. The useful ones, conferring an advantage in the struggle for\nexistence, persist. The others do not. The usefulness is the cause of\nthe persistence. In scarce seasons an animal that had, for example,\ndeveloped opposing grinders among its teeth would be able to utilize\nfood not available for the mere cutters. It would tend to live--and\ntherefore produce offspring--while they died. The grinders being handed\non by heredity, their usefulness would in time secure the whole field\nfor their owners. A new and predominant species would have arisen, to\nlive until ousted by a stronger.\n\nBut this would only apply to variations useful from the moment of\ntheir appearance. If at first--as they often are--so small as to be\nuseless, a mere tendency or suggestion, they would not persist. Having,\naccording to the theory, no special purposive force behind them, and\nbeing the products of mere accident, they would quickly be diluted out\nof existence.\n\nThe chance theory would therefore be able to account for the\npersistence of such few variations only as were useful from their\nfirst appearance. Are there any such variations? _According to the\ntheory itself, no!_ For it does not admit sudden jumps; merely fine\nshadings from the common type. And these fine shadings confer no\nadvantage. Since, moreover, they occur only by some chance confluence\nof conditions, they must depend for their force of heredity upon the\ncontinuance of this confluence. And to account for the next, and the\nnext, degree in the progression, the theory must require that the\nconditions become more and more effective--and so on, till the degrees\nsum up to a _useful_ degree.\n\nWhat a lot of wriggling to escape the conclusion that there is a\npurposive force at work! Even Professor Osborn does not see it in his\nstudies of teeth, though he walks straight up to it. Mr. Gruenberg,\nsummarizing the Professor's work in _The Scientific American_ says:\n\n The cusps of the molar teeth do not appear \"fortuitously\" and then\n survive in accordance with their relative fitness, as would be\n required by the Darwinian theory, nor do they appear fully formed in a\n discontinuous manner, in the sense of De Vries' theory; they appear at\n definite points, at first too small to have any adaptive or selective\n value, and become with succeeding ages larger and larger until they\n are of adaptive value. In other words they are _determinate_ in\n their origins; they develop _gradually_; and they are _adaptive_\n in the direction of their development from the very start.... They\n arise because of some inherent tendency or potentiality to vary in a\n determinate direction. What this internal determining factor is we do\n not know.\n\nThe same problem presents itself in the origin of horns, at first and\nfor ages too small to be of any value.\n\nScience has recently discovered the \"subconscious,\" finding that it\npossesses powers over the body, fashioning, healing, or deforming,\nwhich are quite beyond the reach of the conscious mind.\n\nSuppose that the _sub_conscious is part of the _conscious_ of nature.\nGrant to nature the purposiveness which we find in the subconscious,\nand the difficulties respecting the appearance of variations vanish.\nHeredity is an aspect of the persistence of the purpose, a persistence\nshown likewise by the relatively wide area of a species in which a\nvariations occurs, and by the steady progression of the variation,\ndespite its primary uselessness, on to the stage where first it becomes\nhelpful in the struggle for life.\n\n\n\n\nA DUTCH HOUSE COURT BY PIETER DE HOOCH\n\n\nPractically nothing is known of the life of Pieter de Hooch, but the\nfifty or sixty examples of his exquisite _genre_ painting are now\nalmost priceless. He was a native of Rotterdam, and it is supposed\nhe died in 1681 at Haarlem at the age of fifty. There are three\nof his pictures in the London National Gallery, from one of which\nthe illustration herewith reproduced is taken. This is an out-door\nsubject--a rather unusual choice for the master, who preferred\ninteriors as a rule. He is noted for an extraordinary skill in\ndepicting the atmosphere of rooms lighted by various doors and windows,\nand for his marvelous perfection in detail, which however, is never\nobtrusive nor does it interfere with the broad effect. There is an\nair of the greatest serenity in all his pictures, and the simple,\nhomely subjects he preferred are transfigured into classics by the\ndiscrimination of his choice and the perfection of his mastery of\nthe most difficult problems of light and shade and tone values. No\nreproduction can give the least idea of the delicate handling of tone\nin his works. His drawing is absolutely true to nature; the perspective\nof his buildings is more than photographically accurate, but it never\nobtrudes itself or interferes with the general effect of repose.\n\nDe Hooch painted very few large pictures; unfortunately the only one\nwhich came down to our time perished in a fire in 1864. He was little\nappreciated in his own lifetime--indeed it was not until the eighteenth\ncentury that he was recognized in his own country. He was a disciple\nof the school of Rembrandt, but his taste did not lie in the direction\nof life-size portraits or of the classical or scriptural stories which\nwere the greater master's favorite subjects.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. A DUTCH HOUSE COURT,\nBY P. DE HOOCH: B. 1630, D. 1677 (NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON)]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. POINT LOMA HILLS AT\nEVENTIDE]\n\n\n\n\nTHE INCARNATION OF GENIUSES: by Henry Travers\n\n\nEnthusiasts for \"eugenics\" imagine a time when vice and disease shall\nhave been eliminated from the race. Their critics reply by suggesting\nthat not only vice and disease, but also genius, would then have been\neliminated from the race, and humanity be reduced to a dead uniformity.\nBut the power which makes geniuses may be stronger than the eugenists,\nthus preventing them from succeeding in their utopian plan. What is\ngenius? It is often defined as a \"sport\"--a natural phenomenon which\ndefies calculations and makes light of theories of heredity. We cannot\nbreed a race of geniuses.\n\nAs to the cause of the appearance of geniuses, some theorists appear\nto find sufficient explanation in a _fortuitous_ combination of\nparental qualities. One son in one family _happens_ to extract from\nhis parents all their best qualities. To other thinkers, however,\nthis \"explanation\" will seem more like a restatement of the problem\nto be solved than like a solution of it. For what is fortuity? If a\nscientific principle, let it be explained; if a god, perhaps we may not\nbe willing to worship it.\n\nThe appearance of geniuses finds easy explanation in accordance\nwith the teachings as to reincarnation, _karma_, and the sevenfold\nconstitution of man. A human being is like a seed in a soil, drawing\nsome of its traits from its surroundings, others from its internal\nnature. A lifetime is like a day, whose deeds are determined partly\nby present conditions and partly by the deeds of preceding days. In\nsome people the present conditions--their parentage, upbringing, and\ncircumstances--have the paramount influence, and their innate character\nevinces but little effect. In others the innate character is strong\nenough to mold and alter the other conditions considerably. In a genius\nthe innate character may altogether predominate over the acquired\ncharacter.\n\nBesides our physical heredity we have a spiritual heredity--character\nbuilt up in previous existences. The usual trend of upbringing is to\nsmother this, to destroy originality.\n\nParenthetically one must introduce a caution here, to the effect\nthat there are certain well-meaning attempts to preserve the\noriginality of children, which, however, do not accomplish the right\nobject. The parent or guardian, while shielding the child from some\ninfluences, lays it open to the assault of other influences. These\nother influences are the passional nature of the child. This way of\npreserving or stimulating originality is by no means that intended\nabove.\n\nTo give freedom for the child's higher nature to express itself, we\nmust protect the child from all influences that proceed from the lower\nnature. Then we would get geniuses; innate character would be enabled\nto manifest itself.\n\nThe ideas of eugenists are worthy, but, we feel sure, too narrow.\nIn many a satire they have been ridiculed. Owing to the prevalent\nignorance of man's nature, many disastrous mistakes would be made. What\nauthority is there in sight, to which we should be willing to intrust\nthe regulation of marriage and parentage? Great as the existing evils\nare, might not the remedies be worse? Might not we indeed provide\nconditions that would preclude any useful or aspiring soul from\nincarnating at all?\n\nThe remedy lies in educating the people to a better understanding of\nthe laws of life. Till then, there will be nobody competent to devise\nor apply any methods of eugenics. In short, before we can treat the\nyoung properly we must educate the old. The work of the Universal\nBrotherhood and Theosophical Society, in its R\u00e2ja Yoga Schools at Point\nLoma gives illustrations of what can be done by the proper upbringing\nof children; and here we escape from the weary desert of schemes and\ntheories to a fertile land of produce. Here we have a _result_; the\nproblem has been solved as an ancient sage solved the problem of\nmotion--_solvitur ambulando_. This is one of Theosophy's _practical_\nanswers to one of the questionings of today.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PLIGHT OF THE VIVISECTOR: by H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S.\n\n\nIt is very well worth while to work out on Theosophical principles the\nplight of the vivisector himself. He is creating causes whose effects\nwill take him a long time to be done with, more than one lifetime,\neffects connected with some very interesting and very little known\nlaws of nature. His plight may presently appear worse than that of his\nanimals.\n\nBy way of text we will take some non-vivisectional work recently\ncarried out at the biological station of the Prater in Vienna, by Paul\nKammerer. He has proved, says _Cosmos_,\n\n that the maintenance of the lizard _Lacerta Vivipara_ in an\n unaccustomedly warm temperature for several generations, transforms\n it from a live-young-bearing animal to an egg layer. This acquired\n property is retained even when the subsequent generations are\n returned to their normal conditions. We must remember that\n the live-young-bearing lizard ... may be characterized as an\n arctic-alpine animal. Its status as a glacial creature explains its\n live-young-bearing habit; the development of the young is evidently\n better assured in the mother's body than when the eggs are exposed to\n the vicissitudes of exterior cold.\n\nSome other lizards, and the field cricket, have been made to vary by\nsimilar methods, the new characteristics being likewise transmitted.\n\nWhat was that intelligence which, working within the body of the\nlizard, noted the warmer temperature without and knew at once that\nthe hatching of the eggs _within the protecting body of the mother_,\nand the further development of the young there, were no longer\nnecessary? We do not propose to admit that we are prejudging a dispute\nin using the word \"intelligence.\" If it seem so now, it will not\nin ten years. No one will suggest the intelligence of the lizard\nitself. The ancients--not _very_ ancient ancients, either--believed\nin the existence of certain classes of lesser \"gods\" constantly at\nwork behind the visible veil of nature. When in a few years this\nbelief reincarnates among the scientists as a necessary hypothesis\n(a reincarnation already beginning), some new name will have to be\nfound for the collective intelligence of these beings. \"Gods\" is not\na good word, neither for them nor for their directive superiors,\nthe absolutely spiritual powers on the same plane of being as that\nspiritual soul of man whereof he knows so little.\n\nThe \"gods\" then, to use that word, have charge of the centers of life,\nthe living beings, in all departments of nature, mineral, vegetable,\nand animal; contain and work in accordance with the principle of\nevolution both of form and intelligence; and guide the appearance of\nvariations--not without occasional mistakes needing rectification.\nKammerer unwittingly made an indirect appeal to them, and they\nresponded by producing an interior physiological change corresponding\nwith the change of exterior temperature which he maintained.\n\nWe come here upon specifically Theosophical criticisms of vivisection.\nThe man who vivisects has made himself the enemy of conscious\nnature--at work in his own body as much as in that of the animal he\ninjures.\n\nTo make the matter clearer, let us think of the One Supreme\nIntelligence of the universe as manifesting in two ways or directions:\nin the first, as the spiritual souls of _men_, and, lower down, as\ntheir minds; in the second, as the spiritual directive intelligences of\n_nature_ and, lower down, as the lesser \"gods\" whom these direct. In\ntime, when men's minds are sufficiently spiritualized and potentized,\nsufficiently at one with the omnipresent spirit of evolution and intent\nupon co-operating with it, they will themselves be able to direct the\nlesser gods, helping and guiding them in their work upon animal, plant,\nand mineral--the power of immense prolongation of their own lives then\ncoming within their reach. There is already--as the abnormal success\nof men like Burbank shows--_some_ interplay between man's mind and\nthe working \"gods\"; whilst the relation between man's _soul_ and the\n_greater_ nature-powers, the directive, is very much closer. He who\nserves and studies nature in the right way, begins at once to stand\nnearer to her consciousness, and is at once the better for it on one\nor more planes of his being. The partnership begins. And a first way\nto serve her is to make her children, the animals, feel man as friend,\na feeling which enables their minds to come into some measure of inner\ncontact with his and thus be suddenly and immensely stimulated in their\nevolution.\n\nThere is vivisection attended with much immediate pain connected in\nthe animal's mind with man as its cause; and other with little, say\na hypodermic injection, the pain following later in the form of the\ndisease sown by the syringe and often not connected by the animal with\nman at all.\n\nEither way the operator is a disease-producer and has the mental\nattitude of one. To say that he is recognized by nature as such may\nseem absurd. But as he who really wills and pictures health, whether\nhis own or that of some other, finally affects the nature-mind in his\nown body and--other things being co-ordinate--begins to move toward it:\nso likewise the constant willing and picture-making of disease and pain\nat last affects the same mind but in the contrary direction. The man\nmoves and is moved _away_ from health.\n\nThere are states of ill-health unattended, at any rate for a long time,\nby a single definite symptom. The activities of the bodily machine may\nmaintain their _relations_, their general balance, yet drop as a whole\nto very low levels. If there is no radiance, no responsiveness to the\nfiner forces of nature, no vital spring, there may yet be no point of\nactual friction, and to its human tenant the body may seem in average\nworking order.\n\nWe say then that the preoccupations of the vivisector's mind have taken\nhis body outside the conscious life-stream of nature, have stopped\nher constructive and vitalizing work. The body is not simply a living\nthing; it is an organized complex of living things, conscious centers,\nlife-charged monads, far finer than any of the bacteria which the\nmicroscope has shown us or can show us. Drawn in from nature, they\ndwell with us a while and then return to her somewhat as the blood\ncells go to the lungs for aeration. _It is the quality of our mental\nstates which determines the quality of the elemental coming in_ and\ndetermines also the intervening history of those which leave. The\ncirculation is constant, and if we lived ideal mental lives we could,\nas already said, achieve something like physical immortality. The\nmonads would come back to us refreshed and recharged with electric\nvitality.\n\nDeath liberates them _all_. They take their ways into the nature-stream\nand are regenerated in nature's thought and life. The process continues\nduring all the time between death and rebirth. Whilst the man, the\nsoul, rests, his body (the subtler elements of it) is being refashioned\nand reinvigorated for him. At his rebirth _his own_ monads, blended\nwith those he receives from hereditary sources, are animating the\ninfant form with which he connects himself and in which he will\nultimately incarnate. So far as the thought and habit of his last\nlife permitted--for, as said, they are absolutely sensitive to the\nthought-color of their owner's mind and feeling--they have been renewed.\n\nBut there will have been little renewal possible for them if that\nmind was filled with the color and thought of death, disease, pain,\nwas occupied with the will to _produce_ these--a will exactly\noppositely directed to that of the worthy physician. They were untuned\nwith nature's keynote during life and consequently return nearly\nunchanged--which, in medical language, will mean a case of congenital\ndisease, ill-health, or deformity; and, as part of the penalty,\nthe reaction of the physical defects and disease upon the mind and\ndisposition of child and youth and man.\n\nNor does the penalty finish at that. The entire personality of such\na child and man is in greater or less degree repellant to others, to\nchildren, _to animals_. The latter especially, feel him not as a friend\nbut as enemy. Their dislike is instinctual. And all this will continue\ntill in one or another life the man has been stung to the redress of\nthe evil he has done, has returned kindliness for hostility year by\nyear, has changed, freshened, and sweetened his thought and feeling and\nso by degrees every atom of his body.\n\nTruly the plight of the vivisector is a thousandfold worse than that of\nthe animal he worst outrages.\n\n\n\n\nTHE EKOI; Children of Nature: by H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.)\n\n\nThe ideas current about ancient or ethnic peoples are largely qualified\nby the \"personal equation\" of those who have observed and described\nthem. These ideas are not facts but points of view. In too many cases\nthe point of view is so colored by an unsympathetic attitude on the\npart of the viewer as to constitute a misrepresentation--a fancy\npicture, having no counterpart in reality. Thus have been described the\nclassical times and the non-Christian races. But times are changing.\nAs our civilization grows older it grows wiser, loses some of its\nsupercilious ignorance, and can view other times and places than its\nown with more sympathy and sense. Already the histories and geographies\nof our childhood seem prejudiced in our present eyes. But we cannot\nboast; for there is still much to be done in the same direction.\n\nAs a notable instance of what may be achieved in the way of beauty,\ncharm, and uplifting of the mind, by viewing and treating a subject\nsympathetically, we welcome an account of \"The Land of the Ekoi,\nSouthern Nigeria,\" by P. A. Talbot, B. A., F. L. S., F. R. A. S., F.\nZ. S., in _The Geographical Journal_ (London, Dec., 1910). By the\nadoption of such an attitude, in place of the too frequent attitude of\nsuperiority and condescension, error is avoided, truth learned, and\nboth writer and reader benefited. We give some extracts and comments,\nand refer to _The Geographical Journal_ for the rest.\n\nThe Ekoi live to the north and northwest of Calabar, the headquarters\nof the eastern province of Southern Nigeria, partly under British rule,\npartly under German.\n\n The river is magical, and bold indeed would be that man who should\n break an oath sworn on its name. For somewhere in its depths dwells\n Nimm--the terrible--who is always ready, at the call of her women\n worshipers, to send up her servants, the beasts that flock down to\n drink and bathe in her stream, to destroy the farms of those who have\n offended. She manifests herself sometimes as a huge snake, sometimes\n as a crocodile.\n\nThis could have been described so as to make it a heathen superstition.\nBut we see it is possible to give it another color. The interdependence\nof man's conduct and the powers of nature is indicated; and retribution\nis shown as the logical consequence of violating natural law. Honor\nand fidelity are qualities essential to man's well-being. Evil fortune\nis the result of his putting himself out of tune with nature by his\nconduct.\n\nWe take care about the physical needs of children, but are strangely\nreckless in other and more important matters concerning them. Contrast\nthis with the following about the Ekoi:\n\n The Ekoi are devoted parents, but it will take years of patient\n teaching before they grasp the importance of fresh air and the\n simplest sanitary measures for the health of their little ones. They\n have curious beliefs as to the advent and death of their babes. One\n charming superstition [!] forbids all quarreling in a house where\n there are little children. The latter, so they say, love sweet words,\n kind looks, and gentle voices, and if these are not to be found in the\n family into which they have been reincarnated, they will close their\n eyes and forsake the earth, till a chance offers to return again amid\n less quarrelsome surroundings.\n\nRather a healthy superstition, is it not? One that we might adopt with\nbenefit, so that fewer of our children should grow up with quarrel\ninterwoven with every thread of their bodies, mentally, psychically,\nand physically too. We wish well of the efforts to teach the Ekoi the\nuse of soap and toothbrushes; but only on condition that it does not\nmean _unteaching_ them their own \"beautiful superstition.\"\n\n The children gave a particularly charming series of games, singing all\n the while in the pretty lilting way usual among them. Nothing could\n be more graceful than the waving arms and swaying limbs of the little\n brown forms as they bent and moved, always in perfect time to their\n song. The musical faculty of this people is certainly wonderful,\n though developed along peculiar lines. During the whole period spent\n among them I have never heard a false note nor found a dancer or\n accompanist one fraction of a second out of time.\n\nOf this, by way of contrast with us, but one thing can be said: that if\nit be true, then in time and tune they are immensely our superiors; for\nhow few people can whistle a tune correctly, and how difficult it is to\ndrill people into keeping time!\n\n The religious observances of the Ekoi are altogether a fascinating\n study. Beneath many modern corruptions and disfigurements are yet to\n be found traces of an older, purer, form of worship, traces which\n carry us back to the oldest-known Minoan civilization, and link the\n belief of the modern Ekoi with that of the ancient Phoenician, the\n Egyptian, the Roman, and the Greek.\n\nTrees are sacred; birds are sacred, for\n\n Should the birds be injured or driven away the women would become\n barren and even the cattle cease to bear.\n\nMore recognition of the inviolability of cosmic law! Call it\nself-interest, if you will, it is at least a higher and worthier form\nof self-interest than the kind that rips the feathers off the birds and\nturns them loose to die a lingering death, or planes off the wooded\nhills in order to pile up riches on high.\n\n The Ekoi spend their whole lives in the twilight of the beautiful\n mysterious bush, peopled, to their fancy, not by wild animals alone,\n of which they have no fear, but by were-leopards, and all kinds of\n terrible half-human shapes, and by the genii of rocks, trees, and\n rivers. Here, more truly even than in old Greece, the terror of Pan is\n everywhere!\n\nVerily \"savage\" life is not without its consolations. We have dwelt on\nthe bright side of the picture, and purposely so, for the other side\nhas been too much dwelt upon; and so far from exaggerating, we are\nmerely tending to restore the balance of an equable view. If we regard\nlife as mainly the experience of a Soul, then the outward appurtenances\nof civilization count for less; and a people like the Ekoi may possibly\nfulfil the purposes of Soul in quite a satisfactory way. One can even\nimagine a Soul, wearied with life in modern civilization, taking a\nresting incarnation in such a people, to dwell with Pan in these\nbeautiful glades.\n\nThat the journal of the Royal Geographical Society should publish such\na sympathetic account is a noteworthy sign of the times. There seems\nto be a reactionary movement by which the heathen in his darkness is\nshedding a little light on our inveterate superstition.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. A SEMINOLE INDIAN\n(Photo. by the Albertype Co., Brooklyn, N. Y.)]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. A FAMILY GROUP OF\nSEMINOLE INDIANS]\n\n\n\n\nAN UNKNOWN AMERICAN NATION: by H. S. Turner\n\n\nBut few people know that living within the precincts of this country,\nthere is a nation, independent and virtually free from dominance of the\nUnited States Government, or of any of its States. Its history is a\nsingular one and is practically unknown. Even our school histories have\nbut little to say about it; so that the impression left on the minds of\ncasual readers is that this nation long ago ceased to exist, as a body\nof people.\n\nFar down in the southern part of the peninsula of Florida, this nation\nhas its center; its rulers, laws, and government. It has no written\ntreaties with foreign governments--for such is the United States\nconsidered by them--yet there is an unwritten treaty accepted by both,\nwhich to their common credit has never been broken. This treaty, or\nagreement as it should be called, stipulates that each nation shall go\nits own way and not interfere with the other.\n\nThe Seminole Nation is its name, and its existence, as at present\nconstituted, dates from the year 1842. Seven years previous to this\ndate, the United States Government decided that the Seminole Indians,\nwho belong to the family of the Muscogees, should be moved from their\nfertile Florida lands and taken to those of the Creek Nation, far away\nin the West. At this time the authorities concentrated our Indian wards\nin a few special places.\n\nThe Seminoles bitterly resisted the efforts made to remove them. It was\nonly after a seven years' war that two thousand of them surrendered and\nwere duly sent westward.\n\nOriginally the Seminoles had been numerically strong. This hard-fought\nwar reduced their numbers to such a point that after those who\nsurrendered had been transported, but five hundred remained in Florida.\nThey represented, however, the strongest and most determined of their\ntribe; those who preferred death to surrender.\n\nSeparating themselves from those who decided to surrender, they\npenetrated to the innermost recesses of the Everglades, that\ndeath-dealing morass, covered with reeds and jungle-growth, through\nwhich winds a veritable labyrinth of stagnant streams, in whose mud\ncrocodiles and alligators disport themselves, and where snakes,\nmosquitos, and other poisonous life abound. What little solid earth was\nto be found was nothing but a bog-like mass of sodden ground, thickly\ncovered with grass and vines. Yet there and under such conditions these\nwere determined to look up their home. They valued their freedom above\nall, and were willing to make any sacrifice and undergo any hardship\nrather than lose what they valued so highly.\n\nWhite men could not endure the conditions they had to meet in the\nswamps, neither could they ever equal the Red man in ability to move\nquickly in such a place. The little band of Indians scattered and\nbuilt their shelters on the driest spots they could find, maintaining\nthemselves by hunting the game that was found on every hand.\n\nSo accustomed have they become to the conditions in which they live,\nthat they are almost amphibious and absolutely immune to the bites of\nmosquitos or other poisonous insects.\n\nAt times some of the Indians will come out of their retirement and\nvisit their white neighbors. Quite often many of them can be seen on\nthe streets of Miami, Florida, where they go to purchase what limited\nsupplies they may need, the money for the same being obtained by the\nsale of alligator hides.\n\nAt times a few white men have been invited by them to visit their\nhomes in the Everglades. Those who have accepted this invitation have\nalways been glad to hasten their departure, on account of the ravenous\nhordes of mosquitos and the familiarity of the water-snakes, and this\nnotwithstanding the hospitality and sincere cordiality of their hosts.\n\nUndoubtedly it is due to the ravages of these so-called pests--to their\nbeneficent protection in this instance--that these Indians owe their\nfreedom from the usual contaminating vices of the white man. The latter\nis simply unable to get close enough in touch to demoralize them. So we\nfind these Indians today, whose life is the same as it was before the\nwhite man set foot upon the North American Continent.\n\nThey are free from the vice of drink, they live according to the\nhighest moral code, they do not gamble, and are altogether a happy and\ncare-free people. Let us hope they will ever remain so; that they will\nnever lose their natural simplicity of character and their dignified\nreserve.\n\nThe typical costume of the Seminoles is as singularly different from\nthe one usually adopted by American Indians, as their customs and mode\nof life are. The accompanying photographic reproductions show this\nfeature, as well as give one an idea of their strength of character.\nThe \"American type\" is clearly shown by the facial angles.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CONFINES OF SCIENCE: by Investigator\n\n\nIt is still debated whether the earth in its orbital motion drags the\nadjacent part of the ether along with it, or whether the earth travels\nthrough the ether without stirring the latter. On the one hand it is\nargued that if the earth (and presumably other planets also) dragged\nthe ether along, complex currents would thereby be set up in the ether;\nand this circumstance would upset the calculations with regard to the\naberration of light, whereas the observations of aberration do not\nindicate the existence of any such currents in the ether. On the other\nhand are cited certain delicate experiments of Michelsen and Morley,\nconnected with the measurement of vibration-rates of light, which go to\nshow that there is little or no relative motion between the earth and\nthe ether, or, in other words, that the circumjacent ether moves with\nthe earth. Hence we are required to make the ether stationary for some\npurposes, but moveable and full of currents for other purposes; not the\nfirst time that the ether has been required to perform inconsistent, or\napparently inconsistent, r\u00f4les.\n\nThis quandary has led some petulantly to throw the ether overboard,\nalleging that \"there ain't no such a thing\"; while others have sought\nrefuge in abstruse mathematico-metaphysical speculations as to the\nnature of our conceptions of space and time and the meaning of such\nconceptual words as _mass_ and _velocity_.\n\nIt must be remembered that the ether so far is not an observed object\nbut a hypothetical something. The necessities of our reasoning\nhave demanded that we should, on various occasions and for various\npurposes, postulate a fixed standard of reference. Thus the undulatory\ntheory of light has required the supposition of a medium to convey\nthe undulations; the kinetic theory of matter has required that we\npostulate a substantial basis wherein the supposed vortices or centers\nof energy can inhere. But the ether is, and _ex hypothesi_ must be,\nbeyond the reach of sense perception. Could we but weigh it or measure\nit in any way--at once we should stand in need of another ether yet\nmore subtle. In a word, however far we go, there is always something\nbeyond.\n\nPhysical science, being admittedly a limited sphere, must of course\nbecome indeterminate near its borders. Rules which are found to apply\nwith sufficient exactitude within certain limits will be found to\napply no longer when we transcend those limits. So long as we study\nphysical phenomena in their relation to each other, we may find those\nmutual relations sufficiently exact and constant; but when we begin to\nstudy physical phenomena in relation to _what lies beyond_, then the\nuncertainty supervenes. We find it necessary to inquire into the nature\nof our own perceptions and conceptions.\n\nA phenomenon has its subjective factor as well as its objective\nfactor; but our physics has so far been based on the tacit assumption\nthat the subjective factor is fixed and constant. And it may indeed\nbe so regarded within certain limits. But now we propose to explore\nthe limits of the illimitable and the confines of eternity, regions,\nwhither our senses and our instruments cannot penetrate. What wonder\nthat we find those conceptions of time, space, and motion, which we\nhave derived from our sensory experience in this world, inadequate as a\nmeans of formulating what lies beyond!\n\nA slight acquaintance with certain ancient sciences suffices to\nshow that they took into account the subjective component of our\nperceptions and conceptions, studying the mind and its organs along\nwith nature and its qualities. Regarding phenomena as the result of\ninteractions or coalescences between faculties within and qualities\nwithout, they studied both concurrently. Neglecting to do this, we have\nlanded ourselves in not a few difficulties. Needing a fixed standard\nof reference in our study of motion, we have postulated _space_ as\nobjective, while at the same time our very hypothesis has divested\nthat space of every property which could entitle it to be regarded as\nan object at all. In vain do we try to overtake our shadow, to put\nthings on a shelf out of our reach, to explore the land of nowhere,\nor to measure the cubic contents of zero. The notion of \"space\" as\npossessing size and three-dimensional extension, but _nothing_ else, is\nan assumption that may well be regarded by Nature as groundless; yet it\nis to this standard that we refer our calculations as to motion, etc.\n\nPractical science strides ahead in defiance of such speculations, for\nit is founded on an investigation of what actually exists in Nature.\nAnd even where the theories serve to guide our path to new discoveries,\nit is as likely as not that our discoveries will outstrip the limits\nof the theories. There is bound to come a time, if it has not begun to\ndawn already, when we shall be uncertain whether it is external nature\nor our own internal faculties that we are studying; as was brought\nout in connexion with those very singular \"Blondlot rays,\" which were\nvisible (apparently) to Latin races but not to Teutonic!\n\nHaving thus suggested the possibility of a study of states of\nconsciousness, such as might result in placing the observer in an\nentirely new relation to external nature and thereby rendering nugatory\nall his previous conceptions of time, space, and the like--it remains\nto add a few words on that topic. There are many people engaged in a\nheedless and unguided dabbling in such fields, and both old-time wisdom\nand contemporary experience indicate that the practice is fraught with\ndangers to health and mental balance. Such explorations demand that\nwe shall step out from the safe shelter of our familiar five-sense\nconsciousness and brave the perils of an unknown land. We are in\nprecisely the position of a man who forsakes the dry land, his native\nelement, where he is lord of the beasts and can plant his feet and his\ndwelling firmly, and plunges into a sea without bottom or stability and\nteeming with sharks, and where his life depends on his constant energy\nand watchfulness. Hence the study of science in its deeper aspects\nbecomes primarily a question of _discipline_--a fact always recognized\nin the ancient Mysteries. In proof that this statement is true, we\nneed only point to the state of affairs in the world of psychic\ninvestigation today; a condition which breathes more of menace than of\npromise to the future welfare of society, a world where fatuity and\nfolly seem to dog the steps of the heedless explorer.\n\nWe give out all our secrets to the mob because there is no one who can\nsuccessfully assert his claim to be above the mob; our only rule of\nfair-play is indiscriminate distribution. One cannot presume to set up\na sacred college, and the mob rightly and justly fears the possible\ndomination of a clique of biological or theological theorists. Yet\nknowledge is inseparably connected with duty and obligation; and if\nthis connexion is ignored, that which should be a blessing will prove a\ncurse. What has already occurred in connexion with dynamite and drugs\ncan occur in far worse form in connexion with hypnotism and mental\ninfluence. This is sufficient to explain the Theosophical program of\nwork and the reason why Theosophical workers do not find such public\nresearches a profitable field for their efforts while there is so much\npreliminary work yet to be done both in their own characters and in the\nworld.\n\nWhen we begin to explore the ether of our own inner nature, we find\nthat investigation comes second to management; we must _control_ our\nnature--or it will control us. Knowledge is relative to Duty.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TOWER OF LONDON AND THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT: by Carolus\n\n\nThe Tower of London and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, are the\nmost striking and important buildings that stand on the banks of the\nThames in London. Both are on the north side of the river, but are at a\nconsiderable distance from each other.\n\nThe Tower is one of the few early Norman castles which have come down\nto us in a fairly perfect condition. Tradition says a fortress was\nbuilt by Julius Caesar on the site, but the nucleus of the present\nbuilding was begun in 1078 by William the Conqueror. This was the\nWhite Tower, the highest building with the four turrets shown in our\nillustration. It was completed by William Rufus, who also built the\nfamous \"Traitor's Gate,\" through which the unfortunate victims of\nRoyal displeasure were rowed in from the river. Many additions were\nafterwards made, and the building and courts now cover thirteen acres\nsurrounded by a moat. The Tower was closely identified with many of\nthe most tragic events in English history for at least five hundred\nyears after its erection, and if its walls could speak the tale of\nhorror could hardly be surpassed by the record of any other medieval\nbuilding. In the Chapel of St. Peter-in-Chains, lie the bodies of\nQueen Anne Boleyn and her brother, Queen Catherine Howard, the Earl of\nEssex, the Duke of Monmouth, Bishop Fisher, More, and many other great\npersonages who suffered death in the Tower. It was a short road from\nthe Traitor's Gate, through the Bloody Tower, to this chapel. Many\nState prisoners have spent weary years of incarceration in the Tower;\nSir Walter Raleigh, one of the greatest and noblest, was confined here\nfor thirteen years.\n\nThe Tower of London was occasionally the residence of the earlier\nsovereigns of England, but its main purpose was the defense of the\ncity. In these days of powerful weapons it would be useless as a\nfortress, but it is still a military post and headquarters, and\ncontains a large collection of armor. The Jewel Room, in which the\nRoyal Regalia are kept, and the rooms where distinguished prisoners\nwere confined, attract many visitors.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE TOWER OF LONDON]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. HOUSES OF\nPARLIAMENT, LONDON VIEW FROM THE RIVER]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. TRAFALGAR SQUARE,\nLONDON TAKEN FROM THE NATIONAL GALLERY]\n\nThe Houses of Parliament at Westminster are--with the exception of\nWestminster Hall, built by William Rufus--quite modern, and have no\ngloomy associations such as those of the Tower. The building covers\nabout eight acres and the fa\u00e7ade overlooking the Thames is nine\nhundred feet long. The tall tower on the left in the illustration is\nthe Victoria Tower; it is supported upon four pointed arches sixty\nfeet in height, and the highest point is three hundred and forty feet\nabove the ground. The central tower is three hundred feet high, and\nthe picturesque Clock Tower, on the right, is three hundred and twenty\nfeet high. During the evening sittings of the Houses a lamp is kept\nburning near the top of the Clock Tower, which is extinguished when the\ndebates are over. The building consists mainly of the House of Peers\nand the House of Commons, with the connected apartments and offices,\nthe whole forming one structure. Just above the river, along the front\nof the palace runs the Terrace, a broad paved walk where the members of\nParliament can stroll in the fresh air and yet be within sound of the\ndivision bell.\n\nThe towers of Westminster Abbey are visible to the left of the Victoria\nTower, and a small portion of Westminster Bridge is seen at the extreme\nright.\n\nNot far from the Houses of Parliament is Trafalgar Square, which is\nprobably more familiar to the general public than any spot in London,\nfor it is the meeting-place of so many important thoroughfares. Our\nillustration is taken from the steps of the National Gallery of\nPictures. The fluted Corinthian Column erected to Admiral Nelson\ndominates the scene. The colossal bronze statue of the hero is elevated\none hundred and seventy-six feet in the air and, needless to say, the\nartistic workmanship is above criticism, for no one can distinguish\nany detail at that height! The bronze lions at the base are by Sir\nEdwin Landseer, and possess considerable dignity. At the far end of\nthe street to the left of the Nelson Monument (Parliament Street) the\nfaint outline of the Clock Tower of the Houses of Parliament can just\nbe distinguished. At the top of this street, not far from the Nelson\nMonument, stands the fine antique equestrian statue of Charles I,\none of the few outdoor monuments that are creditable to the British\nmetropolis. A few steps to the left of Trafalgar Square as shown in the\nplate is the new Charing Cross; the original one was destroyed by the\nPuritan Parliament.\n\n\n\n\nPOINT LOMA NOTES: by C. J. R.\n\n\nHere at Lomaland the yerba santa, whose leaves never lose their\ndelicate gray-green, is a widely scattered bush. It is a favorite\nof the Leader's. Among other plants, the sumach, the manzanita, the\ngrease-wood, the \"mahogany,\" and the dwarf-oak, clothe the sides of\nthe romantic ca\u00f1ons and the tops of the hills with bright verdure\nthroughout the year. There are always some wild flowers too, though the\nkinds that blossom during the summer are generally not as plentiful or\nbeautiful as those of the spring. The thousands of eucalypts and cedar\ntrees, etc., which have been planted mainly upon the lower portions\nof the grounds during the past few years by the Lomaland Forestry\nDepartment, have greatly improved the beauty of the landscape for\nmiles along the ocean front; and the Canary palms and Date palms, the\nlemon and pepper trees, the acacias and pines, within the Homestead\ngardens and bordering the avenues, have now grown to a size and beauty\nwhich make them a pleasure to look at. Every visitor who comes into\nthe grounds expresses delight at the wealth of foliage and cultivated\nflowers which surround the R\u00e2ja Yoga College and Temple as well as the\nstudents' homes and bungalows.\n\nIn a few weeks we may expect the first rains, though sometimes they\ndo not arrive till nearly Christmas, and then the multitude of seeds\nthat have been quietly biding their time will begin to stir, and soon\nafter the opening of the new year the hills will assume the vivid\ngreen which will not diminish till next summer; the five varieties of\nLomaland ferns will unfold their delicate fronds on the shady southern\nside of the ca\u00f1ons; and then the ground will become carpeted with\nspring flowers of many colors, chiefly purple and gold. When Katherine\nTingley first established the headquarters of our Society here there\nwas very little grass, except at the lower levels near San Diego, but\nit has been gradually creeping up the hills until it has become a\ncharacteristic feature of the Spring; it seems to have increased in\nproportion to the enlargement of the human population of Point Loma.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWE have been reading with sympathy of the terrible heat that has been\nsuch a marked feature of the present summer throughout Europe and the\nlarger portion of the United States. In Lomaland, and all along the\nPacific slope, nothing of the sort has been felt, for the constant\nwesterly breezes which blow from the ocean keep the temperature down;\nno case of sunstroke has ever been recorded here, and there is never\nany need to cease from outdoor work or exercise during the heat of the\nday; the nights are never too hot for a blanket.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHOUGH we usually do not get our best sunsets until the so-called\n\"winter\" months, lately there have been several of the magnificent ones\nfor which Lomaland is famous. In August a very remarkable mirage was\nseen by a large number of persons at a sea-coast town about a hundred\nmiles to the northward. It represented a ship ashore on dangerous\nrocks with the waves beating over it, and it was so real and vivid\nthat the lifeboat went out to rescue the supposed drowning crew. But\nwhen it reached the spot (less than a mile from the beach) the boatmen\ncould see nothing, and there were no rocks near. From the shore it\nappeared as if the lifeboat passed through the wreck. An attempt made\nto photograph the mirage turned out a failure. About ten years ago a\nstrange mirage was seen from the Homestead in the form of an island\nfar out at sea. It persisted for several days and was so realistic\nthat some persons were on the point of chartering a boat to sail out\nto it and take possession when it disappeared. The mystery of many\nwell-authenticated mirages has never been explained by the ordinary\nlaws of refraction and reflection. _The Century Path_ of October 25,\n1908, which can be found in nearly all the libraries in America and\nother countries, contains a special article on the subject, giving many\nexamples and treating it from the Theosophical standpoint.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE Woman's International Theosophical League, with its center at\nPoint Loma and its world-wide membership elsewhere, is becoming, or\nhas become, one of the most potent instruments for the spread of our\nwork that the Leader possesses. First organized under the name of the\nWoman's Propaganda League, it has greatly extended and enlarged its\nactivities under the new title. During the Spring months of this year\nthe women of the League in Lomaland organized a most successful series\nof meetings for women only at the Isis Theater, San Diego, at which\nthe Leader gave addresses which are said by those who were present to\nhave been the most uplifting and inspiring she has ever delivered.\nShe spoke out in the plainest language about the causes and the only\nremedies for the steady degeneration of the so-called civilized world,\nand she showed what a marvelous power for redemption women have in\ntheir own sphere, the home. The Isis Theater was crowded to its\nutmost capacity on each occasion Katherine Tingley spoke, hundreds of\neager women of all classes could not find accommodation and, to judge\nby the mass of correspondence received, the impression made was most\nprofound. According to the Leader's words, the splendid organizing\nwork of the women of the Woman's International Theosophical League and\nthe perfect harmony and unity prevailing among them in no small degree\nhelped in producing this admirable result; the conditions were ideally\nperfect, and the audiences felt that there was an entirely different\nspirit present from anything ever before experienced. From the loyal,\nimpersonal and womanly efforts of the League a new life has come into\nthe atmosphere of Lomaland, a broadening and harmonizing influence. Its\nmembers are giving a fine expression to the principle of Co-operation\nbetween men and women which the Leader is ever striving to build up.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSOON after the last of the women's meetings at Isis Theater the Leader\ngave the signal for dramatic work, and the Woman's League began the\npreparations for the Greek Symposium, _The Aroma of Athens_, several\nrepresentations of which were given with conspicuous success, first in\nthe Isis Theater and then in the open-air Greek Theater, Lomaland. Here\nwas an excellent opportunity for the co-operation spoken of, and it was\nrealized to the uttermost. While the artists and craftsmen prepared\nthe scenery and properties, or built the stately Grecian structures in\nthe open-air theater which remain permanently for use in the future\ndramatic work, the skilful and tireless needlewomen made the hundreds\nof costumes needed, all being done under the personal supervision\nof the Leader and from her own designs. The same cheerful spirit of\nco-operation was evinced in the musical and dramatic rehearsals for\nthe Symposium, and in the frictionless management of the arrangements\nfor the staging of the couple of hundred characters who appear in the\nplay--no easy task.\n\nIn view of the greater activities of the Woman's Theosophical League\nwhich are shortly to take place, it has secured a spacious hall within\nthe Homestead grounds which will afford ample accommodation for the\npresent as a headquarters for its business meetings and other general\nactivities. It is known as the Woman's League Hall.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WOMAN'S INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHICAL LEAGUE, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA\n\nWoman's Work in Lomaland; a Side Light: by a Member of the League\n\n THAT is the true athlete, the man who exercises himself against\n appearances (illusion). Pause, consider, do not be carried away. Great\n is the combat, divine is the work. It is for kingship, for freedom,\n for happiness.--_Epictetus_\n\n I DESIRE not to disgrace the soul. The fact that I am here certainly\n shows me that the soul had need of an organ here. Shall I not assume\n the post? Shall I skulk and dodge and duck with my unseasonable\n apologies and vain modesty and imagine my being here impertinent--less\n pertinent than Epaminondas or Homer being there? and that the soul did\n not know its own needs?\n\n LET us, if we must have great actions, make our own so. All action\n is of an infinite elasticity, and the least admits of being inflated\n with the celestial air until it eclipses the sun and moon. Let us seek\n _one_ peace by fidelity.--_Emerson_\n\n\nSeveral years ago Katherine Tingley said to a group of Lomaland\nStudents, while touching in a cursory way upon the general\nworld-problem of woman's work and true place in life, that her great\nlonging was to take up this question in a public way. She added,\nreflectively, and with a trace of sadness in her voice,\n\n But I cannot do this as yet. I should have to do it Theosophically,\n and while the need is there, conditions are not yet ready; the time\n for it has not come.\n\nAs all Students know, the time came early in 1911, and the work that\nhad waited so long was ushered in by a series of meetings for women\nonly, at Isis Theater, San Diego, under the auspices of the Woman's\nInternational Theosophical League of Lomaland, a body founded by\nKatherine Tingley on July 24th, 1906. Any question as to this being\nthe right time--the psychological moment--had a twofold answer in the\neager and wide-reaching public response, and in the superb nature of\nthe service rendered in the arrangement and conduct of the meetings by\nmembers of the Lomaland Woman's League. Everything was placed in their\nhands, though under the Leader's direction, from the advertising and\ndistribution of tickets--the meetings of course being free although\nadmission was by tickets secured in advance--to the seating of the\naudience and the carrying out of the beautiful and impressive program,\nof which Katherine Tingley's address was at each meeting the central\nfeature.\n\nThe work was begun at a time when the tourist season was at its height\nand in the audiences that crowded Isis Theater to the doors were\nhundreds of women from distant points--Canada, Vancouver, the far\nSouth, the Middle States, the Atlantic Coast, Europe, and even the\nOrient. Consider that these were thinking women, by their very interest\nin Theosophy marked as women apart from the mass; consider as well that\nthe subjects taken up by Katherine Tingley in the impassioned addresses\nthat formed the axis, so to speak, the real fulcrum, of the meetings,\nwere subjects of the most vital import to the home--the higher duties\nof wifehood and motherhood, the sacredness of the home as a spiritual\ntemple and woman's duty as guardian of that temple, the key to a\nknowledge of child nature, the protection of the growing child, the\nTheosophic keynote of duty--and add to that the fact that nearly every\nwoman in those vast audiences was an important factor in some home,\nand it is evident that the influence of these meetings could not be\nmeasured.\n\nConsider also that this work was launched at the present time of\ntransition, when all the old ideas of woman's work are being torn up,\nroot and branch, in some cases, by fanatics who little dream of the\nreaction their frenzy and unwisdom is certain to produce, a reaction\nthat will make doubly difficult the path of unselfish workers for a\nlong time to come.\n\nThe climax of effort in the Woman's International Theosophical League\nwas of course reached in the marvelous production of _The Aroma of\nAthens_, given under the League's auspices, with accounts of which\nboth Students and the public are familiar. Social Hall was converted\ninto a huge costumer's shop and greenroom for the space of nine magic\ndays, with the Leader here, there, everywhere, directing, designing\nand fitting costumes, designing properties, drilling individuals,\nrehearsing, oblivious for the time of all such gentle excellencies as\nfood, relaxation, or rest.\n\nHere again shone forth in the members of this Woman's League the\nqualities that were of such pre-eminent service in the conduct of\nthe women's meetings--intuition, fidelity, alertness, conservation\nof energy, the power to work on lines of least resistance, unity,\ntrust. There was no friction, no personal competition, no jealousy, no\nover-reaching, no gossip, no \"rule or ruin\" spirit, no personality, and\nas a result there was a general capacity to get things done that made\nthe onlooker wonder if some hidden Aladdin's lamp were not in a nearby\ncorner, just \"rubbing\" results into existence.\n\nWhat _was_ it? Pre-eminently, it was the power these women had created\nby learning to _work together_. It was the Christos-spirit, that\nmagic-working something that harmony is powerful to create, the spirit\nof which Jesus spoke when he said, \"For where two or three are gathered\ntogether in my name, there am I in the midst of them.\"\n\nBut _what_ did it? Theosophy as a system of thought did not, or it\nwould have done so in past centuries, for Theosophy has been brought to\nthe world before under this and other names. The inspiration that is\nborn when women work for women did not, for if this could do it then\nwe would have some royal examples of unity in women's organizations\nelsewhere. What then did it in Lomaland?\n\nThere was a Sower once who went forth to sow; and some seeds fell on\nstony ground and the fowls of the air devoured them; and others fell on\nthin and shallow soil, springing up only to wither in the noontide heat\nbecause there was no depth of root. But of the seeds which fell upon\ngood soil we are told that they sprang up and bore fruit an hundredfold.\n\nThere is the answer, and the answer also to the question as to why\nKatherine Tingley could not and would not start this woman's work\nearlier. The seeds were waiting and they are forever the same, the\nSower was waiting, the world was waiting, for whatever may be the\nneeds or conditions of any age the true Teacher knows how to adapt her\nmessage to it. But--oh women of Lomaland! _we_ were not ready, for we\nwere the soil. The Sower was compelled to wait until _we_ would let the\nhot plowshare of truth _in action_ break through, and break up, the\nhard surface-crust of mental limitations and personality, and reach,\nwith its diamond-tipped point, the warm, rich, moist soil of integrity\nand soul-life that lay underneath.\n\nIt has taken time, and patience on the part of husbandman, and trust\non our part, though with greater trust it could all have been done\nso much earlier. But we had no knowledge of our own natures, when we\nfirst touched Theosophic truth, and it was necessary to learn that\nin Katherine Tingley's curriculum lip-knowledge and wisdom are two\ndifferent things--that one _may_ have a brain-mind understanding of the\nliterature of Theosophy without being a Theosophist in the slightest\ndegree; that in short, the Theosophy that is not lived, that is,\napplied to every act, every problem, every relationship of daily life,\nneed not hope to be recognized in Lomaland.\n\nAnd this takes time. From the precept to _the life_ there is a path\nto be traveled, often a long one. It is indeed plain that the work\nupon which the women of Lomaland have been permitted to enter is one\nthat could not be done Theosophically by any body of women who had not\ngotten beyond the limitations of the lower psychology, that master of\nthe brain-mind, where only diversity lies; it could not be done by\nany who had not found and clasped hands on the plane of soul-life,\nwhere alone is unity. If all other proofs of brotherhood as a fact in\nnature--Theosophy's shibboleth and standard--were to be swept away\nand the Woman's International Theosophical League alone permitted\nto remain, that would suffice to demonstrate to the world that\nTheosophy is what the Teachers declare it to be, a living power, and\nthat universal brotherhood _is_. Small wonder that as we listened to\nKatherine Tingley's heart-appeal to the women of the great world--truly\norphaned, as is all humanity--we saw barriers swept away, limitations\ndissolve, mountains move, and, verily, a new world come into being. In\nthe discourses of Epictetus, slave of the profligate Epaphroditus, and\nin chains, but the grandest Stoic in all Rome, we read:\n\n Never then look for the matter in one place and progress towards it in\n another....\n\n What then is progress? ... lo, _if_ a man, in every matter that occurs,\n works out his principles, as the runner does in reference to running\n and the trainer of the voice does with reference to the voice--this is\n the man who truly makes progress, and who has not traveled in vain.\n\n If I were talking to an athlete, I should say, Show me your shoulders.\n And then he might say, Here are my Halteres. You and your Halteres\n look to that, I should reply, I wish to see the _effect_ of the\n Halteres!\n\nThat is the point and that is Theosophy.\n\nThe burden of this ancient problem of woman's work lies heavy upon the\nworld, unspeakably heavy because so many lesser problems are enfolded\nwithin it--the problems of the home, of the protection of childhood,\nof man's true place in the grand creative scheme, of the much\nmisunderstood and more discussed sex-question, in short, of education\nin all its phases. To borrow the old Socratic metaphor, myriad other\nproblems hang down from it as from a ring held in suspension by a\nmagnet other rings hang down, chainlike, one depending from the other.\nTo carry such a burden, or even part of it, requires not treatises\nnor diplomas but _shoulders_, strong shoulders, strong in a threefold\nsense, physically, yes, but still more mentally and spiritually.\n\nWe women of Lomaland see now why this great public work for women could\nnot have been begun earlier with absolute confidence on the Teacher's\npart that the heat of noontide endeavor would not cause it to wither\nand fall away. It would have withered if begun earlier, as women's\nefforts are withering all over the world today, partly because they are\nmistaken in themselves, it is true, but mainly because _the soil is\nnot there_. The workers themselves cannot stand the test. The storms\nof jealousy and rancor, the hot winds of ambition, the noontide heat\nof heavy demands, the shallow soil of brain-mind interests and desires\nwhich point like a weathercock to a new quarter with every gust of\nillusion--ay, these are what test the nature.\n\nThinking it all over, a gratitude wells up within the heart too deep\nfor words to touch--gratitude to the Teacher who has led us along the\npath with so much patience and love; helping but not putting props\nunder us; heartening and encouraging, but not carrying us along on\nsilver platters; forcing us to put into practice these treatises we\nhave been studying--for Theosophy is the science of soul-strength and\nit enunciates principles and possesses rules. Lomaland is verily a\ngreat School of Philosophy, greater than those of past ages, for here\ndivine principles are actually demonstrated which in the golden days of\nour historic past were but dreamed of, and the Woman's International\nTheosophical League is one of its Halls of Learning. Plato and\nEpictetus, Sappho and Hypatia, would understand.\n\nGratitude--it is a feeble word, plumb the depths of its meaning though\nyou will. Even the most splendid examples of womanhood that graced\nthe audiences at the various Women's meetings which the Teacher of\nTheosophy addressed, can realize what is being done and what is going\non only to a very limited degree. We in Lomaland do not realize it\nfully for if we did we would rise to that height of trust and calm\nthat would verily make us _like_ the Teacher; not like her in wisdom,\nfor that is the rare fruit of ages of search and service, and we are\nbut beginners on the Path; but like her in a certain _quality_ of\ncourage and devotion that would makes us ten times in effectiveness the\ninstruments in her hands that we are today.\n\nFor the acquirement of soul-strength is the object of this soul's\ngymnasium, this _life_, the living out of which in all its fulness of\nopportunity alone makes it possible for the Teacher to sow the seeds of\nthat tree the leaves of which shall be for the healing of the nations.\nHere is the keynote, sounded clear amid the resolving harmonies of\nKatherine Tingley's last address:\n\n Overcome! That is the song the gods would sing to you women and to all\n the world. Overcome! Learn to overcome and learn to love!\n\n\n\n\nILLUSION AND REALITY: by Lydia Ross, M. D.\n\n\nThe Man was wearied with success. He had sought to win beauty, fame,\nfortune, and personal power, and he had linked them all with his name.\nAround him was a wide circle of desirable things; within him was a\nrestless center of discontent.\n\nFar into the night he sat musing over his career. He had been fortunate\nbeyond all expectation. He could name no ambition which had not been\ngratified; but the thought brought with it no feeling of elation or of\nsatisfaction. Just now his keenest sense was that stinging ache in his\nbreast which so often came of late at quiet times like this.\n\n\"It is all illusion and disappointment,\" he said, at last. \"Marriage is\na failure; fame is a mockery; happiness is not had at any price, and\nlife is not worth living.\"\n\nThat nameless hunger from which he suffered was so baffling. If it were\nonly possible to find the meaning of that dreary want. With all the new\ninventions for lighting the world why was there no illumination for the\ndimness of the inner life? If he could only find the source of that\nhungry need which devoured all the pleasure in his possessions.\n\nFilled with intense desire for light, he drifted into the Land of\nDreams with its countless pictures. There he saw a moving figure which\nwas himself and yet not himself. There were no familiar lines in the\nform; but the eyes were his own and through them he read the thoughts.\n\nHe knew that this Traveler had come from afar. Along dusty highways,\nin shady bypaths and green meadows, through thickets and unwholesome\nswamps and across waters he had played a part in many scenes of a\nchanging world. Youth and strength and gaiety were his companions, and\ntogether they sought activity and pleasure. Through places all unknown\nand often full of hidden dangers they made their way with merry jest\nand idle song and noise, fearing nothing save it were the Silence.\n\nThen came a day when the Traveler grew tired of dust and heat and\nstains, of noisy mirth and empty songs and poisonous miasma. He wished\nfor solitude and rest. As his companions sped along he turned aside and\nwandered into the deep forest. Throwing himself upon the ground long he\nlay beneath the trees with closed eyes and fingers threaded through\nthe soft grass, finding refreshment in the touch. His chest rose with\ndeep draughts of clear air, and as the cool quiet stole into his blood\nthe throbbing pulses sank into a healing stream.\n\nHe had found some pleasant places in the old life that seemed so far\naway now, but this was beyond compare. Filled with a novel sense of\nawakening, the past appeared but a feverish dream. The sweetness of the\nplace seemed to be taking form somewhere near and to be surrounding him\nwith a delicious perfume.\n\nAs he sprang up his wondering eyes rested upon a new-blown Rose growing\nnear. The dainty folded petals had uncurled and opened out until its\ngolden heart was centered in tinted light. Its fragrance filled the air\nwith a subtle tenderness. It was beautiful!\n\nHe had not failed to gather flowers, too, in his time--conventional\nhot-house blooms and gorgeous tropical beauties, and some with cold,\nodorless petals--how many had drifted through his hands. Never was\nthere one among them all like this. Standing out against the guardian\ngreen leaves like a beloved queen, it shed a royal circle of uplifting\npeacefulness over everything.\n\nSoftly he knelt before this symbol of purity and loveliness with its\nmessage from the source of light and sweetness. The soul of the Rose\nwas glowing upon him with tender beauty and glad fearlessness. His own\nsoul stirred into life and looked out of eyes all too sadly strange\nto their indwelling guest. The littleness and folly of the past were\nbut faded pictures of half-forgotten dreams. He knew that this was the\nawakening; this was the steady, noble, tender glow of real life.\n\nHis heart dilated with a sense of all that life might mean: its\ndignity, its love, its aspiration, its unspeakable destiny. Oh, but he\nwould struggle to keep alive this enlarged and transfigured sense of\nthings! His rapt gaze rested on the Rose until the mystery of color\nand light and sweetness entered into his very heart. He felt himself a\npart of the brightness that lives at the center of all things, and his\nconfident soul swept out to the unseen stars to claim its own. Beyond\nand beyond, throughout distant space, everywhere was a flush of light\nand beauty and a radiant heart of peace.\n\nThen came a memory--a mere shadow from his dream-life--and a selfish\ndoubt brought him back to earth again. The Rose still smiled upon him\nin sweet faith. He would never leave it, but together they would live\nthe larger life. As the wind whispered in the leaves the Rose bent and\nbrushed his cheek and a swift wave of tenderness surged over him.\n\nWhat if someone else should find this flower and should rise upon its\npower as he had risen? What if he should lose it? A hungry look stole\ninto his eyes and his old self in a misery of longing cried hoarsely,\n\"Never! It shall be mine, mine, only mine!\" He leaned forward until the\npetals quivered beneath his breath. What if it should turn from him?\n\"It is mine, mine,\" cried the selfish self as with eager, passionate\ngrasp he kissed it and crushed it close, close, until he grew faint and\nsick with the spent sweetness.\n\nHe is stung with pain. Ah, the thorns, the thorns! Impatiently he tries\nto pick them out, but the sting remains. And oh! the pitiful Rose that\nhe holds--so crushed and weary and broken! Gone is the delicate fire\nof the higher life that breathed through every curve of its free-born\npetals. And the fragrance which had radiated waves of tender gladness\nfalls like the faltering breath of some beautiful, wounded, dying thing.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIn the dim light which fills the mind in sleep, a mountain scene\ntook form upon the moving screen. Up the steep side a Hunter toiled,\nburdened with weapons and game. In his strangely familiar eyes was a\nweary, dissatisfied look. The trail he had followed grew indistinct and\nwas lost; but as he pushed onward he reached a place where the rough\nmountain side stretched out into a broken level of fertile plateau. How\ngrateful it looked after the steep climb. This was the place to rest,\nhe thought, catching sight of a tiny, sheltered lake and turning his\nsteps toward it. Even now he can see its unruffled surface reflecting\nthe blue sky and a drowsy chorus of encircling pines.\n\nOn the lake-shore the Hunter stood spell-bound with the beauty of the\nscene. The spoils of the chase and the weapons dropped from relaxed\nfingers as with uncovered head he drank deeply of rest and comfort and\ninspiration.\n\nAs the wind swayed the bordering pine-branches flecks of light came\nand went through the shadowy circle of scintillating water. Around the\nshallow border the glint and tint of glossy stone and delicate shell\nlighted the mosaic curtain of shadows with the fire of a living iris.\nDeep and dark and clear was the mystical center. A tall, slender fringe\nof grasses around the edge softened and deepened the whole liquid\nbeauty before him like the lashes of a sentient eye.\n\nA feathery cloud floated by overhead. Its reflection brushed the\nsurface like a breath of fancy, a mere passing thought. The opalescent\ngold of the sunshine sank down, down, down, until, transmuted into a\nlook of love in unfathomed consciousness its glow was diffused through\nthe limpid depths.\n\nBeyond the beauty of the lake was the infinite calm, the untouched\npurity and the perfect peace.\n\nThe atmosphere was filled with restfulness. From the lighted depths\ncame an answering look to his eager eyes. The soul of the lake speaks\nto him in lingering softness and silence; and oh, how serene it is! The\niridescent picture of a flying bird falls into the clear water, a song\nin color. He sees his own face bathed in a tender light.\n\nHe will seize this mysterious beauty of a living calm and hold it\nforever. It shall reflect only his face, he thought, jealous of the\nvery sky. \"This treasure is for me, for me alone,\" he said, as his eyes\nfollowed the shafts of light that illumined the shadowy depths. \"For\nme,\" plunging in and stretching out greedy hands.\n\nThe first footstep broke the mirror of light into troubled waters.\nThe soil and sand rose beneath the desecrating feet in a sorrowful\ncloud that hid the glory in advance and around him. \"The peace lies\ndeeper yet,\" he thought, watching the center and pushing on. But ever\nbefore him rose the obscuring cloud of his own creation. He can no\nlonger wade, but strikes out boldly, greedily, to plunder the lake of\nits secret. He finds that no physical force or finesse can touch the\ndelicate beauty he desires; and after vainly striving to grasp the fine\nlines of soul-sense, he returns to the shore, weary, disappointed, and\nbitter.\n\n\"It is all illusion,\" he railed. \"No other Hunter excels me in strength\nor skill; yet when this promised happiness is almost within my grasp,\nit fades and disappears. There is no reality behind the dissolving\npictures of a deceitful world.\"\n\nThe Dreamer looked from the fair strength of the Hunter on the bank to\nthe cloudy, restless water. There he saw reflected his own figure--a\ndusky, broken image with the pessimistic poise. Then the light which\nhe had longed for shone full upon his mind. He was the Traveler\nwhose rude selfishness had despoiled the trusting Rose. He was the\nHunter of Happiness. Around him were the rejected trophies of his\nskill--sweet-voiced birds and creatures fleet of foot and quick of\neye. Too well they vouched for his unerring aim with bloody breast and\nbroken limb and dull, unseeing eyes. He had wasted the life that gave\nthese things their joy and beauty. Only the pitiful, unlovely forms\nwere his possessions; from these his wearied senses turned in sick\ndistaste.\n\nThe Dreamer's eyes fell before the luminous scene in which the Hunter\nwas the one dark stain. How worse than blind his whole career had been.\nHis life was but a crowded list of failures. How fair were Nature's\npictures everywhere before he marred them with greedy, sordid touch.\nNow he saw that the world was alive with a wondrous reality for those\nwho sought it unselfishly.\n\n\"The fault is all my own,\" he groaned in bitter shame. \"That is mine,\nindeed, all mine. Oh, for a chance to redeem this wretched past!\" he\ncried, pierced with so keen a heartache that he awoke.\n\nThrough the open windows the dewy morning air came in, sweet with the\nbreath of flowers and alive with the subdued joy of birds. The great\nelms brooded over the lesser things with stately tenderness, while with\nslender, outstretched branches, like waving magnetic fingers, they\nsoothed and awakened the freshened earth. In the east the lavender\nveil fell down before the sacred flame which daily gives new hope and\nstrength to light dull lamps of clay.\n\n\n\n\nVENICE: by Grace Knoche\n\n\nIt is one of the world's wonders that a little community should rise\nup from the midst of untillable marsh lands--literally out of the\nsea--and within a few centuries, through its energy, thrift, invention,\nand sheer ability, should become a world power not only in diplomacy,\narms, and commerce, but in architecture, art, philosophy, and _belles\nlettres_. And all this, in spite of envy and attacks from without and\nconspiracies from within.\n\nThe power of Venice, \"the wealthy republic,\" was so great in her palmy\ndays that the honor of alliance with her was covetously sought by\nemperors and popes alike. At a time when, as history declares, a dictum\nfrom the Pope, or a threat of excommunication, would have brought\nalmost any other nation of Europe to its knees in groveling terror,\nVenice laughed at both and pursued the even tenor of her imperial way.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. FRA PAOLO SARPI]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. CARTA GATE AND\nCORNER OF DUCAL PALACE, VENICE, ITALY]\n\nThe climax of her independence of dogmatic rule was reached in those\nglorious and courageous later days when Fra Paolo Sarpi lived and\nguided her destinies, Sarpi, \"the noblest of the Venetians,\" who\nrealized more fully than any other in that republic the dangers that\nwould threaten should outside influences ever gain a foothold in the\nchambers of government. Had there been a successor to Fra Paolo, one\nworthy of his example, one who grasped his purposes, knew the spirit\nof the teacher that molded them and what beneficent power lay behind,\nwho possessed as well the power to continue Sarpi's work--had such\nan exceptional soul appeared, Venice would not have decayed. At Fra\nPaolo's death the decline of Venetian greatness set in.\n\nIn the course of her history--and three centuries practically included\nthe period of her undisputed greatness--Venice attained a position of\nsupremacy on virtually every line of activity. In war she was dreaded.\nSays Yriarte, author of _L'Histoire de Venise_:\n\n The arsenal of Venice, which still exists, was its palladium; the\n high organization of this establishment, the technical skill of its\n workmen, the specially selected body of the \"arsenalotti,\" to whom the\n republic entrusted the duty of guarding the senate and great council,\n and its admirable discipline, were for centuries the envy of other\n European powers.... At the most critical period in its history, when\n it (Venice) was engaged in its great struggle with the Turks ... the\n arsenal regularly sent forth a fully equipped galley each morning\n for a hundred successive days.... At the acme of its prosperity the\n arsenal employed 16,000 workmen.\n\nIt is impossible to touch upon the political life and fortunes of\nVenice in the short space of a single article. Moreover, information\non this is very accessible, for the Venetians themselves were great\nchroniclers, who firmly believed that their city was building in a\nstrange way for the future and that its foundation stones should not\nrest unmarked. And though the last thing these old recorders dreamed of\nwas the imminent decay of their proud city--their idol, their divinity,\nthe object of their passionate adoration--they were right. Venice _was_\nbuilding for the future--to which seeming mystery Theosophy also has\nthe key.\n\nSuffice it to say that when the inner history of Katherine Tingley's\nvisit to Venice, upon the occasion of her first trip around the\nworld in the interest of Theosophy, is given out publicly, a new\ninterpretation will be given to some of these old records. The spirit\nof Venice has never died although untoward aims and evils have for\nnearly four centuries obscured the outer expression of it. But that,\nlike the history of Fra Paolo, is another story, too, and volumes would\nbe needed to contain it.\n\nVenice was in her days the commercial link between Europe and the\nOrient and her merchants neglected no opportunity. The result was that\nnot only did the city become fabulously wealthy but new trades and\nwonderful art-crafts sprung up. Rare damasks, glass, tapestries, silks,\nenamels, metal-work of various kinds, plastic work, mosaics, brought\nfrom the countries of the Orient by Venetian merchants, served as\nmodels to craftsmen who not only copied but improved upon them in the\ngreat industrial centers which sprang up. Venetian art-craftsmanship\nbecame throughout Europe a synonym for the ultra, the perfect.\n\nA link between Italy and Greece, Venice afforded an asylum for Grecian\nmen of letters when the light in their own land failed. These men\nVenice honored. They taught in her universities; they lighted up in\nthe city not only a knowledge of the great literary monuments of\nthe ancients but a love for them; they filled her libraries with\ntranslations. Plato, Socrates, Thucydides, Strabo, Xenophon, Homer, and\nOrpheus, became something more than names. Says Yriarte:\n\n Venice, more than any other town, has the credit of having rescued\n from oblivion, by editions and translations, the master-pieces of\n Greek literature.\n\nThe art of printing was welcomed upon the very threshold of its\ndiscovery and the services of Venice on this line are unique in the\nhistory of letters. Her printers were not mere workmen; some of them\nwere scholars. \"The Aldine Press\" is synonymous with scholarship today\nas it was in renaissance Italy. Symonds describes the enthusiasm of\nthe elder Aldus (or Aldo) for Greek literature, and his life-ambition,\nwhich was \"to secure the literature of Greece from further accident\nby committing its chief masterpieces to type.\" He relates how Aldo,\nalready a scholar and qualified as a humanist, \"according to the\ncustom of the country,\" spent a further two years in a study of Greek\nliterature. Not a Venetian himself and with no ties in the city, by\nsome \"accident of fortune\" he selected Venice as the place in which to\nbuild up a work whose parallel the world has not since afforded and of\nwhich a similar record is not to be found in the past unless possibly\nin the secret records of ancient China.\n\n At Venice Aldo gathered an army of Greek scholars and compositors\n around him. His trade was carried on by Greeks and Greek was the\n language of his household. Instructions to typesetters and binders\n were given in Greek. The prefaces to his editions were written in\n Greek. Greeks from Crete collated MSS., read proofs, and gave models\n of calligraphy for casts of Greek type.\n\n Not counting the craftsmen employed in merely manual labor, Aldo\n entertained as many as thirty of these Greek assistants in his family.\n\n His own energy and industry were unremitting. In 1495 he issued the\n first volume of his Aristotle. Four more volumes completed the work in\n 1497-98. Nine comedies of Aristophanes appeared in 1498. Thucydides,\n Sophocles, and Herodotus followed in 1502; Xenophon's _Hellenics_ and\n Euripides in 1503; Demosthenes in 1504.\n\n The troubles of Italy, which pressed heavily on Venice, suspended\n Aldo's labors for awhile. But in 1508 he resumed his work with an\n edition of the minor Greek orators; and in 1509 appeared the lesser\n works of Plutarch.\n\n Then came another stoppage. The league of Cambray had driven Venice\n back to her lagoons, and all the forces of the republic were\n concentrated on a struggle to the death with the allied powers of\n Europe. In 1513 Aldo reappeared with Plato ... in a preface eloquently\n and earnestly comparing the miseries of warfare and the woes of Italy\n with the sublime and tranquil objects of a student's life. Pindar,\n Hesychius, and Athenaeus followed in 1514.\n\nBut Aldo's enthusiasm for the classics was not confined to those of\nGreece. He issued superb editions of the principal Latin and Italian\nclassics as well, in an exquisite type especially cast for his Press\nand which it is said he had copied from the very handwriting of\nPetrarch.\n\nThere is something very reminiscent of the Orient in Aldo's reverence\nfor beautiful calligraphy. To the Chinese scholar the ideograph is\nsacred and to write it well demands art and philosophy both. There is\nan ancient Chinese legend which says that once upon a time certain\nideographs \"came down from their tablets and spoke unto mankind.\"\nCurious, that one should recall it here. But not to know Aldo is to\nmiss a great light upon the spirit that made Venice what it became, the\nspirit that animated every soul in that wonderful city--devotion to\na high ideal, absolute unselfishness and service. Where is the Press\ntoday that combines these unpurchasable qualities with the acme of\nscholarship? We know of one--but only one.\n\nEven in a short article, with Venice herself a subject for volumes,\nlibraries, it is impossible to omit the following--also from Symonds:\n\n Aldo ... burned with a humanist's enthusiasm for the books he printed;\n and we may well pause astonished at his industry, when we remember\n what a task it was in that age to prepare texts of authors so numerous\n and so voluminous from MSS. Whatever the students of this century may\n think of Aldo's scholarship, they must allow that only vast erudition\n and thorough familiarity with the Greek language could have enabled\n him to accomplish what he did. In his own days Aldo's learning won the\n hearty acknowledgment of ripe scholars.\n\n To his fellow workers he was uniformly generous, free from jealousy\n and prodigal of praise. His stores of MSS. were as open to the learned\n as his printed books were liberally given to the public. While aiming\n at that excellence of typography which renders his editions the\n treasures of the book-collector, he strove at the same time to make\n them cheap.... His great undertaking was carried on under continual\n difficulties, arising from strikes among his workmen, the piracies of\n rivals, and the interruptions of war. When he died, bequeathing Greek\n literature as an inalienable possession to the world, he was a poor\n man.\n\nTo touch with any show of justice upon the architecture of Venice would\ntask the eloquence of a Ruskin. But it is possible to indicate a few of\nthe causes that contributed to make Venice the architectural marvel of\nEurope and her palaces and churches unique in the world.\n\nAccording to tradition, there were both castles and \"churches\" in\nVenice several centuries before the earliest examples that survive.\nThe first \"church,\" it is said, was founded in 432 by one Giacomo del\nRialto, but the earliest of which we have tangible evidence--and it is\nstill standing--was built in the eleventh century. Of the eleventh and\ntwelfth century castles or palaces, a number still may be seen.\n\nVenetian architecture, like her literary and industrial life--indeed,\nlike her whole life--was a combination of Oriental and Occidental\ninfluences. Her people were discoverers, adapters; they had a\nperfect genius for appreciation of the artistic, the eloquent, the\nstatesmanlike, the progressive--in a word, \"the Good, the Beautiful and\nthe True\" in the work of others--and with opportunities strewn along\nher path thicker than flowers in June, Venice seemed to grasp them all.\n\nAlthough Venetian architecture was complex and composite to a degree,\nit is possible to trace the predominating influences as they set\ntheir mark upon style after style. Up to the thirteenth century the\nprevailing style was Byzantine, of which the leading characteristics\nseem to have been in Venice the semi-circular arch and a prodigal use\nof sculptured ornament. The method of construction employed by the\nVenetians--the walls being of a fine hard brick which was covered with\nstucco, or in the finer buildings with thin slabs of costly marbles and\nporphyries--permitted no end of surface decoration. And in this the\ncolor-loving Venetians reveled. Moldings, carvings, rolls, _cavettos_,\nflutings, panels, bands and diapers of flowing scroll work, lent\ntheir support to most varied adaptations of characteristic Persian or\nMoslem design, with its semi-conventional foliage, animals, dragons,\nbirds, flowers, etc. Markedly beautiful, and in a way peculiar, is the\neffect of the fa\u00e7ades of many buildings, \"studded with gorgeous panels\nlike jewels on a rich brocade.\"\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. VENICE]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. A \"STREET\" IN VENICE]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ST. MARK'S, VENICE]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. RIO PINELLI]\n\nBut in the thirteenth century a period of transition ushered out the\nround Byzantine arch, and in the pointed Gothic arch of the countries\nimmediately north. Very soon, however, the Early Renaissance style, as\nexemplified in Verona and other Italian cities, became a dominating\ninfluence, this in turn to give way to the Classic, which became the\n\"grand style\" of sixteenth-century Venice. After that, the deluge--of\nmediocrity.\n\nThe Venetians, a conquering people by virtue of their navy which was\nthe envy of Europe, made their city the storehouse of rich treasures\nstripped from the ruined cities of the past, and from other cities made\nher own by conquest. And her merchants did the rest. Quantities of\nrich marbles were brought from fallen Aquileia, Ravenna, and Heraclea,\ncities which in their turn had brought them from Egypt, Greece, and\nArabia, and Numidia--\n\n the red porphyry of Egypt and the green porphyry of Mt. Taygetus,\n red and gray Egyptian granites, the beautiful lapis Atracius (_verde\n antico_), Oriental alabaster from Numidia and Arabia, the Phrygian\n _pavonazzetto_ with its purple mottlings, cipollino from Carystus,\n and, in great quantities, the alabaster-like Proconnesian marble with\n bluish and amber-colored striations.\n\nAdd to this magnificence a lavish use of gold and color, particularly\nthe warm ochres and earth reds, and the costly ultramarine, and the\nmodern mind, accustomed to uncolored and unstriated marbles and the\nquiet gray of stone, can hardly imagine the gorgeous luxuriance of\ncolor that marked the city in her prime.\n\nThe architectural glory of Venice is of course the Church of St. Mark,\nwhich, says Professor Middleton,\n\n stands quite alone among the buildings of the world in respect of\n its unequaled richness of material and decoration, and also from the\n fact that it has been constructed with the spoils of countless other\n buildings, and therefore forms a museum of sculpture of the most\n varied kind, nearly every century from the fourth down to the latest\n Renaissance being represented in some carved panel or capital, if not\n more largely....\n\n During the long period from its dedication in 1085 till the overthrow\n of the Venetian republic by Napoleon, every doge's reign saw some\n addition to the rich decorations of the church--mosaics, sculpture,\n wall linings or columns of precious marbles. By degrees the whole\n walls inside and outside were completely faced either with glass\n mosaics on gold grounds or with precious colored marbles and\n porphyries, plain white marble being only used for sculpture, and\n then thickly covered with gold.... No less than five hundred columns\n of porphyry and costly marbles are used.... A whole volume might be\n written on the sculptured capitals, panels, screens.\n\n The use of inlay is almost peculiar to St. Mark's, as is also the\n method of enriching sculptured reliefs with backgrounds of brilliant\n gold and colored glass mosaics, producing an effect of extraordinary\n magnificence.\n\n One of the great glories of St. Mark's is the most magnificent gold\n retable in the world, most sumptuously decorated with jewels and\n enamels, usually known as the Pala d'Oro.... This marvelous retable is\n made up of an immense number of microscopically minute gold cloisonn\u00e9\n enamel pictures, of the utmost splendor in color and detail.\n\nOf the architecture and art of the great council hall of the doges, the\nDucal Palace, little need be said after the description of St. Mark's,\nfor while not so lavishly ornamented, it is a world in itself in the\nstyle of architectural beauty that most appealed to the Venetians.\n\nThe original Palace of the Doges was built in the ninth century, but\nthe vicissitudes of war and of fire decreed its rebuilding several\ntimes, and the Ducal Palace that we know today dates from the\nfourteenth century. Says Professor Middleton:\n\n The two main fa\u00e7ades, those towards the sea and the _Piazzetta_,\n consist of a repetition of the same design, that which was begun in\n the early years of the fourteenth century.... The design of these\n fa\u00e7ades is very striking, and unlike that of any other building in the\n world....\n\n The main walls are wholly of brick; but none was left visible. The\n whole surface of the upper story is faced with small blocks of fine\n Istrian and red Verona marbles, arranged so as to make a large diaper\n pattern, with, in the center of each lozenge, a cross made of verde\n antico and other costly marbles. The colonnades, string-courses, and\n other decorative features are built in solid Istrian stone.\n\n Very beautiful sculpture, executed with an ivory-like minuteness\n of finish, is used to decorate the whole building with wonderful\n profusion. At each of the three free angles is a large group\n immediately over the lower column. At the south-east angle is the\n Drunkenness of Noah, at the south-west the Fall of Man, and at the\n north-west the Judgment of Solomon. Over each at a much higher level\n is a colossal figure of an archangel--Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel.\n\n The sculpture of all the capitals, especially of those on the\n thirty-six lower columns, is very beautiful and elaborate, a great\n variety of subjects being introduced among the decorative foliage,\n such as the virtues, vices, months of the year, age of man,\n occupations, sciences, animals, nations of the world, and the like.\n On the whole, the sculpture of the fourteenth century part is finer\n than that of the later part near St. Mark's.\n\n On the walls of the chief council chambers are a magnificent series\n of oil paintings by Tintoretto and other, less able, Venetians--among\n them Tintoretto's masterpiece, Bacchus and Ariadne and his enormous\n picture of Paradise, the largest oil painting in the world.\n\nUp to and during a part of the sixteenth century the state prisons were\non the ground floor of the Ducal Palace, but they were finally removed\nto a new structure on the opposite side of the narrow canal, and a\nbridge, the \"Ponte dei Sospiri\" or \"Bridge of Sighs,\" was thrown across\nthe canal, connecting the two buildings.\n\nIn the magnificence and beauty of its homes--its _palazzi_ or\npalaces--Venice is unique in the world. It is said that no other city,\nthen or since, is to be compared with Venice in the loveliness and\nromantic interest of its domestic architecture. Up to the twelfth\ncentury the Byzantine style of architecture prevailed, but the\nthirteenth and fourteenth century palaces--whose builders were more\nor less influenced by the design of the Ducal Palace, then nearing\ncompletion--are Venetian Gothic.\n\nThe climax of splendor was reached in the \"Golden House\" the wonderful\n_Ca' d'Oro_, so named from the lavish use of gold leaf on its\nsculptured ornamentations. It was literally a \"golden house.\"\n\n No words can describe the magnificence of this palace on the Grand\n Canal, its whole fa\u00e7ade faced with the most costly variegated marbles,\n once picked out with gold, vermillion and ultramarine, the walls\n pierced with the elaborate traceried windows and enriched with bands\n and panels of delicate carving--in combined richness of form and\n wealth of color giving an effect of almost dazzling splendor.\n\nBut following close upon this magnificence--which was reflected\nin nearly all the palaces that were built toward the close of the\nfourteenth century--came the inevitable reaction toward a less ornate\nstyle, the Early Renaissance. Compared with the _Ca' d'Oro_ one\nwriter has described the sixteenth century palaces, which followed\nEarly Renaissance and Classic models, as \"dull and scholastic.\" They\ncertainly must have been a restful change.\n\nSo much for the architecture of Venice--\n\n White swan of cities, slumbering in her nest\n So wonderfully built among the reeds\n Of the lagoon.\n\nBut the visitor to the Venice of today finds his interest in her\nbuildings doubled from the fact that upon the walls of many of them are\nto be found the works of some of the greatest painters the Occident\nhas known. When we reflect that in the sixteenth century Venice\npossessed a school of art that for power, technical perfection, and\ngorgeous interpretation of color, stood pre-eminent in its own day\nand has not been surpassed in ours, little more need be said. Palma\nVecchio, Giorgione, the great portraitist Lorenzo Lotto, Paul Veronese,\nTintoretto, and--Titian! What a galaxy! Surely nothing more need be\nsaid upon the art of Venice. As in everything else, the impossible\nseemed not the exceptional but the mediocre.\n\nIn short, to give one the outline of only a few of the activities of\nthe people of this City of Destiny is to drown oneself in superlatives.\nHer history is as fraught with heroism, with simple dauntless courage,\nas that of the Dutch Republic; it is as colored with romance as that\nof Palmyra or Thebes. _Karma_ is the only key to an understanding of\nthe strange destiny which brought to flower such transcendant energy in\nso seemingly sterile a soil. _Reincarnation_ is the only theory which\ncan hope to throw light upon the _quality_ of effort that marked her\ncitizens as a body of people apart, who must have worked together in\nthe past as they unquestionably will in the future.\n\nNot that Venice was perfect; her citizens made their mistakes; there\nwere the jealous and the covetous, and there were conspiracies within\nher borders as well as without. Her doges were not all, like Caesar's\nwife, \"above suspicion,\" her counsellors were not all like Fra Paolo\nnor all her scholars like Aldo. But there was no apathy and there _was_\na nucleus of impersonal, united effort sufficiently vitalized to hold\nback the agencies of disintegration during century after century of\nsteady upward effort. And then the Wheel of Destiny turned and the\nVenice of Sarpi passed.\n\nBut the days to dawn will again see Venice whirled upward into the\nlight on the rim of this mighty Wheel. This is inevitable. It is\nTheosophical teaching. The old clans will gather--and _there_--and they\nwill work again and aspire again and build again; and in the light of\nthe lessons learned through the failures and successes of the past will\nrise again to greater heights.\n\nDoge and counsellor, artist and craftsman, scientist and scholar,\nstatesman, philosopher, and poet--as the \"whirling wheel of spiritual\nwill and power\" brought to you great opportunities in the past, so will\nit bring them to you again and yet again, in the future.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE DUCAL PALACE,\nVENICE IN THE FOREGROUND THE LION OF ST. MARK'S]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. COURTYARD OF THE\nDUCAL PALACE]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. BRIDGE OF THE RIALTO]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PONTE DEI\nSOSPIRI--THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS, VENICE]\n\n\n\n\nHUMANITY AND THEOSOPHICAL EDUCATION: by Elizabeth C. Spalding\n\n Had our modern philosophers studied, instead of sneering at, the old\n Books of Wisdom--they would have found that which would have unveiled\n to them many a secret of ancient church and state. As they have not\n the result is evident. The dark cycle of Kali-Yug has brought back\n a Babel of modern thought, compared with which the \"confusion of\n tongues\" itself, appears a harmony.--_H. P. Blavatsky_\n\n\nTo the placid minds of one part of humanity the idea that there is\nan imperious need for Humanity to be saved, may seem quite absurd.\nTo them the world appears to be moving on well enough; children are\nborn to them, and are trained in the same methods they were, and their\nancestors before them for centuries, possibly; life passes smoothly\nalong, so they ask in wonder, Why change?\n\nOn the other hand is noticeable amongst a large class, a great unrest,\na fretting against established conditions, and a reaching out for\nsomething new. Individuals striving with different motives, but massing\ntogether into various societies, and associations, united in the\npurpose of breaking down the old, but with no ideals upon which to form\nnew and better ones. It is like building an edifice on shifting sands.\n\nThis vague but extreme restlessness is permeating every race and\ncountry. Is it not pitiful that with such an expenditure of force,\nthere should be a lack of the right understanding to lead men and\nwomen out of all their difficulties, discouragements, and adverse\nconditions, to the correct solution of life's problems? Truly the\nworld is harvesting a chaotic mass of thought that unless checked,\nwill tend rapidly towards degeneracy, and the disintegration of all\nthings. We need a clearer and cleaner atmosphere mentally, morally, and\nphysically, and to secure this the minds of people must be opened to\nthe truth.\n\nTheosophy offers to humanity this knowledge, and shows the way\nto restore balance and harmony. These few words convey a simple\ndeclaration of the truth, but a world of meaning lies in them.\n\nDown through the ages has this touch of wisdom been kept burning in the\nhearts of a few. Great Teachers passing its light to their pupils, they\nin their turn to others, thus forming a noble and devoted band. They\nheld the knowledge as a sacred trust awaiting the time to come, when\nhumanity could receive these truths, without crucifying the great Souls\nwho revealed to them the teachings.\n\nH. P. Blavatsky had the key to this knowledge, the \"Secret Archaic\nDoctrine\" in other words \"Theosophy,\" which she brought to the western\nworld. In _Isis Unveiled_, written thirty-three years ago, she wrote:\n\n The said key must be turned seven times before the whole system is\n divulged. We will give it but one turn, and thereby allow the profane\n one glimpse into the mystery. Happy he who understands the whole.\n\nIn her book, _The Secret Doctrine_, which followed later, she gave out\nmuch more information. So little did the world then understand her\nthat she was considered a charlatan by some. But others did recognize\nthat a Teacher had come, and they gathered around her. She appointed\nWm. Q. Judge, another Teacher, as her successor, to carry on the work\nshe had created, the Theosophical Society. He, in his turn, appointed\nKatherine Tingley, the present Leader of the Universal Brotherhood\nand Theosophical Society, who is electrifying the world with her\neducational work in different countries.\n\nKatherine Tingley is now making practical the true Theosophical\neducation.\n\nWhat is a Theosophical education?\n\n\"Man Know Thyself,\" was one of the most valued teachings of the\nancients. To know that one is a compound being, spiritual, mental, and\nphysical; to know that this trinity also makes man a dual being; that\nhe has both the potentiality of the God, and the lower forces as well;\nto learn how to conquer the evil that the God may prevail, and the soul\nbe liberated to become the living power in him for good. All this is\nbut a part of what Theosophy teaches.\n\nSocrates asked \"Which of us is skilful or successful in the treatment\nof the Soul, and which of us has had good teachers?\" If that question\nwere asked today Katherine Tingley's students could answer, here, at\nPoint Loma, and her various centers throughout the world. Consider\nwhat it means to a child, to enter upon life's path favored with an\nunderstanding of these truths, imparted to him in such a simple,\npractical, logical manner that he lives naturally from the beginning,\nthe proper life. \"The first shoot of every living thing is by far the\ngreatest and fullest.\" Such a child has the right foundation on which\nto build; he is truly educated.\n\nThe physical has not been strengthened at a loss of the mental and\nspiritual; the intellectual has not been so abnormally developed that\nthe intuitional and spiritual have been absolutely shut off. The\nTheosophical education gives a gradual unfolding of the whole nature,\nfrom within, outwards. Its growth may be likened to the ripening of the\nLotus seed into the pure, white perfect blossom. The soul of the child\nwho has developed under this training (making due allowance for Karmic\nheredity) will look forth, when matured, upon the world with so clear\na vision, that confusion of ideas will be to him an unknown quantity.\nHe can more clearly detect right from wrong--the necessary from the\nunnecessary, the practical from the unpractical--the true brotherhood\nfrom the selfish independence. In fact he will restore equilibrium, and\nalways for humanity's welfare.\n\nTheosophy has been a revelation to the women. Women as a rule cling\nto old established forms and conventionalities, some from fear of\nvarying kinds, others from ignorance, or a lack of desire to take\nthe initiative, owing to an inertia which the habits and customs of\ncenturies have bred in them. It is mainly because of the manifold\npossibilities which have been dormant so long in woman that she feels\nthe impelling urge to do something now, perhaps more than ever before.\nIn her effort to respond, she sometimes strikes an extreme note which\nresults in making the whole tide of life about her, of which she should\nbe the harmonious center, stormy and discordant. Without the spiritual\nthread of knowledge how can she act wisely? Yet woman is responsible to\na large degree for the unsettled condition that the minds of men are in\ntoday, and she always will carry a heavy responsibility, because she is\nthe matrix of humanity.\n\nOne of our best-known American cartoonists has pictured the condition\nof the world, as a large globe held in a woman's hand. Consider what a\npower for good woman has in her position of motherhood, which must of\ncourse embrace wifehood. Words cannot depict all the fine possibilities\nand capabilities of mother-love. It has been said that great men have\ngreat mothers, and if we trace the life and thought of the mother prior\nto the child's birth, we can invariably find a clue which explains the\nstrength, or weaknesses of the child.\n\nAre not the majority of humanity simply drifting? Men and women\ngrowing apart, the seeds of separateness and consequent disintegration\nbeing sown, instead of their growing together into the nobler, fuller\ncomradeship which Theosophy encourages.\n\nAs Katherine Tingley has said:\n\n We want not only the hearts, but the divine fire, the divine life,\n and the splendid royal warriorship of men and women. Theosophy is the\n panacea.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE SCREEN OF TIME]\n\nBOOK REVIEWS: \"Commentary upon the Maya-Tzental Perez Codex\" (William\nE. Gates) by C. J. Ryan\n\n\nThe Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard\nUniversity recently published a new _Paper_ (Vol. VI, No. 1) on the\nsubject of Central American hieroglyph writing. The _Paper_ is entitled\n\"_Commentary upon the Maya-Tzental Perez Codex_, with a concluding\n_Note upon the Linguistic Problem of the Maya Glyphs_.\" Professor\nWm. E. Gates, International Theosophical Headquarters, Point Loma,\nthe author, has been a member of the Theosophical Society for about\ntwenty-five years, beginning the serious study of Theosophy during\nH. P. Blavatsky's lifetime. Later, an ardent supporter of William Q.\nJudge, he is now one of the most active workers at Point Loma under the\ndirection of Katherine Tingley. Professor Gates has applied himself\nlargely to the historical and ethnological side of H. P. Blavatsky's\nteachings, and, by a careful study of her _Secret Doctrine_ and other\nworks, he has been able to bring to the problem of ancient American\nculture a fund of information and many valuable clues not familiar\nto the average student of archaeology. Professor F. W. Putnam of the\nPeabody Museum, Harvard, in his prefatory note to the _Commentary_,\nsays:\n\n The Museum is fortunate in adding to its collaborators Mr. William\n E. Gates, of Point Loma, California, who for more than ten years has\n been an earnest student of American hieroglyphs. From his life-long\n studies in linguistics in connexion with his research in \"the motifs\n of civilizations and cultures\" he comes well-equipped to take up the\n difficult and all-absorbing study of American hieroglyphic writing.\n Mr. Gates has materially advanced this study by his reproduction\n of the glyphs in type. These type-forms he has used first in his\n reproduction of the Codex Perez, and now in this Commentary they are\n used for the first time in printing. This important aid to the study\n will be highly appreciated by all students of American hieroglyphs, as\n it will greatly facilitate the presentation of the results of future\n research.\n\nThe Harvard _Papers_ are taken by the principal Universities and\nlearned societies throughout the world. The Commentary on the Perez\nCodex and the reproduction of it have been printed by the Aryan Press\nat Point Loma and are fine examples of the highest class of printing.\n\n[Illustration: A PAGE OF THE MAYA-TZENTAL PEREZ CODEX FROM CENTRAL\nAMERICA]\n\n[Illustration: PEREZ CODEX: PAGE 17]\n\nThe Perez Codex itself, of which Professor Gates' _Commentary_ treats,\nand of which he has just issued a new, definitive edition, redrawn,\ncolored as in the original and slightly restored, is a Central American\nmanuscript on specially coated \"maguey\" paper, of unknown antiquity.\nIt was discovered about fifty years ago in a forgotten chimney corner\nof the Biblioth\u00e8que Imp\u00e9riale, Paris, black with dust and without\nrecord of its antecedents. It is but a fragment, but fortunately\nthe twenty-two remaining pages contain several chapters complete. The\nartistic quality of the work is of a high order; the coloring is most\nharmonious and the drawing of the hieroglyphs firm and refined. The\nhuman figures in the accompanying illustrations are conventionalized\nin certain grotesque though evidently intentional ways, but they have\ncharacter and a real dignity, and admirably fit the spaces alloted\nto them. As an example of decorative art the manuscript must take\nhigh rank. It irresistibly reminds one of the best Egyptian Papyri.\nProfessor Gates says:\n\n And when, ... one advances to an appreciation of the work in its\n bearings as a whole, one has to acknowledge himself facing the\n production of craftsmen who had the inheritance of not only\n generations, but ages of training. Such a combination of complete\n mastery in composition, perfect control of definite and fixed forms,\n and hand technique, can grow up from barbarism in no few hundred\n years.... Had we nothing but the Perez Codex and Stela P at Copan, the\n merits of their execution alone, weighed simply in comparison with\n observed history elsewhere, would prove that we have to do not with\n the traces of an ephemeral, but with the remains of a wide-spread,\n settled race and civilization, worthy to be ranked with or beyond even\n such as the Roman, in its endurance, development and influence in the\n world, and the beginnings of whose culture are still totally unknown.\n As to the Codex before us, we can only imagine what the beauty,\n especially of the pages we now come to discuss, must have been when\n the whole was fresh and perfect.\n\nBut, alas, no one can yet read the meaning of this and the two\nother Maya Codices that have escaped the destructive hands of the\nover-zealous Spanish missionaries who saw nothing in such things but\nhindrances to the spreading of the \"True Faith,\" yet at the time of the\nConquest they could be read easily by the cultured natives, and the\n_language is still spoken_! Though it seems almost incredible, there is\nno living person known who can decipher any of the hieroglyphs on the\nmanuscripts or the hundreds of stone monuments except a few calendar\nsigns and other signs of little consequence. We are indebted to Don\nDiego Landa, second bishop of Yucatan, for the destruction of all the\nmanuscripts he could find, but it is to him also that we owe some\ngratitude for preserving the meaning of the hieroglyphs of the days and\nthe months and a few other signs, which he inserted in his book. The\nlittle he has given us is not enough to help much; we may have to await\nthe discovery of some \"Rosetta Stone\" like that which opened the lost\nsecret of the Egyptian sacred writings to Champollion. In Professor\nGates' words:\n\n Up to date our knowledge of the meanings of the glyphs is still to all\n intents and purposes limited to the direct tradition we have through\n Landa, and the deductions immediately involved in these. We know the\n day and month signs, the numbers, including 0 and 20, four units\n of the archaic calendar count (the day, tun, katun and cycle), the\n cardinal point signs, the negative particle. We have not fully solved\n the uinal or month sign, which seems to be chuen on the monuments and\n a cauac, or chuen, in the manuscripts. We are able to identify what\n must be regarded as metaphysical or esoteric applications of certain\n glyphs in certain places, such as the face numerals. But every one of\n these points is either deducible directly by necessary mathematical\n calculation, or else from the names of certain signs given by Landa\n in his day and month list, and then found in other combinations, such\n as _yax_, _kin_, etc. That we have as many of the points as we have,\n and still cannot form from them the key--that we cannot read the\n glyphs--is a constant wonder; but a fact nevertheless.\n\nA large portion of the _Commentary_ is devoted to a highly technical,\ndetailed and closely-reasoned examination and analysis of the glyphs\nand illustrations in the Codex, of interest chiefly to specialists, but\na considerable space is given to some general conclusions on language\nwhich are highly significant to students of Theosophy.\n\n There is one point from which this question of American origins, at\n least of American place in human society and civilization, can be\n studied in its broader lines, even with what materials we have. It is\n that of language in general. From one point of view language is man\n himself, and it certainly is civilization. Without it man is not man,\n a Self-expressing and social being.... It is the constant effort of\n the conscious self to formulate thought. It is the use of the energy\n of creation, of objectivation, a veritable many-colored rainbow bridge\n between the inner or higher man and the outer or lower worlds. And\n it is not only the expression of Man as man, but in its varied forms\n it is the inevitable and living expression of each man or body of\n men at any and every point of time. Itself boundless as an ocean,\n it is in its infinite forms and streams and colors and sounds, the\n faithful and exact exponent both of the sources and channels by which\n it has come, and of the banks in which it is held, racial, national or\n individual.... Every word or form comes to us with the thought-impress\n of every man or nation that has used or molded it before us. We must\n take it as it comes, but we give it something of ourselves as we pass\n it on. If our intellectual and spiritual thought is aflame, whether as\n nation or individual, we may purify it, energize it, give it power to\n form and arrange the atoms around it--and we have a new literature,\n a new and beneficent, creative social vehicle of intercourse, mutual\n understanding, and human unification....\n\n It is evident that the criterion of the perfectness of any language\n is not to be found in a comparison of its forms or methods with those\n of any other, but in its fitness as a vehicle for the expression of\n deeper life, of the best and greatest that is in those who use it, and\n above all in its ability to react and stimulate newer and yet greater\n mental and spiritual activity and expression. The force behind man,\n demanding expression through him, and him only, into the human life of\n all, is infinite--of necessity infinite. There is no limit, nor ever\n has been any limit, to what man may bring down into the dignifying,\n broadening and enriching of human life and evolution, save in his own\n ability to comprehend, express, and live it. And the brightness and\n cleanness of the tools whereby he formulates his thought, as well as\n the worthiness and fitness of the substance and the forms into which\n he shapes it for others to see, are the essentials of his craft....\n\n There is one great broad line that divides the nations and\n civilizations of the earth, past and present, in all their arts of\n expression. We may call it that of the ideographic as against the\n literal. It controls the inner form of language and of languages; it\n manifests in the passage of thought from man to man; it determines\n whether the writing of the people shall be hieroglyphic or alphabetic;\n it gives both life and form to the ideals of their art. It is a\n distinction that was clearly recognized by Wilhelm von Humboldt,\n when he laid down that the incorporative characteristic essential to\n all the American languages is the result of the exaltation of the\n imaginative over the ratiocinative elements of mind.\n\nIdeographic writing directs the mind of the reader by means of a\npicture or a symbol directly to the idea existing in the mind of the\none who uses it; while alphabetic or literal writing is simply the\nwritten expression of the sound, and only indirectly expresses the idea.\n\nPassing on from the culture of ancient America with its ideographs, the\nwriter draws attention to the great transition of thought, as indicated\nby language, that took place in Central Asia probably, the supposed\nseat of the Aryan beginnings after the destruction of Atlantis and the\ngeneral break-up of the former civilizations. He says:\n\n I believe ... that coincident with a new and universal world-epoch, as\n wide in its cultural scope as the difference between the ideographic\n and literal, there was finally formed a totally new vehicle for\n the use of human thought, the inflectional, literal, alphabetic.\n That this vehicle was perfected into some great speech, the direct\n ancestor of Sanskrit, into the _forms_ of which were concentrated\n all the old power of the ancient hieroglyphs and their underlying\n concepts. For Sanskrit, while the oldest is also the mightiest of\n Aryan grammars; and no one who has studied its forms, or heard\n its speech from educated native mouths, can call it anything but\n concentrated spiritual power. That the force which went on the one\n hand into the Sanskrit forms, was on the other perpetuated on into\n the special genius of Chinese, in which, as we know it, we have a\n retarded survival, not of course of outer form so much as of method\n and essence. And in Tibetan, in spite of all that is said to the\n contrary, I suspect that we have a derivative, not from either Chinese\n or Sanskrit as we know them, but by a medial line from a common point.\n\nMany students feel convinced that once we solve the problem of the\nMaya-Tzental manuscripts and carved inscriptions, which undoubtedly\nrelate to enormous periods of time, we shall have conclusive evidences\nof the civilization and destruction of Atlantis. Several illuminating\nquotations from H. P. Blavatsky's _Secret Doctrine_ are given by\nProfessor Gates, and in his last paragraph he sums up the results\nof his long application to the study of ancient American and other\nlanguages, in which he has been so notably helped by the teachings of\nTheosophy, in these words:\n\n And I am convinced that the widest door there is to be opened to\n this past of the human race, is that of the Maya glyphs. The narrow\n limitations of our mental horizon as to the greatness and dignity of\n man, of his past, and of human evolution, were set back widely by\n Egypt and what she has had to show, and again by the Sanskrit; but the\n walls are still there, and advances, however rapid, are but gradual.\n With the reading of America I believe the walls themselves will fall,\n and a new conception of past history will come.\n\n\n\n\nA NEW MAGAZINE\n\n Translation of an article that appeared in the Gothenburg paper\n _G\u00f6teborgs Handels- och Sj\u00f6farts Tidning_ for August 23, 1911, written\n by the literary and dramatic critic of the paper, J. Atterbom.\n\n\nTHE first number of a new international magazine which seems worthy of\nrecognition is now out in a Swedish edition. The publication is called\n_Den Teosofiska V\u00e4gen_ (_The Theosophical Path_) and the ultimate\ndirection is in the hands of Katherine Tingley, the Leader of the\ninternational Theosophical Movement. The editor of the Swedish edition\nis Dr. Gustaf Zander, Stockholm.\n\nThis monthly magazine is intended to continue, on a broader scale, the\nwork of the former magazine _Theosophia_, which has been published\nfor a good many years. The interest in Theosophy has grown steadily\nof late, not only in our country but in all civilized countries. And\nthe more attention the Theosophical Movement has attracted through\nits propaganda and educational activities, the more the need has been\nfelt of a publication which, instead of devoting most of its space to\ntheoretical Theosophy and the deeper teachings of its philosophy suited\nto advanced students, would serve primarily to enlighten and inform\nall genuine seekers of Truth upon the essential character of this\nTheosophical Movement throughout the world, and indicate _the path_\nalong which its workers are trying to make Theosophy a living power in\nthe world's life, as well as in the daily life of each of them.\n\nThe new international magazine, which is published in America at\nthe Center of the Movement, Point Loma, California, and in England,\nGermany, Holland, and Sweden in the respective languages, will thus\nbe a valuable source of information for all who wish to know what\nTheosophy, as understood in the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical\nSociety and as an ideal power for good, is really doing in a practical\nway. The magazine seems to have an important mission to fulfil towards\nthe public in dispelling divers prejudices which the Movement has\nencountered in its progress; prejudices of which its adversaries have\nreadily sought to avail themselves. And all who would like to see\nbetter established those principles of compassion and helpfulness that\nlead to practical results have in this magazine an excellent means of\nreaching and helping new fellow-travelers on the path of Theosophy.\n\nThe international character of the magazine ensures contributions from\nprominent foreign writers on problems and questions of general human\nand international interest. And the intimate connexion with Point Loma,\nit is stated, will allow it to present some views of the life of the\nStudents there, and to show some of the causes that have made the R\u00e2ja\nYoga College at Point Loma an educational institution of world-wide\nsignificance.\n\nNot long ago Mrs. Tingley secured an estate on Visings\u00f6, as all know,\nin order to establish a school there on the same lines. As a reminder\nof this the Swedish publication opens with a picture of the ruins\nof Visingsborg Castle. Under the heading \"The Path\" are given some\nquotations from William Q. Judge, who was a Student and co-worker of\nH. P. Blavatsky, the Founder of the Theosophical Movement. Later he\nbecame her successor. He passed away in 1896 and was followed by Mrs.\nTingley. General information regarding the early days and growth of the\nTheosophical Movement can be found at the end of the magazine, where a\nr\u00e9sum\u00e9 is given.\n\nH. P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society is the subject of a\nspecial article. Then follow under the heading \"On Firm Basis Stands\nthe Doctrine of Karma\" some profound thoughts of Viktor Rydberg. He\nsays in part:\n\n Our acts and their effects constitute a series as everlasting as all\n other series of causes in nature. If you think that death on earth\n is able to break it, do not for confirmation plead the judgment of\n natural science. Science has its own ground and method, and knows that\n it has to explain the quantitative series of causes; beyond these\n it is unable to go. If you have not conviction with respect to the\n unseen, beware of the contrary shallow idea, that everything which\n cannot be seen does not really exist.... The doctrine of Karma has\n sprung from the depths of righteousness, which are indeed those of\n truth. No one escapes the effects of his acts.\n\nAn article by the editor, Dr. Zander, is on \"The Power of Imagination\nInherent in Man.\" Professor Osvald Sir\u00e9n gives a profusely illustrated\ndescription of Point Loma; and Mr. Per Fernholm, M. E., who is\nliving at that place, gives some thoughts on Sweden in the Stone\nAge, elucidating some points in our ancient history in the light of\nTheosophical chronology, which seems to differ somewhat from that still\nadopted by archaeologists and geologists.\n\nThe American publication presents perhaps a still fuller outline of\nthe field proposed to be covered by the magazine, as also of the\nresources that the Theosophical Movement possesses for the realization\nof its objects. A prominent place is evidently given to Art--music,\npainting, and sculpture, literature and drama--as a means to reach a\nwider circle; serving as a mediator between the supersensible and the\nsensible, the immaterial spiritual life and the material physical life.\n\nThe object of the magazine is placed in a special light by a quotation\nfrom H. P. Blavatsky, chosen as motto in the American edition. It reads:\n\n The Secret Doctrine is the common property of the countless millions\n of men born under various climates, in times with which History\n refuses to deal, and to which esoteric teachings assign dates\n incompatible with the theories of Geology and Anthropology. The\n birth and evolution of the Sacred Science of the Past are lost in\n the very night of Time.... It is only by bringing before the reader\n an abundance of proofs all tending to show that in every age, under\n every condition of civilization and knowledge, the educated classes of\n every nation made themselves the more or less faithful echoes of one\n identical system and its fundamental traditions--that he can be made\n to see that so many streams of the same water must have had a common\n source from which they started. What was this source?... There must be\n truth and fact in that which every people of antiquity accepted and\n made the foundation of its religions and its faith.\n\nA full list of general Theosophical literature is found in the magazine.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STRANGE LITTLE GIRL: a Story for the Children, by V.M.\n\nIllustrations by N. Roth. 12mo, about 70 pages, cloth 75 cents.\n\n\nThis little book, printed by the Aryan Theosophical Press, Point Loma,\nCalifornia, will be ready in time to form a wholly charming Christmas\nor New Year's gift. It is in large clear type on good paper, and\nthe fourteen illustrations are quite unique. Eline, a princess who\nlived in a marvelous realm of joy and peace, divines from what some\ntravelers left unsaid that there is another and a different world. She\ninterrogates the king, who finally says the children are free to come\nand go. A harper arrives whose music speaks of far off sorrow. They\npass away together; she drinks the cup of forgetfulness, and reaches\nthe other world where many things happen of interest so supreme that we\nfancy older folk will be eagerly reading this book when the children\nare asleep, for it will interest both young and old.\n\n\n\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society\n\nFounded at New York City in 1875 by H. P. Blavatsky, William Q. Judge\nand others\n\nReorganized in 1898 by Katherine Tingley\n\nCentral Office, Point Loma, California\n\n\n The Headquarters of the Society at Point Loma with the buildings and\n grounds, are no \"Community\" \"Settlement\" or \"Colony.\" They form no\n experiment in Socialism, Communism, or anything of similar nature,\n but are the Central Executive Office of an international organization\n where the business of the same is carried on, and where the teachings\n of Theosophy are being demonstrated. Midway 'twixt East and West,\n where the rising Sun of Progress and Enlightenment shall one day\n stand at full meridian, the Headquarters of the Society unite the\n philosophic Orient with the practical West.\n\n\nMEMBERSHIP\n\n in the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society may be\n either \"at large\" or in a local Branch. Adhesion to the principle\n of Universal Brotherhood is the only pre-requisite to membership.\n The Organization represents no particular creed; it is entirely\n unsectarian, and includes professors of all faiths, only exacting from\n each member that large toleration of the beliefs of others which he\n desires them to exhibit towards his own.\n\n Applications for membership in a Branch should be addressed to\n the local Director; for membership \"at large\" to G. de Purucker,\n Membership Secretary, International Theosophical Headquarters, Point\n Loma, California.\n\n\nOBJECTS\n\nThis Brotherhood is a part of a great and universal movement which has\nbeen active in all ages.\n\nThis Organization declares that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature. Its\nprincipal purpose is to teach Brotherhood, demonstrate that it is a\nfact in Nature, and make it a living power in the life of humanity.\n\nIts subsidiary purpose is to study ancient and modern religions,\nscience, philosophy, and art; to investigate the laws of Nature and the\ndivine powers in man.\n\nIt is a regrettable fact that many people use the name of Theosophy\nand of our Organization for self-interest, as also that of H. P.\nBlavatsky, the Foundress, and even the Society's motto, to attract\nattention to themselves and to gain public support. This they do in\nprivate and public speech and in publications. Without being in any way\nconnected with the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, in\nmany cases they permit it to be inferred that they are, thus misleading\nthe public, and honest inquirers are hence led away from the original\ntruths of Theosophy.\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society welcomes to\nmembership all who truly love their fellow men and desire the\neradication of the evils caused by the barriers of race, creed, caste,\nor color, which have so long impeded human progress; to all sincere\nlovers of truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than\nthe mere pleasures and interests of a worldly life and are prepared to\ndo all in their power to make Brotherhood a living energy in the life\nof humanity, its various departments offer unlimited opportunities.\n\nThe whole work of the Organization is under the direction of the Leader\nand Official Head, Katherine Tingley, as outlined in the Constitution.\n\nInquirers desiring further information about Theosophy or the\nTheosophical Society are invited to write to\n\n\n THE SECRETARY\n\n International Theosophical Headquarters\n\n Point Loma, California\n\n\n[Illustration: THE PATH]\n\nThe Theosophical Path\n\nAn International Magazine\n\nUnsectarian and nonpolitical\n\n Monthly Illustrated\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDevoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, the promulgation of Theosophy,\nthe study of ancient & modern Ethics, Philosophy, Science and Art, and\nto the uplifting and purification of Home and National Life\n\n\nEdited by Katherine Tingley\n\nInternational Theosophical Headquarters, Point Loma, California, U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\n_A knowledge concerning spiritual and Divine things is surely\nattainable with much greater precision than commonplace modern\nphilosophy dreams of: it has been attained by great Theosophists\nin all ages; it is recorded in a hundred enigmatic volumes, the\ncomprehension of which exacts the care and effort which in due time\nit will so well reward, and the pursuit of this knowledge is one of\nthe great aims of the Theosophical Society.... And another great aim\nof the Theosophical Society has been to show how the pursuit even of\nthe highest philosophical knowledge must itself, to be successful, be\nwedded with the wish to do good to the whole family of mankind. As a\nmere intellectual luxury, sought for in a selfish spirit, spiritual\nknowledge itself must necessarily be futile and unprogressive. This\nis a great mystic truth, and out of the full knowledge thereof on the\npart of those from whom the Theosophical Society received its creative\nimpulse, has arisen_ THAT PRIMARY WATCH-WORD OF OUR ASSOCIATION\n\"UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.\"--H. P. BLAVATSKY\n\n (_The Theosophist_. Vol. I, No. 2, Leading Article.)\n\n\n\n\n THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n MONTHLY ILLUSTRATED\n\n EDITED BY KATHERINE TINGLEY\n\n NEW CENTURY CORPORATION, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.\n\n Entered as second-class matter July 25, 1911, at the Post Office at\n Point Loma, California under the Act of March 3, 1879\n Copyright, 1911, by Katherine Tingley\n\n\n COMMUNICATIONS\n\n Communications for the Editor should be addressed to \"KATHERINE\n TINGLEY, _Editor_, THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH, Point Loma, California.\"\n\n To the BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, including subscriptions, address the \"New\n Century Corporation, Point Loma, California.\"\n\n\n MANUSCRIPTS\n\n The Editor cannot undertake to return manuscripts; none will be\n considered unless accompanied by the author's name and marked with the\n number of words. The Editor is responsible only for views expressed in\n unsigned articles.\n\n\n SUBSCRIPTION\n\n By the year, postpaid, in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico,\n Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines, TWO DOLLARS; other countries\n in the Postal Union, TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS, payable in advance;\n single copy, TWENTY CENTS.\n\n\n REMITTANCES\n\n All remittances to the New Century Corporation must be made payable to\n \"CLARK THURSTON, _Manager_,\" Point Loma, California.\n\n\n VOL. I NO. 6 CONTENTS DECEMBER 1911\n\n\n Southeastern View of the R\u00e2ja Yoga College,\n Point Loma, California _Frontispiece_\n Christmas Kenneth Morris 387\n Views of Rothenburg, Germany (_illustrations_) 390-391\n Peace on Earth: Good Will toward Men R. Machell 391\n Psychism: A Study in Hidden Connexions\n H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 393\n A Magic Boat D. F. 399\n Irish Scenes (_illustrated_)\n Fred J. Dick, M. INST. C. E., M. INST. C. E. I. 400\n The Bluebells of Wernoleu: A Welsh Legend (_verse_)\n Kenneth Morris 404\n The Soul at the British Association Henry Travers 406\n Warwick Castle (_illustrated_) C. J. Ryan 409\n Man and Nature R. Machell 410\n The Will as a Chemical Product Investigator 413\n Open-Air Drama (_illustrated_) Per Fernholm, M. E. (Stockholm) 415\n Intra-Atomic Energy H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S. 417\n A Japanese Writer's Views on Modern Civilization\n E. S. (Tokyo, Japan) 418\n Cop\u00e1n, and its Position in American History (_illustrated_)\n William E. Gates 419\n Scientific Brevities The Busy Bee 427\n Views of San Diego, California; Seraejevo, Capital of Bosnia;\n Klamath Reclamation Project, Oregon-California (_illustrations_)\n 434-435\n Conflict of the Ages (_verse_) S. F. 435\n Women who have Influenced the World The Rev. S. J. Neill 436\n The Turkish Woman Grace Knoche 439\n An English Lady's Letter (_with illustration_)\n F. D. Udall (London) 442\n A Magic Place: A Forest Idyll for Young Folks (_illustrated_)\n M. Ginevra Munson 443\n Current Topics Observer 447\n Book Reviews: _Les Derniers Barbares: Chine, Tibet, Mongolia_\n (Commandant d'Ollone), _with illustrations_;\n H. Alexander Fussell. _The Plough and the Cross_\n (William Patrick O'Ryan): F. J. D. 452\n Notices; Advertisements 458\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. SOUTHEASTERN VIEW OF\nTHE R\u00c2JA YOGA COLLEGE, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA THE ARYAN MEMORIAL TEMPLE\nTO THE LEFT]\n\n\n\n\nTHE THEOSOPHICAL PATH\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY, EDITOR\n\n VOL. I DECEMBER, 1911 NO. 6\n\n The dayspring from on high hath visited us, ... to guide our feet into\n the way of peace.--_Luke_ i. 78. 79\n\nCHRISTMAS: by Kenneth Morris\n\n\nThis is the time when we decorate our habitations with holly and\nmistletoe, and our hearts with unwonted good feeling, commemorating the\ndawning of a great light. There are certain stations in the journey of\nthe year, where we may see the legend writ large on the signboards:\n\"Change here for a better way of life; change here for happiness.\" We\nread, and come out on the platform; make festivity a little in the\nwaiting (and refreshment) rooms, and then bundle back into the old\ntrain, having never changed at all. The Christmas-New Year time, and\nthe Easter-time of the flowers, are two such important junctions; and\nit is worth while to note that these feasts were kept long before the\nadvent of Christianity. For Christmas is in the very nature of things,\nand not merely historically, the birthday of the Christ. It is the end\nof the winter solstice, when the sun is, as it were, born anew after\nhis months of decline, and begins to flow towards the high tide mark of\nhis power.\n\nThat there is a certain reality in the significance of the season,\nis proven by the bright good will that greets us when we rise on a\nChristmas morning, and that it is so hard to escape. Marley's ghost and\nthe three spirits will be apt to haunt the veriest Scrooge among us,\nforcing issues, compelling us to see that benevolence and kindliness\nare part of the essential business of life. Though we starve our\nsouls on a thin diet of self-interest during the rest of the year,\nnow our fare shall be less meager, and the whole world demands of us\nthat we share in the common joy. There lies the heart and crux of it\nall--_share_. It is a great thing that there should be the habit of\npresent-giving; it is so easy, when one is considering the giving\nof a gift, to escape from self, and take thought in some degree for\nthe one to whom the gift is destined. Just a little such thought\nis cleansing; for even the least trickle of it, Augean selfhood is\nthe sweeter and more habitable. And here it is flowing at Christmas\ntime, a full current of which all the world may partake. The force of\nage-long custom has dedicated the day, and the habit has been formed\nof making an effort at brotherly feeling. We think of the children, of\nabsentees, of many we give no thought to at other times. No doubt but\nfor this, many a soul still flickers on, that would else have dwindled\nlong since into pin-point insignificance, or waned altogether out of\nminds anchored at all other times to dreary and sordid self-interest.\nNo doubt our civilization would be nearer to the rocks even than it\nis, or quite battered and broken on them, were it not that we do put\nsome strain on the rudders, and turn, if falteringly and without clear\ndesign, to the free open waters on this one day of the year.\n\nIt is the proof of brotherhood, and that we are all filled with a\ncommon life, this generality of Christmas good will. We share in\nthought and feeling, as much as we do in the very air we breathe;\nmental infection is as real, and perilous, as the physical infection\nof disease. One man's thinking, though unuttered, shall pass through a\nthousand minds, sowing wheat or tares, good or evil, light or darkness,\nhealth or disease, in every one of them. What a new light this sheds\non the question of reform! New laws are only efficient as old modes\nof thought are sweetened and uplifted. Will you move heaven and earth\nover the mote that is in your brother's eye, forgetting the beam that\nis in your own? Then do you stand accused, not merely of hypocrisy, but\nof being a worthless, profitless laborer, a twister of sand-ropes, a\nplower of the barren shore.\n\nBut what might not Christmas be for us, were we to treat it really\nreasonably! Happiness lies not in the region of sanctimonious\necstatics; but then, it is also incompatible with an overloaded\nstomach. We begin well enough with the wishes for a \"Merry Christmas\";\nexcellently well with the geniality and present-giving. What a promise\nthere is for all sorts and conditions of men, or nearly all, on a\nChristmas morning: what a general sun of Austerlitz is it that rises!\nBut how of its setting? What heavy physical clouds there are apt to be;\nwhat a sinking low, a simple vanishing, of ideals--what mere brute,\nmaterial indigestion! Heigho! here's a come-down--from PEACE ON EARTH,\nGOOD WILL TO MEN, to these well-known, brain-deadening results!\n\nIt all comes of our erratic, freakish extremism. We pride ourselves on\nthe practical trend of our lives: Gad, there's no nonsense here; it is\na businesslike and commonsense generation, with the whole trade of the\nworld on its hands; and what would you have, sir? Why, some evidence of\nthat same so-much-bragged-of commonsense, if there be any. Our notion\nof carrying on the work of the world is, on the whole and for the most\npart, a fever; a wearing out of manhood, a furious, unseemly jostling\nround the trough wherein providence, like a swineherd, pours the wash\nof money, position, fame, power, etc.; and while we are so fighting\nand swilling, the work of the world is left undone; it may take care\nof itself, it may go hang, we will have none of it. Does anyone doubt\nthat? Let him look around and see the abuses that remain and fester,\nheaven knows, till the world is rank with the corruption of them. Let\nhim think of the reformatories that don't reform; of the horror that\nwalketh by night in the cities. When he has taken note of _all_ the\nwork left undone within the limits of his own nation, let him consider,\nbut with more charity--for the conditions will be less easy for him\nto understand--the work that other nations are leaving undone; the\nwork that humanity as a whole whistles past unheeding. And meanwhile\nwe sweat and drudge and strain, strain and drudge and sweat after the\nthings we desire, money and so forth; we give health for it, culture\nfor it, leisure for it, honor for it, virtue for it, manhood for it;\nand call that business; call that doing the work of the world. Oh how\nthis aching earth must be desiring a humanity that can put in some\nclaim to be human!\n\nWe cannot go on so always; we must of course have safety-valves\nsomewhere; and so we arrange these holidays and festivals, when we\nshall react and revolt against the things of common day, and be wildly\ndifferent, for those few annual hours at least. Now we will have\npleasure, rest, recreation. So--\n\nOh, we know the sweet fair picture! We know how it is done, only too\noften, this recreation business. Come now, who is it that is recreated?\nWhich element, which party, which guild or stratum of society in that\ncurious pathocratical republic, that kingless, impolitic, mob-swayed\nkingdom called the human personality, rises like a giant refreshed from\nthe somnolent, torpid nebulosity wherewith the liver, poor drudge on\nstrike, has its revenge on its tyrant? How much of Christmas good will,\nChristmas merriment and cheer, will be carried forward? What new light\nwill shine on our workaday activities?\n\nYou pass through a treasure-house, from which you may take what you\nwill, and the more you take, the better. But you \"take no thought\nfor the morrow\"--with a vengeance! you pay no heed to the rich and\nbeautiful things; you allow yourself to be beguiled, from entrance to\nexit of it, by that most wily esurient companion Appetite, that should\nbe slave and porter but has tricked himself into the position of master\nand guide. We do go in there, indeed; we do see the treasures; it is\nproven for us that they exist, and undoubtedly we are the better for\nthat. But we might go forth enriched for the whole year; and--we don't.\nChristmas, that might be perennial, hardly lasts for a whole day.\n\nWhy should not such a birthday be kept in a fitting manner? Is there\nnothing within ourselves that corresponds to the Hero of the day--no\nsunbright redeeming principle? Indeed there is; and it is the service\nof that that pays (to put it vulgarly); for that is the soul, whose\nmere garments are brain and body and appetites; indeed, whose mere\nhopples and handcuffs they are. No joy is acceptable, or without its\nsickening foul aftertaste, unless countersigned by It; that feast is\npoisonous of which It does not partake. To carry through the day the\njolly atmosphere of good will and good service, of stepping outside\nselfhood; to keep one's insolent servant, appetite, cowed and right\ndown in its place, finding pleasure in the things that belong to\nourselves, not to it--that would be to celebrate Christmas rationally.\nWhen we do so, we do not find that the Christmas spirit wanes with the\nwaning of the holidays.\n\nI wish the whole world could have just a glimpse of the Lomaland\nChristmas, which is such a rational one, permeated with sunlight \"both\nwithin and without.\" Then it would be more generally understood,\nhow that the day may be, and ought to be, the feast-day of Human\nBrotherhood, the annual reconsecration of the celebrants to all things\nbright and beautiful, and cheerful and excellent, and happy and\nthoroughly practical and of good report. By heaven, the influence of\nthese Theosophical Christmases will make its mark on the world yet!\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ROTHENBURG: A VIEW\nOF THE MEDIEVAL TOWN]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ANOTHER VIEW OF\nROTHENBURG: A ROMANTIC CORNER]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. VIEW OF ROTHENBURG\nSHOWING SOME OF THE OLD TOWN HOUSES]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ROTHENBURG: THE\n\"STRAFTHURM\"]\n\n\n\n\nPEACE ON EARTH: GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN: by R. Machell\n\n\nPeace to all beings! is an Eastern benediction. Peace on earth: good\nwill toward men! is the Christian expression of the same heart-felt\nemotion. But what is peace? Is it merely the suspension of war, or\nthe prevention of war, or its postponement? Is a long period of\npeace merely _in itself_ productive of \"good will toward men\"? Does\nprosperity necessarily produce generosity, love, nobility, dignity,\npurity, or happiness? Can we possibly answer in the affirmative with\nthe statistics of want and crime, corruption and suicide before our\neyes constantly? Is peace the absence of war? If so we must stretch the\nmeaning of the word war very considerably, stretch it indeed until it\nincludes all unbrotherly acts; but then it will include a great part\nof our commercial system as well as of our social life. What then? Is\npeace a mockery? If so why is it so generally recognized as a desirable\nstate, a blessed state, a state of beauty and joy? The cessation of\ninternational wars, so greatly to be desired, is peace of one kind\nonly. \"The peace of God that passeth all understanding,\" is another.\n\nIt has been found that the greatest stability can be attained by\nmaintaining rapid motion in a heavy body, as in the gyrostat, the\npower of which has made the monorail train and other strange things a\npossibility. Thus stability in mechanics is found to be increased by\nrapid motion; rest is produced by action. Even in the arts of peace,\nand indeed more particularly in these, prosperity depends upon intense\nactivity; when the works are at rest there is not usually an extra\namount of peace and good will in evidence. Prosperity is not the result\nof idleness, and peace is not attained by the prevention of war; an\nidle man may grow fat, and a nation that does not fight may grow rich;\nbut the fat man is not the healthy man, not the ideal human being,\nand the rich nation is not the happy nation; neither the fat man nor\nthe rich nation are types of true progress in the eyes of any but the\ngrossest of materialists.\n\nI venture to think that peace is not at all a question of war or its\nprevention, but entirely a matter of _self-discipline_: self-discipline\nin the individual, in the family, the community, the nation, and the\nentire human race. It is the result of ceaseless activity. If this\nactivity of self-discipline (_not_ self-torture or abuse of the body)\nceases there is an end of the state of peace as surely as the top or\ngyrostat falls when its rotation ceases. The essence of this rotation\nis the recognition of the center or axis of rotation by all the\nparticles of the revolving body, from which an important analogy may be\ndrawn. Self-discipline begins at home, as surely as the circle can only\nbe described around a center. A circle without a center is unthinkable,\nand so is self-control without a self; but as the center of any visible\nobject is itself an abstract point (having no magnitude) but subsisting\non the plane of the immaterial, so the self is not material, but in its\nspiritual reality bears a similar mysterious relation to the material\nbody that the abstraction called the center bears to a mass. A homeless\nman may be self-disciplined, but a nation is not composed of homeless\nmen; national life depends upon the family and the family depends\nupon the home. The home is the spiritual center of the nation. It is\neverywhere and depends upon the ceaseless activity of its parts. This\nis the great binding-force that holds a nation in balance, and when\nthis home-life weakens, the whole nation, like a top whose rotation\nslows down, begins to wobble; then, like the top, it is likely to fall\nover and rush off violently in any direction, and it becomes a dead\nbody.\n\nSo if we would have peace in ourselves we must keep up a ceaseless\nfight against the inertia of the lower nature and replace the false\npeace of inertia by the stability, which, as in the gyrostat, results\nfrom rapid motion round its own center--that is to say, constant\nattention to duty. If we would have peace in the nation we must have\nit in our homes, and the home must have its invisible center of\nattraction, and the constant attention to duty of its parts or members.\n\nIf this is established there will be no great need to think about the\nsorrows of international wars or the means of preventing them.\n\n * * * * *\n\n UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD has no creeds or dogmas; it is built on the\n basis of common sense. It teaches that man is divine, that the soul\n of man is imperishable, and that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature, and\n consequently takes in all humanity.\n\n Men must rid themselves of fear, and reach a point where they realize\n that they are souls, and where they will strive to live as souls, with\n a sense of their duty to their fellows.--_Katherine Tingley_\n\n\n\n\nPSYCHISM: A Study in Hidden Connexions: by H. T. Edge, B. A.\n(Cantab.)\n\n\nThe wave of psychism which is sweeping over us grows more pronounced as\ntime goes on. If we do not master it, it will master us and bring our\ncivilization to an untimely end.\n\nTheosophy did not bring on this tide of psychism. Theosophy was\nintroduced (in part) for the purpose of coping with it. When H. P.\nBlavatsky entered upon her work she foresaw what was approaching. An\nera of materialism was about to be succeeded by a reaction towards\npsychism. The first beginnings were already manifest in the rise of\nphenomenalism. One of the objects of founding the Theosophical Society\nwas to prevent the disasters that would arise if this wave of psychism\nshould come in the midst of an atmosphere of selfishness and ignorance.\nSome people still wrongly suppose that H. P. Blavatsky initiated the\ninterest in psychism; but what she really did was to prepare the way\nfor a successful fight against the abuse of psychism; to prepare the\nway by introducing to the world a knowledge of OCCULTISM--a very\ndifferent thing. She did work among the Spiritists because that\nmovement was there ready to hand; among them she found many awaiting\nthe teachings of Theosophy. She sought to turn the prevalent craze\nfor phenomena into channels of true knowledge. Her writings all show\nhow strongly she emphasized the dangers of dabbling in phenomenalism\nand the distinction between Occultism and the occult arts, between\nSpiritual powers and psychic powers.\n\nSome may think the warnings of Theosophists against psychism are\nexaggerated, but the record of facts tells a different story. Every day\nbrings new justification of these warnings. In a newspaper published by\nthe American-Examiner Company there lately appeared an article entitled\n\"The Soul-Destroying Poison of the East.\" Let it be said at the outset\nthat the phrase thus unqualified would constitute a libel upon the\nEast, and that it is not the East in general, but merely a particular\nphase of orientalism, that is intended. The title goes on: \"The Tragic\nFlood of Broken Homes and Hearts, Disgrace and Suicide, that follows\nthe broadening stream of Morbidly Alluring Oriental 'Philosophies' into\nOur Country.\"\n\nThe article begins as follows:\n\n It is startling to realize that in many a commonplace flat ... occult\n rites are being celebrated as shocking as the ancient worship of\n Moloch and Baal. A long series of recent occurrences has proved that\n Oriental occultism in various forms has many followers in the United\n States.... Hindu occultism is leprous.\n\nThis kind certainly is; but should it not be the ambition of Hind\u00fbs\nto clear their name from such an aspersion? The article then recounts\nseveral cases of the breaking up of homes, suicides, and other\ncalamities, of a kind with which we are daily becoming more familiar\nthrough the columns of the newspapers; and it traces all these to\nthe subtle influence of the said poison. It goes on to speak of\n\"Tantrikism,\" a cult which is said to have 100,000 followers in the\nUnited States and to have been introduced by the \"Swamis,\" many of\nwhom came over ostensibly to attend the Congress of Religions in 1893.\nWe know of a certain class of Sw\u00e2mis, sanctimonious and plausible\nindividuals, who reap a harvest from a credulous and admiring public.\n\nAccording to my interpretation of the following quotations, the basis\nof this cult is a deification of passion and sensuality. Indeed that\nseems to be the whole tenor of it. It exalts weakness and vice into an\nappearance of virtue and makes a religion of depravity. The fundamental\nprinciple is thus expressed:\n\n Our emotional longings are not to be crushed, but we must lend brain,\n heart and muscle to secure their eternal gratification.\n\nTo quote again:\n\n Some of the American Tantriks would persuade American parents that it\n is an honor to have their daughters chosen as nautch-girls, _and it is\n sad to say that they sometimes succeed_.\n\nOh, parents! Fond and foolish, but how ignorant!\n\nAll this fully justifies Theosophists in asserting that there is a\ncancer lurking at the roots of our racial vitality. How futile and\nfrivolous, in face of this terrible fact, seem our puny efforts at\nreform by legislation and philanthropy, a mere tinkering at the\nsymptoms. The sexual passion has obtained a fearful hold on us, as is\nmanifested in numerous ways, in secret and open depravity, in the form\nof new religions and philosophies. Here we have a cult which exalts it\ninto a worship and which is well calculated to ensnare the morbidly\nexcited imaginations, debilitated nervous systems, and untrained minds\nof our ill-guided youth of either sex.\n\nNo doubt the above account will come as a revelation to many, and\nit may serve to enlighten them on some matters which before were\ndark, particularly as to the underground connexions between certain\nthings which on the surface seem unconnected. One of these is _the\nconnexion between psychism and crank religions on the one hand and\nsexual depravity on the other_. From the beginning Theosophists have\ninsisted on this fact and issued warnings against the danger. It is\na commonplace of the history of religions and cults that, when the\ndevotees fail in following the path of light and duty, they lapse into\nsensual perversions. As far as we can trace back, we find instances of\npure worship and sacred symbolism being perverted into gross license\nand corrupt teachings. In our times we have witnessed many eruptions of\nvice associated with crank religions. The connexion is not accidental;\nit simply means that when anyone dares to try and make the higher\nnature serve the lower he ends in a complete breakdown.\n\nHow well is illustrated the truth that psychic practices merely\nstimulate the animal centers, send up a foul current to the brain, and\nproduce an emotional and erotic intoxication, which is often mistaken\nby the ignorant dabbler for divine inspiration!\n\nAnd here we call attention to the circumstance that innumerable people\ntoday are _ignorantly and heedlessly dabbling in psychism_. Many of\nthem are perfectly innocent of any leanings to depravity. Yet observe\nthe connexion. Theosophists have never failed to warn them; and for\ntheir pains have been laughed at; yet see the confirmation of their\nwarnings. We merely take this occasion to point out to the heedless and\ninnocent experimenters the dangers that lie ahead of them in the path\nthey are treading. There are only two paths in Occultism--the right and\nthe wrong; the right path is the path of duty, service, and righteous\nliving; any other path is the wrong path.\n\nIn an age when nothing is immune against perversion, it is no slur upon\nthe Theosophical Society to say that even that body, pure and lofty\nas its teachings and work are, has not been free from attempts made\nto divert it into some wrong direction. From time to time ambitious\nand misguided adherents have deserted its ranks that they might pursue\noutside the courses which they were prevented from pursuing within.\n\nIn this way a number of so-called \"Theosophical\" cults have originated,\nwhich in varying degrees carry on a propaganda that misrepresents\nTheosophy and thereby wrongs the public. The reason for alluding to\nthis here is that some members of these cults are preaching the very\npsychism which, as has just been shown, is so intimately related to\nthese grave abuses. In books and on the lecture platform we may find\ntheir leaders reproducing some form of the original Theosophical\nteachings and even professing lofty principles of morality; but a\ncloser examination of the teachings prevailing among them reveals\nonly too often the same unsavory atmosphere of psychism. If these\n\"teachers\" really followed the lofty teachings they profess there\ncould be no reason why they should not be working in harmony with real\nTheosophists; but it is because they have cut themselves from the pure\nteachings of H. P. Blavatsky and the original Theosophical program that\nTheosophists are obliged to repudiate them.\n\nIt behooves all people who have a reputation to preserve to search\nout carefully these hidden connexions and make sure of the nature of\neverything they may endorse; for a man is judged by his associations.\n\nAgain, all kinds of \"new\" social doctrines are being preached, usually\nin the name of liberty, honesty, and purity; and those who protest\nagainst them are dubbed \"slaves of Mrs. Grundy.\" But in view of the\nabove newspaper revelations it would seem as though the protestors\nhad some justification for their warnings. In much of this talk\nabout liberty we detect not liberty but license. We are told, on\nhigh authority, apparently, that it is better to give vent to one's\n\"youthful vitality\" than to let it smoulder; but what becomes of this\nargument in view of the T\u00e2ntrik program mentioned above, or other\nsimilar cults?\n\nThere is a class of popular writers who, having won the public ear\nby novels, brilliant criticism, or some such way, are now using the\nopportunity to vent their crude speculations and unripe imaginings,\nwhich pass current as \"daring and original views.\" The morbidity,\nacidity, or angularity of their minds--seemingly unsuspected by\nthemselves--is revealed in a way that dismisses them from the\nconsideration of the more thoughtful readers; but they serve as\nringleaders to a host of readers who share their temperament if not\ntheir literary gifts. They analyse in their peculiar fashion the\ninstitutions of human life as though they were people sent from another\nplanet to inspect this world. Ignorant of the existence or possibility\nof points of view other than their own, they discuss marriage as if it\nwere a physiological problem, and men as if they were but draughts on\na checkerboard.\n\nWe have had novels based on the theory that human life is a\nphysiological question, whose heroines are soulless over-cerebrated\nwomen of the most intolerable type; and a continuous torrent of smart\nwriting whose aim seems to be to turn everything upside down and\ntake the perverse view on every possible occasion. All this literary\nrubbish, whatever its moving spirit may be, must be regarded as a part\nof the general disintegrative force that is at work among us; its\neffect is to unsettle inexperienced minds at a time when they need\nguidance; and thus to pave the way for the implanting of the noxious\nseeds described above.\n\nTime and space will not suffice for a full list of the movements and\ncults and fads which are all heading, consciously or unconsciously,\nin this dangerous direction--fads scientific, religious, social, what\nnot. Sometimes one can detect the same element at the root of them--the\nmorbid craving, the pruriency of thought, the subtle suggestion of\nthe lower nature seeking new recognition for itself by assuming an\nattractive disguise.\n\nThe difficulties of a Theosophist may be realized when we bear in mind\nthat he has to warn people against dangers which, though real to him,\nby reason of his knowledge of human nature, are by them unsuspected.\nSo many of the fads seem quite harmless. Yet the Theosophist may be\naware of the direction in which they are tending, or of some ugly\nfacts beneath the surface. His warnings are uttered with the voice of\ngenuine compassion. He sees every one of his warnings justified as\ntime goes on and the latent seeds of evil develop and come into view.\nHis one aim in life is to spread a knowledge of the noble and helpful\nteachings of Theosophy, for these alone can cope with such a subtle and\npowerful foe. His pity is aroused for those who are innocently lending\nthemselves to such a propaganda, and for those earnest truth-seekers\nwho are deceived by the misrepresentation.\n\nSo great is the menace of evils like the above, and so rapidly are\nthey spreading, that every attempted reform sinks into insignificance\nbeside the importance of dealing with this. We fret about the evils\nof our educational system, the increase of insanity and suicide,\nchild-degeneracy, consumption and cancer, drug-taking, the white slave\ntraffic, unemployment and labor troubles, all kinds of problems;\nwhen down in the very marrow of our twentieth century life lurks\nthis frightful decay. Under the most plausible and specious forms it\ninsinuates itself. Many \"teachers\" are insinuating the same poison\ninto us under the guise of fine high-sounding doctrines, and sometimes\n_even by using Theosophical terms_. Sometimes from beneath the surface\nof their public teachings some \"inner doctrine\" pops up as though the\nteachers were experimenting with the public tolerance; and we hear\nwhispers of a \"new morality,\" strange sexual doctrines, etc. Then, if\nwe are wise, we suspect what lies at the root.\n\nThe consequences to our children and youth are a thing that should\nsurely move our hearts. Parents and teachers alike are by their own\nconfession unable to cope with the evils becoming so rampant among the\nyoung. Noted headmasters have given up in despair the attempt to stop\nunnatural vice among the boys entrusted by loving parents to their\ncare. Most mothers are sublimely ignorant of what goes on in the inner\nlife of their boys and girls, who in secret and in ignorance are all\nthe time sowing in their constitution the soil of debility in which the\npoison seeds so ruthlessly sown can sprout.\n\nIn fact there is no visible power competent to deal with this evil. It\nlies beyond the reach of any criminal or judicial procedure. Religion\nis powerless before it; science can find no cure. So the conclusion\nremains that unless something is done, the evil will continue to grow\nand spread unchecked, involving in its decay the very powers that\nshould check it, until the fabric of society is altogether loosened and\nour civilization comes to a premature end.\n\nIn the past whole nations probably have been swept away by this cause.\nOur own race has reached a point in its development where the same\nfate threatens it. Unless we are to experience a general outburst of\nlibertinism, a welter of disease and insanity, a universal strife, we\nmust find some means of restoring a knowledge of the immutable laws of\nlife and an adherence thereto, such as taught by Theosophy. Passion\ncan never be overcome by being indulged; it has to be subdued by\nself-knowledge.\n\nThose unfortunately afflicted with unlawful desires should not seek to\nmake society their victim in the hope of thus saving their miserable\nselves. Let them patiently and loyally bear their burden until\nunremitting effort at last brings the meed of success. Such infirmities\nmust perish at last if they are not fed by the mind; but as they\ntook a long time in the acquiring, they may take a long time in the\nundoing. Disease is thrown off by building surely, if slowly, a healthy\nfoundation. We conclude with a few quotations from H. P. Blavatsky:\n\n Do not believe that lust can ever be killed out if gratified or\n satiated, for this is an abomination inspired by M\u00e2ra [delusion]. It\n is by feeding vice that it expands and waxes strong, like to the worm\n that fattens on the blossom's heart.--_The Voice of the Silence_\n\n Occultism is not Magic. It is comparatively easy to learn the trick\n of spells and the methods of using the subtler, but still material,\n forces of physical nature; the powers of the animal soul in man are\n soon awakened; the forces which his love, his hate, his passion,\n can call into operation, are readily developed. But this is Black\n Magic--Sorcery.... The powers and forces of animal nature can be used\n by the selfish and revengeful, as much as by the unselfish and the\n all-forgiving; the powers and forces of Spirit lend themselves only\n to the perfectly pure in heart--and this is DIVINE MAGIC.--_Practical\n Occultism_\n\n There are not in the West half-a-dozen among the fervent hundreds who\n call themselves \"Occultists,\" who have even an approximately correct\n idea of the nature of the Science they seek to master. With a few\n exceptions, they are all on the highway to Sorcery. Let them restore\n some order in the chaos that reigns in their minds, before they\n protest against this statement. Let them first learn the true relation\n in which the Occult Sciences stand to Occultism, and the difference\n between the two, and then feel wrathful if they still think themselves\n right. Meanwhile, let them learn that Occultism differs from Magic\n and other secret Sciences as the glorious sun does from a rush-light,\n as the immutable and immortal Spirit of Man--the reflection of the\n absolute, causeless, and unknowable ALL--differs from the mortal clay,\n the human body.--_Occultism versus the Occult Arts_\n\n\n\n\nA MAGIC BOAT: by D. F.\n\n\nIn the Scandinavian saga the vessel _Ellida_ one day quietly sailed\ninto harbor and dropped anchor, without a living creature on board.\nThis performance seems at first to be surpassed by that of an electric\nlaunch on Lake Wann, Berlin, which though carrying no human freight\neffected the following feats at the behest of a distant but controlling\nintelligence: steering; starting, stopping, or reversing of engines;\nfiring of signal guns, fireworks, mines, or torpedoes; ringing of\nbells; lighting or extinction of electric lamps; and other operations.\nOf course the agency is an ingenious extension and adaptation of\nwireless telegraphic methods, said to be applicable also to airplanes,\nrailroad trains, life-boats, etc. But the _Ellida_ had some excellent\nqualities, too, for work in all weather on the high seas.\n\n\n\n\nIRISH SCENES: by Fred J. Dick, M. Inst. C. E., M. Inst. C. E. I.\n\n\nTo the archaeologist, the geologist, the folk-lorist, and the lover of\nnature in all her aspects, perhaps no area of similar extent is more\nreplete with interest than that of Ireland. As to fairies, the county\nSligo folk will tell you they have more of them to the square yard than\ncan be found in a square mile of the county Kerry. Folk-lorists will\ndoubtless pass upon this claim intelligently, when they wear the right\nsort of spectacles. Fairies aside, however, hardly a square mile of the\ncountry lacks some ruin of great antiquity.\n\nNearly two thousand years have elapsed since Baile Atha Cliath\nDuibhlinne (the town of the hurdle-ford on the black river), now\nDublin, began to share with Tara the honor of being chief city. Dublin,\ntherefore, has no known history that could be called really ancient;\nfor in the light of the Theosophical teachings and records, two\nthousand years is merely modern. Tara, on the other hand, was a center\nof national life and government so ancient as to be probably coeval\nwith Brugh na Boinne. Which means they were there \"before the flood,\"\nor in other words, long before Poseidon went down, some eleven or\ntwelve thousand years ago.\n\nThe fact that the city of Tara was set on a hill, suggests the idea\nthat there may have been a time, once, when cities having certain high\nfunctions to fulfil, were usually set on hills.\n\nIn correspondence with the withdrawal of the higher influences of the\nTuatha de Danaans from visible participation in Irish life, and the\nreign of the Formorians and their heirs, leading Ireland in common with\nother places to descent through dark ages, it was fitting that regal\nand poetic Tara should fade, and Dublin rise with its distilleries,\nbreweries, and vivisection halls, and with many of its folk within\nhospitals, poor-houses, and insane asylums--in accentuation of the\nmodern spirit. That such conditions are, in point of fact, unnecessary,\ncan easily be deduced from the study of certain small races who have\nnot wholly forgotten some essential principles in the art of living.\n\nNevertheless, Dublin, equally with other parts of Ireland, has its\nbright side. Much of its social life is vivacious, artistic, and\nliterary in high degree, surpassing many cities in these respects.\nThis city began to assume its present appearance in the eighteenth\ncentury, when Sackville street, as then named, was built. It is one\nof the finest streets in Europe. The munificent grants of the Irish\nparliament enabled many handsome public buildings to be constructed,\nas well as hospitals, harbors, canals, etc. Among the finest of the\npublic edifices is that of the old houses of parliament, now occupied\nas a bank.\n\nThe first meeting of the Irish parliament within the part of this\nstructure then completed, took place in 1731; but entire legislative\nindependence was only reached in 1782. Eighteen years later, owing\nto some rather meretricious influences, the parliament voted away\nits rights; and the Union occurred in 1800. The building, which took\nmany years to complete, possesses majesty in design combined with\nsimplicity in arrangement, and has few rivals. Constructed of Portland\nstone, the style is chastely classic, owing nothing to extraneous\nembellishment--the mere outline producing a harmonious effect. The\nprincipal front is formed by an Ionic colonnade, raised on a flight\nof steps, and ranged round three sides of a spacious quadrangle. In\nthe central part a portico projects, formed of four Ionic columns,\nsustaining a tympanum with the royal arms, while the apex is adorned\nwith a colossal statue--Hibernia--with others representing Fidelity\nand Commerce on the western and eastern points. From the outer ends of\nthese colonnades the building sweeps eastward and westward in circular\nform, the walls, unpierced by openings, standing behind rows of\nCorinthian columns, and having the interspaces tastefully indented by\nniches. Over the eastern portico are statues of Fortitude, Justice, and\nLiberty. The original designer of this noble edifice is unknown. The\nHouse of Lords has been left practically untouched to this day, save\nthat the Speaker's chair is now in the Royal Irish Academy.\n\nOn the opposite side of College Green is the extensive Corinthian\nfa\u00e7ade of Trinity College; and passing a short way towards Sackville\n(now O'Connell) street, one reaches the Carlisle Bridge, from which can\nbe seen another magnificent building called the Custom House (though\nso immense as to accommodate many government offices), as well as the\nFour Courts and other massive structures, so numerous as to give the\nimpression of a people possessing energy, taste, and industry. Since\nthe early years of the nineteenth century, however, there have been no\nfine buildings added, if we except the splendid pile of the Science and\nArt Museums and Library in Kildare street.\n\nThe environs of Dublin, within a dozen miles or so, possess singular\ncharm and variety; and on Sundays the good folk keep the jaunting-cars\nbusy throughout the regions from Delgany, Powerscourt and the Dublin\nmountains, to Leixlip, Howth and Malahide. Not many know that Malahide\nCastle contains an altar-piece from the oratory of Mary Queen of Scots,\nat Holyrood, for which Charles II gave two thousand pounds sterling.\nAmong the valuable paintings in this Castle is a portrait of Charles I\nby Vandyke.\n\nThere is a territory within almost equally easy reach of Dublin, whose\nloveliness excels anything of the kind in Ireland except possibly the\nBlackwater in county Waterford. It is the Boyne valley between Slane\nand Beauparc. Everyone in Dublin admits it lovely--but no one has seen\nit!\n\nIn the north and west of Ireland the scenery is frequently wild\nand stern. Of this character is Fairhead on the Antrim Coast, the\n_Robogdium Promontorium_ of Ptolemy the geographer, where on one's\nnorthward journey is obtained the first glimpse of the remarkable\ncolumnar basalt formation met with in profusion in the Giant's Causeway\nregion. One of the basaltic pillars forming the stupendous natural\ncolonnade over six hundred feet high at Fairhead, is a rectangular\nprism 33 feet by 36 on the sides, and 319 feet in height, and is the\nlargest basaltic pillar known.\n\nFurther along this coast is the rope-bridge at Carrick-a-Rede, which\nsways in the wind as you walk over it, while the Atlantic waves boil in\nthe appalling chasm beneath; and woe to you, if overcome by terror you\nattempt to lean on the thin hand-line.\n\nThe coast scenery in the vicinity of the Giant's Causeway is grandly\nimpressive, as seen from a boat. The promontory called the Pleaskin,\nconsisting of terrace upon terrace of columnar basalt, and the\nsuccession of extraordinary rock groups such as the Sea Gulls, the\nKing and his Nobles, the Nursing Child, the Priest and his Flock, the\nChimney Rock, the Giant's Organ, and finally the Causeway itself, form\nastonishing instances of nature's sportfulness.\n\nThe pillars in the Causeway number about forty thousand, and are\ncomposed mainly of irregular hexagonal prisms varying from fifteen to\ntwenty-six inches in diameter, but all fitting together compactly.\nAmong other features of the place is the Giant's Amphitheatre, which\nis exactly semi-circular, with the slopes at the same angle all round;\nwhile around the uppermost part runs a row of columns eighty feet high.\nAs a German writer, Kahl, continues:\n\n Then comes a broad rounded projection, like an immense bench, for the\n accommodation of the giant guests of Finn MacCumhal; then again a row\n of columns sixty feet high, and then again a gigantic bench, and so\n down to the bottom, where the water is enclosed by a circle of\n black boulder stones, like the limits of the arena.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE OLD HOUSES OF\nPARLIAMENT--NOW THE BANK OF IRELAND; COLLEGE GREEN, DUBLIN]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. AN IRISH PEASANT\nWOMAN]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. AN IRISH FARMER]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. PART OF THE GIANTS'\nCAUSEWAY, ANTRIM, IRELAND]\n\nWe should have to go back to the era when the Bamian statues were\ncarved out of the living rock (see _The Secret Doctrine_, ii, 388) to\nfind giants tall enough to occupy this amphitheater gracefully.\n\nThe convulsion which lowered the Giants' Causeway, with its substratum\nof ocher, below the upper tier level of the Pleaskin, produced the\nlandslide at the Giants' Organ, and submerged the continuous land\nconnexion with Staffa, must have belonged to far pre-Atlantean times\n(the Atlantean continental system proper having ended nearly a million\nyears ago), and be referable to the Secondary Age, when there really\nwere giants somewhat approaching the size suggested. It must have been\nfar back in Lemurian times, for the sinking and transformation of the\nLemurian continental systems began in the vicinity of Norway, and ended\nat Atlantean Lank\u00e2, of which Ceylon was the northern highland.\n\nThere are traditions of enormous giants in many parts of Ireland. Thus\nthe rope-bridge chasm above mentioned, is said to have been cut by a\nstroke of Finn MacCumhal's sword, a feat that would have been difficult\nfor even a Lemurian giant. The legends in Kerry express, by similar\nexaggeration, the size and strength of a former giant race.\n\nThis reminds us that the Raphaim (phantoms), Nephilim (fallen ones),\nand Gibborim (mighty ones) of the Bible refer to the First and Second\nsemi-ethereal Races, the Third (Lemurian), and the Fourth (Atlantean)\nrespectively.\n\nBut in order to grasp this subject intelligently, the reader may be\nreferred to those volumes which it will be more and more the principal\nbusiness of the scholars, archaeologists, and scientific men of the\ntwentieth century to study, interpret and vindicate (vindication is\nalready in full stride), namely, _The Secret Doctrine_, written by H.\nP. Blavatsky.\n\n * * * * *\n\n True glory consists in doing that which deserves to be written, in\n writing what deserves to be read, and in so living as to make the\n world happier for our living in it.--_Pliny_\n\n\n\n\nTHE BLUEBELLS OF WERNOLEU: a Welsh Legend by Kenneth Morris\n\n\n Out of the bluebell bloom of the night\n When the east's agloom and the west's agleam.\n Over the wern at Alder-Light\n And the dark stile and the stream,\n There's dew comes dropping of dream-delight\n To the deeps where the bluebells dream.\n\n It's then there's brooding on wizard stories\n All too secret for speech or song,\n And rapture of rose and daffodil glories\n Where the lone stream wandereth long;\n And I think the whole of the Druids' lore is\n Known to the bluebell throng.\n\n For they say that a sky-bee wandered of old\n From her island hive in the Pleiades,\n Winging o'er star-strewn realms untold,\n And the brink of star-foamed seas--\n Thighs beladen with dust of gold,\n As is the wont of bees.\n\n She left the hives of magical pearl,\n Of dark-heart sapphire and pearl and dreams,\n Where the flowers of the noon and the night unfurl\n Their rose-rimmed blooms and beams--\n Fain of the wandering foam awhirl\n On the wild Dimetian streams,\n\n Of the rhododendron bloom on the hills--\n (There's dear, red bloom in the pine-dark dell)--\n Of rhododendron and daffodils,\n And the blue campanula bell,\n And the cuckoo-pint by the tiny rills\n That rise in Tybie's Well.\n\n (And where's the wonder, if all were known?\n There's many in Michael's hosts that ride\n Would lay down scepter and crown and throne,\n And their aureoled pomp and pride,\n So they might wander and muse alone\n An hour by the Teifi side.\n\n And if anything lovely is under the sky,\n That the eye beholds, or the proud heart dreams,\n When the pomp of the world goes triumphing by,\n When the sea with the sunlight gleams--\n It's show you a lovelier thing could I,\n 'Twixt Tywi and Teifi streams.\n\n Let be! whatever of praise be sung,\n Here's one could never make straight the knee,\n Nor stay the soul from its paeans flung\n Where the winds might flaunt them free,\n For a thousand o' mountains, cloud-fleece hung,\n 'Twixt Hafren Hen and the sea.)\n\n Musing, down through the firmament vales,\n Here and there in a thousand flowers,\n Even till at last she was wandering Wales,\n Lured by the pure June hours,\n Lured by the glamor of ancient tales,\n And the glory of age-old towers.\n\n Peony splendor of eve and dawn.\n Tulips abloom on the border of day,\n West on fire with the sun withdrawn,\n Night and the Milky Way--\n Ah, it was midnight's bluebell lawn\n Most in her heart held sway.\n\n O'er Bettws Mountain she came down slowly,\n Drowsy winged through the tangled wern;\n Where in the sky was there hill so holy,\n With so much glamor to burn,\n As the hyacinth wilds beyond Wernoleu,\n With their white bells 'mid the fern?\n\n Musing, round by the wern she wandered\n From bell to bell with her wings acroon,\n There where they laughed and nodded and pondered\n Through the beautiful hours of June;\n Bluebell-dark were the dreams she squandered\n On the gold and green of noon.\n\n And the wild white hyacinths, wondering, heard her,\n Suddenly caught by her starry song;\n Gave no more ear to the woodland bird, or\n Heeded the wild bee throng,\n Or laughed with delight of the sunbright verdure\n Of fern they had loved so long.\n\n Marvelous thought took hold of them wholly,\n Azure of mingled darkness and light,\n And they deepened to dark-heart sapphire slowly\n With brooding on the splendor of night;\n And the first of the bluebells of white Wernoleu\n Bloomed, night-blueness dight.\n\n And that's why the wern at Alder-Light\n Is sweet with silence and deep in dream,\n In that wizard region of dream-delight\n Beyond the stile and the stream,\n When the dews have fallen from the bloom of night\n On the glooms where the bluebells gleam.\n\n International Theosophical Headquarters\n Point Loma, California\n\n\n\n\nTHE SOUL AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION: by Henry Travers\n\n\nThe majority of people are not very original and independent in their\nthinking, and consequently prefer to await the sanction of some\nrecognized authority before accepting a doctrine. For this reason\nit is scarcely just to lay _all_ the blame on the institutions,\necclesiastical and otherwise, which supply this demand. For this\nreason, too, it will be a matter of considerable moment that a\nprofessor at the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement\nof Science should have brought forward arguments which, according to\nthe report of his address, \"help the belief that man has a soul.\"\n\nThe arguments brought forward are as old as man himself, it is true;\nbut doctrines are judged largely according to their immediate source.\nThus a new color, an additional weight, is given to the idea that\nthe eye has been made by \"some external agency cognizant of all the\nproperties of light,\" and to the idea that the brain is an instrument\nplayed upon by some power that is not material. We have heard this from\nthe pulpit, perhaps; now we hear it from the lecture table; so we can\nbelieve it a little more strongly than we did before.\n\nThe lecturer's cautious remarks, as gathered from a brief report, seem\nto indicate a belief on his part that there may be a soul after all.\nThe report is headed, \"Eye and Brain Show a Soul Possibly Independent\nof Life.\" His view is said to be regarded by physiologists as offering\na great stimulus to research, and \"it provides for the general\npublic a new exposition of the theory of belief in a divinity.\" The\neye and the brain are such wonderful instruments that they surely\nmust have been made by some intelligent power. That is the argument,\nand it surely must have occurred to many people before. \"The brain's\nworkings and the will-power suggested,\" he said, \"that the brain was\nmysteriously affected by invisible and untraceable harmonies.\" The\nfollowing is of interest to Darwinists:\n\n It was natural to suppose, he declared, the existence of some external\n agent over and above natural selection, which [latter] would have done\n no more than assist in the process.\n\nNatural selection is in fact no more than a phrase descriptive of the\nprocess itself; it can neither help nor hinder, any more than the\ntheory of the law of gravitation can pull down a stone or the calculus\nof probabilities affect the destiny of a soul.\n\nOne feels as if the ancient faiths of humanity, after being confirmed\nand appealed against times without number, had been laid before a final\ncourt of appeal, which, after many painstaking and protracted labors,\nhad at last begun to hand down opinions, slowly and carefully. The\nexistence of the soul has at last been established beyond all possible\ncavil. It has passed all the courts, there is no further appeal, it is\nlaw. The most irrational rationalist, the most credulous sceptic, the\nmost visionary materialist, may now believe in the soul. There really\nis one. At least \"there was some loophole for the view that mind was\nnot directly associated with life or living matter, but only indirectly\nwith certain dispositions of dynamic state that were sometimes present\nwithin certain parts of it.\" (_Times_ report.) At present, then, we may\nbelieve in a soul--cautiously. One wonders if the British Association\nwill ever get so far as to say that we _must_ believe in a soul.\n\nBut why should there be only one soul? Why not separate souls for the\neye, the brain, the heart, the liver--all equally wonderful? The fact\nis that such problems as this have been debated from time immemorial,\nand one can but refer the curious to the world's literature. While our\nlearned men are cautiously speculating about \"a soul,\" the literature\nof Hind\u00fbst\u00e2n (to take a single instance), thousands of years old,\nsummarizes the tenets of many different schools of philosophy on the\nsubject of the various souls in man, the faculties of these souls,\nthe nature of the mind, its numerous powers and functions, the inner\nsenses and their external organs, and so forth. And back of all lies\nthe inscrutable Self of man, the Master and possessor of all these\npowers. Verily we have much yet to learn--the road we are going. It\nlooks like a snail verifying the tracks of a bird. It looks as if these\nphysiologists had just arrived at the edge of the sea, near enough\nto get their feet wet so as to know there is a sea. And now they are\ntalking about a promising field of investigation.\n\nOf course these physiologists are souls, the same as the rest of us,\nand they have minds and other faculties which they use all the time.\nBut what they are doing is to bring a little of this actual practical\nknowledge down to the plane of formal theory. An extraordinary duality\nof the mind, truly! To be a soul, to act as a soul, and yet to live\nhalf in and half out of a mental state wherein conditions are entirely\ndifferent! One sometimes wonders what bearing these speculations have\nupon actual life at all. The achievements of science lie mainly in the\nregion of applied mechanics and chemistry. Physiology brings us closer\ninto contact with vital questions that cannot be ignored and that yet\nlie without the prescribed domain.\n\nThe zoological professor also indulged in a little flight of the\nimagination; for in lecturing on \"The Greater Problems of Biology,\" he\nmade \"Wonderment\" a part of his theme. He pointed out that the problems\nof consciousness and the mystery of the reasoning soul were not for the\nbiologist but the psychologist.\n\n Beyond and remote from physical causation lay the End, the Final Cause\n of the philosopher, the reason why, in the which were hidden the\n problems of organic harmony and autonomy and the mysteries of apparent\n purpose, adaptation, fitness, and design. Here, in the region of\n teleology, the plain rationalism that guided them through the physical\n facts and causes began to disappoint them, and Intuition, which was of\n close kin to Faith [capitals not ours], began to make herself heard.\n\nThis is enough to make Tyndall turn in his grave, thereby causing\nan earthquake in Scotland. He was so very satisfied with the plain\nrationalism, and died before it began to disappoint. What would he\nhave said of Intuition, if not that it is a secretion of one of our\nglands? It seems to have taken a long time to realize that purpose,\ndesign, etc., are qualities of mind and not of matter. It is absolutely\nessential that physiologists should study mind and soul, even though\ntheir immediate object be the body. What geologist could adequately\nstudy the earth if he ignored the existence of the air and the sea?\n\n\n\n\nWARWICK CASTLE: by C. J. Ryan\n\n\nWarwick Castle, one of the most magnificent and well-preserved of the\nbaronial palaces of the middle ages, is among the first of the historic\nmonuments that American travelers visit in England, for it is in the\nimmediate neighborhood of Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace,\nto which most Americans pay their respects early in their tour.\nWarwickshire is a typically English county. It is not only central in\nsituation but, as Henry James writes, \"It is the core and center of\nthe English world, midmost England.\" He rightly considers there is\nno better way for a stranger who wishes to know something of typical\nEnglish life and scenery than to spend some time in Warwickshire, with\nits richly-wooded and densely-grassed undulating landscape, its famous\nhistorical relics, and its literary associations. Not only is the\ncounty sacred to the memory of Shakespeare, but it is also the scene of\nmany of George Eliot's finest stories. The backgrounds of _Middlemarch_\nand _Adam Bede_ are here.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. WARWICK CASTLE, FROM\nTHE AVON]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. INNER COURT AND\nTOWERS OF WARWICK CASTLE. GUY'S TOWER ON THE LEFT]\n\nThe castle stands on a commanding eminence, overlooking the river\nAvon, and from every point of view it presents an imposing and highly\npicturesque appearance. It is little touched by time, though some of\nit dates from Saxon times, and it passed through a great siege in\nCromwellian times. The oldest portion which is conspicuous is Caesar's\nTower, a solid building 150 feet high, built soon after the Norman\nconquest. The greater part of the castle was built in the 14th and\n15th centuries, and, with the exception of the great Keep, which has\ndisappeared, it has been very little injured. The roof of the great\nHall and some parts of the other buildings were destroyed by fire\nin 1871, but they have been carefully restored. The dungeons below\nCaesar's Tower are painfully interesting, and the view from Guy's Tower\nis famous for its beauty. Guy, Earl of Warwick in the tenth century,\nis a notable hero of chivalric legend, though it is probable that the\nstories about him have been greatly exaggerated. Tradition relates\nthat he defeated in single combat a doughty champion of the Danes in\nthe time of Athelstan. If the Dane had won the English would have lost\ntheir independence, says the legend. Guy, who was disguised as a simple\npilgrim when chosen--through a vision--for the defender of his country,\nimmediately afterwards retired for life to a hermitage in a cave near\nWarwick, at Guy's Cliff, a romantic spot where the river Avon winds\nthrough picturesque rocks, woods, and meadows.\n\nThe interior of Warwick Castle contains many priceless relics of\nantiquity, such as the mace of the great Earl of Warwick, the\n\"King-maker\" (died 1471), relics of the legendary Guy, the helmet of\nOliver Cromwell, the well-known Warwick vase found in Hadrian's villa,\nTivoli, and many celebrated portraits by Vandyck and Rubens.\n\nWarwick Park is noted for its magnificent ancient cedars. Nathaniel\nHawthorne has written about Warwick Castle and the surrounding scenery\nin a way that cannot be bettered. He says, in one passage:\n\n\"We can scarcely think the scene real, so completely do those\nmachicolated towers, the long line of battlements, the high windowed\nwalls, the massive buttresses, shape out our indistinct ideas of the\nantique time.\"\n\n\n\n\nMAN AND NATURE: by R. Machell\n\n\nNo sooner is the right man in the right place than order begins to\ntake the place of confusion in any department of human activity; for\norder is natural and disorder is the result of an interference with\nthe law of nature. There are some who seem to think that natural law\ncan operate without agents and instruments, which is absurd; and there\nare some who seem to think that the agents and instruments of natural\nlaw are gods and angels and spirits, but not men; or that they are\nmicrobes and bacteria, and \"forces,\" whatever that may be, and anything\ninvisible and intangible, but not man. And why not man? Is man outside\nthe field of nature, while he is still subject to her laws? That is\nhardly reasonable.\n\nThe divine, the human, and the natural, are but different aspects of\nthe Universal, which is called Nature. The right man was not in power\nwhen these separations and limitations took the place of the true\nteaching. The right man is Theosophy. When Theosophy comes in then\nknowledge of the unity underlying all multiplicity of manifestations\ntakes the place of ignorance which breeds confusion and causes discord.\nIt is so easy to get hold of one part of the truth, and to make it\nfalse by separating it from the other parts of the great whole. This is\nwhat men have done and still are doing. And the Teachers, while trying\nto proclaim the greater Truth, have been forced at times to limit their\nteachings to that which will serve the immediate need of the hour\nby correcting some evil that has sprung from making a dogma out of a\npartial aspect of truth. Yet in the old mythology preserved in the\nScandinavian book of the Wisdom of Brunhilda there is the teaching of\nman's duty to nature as the instrument of the Higher Law plainly stated\nin the lines from William Morris' version:\n\n Know thou, most mighty of men, that the Norns shall order all;\n And yet without thine helping shall no whit of their will befall.\n\nThe Norns are the emblems of Natural Law; they are above mankind and\nabove the gods. All-Father Odin, who seems to correspond to the Greek\nZeus, was forced to pay dearly for but a glimpse of their knowledge.\nThey are above all the hierarchies of spiritual beings, a primordial\ntrinity, prototype of all lesser trinities; and yet without man's help,\ntheir will remains unaccomplished among men.\n\nIt seems as if the Universal Law is supreme, but that in the world\nof man its action may be blocked by man, creating confusion in that\nworld, and in those dependent upon it, which lies within the sphere of\nillusion we call Time. This great illusion \"produced by the succession\nof our states of consciousness as we pass through eternal duration\"\n(_The Secret Doctrine_), is the field of man's operation, when he\nblocks the action of the supreme Law by the interposing of his personal\nwill; in it he dreams, and the dream becomes a nightmare, which\nbeneficent nature ends by periodic cataclysms of fire or flood, while\nthe deluded souls returning to their waking soul-state know that it was\na dream.\n\nIt seems as if this state of illusion, in which we think of ourselves\nand our world as separate from the divine or from nature, were produced\nby the refusal of the personal will to carry out the will of the\nSupreme; for when this opposition ceases and the personal will becomes\nthe direct agent of the spiritual will, order reigns and the world of\ndisorder disappears. This amounts to saying that the illuminated man\nis no longer in darkness, when the inner light is allowed to shine\nthrough his lower mind. But as such men are no longer subject to the\ndarkness, or the illusion of the world, they are lost to those who are\nstill blind and in the dark unless they hold themselves down to that\ncondition in order to help others to get free from the darkness which\nobscures the true life.\n\nSo in the old mythologies we find the Gods, doing on a higher plane\nwhat man does in his world, interposing their personal will in\ninterference with the will of the Supreme, and thereby throwing a\nveil of illusion over the lower worlds which is the cause of a cycle\nof strife and discord; for the personal will has shut out the light\nand suspended the action of the higher Law through the failure of\nits agent, and produced the illusion of that series of states of\nconsciousness we call Time. The Eternal, being beyond time, is not\naffected; but that is a mystery to man in his lower consciousness,\nin which he cannot get away from the reality of time. The lower\nconsciousness is bound up in time, and to it time is reality; but man\nis not bound up in his lower consciousness, nor is he limited to its\nfield of operation. The eternal is in him and at any moment he may get\na ray of that light which we call inspiration or intuition, and by\nthat illumination he may see the solution of the problem and feel his\ndivinity, while utterly unable to put that knowledge so obtained into\nany satisfactory form of words; he may even be unable to put it into a\nform of thought, and may find himself with a knowledge that must remain\nsecret.\n\nAs natural Law is Universal, so it must operate in an appropriate\nmanner on all planes; \"as above so below\" (Hermetic maxim); \"Thy will\nbe done on earth as it is in heaven\" (a Christian prayer); but as the\naction of a law is conditioned by the mind and matter on which and\nthrough which it acts, it may not be easy to recognize the One Law in\nits various manifestations. So we find the application of the highest\nphilosophy in the most ordinary circumstances of daily life, for the\nlaw is universal; and when we have reached up to some high thought\nand got some new light, we must find means to see its application to\nsome practical detail of life, or we have again blocked the course of\nthe higher Law, which is seeking to penetrate to the lowest depths of\nmatter through us.\n\nWe are thus agents of the higher Law of Nature and it is our duty to\nget into line as quickly as may be, and to let the light shine through.\n\n * * * * *\n\n COURAGE consists not in hazarding without fear but being resolutely\n minded in a just cause.... The Deity is the brave man's hope and not\n the coward's excuse.--_Plutarch_\n\n\n\n\nTHE WILL AS A CHEMICAL PRODUCT: by Investigator\n\n\nIn a current review appears an article entitled \"The Will as a Chemical\nProduct,\" accompanied by the portrait of a professor, beneath which\nis written, \"Who holds that what we call 'will' in the lower animals\nis a mere chemical or physical phenomenon, like the sunflower's\nturning toward the light.\" This statement might just as well be turned\naround so as to run, \"What we call chemical action is nothing but a\nmanifestation of the mere will.\" However, this professor appears to be\nhaunted with the desire to represent the whole universe as a mechanism;\nfor, by a daring use of the \"scientific imagination,\" which vaults\nscornfully over all gaps in the chain of reasoning, he applies his\ntheory to man--including presumably himself, the author of the theory,\nsince he does not make any mention of himself as an exception.\n\nTo begin with the sunflower, which is where the professor begins--the\nidea is that the solar rays cause chemical actions in the plant, the\nchemical actions in their turn causing movements which switch the\nflower around into a position where the balance of forces results\nin stability. Next we go to the small fresh-water crustacean. This\nanimal, when experimented upon, did not show any heliotropism; but\nthe professor was nothing daunted. He just poured some acid into the\nwater, and the result was that the pollywogs all flocked to the light\nand stayed there. It was the same when carbonic acid gas or alcohol was\nput into the water. Our explanation is that the pollywogs were upset by\nthe poisoned water and crowded into that part where the light rendered\nthe water less poisonous or gave them greater strength to resist the\nill effects. But the professor has a theory to prop; so his conclusion\nis that the chemical poured into the water \"sensitized\" the creature,\nrendering them heliotropic. It is wonderful what a great theory a\nlittle fact can be made to prove!\n\nPassing to ethics--rather a large jump--the professor suggests that\npersons who exhibit the highest manifestation of ethics--that is,\npersons who are willing to sacrifice their lives for an idea--are\nvictims of a \"tropism.\" In other words, these unfortunate people have\nbecome slaves to the chemical reactions produced in them by the stimuli\nof ideas.\n\nWell, it may suit this professor to define self-sacrifice as an\nobsession, but we could give other instances of the obsession of\nideas which would fit the definition better. Ethics may be a chemical\nphenomenon, but in that case it does not much matter after all, since\nevery other thing in the universe is also a chemical process. The\nprofessor himself is a chemical process--so, a fig for his theory! say\nwe; who cares for a theory made by a chemical process? Frankly, we do\nnot believe this theory. But, if the theory is false, it follows that\nit was not made by a chemical process after all; hence it is perhaps\n_not_ false. And so the logic goes round and round.\n\nPeople who weave theories of this fantastic kind are people whose\nideas have no relation to life; they live in a world of imagination.\nPeople who can define their own mind as a chemical process--the very\nmind which they are using all the time--must surely have something the\nmatter with their thinking machinery. And we recognize in the sneer\nat ethics the shadow of a certain destructive \"stimulus\" which is\ncertainly not of the sun but which acts on people's brains a good deal\nin these days.\n\nUnder the influence of a stimulus which has acted on our chemical\ncells, and which we feel powerless to resist, we state without\napology that all chemical, physical, and electrical processes are\nmanifestations of will. The action of the sunflower in turning to the\nsun is a manifestation of will. Without will, no atom could approach\nor recede from its neighbor. Physical notation cannot get any further\nthan corpuscles separated by empty space; and what short of a will\ncan bridge such a gap? Shall we define the whole universe as chemical\nprocesses, or shall we define it as mind and will? Take your choice. In\nthe one case you have a chemical process defining itself as a chemical\nprocess; for your mind, which defines, is a chemical process; in the\nother case you have mind recognizing mind in other beings. Analysis\nof the universe must begin with consciousness; we must define matter\nin terms of mind; to attempt to define mind in terms of matter, while\nat the same time using a mind to do it with, is to make a fundamental\nmistake in logic that can only lead to a piling up of absurdities.\n\nIn speculating as to the cause of motion, try to imagine any other\ncause for it than volition. You have, let us say, two atoms; they\napproach one another; here is motion; what causes it? You can only\nanswer \"Attraction,\" which is only defining it by an equivalent word;\nfor attraction is nothing more than a name for the very thing we are\nseeking to explain. If we study our own organism we find that volition\nis the cause of motion, and we infer that it is the same in other\npeople. We are not conscious of any volition that moves our own vital\norgans, or the muscles of other people or animals, or the sunflower,\nor the chemical mixture. But if we do not put these actions under\nthe same category as the ones of which we are conscious, we have to\nfind a new and special explanation for them. It is better to accept,\nprovisionally at least, volition as being one of the fundamental facts\nof the universe, and to use it as a basis of inference; for volition is\na thing of which we have actual experience, while the atoms and blind\nforces of materialistic speculation are mere suppositions.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE NOBLE VIKINGS\nPresentations in the Open Air in Sweden, 1911]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ANOTHER VIEW]\n\nBut delusions, however erroneous, do actually exist as such in the\nminds of those obsessed by them; and are capable of giving rise to\nmischievous actions. We have at present a regular epidemic of awful\nsociological theories, threatening to develop into action, and based\non these mechanical and chemical ideas of the universe. Such proposals\nas that criminals shall be vivisected, that private or co-operative\nself-abuse shall be officially taught as a means of keeping down the\npopulation, and many other such notions, are the fruit of a perverted\nand materialistic philosophy. They give a faint idea of the reign of\nterror that might supervene if the destructive forces now at work\nshould gain the upper hand. A section of the world of thought seems to\nbe going mad and the sooner the people find it out the better.\n\n\n\n\nOPEN-AIR DRAMA: by Per Fernholm, M. E., Royal Institute of Technology\n(Stockholm)\n\n\nAll know that to act with knowledge at the critical moment is like\nthrowing out a kindling spark that sets minds aflame and makes possible\nthings which long have loomed in unattainable horizons. But the\nspreading of this fire proceeds on inner planes and can not be followed\nby those ignorant of the source. Seldom does it leave obvious traces in\nso short a time as is the case in the recent development of the drama.\n\nNot more than twelve years have passed since the hills of Lomaland\nresounded with the soul-stirring stanzas of the _Eumenides_, the\nopen-air drama being directed and supervised in all its detail by\nKatherine Tingley, and played by her students. She then declared that\na new awakening in this art was at hand and that the drama would be\nrestored once more to its true dignity as a most potent means of\nexpressing the life of the Soul. The seed at that moment planted\nknowingly by her fell into a rich soil--today there is hardly a\ncountry where an attempt has not been made to present ancient life by\nrepresentations in the open air.\n\nThis year, in Lomaland, another note has been struck, a new impulse\ngiven by the presentation of _The Aroma of Athens_ in the open-air\nGreek Theater. More plays are to follow, of different lands and times,\nopening up limitless opportunities for all who are in earnest and have\nthe welfare of the nations at heart. Ancient life is here given in\nunstained purity, suffused with the inspiring splendor of soul-life.\nHere all the rays come from within, from above; the false glamor from\nbelow has no place.\n\nElsewhere efforts have not always been successful, and we need not\nwonder at that. Where do we find knowledge of ancient times except in\nregard to scattered details of superficial life? Modern plays are few\nwhich can withstand the silent environment of nature, for there the\nconflict of human passions are out of place, as also much of the modern\nway of acting, dissecting emotions and sensations. Nature demands\nsincerity, and requires that a r\u00f4le should not only be _acted_, but\nactually _lived_, supported by a worthy life. Then only will nature\nhelp in many a hidden way; then only shall we have before our eyes the\ndrama of all ages: Man learning to use his own powers wisely and to\nwork in harmony with Nature.\n\nOne of the happier attempts outside Lomaland seems to have been that\nmade in Sweden this summer by a band of young and enthusiastic actors.\nTheir success may be due to the fact that they started out with the\nsincere wish to give the people out in the country who never had\nseen a play, and especially the young, an opportunity to obtain a\nglimpse of their ancient life. Refreshing simplicity and heart-feeling\ncharacterized their whole work, going around, as they did, from place\nto place where the young usually meet in summertime, selecting a fit\nplace on a mountain, at a lake, in a grove, or whatever they could\nfind, the audience having to resort to the flower-sprinkled grassy\nslope of a hill. Over one hundred representations were given in this\nway, most of them far away from cities.\n\nEven as a string vibrates when its note is sounded from a distance,\nso the deeper heart-strings vibrate when their note is struck; and it\nseems as if a new means of reaching the people has been found in such\nrepresentations.\n\nIf only the highest and purest notes be sounded, as was the case in\nLomaland, new and helpful forces are called into play in human life.\n\n\n\n\nINTRA-ATOMIC ENERGY: by H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S.\n\n\nWill the turn of Keeley (of motor fame) come for vindication? The turn\nof the Keeley _principle_, the disintegration of atoms by sound, and\nthe consequent liberation of their stored energy, undoubtedly will.\n\nIn his recent address to the British Association for the Advancement\nof Science Sir William Ramsay dealt with the _self_-disintegration of\natoms, especially radium atoms, and then went on:\n\n This leads to the speculation whether, if elements are capable of\n disintegration, the world may not have at its disposal a hitherto\n unsuspected source of energy. If radium were to evolve its stored-up\n energy at the same rate that gun-cotton does, we should have an\n undreamed of explosive; could we control the rate we should have a\n useful and potent source of energy.... If some form of catalyser\n [promotor of atomic change] could be discovered which would usefully\n increase their [such elements as radium] almost inconceivably slow\n rate of change, then it is not too much to say that the whole future\n of our race would be altered.\n\nA _Scientific American_ writer follows on naturally:\n\n Iodide of nitrogen, a black powder, is one of the most dangerous of\n all explosives. When dry, the slightest touch will often cause it to\n explode with great violence. There appears to be a certain rate of\n vibration which this compound cannot resist. Some of it in the damp\n state was rubbed on the strings of a bass viol. It is known that the\n strings of such an instrument will vibrate when those of a similar\n instrument, having an equal tension, are played upon. In the present\n case, after the explosive had become thoroughly dry upon the strings,\n another bass viol was brought near and its strings sounded. At a\n certain note the iodide exploded. It was found that the explosion\n occurred only when a rate of vibration of sixty per second was\n communicated to the prepared strings. The note G caused an explosion\n while E had no effect.\n\nThe writer goes on to state that damage to stone and brick walls has\nbeen traced to long continued violin playing.\n\n It follows, of course, that there must have been continuous playing\n for years to cause the loosening of masonry or to make iron brittle,\n but it will do so in time.\n\nThe point of interest is _the special rate of vibration_ required\nto set free the energy locked up in the iodide of nitrogen. It was\nintra-_molecular_ energy. Sir William Ramsay was referring to the far\ngreater stores of intra-_atomic_ energy, energy _within_ the atoms,\nholding each one together. The other ties them one to another within\nthe molecule, i. e., holds the molecule together.\n\nBut may not the atom too respond to some special rate of vibration\nproducible by sound, lying far among the upper harmonics of any audible\ntone? This at any rate was Keeley's statement and claim. The causes of\nhis equally unquestionable successes and failure may be worth looking\ninto once more now that a certain high temperature surrounding the\nsubject has died down. _Sound_ may be Sir William Ramsay's \"catalyser.\"\n\n\n\n\nA JAPANESE WRITER'S VIEWS ON MODERN CIVILIZATION: Contributed by E. S.\n(Tokyo, Japan)\n\n\nIn an essay on the future of civilization in Japan, quoted in the\n_Japan Chronicle_, Dr. Otsuki says:\n\n There can be little doubt that Western civilization and Japanese\n civilization will eventually be united.... The harmonizing of the two\n can be brought about only by mutual concessions; but it seems to me it\n would be a calamity if we were to concede too much. There are times\n when one feels as Dr. Nitobe felt when he wrote his _Soul of Japan_,\n and as Lafcadio Hearn felt when he described the moral beauty of old\n Japan; one fears that in their conflict with European civilization our\n Japanese ideals will be gradually wiped out, that the good and the\n beautiful as we have known it and loved it, will be sacrificed to the\n coarser forms of modern utilitarianism....\n\nThe blending of the two civilizations\n\n leads us to inquire what is likely to be the future of Western\n civilization. On this subject there is a great variety of opinion in\n the West; but of one thing deep thinkers seem sure: the present system\n of material civilization can only escape from ending in a terrible\n cataclysm by the addition to it of spiritual and moral elements that\n will guide, control, and conserve its energy.... Is it not possible\n that Japan may be able to take a prominent part in this work? Can she\n not save Europe and America from the dangers that now beset them? If\n by blending her civilization with theirs she can supply the elements\n of strength and permanence which are now lacking, then her future as\n well as that of Western nations will be one of increasing prosperity.\n But if, while receiving from Europe and America much that is good,\n she takes also much that is distinctly bad, and in addition to this,\n she allows her own fine old system of civilization to be blotted out\n of existence--then her future destiny cannot be contemplated by any\n patriotic Japanese with anything but grave misgiving and profound\n grief.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. FACE OF STELA B:\nCOPAN From Maudslay's _Archaeologia_]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. FACE OF STELA P:\nCOPAN From Maudslay's _Archaeologia_]\n\n\n\n\nCOPAN, AND ITS POSITION IN AMERICAN HISTORY: by William E. Gates\n\n\nNo place among all the sites of ancient ruins on the continent of\nAmerica, arouses a livelier interest in both the observer and the\nstudent, than does Copan. Other remains, in Peru, and even in Mexico,\nare of vaster bulk; but the ensemble of Copan produces upon the mind an\neffect comparable in Egypt only by that of Thebes. And this evidence\ngrows and is supported at every step by the evidence of such researches\nand excavations as it has been so far possible to carry on.\n\n All would seem to indicate a gradual addition of new features\n accompanied by abandonment of older parts. It can readily be seen how\n a process of this kind carried on for centuries, without any well\n designed plan to adhere to or any definite idea to carry out, would\n result in a great complex mass of structures like that of Copan to\n puzzle and perplex the explorer.\n\n There are other evidences that point to several successive periods of\n occupation. The river front presents what looks like _at least three\n great strata_, divided by floors or pavements of mortar cement. If\n these floors mark the various levels corresponding to different epochs\n in the history of the city, the question of the age of the ruins\n becomes still more complicated; for between each successive period of\n occupancy _there is the period of silence_, the length of which can\n only be inferred from the thickness of the superimposed stratum.--Dr.\n Geo. B. Gordon, _Exploration of Copan_, (in Peabody Museum _Memoirs_).\n\nThe ruins of Copan lie on the level plain of a beautiful valley, a\nmile and a half wide by seven or eight miles long, in Honduras, some\ntwelve miles east of the Guatemala boundary. The site thus marks\nthe eastern limit of the region covered by the ancient Maya remains\nand inscriptions, as Palenque about marks its western edge, a short\ndistance beyond the Guatemala line, in the Mexican state of Chiapas.\nThe valley of Copan is watered by a swift river which enters and\nleaves by a gorge, washing the eastern side of the ruins. The force of\nthe annual freshets each year carries away more of this river wall,\nand by its washings has shown that the entire elevation of 120 feet\nis of historical or artificial growth, showing the stratification of\noccupancy mentioned by Dr. Gordon, and yielding fragments of pottery\nand obsidian down to the water level.\n\nAs can be seen by the plan, the ruins form a composite whole, some 2300\nby 1400 feet, and the historical development of the site is shown by\nthree independent pieces of evidence. Of these the most striking at\nfirst sight is the very apparent growth of the ground plan, pointing\nto successive additions and enlargements of an original nucleus,\njust as we see at Thebes. The second evidence is that of excavation,\nwhich proves beyond all question, even by the little so far done, that\nnew structures and temples were built upon or into the old. And this\nevidence is corroborated by the dates on some of the monuments.\n\nThe striking unity of the whole group of structures at Copan is\ntherefore a composite unity, the result of long-continued occupation.\nStructures and temples were built and used; life flowed on around\nthem, and after lapses of time whose length we have no means whatever\n(save in one case) of even estimating, other buildings were added, and\nthe earlier ones built over, or even covered up by the new. People do\nnot build temples and tear them down to build new ones the next year;\nnor on the other hand do alien peoples and civilizations expand by a\nharmonious enlargement the works of those they supersede, but rather\nchange, destroy, or build their own.\n\nThe first thing then to be realized about the entire group of\nstructures at Copan is their composite unity; then that this is not\nthe result of a single construction, but of growth and successive\nadditions; then that these periods of enlargement are separated by\nother, more or less long, periods of continued use and occupation,\nduring which the civilization of the people maintained itself, somewhat\nmodified by time, but not broken or interrupted. And finally, this\nevidence, together with that of the monumental dates, to which we will\ncome, has so far only to do with the ground plan and the structures\nwe can discover by a few feet of digging on the surface of the plain\nof Copan; for we have not the slightest means as yet of relating\nanything we can see at Copan to the various strata of occupation, with\nintervening silence, marked on the 120 feet of the disintegrating river\nwall. Those periods of silence may indeed, for everything we can yet\ntell, be the silence of non-occupation, of civilizations destroyed and\nforgotten, only to be followed by others. One Copan after another may\nhave been built upon the obliterated site of its predecessor. Whatever\nevidence there is, read in comparison with similar evidence elsewhere,\npoints to that; a few years ago we disbelieved in a historical Troy,\nonly to find successive Troys, and many like places elsewhere, built\none above the other. To _deny_ the like or its probability at Copan,\nwould be foolish.\n\nBut to return to the Copan whose remains we can see, one great question\nis forced upon us at the very outset. That is this: what must have\nbeen the state of the _American continent_, as regards civilization,\nduring the ages into which we are trying to look? And that they were\nlong ages, even for the Copan we have before us, we shall presently\nsee. While all this was going on there, what was the rest of the\ncontinent like? Our preconceived notions of savagery or nomadic tribal\ncommunities must be thrown entirely to the winds, together with the\nstatement of the historian Robertson, made in 1777, that in all New\nSpain there is not \"any monument or vestige of any building more\nancient than the Conquest.\"\n\nAs a first step towards an appreciation of the place of Copan in\nAmerican history, we must consider the actual state of New Spain (that\nis, the region from the Rio Grande to Panama, approximately) at the\ntime of the Discovery. The Aztecs were in possession of the valley\nof Mexico, with an elaborate civilization, fairly comparable if not\nsuperior to that of Europe at the same time; but their history only\ngoes back a few hundred years, for they were merely a warlike nation\nwho had come in, probably from the north, and were about comparable\nto the Manchus in China, or the Goths in Rome. They settled upon and\nappropriated _some_ (a very small part) of the civilization before\nthem. Around them were various semi-independent peoples whom they had\nneither destroyed nor entirely subdued, and among whom they had only\na primacy of force. To the southwest of Mexico the ancient Zapotec\nkingdom still existed, a link with the past, towards its end, but\nstill owing nothing to the Aztecs. In Yucatan and Central America were\nthe fragments of the Mayan peoples, broken up into half a dozen main\nlanguage stocks, and a score of separate dialects. Between the Mayas\nand those of Mexico there was some intercourse and a little borrowing,\nwith some very ancient traditions probably in common. In culture and\nmythology, as to which we have limited material for comparison, and in\nlanguage, as to which we have ample material, they were about as much\nalike, or as closely related, as the ancient Germans to the ancient\nRomans. Both were Americans, as the others were Aryans, with a common\ninheritance of tradition, mythology, and language type; no more.\n\nBeyond all possible dispute, the Mayas were indefinitely the older\npeople. The Aztecs had but a picture or rebus writing, and there is\nno evidence they ever had more than this. There are slight traces of\nwriting akin to the Maya, among the Zapotecs. But the Mayas had a\ncomplete system of genuine hieroglyphic writing, certainly not derived\nfrom the Aztec picture-writing, but dissimilar from this in every way,\nwith monuments antedating the period of Aztec history, on which the\nhieroglyphic forms are fully developed and perfect. The civilization,\nmonuments, and hieroglyphs of Copan, Palenque, and of Tikal in southern\nYucatan, are Mayan; but they are not the Mayan of the time of the\nDiscovery.\n\nThe period immediately preceding the entry of the Spaniards is a\nhistorical period. We have various chronicles written by native hands,\nprinces, priests or recorders, giving us some of the early cosmic\ntraditions, brought down into contemporary times. We have these in Maya\nfor Yucatan, and in Quich\u00e9-Cakchiquel for Guatemala. In each case the\nperiod of definable history goes back several centuries, but throws\nno light on the earlier period. In 1500 the triple Quich\u00e9 kingdom\nwas still a powerful and civilized nation; and if we know less of it\nthan we do of the Aztec it is only because it was more quickly wiped\nout, because Lake Tezcoco and not Lake Atitl\u00e1n became the seat of\nthe Spanish capital, and because no efforts were made at the time to\npreserve the Mayan knowledge and traditions, as was done by a few in\nMexico.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE HIEROGLYPHIC\nSTAIRWAY: COPAN (AFTER EXCAVATION, SHOWING ONE-SIXTH OF ORIGINAL\nHEIGHT) From Peabody Museum _Memoirs_]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. COPAN: GENERAL PLAN\nFrom Maudslay's _Archaeologia_]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. STELA H: COPAN From\nMaudslay's _Archaeologia_]\n\nIn northern Yucatan the capital of the last Mayan confederacy, Mayap\u00e1n,\nhad been destroyed in the middle of the 15th century; Chich\u00e9n Itz\u00e1\nlasted as a city practically up to that time; and on the island of\nTayasal in Lake Pet\u00e9n, southern Yucatan, there was a powerful and\nflourishing Itz\u00e1 nation down to 1697. Of the architecture, manner of\nlife, house furnishings, etc. of the different living Maya centers we\nhave reasonably full descriptions left by different Spanish writers\nof the time. And they do not correspond in the smallest degree, to\nthe monuments and buildings we have left at Copan and other ancient,\nabandoned sites. We are only able to trace a continuation of the type,\nand to know that the same hieroglyphic writing we find on the carved\nmonuments of the older places, continued to be used until the Conquest.\nSo that after sifting the various descriptions, we find that even the\npowerful cities of Tayasal and Utatl\u00e1n, the Quich\u00e9 capital, were but\nvillages in comparison. The nearest link is Chich\u00e9n Itz\u00e1, which seems\nto have been the last really great Maya city. Its architectural remains\nare indeed in size and extent comparable with the older sites; but in\nstyle and in the life of the people displayed by the carved and painted\nscenes, it is like comparing the Egypt of the Ptolemies with that of\nRamessu and Hatshepsu. But Chich\u00e9n Itz\u00e1 itself was abandoned as the\ncapital at least a century before the coming of the Spaniards.\nAnd to quote from the description of Mr. A. P. Maudslay, from whose\ngreat work most of our illustrations are taken, after saying: \"I fear\nthat this slight description of Chich\u00e9n must wholly fail to convey to\nmy readers the sensation of a ghostly grandeur and magnificence which\nbecomes almost oppressive to one who wanders day after day amongst the\nruined buildings\"; and then after noting various differences between\nthe ruins of Chich\u00e9n and those of Copan and Quirigu\u00e1, he adds:\n\n the absence of sculptured stelae, the scarcity of hieroglyphic\n inscriptions, and, most important of all, the fact that every man\n is shown as a warrior with atlatl and spears in his hand; the only\n representation of a woman depicts her watching a battle from the roof\n of a house in a beleaguered town, whereas at Copan and Quirigua there\n are no representations of weapons of war, and at Copan a woman was\n deemed worthy of a fine statue in the Great Plaza [see illustration,\n Stela P]. I am inclined to think that it must have been the stress of\n war that drove the peaceable inhabitants of the fertile valleys of the\n Motagua and Usumacinta and the highlands of the Vera Cruz [Copan],\n to the less hospitable plains of Yucatan, where, having learnt the\n arts of war, they re-established their power. Then again they passed\n through evil times: intertribal feuds and Nahua invasions may account\n for the destruction and abandonment of their great cities, such as\n Chich\u00e9n Itz\u00e1 and Mayap\u00e1n, ...\n\nSo much for the Maya civilization in the 15th century, and its then\ncenters and capitals. But of Copan, Palenque, Tikal, and Quirigu\u00e1, we\nhave not the slightest trace as living cities. Cortes visited Tayasal\non his way to Honduras; Alvarado overran and conquered the Quich\u00e9\nkingdoms; but no one even mentioned the existence of any of these older\nplaces. Not a tradition about any of them has ever been discovered\namong the living natives at any time; for all we can see they were\n_then_ buried, in ruins, in the forests, and forgotten.\n\nIn 1576 Diego Garc\u00eda de Palacio, Judge of the Royal Audiencia, made a\nreport to King Philip II of his travels, by royal order, in what is now\neastern Guatemala and western Honduras. He reached Copan, and describes\n\"ruins and vestiges of a great civilization and of superb edifices,\nof such skill and splendor that it appears that they could never have\nbeen built by the natives of that province.\" He sought, but could\nfind no tradition of their history, save that a great lord had come\nthere in time past, built the monuments and gone away, leaving them\ndeserted. This, in the face of what we see on the site, means exactly\nnothing. Palacio's original manuscript, which is still in existence,\nwas forgotten, only to be later discovered, and printed first in 1860.\nFor 259 years Copan was again forgotten, until visited in 1835 by John\nL. Stephens. Palenque for its part remained entirely unknown until\nabout the middle of the 18th century. For what we know of real value\nconcerning these ruins we are indebted to the works of Stephens, to the\narchaeological survey and excavations carried on by Mr. A. P. Maudslay,\nby the Peabody Museum of Cambridge, and to a few less extended visits\nby other explorers. In 1891, by the enlightened zeal of President\nBogr\u00e1n of Honduras, the Peabody Museum acquired the official care of\nthe Copan ruins for a period of years.\n\nAs seen upon the plan, Copan consists of a group of pyramids, on\nthe summit of each of which probably once stood a small temple; of\nterraces and walls; and finally of sculptured pillars or stelae, each\nof which has or had before it a low, so-called altar. Nearly all\nof these stelae bear on one face a human figure surrounded by most\nelaborate symbolism of dress, ornament, and other figures. The faces\nare dignified and for the most part not grotesque. Above the head is\nusually a triple overshadowing. The main symbolism is worked out in\nbird and serpent motifs, and into the dress at different parts of the\nbody, notably the chest, are worked medallions of faces, as if to\nsymbolize different human centers of consciousness in the body. The\nsides and back of all are covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions, whose\ngeneral characteristic it is to begin with a date, which is followed by\nthe indication of intervals which reach to other dates throughout the\nwhole inscription. This statement holds good for practically all Mayan\nmonumental inscriptions, on stelae or otherwise. And these dates, or\nmost of them, are all we can yet read of these writings. We can, that\nis, read them in their own terms, but without being definitely able to\ntranslate them into our chronology.\n\nThe first and greatest work done by the Peabody Museum was in the\nexcavation and partial restoration of the Hieroglyphic Stairway.\nThis stairway is on the west side of mound 26, almost in the center\nof the plan. It is 26 feet wide, with a three foot carved balustrade\non each side. The risers of the steps are carved with a hieroglyphic\ninscription; at the base is an altar, and the ascent is, or was, broken\nby seated figures. But fifteen steps are left in place, although an\napproximate restoration was made by Dr. Gordon of the position of what\nwere probably the upper rows. Originally they must have numbered about\nninety, to the top of a pyramid as many feet high; but a landslip at\nsome time, probably since Palacio's time, carried the upper rows down\nand on over the lower ones, which remained buried until Maudslay's\nfirst visit. Palacio mentioned a great flight of steps descending to\nthe river, which the river may have destroyed.\n\nIn front of the Stairway stands Stelae M, of which Dr. Gordon closes\nby saying: \"It would seem to have stood in front of the older edifice,\nthat served at last as a foundation for the Hieroglyphic Stairway with\nits temple, for centuries before the latter was built.\" And what now is\nthe chronological evidence on these monuments?\n\nWithout going into what would be long details to set forth even what\nis known of the very elaborate Maya methods of time reckoning, it is\nenough to say that these sculptured dates regularly specify a certain\nday (indicated by the combination of twenty names with thirteen\nnumbers), and hence recurring only once in 260 days, falling on a\ncertain day of a certain month, in a certain year expressed by _four\nnumbers in vigesimal_ (instead of decimal) _progression_, so that the\nsuccessive figures stand for 1, 20, 400, and 8000 years, instead of\nas with us, 1, 10, 100, 1000. It is a moot point whether the dates\ninclude the next stage, of 160,000 years, in the reckoning, or not.\nAnd it may be stated by the way, that though the Mayas knew and used\nthe ordinary solar year, their long chronological count was kept in\nterms of 360 days, the same as we find in co-ordinate use in ancient\nIndia, and perhaps significantly identical with the perfect circle of\n360 degrees. Whatever the fact, however, as to these higher periods,\nit is established that nearly all the Maya inscription dates occur\nwithin the ninth 400 of the current 8000-year cycle; that is, they are\ndated between about 3200 and 3600 years after the initial date of that\nparticular period. It is not possible for us to consider these dates\nother than as the contemporary dates of the monuments themselves; and\nthe great number of them, all over the Maya territory, slightly varying\nfor different sites, points most clearly to a special \"building\" period\nof about that extent.\n\nA very few monumental dates go much back of this period. The initial\ndates of the Temples of the Sun and of the Foliated Cross at Palenque\nboth fall in the 765th year of the same current 8000-year cycle, and\nthat of the Temple of the Cross about five years before that great\ncycle began. But as these inscriptions then go on to cover long\nsuccessions of years, _these_ earlier dates are probably historical,\nbut not contemporary. On the other hand, a very few dates come on into\nthe tenth 400; and the only large stela bearing so late a date is at\nChich\u00e9n Itz\u00e1, the last great Maya city, so far as our history goes. An\nanalysis of the groupings of these dates on the various monuments of\nthe different sites, and their mutual comparison, gives a good deal of\nbasis to check future historical researches, and at Copan it gives us\none definite confirmation, already referred to, of the evidence which\nthe structures themselves afford of successive separated \"building\"\nperiods, with continued intervening use. Of four consecutive and\ndeciphered dates on the fifteen lower steps of the Stairway, still in\nposition, at Copan, the second and third are respectively 48 and 74\nyears, and the last, at the lower right hand of our illustration, is\n937 years, 44 days _later than the first_. We can hardly regard this\ndate as a future or prophetic one; it must be, like similar final\ndates of long inscriptions at Palenque, the contemporary date of the\nstructure. All the other dates at Copan, those as initial dates on\nstelae, fall within the \"building\" era of the ninth 400, which we have\nmentioned as common to nearly all the inscriptions--except one, Stela\nC, in the middle of the north part of the Great Plaza, whose date is\napparently almost contemporary with this final date of the stairway.\nAnd these two dates are 730 years later than any other stela date at\nCopan. Of Stela C, Dr. Gordon says:\n\n The two monuments [the Stela and the Stairway] have certain technical\n affinities in the carving, as though they might have been the work of\n the same master.\n\nIn short, while we are still far from the end, the story of the\nmonuments and their dates alike so far is that there was a great\nbuilding period among the most ancient known Maya cities, in what we\nknow as the ninth period, about date 3400 of the current cycle; that\nCopan shared in this; that then such building ceased, so far as dated\nmonuments go, at Copan for some 730 years. That then the Stairway was\nrebuilt over a former pyramid, and Stela C erected; that this latter\nperiod was a few hundred years later than one Stela we find at Chich\u00e9n\nItz\u00e1; that after that silence fell, oblivion for all the southern\nsites, and internal strife, warfare, and disintegration for the last\ngreat Itz\u00e1 city; then its abandonment; and then finally, on new sites,\nlocal dynastic histories, _each silent as to these earlier places_,\nyet embracing several hundred years of history, and carrying on even\ninto Spanish times what were still then powerful and, as things went,\ncivilized kingdoms. But they were not Copan.\n\n\n\n\nSCIENTIFIC BREVITIES: by the Busy Bee\n\n\nEgyptian mummies have been put to a use for which they were probably\nnever intended--the manufacture of a particular fine brown pigment. The\nbody, being preserved in the finest bitumen, has assumed an appearance\nlike leather; and it has been found that this mixture of bitumen and\nleather, when ground down, makes a brown pigment prized by portrait\npainters for the representation of brown hair.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN is responsible for the statement that the power\nwhich drives the mechanism of a watch is equivalent to only four times\nthat used in a flea's jump; or, in mathematical language, a watch\nis a four-flea-power motor. One horse-power would suffice to drive\n270,000,000 watches, whence we infer that one horse is equivalent to\nmore than a billion fleas! We suggest the dividing of the horse-power\nunit into convenient sub-multiples, such as the dog-power or the\nmouse-power, instead of using the names of people, like Watt and Joule.\n\n * * * * *\n\nMEDIEVAL churches took whole reigns to build, and some of the monuments\nleft to us from antiquity may have taken centuries. Structures designed\nfor more immediate and less enduring purposes can be rushed up in a\nvery business-like way. In fact the stately pile can be reared by\ngasoline jacks. Reference is had to the description and pictures of a\nchurch which was built in this way. It is of concrete; the molds are\nlaid horizontally upon the jacks, and the walls cast each in one solid\npiece. Then the motors are started and the structure rears itself into\nplace.\n\n * * * * *\n\nEVIDENCE as to the persistency of life is afforded by some experiments\nin which fish were frozen up in their water, and the block of ice then\ncooled down to 20\u00b0 C. below the freezing point; after thawing, the fish\ncame to life and swam about as usual. Yet, if the frozen block were\nbroken, the fish would break up into little pieces along with the ice.\nFrogs can be frozen down to 28\u00b0 C. below the freezing point and still\nrevive; while snails will resist 120\u00b0 C. From this it may be inferred\nthat life can be preserved throughout long periods of glaciation.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIT is reported that the farmers in the province of Sk\u00e5ne, Sweden,\nhave organized to build a central station to furnish their farms with\nelectric current, which will be used both for mechanical power and for\nlighting; and that in another part of the country the farmers have\nformed a company to purchase power from a power station and distribute\nit to the farms.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAT a meeting of the Selborne Society (for Natural History) England, it\nwas suggested that a sanctuary for wild birds should be provided and a\ntract of wild country acquired and set aside for the preservation of\nbirds likely to become exterminated, such as the chough, the raven, the\nbuzzard, the peregrine, and the kite. If the Government did not see its\nway to undertake the work, it might give a grant as the nucleus for an\nappeal for subscriptions. The United States, Switzerland, and Austria\nalready provide such sanctuaries.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBY looking at one object too hard we may so bedazzle ourselves that\nwe can see nothing else. This remark is suggested by the views of a\nbotanist who appears to regard the colors and scents of flowers as\nbeing designed entirely and solely for the benefit of insects, in order\nthat the insects may pollenize the flowers. We dare say that object\nforms part of the plan; but we surmise it does not form the whole\nplan. Birds carry seeds, but that is not the sole object and purpose\nof a bird's existence. Besides, the idea that insects and flowers were\ncreated for each other reminds one of the old story of the posts that\nheld up the wires and the wires that held up the posts.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE Swiss correspondent of the London _Morning Post_ said recently\nthat the glaciers in the Rh\u00f4ne district of Switzerland are in retreat,\nsome of them to an extent \"which may almost be described as alarming.\"\nThe Arolla glacier has receded 85ft. in the past twelve months; the\nAletsch, the longest in the Alps, 65ft.; the Gorner, 58; the Zinal,\n51; while the Turtmann, in the Zermatt range, and the Zanfleuren or\nSanetsch have retreated nearly 46ft. each. Within the last ten years\nthe Zigiornuovo glacier has shrunk by 904ft., the Zanfleuren by 718,\nthe Aletsch by 459, the Zinal by 378, and the Gorner by nearly 190.\nOther glaciers were observed, and all showed more or less shrinkage;\nbut, as for the small Mont Bouvin glacier, in the space of four years\nit has entirely \"disappeared from sight\"--a cautious expression. These\nchanges may of course be part of a periodic variation.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE encroachment of the sea on the east coast of England is such that\nat Pakefield, near Lowestoft, a row of cottages has been brought to the\nedge of the cliff. In one of these cottages live an old couple, who\nown the house, but are now forced to move, as the cliff edge is only a\nfew feet from the front door. The woman was born in the cottage and\nremembers when it was a good walk to reach the cliff. Old fishermen\nin Pakefield are now catching fish where as boys they gathered\nblackberries.\n\nSuch rapid encroachments of the sea on some shores, accompanied by\nrecession of the sea on others, alone suffice to account for great\nchanges in the course of ages. These changes include tilting of the\nstrata and change of the configuration of the shores. Judging by\ngeneral analogy, one would infer that geological changes are of various\nspeeds, some very gradual, others more rapid, just like the work of\nrunning water, which goes on all the time and yet may accomplish more\nduring a single flood than during several ordinary years. There is room\nfor both the \"catastrophists\" and the advocates of slow and gradual\nmovement.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHAT the presence of comets causes or indicates hot weather is an\nitem of ancient belief, and theorists may choose between rejecting\nor explaining it. There is a well-known story of a philosopher, who,\ndesirous of proving that his philosophy could, if need be, be turned\nto material profit, bought up some vineyards in view of a prospective\ncomet, thus reaping the harvest of a good season. The phrase \"comet\nvintage\", as applying to wine, is also well known. A recent theory,\nas announced in the papers, attributes the great heat of the summer\nof 1911 to the presence of a comet in the solar system, the head of\nthe comet being supposed to act like a lens and to concentrate the\nsolar power. Whether or not this lens plays any tricks with optics,\nwe are not told. As science progresses, more attention is paid to the\ninfluence of electric and magnetic conditions upon the weather; while\nrecent discoveries provide us with an ample machinery of rays and\nemanations to act as go-betweens from celestial bodies to the earth.\n\n This is the Dog that worried the Cat\n That killed the Rat\n That ate the Malt\n That lay in the House that Jack built.\n\nSo says an ancient poem, and it reminds us of the \"balance of nature\"\nwhich people are always upsetting. If we kill the Dog there will be too\nmany cats and they will have to supplement their rat-diet with birds.\nIf we kill the Cat, the Rat will eat all the Malt; and if we kill the\nRat, we starve the Cat. So with agriculture; one scarcely knows what to\nkill or what to spare. We are told now that we must avoid deep plowing,\nor we shall kill the Spider which worries the Grub which eats the\nCrop that Jack sowed. This spider is the aerial spider, a small but\nvery numerous creature who--doesn't fly, but uses a filament of web as\nan aeroplane. A writer in _The Technical World Magazine_ has studied\ntheir habits. Their webs are seen during the warm autumn days floating\nin countless numbers through the air; but even these are but a small\nfraction of the real number; for what we see are merely the ones who\nhave made failures and got their aeroplanes caught on something. It is\nestimated that on cultivated grass-land there are enormous numbers of\nthese spiders per square foot.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAS to the \"old style\" and \"new style\" calendars, people are often in\ndoubt as to the number of days by which these differ from each other,\nand whether to add or subtract the days. If we remember that when the\nnew style is adopted anywhere, days are omitted from the calendar,\nand the date thereby set forward, we shall see that the old style\ndates are always behind those of the new style, and we must add or\nsubtract as required. The astronomer Clavius, whose work has lent\nimmortality to the name of Pope Gregory XIII, put the calendar date\nten days forward, to make up for the error which had been accumulating\nfor centuries. This was in the 16th century. To prevent the calendar\nfrom getting wrong again, he suppressed the intercalary days (Feb. 29)\nthree times in every 400 years, namely, in 1700, 1800, 1900, but not\nin 1600 or 2000, the intercalary days being thus allowed to remain\nin every century year whose first two digits are divisible by 4. By\nthe time England made the change it was necessary to put the date\nforward 11 days, as this was in the 18th century, and the year 1700 had\nintervened. Those countries which have not yet adopted the change were\n12 days behind in the 19th century, and are now 13 days behind. The\ncorrect way to write a date so as to represent it in both styles is,\nfor instance, July 31 / Aug. 13, 1911; or July 31 / Aug. 12, 1831. The\ncalendars, unless the old style is given up, will continue to differ by\n13 days until March 1st, 2100.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA WRITER on heredity says that if a person has not inherited the music\ndisposition, he will never become a musician, although he may acquire\na knowledge of music; and that a person not born with the potentiality\nof the poetical disposition will never be a poet, although he may gain\na knowledge of prosody. This is a dogmatic statement, but it does not\namount to much after all; for it can be turned around by saying that if\na person does not become a musician or a poet, the inference is that\nhe has not inherited the faculties. Thus it is mainly a question of\nwords and phrases.\n\nAt all events let the aspirant to the Muses put the matter to a\npractical test. Let him strive to become a poet or a musician; and if\nhe succeeds, he can say: \"See, I must have inherited the power.\" If he\nfails, why then he can foist the blame upon heredity.\n\nBut surely it would be difficult, in many cases of musical genius, to\ntrace the effect to heredity. Still harder would it be, reversing the\nprocess, to predict such hereditament. So the above-quoted theory is\nonly tantamount to an acknowledgment of the facts and the provision of\na plausible formulation of them.\n\nCharacteristics come partly from the parental and ancestral soil\nwherein the human seed grows; partly from the mental atmosphere of\nthe race and community; partly from one's education; and partly from\nqualities which the Individual himself has brought over from his own\npast. All of these concomitants have to be taken into account in\nconsidering the question of heredity. Needless to say, nobody should\npermit his efforts and aspirations to be relaxed in consequence of any\ndogma or theory which may tend to cast discouragement thereon.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTO BE conscious of one's ignorance is to have taken the first step from\nfolly towards wisdom; and doubtless the tremendous overhauling that\nis now taking place in the stock of our ideas should be taken as a\nhopeful sign rather than an omen of woe. Hence the fact that chaos, as\nit seems, reigns in our ideas about the science of agriculture may be\nregarded as the sign that something is about to hatch out.\n\nAccording to quotations made by _The Literary Digest_, a university\nprofessor of agricultural science takes to task the Bureau of Soils\nof the United States Department of Agriculture. These opponents take\ndiametrically opposite views with regard to the care of the soil. The\nBureau is credited, on the strength of quotations from its circulars,\nwith maintaining that the soil contains an inexhaustible fund of plant\nfood which is continually replaced by natural processes. Its opponents\ndeclare that this teaching is wrong and disastrous. The professor in\nquestion claims to have taken the opinions of most of the land-grant\nexperiment stations, and maintains that the opinions of the Bureau are\nderided by these and by most other authorities in this country and in\nEurope. The soil needs to be taken care of, or else it will become\nbarren. History is quoted in support.\n\nThis controversy indicates that our theories are in a state of chaos.\nThe more we learn about agriculture, the more there is to learn; for\neach new discovery opens up a new field. Plants need mineral food;\nthey need nitrogen; they need bacteria to help them get the nitrogen.\nThe chemist, the physicist, and the biologist all have a say in\nagriculture. Some of the great nations of the past seem to have known a\ngood deal about agriculture; and probably there is a good deal of their\nknowledge that has not yet been transmitted or revived.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE statement that the emu is almost extinct is misleading, says an\nAustralian correspondent to a scientific paper. The birds exist in\nlarge numbers in north and northwest New South Wales and practically\nall over Queensland, and South and Western Australia. And he adds\nthat he does not think they will become extinct yet, \"because they\nare practically valueless.\" Can this be an instance of the survival\nof the fittest? The na\u00efve assumption that man destroys that which he\nvalues can but lead to the scientific inference that the world will\nbecome stocked with things which man does not value. Hence, whatever\nmay be supposed to be the case in nature, the influence of man is to\npromote the survival of the unfit. True, this works out all right for\nnature, but man becomes reduced to a mere destructive agency whose\ninfluence nature eliminates. Eventually, on this theory, man will\nfind himself the denizen of a world stocked with things which are to\nhim \"practically valueless\"; and then, presumably, he will leave off\ndestroying, for want of anything to destroy.\n\nStill it must not be forgotten that man, even in such a destructive\ncivilization as the present, is a creator. He is potent on the\ninvisible planes where thoughts are things; and according to hints\ngiven in the ancient teachings, mankind is concerned in the processes\nby which the animated forms of nature are evolved.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWITH regard to instinct in animals, people are sometimes prone to\ntake too extreme views. Experience teaches us that instinct which is\nso reliable in beaten tracks of habit proves a failure in unfamiliar\ncircumstances. A bird in a room cannot find the way out, even when door\nand windows are open, but flies back and forth just above the level\nof the openings. But even here we must be cautious; for animals can\nadapt themselves to new circumstances. The timid wild-bird learns to\nfeed from the hand. In this respect we notice degrees among different\nanimals, some having more plastic minds than others; this marks\ndifferent upward stages in the perfection of the animal monad.\n\nBecause instinct, the accumulation of age-long experience, is so\ninfallible in ordinary cases, we must not assume that it cannot err.\nOn the contrary we often meet with cases of dunderhead stupidity and\nof a blind addiction to custom that savors almost of automatism. Thus\na correspondent of an English paper writes about a blackbird which had\nbeen brought up as a nestling in the house. When grown up and given her\nliberty, she insisted on coming back to build, and made her nest in a\nbookshelf. But the family was a failure, because the hen had no mate\nand nature failed to depart from her rule; there were no young; fertile\neggs had to be procured for her to hatch.\n\nAnother story in the same paper tells of a mare which lost her foal and\nwas given a calf dressed in the skin of the departed. The giving of\nstuffed calves to cows, while being milked, is a familiar practice. In\nanimals we see minds in course of development, capable of considerable\ngrowth, but within limits. The self-conscious ego, characteristic of\nman, is not there. We must bear in mind that the animal is an animal\nsoul (or monad) within a form; that it is the monad which undergoes the\nevolution; and that though an animal does not become a man, that which\nensouls the animal will in some future cycle of evolution enter into\nthe making of man. It is by the gift of the self-conscious Mind, which\nlinks the Spiritual to the terrestrial, that the animal consciousness\nwas made to subserve the purposes of the human kingdom.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWHILE the acknowledged scientific method of inquiry consists in logical\ninferences from observations, it is well known that a very limited\namount of observation is frequently made to support an unlimited amount\nof inference. The \"scientific use of the imagination\" (Tyndall) is\nhighly recommended, but may o'erleap itself and \"give to airy nothings\na local habitation and a name,\" unless checked by some sedater quality.\n\nWe see that a biologist has gone back in imaginative speculation beyond\n\"protoplasm\" as the origin of life; for, just as the physicists have\nsubdivided their atom into electrons, so this theorist has subdivided\nhis protoplasm into something still more elementary and primordial,\nwhich he calls \"mycoplasm.\" The first part of the word means \"fungus,\"\nso now we can speak of our ancestor as the primordial fungus; and\nindeed fungoid traits do seem to survive in some people. Science, we\nare told, knows a whole world of minute corpuscles which do not need\noxygen for their existence and cannot be killed by boiling water. They\ndo not make the amoeboid movements characteristic of protoplasm and\nare immune to the strongest poisons. This kind of creature, therefore,\ncould exist on earth long before protoplasm could, as it is so very\nhardy; and from it, as soon as the crust had cooled and oxygen been\nformed, the protoplasm sprang. Such is the theory, but it may be wrong.\nWhat we want to know, however, is what the mycoplasms sprang from;\nbecause either they must have sprung from something else, or else they\nare the great \"I Am,\" eternal and uncreate.\n\nIt is a curious method, this, which traces the great back to the small,\nthus making the small greater than the great. The man in a silk hat\nproceeded from the man without a silk hat, and he from the ape, and\nthe ape from the duck-billed platypus, and so on back to Haeckel's\n\"moneron,\" and back again to this primordial mushroom.\n\nSo we may trace the scale of numbers back to prime factors and to\nunity; but between the unit and the zero, infinitude stretches. Is not\nunity, though in one sense the smallest of numbers, in all other senses\nthe greatest? From whatever source we derive life, that source must be\ngreater than life itself. So let us set up an image of the Mycoplasm\nand worship it. Jehovah himself could not have done more than it has\ndone.\n\nIs it not clear that material evolution is but one aspect, and that\na small one, of the process? Growth and evolution mean nothing if\nnot a coming into visibility from invisibility, into actuality from\npotentiality. A seed grows; and, seen from the material point of\nview, it seems to grow from nothing. But all the time the material\nplant is unfolding, something unseen is expanding into it. Evolution\nis a twofold process. A mycoplasm would lie forever wrapped in its\ncomplacent hardihood in the primordial fiery atmosphere, unless some\nImpulse gave it the word to unfold and turn itself into protoplasm.\nThe view of the world as a great machine without any motive power, and\nrunning by the power of its own motion, may be interesting, but it is\nnot convincing.\n\nIf ever our globe were in such a primitive condition as that imagined,\nit is equally certain that the life-impulse which it received came\nfrom somewhere; and all analogy would lead us to surmise that that\nlife-impulse came from another globe. But obviously the matter is too\nvast for little theories. The important point is that some theorists,\nin spite of good intentions, appear to have got things wrong way up.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE SURF AT\nCORONADO, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA THIS VIEW SHOWS THE SOUTHERN END OF\nPOINT LOMA Photograph by Slocum, San Diego]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. THE MAMMOTH CAVE, LA\nJOLLA, SAN DIEGO]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. SERAEJEVO, CAPITAL\nOF BOSNIA The minarets of the city's mosques are especially elegant]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. KLAMATH RECLAMATION\nPROJECT, OREGON-CALIFORNIA PART OF TULE LAKE, OREGON, LOOKING TOWARD\nBLOODY POINT\n\nNature frequently puts too much water in some places, and too little\nin others, to suit the purposes of man. Draining a piece of wet land\nis just the opposite of irrigating a piece of dry land. Both processes\nare called reclamation. This picture shows Tule Lake, in Oregon, which\nrequired to be drained that its fertile bed might be turned into\nfarms.]\n\n\n\n\nCONFLICT OF THE AGES: by S. F.\n\n\n The bugle calls! while far and near\n The gathering hosts are marching by;\n Their clanging arms, their tread I hear,\n The sounds which tell the strife is nigh.\n\n To arms! to arms! each loyal heart\n Responsive trembles at the call!\n Each valorous soul will do his part\n To win the victory for all.\n\n 'Tis not for selfish worldly gain,\n For cross or crescent, king or crown,\n They marshal on the battle plain\n To strike the bold usurper down.\n\n It is no mortal foe they seek--\n No Brother's blood they wish to spill,\n Nor strong that triumph o'er the weak--\n Their good to gain through other's ill.\n\n Ah no! the world has never yet\n Been called to arm for such a fray,\n Nor e'er such countless hosts have met\n As those that bear the sword today.\n\n 'Tis hidden Forces they oppose--\n A subtle Power that rules the earth--\n While Nature shudders in her throes\n To bring the Savior, Truth, to birth.\n\n And 'tis not only men's weak hands\n Which bear aloft the spear and lance--\n Lo! o'er the plains the Master's bands\n With swift and noiseless feet advance.\n\n The Helpers of mankind are They--\n Great Elder Brothers of the Race!\n At dawning of the grand New Day\n Each Warrior stands within his place.\n\n The Order of the Ages New\n Has come at last in dawning Light--\n Its soldiers neither weak nor few--\n And they are armed with God's own might.\n\n In vain the hosts of Darkness rise\n And shriek aloud their battle cry!\n The dawn of Truth lights all the skies\n And crime and wrong and fraud shall die.\n\n\n\n\nWOMEN WHO HAVE INFLUENCED THE WORLD:\n\nby the Rev. S. J. Neill\n\n\nAs gravitation existed before Newton made his discovery, so, also, has\nthe influence of woman exerted a powerful sway among many nations long\nbefore the modern movement towards woman's emancipation.\n\nThat the modern movement is a powerful one cannot be denied by anyone\nwho knows what is going on in the world. The wise study the action of\nthe winds and waves and use them for beneficent purposes. We smile\nat the picture of the English ruler ordering back the tide; and at\nthe Persian ruler who commanded the waters of the Bosphorus to be\ncastigated. The woman's emancipation of the present day calls for\ncareful study and wise direction on the part of all lovers of human\nwelfare. Everything which gives a clearer understanding of woman in her\nown nature, and in her relation to man must be of service. What women\nhave done in the past may throw some light on what woman may achieve in\nthe future. As \"lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives\nsublime,\" even so the lives of great and noble women are a beacon light\nand a prophecy.\n\nThough a truism, it must never be forgotten that woman's nature and\nher function in the world differ from man's. Many mistakes have been\nmade, and are still made, through forgetting that woman and man are\ntwo aspects of the One Life in manifestation; therefore they are not\nopposed to each other, but are complementary of each other--\"like\nperfect music unto noble words.\" Milton has tried to express this in\nthe well-known lines:\n\n For contemplation he and valor formed;\n For softness she, and sweet attractive grace.\n\nHarmony in nature consists in each part of the whole working according\nto its proper use or function. While this general law may seem to\npreclude the possibility of women being in their proper sphere and yet\nacting as great generals, great statesmen, or great rulers, we find\nthat women have again and again become illustrious in these respects.\nIn doing so it is possible that the woman parts with some of that\n\"softness and sweet attractive grace,\" of which Milton speaks. It is\npossible that she may \"lose the childlike in the larger mind,\" which\nTennyson says the perfect woman should not lose; yet she remains a\nwoman essentially while doing work supposed to be appropriate to man.\nJoan of Arc retained her girlish heart to the last, and after she had\nled the armies of France to victory, wished for nothing better than to\nreturn to her native village and live in peace. Even Queen Elizabeth\nof England, generally regarded as one of the most masculine of her\nsex, retained to the end some of those qualities which distinctly\nbelong to woman. Queen Isabella of Spain, though weighted down with\ndomestic sorrows and engrossed with cares of state, was moved with deep\ncompassion for the condition of the Indians, and in her last moments\nexacted from her husband a promise for their protection. A biographer\nsays that she was possessed of all the \"personal grace, gentleness, and\nfeminine accomplishments of Mary Stuart, without her weakness.\" Great\nqueen as she was, the name bestowed on her by her people, and ratified\nby history, was: \"Isabella of peace and good will.\"\n\nFrom the dawn of history we find great women in many countries of the\nworld. Passing by Biblical women, as too well known to need mention, we\nfind in Egypt, according to Meyer in his _Oldest Books of the World_,\nthat \"the position of woman both in religion and government was very\nelevated.\" He says:\n\n Woman appears to have met with more consideration among the old\n Egyptians than with any other people of Oriental antiquity. It is to\n the glory of ancient Egyptian wisdom, that it has been the first to\n express the dignity and high position of the wife and woman.\n\nNear the Great Pyramid a tomb has been opened which gives us a\nfew facts concerning the first Queen of Egypt of whom we have any\nknowledge. Her name was Mer-ti-tef-s, which means \"the beloved of her\nfather.\" She was also described as \"the wife of the king whom she\nloved.\" Another great ruler of Egypt, about 1516 B. C., was Hatshepsut.\nDr. Wallis Budge of the British Museum tells us that this queen\ndressed herself as a man. Some of the other great queens of Egypt\nare: Nitocris; Aah-hotep; Mutemva, mother of Amen-hotep III; Ti, wife\nof Amen-hotep, whose tomb was found not long ago, and whose remains\nwere found wrapped in sheets of gold, with the exquisitely worked\ncrown of gold at her head. These two with Nefert-i-tain, are said to\nhave \"worked harmoniously together for the establishment of ancient\ntruth in Egypt.\" Besides these we have Batria, wife of Rameses III;\nthe well-known Cleopatra; and last but not least, Dido of Carthage,\nwhom, had Aeneas married, the whole course of history would have been\ndifferent.\n\nCrossing over to Greece, we may mention Sappho, the sweet singer, who\nhas suffered much misrepresentation, and of whom Professor Palgrave\nsays:\n\n There is no need for me to panegyrise the poetess whom the whole world\n has been long since contented to hold without a parallel.\n\nThere is also Aspasia, the wife of Pericles. From Greek statuary we see\nhow noble woman must have been in Greece.\n\nIn Italy we have Cornelia, who has been called \"the ideal mother,\" and\nVolumnia, mother of Coriolanus; and Portia, wife of Brutus; nor must we\nforget Beatrice, the heroine of _The Divina Commedia_.\n\nIn Japan, in China, and in India, we find many names of great women\nwhose influence has endured through the ages. The Taj Mahal is\nsufficient to remind us of what a woman has been in the Moslem world.\nJ. S. Mill says that\n\n if a Hind\u00fb principality is strong, vigilantly and energetically\n governed; if order is preserved without oppression, in three cases out\n of four that principality is under the regency of a woman.\n\nComing to Western lands we find the valiant British queen Boadicea.\nIn ancient Germany there was Queen Radig\u00fcnde, who founded a school\nfor women. In Sweden Birgitta was famous as a patron of learning; her\nschools numbered eighty, and there still exist six schools of her order\non the Continent and one in England, the only one that can boast of an\nunbroken existence from pre-Reformation times. Ireland too had a Saint\nBrigit, some of whose wonderful works were evidently transferred to her\nfrom the Celtic goddess Ceridwen.\n\nWho has not seen the beautiful picture of Queen Louise of Prussia, of\nwhom such a great historian as Mommsen speaks so enthusiastically? She\nis said to have been by no means a genius, nor in any way abnormal,\nbut she was so beautiful, so winning, so optimistic, and combined such\ndignity and charm, such cheerfulness, faith and fortitude, that she\ngained Silesia for her husband from Napoleon. Then we have such great\nwomen as Madam Guyon, the mystic; Caroline Herschel; Frances Power\nCobbe; Florence Nightingale; Queen Olga of Greece; Queen Victoria;\nMadame Curie, and many others whom time does not permit to mention.\nThere is no need here to speak of H. P. Blavatsky and Katherine\nTingley, the heralds of a new age, except to say that the world in that\nnew age will render them that justice which is so tardily given now.\n\nWhile the greatness to which women have attained proves to us what\nwoman is capable of doing, yet, in a sense, it may be a little\ndepressing, for all cannot be queens or rulers. But true greatness\nconsists in doing well what has to be done. Besides, who can say what\nis great and what is small in the Divine Economy? \"The hand that rocks\nthe cradle rules the world,\" is an old saying. And for the great\nmajority of women the making of the home to be a _real home_ is the\nhighest service that can be done to help the world; for the home is the\nfoundation of the nation. And as Ruskin says:\n\n Wherever a true wife comes, this home is always round her. The stars\n only may be over her head, the glow-worm in the night-cold grass may\n be the only fire at her foot, but home is yet wherever she is; and for\n a noble woman it stretches far around her, better than ceiled with\n cedar or painted with vermilion, shedding its quiet light far, for\n those who else were homeless.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TURKISH WOMAN: by Grace Knoche\n\n\nThe Sultan of Turkey recently received a deputation of representative\nOttoman women and in the course of his conference with them pledged\nthem his support in their efforts to bring about a reform of certain\nconditions. Press dispatches state that the members of this deputation\nwere heavily veiled.\n\nThe veil has always been, to the European mind, the point of departure\nfor Turkish feministic reform, and the wearing of it by those who\nstand for such reform, when many Turkish women have discarded the\nimpenetrable _yashmak_ entirely and a still larger number wear only\nveils of gauze, seems an anomaly. To realize that it is not, one must\nget below current misunderstandings and baseless reports and know\nthe high-caste Turkish woman as she really is--for with her Turkish\nfeministic reform begins and by her it is being safeguarded.\n\nMany who are familiar with the diplomatic and social life of our\nEuropean capitals have stated that the high-caste Turkish woman of\ntoday is _as a class_ more highly educated, and also more feminine,\nin the tenderest and most refined meaning of the term, than any other\nwoman in the world. She not only knows the history, geography, and\nliterature of her own and foreign nations, but in addition knows two,\nthree, and often four languages besides her own--always French and\nGerman, usually English, and often Italian or Russian--languages which\nshe does not speak haltingly but with fluency and perfection, for in\nthe wealthier Turkish families of today French, German, and English\ngovernesses are a recognized institution. She is very beautiful, always\nrefined, unobtrusively thoughtful of others, and supremely loyal to her\nideals of character and duty--and her ideals always center about the\nhome.\n\nYet her life is virtually an imprisoned one, bounded as it is, day and\nnight, year in and year out, by the four walls of the women's apartment\nor _harem_. She cannot go out unattended in the daytime, nor in the\nevening at all; she may not attend theaters nor even a concert; she may\nnot attend social or other gatherings where men are present.\n\nThis state of things was not so unendurable to the women of the\npreceding generation, for they had not been permitted to embrace\nEuropean ideas through an education on European lines, but to the\nhigh-caste woman of today, who has been given a glimpse into a larger\nworld than her own, and a world very wonderful and alluring, the old\n_harem_ existence is almost intolerable. Yet she must continue in it\nfor a time, and here is the wonderful thing--she does this, in the\ndeeper sense, willingly.\n\nThose who know her best tell us that out of the silence and seclusion\nof her life, the Turkish woman has evolved a philosophy of her own, and\none that is not limited to the orthodox Muslim view of woman; those who\nknow life and humanity best know also that this could never have come\nto her past the impenetrable barriers of caste and orthodox religious\ndoctrine, had she not attuned her life to some, at least, of the higher\nnotes of Life Universal. And it is the teaching of Theosophy that this\ncan only be done by those with whom duty is the highest ideal--duty,\nfor ever and ever, _duty_. In a heroic determination to do her whole\nduty to husband and family, to nation and to home, the Turkish woman\nmay well be commended to that ultra-modern type who leaves husband\nand children to their own devices while she is away, chasing some\nwill-o'-the-wisp or fad. Of this type Turkey is yet as destitute as\ncertain strata of European and American life are prolific.\n\nThe Turkish woman is wise enough to wait in trust the day of her\ncomplete emancipation, and she feels it is approaching--but she also\nknows that to push or hurry it forward would invoke a reaction that\nmight ruin her country and defeat her hopes. She knows that methods\neven approaching those of the modern \"suffragette\" would only blot\nthe golden dawn and put back until a later cycle the glorious day. We\nsee now why the members of this deputation wore the orthodox veil, or\npartly why, for no Turkish woman of the educated class is unaware that\nto needlessly offend the conservative element is to fetter the Young\nTurk movement, that evolving drama of national life in which woman\nplayed so heroic a part. Says a current writer:\n\n Everybody agrees that the most remarkable change in social conditions\n caused by the revolution in Turkey has occurred among the feminine\n portion of the population, and it is conceded that the wives and\n mothers of the Young Turk party had a powerful influence in bringing\n it about. During the anxious months of conspiracy and preparation\n many high-born Turkish ladies worked with courage, enthusiasm\n and intelligence for the cause of liberty. Some of them acted as\n messengers, carrying concealed about their persons papers which,\n if discovered, would have been their death; others afforded the\n revolutionary committees opportunities for holding their meetings, and\n furnished those who were in danger means of escape. Twelve thousand\n spies in the employ of Abdul Hamid were unable to outwit the women of\n Turkey in this work, and the leaders of the Young Turk party concede\n that they owe their success largely to the assistance of their wives\n and sisters and mothers.\n\nIn that intimate blending of heroic self-abnegation and of wisdom\nwhich characterizes the efforts and the daily life of the typical\nhigh-caste Turkish woman, the world has offered for its reading a great\nlesson. The Ottoman woman possibly has found her intuition, which is\nthe soul's own voice, and her will, which is \"the soul at work.\" Pain,\nmisunderstanding, oppression, and heartache, have opened many doors in\nthe chambers of her being, and in wrestling with the angel of untoward\ncircumstance she has found the inner power that enables one to turn\nthe leaden fetters about one's feet into the golden sandals of Hermes\nhimself. If this has come about, and those who know the Ottoman woman\nbest declare that it has, then we know that it is because she has\nstriven to attune her life to that which must be the keynote of all\nlasting feministic reform--womanliness--true womanliness, with its\novertones of tenderness, compassion and aspiration, and its deepening\nundertones of solid attainment, of patriotism, of courage, of loyalty\nto one's ideal, and of faithfulness to duty.\n\n\n\n\nAN ENGLISH LADY'S LETTER: by F. D. Udall (London)\n\n\nPevensey Castle is one of the most interesting of all the ancient and\nhistoric castles of old England. It was seized by William the Conqueror\nimmediately he landed in the bay close by, and he left a garrison to\nhold it while he pushed on to Hastings and subsequently to the country\nround about the \"hoar apple tree\" mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle,\nwhere the decisive engagement with Harold and his army took place. This\nspot, ever since commemorated in the name of the village--Battle--is\nsome seven miles inland. Harold had taken care to leave a garrison,\ntoo, at Pevensey, while he went north, but according to Freeman,\nWilliam found the place wholly undefended or else with a force totally\ninadequate to resist the Normans. At all events there appears to have\nbeen no resistance offered to the invaders, on that fateful Michael's\nEve. The castle and land for miles around eventually became the\nproperty of the Conqueror's half-brother.\n\nHow old the castle is nobody knows. British coins have been discovered\nat Pevensey, and it is thought that the place was an ancient British\nsettlement. As to the castle itself, the general opinion is that it was\nbuilt by the Romans, and the many Roman coins found in its precincts,\nchiefly of the Constantine family, give support to the theory. In the\ndays of the venerable Bede there was a great forest in these parts,\nthe forest of Anderida, roamed by herds of deer and swine. Pevensey\nis first mentioned in historical documents in the year 792, when its\nowner--generous man!--gave it away, together with Hastings, to the\nAbbey of St. Denis at Paris. Sir John Pelham was appointed Constable\nof the Castle in the reign of Edward III, and his courageous wife held\nit during a siege in her husband's absence, in the following reign,\nin 1399. This lady gives the old ruins an interest of quite another\ncharacter from their warlike associations by reason of a letter she\ndispatched to her husband during that siege. He was up in Yorkshire\nat the time. The letter has come down through the centuries--a brave,\nsweet, womanly, wifely relic of those early days in \"our rough island\nstory.\" It enjoys the honor of being enshrined in Hallam's _Literature\nof Europe_, and well it deserves the distinction. Here is what the lady\nwrote while the enemy was at the gate.\n\n MY DEAR LORD:\n\n I recommend me to your high lordship with heart and body and all my\n poor might, and with all this I thank you as my dear lord, dearest\n and best beloved of all earthly lords, I say for me, and thank you,\n my dear lord, with all this that I say before of your comfortable\n letter that ye sent me from Pontefract, that come to me on Mary\n Magdalene day (July 22); for by my troth I was never so glad as when I\n heard by your letter that ye were strong enough with the grace of God\n for to keep you from the malice of your enemies. And, dear lord, if it\n like to your high lordship that as soon as ye might that I might hear\n of your gracious speed; which God Almighty continue and increase. And,\n my dear lord, if it like you for to know of my fare, I am here by laid\n in manner of a siege with the county of Sussex, Surrey, and a great\n parcel of Kent, so that I may nought out, nor none victuals get me but\n with much hard. Wherefore, my dear, if it like you by the advice of\n your wise counsel for to set remedy of the salvation of your castle,\n and withstand the malice of the shires aforesaid. And also that ye be\n fully informed of their great malice workers in these shires, which\n that haves so despitefully wrought to you, and to your castle, to your\n men, and to your tenants for this country, have yai (sic) wasted for\n a great while. Farewell, my dear lord; the Holy Trinity you keep from\n your enemies, and soon send me good tidings of you.\n\n Written at Pevensey in the Castle on St. Jacob day (St. James, July\n 25) last past,\n\n By your own poor,\n J. Pelham.\n\n To my true lord.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. RUINS OF PEVENSEY\nCASTLE]\n\n[Illustration: IN THE FOREST]\n\n\n\n\nA MAGIC PLACE: A Forest Idyll for Young Folks: by M. Ginevra Munson\n\n\nWho has not felt the inspiring and soothing influence of certain quiet\nspots? as though the jarring and restless forces of nature were there\nrendered impotent and the soul could commune freely with the great\nheart-life of all. The conflicting vibrations of human thought are\nannulled and nature speaks in whatever language you choose: in song or\nverse, art or science. How it draws one up to the heights of infinitude\nto sit in solitude, with eye on the expanse of ocean in which is\nmirrored all the gorgeous tints and cloud-forms in the sky at sunset;\nor on mountain heights where no sounds or sights except the blue dome\noverhead and the distant landscape beneath, can distract the mind from\nthe sense of the invisible Presence that fills all space; or in the\ndepths of a noble forest where the foot of man seldom comes.\n\nIt was in such a place as this, surrounded by the elves and fairies of\nthe wood, that Helena, in the company of her father and a few other\nartist spirits, pitched their tents for summer work in the stillness\nof the forest; sculptors, painters, poets, musical composers, and\nwriters on various themes, each lived in the quiet and privacy of his\nown domicile, out of sight or hearing of any other.\n\nHelena was the daughter of a poet and inherited that keen sense of\ncommunion with and understanding of nature's moods and voices, but had\nnever before been in such a place as this, having been born near a\nthriving city. She was devoted to her father, and though only yet in\nher early teens, showed such appreciation of her father's work that\nhe brought her along with him as a sort of mentor when reading his\npoems over. Then too, her mother was dead, and he felt it his duty to\nkeep Helena under his own care as much as possible, as she was an only\nchild. Nothing could have made her happier or have been better for\nher than this forest air and odor of fragrant wood, and her spirits\nand health responded to it gratefully. While her father was busy she\nwandered about, making companions of the birds, trees, and other\nforest-life. The inspiration and magic of the place was so great that\nshe was seized with the desire to express the joy and budding knowledge\nthat stirred within her soul; so without saying anything to her father,\nshe would take out tablet and pencil and sit on a fallen log near the\nsinging brook that ran close by, and write down the daily dialog she\nheard going on around her. Overhead the trees said to the birds: \"Are\nyou happy my pretty ones, fluttering and hopping from twig to branch,\npluming your feathers as I sway and swing you about?\" \"Oh yes, dear\ntrees,\" twittered the birds, \"and we will be diligent in destroying\nthe worms that prey on your beautiful leaves, while we sing to you our\nthanks for the lacy bowers and secret hiding-places for our nests of\nyoung birdlings, who take their first lessons in song from the music of\nthe breeze through your branches\"; and then they poured forth a chorus\nin greater glee than ever.\n\nUp in a high fork of the great spreading top of an oak was a huge nest\nof dead leaves, from one edge of which peered a pair of bright eyes in\na furry gray head, over which curled a bushy gray and white tail. A\nchattering voice chimed in with the birds: \"Dear trees, I too love you,\nfor with your leaves for my nest you provide me a home out of reach of\nall harm, and you feed me with lovely acorns in such abundance that\nI can store up enough for the whole round year; but I'm sorry I can\nreturn so little back to you, save a grateful heart.\"\n\n\"Oh, thanks, I am safe home,\" said a bounding cotton-tail rabbit, as he\nshot into the protecting walls of a hollow log. \"What would I do if\nit were not for the deserted trunk of a tree; and even the live ones\nsometimes give me a home in a hole in their bodies, quite low enough\ndown for me to jump into, yet too small and deep for intruders to poke\ntheir noses in very far.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, I too,\" chirped a striped ground squirrel, \"owe all my\ncomforts to the trees, and no one can find my cosy nest of pine\nneedles, so fragrant and clean.\"\n\nAn old sly fox ran swiftly by, saying: \"O shelter me in your depths,\ndark forest, for I hear the bay of a hound on the scent of my track,\"\nthen he jumped the purling stream to cut off the lead of the dog, and\nsped away.\n\nAs Helena glanced down the stream she saw a beaver working away on a\npile of logs and heard him murmur: \"What would I do if the trees did\nnot furnish me logs for my dam? Nothing else would serve me so well, I\nam sure, and I only cut down young saplings where they are too crowded\nto thrive. In turn for the favor I will make the stream deeper so the\nwater will not dry away in hot weather, but will give drink to the tree\nroots all the year through.\"\n\nAway in the distance Helena spied the red-brown coat of a deer and\nheard its call to the fawn. Out from a tangled mass of vines and low\nswaying branches bounded the spotted young beauty, and answered back:\n\"Here mother-deer, the forest has safely sheltered me, and fed me too\non sweet young sassafras shoots. May I now take a run with you?\"\n\nThen Helena gazed in the stream at the fishes, who answered her\nthought: \"Yes, we too would perish were it not for the shady pools that\nreflect the lacy network of the trees that draw down the rain from\nheaven to fill the stream and keep the water fresh.\"\n\nFilled with wonder at these voices of the woods, Helena realized that\nthough it seemed so silent it was full of song and happy life, but that\nthe love and harmony of these beings made the magic of the place and\nfilled it with peace and soul-inspiring influences. While she meditated\nand watched the bees gathering sweets from the fragrant wood-violets\nand wild-plum blossoms, she heard a voice so startlingly loud that\nshe jumped with surprise. It said \"Who? Who? Who----o?\" and seemed to\ncome from the very tree tops. While looking up in wonder, Helena saw\na great, fluffy cream-colored bird with brownish bars on its wings\nand a big round head with two enormous yellow eyes, float noiselessly\naway through the forest. Could that voice have come from the bird?\n\"What did he say 'Who? Who? Who----?' It seemed to question me, asking\nto whom were all these creatures, as well as myself, beholden? Why,\nyes, every voice spoke of love for and indebtedness to the trees. They\nstand here so silently and majestically through ages, affording food,\nshelter, shade, and protection, for all these other beings whose very\nlives depend upon them. The dear trees are monarchs over all, yet\nserve all, standing here with their roots fast in the soil and their\nheads touching the sun-bright heavens. To us people too, though we may\nlive in cities and never know or think of the forest trees, we could\nscarcely live without them. Our houses, our furniture, and almost\neverything that is of use or convenience to us have some wood about\nthem; and then we enjoy the nuts, the fruit, and other kinds of food\nproduced by the trees as much as the squirrels and birds, no doubt.\nPerhaps these trees bring down from higher regions other forces that\nfeed our souls also--Who? Who Who----o knows?\"\n\n\"Yes, now I understand,\" thought Helena, \"why the great Initiates,\nMasters and Saviors of the world, were called '_Trees_.' Jesus was\ncalled 'the Tree of Life,' and the Initiates spoken of in the Bible,\n'the Cedars of Lebanon.' They stand and serve and protect.\"\n\nThen Helena remembered that she had read in her Scandinavian Mythology\nthat trees were formed from the hair of the giant Ymir, in the creation\nof the world. \"His blood formed the oceans and rivers; his bones the\nmountains; his teeth the rocks and cliffs; and his hair, the trees.\"\nAlso that \"the universe springs from beneath the branches of the\nworld-tree Yggdrasil, the tree with three roots.\"\n\nHelena must certainly have been sitting on a branch or root of the tree\nof wisdom when getting into such a deep strain of thought. The spirit\nof the forest had awakened her soul to the realization of the fact of\nBrotherhood in Nature too, the give and take, the unity and inseparable\nlife of the denizens of the wood that made it such a magic place. She\nalso saw why the tree was made a symbol of universal life, for all\nother life in the world is really somewhat dependable upon the trees.\n\n\"No wonder,\" Helena thought, as she walked back to her father's\nbungalow, \"no wonder there is such magic in the depth of the forest,\nand that father comes here to get in touch with the _soul of things_.\nThat is why 'tis said that 'Poetry is the true language of the soul.'\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE SCREEN OF TIME]\n\nCURRENT TOPICS: by Observer\n\n\nThe recent theft of the famous _Mona Lisa_ of Leonardo da Vinci from\nthe Louvre, which is such a loss to the artistic world, has brought to\nlight the fact that many other valuable works of art have been stolen\nfrom the Louvre and other public museums without any arrests following.\nOne thief is reported as having admitted that he lately stole many\nsmall pieces of sculpture from the Phoenician gallery in the Louvre\nand sold them for trifling sums. He lately returned a statuette to\nthe museum in return for a payment, and the authorities admitted that\nit was actually one from their collection. Three years ago there were\nforty sculptured heads in one of the cases; now there are about twenty!\nThere seems to be no hope of regaining the _Mona Lisa_ at present, but,\njust as the famous _Duchess of Devonshire_ of Gainsborough was restored\nafter many years upon the payment of heavy blackmail, it is possible\nthat the robbers will take some favorable opportunity of realizing a\nlarge sum by the return of Leonardo's masterpiece.\n\n * * * * *\n\nFOR the first time since the creation of the French Academy at Rome,\na woman has been admitted as a student at the Villa Medici. Mlle.\nLucienne Heuvelmans, the successful winner of the famous \"Prix de Rome\"\nfor sculpture, had to compete against nine other contestants, but her\nremarkable ability compelled the judges to decide in her favor and to\nestablish an entirely new precedent. Her subject was _The Sister of\nOrestes Guarding her Brother's Sleep_.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE Norwegian Academy of Sciences has just recognized the claim of\nwoman to admission to that body for the first time, by admitting Miss\nKristine Bonnevin of Christiania, a doctor of philosophy and an eminent\nzoologist. She is Conservator of the Zoological laboratory of the\nChristiania University, and has produced several interesting scientific\nworks in Norway, Germany, and the United States.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA COMPLETE revision of the rules of the road is being made in France.\nInstead of vehicles keeping to the right, as has hitherto been the\ncustom, they will now have to travel on the left side of the road. This\nwill bring France into line with Great Britain and most other European\ncountries, and will be a great advantage for many automobilists and\ncyclists touring in France, for the difficulty of breaking through the\nautomatic habit of turning to the left when another vehicle approaches\nis very great to those who have been accustomed to keeping on that\nside. Americans, who obey the rule of keeping to the right, will\nhowever find the new French regulation irksome. It is claimed that the\nrule of the left is more sensible for many reasons.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE French people seem very quick to modify old-established customs\nwhen something they consider better is offered. They lately adopted\nGreenwich Observatory (England) as the place of first meridian for\ntime and nautical calculations, as it was shown to be practically\nadvantageous; they did not let an exaggerated patriotism stand in the\nway, though it may be questioned whether the change would have been\nmade a few years ago, before the _entente cordiale_ between France and\nEngland had been established, to which the indefatigable efforts of\nKing Edward VII so largely contributed.\n\n * * * * *\n\nEVERYONE who has read Irving's _Alhambra_ and has felt the charm of\nthat delightfully romantic account of the celebrated Moorish palace in\nGranada, will be glad to hear that the Spanish Government is taking\nactive measures to remove the d\u00e9bris which has collected during the\nlast several centuries and to clear out the watercourses, and otherwise\nprevent the famous masterpiece of Moorish architecture from falling to\nruin. Many interesting antiquities have been discovered and the finds\nhave been removed to the old palace of the Emperor Charles V, which is\nbeing turned into a museum. Beautiful arabesque decorations have been\ndiscovered in unexpected places, and a hitherto unknown staircase has\nbeen laid bare, leading to a large system of underground vaults.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIT is difficult to realize that it is only six years ago since the\nWrights made their first flight of eleven miles in a power-driven\naeroplane, and now we are reading of attempts to fly across the United\nStates from ocean to ocean, and speeds of over a hundred miles an hour\nfor long distances are continually being made. The days of racing and\nsensational exhibitions are apparently nearing an end, for a demand is\narising for less flimsy aeroplanes which can be used for practical\npurposes. It will certainly be many years before the art of aviation\narrives at perfection, and before it becomes as safe and practicable to\ntravel by air-line as by train or automobile. Nothing but careful and\nscientific experimenting, free from the sensational element, can bring\nthis about. The days of the big gas-bag type of flying machine, the\ndirigible, seem to be numbered, for the numerous accidents which have\nhappened to these machines, even when directed with the greatest skill\nand caution, have greatly disappointed their supporters. A mere puff\nof wind, which would have presented no terrors to a heavier-than-air\nmachine, destroyed the British naval dirigible lately. Its cost--about\n$400,000--would have paid for eighty of the best aeroplanes of the\nheavier-than-air-type.\n\nThe lifting power of the air is being utilized in man-carrying kites\nfor war-scouting purposes, and they have proved quite practicable.\nThey have been adopted by the British navy and are now being tried in\nthat of the United States. Large six-sided box-kites are used; the\ntotal pull of fifteen of these, carrying a man in a boatswain's chair,\nis more than two thousand pounds. At the height of four hundred feet\nobservations covering a range of some forty miles can be made.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE celebrated Boston Symphony Orchestra completed its thirtieth\nyear of existence and uninterrupted success on Oct. 22. At the last\nSymphony Concert of the Harvard Musical Association in Boston, in\nMarch, 1881, a Concert Overture was conducted by the composer, Georg\nHenschel, whose brilliant performance attracted the attention of Major\nH. L. Higginson, a music-lover who had for several years been maturing\na new scheme of symphony concerts, and who was willing and able to\nsubsidize it out of his own pocket. He was only waiting to find the\norchestral conductor in whom he could have sufficient confidence. The\nHarvard Musical Association, then more than twenty years old, had been\ngradually declining in popularity, and he saw that there was an opening\nfor a really first-class orchestra in Boston. Large audiences were\nattracted from the very first, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra has\nadvanced from success to success. Its twenty-four annual performances\nnow fill a very large place in the musical life of Boston, and the\norchestra has now a double fame and a double audience, for it gives\nten concerts yearly in New York, where it is equally popular. Of the\noriginal seventy members four are still playing in the orchestra, which\nat present numbers one hundred and one.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIT is surprising that there is so much misapprehension in Western\nlands about the real character of the Turkish people. During the\npresent difficulty with Italy many most exaggerated charges have been\nmade against the Turks, which those who know them best deny with\nindignation. A writer in _The Boston Transcript_ has just published\nan article which is unusually fair and which is marked with a due\nappreciation of the weakness of our frenzied manner of life which we\ncall civilization. A few quotations will be of interest to all who are\nnot prejudiced against the \"heathen.\" Mr. Cobb, the writer, says:\n\n No people in the world are more likeable than the Turks. They are\n kindly, honest, and generous-hearted.... The English and Americans who\n live among the Turks like them--come to feel a real affection for them.\n\nTo the charge that they are cruel, he assents, but he says that\nthe reason is that they possess to a marked degree the Oriental\nindifference to physical pain, and that, above all, they are still in\nthe condition we were during the later middle ages.\n\n It is only a few centuries ago that we too held life and suffering\n in little value.... We burnt men at the stake in order to save their\n souls.... Even within two or three centuries we could have found\n in England the prototype of the modern Turk--the cultured English\n gentleman, the kindly, dignified merchant, who could witness with\n calmness, torture, execution, burning at the stake.\n\n Already there has been a great refining process in the Near East\n during the last half century; and within the lifetime of this\n generation we shall see the East purged of its cruelty and physical\n roughness.\n\nSpeaking of the new movement in Turkey towards a better interpretation\nof the Kor\u00e2n, Mr. Cobb says:\n\n A protestant wave is sweeping over Isl\u00e2m; quietly and cautiously a\n translation of the Kor\u00e2n into modern Turkish is being prepared. The\n grip of the clergy is waning in proportion as the people are becoming\n educated.\n\n It must be said in justice to Isl\u00e2m, that it has never been as\n fanatical and intolerant of heresy as the Christian Church. There has\n never been any Inquisition in Isl\u00e2m, and persecutions for religious\n differences have been far rarer than in Christianity. The Turks are\n the broadest and most tolerant of all Mohammedans.\n\nWhile both Turkey and Persia are yet mostly in the middle ages as\nregards education,\n\n In both countries there are a number of leaders who have received a\n European education and are thoroughly in sympathy with its ideas.\n Their influence is radiating throughout the country and in the end it\n must pervade the masses.\n\nMr. Cobb speaks in a most significant and welcome manner about\nindustrial conditions in Turkey:\n\n In methods of industry and business the medieval form holds sway....\n Their hours are long, but their labor dignifies instead of degrading\n them. Now and then they stop work, light a cigarette and dream. There\n is a chance for a bit of meditation, a broadening of the vision of\n life.... Compare all that with the feverish activity of our modern\n industrial system with its soul-racking machines and unhumanizing\n servitude to work.... Poor East! Little does it dream, in its silent,\n meditative happiness, that it will one day have to face the industrial\n system--the age of machinery and iron. Already this is creeping upon\n them--already factories are being established, and labor is being\n chained to the loom....\n\nLet us hope it will profit by the bitter experience of the West, and\nkeep the good things it has. The Turkish craftsman\n\n makes a living--he is happy, he lives near to God.... Will you\n undertake to show him the possibilities of combination, of fierce\n competition, of ostentatious wealth? Will you take away his soul\n and give him a few millions in return? Pray do not! Leave us some\n distant corner of the earth where we can flee when the shadows of\n industrialism oppress us; when the soullessness of human faces arouses\n our despair.... The East is yet a land where one can seek the eternal\n solitudes of the spirit.... The despotism of the East is over. No more\n can its rulers consign to death at their whim.... Will the East be\n able to keep its characteristic of peace?\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE Irish-language demonstration held in Dublin on September 17 was\nimpressive and successful; indeed the citizens appear to celebrate\nthis annual event as a festival day. A considerable number of those\ntaking part wore the ancient national costume. The first part of the\nprocession, consisting of branches of the Gaelic League, occupied half\nan hour in passing a given point. Then came various schools. Next the\nNational Foresters formed a picturesque element, an innovation being\nthe attire of two branches of the lady Foresters, who appeared in green\nvelvet cloaks and hoods which imparted a very realistic Celtic touch.\nNumerous labor organizations brought up the rear.\n\nAt the subsequent mass meeting Dr. Douglas Hyde, the energetic\nPresident of the Gaelic League, presented resolutions dealing with the\neducation question in connexion with the preservation of the Irish\nlanguage and industrial development. He said the National Board of\nEducation had informed him that the managers of the schools and the\nparents of the children were colder towards the Irish language than\nthe Board itself. \"The priests of Ireland are the managers of the\nschools,\" he went on to say, \"and if it was true that the priests are\ncolder than the Board it is a sad state of affairs. I do not believe\nit, but I will leave this question because it does not touch us.\" He\nconcluded by asking the Gaelic League members to have a welcome for\nevery person who was an Irishman, and to apply no tests except that\nwhen members came in they should leave religion and politics outside\nthe door.\n\nOne cannot but admire the optimism of Dr. Douglas Hyde, and if the\ncourse he outlined be followed many will soon realize that the words\nunsectarian and non-political, sound a keynote of progress. And\nthe Gaelic League is surely for progress! There is an eastern book\ncalled _The Arabian Night's Entertainments_. It contains the Story\nof Es-Sindib\u00e2d, who had the ill-luck to encounter trying adventures,\namong which was the task of carrying an Old-Man-of-the-Sea on his back.\nPerhaps the parents, the National Board, and Dr. Douglas Hyde might\nthink of an Irish version. Meanwhile the children suffer most.\n\nTalking of translations, we wonder whether some Gaelic League member\nwill think of putting _Atlantis_, by Ignatius Donnelly, into Irish. To\nbe sure, it would give young folk a wider outlook on life, but this\nmight not be an insuperable objection.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK REVIEWS: \"Les Derniers Barbares: Chine, Tibet, Mongolie,\" par le\nCommandant d'Ollone. Pierre Lafitte et Cie., Paris. By H. Alexander\nFussell\n\n\nIn the preface to this most interesting and readable book of\nexploration Commandant d'Ollone reminds us that within or about the\nconfines of the Chinese Empire there still exist \"those races which\nconquered Cyrus, stopped Alexander, ravaged the Roman Empire, conquered\nAsia and half of Europe,\" that they are still the same, \"unconquered\nand untamable.\" And he asks the question: \"Will they succumb under\nthe pressure of civilization; or shall we see them, armed with our\nown weapons, with modern artillery, utilizing the railways we have\nconstructed, to begin again their terrible incursions?\"\n\nThe names of these barbarians are familiar enough: Scythians, Huns,\nTurks, Mongols; to these must be added the Lolos, a race, according to\nsome theorists, more nearly allied to our own, the Indo-European, than\nto the so-called Mongolian or Yellow race. To study the Lolos and their\ncharacteristics was one of the principal objects of the expedition\nd'Ollone.\n\nInhabiting the high mountainous plateau, about 11,000 square miles\nin extent, on the left bank of the Blue River, to the north of the\nprovince of Yunnan, they have maintained their independence at the\nprice of continual war with the Chinese. Theirs is \"the forbidden\nland,\" \"the country where the Chinese never go\"; for the latter, if\nfound in the country of the Lolos, are either massacred or reduced to\nslavery. Nevertheless, they are admitted at certain seasons to gather\nthe much coveted \"insect-wax,\" a source of riches to the neighboring\nprovince of Sseu-Tch'ouan, which is found only in \"the Great Cold\nMountains\" of the Lolo country. To do this they must get the protection\nof some Lolo chief and pay an indemnity to each of the frontier clans.\nThe Lolos, on the other hand, go freely in times of peace into Chinese\nterritory to buy weapons and firearms.\n\nThe expedition had some difficulty in finding Lolo chiefs to be their\nintroducers or \"sponsors\"; not only was it impossible to proceed\nwithout them, but with them they would be treated more as guests than\ntravelers. However, three Lolo chiefs were induced to undertake this\noffice. D'Ollone describes them as\n\n tall, magnificent men, with nothing of the Asiatic. One of them,\n Ma-Yola, having one of the finest heads that could be imagined, not\n yellow in complexion, but tanned like the inhabitants of Southern\n Europe, straight large eyes, arched eyebrows, aquiline nose,\n well-formed mouth, and an open, frank, martial expression. Truly, a\n European head, with a touch of the Red Indian.\n\nThe Lolo woman, too, is _quasi_-European in appearance and attire--a\nhigh bodice, a long pleated skirt with flounces, a cloak of fine\nwool, and turban. Describing the wife of Ma-Dj\u00e9dj\u00e9, another of their\n\"sponsors\" from a different clan, d'Ollone says, \"of stately and noble\nbeauty, she at once compels attention, and all her movements are\ngraceful and dignified.\"\n\nAmong many customs which testify to the high moral development of the\nLolos is that of dividing property equally among the heirs of both\nsexes; as an unmarried woman, however, cannot inherit, her share is\nheld over till her marriage, when it forms her dowry--and until her\nmarriage her brothers must provide for her maintenance. If there is any\ninequality in the division of property, the youngest is favored. The\nLolos appear to be Theists, but have no temples or religious ceremonies.\n\nWho are the Lolos, and to what race do they belong? Hardy mountaineers,\ngood horsemen, fond of war and violent exercise, of proud bearing,\nnoble and often beautiful in countenance, they show all the signs of\nan energetic race well fitted to develop. What statues, monuments, or\narchitecture have they to tell of their past? None, much to d'Ollone's\ndisappointment. Though their system of government reminded him strongly\nof the feudal system, yet noble and serf would sleep together on the\nground wrapped in their long cloaks, or in cabins without a scrap of\nfurniture. What is the explanation of this anomaly? The real home of\nthe Lolos is not the mountainous country where they have maintained\ntheir independence, but on the other bank of the Blue River, where the\nsemi-independent Lolos (and the Miao-Tseu) live under their hereditary\nchiefs, who, however, acknowledge Chinese authority. But even here\nno traces of their ancient civilization are to be found, for the\nChinese conquerors destroyed everything that reminded them of the Lolo\nsupremacy.\n\nThe ethnological problem is thus succinctly stated by Commandant\nd'Ollone:\n\n Are there in the midst of China populations which do not belong to the\n Yellow Race? If there are and they have come from elsewhere, we ought\n to find traces of their passage, colonies which they have left on the\n way, discover whence they came and to what original family to assign\n them. If, however, they are indigenous, or at least if they arrived\n before the beginning of history, then the Far East is not the cradle\n of the Yellow Race; it is this last which has come from far and has\n dispossessed the indigenous races, incorporating many of them without\n doubt, and its homogeneity is a fiction.\n\nHere may be quoted a note by Madame Blavatsky in _The Secret Doctrine_,\nVol. II, page 280;\n\n \"What would you say to our affirmation that the Chinese--I speak of\n the inland, the true Chinaman, not of the hybrid mixture between\n the Fourth and Fifth Races now occupying the throne, the aborigines\n who belong in their unallied nationality wholly to the highest and\n last branch of the Fourth Race--reached their highest civilization\n when the Fifth had hardly appeared in Asia\" (_Esoteric Buddhism_, p.\n 67). And this handful of the inland Chinese are all of a very high\n stature. Could the most ancient MSS. in the Lolo language (that of\n the aborigines of China) be got at and translated correctly, many\n a priceless piece of evidence would be found. But they are as rare\n as their language is unintelligible. So far one or two European\n archaeologists only have been able to procure such priceless works.\n\nThis was written in 1888. It may be added that the Lolo nobles preserve\nvery carefully their genealogies. To return to the Miao-Tseu. They,\nsays d'Ollone,\n\n are usually considered as having no writing of their own. Taking\n advantage of the fact that one of them, who had a law-suit, asked my\n help, I begged him to put his case in writing. This he did without any\n difficulty, and assured me that since their subjection by the Chinese,\n the latter having destroyed all the books they could discover, the\n Miao-Tseu had hidden those that remained, and had feigned ever since\n to be ignorant of the art of writing; they possessed, however,\n numerous books containing the annals of their race.\n\nWe must refer our readers to d'Ollone's book for an interesting account\nof his \"hunt for documents.\"\n\nAfter studying the Miao-Tseu and the semi-independent Lolos the\nexpedition returned to Ma-Tao-Tseu, whence they had set out, where\nd'Ollone met some pimos or learned Lolos who while they can read the\nsacred books, have no priestly functions and must by no means be\nconsidered as priests. With one of them, who was especially intelligent\nand well-informed, \"my Lolo professor,\" as he calls him, d'Ollone\nworked hard for a fortnight, learning the Lolo writing and laying the\nfoundations of a Lolo-French dictionary. At the end of that time,\n\n as a recompense for my zeal, my professor presented me with five\n volumes, treating, he said, of religion, geography, history,\n mathematics, and various sciences.\n\nOur sympathy is secured in advance for all brave people who are\nstriving to retain their nationality and their own language. The last\ntwenty-five years or so has witnessed a great Celtic revival; the Welsh\nand Irish are both studying their ancient literature, speaking their\noriginal languages, and publishing books about their traditions\nwhich go back to a time when England was joined to the Continent and\nour forefathers could walk dryshod from Wales to Ireland. It is at\nleast curious that far away in Central Asia, a Lolo prince, one of the\nmost powerful and learned of them all, the nzemo Len, fired by the\nsame national enthusiasm and patriotism should have founded a school\nwhere eighteen pupils are educated at his own expense in Lolo, not in\nChinese. He has moreover established a rude printing-press, so as to\npublish books in his own language, to disseminate not only the old Lolo\nlearning, but to popularize European science and discoveries, notably\nrailroads, telegraphy, and ballooning, about which he has heard.\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. COMMANDANT D'OLLONE\nChief of the recent Mission d'Ollone to the Far East and author of _Les\nDerniers Barbares_]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ARCHAIC COLOSSAL\nSTATUES OF KIANG-K'EU]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. A LOLO WARRIOR]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. LOLO MEN AND THEIR\nINSEPARABLE CLOAK]\n\n[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. MIAO-TSEU DANCING.\nBOTH MEN AND WOMEN ARE REPRESENTED The musical instruments are of\ncurious form]\n\nWe have indicated but a small part of the work undertaken by the\nexpedition d'Ollone. Many other interesting and hitherto unknown\nregions in Tibet and Mongolia were explored and are described with\na wealth of anecdote and adventure which makes the book delightful\nreading even for those who are not attracted by the important data\nit has gathered for the solution of ethnographic and archaeological\nproblems. For the sake of the latter we would observe that among the\nresults of the expedition are\n\n forty-six vocabularies of non-Chinese dialects; four dictionaries of\n native writings hitherto unknown or undecipherable; thirty-two Lolo\n manuscripts; two hundred and twenty-five historical inscriptions in\n Chinese, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Mongol, Manchu, Arabic and Lolo; the local\n histories of forty-two towns, about which hardly anything was known\n before, etc., etc.\n\nThese documents, illustrated by nearly 2000 photographs, are now being\npublished in seven volumes with the collaboration of eminent savants,\naided by a grant from the French Government.\n\nThe success of the expedition was due to the high qualities of the\nFrench nation, always the pioneers alike in science and in exploration.\nThe difficulties to be surmounted only made their task the more\nattractive. Commandant d'Ollone and his confr\u00e8res, Captains Lepage\nand de Fleurelle and Sous-lieutenant Boyve, have done honor to their\ncountry and made scientists the world over their debtors.\n\nIn conclusion one may refer in justification of the warning with which\nthis review opens, to an earlier work by d'Ollone, published in 1906,\n_La Chine novatrice et guerri\u00e8re_ (Armand Colin, Paris). It does away,\nonce for all, with the old idea of the homogeneity and inertia of the\nChinese Empire--as large, we must remember, as Europe, and more densely\npopulated by a hundred different races. This Empire, which Europe not\nso long ago spoke of dividing into \"spheres of influence,\" so as better\nto pursue a policy of commercial and military aggression, is wide awake\nnow and intends to be \"master in its own household.\" The patriotism\nthat was flouted a few years ago is breaking out today in cries for war.\n\n In the province of the lower Yang-Tse, where, Marco Polo declared\n disdainfully, there was scarcely to be seen a man-at-arms, there are\n now young men training, by gymnastic exercises and drill for the\n coming struggle.\n\n \"Soon,\" so runs one of their military marching songs, \"soon, chiefs\n will lead millions of young men whose battalions will crush Europe and\n America.\"\n\n\"O stupid white-faced Barbarians,\" is the refrain of the Gymnastic\nSociety of Hang-tche'ou, \"do not think that the wrongs of the Yellow\nRace will last many years longer!\" And d'Ollone avers that all over\nChina the same songs are sung.\n\nIt seems indeed as if we were approaching one of those great crises of\nthe world's history. East and West are getting to know each other, and\nare measuring their strength. May a peaceful solution be found in the\nhigher ideals which each proclaims, and the Federation of Nations and\nthe Brotherhood of Man at last become a reality!\n\nThe work is beautifully printed on calendered paper, and illustrated\nvery handsomely with views photographed during the expedition. A few\nof them are reproduced on these pages; they give one an idea of the\ndifferent peoples.\n\n\n\n\n\"The Plough and the Cross: a Story of New Ireland,\" by William Patrick\nO'Ryan. The Aryan Theosophical Press, Point Loma, California. By F. J.\nD.\n\n\nThis story is surely one of the most arresting and charming which has\nappeared for many years. Reviewers of the first edition were almost\nunanimous in saying that it has to be read and re-read, because of its\nabsorbing interest. Filled with beauties of ideation born of Celtic\ninspiration, are many memory-haunting passages. Seldom has there been\na book portraying with such skill and grace the contemporary mental\nstates of a naturally buoyant and imaginative people.\n\nThe first chapter is an adumbration, almost an epitome both of the\nstory and of the general situation in Ireland along certain lines,\nmainly in the thought-world. For in spite of occasional brief personal\nor scenic sketches, one lives, in these pages, pre-eminently within\nthe very thought-life of a people--a bold departure, and few have been\nthe writers competent to make the attempt. Withal, the story is so\ngenial and humorous, that one lives in that world unconscious of the\nmagic woven around him. Most stories and dramas depend largely for\ntheir interest upon plot, incident, and stirring situations. Yet here\nthe keenest interest is sustained within realms of mind, aspiration,\nand the higher planes of emotion; with little or no aid from plot or\ndramatic situation; although there are in reality deeply dramatic\ntouches, those which belong to soul-drama.\n\nOne feels that the writer, while taking life seriously, looks ever to\nthe brighter side--a wonderful achievement for any Thinker living in\nthe Ireland of today. Because of this inherent attitude, he succeeds\nin throwing a strong search-light on existing conditions; and again\nbecause of it, that light illumines conditions prevalent in some other\ncountries equally. The story has thus an almost universal character,\nand is in fact a kind of prose-poem. Some, entire strangers to Ireland,\ndeclare the characters in the story to be to them much more familiar\nthan their most intimate friends. For being typical, they are real.\n\nIn one aspect it is the oft-told tale of struggle against\nconventionality and dogmatism; but the remarkable thing is that here\nthese are presented in a sympathetic, rather than in an antagonistic\nlight. It is a masterly touch; for conventionality, dogmatism, and even\nintolerance, are ways in which our imperfect natures cling fearfully to\nsome halting-place, ere a new step is taken on the upward journey.\n\nAnd so there must always be pioneers, leaders who encourage us to\ntake the next step onward. Books such as this are like refreshing\nwaters pouring new streams of life on jaded souls, weary of the\nsquirrel-in-cage business of the accepted order. The book is full of\ngood-humored raillery, and abounds in richly imaginative and poetic\nflashes. Although practically a recital of actual occurrences in\nIreland, and therefore occasionally weighted with sad and unavoidably\nstern vicissitudes (less stern than the reality), one discerns plainly\nthose undercurrents of aspiration and effort which are pressing\nupward in many places today--forces which, indeed, attain embodied\nexpression before the world, in the Theosophical movement led by\nKatherine Tingley. And it was Katherine Tingley who, recognizing the\nhigh merit of this little work, acquired the copyright and caused the\nfirst edition to appear from the workshops of the Aryan Theosophical\nPress. The author himself, who is unconnected with the Universal\nBrotherhood and Theosophical Society, replying to his critics, and\nafter disclaiming the idea that there was any propagandist design in\nhis mind, went on to say:\n\n The truth is that life and character in the Ireland that is waking up\n are extraordinarily rich and interesting if we look a little below\n the surface.... To take such ideas and characters and try to press\n them into the service of some personal theory or propaganda would\n be a crude and senseless proceeding. The point is to illustrate and\n interpret them, as well as one can, to let them speak for themselves.\n\nThe following extracts, much to the point, are taken from a review\nwhich appeared in _The Gaelic-American_, New York.\n\n Here we see the mysticism of the medieval poet done into prose. Into\n his love romance the author has woven his own peculiar ideas about\n religion, society, theosophy, altruism, and every-day politics. His\n characters talk these things without, however, losing their human and\n personal traits. That is why the story is so interesting.\n\n In some respects _The Plough and the Cross_ is a psychological study.\n Katherine Tingley, the famous Theosophist of Point Loma, condenses the\n features of the novel in the following brief introduction:\n\n \"A story of real life in Ireland--in the deepest sense as well as in\n the usual one--it elucidates certain heart problems in social and\n religious life with a candor, charm, and fearlessness, and with so\n tender a restraint and sympathy that it can hardly fail to be regarded\n as a wholly unique contribution to modern thought.\n\n \"More than one actual initiation into the real meaning and purpose of\n human life is subtly and exquisitely depicted here--the outcome of\n those stern yet joyful experiences which must come sooner or later\n to all true hearts that toil nobly and unselfishly for the uplift of\n social and national life....\"\n\n\n\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society\n\nFounded at New York City in 1875 by H. P. Blavatsky, William Q. Judge\nand others\n\nReorganized in 1898 by Katherine Tingley\n\nCentral Office, Point Loma, California\n\n The Headquarters of the Society at Point Loma with the buildings\n and grounds, are no \"Community\" \"Settlement\" or \"Colony,\" but are\n the Central Executive Office of an international organization where\n the business of the same is carried on, and where the teachings of\n Theosophy are being demonstrated. Midway 'twixt East and West, where\n the rising Sun of Progress and Enlightenment shall one day stand at\n full meridian, the Headquarters of the Society unite the philosophic\n Orient with the practical West.\n\n\n MEMBERSHIP\n\n in the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society may be\n either \"at large\" or in a local Branch. Adhesion to the principle\n of Universal Brotherhood is the only pre-requisite to membership.\n The Organization represents no particular creed; it is entirely\n unsectarian, and includes professors of all faiths, only exacting from\n each member that large toleration of the beliefs of others which he\n desires them to exhibit towards his own.\n\n Applications for membership in a Branch should be addressed to\n the local Director; for membership \"at large\" to G. de Purucker,\n Membership Secretary, International Theosophical Headquarters, Point\n Loma, California.\n\n\nOBJECTS\n\nThis Brotherhood is a part of a great and universal movement which has\nbeen active in all ages.\n\nThis Organization declares that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature. Its\nprincipal purpose is to teach Brotherhood, demonstrate that it is a\nfact in Nature, and make it a living power in the life of humanity.\n\nIts subsidiary purpose is to study ancient and modern religions,\nscience, philosophy, and art; to investigate the laws of Nature and the\ndivine powers in man.\n\nIt is a regrettable fact that many people use the name of Theosophy\nand of our Organization for self-interest, as also that of H. P.\nBlavatsky, the Foundress, and even the Society's motto, to attract\nattention to themselves and to gain public support. This they do in\nprivate and public speech and in publications. Without being in any way\nconnected with the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, in\nmany cases they permit it to be inferred that they are, thus misleading\nthe public, and honest inquirers are hence led away from the original\ntruths of Theosophy.\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society welcomes to\nmembership all who truly love their fellow men and desire the\neradication of the evils caused by the barriers of race, creed, caste,\nor color, which have so long impeded human progress; to all sincere\nlovers of truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than\nthe mere pleasures and interests of a worldly life and are prepared to\ndo all in their power to make Brotherhood a living energy in the life\nof humanity, its various departments offer unlimited opportunities.\n\nThe whole work of the Organization is under the direction of the Leader\nand Official Head, Katherine Tingley, as outlined in the Constitution.\n\nInquirers desiring further information about Theosophy or the\nTheosophical Society are invited to write to\n\n THE SECRETARY\n International Theosophical Headquarters\n Point Loma, California\n\n\n\n\n Transcriber's Notes:\n\n Bold type is shown as =strong=.\n\n Italics are shown thus: _sloping_.\n\n Small capitals have been capitalised.\n\n Illustrations have been moved out of mid-paragraph.\n\n Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained.\n\n Punctuation has been retained as published.\n\n Typographical errors that were noticed during transcription\n have been changed.\n\n In the List of Illustrations, Temple in the Greek Theater, Point Loma,\n California, P10, has been removed, it does not exist.\n\n In the book list, the unclear superscript in the dutch entry for\n Pit en Merg, uit sommige Heilige Geschriften has been given the\n value 'e'.\n\n In the Index, 'Egyptian Art, 26th Dynasty', has been corrected to\n page 200 from page 20.","title":"The Theosophical Path Illustrated Monthly Volume 1, July-December, 1911","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":202499}