AUM

Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of
Men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them; lest
haply ye be found to be fighting even against God. - Acts V. 38, 39.

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD
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Vol. XIII April, 1898 No. 1
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HYPATIA: A TRAGEDY OF LENT

by Alexander Wilder

"THIS was done during Lent, " says the historian Sokrates.
"There is as a woman in Alexandreia named Hypatia, a daughter of Theon the
philosopher, so learned that she surpassed all the savants of the time. She therefore
succeeded to the Chair of Philosophy in that branch of the Platonic School which follows
Plotinos, and gave public lectures on all the doctrines of that school. Students resorted to
her from all parts, for her deep learning made her both serious and fearless in speech,
while she bore herself composedly, even before the magistrates, and mixed among men
in public without misgiving. Her exceeding modesty was extolled and praised by all. So,
then, wrath and envy were kindled against this woman."
Little record has been preserved of Hypatia beyond the mention by her
contemporaries of her learning, her personal beauty and her tragic fate. That little,
however, possesses a peculiar significance, setting forth as it does, the history of the
period, and the great changes which the world was then undergoing.
Since the time of Augustus Caesar, Alexandreia had ranked as one of the Imperial
cities of the Roman world. It excelled other capitals in the magnificence of its buildings, and
in its wealth, created and sustained by an extensive commerce. Its former rulers had been
liberal and even lavish in every expenditure that might add to its greatness. The
advantages of the place had been noted by the Macedonian Conqueror, when on his way
to the oasis of Amun, and afterward, acting under the direction of a dream, he fixed upon
it for the site of a new city to perpetuate his own name. He personally planned the circuit
of the walls and the directions of the principal streets, and selected sites for temples to the
gods of Egypt and Greece. The architect Deinokrates was then commissioned to
superintend the work, he had already distinguished himself as the builder of the temple of
the Great Goddess of Ephesus, whom "all Asia and the world worshiped," and had actually
offered to carve Mount Athos into a statue of his royal master, holding a city in its right
hand. Under Ptolemy, the royal scholar, the new Capital had been completed by him, and
became the chief city of a new Egypt, the seat of commerce between India and the West,
and the intellectual metropolis of the occidental world.
Its celebrity, however, was due, not so much to its grand buildings or even to its
magnificent lighthouse, the Pharos, justly considered as one of the Seven Wonders of the
Earth, as to its famous School of Learning, and to its library of seven hundred thousand
scrolls, the destruction of which is still deplored by lovers of knowledge. The temples of

--- 4

Memphis, Sais and Heliopolis had been so many universities, depositories of religious,
philosophic and scientific literature, and distinguished foreigners like Solon, Thales, Plato,
Eudoxos and Pythagoras had been admitted to them; but now they were cast into the
shade by the new metropolis with its cosmopolitan liberality. The Alexandreian School
included among its teachers and lecturers, not only Egyptian priests and learned Greeks,
but sages and philosophers from other countries.
The wall of exclusiveness that had before separated individuals of different race and
nation, was in a great measure, broken down. Religious worship heretofore circumscribed
in isolated forms to distinctive peoples, tribes and family groups, became correspondingly
catholic and its rites accessible to all. The mystery-god of Egypt, bearing the ineffable
name of Osiris or Hyasir, was now Serapis, in whom the personality and attributes of the
other divinities of the pantheons were merged. *
"There is but one sole God for them all," the Emperor Hadrian wrote to his friend
Servianus: "him do the Christians, him do the Jews, him do all the Gentiles also worship."
Philosophy likewise appeared in new phases. Missionaries from Buddhistic India,**
Jaina*** sages, Magian and Chaldean teachers and Hebrew Rabbis came

------------
* The great image of King Nebuchadnezzar, which is described in the book of
Daniel, was evidently a simulacrum of this divinity; and the Rev. C. W. King further
declares in so many words that "there can be no doubt that the head supplied the first idea
of the conventional portraits of the Saviour." - Gnostics and their Remains.
** "The Grecian King besides, by whom the Egyptian Kings, Ptolemaios and
Antigonos (Gangakenos or Gonatos) and Magas have been induced to allow both here and
in foreign countries everywhere, that the people may follow the doctrine of the religion of
Devananpiga, wheresoever it reacheth." - Edict of Asoka, King of India.
*** This term is derived from the Sanskrit jna to know; and signifies well-knowing,
profoundly intelligent. The designation of the new doctrine of that period, the Gnosis, was
from this origin.
-------------

to Alexandreia and discoursed acceptably with philosophers from Asia, Greece and Italy.
From these sources there came into existence an Eclectic philosophy, in which were
combined the metaphysic of the West and the recondite speculation of the East. The
various religious beliefs took other shapes accordingly, and expounders of the Gnosis, or
profounder esoteric knowledge abounded alike with native Egyptians, Jews and Christians.
In the earlier years of the third century of the present era there arose a School of
philosophic speculation which brought together in closer harmony the principal dogmas
which were then current. Its founder, Ammonios Sakkas, was, according to his own
profession, a lover and seeker for the truth. He was in no way a critic hunting for flaws in
the teaching of others, but one who believed that the genuine knowledge might exist in a
diffused form, partly here and partly there, among the various systems. He sought
accordingly to bring the parts together by joining in harmonious union the doctrines of Plato
and Pythagoras with the Ethics of Zeno and the reasonings of Aristotle, and perfecting it
with what is sometimes termed the Wisdom of the East. His disciples were obligated to
secrecy, but the restriction was afterward set aside. Plotinos and Porphyry extended the
sphere of his teachings, giving them more completely the character of a religion.
Iamblichos went further, adding the arcane doctrine and the mystic worship of Egypt and
Assyria.*
The Alexandreian School of Philosophy, thus established, included within its purview
the esoteric dogmas of all the Sacred Rites in the several countries.
A new Route came into existence on the banks of the Bosphoros, and a new religion
was proclaimed for the Roman world. The changes, however, were far from radical. The
earlier Byzantine Emperors were too sagacious politicians

------------
* Reply of Abammon to Porphyry.
------------
--- 5

to permit revolutionary innovations. Religion and civil administration were interwoven in the
same web and the subversion of either would be fatal to the other. Constantine himself
was a "soldier'' or initiated worshiper of Mithras as well as a servant of Christ.*
His successors encouraged an extensive intermingling which should render
Christianity more catholic and thus more acceptable to all classes of the population.
Meanwhile there arose other diversities of religious belief, violent disputes in regard to
ecclesiastical rank and verbal orthodoxy, often culminating in bloody conflicts. The older
worship was finally prohibited under capital penalties.
Persecution became general. Nowhere, perhaps, was it more cruel and vindictive
than at Alexandreia. The modern city of Paris horrified the world with its populace
overawing the Government, destroying, public buildings, desecrating cemeteries and
religious shrines, and murdering without mercy or scruple. Similar scenes became
common in the capital of the Ptolemies. The dissenters from the later orthodoxy, followers
of Clement and Origen were driven from the city; the Catechetic School which they had
maintained was closed, the occult worship of the Cave of Mithras was forcibly suspended,
the temple of Serapis sacked, the statues broken to pieces, the Great Library, the glory of
Alexandreia, scattered and destroyed.
With these violent procedures there came also a wonderful transformation. The
temples were consecrated anew as churches, and the rites of the former worship were
adopted, together with the symbols and legends, under other forms, as Christian, Catholic
and orthodox. Even mummies were carried from Egypt as relics of martyrs.
Learning, however, was still in the

------------
* Sopater, who succeeded lamblichos as head of the School at Alexandreia, had
been employed by Constantine to perform the rites of consecration for the new capital; but
the Emperor afterward quarreled with him, and sentenced him to death.
-----------
hands of the adherents of the old religion. They continued their labors faithfully, giving as
little offense as they were able. Theon, Pappos and Diophantos taught mathematical
science at the Serapeion; and some of their writings are yet remaining to attest the extent
of their studies and observations.
Hypatia, the daughter of Theon, was worthy of her name* and parentage. Her father
had made her from early years his pupil and companion, and she profited richly from his
teaching. She wrote several mathematical works of great merit, which have perished with
the other literature of that period. She was also diligent in the study of law, and became
an effective and successful pleader in the courts, for which she was admirably qualified by
her learning and fascinating eloquence. She was not content, however, with these
acquirements, but devoted herself likewise, with ardent enthusiasm, to the study of
philosophy. She was her own preceptor, and set apart to these pursuits the entire daytime
and a great part of the night. Though by no means ascetic in her notions, she adhered
persistently to the celibate life, in order that there might be no hindrance to her purposes.
It was an ancient fashion of philosophers to travel for a season for the sake of
acquaintance with the greater world, and to become more thorough and practical in mental
attainments. Hypatia accordingly followed this example. On coming to Athens, she
remained there and attended the lectures of the ablest instructors. Thus she now gained
a reputation for scholarship which extended as far as the Greek language was spoken,
Upon her return to Alexandreia, the magistrates invited her to become a lee-

-------------
* The same Hypatia [script] signifies highest, most exalted, best. In this instance it
would not be difficult to suppose that it had been conferred posthumously, or at best as a
title of distinction. This, in fact, was an Egyptian custom, as in the case of the native kings,
and now of the Roman pontiffs.
-------------
--- 6

turer on philosophy. The teachers who had preceded her had made the school celebrated
throughout the world, but their glory was exceeded by the discourses of the daughter of
Theon. She was ambitious to reinstate the Platonic doctrines in their ancient form, in
preference to the Aristotelian dogma and the looser methods which had become common.
She was the first to introduce a rigorous procedure into philosophic teaching. She made
the exact sciences the basis of her instructions, and applied their demonstration to the
principles of speculative knowledge. Thus she became the recognized head of the Platonic
School.
Among her disciples were many persons of distinction. Of this number was
Synesios, of Cyrene, to whom we are indebted for the principal memorials of her that we
now possess. He was of Spartan descent, a little younger than his teacher, and deeply
imbued with her sentiments. He remained more than a year at Alexandreia, attending her
lectures on philosophy, mathematics and the art of oratory. He afterward visited Athens,
but formed a low estimate of what was to be learned there. "I shall no longer be abashed
at the erudition of those who have been there," he writes. "It is not because they seem to
know much more than the rest of us mortals about Plato and Aristotle, but because they
have seen the places, the Akademeia, and the Lykeion, and the Stoa where Zeno used to
lecture, they behave themselves among us like demigods among donkeys."
He could find nothing worthy of notice in Athens, except the names of her famous
localities. "It is Egypt in our day," he declares, "that cultivates the seeds of wisdom
gathered by Hypatia. Athens was once the very hearth and home of learning; but now it
is the emporium of the trade in honey!"
Mr. Kingsley has set forth in his usual impressive style, the teaching and character
of this incomparable woman.* He depicts her cruel fate in vivid colors. He represents her
as being some twenty-five years of age; she must have been some years older at the
period which he has indicated.
Synesios, her friend, had now been for some years the bishop of Ptolemais in
Cyrenaica. This dignity, however, he had accepted only after much persuasion. He was
of amiable disposition, versatile, and of changeable moods. He had consented to profess
the Christian religion, and the prelate, Theophilus, persuaded him to wed a Christian wife,
perhaps to divert him from his devoted regard for his former teacher. He refused, however,
to discard his philosophic beliefs. He had been living in retirement at his country home,
when he was chosen by acclamation, by the church in Ptolemais, to the episcopal office.
He was barely persuaded to accept upon his own terms. He pleaded his fondness for
diversion and amusement, and refused inflexibly to put away his wife or play the part of a
hypocrite in the matter. He explained his position in a letter to his brother.
"It is difficult, I may say that it is impossible, that a truth which has been scientifically
demonstrated and once accepted by the understanding, should ever be eradicated from
the mind. Much of what is held by the mass of men is utterly repugnant to philosophy. It
is absolutely impossible for me to believe either that the soul is created subsequently to the
body, or that this material universe will ever perish. As for that doctrine of the Resurrection
which they bruit about, it is to me a sacred mystery, but I am far enough from sharing the
popular view..... As to preaching doctrines which I do not hold, I call God and man to
witness that this I will not do. Truth is of the essence of God, before whom I desire to stand
blameless, and the one thing that I can not undertake is to dissimulate."

-----------
* HYPATIA, or New Foes with an Old Face
-----------
--- 7

Singular and incredible as it may appear, this disavowal of doctrines generally

regarded as essential and distinctive, was not considered an obstacle that might not be
surmounted. The patriarch of Alexandreia had been extreme and unrelenting in his violent
procedures against the ancient religion. He was, however, politic in his action, and knew
well the character of the man whose case he had in hand. Synesios had as a layman,
exhibited his ability in diplomatic service, his efficiency in the transacting of public business,
and his utter unselfishness in matters relating to personal advantage. Such a man in a
province like Cyrenaica, was invaluable.
It would be more difficult, therefore, for a person who had been reared and schooled
in the ways of modern times to apprehend intelligently the motives of Synesios himself. He
certainly found it almost impossible to overcome his reluctance. Seven months of
preparation were allotted to him previous to engaging in the new duties. He prayed often
for death and even thought seriously of leaving the country. He was permitted to retain his
family circle, and to hold his philosophic beliefs, but only required to give a formal
acquiescence to what he considered mythologic fables. Under these conditions he
consented to receive baptism and consecration to the episcopal office. Yet in an address
to his new associates he expressed the hope that by the mercy of God he might find the
priesthood a help rather than a hindrance to philosophy.
He did not, however, break off correspondence with Hypatia. He had been in the
habit of sending to her his scientific works for her judgment, and he continued in great
emergencies to write to her for sympathy and counsel. His brief term of office was full of
anxiety and trouble. He administered his duties with energy and rare fidelity, not shrinking
from an encounter with the Roman prefect of the province. But misfortune came and he
found himself ill able to meet it. A pestilence ravaged Libya, and his family were among
the victims. He himself succumbed to sickness. In his last letter to her whom he calls his
"sister, mother, teacher and benefactor," he describes his sad condition of mind and body.
"My bodily infirmity comes of the sickness of my soul. The memory of my dear
children overpowers me. Synesios ought never to have survived his good days. Like a
torrent long dammed up, calamity has burst upon me and the savor of life is gone. If you
care for me it is well; if not, this, too, I can understand."
It is supposed by historians, that his death took place not long afterward. He was
spared, then, from a terrible grief, which he might have considered the most appalling of
all. For it was not many months after that his venerated teacher herself fell a victim, under
the most revolting circumstances, to the mob in Alexandreia.
We are told that Hypatia taught the Platonic Philosophy in a purer form than any of
her later predecessors. Her eloquence made its abstruse features attractive, and her
method of scientific demonstration rendered these clearer to the common understanding.
Like Plotinos, she insisted strenuously upon the absolute Oneness of the Divine Essence.
From this radiates the Creative Principle, the Divine Mind as a second energy, yet it is one
with the First. In this Mind are the forms, ideals or models of all things that exist in the
world of sense.* From it, in due order, proceeded a lesser divinity, the Spirit of Nature, or
Soul of the World, from which all things are developed. In abstract terms these may be
represented as Goodness, Wisdom and Energy. In regard to hu-

------------
* Reply of Abammon to Porphyry, VIII, ii.
"For the Father perfected all things and delivered them to the Second Mind, which
the whole race of men denominate the First. - Chaldean Oracles
------------
--- 8

man beings it was taught that they are held fast by an environment of material quality, from
which it is the province of the philosophic discipline to extricate them. This is substantially
the same doctrine as is propounded in the Vedanta and the Upanishads.
Plotinos tells us of a superior form of knowing, illumination through intuition. It is
possible for us, he declared, to become free from the bondage and limitations of time and
sense, and to receive from the Divine Mind direct communication of the truth. This state
of mental exaltation was denominated ecstasy, a withdrawing of the soul from the
distractions of external objects to the contemplation of the Divine Presence which is
immanent within - the fleeing of the spirit, the lone one, to the Alone. In the present
lifetime, Plotinos taught that this may take place at occasional periods only, and for brief
spaces of time; but in the life of the world that is beyond time and sense, it can be
permanent.*
Synesios makes a declaration of the same tenor. "The power to do good," he writes
to Aurelian, "is all that human beings possess in common with God; and imitation is
identification, and unites the follower to him whom he follows."
Much of this philosophy, however, had been already accepted, though perhaps in
grosser form, as Christian experience. The legends of that period, abound with
descriptions of ecstatic vision and intimate communion with Deity. The philosophers taught
that the Divinity was threefold in substance, the Triad, or Third, proceeding from the Duad
or Divine Mind, and ruled by the ineffable One. Clement, of the Gnostic school, deduced
from a letter of Plato that the great philosopher held that there are three persons, or
personations

------------
* I sent my soul through the Invisible
Some letter of that After-Life to spell:
And by and by my soul returned to me,
And answered: "I myself am Heaven and Hell"
- Omar Khayam
------------

in the Godhead, and now in a cruder shape, it became an article of faith. To this the
Egyptian Christians added the veneration of the Holy Mother, and various symbols and
observances which belonged to the worship that had been suppressed.
This was the state of affairs when Cyril became patriarch of Alexandreia. Hypatia
was at the height of her fame and influence. Not only the adherents of the old religion, but
Jews and even Christians were among her disciples. The most wealthy and influential of
the inhabitants thronged her lecture-room. They came day after day to hear her explain
the literature of Greece and Asia, the theorems of mathematicians and geometers and the
doctrines of sages and philosophers. The prefect of Egypt, himself a professed Christian,
resorted to her for counsel and instruction.
Cyril was endowed with a full measure of the ambition which characterized the
prelates of that time. He was not a man to scruple at measures that he might rely upon to
accomplish his ends. Like Oriental monarchs, he was ready with pretexts and instruments
for the removal of all who might stand in his way. He was not willing to divide power,
whether ecclesiastic or secular. A course of persecution was begun at once. The
Novatians or Puritans, a dissenting sect of anabaptists, were expelled from the city, their
churches closed and their property confiscated. The prefect strove in vain to check the
summary procedure; the mob at the command of the prelate was beyond his authority.
The Jews were next to suffer. "Cyril headed the mob in their attacks upon the Jewish
synagogues; they broke them open and plundered them, and in one day drove every Jew
out of the city." The efforts of the prefect in their behalf only served to turn the current of
fanatic fury upon him. Five hundred monks hastened from their retreats to fight for the
patriarch. Meeting the prefect in the street in his open chariot, they taunted

--- 9

him with being an idolater and a Greek, and one of them hurled a stone, which wounded
him in the head. They were speedily dispersed by his guards, and the offending monk was
put to death with tortures. Cyril at once declared the man a martyr and a saint, but the
ridicule which followed upon this proceeding, soon induced him to recall his action.
We have read the story of Haman at the court of the king of Persia. He was
advanced above all princes and received homage, except from Mordecai the Jew.
Recounting to his wife the distinction to which he had been promoted, he said: "Yet all this
availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate." The
patriarch of Alexandreia appears to have cherished similar sentiments. He was a prince
in the Church, with power exceeding that of any official south of the Mediterranean. He had
but to give the signal and an army of monks would hurry to his call, ready to do or die. But
all this did not avail, while the long train of chariots continued to assemble daily before the
door of Hypatia's lecture-room. Like Haman, he resolved to put an end to his mortification.
He had not been able to close the Academy, but he could make an end of her who was its
chief attraction, and the principal obstacle to his ambition.
"The thing was done during Lent," says Sokrates. At this period the city of
Alexandreia was crowded by multitudes from other places, desirous to participate in the
religious services. Cyril had been zealous to substitute Christian observances for similar
customs of the old worship, and this was one of them. Alexandreia was for the time at his
mercy. He was thoroughly skilled in the art of exciting the passions, and he was
surrounded by men who knew well his bent and how to do what he wished without a
suggestion from him to involve him directly in the responsibility.
He needed only to indicate the School and its teacher as the great obstacle to the
triumph of the Church. They were then ready to carry into effect what he purposed.
Mr. Kingsley has described the occurrence in dramatic style. "I heard Peter (the
reader) say: 'She that hindereth will hinder till she be taken out of the way.' And when he
went into the passage, I heard him say to another: 'That thou doest, do quickly.'"
It was on the morning of the fifteenth of March, 415, - the fatal Ides, the anniversary
of the murder of the greatest of the Caesars. Hypatia set out as usual in her chariot to
drive to the lecture-room. She had not gone far when the mob stopped the way. On every
side were men howling with all the ferocity of hungry wolves. She was forced out of the
vehicle and dragged along the ground to the nearest church. This was the ancient
Caesar's temple, which had been dedicated anew to the worship of the Christian Trinity.
Here she had been denounced by Cyril and her doom determined by his servitors. Her
dress was now torn in shreds by their ruffianly violence. She stood by the high altar,
beneath the statue of Christ.
"She shook herself free from her tormentors," says Kingsley, "and, springing back,
rose for one moment to her full height, naked, snow-white against the dusky mass around -
shame and indignation in those wide, clear eyes, but not a stain of fear. With one hand she
clasped her golden locks around her; the other long, white arm was stretched upward
toward the great still Christ, appealing - and who dare say in vain? - from man to God. Her
lips were open to speak; but the words that should have come from them reached God's
ear alone; for in an instant Peter struck her down, the dark mass closed over her again,
. . . and then wail on wail, long, wild, ear-piercing, rang along the vaulted roofs, and thrilled
like the trum-

--- 10

pet of avenging angels through Philammon's ears."

While yet breathing, the assailants in a mad fury tore her body like tigers, limb from
limb and after that, bringing oyster-shells from the market, they scraped the flesh from the
bones. Then gathering up the bleeding remains they ran with them through the streets to
the place of burning, and having consumed them, threw the ashes into the sea.
"The thing was done during Lent."

-------------
--- 10

THE SEPTENARY CYCLES OF EVOLUTION

THE SEVEN ROUNDS AND THE SEVEN RACES
A Study from the "Secret Doctrine" *
by Katherine Hillard

MANY persons find the history of evolution, as presented in the Secret Doctrine,
very difficult to follow, on account of the many digressions and illustrations which enrich,
but encumber, the direct line of narration. Beginners in the study of Theosophy, often find
the Rounds and Races very confusing, because they plunge, so to speak, into the middle
of things, instead of getting a clear idea of the first steps in the labyrinth, and having firm
hold of a clue that is to guide them to the end.
That clue will be found in the remembrance of a few general laws, and the careful
study of two important diagrams in the Secret Doctrine, one representing the Rounds, or
cycles of evolution,** and the other a diagram of the Fifth Root Race.*** As the whole book
is an exposition of the Stanzas given in the beginning, it is unnecessary to dwell upon the
question of their importance to the more advanced student.
Some of the general points to be remembered are:
I. That all evolution, in this solar system, at least, is septenary, and that, therefore,
II. The rates of vibration, the condi-

------------
* The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy. By H. P.
Blavatsky. References are to the old edition.
** Idem I, 200.
*** Idem II, 434
------------

tions of matter, and the states of consciousness, are also septenary.

III. That man, who is a septenary being, is spoken of roughly as composed of body,
soul, and spirit, and must carry out his evolution on these triple lines.
 IV. That the purpose of what is called the "Cycle of Necessity" (i.e., the reason why
we live) is the acquirement of self-consciousness, or Mind, by the journey of the Monad or
Unit of Life, from the spiritual state (or the Divine Unity), through all the conditions of matter
and consciousness, back to its starting-point, having gained by the way, individuality and
experience. Because there can be no individualized existence for Spirit, apart from a union
with Matter, through which it manifests. The process of development then, consists in the
involution, or infolding, of Spirit into Matter, and the evolution or unfolding of Matter into
Spirit again.
V. A Manvantara, or complete cycle of evolution consists of seven Rounds, or minor
cycles, in which the Monad (or Unit of Life) functions in the seven states of consciousness
and seven conditions of matter before mentioned, and in each Round there are seven
Races, called Root-Races, as from them spring all the rest. Each Root-Race is divided into
seven Sub-Races, and each of these again into seven Family-Races, and out of these
spring numberless Nations.

--- 11

The Secret Doctrine concerns itself principally with our present cycle of
development, called the Fourth Round, which is the most material of all, being at the
bottom of the arc of evolution. The present predominant Aryo-European "Family" race,
belongs, we are told, to the 5th Sub-race of the 5th Root-race, and man is therefore past
the lowest point of matter, and on the ascent towards Spirit.
The Secret Doctrine, while treating principally of the Fourth Round, nevertheless
gives many glimpses of the remoter past, and some hints as to the future. This is not the
place (nor would it be possible for other reasons) to go into the question of authority or
historical evidence. That is fully treated in the book itself. We are given to understand that
"the whole history of the world is recorded in the Zodiac,"* and that the Puranas give
accurate, but allegorical, accounts of "the seven creations,"** as they call the processes
of evolution during the seven Sub-races of the first Root-Race of mankind. Now we are
told again and again that there is the closest analogy between all these various cycles, and
that not only "every Round repeats on a higher scale the evolutionary work of the preceding
Round,"*** but that "there is a perfect analogy between the 'great Round' (the Manvantara),
each of the seven Rounds, and each of the seven great Races,''**** and that "the Sub-
races also, guided by Karmic law or destiny, repeat unconsciously the first steps of their
respective mother-races."+ For this reason, the hints that are given here and there of the
processes of evolution in other Rounds and Races, will help us to understand our own, and
vice versa.
To begin with some general statements: Every new cycle of cosmic

-------------
* Idem II, 431.
** Idem II, 254.
*** Idem I, 187
**** Idem II, 615
+ Idem II, 768
-------------
activity, brings with it a renewal of forms, types, and species, which are all becoming
perfected and materialized with the environment. As the globe changes from a soft mist
of radiant matter to the solid earth, so everything in and on it grows denser, harder, and
consequently smaller, as the present reptiles and ferns are very much smaller than even
those of the Secondary Period of geology. This period of course belongs to our own cycle,
wherein the mineral Kingdom has reached its densest point, but the previous cycle or
Round, which was on the astral plane, furnished the forms of the primeval Root-types of
the highest mammalia.* These types of the Third Round repeat themselves in the Third
(or Lemurian) Race of this Round.
"The midway point of evolution" is that stage where the astral prototypes definitely
begin to pass into the physical, and thus become subject to the differentiating agencies now
operating around us.**
For esoteric science has long ago formulated an answer to the biological problem
now agitating the world, and while agreeing in the main with Weissmann's theory of "the
eternal cell," differs from him in acknowledging the effect of external influences upon the
germ.***
The present contention of biologists is over the question whether to agree with
Weissmann, who maintains that every possibility of future variation is contained in the
potentialities of the ever-dividing original cell, or with Hertwig and others, who agree with
the occult theory in considering such variations as largely the result of external
agencies.****
Physical causation, that is, the action of these agencies of natural selection, etc.,
began as soon as "the midway

-------------
* ldem II, 730.
** ldem II, 736.
*** ldem II, 756.
**** But there is a "spiritual potency in the physical cell that guides the development
of the embryo." - ldem I, 219.
--------------
--- 12

point" just mentioned was passed, at the middle of the third Root Race. The forms of men
and mammalia previous to the separation of the sexes, were woven out of astral matter,
and possessed a structure utterly unlike that of our present organisms, which eat, drink,
digest, etc. The organs of the physical body were almost entirely woven out of the astral
after the seven Root-types began to pass into the physical during the midway halt before
mentioned, and then the laws of evolution as known to modern science began their work,
on the individual and the race as well as on the cell.* Before this, the astral shadows of the
lunar ancestors were the formative powers in the races. Then the higher Ego, the nous or
mind, takes hold.** That is, the perfected men of the last great cycle of evolution, which
took place on the Moon, having become Spiritual Intelligences, and the incipient humanity
of the present cycle, gradually build the physical body of man out of astral matter which
passes into the grosser physical condition, and as soon as it has become a perfect
instrument, with a fully developed brain and organs of sex, then the "Solar Ancestors," the
"Mind-born Sons," enter the human tabernacle, and endow it with mind. From that time on,
the now responsible Entity is given the direction of its own destiny, and can make or mar
it as it will.
"The most developed Monads (the lunar) reach the human germ-stage in the first
Round; become terrestrial, though very ethereal human beings towards the end of the third
Round, remaining on the globe during its 'obscuration period'*** (as the seed for the future
mankind), and thus become the pioneers of Humanity at the beginning of this, the fourth
Round.''****

------------
* Idem II, 736.
** Idem II, 110.
*** The period of rest between two cycles.
*** Idem I, 182.
------------

The "Seven Creations" of the Puranas, we are told, allegorize the seven evolutionary
changes, or what we may call the sub-races of the First Root-Race of Mankind, man having
been on earth in some form, front the beginning of this Round.
In any case, the scaffolding, so to speak, of the future human being, is but faintly
outlined at first; the forces are gathered and set in motion, the most ethereal luminous
shadows represent the coming form, and only by slow degrees and by processes enduring
through unknown ages, does that radiant cloud which is to be the body of man, gradually
increase in density and shapeliness, and decrease therefore in size. "As the solid Earth
began by being a ball of liquid fire, of fiery dust, and its protoplasmic phantom, so did
man."*
"Man, or rather his Monad," we read again,** "passes through all the forms and
kingdoms during the first Round, and through all the human shapes during the two following
Rounds." That is, the Monadic Essence that is to become man, which possessed all the
divine possibilities folded within it, as the future oak sleeps in the germ of the acorn,
embodied itself in the mineral, the vegetable, and the animal kingdoms, devoid of self-
consciousness and therefore of individual existence, till it reached the human-germ stage
at the end of the first Round, to pass through "all the human shapes" (there must therefore
have been many), "during the second and third Rounds. Arrived on our earth at the
beginning of the fourth Round, MAN is the first form that appears thereon," preceding the
animals (as in the second account of Genesis, which refers to this cycle of evolution). But
even the mineral and vegetable kingdoms which preceded man in this Round, "have to
develop and continue their further evolution through his agency." Because,

-------------
* Idem I, 191
** Idem II, 159
-------------
--- 13

"since the Monad has passed through the mineral, vegetable, and animal worlds, in every
degree of the three states of matter (except the last degree of the third, or solid state, which
it reached only at the 'mid-point of evolution'), it is but logical and natural that at the
beginning of the fourth Round Man should be the first to appear; and also that his frame
should be of the most tenuous matter that is compatible with objectivity."* Or, to put the
idea more briefly, during the first Round, animal atoms were gradually "drawn into a
cohesive human physical form, while in the fourth Round the reverse occurs."** Man grows
more physical, by re-absorbing into his system that which he had given out, . . . and the
stronger physical man became, the more powerful were his emanations, .... so that from
the drops of vital energy which he scattered far and wide, were produced the first mammal-
forms." ***
During the first two Rounds, or cycles of Evolution then, the materials, so to speak,
for the future edifice are gathered together, and the scaffolding set up; in the third the
formative process is completed, and the Mind is installed in its new dwelling-place, of which
it takes possession and straightway begins to transform and transmute into something less
material and more spiritual. The fourth, our present round, "is the sphere of final
evolutionary adjustments, where the balance is struck which determines the future course
of the Monad during the remainder of its incarnations in this cycle."**** "During the three
Rounds to come, (the 5th, 6th, and 7th), Humanity,

-----------
* II, 180
** I, 455
*** II, 169
**** I, 182
-----------

like the globe on which it lives, will be ever tending to assume its primeval form, that of a
Dhyan Chohanic host. Man tends to become a God, and then GOD, like every other atom
in the Universe."* For "every Round brings about a new development and even an entire
change in the mental, psychic, spiritual, and physical constitution of man, all these
principles evolving on an ever-ascending scale."**
And just as the soft bones of the child harden and consolidate as it grows to
manhood, so the physical body changes with the Races, from a luminous shadow to a solid
material form, the Earth changing with it, from a cloud of radiant mist to a solid globe,
bearing all the children of men upon its surface. But as mind has been given dominion over
matter, man's influence is to change not only his own body, but his earthly environment, as
he grows more spiritual. In the alembic of his frame the physical atoms are transmuted to
something finer and finer, as he grows less material, and "the degree of materiality of the
Earth changes pari passu with that of its inhabitants.*"**
Man and his environment reached their densest and most material point in the
middle of the Lemuro-Atlantean Race, or in the fourth Sub-Race of the fourth Root-Race.
Our present humanity forms the fifth Sub-Race of the fifth Root-Race, and we have
therefore taken many steps towards our dematerialization. But we must be careful not to
confound this "densest point of matter" with the "midway point of evolution."

(To be continued.)
------------
* I, 159
** I, 162
*** II, 68
**** II, 250
------------
--- 14

RICHARD WAGNER'S MUSIC DRAMAS

by Basil Crump

VIII. PARSIFAL.
(Continued.)
"The King's aim is an ideal aim; he desires Justice and Humanity; and if he desires
them not, if he desire no more than that which the individual citizen desires, then will the
very claim which is made upon him by his rank, and which permits none but ideal interests,
make him the betrayer of the idea which he represents, and cast him into sufferings, which
have ever been the main subject of the inspiration of the tragic poet in his oft-told tale of
the fruitlessness of human life and human action. The individual who is called to the throne
has no choice in the matter; he cannot listen to the voice of his own inclinations, and must
fill a lofty station to which only high natural faculties are adequate. Thus to him is allotted
a superhuman destiny which must needs crush a weak nature into nothingness."
- Wagner's State and Religion.

OF the glorious Prelude to this drama, or rather Mystery-Play, there is not space to
speak here in detail; suffice it to say that it is described by Wagner as expressing the great
trinity "LOVE - FAITH - HOPE," erroneously translated in the New Testament as "Faith,
Hope, Charity." In it we hear the gentle voice of loving Compassion, the strong hymn of
Faith, the agonized cry of the stricken sinner, and the Hope of Redemption.
The first Act opens with a solemn forest scene in the domain of the Grail. From the
distance, as if from the Castle, comes, as a reveille, the first theme of the Prelude:

[[Love-Feast Motive score]]

At its sound the old but vigorous Gurnemanz awakes and rouses the Esquires who
are sleeping around him. He is a similar character to Wolfram in Tannhauser and Hans
Sachs in Die Meistersinger, representing Intelligence and faithful devotion without the fire
which urges either to sin or to lofty spiritual aspiration. He is the trusty companion of the
suffering King Amfortas, and it is through him that Parsifal is brought to the Temple of the
Grail.
While he is enquiring after the King's wound the wild figure of the woman Kundry
enters on horseback with balsam from Arabia. Amfortas, who is brought in on a litter,
accepts the remedy and passes on to his bath.*
The Esquires look askance at Kundry and suggest that she is bewitched; but
Gurnemanz reproaches them, saying she is a watchful messenger, ready ever to serve yet
never looking for thanks. "She lives here now, perhaps regenerated,'' he adds, "that she
may expiate the unforgiven sins of a former life." In Kundry Wagner has united the
characters of Prakriti (Nature in the Hindu Philosophy) from his sketch of Die Sieger,
Gundryggia the wild serving messenger of Asgard's heroes, and Herodias of the New
Testament. It is easy to recognize in her the protean force of Nature which can be used
alike for good or evil by the will of man, becoming a delusion and a snare to him who is not
strong enough to resist her. Awake she is the humble servant of the Grail; in the magnetic
sleep imposed on her by Klingsor she is used in the service of evil.
Gurnemanz now proceeds to tell the

-------------
* Many details must be omitted here and elsewhere through lack of space.
-------------
--- 15

story of the fall of Amfortas. Titurel when he founded the Grail Brotherhood permitted none
but those with pure motive to enter it. This power of Titurel to exclude those selfish and evil
forces which would do the community irreparable harm is the prerogative of that being who
has risen to the height where she or he can work consciously with Nature's laws. Where
such a being is recognized and called to the place of King or Ruler, in the true mystic sense
meant by Wagner, the utmost benefit to the community results. An example of this is
shown in the power given to the Leader and Official Head of the Universal Brotherhood -
an organization formed at the commencement of a New Cycle in the evolution of Humanity.
Klingsor strove hard to enter, but Titurel knew he was not fit and refused him. Now
mark the words of the drama: "Powerless to kill sin in his soul, he laid a guilty hand upon
his body, and this hand

[[music score]]

he again stretched towards the Grail. Its Guardian spurned him scornfully. At this he was
enraged, and his fury disclosed to him that his infamous act could give him counsel in the
use of black magic; which he now turned to account. He transformed the desert into a
wondrous garden of delight peopled with women of diabolical beauty; and there he lies in
wait to lure the Knights of the Grail to the pleasures of sin and the pains of hell; those who
are entrapped fall into his power, and many there are who have met this fate. Now when
King Titurel grew old he conferred the lordship upon his son Amfortas, who spared no effort
to end this magic scourge."
Forgetting that the Lance should never be separated from the Grail - the Will from
Wisdom - Amfortas foolishly went forth with it alone to overcome Klingsor, only to fall an
easy prey to the transformed Kundry. "Close beneath the fortress," continues Gurnemanz,
"the young monarch was separated from us: a woman of appalling beauty had bewitched
him, in her arms he lay entranced; the Lance dropped from his hand; a cry of deathly
agony! I rushed towards him; Klingsor vanished, laughing, he had carried off the sacred
Lance. I fought to cover the King's retreat ; but a wound was burning in his side, the wound
that will not heal.
"Prostrate before the plundered sanctuary in impassioned prayer, Amfortas piteously
implored for a token of redemption: whereupon a holy radiance floated from the Grail, and
there shone forth the vision of one who spoke these words: ---" *
As Gurnemanz concludes a wounded swan flutters to the ground with an arrow
through its breast, and the youth Parsifal appears, bow in hand. Notice that here, as in
Lohengrin, the swan precedes the coming of the Deliverer, and exactly the same musical
theme is used. Parsifal is bitterly reproached by all for the cruelty of his deed, of which at
first he seems unconscious; then, as

------------
* Gurnemanz here uses the ''Thoren-motive" afterwards sung by the celestial choirs
with such wonderful effect. I give the original German words. The French ''Pur Simple" is
perhaps the nearest equivalent for "reine Thor"; the English word "Fool" conveys the wrong
impression. An accepted translation of the lines is: - "By Pity enlightened, the stainless
Fool: Wait for him, my chosen One."
------------
--- 16

Gurnemanz shows him the helpless wing, the dark-stained plumage, the dimming eye. it
dawns upon his feeling (though not yet upon his understanding), as it did upon that of the
youthful Wagner when the dying hare he had shot in thoughtless sport crawled to his feet
and looked into his face. It is perhaps deeply significant that this first lesson in sympathy
should come from the animal world, and it will be remembered that exactly the same
incident occurs in the life of Buddha, beautifully expressed by Edwin Arnold in his " Light
of Asia":

The bird is mine

By right of mercy and Love's lordliness;
For now I know, by what within me stirs,
That I shall teach Compassion unto men,
And be a speechless World's Interpreter,
Abating this accursed flood of woe,
Not man's alone.

Parsifal is now asked his name and replies, "Many have I had, but now I remember
none of them." Here again, as with Kundry, Wagner indicates that Parsifal has lived many
times before under other names. This belief in Rebirth he held in common with
Schopenhauer, Emerson, Walt Whitman, and other intuitive thinkers who sensed the
deeper truths of life.
The dead swan is borne reverently away, and Parsifal, Gurnemanz and Kundry are
left alone. We now learn from the colloquy between them the story of Parsifal's birth and
up-bringing. Like Siegfried and Tristan his father Gamuret was slain before his birth. His
mother's name was Herzeleide, which means "Heart's Affliction," and she brought him up
in the desert unsophisticated and ignorant of arms lest he should share his father's fate.
But once he saw in a forest "shining men on beautiful animals." They were the first glimpse
of those higher powers which drew him in the direction of the Grail's domain. Inspired by
the sight he followed but could not overtake them, passing over hill and dale and using his
bow against "wild beasts and great men," who all "learnt to fear the fierce boy." Alas' he
now learns from Kundry that Herzeleide has pined and died since his departure, and his
grief and self-reproach are terrible to witness. Kundry brings him water from a spring and
then crawls away wearily to a thicket, for she feels the terrible magic of Klingsor beginning
to assert its sway over her, denoted by the following theme:

[[music score: "Black Magic Motive"]]

Gurnemanz now has a first faint intuition that this seemingly witless boy, Parsifal,
is the promised Deliverer, and determines to see if the Law will let him witness the
ceremony in the Temple. To Parsifal's artless question ''Who is the Grail?" he replies, "That
may not be told; but if you are chosen to serve it, this knowledge will not be concealed
from you. And see! I think I have recognized you aright! (for they begin to pass towards the
Temple.) The pathway to the Grail leads not through the land, nor could any one find it
save he whom the Grail itself directs." Here the rhythmical theme of the bells of Monsalvat
is heard and the scenery begins to move while Parsifal and Gurnemanz appear to walk:

--- 17

[[score]]

Concerning this extraordinary masterstroke in scenic illusion Wagner wrote:

"The unrolling of the moving scene, however artistically carried out, was
emphatically not intended for decorative effect alone; but, under the influence of the
accompanying music, we were, as in a state of dreamy rapture, to be led imperceptibly
along the trackless ways to the Castle of the Grail; by which means, at the same time, its
traditional inaccessibility, for those who are not called, was drawn into the domain of
dramatic performance."
As the scene proceeds Parsifal remarks in surprise, "I hardly step, and yet I seem
already far." "You see my son," explains Gurnemanz, "Time changes here to Space";
indicating, of course, that they are passing into a higher state of consciousness where the
ordinary conceptions of Time and Space do not obtain. Just as, in dream, one goes
through a life's experience in a few seconds, or traverses vast distances in the twinkling of
an eye.
The contrapuntal movement in the music grows more and more complex as the
sanctuary is approached, until it culminates in the heart-rending wail of anguish associated
with the crucified Christos and the wounded Amfortas:

[[score]]

Parsifal and Gurnemanz now enter the mighty hall where the ceremony of the
Liebesmahl or Love-Feast is about to be performed; it is devoid of windows, as shown in
Mr. Machell's picture in the last article, the only light being shed from above through the
lofty dome. Gurnemanz places Parsifal at the side where he can watch, saying: "Now pay
attention; and if you are a Fool, and pure, let me see what knowledge and wisdom may be
given to you." To the rhythmical music, accompanied by the deep-toned bells themselves,
the Knights march in, singing a solemn chant, and take their places at the semi-circular
tables under the dome, the altar being in the centre. They proceed by regular steps,
bringing the heel, at each pace, into the hollow of the other foot. Next appears Amfortas
on his litter, in front of him four Esquires carry the shrine of the Holy Grail covered with a
crimson cloth and place it upon the altar, Amfortas being placed immediately behind on a
raised couch. From the mid-height of the dome comes a chant of youthful voices followed
by a still more ethereal choir from the extreme height. Then, after a long silence, the voice
of the aged Titurel, as if from the grave, calls from the vault behind Amfortas, requesting
him to unveil the Grail, that he may look upon its radiance once more and live.
Passionately the wounded King prays that he, the impure sinner, may die and that
his aged father may fulfill the sacred office; but as he sinks back, almost unconscious, the
divine Promise

--- 18

once again floats down from the height, and Titurel repeats:

Unveil the Grail!

With an effort Amfortas obeys, the golden shrine is opened, and he bends in silent
prayer over the ancient crystal Cup. A mysterious darkness fills the hall, while the choirs
in the dome sing the following words to the motives of the Liebesmahl: "Take unto you My
Body, take unto you My Blood; the symbol of our Love." Now a blinding ray of light
descends upon the uplifted chalice which glows with crimson lustre; Amfortas, transfigured,
waves it gently about and then blesses the mystic Bread and Wine which are divided
among the Knights. The choir again invite the partaking of the Liebesmahl, and the Knights
reply:
"Take of the bread, boldly transform it into bodily strength and power; faithful unto
death, braving every danger, to perform the works of the Saviour.
"Take of the wine, transform it anew into the fiery blood of life.
"Rejoicing to fight in comradeship, with holy courage, faithful as Brothers."
The ceremony ended, the brethren rise and, before passing out, embrace one
another in a peculiar fashion, clasping the right hand and passing the other over the
shoulder. During all this time Parsifal has stood motionless in contemplation of the scene.
He had paid no attention when requested by Gurnemanz to join the others, but at the
loudest cry of agony from Amfortas he had clutched his heart convulsively and so remained
as if benumbed. Gurnemanz now approaches him ill-humoredly and asks if he
understands what he has seen. For answer the youth only shakes his head slightly and
again clutches his heart. Gurnemanz is now quite angry; "You are, after all, nothing but
a Fool!" he cries, "Get out there, go your own way!" He pushes him through a door, and,
as he turns to follow the other Knights, a single Voice from the heights of the dome re-
echoes the Promise, as if to remind him of his forgotten intuition concerning Parsifal:

By Pity enlightened, the stainless Fool.

But Parsifal has had his second lesson in sympathy, this time from a fellow human
being. In the next Act we shall see how he battles with and overcomes the powers of evil
by sheer purity of heart and the fire of his own heroic will. For this is no Deliverer of the
"Sweetness and Light" order; he is essentially a Warrior, and, like his prototype of the New
Testament, he comes ''not to bring Peace but a Sword." As with Siegfried, it is after the
victory that the peace will come. What a touching and faithful picture is Amfortas of the
humanity of today, seared and weakened with the consequences of its own misdeeds, and
particularly that misuse of its divine gift upon which Wagner has laid his finger!
And Titurel! Does he not speak to us from out the glories of a golden past when
man walked with God and had not yet fallen a prey to the delusions of his lower nature -
the enchanted garden of Klingsor? What, then, of the Future? "It is not thinkable," says
Wagner, "except as stipulated by the Past." Therefore we know that in Titurel we have the
promise of Parsifal, the future Divine Ruler of regenerated Humanity. The Lance in the
possession of Klingsor represents the weapon of the Will of man used in the service of self
instead of compassionate Love. Only he who can forget self utterly in sympathy for others
will be able to wrest the Will from the clutch of self and restore it to its true place as the
weapon and servant of Divine Wisdom.

(To be continued.)
--------------
--- 19

THEOSOPHY AND UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD

by Zoryan

(Continued)

SO, then, those gorgeous vegetable aromas, colors, forms, - are not they ours, part
of the vesture of our soul, expression of our hopes and sighs, as they swell and rise
towards the clear and cooling moon of pure intellect, and wave their tops, and distill their
flavors according to the ebb and flow of the selenic tides.
O! when that vesture will become a part, to be taken by the soul into its bosom?
Where is the soul with its light undying? Before the sunlight comes, the red, red shadows
must precede the dawn. The animal fires must crowd the sea, the hot and boiling sea of
brass, Gehenna of the birth of powers, who have legs and wings, as if to change their sighs
into a race and flight towards their distant goal. They feel, they move, yet till they reach the
mark, how many terrible battles must be fought. Pain must they suffer, and through terror
must they pass, and themselves become the shadows of all they feel, the misty images on
the clouds of the reflected red sunrise. But the Sun did not reach them yet, though they are
now running to it, as the plants did turn their leaves and petals. In minerals the great
Mother has touched the atom-sparks in plants - small lives, and shadows in the animals.
Steadily rising, there streams upward her harmonious unifying power through these steps
of the stairway of the angelic dreams, so that they might live a life and see what is around,
thrill to it, sigh for and chase it, and by it feel their Source, as it feels them. Though the first
acquaintance is made with tooth and claw, and the first friendly grasp is at the same time
the grasp of death, yet it was made, imprinted, felt so suddenly, so strongly, that there is
no time for hate, for malice, for revenge, the sublime punishment of a responsible man,
who can rise so high, who can fall so low. No! innocent are the animals and brave, and
their feelings are rather awe and admiration and interest aroused and the throbbing of the
blood, at the sight of new and wonderful possibilities suggested, and after pain is past and
a victim, for instance, of a tiger, rests in its shadow world, the tiger's burning breath seems
to be in memory like a fiery kiss of some wonderful being of gold and black, of some power
mercifully tearing the apathy of existence, destroying darkness with flashing yellow streaks
of fire. Who can explain the first origin of the kiss? And if he can see something in this
symbol, and trace it through all evolution, never more will he trifle again with that which
means the Mother's touch, and by which the flesh and bones of apathy are torn to shreds,
that the light may shine. Those, whose dim clouds of selfish passion and the crafty builder
of their house will dare to call their joyous light of Mother, those will get themselves into the
Karmic tiger-teeth, that will tear to shreds the earthly caller and its selfish hopes, and that
which was to be gladness above all, will seem to turn into a black and yellow monster,
merciful because of the destruction done, so that the pure and unselfish part of man, might
be set free and bright again. Thus every animal is a symbol of an idea.
Who has not admired the beautiful colors of sea shells and fishes, of insects and
birds, flashing in sunlight as some celestial speech of tints, so full of soul and harmony?
Who has not asked: "What have you to say to me, dear

--- 20

creature?" and did not receive some answer? Who has not seen his soul expressed in
those million forms and colors, movements and sounds? Who did not find some secret
told, some good example given? Who has not in his bright moments felt one with nature
and a friend of all creatures?
Let us then follow the footsteps of those, whose every moment is so bright, whose
mind is eager to learn the great self by the smallest selves, whose heart is open to see and
know the great Inner Life everywhere and feel that all creatures are not outside but inside,
not inside of our personality, but, inside of that ray of the Great Divine Soul, which at such
moments becomes ours.
Then only our Angel approaches to the power to take his ancient dreams into
himself, to gather himself from the four corners of the world. Then the animal Gehenna of
the boiling brazen sea of evolution will not scare him any more; no! it will turn into a
welcome fuel for his spiritual flame to feed upon and grow in mighty energies. Then the red
terrific shapes of dawn will lead him into sunlight, instead of frightening back into the night.
Then the gigantic passions, the sleeping, vibrating lightnings of his soul, will be simply
helpers to tear the clouds, to clear the sky, to open space toward the rising sun of Spirit.
Obeisance will they show, and their great sport and glee will turn into the power of the
marching order and they will grow themselves more transparent, tender, pure, as they
merge into the dawn.
And so they did at the twilight of the Gods, and the first wonder of clear sky was the
morning moon appearing. The Lords of the sublunar kingdom came from above, grand,
perfect in their way as some aerial glories, pure and luminous in the morning of their
descent, human, half-divine and yet mortal, and in them plants and animals of the new
cycle, of the Fourth Round of our renovation.
These were the first men, themselves the shadows and the dreams, - yet dreams
sublime, full of quiet power and serenity of the great cyclic essence, tender, restful, bright.
They know, yet their knowledge is outside, they love, yet their love is dual and knows the
meeting and the parting ways. They are not earth-born, the whole grand path of lunar
evolution is their past, the selenic rest and the radiance of a cycle; do not speak lightly of
them, O mortal man, for they are thy Fathers, and do not worship them, but only learn how
thou camest into the world. Look up from thy gross and suffering body to their diaphanous
shining shapes, and know that they are thine, in ages past, in ages future, and that thy
present hard and restless form was built by lower earthly powers around thy lunar glory.
Yet in those times the outer coat of skin was slight and just forming, the beings were
fresh and clear, and looked up high full of ecstasy and contemplation.
If thou wouldst meditate like them, and become a Son of Will and Yoga, first dispel
the clouds, murky, red and wild, from thy soul's sky that thy moon may shine in the clear
morning heavens of thy endeavor and that its heaving sigh of the aerial tide and winds keep
the air cloudless, fresh and breezy with such a power that no red monster-cloud endures.
When thus uplifted to thy Fathers' plane, when thus entranced with the vastness of the
skies, when thus made transparent, pure and cold as virgin snow,* when all thy nature
becomes an enraptured longing toward that glorious approaching Morn which will warm thy
heart and illuminate thy soul, then thy Moon's face will grow so tenderly tinted, so rosy
warm, so trembling with the inner light, as if thy dearest love would beam upon thee from
the Universal Mirror of the World.

(To be continued.)
----------------
* Secret Doctrine II, 100.
----------------
--- 21

LIFE'S PIONEERS
- James M. Pryse

[[Greek]]

"Having willed, he gave birth to us by a Logos of Truth, for us to be a sort of first-

offering of his embodied beings. - James, I, 18

IT is a teaching archaic and true that all beings and all things are embodied souls,
that there is nothing inanimate or dead, but that Life is vibrant in every minutest particle of
the boundless whole; and that the soul of man, will-born of God in the World of the True,
is Life's Pioneer in all worlds imaged in Space by the Thought Divine. Man is himself the
Logos, the uttered Thought of God; he is the pattern of all things that come into existence,
Life's messenger, the archetype of all Ideas, the model of all forms. This universe of
palpitating Life, with all its ever-shifting states of joy and sorrow, its radiant heavens and
its murky hells, is the sacrifice offered up by God unto himself; and Man is the first offering
laid upon the altar. It is the tragedy of the Crucified, for Man is God sacrificed, himself unto
himself; and without that sacrifice there could be no universe of existing things.
Thomas Taylor, whom Emerson calls "a Greek born out of time," in his "Creed of the
Platonic Philosopher," has this article: "I believe that the human soul essentially contains
all knowledge, and that whatever knowledge she acquires in the present life is nothing
more than a recovery of what she once possessed, and which discipline evocates from its
dormant retreats."
For he held with Platon that "when the winged powers of the soul are perfect and
plumed for flight, she dwells on high, and in conjunction with divine natures governs the
world," and that "it the province of our soul to collect things into one by a reasoning
processing and to possess a reminiscence of those transcendent spectacles which we
once beheld when governing the universe in conjunction with divinity." It is only by using
the free and unfettered power of thought that man can know Truth and return to the realm
of true being. He who clings to some petty religious creed, and fears to investigate any fact
in nature or to think out any problem of life, is not only cowardly, but lacking in faith.
Religious "faith" is usually the worst form of unfaith, in that it fetters mind and soul, and by
limiting man to the narrow confines of a formulated creed, practically denies his innate
divinity, refuses him his true place as an instrument of God's will in fashioning the worlds,
and arrests the inflow of ideas emanating from that infinite Mind which is the only source
of inspiration and revelation. It is want of faith that causes men to wall themselves about
with religious "beliefs" and execrate as a heretic every one who levels down as useless
obstructions whatever limits freedom of thought or hinders the soul from exercising its
divine powers. The world's saviours have therefore ever been accounted heretics. He who
treads only the well-beaten paths, who accepts unquestioningly the religion inherited from
his ancestors, needs neither faith nor courage; but the heretic, as a pioneer in thought-
regions, must have faith and be fearless.
There was a time when men believed the earth was flat, and mariners dared not
venture far from the coast for fear they might sail off into space. The world of Truth, in the
current religious belief, is likewise flat, with a perilous rim projecting over a bottomless
abyss. Now, Truth is God's own self, and no one ever found God save through seeking
Truth. The interior mind, which is

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the real Self of man, mirrors the whole universe, and is as boundless as Deity. No man
who bravely thinks for himself, exploring the vastness of his own inner being, can possibly
go astray from Truth, for he is treading Truth's own realm. But this holds good only of one
who thinks independently, relying solely upon the resources of his own super-sensible
consciousness; it does not hold true of one who merely reasons about the things perceived
by the senses, or of the mere student of books who makes his mind a museum of thought-
images, or of the religionist who feeds on the stale scraps of faith his forefathers have
bequeathed him. Sorting out and rearranging other men 's opinions is not thinking; nor will
the mere investigation of the phenomena of existence ever lead to perception of the
noumena of being. Only when a man has for the time closed the avenues of the senses,
and has forgotten that there ever were any books or any religions, does he really begin to
think, and devotion kindle his soul. Then out of the Eternal he draws Thought unto himself.
The interior mind should be kept unsullied by the things of sense. Of it the Sibylline
Oracle says:

"Do not drag it down into this muddy world,

 Into its deep gulfs, its sad and black kingdoms,
Sombre hideous hells, entirely peopled with phantoms."

The outer life of man has become degraded; the inner life has to be kept distinct
from it to escape being polluted. The only home of the soul is the Eternal; in the world of
change and time, it can have no fixed abiding place. All formal religions, rigid systems of
philosophy, categorical statements of belief, and forms of organization, are necessarily
impermanent; they are more often traps for the mind and prisons for the soul than anything
else. At best they are but resting-places for feeble souls, for minds in which the divine light
is dimmed by the smoke of desire. The fanaticism with which men cling to religious
dogmas is born of weakness and blindness; and "orthodoxy" is a sort of soul-death. The
soul requires the breath of freedom, and the price of mental freedom is perpetual heresy.
Still blinder is the devout adherence to particular forms of organization, as if there
were something sacred about churches, societies, or schools. Form is subservient to Life,
and must change constantly to be expressive of the varying phases of Life. Whether
democratic or despotic, it will have its peculiar defects, and is never more than a temporary
adaptation of conditions so as to reach a desired end; for every form of organization is
arbitrary, and does not rest upon principles, but is of the nature of a compromise with
principles necessitated by the conflict of individual interests and the discord of the whole.
A perfected humanity would need no organization, for it would be like a living organism,
having harmonious interaction among all its members. The Gods and Heroes are not
elected to their positions, but hold them by divine right. In electing a ruler, men only try to
select and put in his right place the man who by virtue of his abilities and qualifications
naturally should be the ruler. In an age when men have lost the insight necessary for an
unerring selection, they inevitably have to endure misrule; and the expedient of giving their
rulers only short terms of office safeguards them to a small extent against their own lack
of discernment, though it prevents their enjoying the wiser rule and broader freedom to be
had under a "benevolent despot." If the spirit of justice and the love of liberty animate the
breasts of the subjects and their ruler, the form of government is of small consequence.
The measure of freedom is the ability to discern Truth; for only the Truth can make men
free.

-------------
--- 23

THE ADEPTS IN AMERICA IN 1776 *

by An Ex-Asiatic

THE following suggestions and statements are made entirely upon the personal
responsibility of the writer, and without the knowledge or consent - as far as he knows - of
the adepts who are in general terms therein referred to.
The reflecting mind is filled with astonishment upon reviewing the history of the rise
of the United States of North America, when it perceives that dogmatic theology has no
foundation in any part of the Declaration of Independence or Constitution for the structure
which it fain would raise and has so often since tried to erect within and upon the
government. We are astonished because those documents were formulated and that
government established at a time when dogmatism of one kind or another had supreme
sway. Although the Puritans and others had come to America for religious freedom, they
were still very dogmatic and tenacious of their own peculiar theories and creed; so that if
we found in this fundamental law much about religion and religious establishments, we
would not be surprised. But in vain do we look for it; in vain did the supporters of the iron
church attempt to lay the needed corner-stone, and today America rejoices at it and has
thereby found it possible to grow with the marvelous growth that has been the wonder of
Europe.
The nullification of those efforts made by bigotry in 1776 was due to the Adepts who
now look over and give the countenance of their great names to the Theosophical
Movement.
They oversaw the drafting of the Declaration and the drawing of the Constitution,
and that is why no foothold is to be found for these blatant Christians who desire to inject
God into the Constitution.

-------------
* Reprinted from The Theosophist, Vol. V, p. 16.
-------------

In the declaration from which freedom sprang "nature and nature's god" are referred
to. In the second and third paragraphs the natural rights of man are specified, such as life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The king is spoken of as being unworthy to be "the
head of a civilized nation," nothing being said as to whether he was the head, or worthy to
be, of a Christian one.
In appealing to their English brethren, the declaration says the appeal is "made to
their native justice and magnanimity." All reference to religion and Christianity or God's
commands are left out. This was for the very good reason that for 1700 years religion had
battled against progress, against justice, against magnanimity, against the rights of man.
And in the concluding sentence the signers mutually pledge each other to its support
ignoring all appeals to God.
In the constitution of 1787 the preamble declares that the instrument was made for
union, for justice, for tranquility and defence, the general good and liberty. Art. VI. says no
religious test as a qualification for office shall ever be required, and the 1st Amendment
prohibits an establishment of religion or restraint of its free exercise.
The great Theosophical Adepts in looking around the world for a mind through which
they could produce in America the reaction which was then needed, found in England,
Thomas Paine. In 1774 they influenced him, through the help of that worthy Brother
Benjamin Franklin, to come to America. He came here, and was the main instigator of the
separation of the Colonies from the British Crown. At the suggestion of Washington,
Jefferson, Franklin and other Freemasons, whose minds through the teachings of the
symbolic

--- 24

degrees of masonry were fitted to reason correctly, and to reject theological conservation,
he wrote "Common Sense," which was the torch to the pile whose blaze burned away the
bonds between England and America. For "Common Sense" he was often publicly
thanked. George Washington wrote September 10th, 1783, to Paine: "I shall be
exceedingly happy to see you. Your presence may remind Congress of your past services
to this country, and if it is in my power to impress them, command my best exertions with
freedom, as they will be rendered cheerfully by one who entertains a lively sense of the
importance of your works." And, again in June, 1784, in a letter to Madison, Washington
says: "Can nothing be done in our assembly for poor Paine? Must the merits and services
of 'Common Sense' continue to glide down the stream of time unrewarded by this country?
His writings certainly have had a powerful effect upon the public mind. Ought they not then
to meet an adequate return?"*
In "The Age of Reason," which he wrote in Paris several years after, Paine says;
"I saw, or at least I thought I saw, a vast scene opening itself to the world in the affairs of
America, and it appeared to me that unless the Americans changed the plan they were
then pursuing and declared themselves independent, they would not only involve
themselves in a multiplicity of new difficulties, but shut out the prospect that was then
offering itself to mankind through their means." Further on he says: "There are two distinct
classes of thoughts; those produced by reflection, and those that bolt into the mind of their
own accord. I have always made it a rule to treat these voluntary visitors with civility, and
it is from them I have acquired all the knowledge that I have."
These "voluntary visitors" were injected into his brain by the Adepts,

-----------
* 9 Sparks, 49
----------

Theosophists. Seeing that a new order of ages was about to commence and that there
was a new chance for freedom and the brotherhood of man, they laid before the eye of
Thomas Paine, who they knew could be trusted to stand almost alone with the lamp of truth
in his hand amidst others who in "times that tried men's souls" quaked with fear, - a "vast
scene opening itself to Mankind in the affairs of America." The result was the Declaration,
the Constitution for America. And as if to give point to these words and to his declaration
that he saw this vast scene opening itself, this new order of ages, the design of the reverse
side of the United States great seal is a pyramid whose capstone is removed with the
blazing eye in a triangle over it dazzling the sight, above it are the words, "the heavens
approve," while underneath appears the startling sentence "a new order of ages."
That he had in his mind's eye a new order of ages we cannot doubt upon reading
in his "Rights of Man," Part 2, Chap. 2, "no beginning could be made in Asia, Africa or
Europe, to reform the political condition of man. She (America) made a stand not for
herself alone, but for the world, and looked beyond the advantage she could receive." In
Chap. 4, "The case and circumstances of America present themselves as in the beginning
of a world . . . there is a waning of reason rising upon men in the subject of Government
that has not appeared before."
The "design of the seal" was not an accident, but was actually intended to symbolize
the building and firm founding of a new order of ages. It was putting into form the idea
which by means of a "voluntary visitor" was presented to the mind of Thomas Paine, of a
vast scene opening itself, the beginning in America "of a new order of ages." That side of
the seal has never been cut or used, and at this day the side in use has not the sanction
of law. In the spring of 1841,

--- 25

[[portrait of Thomas Paine]]

--- 26

when Daniel Webster was Secretary of State, a new seal was cut, and instead of the eagle
holding in his sinister claw 13 arrows as intended, he holds only six. Not only was this
change unauthorized, but the cause for it is unknown,* When the other side is cut and
used, will not the new order of ages have actually-been established?
More then is claimed for the Theosophical Adepts than the changing of baser metal
into gold, or the possession

-------------
*See U.S. state Dep't archives.
-------------

of such a merely material thing as the elixir of life. They watch the progress of man and
help him on in his halting flight up the steep plane of progress. They hovered over
Washington, Jefferson, and all the other brave freemasons who dared to found a free
government in the West, which could be pure from the dross of dogmatism, they cleared
their minds, inspired their pens and left upon the great seal of this mighty nation the
memorial of their presence.

- New York, June 25, 1883.

-------------

"Everything good in man leans on what is higher.'' - R.W. Emerson.

-------------

THE ROD OF IRON

by L.M.F.

(Selected) *

READING the promises of Revelation;

"To him that overcometh"
"Power over the nations" held my thought;
Which turned, with questioning wonder, to the words:
"Them with a Rod Of Iron shall he rule."
 How with a rod of iron? Can this be the redeemed?
The rule of sinful man is like a rod of iron,
Hard as fate. - How can this be?
What is the mystic sense?
May I yet read its deep significance?

Then, suddenly, a vision hid the letters from my sight.

A crowned head arose before me,
And a form majestically grand.
On looking closer I beheld the face - alas!
Disfigured, with a look of torturing hate.

The strong hands seized the diadem

From off the wrathful brow,
And hurled it, glittering, far away!
A monarch stood, with empty hands,
Uncrowned, unconquered.

-------------
* From the Journal of American Akademe
-------------

Following the line of light

The falling jewel made,
Behold the crown! unjewelled and bent
Changed to a cross! that lay,
In meek simplicity, along.

The change wrought in the crown,

Wrought on the uncrowned brow,
A look of deeper pain. The great form swayed
In agonized despair, and fell upon the face,
Too keenly wrung, for aught but silent prayer.

At length the king arose in patient meekness,

And essayed to take the precious emblem
That his Master bore - when, lo! another change
The crown was still a crown;
But fashioned like the one the Saviour wore.

The vision quickly faded from my sight,

But long I sat and pondered on the meaning
Of it all, and tried again to read the Revelation,

--- 27
 "Them with a rod of iron shall he rule" -
But now - a light shone on it, and I read.

All rule depends on discipline,

As rigid as the iron of the rod.
Only the just man dares be wholly just.
And through that justice which the State
Is ever-functioned to employ, the rod of iron
Reaches everywhere.

Obedience is the secret strength of all.

He who is most obedient rules the world,
Has borne the heaviest cross, and felt the very iron
In his soul, that he may reach and save,
And rule, through love, the whole.

"Who keeps my works unto the end,

"Power o'er the nations shall he have."
Whom ye can serve, them only shall ye rule,
And represent the One, all powerful,
Servant of all.

'Tis thus the right of ruling is divine;

And they whose rule is earth-born,
In the selfish greed of power
Shall wear their crowns in trembling and in fear,
Yea! even in torture and in hate.

And nations that do put their trust in these,

"Like vessels molded of mere potter's clay,
Are broken to shivers."
Thus, through the living cross of love,
"Them with a rod of iron shall he rule."

---------------

THE LARGER WOMANHOOD

by C. M. N.
(Continued.)

THE FOURTH GOOD LEVEL - RIGHT BEHAVIOR

The fourth is Right Behavior. Let each act

Assoil a fault or help a merit grow.
Like threads of silver seen through crystal beads
 Let love through good deeds show.

RIGHT Doctrine, Right Purpose and Right Discourse lead up by a natural

progression to Right Behavior, and having discussed the former three there would seem
to be little left to say on this subject.
"Yet there is much to be thought of in connection with this, the outward expression
of the former three. We are told that actions speak louder than words, and that faith
without works is dead. Our behavior will be the final test as to how well we have learned
our past lessons.
"Let each act." Self-mastery is required here. Our right behavior is not to be
spasmodic, we are not simply to take care for the (seemingly) important actions that are
to be seen and known by the world, but each act is to be cared for and controlled. This
leaves no room for thoughtlessness and careless action. "I did not think" is not a valid
excuse for the thing we should not have done. Each act, at home and abroad, is to be
taken into account by an unceasing and steady self-mastery.
Neither can we depend entirely on a negative goodness for our onward progress.
It is not enough that we abstain from doing evil, we must have and keep a positive line of
right behavior. Each act is to do one of two things, assail a fault or help a merit grow. Will
we therefore need to be forever finding faults and pointing them out or always preaching
goodness? No: our lives are to be the sermons. They are to be so ordered that each act
will make for the general upbuilding of all merit and the down pulling of all fault.

--- 28

Still there are especial ways in which we may assoil a fault or help a merit grow.
And as in right purpose and right discourse, we must begin at home. All reform to be
successful, must start with and spread from the individual. The faults in ourselves are the
first which should receive our attention. And when we honestly look for them, how many
we find. Then we realize the necessity for bringing in each act of our lives to help on the
warfare. And then those faults we are so sure we have not. Oh! those are the worst foes
of all. And another crafty foe is that pride in our own humility when we are willing to admit
we have a few faults. Surely it is "The Devil's darling sin. The pride that apes humility." We
have great need to be watchful that it does not come upon us unawares.
"Self-gratulation, O disciple, is like unto a lofty tower, up which a haughty fool has
climbed. Thereon he sits in prideful solitude and unperceived by any but himself."
If we have occasion to speak of the faults of others, be it in the family or among our
friends, we should be very careful that the reproof is just and is gently and lovingly given
and that our actions speak louder than words as a means of help. We should be very
careful also that that trait of character which we wish to help some other to correct is really
a fault and not merely a mannerism that does not meet our approval.
When we give this good advice it should be followed by practice. We should teach
by practice even more than by precept. Showing in our own lives the beauty of right
behavior will do more to arouse a wish for and love of it in the hearts of others than any
amount of speaking could do without the added force of a good example.
We should not be content that our actions assoil a fault. They must help a merit
grow. This is a much more pleasant side of the question. It is pleasanter for us all to look
for the merits in ourselves and our friends than to point out the faults. Some one says, "But
it is not wise to tell one of his merits, especially if he be a child, for there is danger of
making him conceited and arrogant." All this is true unless one is very wise and cautious,
but our actions can help the merit grow that we do not call to mind by a spoken word.
Every action should be so unselfish, so full of right purpose, so nobly done, as to be
a continual tower of strength to those around us and to exert a continual energizing force
upon all that is meritorious and to be a standing reproof to all fault. It is a mother's especial
privilege to so live that her life may be a continual inspiration to her children: that the very
fact that mother did so shall mean to them that there was a loving, noble purpose in the
action. Like all great privileges it requires self-mastery and self-sacrifice, but the victory is
worth the battle a thousand times and though we may not succeed at the first trial we shall
gain a step each time and persistent effort assures ultimate success.
We should most carefully nurture all the merit that is to be found in ourselves and
our friends, but we should not stop here, satisfied with the good our present characters
show. We should sow with seeds of merit the fields of future harvests. Each day we
should plant the seed of one merit and uproot the weed of one fault in our lives.

Our good deeds should be strung upon the cords of love,

"Like threads of silver seen through crystal beads
Let love through good deeds show."

Steadiness or stability of character is the great lesson of life and for that reason it
comes up everywhere, nor can it be too often repeated.
Therefore, let our silver threads repre-

--- 29

sent to our minds continuance in love. Our love must not show now and then in good
deeds but must run from day to day, from deed to deed, through all we do. Equally bright
and shining in the seemingly insignificant deed as in the great deed and only a cord of love
in each, never a tinsel cord of self-aggrandizement or sooner or later the crystal bead will
show the tarnished cord of selfishness.
If on the one hand, we must have the silver cord of love running through our good
deeds, so on the other hand we must string our silver cord full of good deeds. We must
show our love by our good deeds. Faith without works is dead, so our love if living and real
will prove itself by good deeds.
If the love of humanity runs through our lives, if we have in our hearts an earnest
aspiration for better and higher things, upon these silver threads will appear one by one the
crystal beads of unselfishness, charity, kindness, thoughtfulness, cheerfulness, and all the
kindred virtues.
This string of jewels, a royal adornment for any woman, will not come to us
complete. It is not a gift from any one, nor anything easily won. We must earn them one
by one, and keep them with the greatest care. The crystal beads will lose their beauty and
the silver threads will tarnish so soon as we attempt to display these jewels for the
admiration of the world.
Little by little, in the silence of our own hearts is our character builded. Right
Doctrine and Right Purpose must start from the heart, and their outward manifestation,
Right Discourse and Right Behavior, must have their foundation stones laid deep in a right
heart or the superstructure, be it seemingly never so fair, will not stand the stress of every
day's needs, will fail us and our friends at the most critical point.
No chain, however golden, is ever stronger than its weakest link. Thus we see the
necessity for guarding each act. If we would have love, like silver threads, show through
good deeds; if we would climb the uphill path and stand on the fourth good level, having
conquered all below us; if we would be firm and strong to scale still more rugged heights;
we must not lose from our consciousness that great commandment, "Keep thy heart with
all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."

------------
--- 30

BROTHERHOOD OR DOGMA, CHOOSE!

by G.G.B.

THOSE who are more or less upset in their minds because of the radical departure
from old methods that was inaugurated on February 18th, at the Chicago Convention, will
do well to read what Madame Blavatsky has to say upon this very subject. The following
is quoted from the last chapter in the "Key to Theosophy." It was written in 1889.
"Its future (the future of the Theosophical Society) will depend almost entirely upon
the degree of selflessness, earnestness, devotion, and last, but not least, on the amount
of knowledge and wisdom possessed by those members, on whom it will fall to carry on the
work, and to direct the Society after the death of its Founders.
"I do not refer to technical knowledge of the esoteric doctrine, though that is most
important; I spoke rather of the great need which our successors will have of unbiased and
clear judgment. Every such attempt as the Theosophical Society has hitherto ended in
failure, because, sooner or later, it has degenerated into a sect, set up hard and fast
dogmas of its own, and so lost by imperceptible degrees that vitality which living truth alone
ran impart. You must remember that all our members have been bred and born in some
creed or religion, that all are more or less of their generation both mentally and physically,
and consequently that their judgment is but too likely to be warped and unconsciously
biased by some or all of these influences. If, then, they cannot be freed from such inherent
bias, or at least taught to recognize it instantly and so avoid being led away by it, the result
can only be that the Society will drift off on some sandbank of thought or another, and there
remain a stranded carcass to moulder and die.
"But if this danger be averted, then the Society will live on into and through the
twentieth century. It will gradually leaven and permeate the great mass of thinking and
intelligent people with its large-minded and noble ideas of Religion, Duty, and Philanthropy.
Slowly but surely it will burst asunder the iron fetters of creeds and dogmas, of social and
caste prejudices; it will break down racial and national antipathies and barriers, and will
open the way to the practical realization of the Brotherhood of all men. . . .
"If the present attempt, in the form of our Society, succeeds better than its
predecessors have done, then it will be in existence as an organized, living, healthy body,
when the time comes for the effort of the twentieth century. The general condition of men's
minds and hearts will have been improved and purified by the spread of its teachings, and,
as I have said, their prejudices and dogmatic illusions will have been, to some extent at
least, removed. Not only so, but besides a large and accessible literature ready to men's
hands, the next impulse will find a numerous and united body of people ready to welcome
the new torch-bearer of Truth. He will find the minds of men prepared for his message, a
language ready for him in which to clothe the new truths he brings, an organization awaiting
his arrival, which will remove the merely mechanical, material, obstacles and difficulties
from his path. Think how much one, to whom such an opportunity is given, could
accomplish. Measure it by comparison with what the Theosophical Society actually has
achieved in the last fourteen years, without any of these advantages, and surrounded by
hosts of hindrances which would not hamper the new leader.

--- 31

Consider all this and then tell me whether I ant too sanguine when I say that, if the
Theosophical Society survives and lives true to its mission, to its original impulses, through
the next hundred years, - tell me, I say, if I go too far in asserting that earth will be a heaven
in the twenty-first century in comparison with what it is now."
Read these statements carefully, and many times. They are pregnant with
prophecy. In the light of recent events, is it not significant that H.P.B. considers
"selflessness and devotion," more necessary to the future of the Society than "a technical
knowledge of the esoteric doctrine"; that she fears the Society may degenerate into a mere
sect, only to be stranded upon "some sand bank of thought or another"? The words in
which she says that the Society will "burst asunder the iron fetters of creeds and dogmas,
of social and caste prejudices;" that it will "break down racial and national antipathies and
barriers, and will open the way to the practical realization of the Brotherhood of all men,"
contain, as a hidden germ, the very principles which have recently blossomed into the
objects of the International Brotherhood League, and the divine, inclusive truth for which
the Universal Brotherhood stands today.
Was it an accident that H. P. B. should foresee "a numerous, united body of people
ready to welcome the new torch-bearer of Truth " in case the Society should be able to
weather the storms that would mark the closing years of the old cycle? Why did she
italicize the word "united"?
More than that, she foresaw the loyalty which would make this organization willing,
in case it lived until the close of the cycle, to sacrifice the "merely mechanical, material
obstacles and difficulties" that stood in the way of further growth. She saw that it would be
necessary and possible for the new leader to use "a language ready for him in which to
clothe the new truths he brings," without frightening away anyone with Sanskrit words and
purely-technical terms. There is no hint that the leader shall put the new wine into the old
bottles. That is not possible. Let us be loyal to our Helper, Katherine A. Tingley. Let us
help her in every way that opens to us, to widen and deepen this channel that the "new
truths" which she brings to us may flow through unimpeded. For she is unmistakably "the
new torch-bearer of Truth" to whom H. P. B. referred as being the one to take up the work
"after the death of the Founders," herself and William Q. Judge. It is true today no less
than four years ago, that "the real issue is around H. P. B." Let us, at least, be loyal to her.
The principal object in establishing the Theosophical Society was "to form a nucleus
of Universal Brotherhood." This was neither a mistake nor an accident, although for
twenty-three years the subsidiary objects have been first in the eyes of the world and first
in the hearts of many theosophists.
The nucleus has been formed. How is it possible to lock universal brotherhood
within the shell of a doctrine? How is it possible to expect a movement that is universal in
its sweep, to continue along the grooves of a specific and particular track? When the child
has outgrown his picture books, when he has appropriated all the culture that his own yard
and his own playmates can give him, when he begins to feel the limits of the gate which
locks him away from the great world, shall we remind him that, after being satisfied with the
book and the little playground all these years, it is simple heresy to go outside? No. The
wise mother places the picture book in some top drawer where it is accessible for
reference, unlocks the gate, goes forth with her child into the world, and helps him, by all
the power and insight at her command, to

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grow out of that narrow love which includes only his physical brothers, to that diviner,
broader love which sees in all creatures of the universe, his spiritual brothers. It is only the
abnormal child that weeps over the "sacrifice" of his picture book or pinafore. He would
transform the whole world into books and pinafores if he could. But that is not growth.
If you wish to see the danger of clinging to an old ideal after the soul has grown into
the need of something higher, make a careful study of Wilhelm Meister. Poor Wilhelm and
the stress that was his because his father denied him the chance to outgrow his youthful
dream of the puppet show, are symbolic of the condition of affairs today.
The nucleus of Universal Brotherhood has been formed. Nothing can destroy it;
and the object for which the Theosophical Society was originally founded has been
accomplished. It would be no more possible to do the broader work for brotherhood "along
the old lines," than it would be possible to fit a man for the ministry with the "Child's History
of England" as the point of departure.
"If you have patience and devotion you will understand these things, especially if you
think much on them, for you have no conception of the power of meditation. . . Kill out
doubt which rises within; that is not yourself, you know....
"The doubt is a maya, cast it aside, listen not to its voice, which whispers low,
working on your lack of self-confidence. If you are the Higher Self you are all that is great;
but since your daily consciousness is far below, look at the matter frankly and impartially.
. . Vex yourself not with contradictions, you know that you must stand alone, stand
therefore. . . Hold your purpose and your ideals clearly and steadily before you. Desiring
truth you shall surely have it; intending righteousness you shall surely so perform, though
all things seem to conspire against you."

---------------

GOTAMA THE BUDDHA

A SKETCH OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
by Rev. W. Williams
PART II (concluded).

RECOGNIZING that he must be up and doing, Gotama first sought out the five co-
students who had turned their backs upon him and though as they beheld him in the
distance approaching them, they had resolved to ignore and treat him with silent contempt,
yet felt so drawn and attracted towards him when he addressed them, that they fell down
before Gotama and acknowledged themselves his disciples. He unfolded to them his
doctrine and teachings and went with them to the holy city of Benares. At the end of five
months, his followers amounted to sixteen in number, when considering them fully
instructed in his doctrines he assembled and thus addressed them: "Go forth," said he,
"and proclaim the true doctrines to all nations, whatever their color, whatever the religion
they profess, teach and instruct them in the law. Let noble and peasant alike become
imbued with it. Let the aged filled with regrets of the past be comforted, and the young and
vigorous be taught to trust no longer in the illusions of the world. Let Brahman and pundit
delighting in logical subtleties and learned controversy be initiated in simple truth. Let
proud Rajah and stalwart warrior feel its subduing and softening influence and avaricious
merchant and tradesman, let them renounce extortion and teach also sudras and

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pariahs, outcasts of society that Truth is no respecter of persons and is the common
saviour alike of rich and poor, of high and low."
The fame of Gotama and his teachings began now to spread like wild fire throughout
the length and breadth of India. All classes wherever he went, received him with open
arms and after listening to his discourses, enrolled themselves as his disciples. Returning
to his native city his aged father, with Gopa and his young son as also his favorite nephew
Ananda, acknowledged him as their spiritual teacher and guide.
Inculcating the equality of all men and their equal rights as members of a common
brotherhood, Gotama struck at the roots of caste and though priestly Brahmans rose up
against him and brought all their occult powers to bear upon him in order to confound and
nullify his great work, they eventually retired and gave up the contest, acknowledging his
greatness and power as a Buddha and thus for a period of forty-three years, he traversed
India, making known the true law of life, comforting the afflicted, consoling the wretched
and sorrowing, and healing the sick and suffering. Yet though so truly great, was he not
without his troubles and trials. He had to contend with the opposition of the envious and
jealous of his fame and amongst his own immediate followers was found a Judas who
plotted against his life. The traitor was, however, unmasked and Gotama's pardon and
forgiveness were his punishment.
Thus Gotama lived and toiled till his eightieth year; when, feeling his end
approaching, he spoke to his followers, who in tears conjured him not to leave them. A
short time after, when on a journey to Benares, he was seized with a sudden illness
accompanied with great pain which so exhausted him that he was compelled to recline
himself under a tree by the roadside. "Bring me a little water," said he to Ananda, "I thirst.''
His faithful nephew went to a neighboring stream and returning said, "Master, a caravan
has lately crossed the stream. The wheels of the vehicles and feet of the elephants have
caused the water to be muddy and unfit to drink; but the Buddha in great pain renewed his
request. Ananda on going the second time, found the stream clear and pellucid and filling
the utensil gave it to Gotama, who became quite refreshed. At that moment, a rich
merchant passing by and catching sight of the reclining form of the Buddha, charged his
servants to bring two cloth-of-gold mantles. "Master," said the merchant, "refuse me not
the favor of accepting these garments." "Give me one,'' replied Gotama, "and let the other
be for Ananda." No sooner was he arrayed with it when Ananda exclaimed, "Master! such
a light emanates from thee, that this gold has become dim." "A Buddha," responded
Gotama, "is thus transfigured twice in his earth life, first when he attains to supreme
knowledge, and second, when he is about to enter into eternal rest. This night, Ananda,
at the third hour I go hence." And then and there the brethren surrounding him, he spoke
to them for the last time. "When" said he, "I shall be no longer with you, some of you will
perhaps think, the Buddha is silent now, we have no longer a Guide and Leader. Think not
so brethren. The doctrines I have enunciated, the precepts I have laid down, by which you
may live pure and blameless lives, will remain when I am gone, for they are Truth and that
is Eternal.'' Pausing a moment or two, again he spoke, "Brethren!" he cried, "behold in me
the proof of what I have taught you, every thing that is born must perish and pass away;
hasten then and lose no time, in acquiring freedom from Self." These were his last words
and

Now his eyes grew bright and brighter still,

Too bright for theirs to gaze upon, suffused
With tears and closed without a cloud.
They set, as sets the morning star, which goes

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Not down behind the darkened west, nor hides

Obscured among the tempests of the sky,
But melts away into the light of Heaven.

and Gotama the Buddha, as the sun dawned bright and resplendent above the horizon,
entered into Nirvana.

PART IV.
In bringing to a close this sketch of Gotama's life and career, we would make it more
complete and finished by briefly enunciating a few of the lessons which such a life is
calculated to impress upon us. In it, we see depicted the great and silent conflict between
the antagonistic principles of light and darkness which from the earliest ages has been and
still is being waged on the plane of human nature. It teaches us that victory over self is to
be acquired not by separating ourselves and living apart from our fellows, but through a
manly discharge and performance of the common duties of life. The field of action is not
far to seek, for it lies within us and in the sphere of social and domestic life and therein, to
be faithful in few things, is to become ruler and victor over many things. Most of us have
doubtless heard of the legend of the Sangreal or Holy Cup which at one time was thought
to be hidden in some unknown place and the possession of which would impart eternal
happiness to its finder. It is related that a knight once set forth from his home, its duties
and delights, in quest of the Sangreal. After undergoing incredible dangers and hardships
in a manner that stamped him as a hero of loftiest prowess, he returned home, without
having been vouchsafed a glimpse of that, which alone he cared to behold. In his dejection
at his failure, he dared not lift his eyes from the ground to meet the loving glances which
were ever gazing for him from his castle windows. Reaching his gateway, he found
crouching beneath it a group of starving wretches who, flying from the tyranny of a
neighboring lord, had dragged themselves thither for shelter and succor. Seeing their
misery, and hearing the dismal story of their wrongs, his compassion strove with his
indignation for expression, and wearied as he was, and even before permitting himself to
be attended on, he provided them with food and comforts and vowed a solemn vow to lose
no time in redressing their wrongs and punishing the evil lord, as he raised his arm aloft in
noble enthusiasm, to swear his vow, his haggard face became transfigured with a glory,
for he saw the heavens opened and the Sangreal, bright and throbbing with beams of rosy
light, descending towards him. Then he knew that he had been urged on his far and
venturous quest rather by the spirit of a selfish devotee-ism than by that of a sympathetic
humanity. And so he learned that his happiness and his blessing lay in his duty and that
his duty was not so far to seek.
"Hasten to acquire deliverance from Self.'' These words are as applicable to each
one of us as they were to the immediate disciples of Gotama, and especially so at this
moment, when we are beginning a new cycle in the history of humanity. Upon our own
individual activity and efforts depends whether we be counted worthy to become enrolled
in the band of those great and unselfish souls of all ages who have labored and toiled in
the service of humanity. The future presents to us two avenues of activity, one by which
the deliverance of humanity from those baneful and mortiferous influences to which it has
so long been subjected may become more speedily accomplished; the other wherein, we
can help to strengthen those powers and forces of evil and selfishness which have been
the great obstacle and bane to Man's spiritual regeneration and advancement. The Conflict
has been long and protracted through ages of weary effort and ceaseless endeavor, which
have not altogether proved futile

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and in vain, seeing that it has been the necessary education whereby Humanity has been
qualified and fitted for the reception and enjoyment of higher truths. In this great Contest
we must all take a part. There can be for us no neutrality, in presence of issues pregnant
and fraught with either weal or woe for our race; and only by comprehending and realizing
in our inward daily lives Gotama's admonition, to acquire deliverance from self can we
become endowed with that militant state of spiritual power and moral vigor which are the
essentials, as they are the presages of that ultimate triumph which will secure for Humanity
an entrance into a loftier and diviner existence.
In finishing this somewhat imperfect and fragmentary sketch of the spiritual life of
Gotama, and after unfolding the several stages of inward development through which he
passed, with their attendant mental struggles and conflicts between the opposing influences
of duty and interest, of worldly ambition and self-renunciation in which is reflected, more
or less, the history of each individual soul, and ere taking leave of a character which when
stripped of the incrustations of wondrous and incredible legends, the growth and accretion
of centuries, which raising him beyond the pale of ordinary mortals have transformed him
into an object of divine worship and adoration, we behold him in his true proportions, as he
stands revealed before us, wholly human, one of the greatest paragons of Humanity the
world has ever beheld. We see in his life the same process which is now operating within
every human heart. We observe that he was not exempt from those common afflictions
and trials which are incident to all mankind; that he was troubled by the same doubts,
perplexed by the same fears and misgivings; swayed by the same conflicting motives and
emotions, and animated by the same hopes and aspirations after a higher life which we all
experience in that intervening period which separates the cradle from the grave. Noting
all these things and meditating on the lessons of a life like that of Gotama, we arrive at this
great truth, which when clearly grasped and realized, makes our lives divine; that the same
unalterable and all-pervading laws of spiritual evolution and progress, prevail now as in the
remote ages in which he lived and which will result in the final redemption and regeneration
of Humanity. Assured of this, human life becomes transfigured with a light and glory which
has never been seen on land and sea, and learning that progress is the necessity of
existence, the law of the Universe, the secret of human life and destiny, our immortality
becomes revealed to us with all its infinite possibilities of thought and activity. An illimitable
vista of a Diviner life stretches out before us, the goal of human perfection to be attained
by us all through a series of births and rebirths, for from the Divine have we come forth and
unto the Divine must we return at last. Slowly and surely, though with many an apparent
retrogression, we recognize that each world family is becoming wiser and better, nobler and
happier. Slowly and surely, though with many a grievous backsliding we perceive each
individual soul manifesting its inherent divinity and growing up to virtue, until with mental
and spiritual faculties expanded, our lower natures enfranchised from the thraldom of the
senses and blended with our higher selves, purified through suffering, ennobled and
glorified by the divine within us, we, like Gotama, calm and unperturbed and in the
enjoyment of that inward peace and calm which mark the terminus of life's long and weary
pilgrimage and the awakening out of its fitful, and troubled dream, shall attain Nirvana, the
beginning and entering on to a higher, a more spiritual and diviner plane of existence.

---------------
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THE WORK OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT

by Charlotte E. Woods

IN the Theosophical Movement as it is today (which, by the way, is distinct from the
Theosophical Society in the same sense as a performer is distinct from his instrument) the
world is witnessing the progressive unfolding of great spiritual laws; their action on human
hearts; and the result of such action in the slow birth and growth of a new social order. To
affirm that Nature on all planes, and in all diversities of manifestation is one, is but to repeat
a Theosophical axiom long ago passed into a truism. Nevertheless, in order to understand
the full scope of the Theosophical Movement we have to examine it in the light of this hoary
and indisputable truth. The world of men is fashioned on principles and by processes
analogous to those which prevail in the world of matter. Nature, the great Architect alike
of world-systems and social orders, traces the growth of a planet on the same lines as that
of a nation, a race, or a humanity. Her laws are as invariable and eternal as the unexplored
Spiritual Depths whence they issue. Hence, when we witness and participate in a new
Impulse working straight to the hearts of men, we have to acknowledge the presence of
Forces operating with as direct an aim, and as far-reaching an effect as those which
condensed our Planet from the Fire-mist, or lifted our Continent from its sleep on the
ocean-bed. Were it given to the many who now pass us with closed eyes to see behind
the surface activities that work under the name Theosophy, they would witness a great
thing. They would become conscious of a vast tide of Spiritual bight flowing steadily and
surely into the dark crevices of human thought. They would recognize in each sincere
worker, however humble, a unit of transforming Force as great, in its entirety, as that which
changed, and still is changing, the face of external Nature. And by such affirmations we
are not claiming more for our Movement than can be claimed by every activity that has left
its mark on human thought and character. The whole long record of human history is but
a manifestation, in divers forums, and under cyclic impulse, of the same eternal laws that
make for harmony, whether of mind or matter. Nevertheless, in the Theosophical
Movement a Force has arisen whose effects are to play a vastly important part on the
history of the world. In all natural processes we notice the triple stages of upheaval,
contest, and harmony. First, the stage of shock and agitation needful to the firm blocking
of the new order, its birth and foundation and chaotic and alien conditions; then the
struggle of atom with atom for balance and coordination, - the bringing about, by force of
individual effort, of the ideal condition prefigured in all movement towards progress; finally
the harmonious co-working of unit with unit, the striking of a perfect balance; in other
words, the setting of Nature's seal upon a finished work. In reading history on philosophical
principles, one is brought to see, in all the chaos and violence, all the immaturity, strife,
ignorance and unrest, all the triumphs of a people or race, the steady operations of the
same triune Force, working slow but exceeding sure; demolishing only to rebuild on higher
lines; recapitulating the old stage only for the better consolidation of the new. History is
the great object-lesson in the secret of self-development. Herein we see, as in a mirror,
a reflection of the stages which lead us on our way. In every soul who essays to realize
the Ideal in himself that Force is manifesting which built the Past, and ushers in the

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Future; undaunted, restless; ever striving towards a higher and unrealized type.

"Man the worker, ever building something new.

That which he has done but earnest of the things that he will do."

Man it is, and his perfection, towards whom the surge of history has rolled, in
ceaseless ebb and flow, since time was. Slowly, and by eons of varied experience, the
child Humanity has learnt something of its high destiny, and the wherefore of the strange
career by which it has been trained. Today there dawns for it the beginnings of that final
stage of full and harmonious being, for which all its previous trials have been a preparation.
A new Humanity, or rather a Humanity at a new and advancing stage is about to dawn, and
the Theosophical Movement is its harbinger and nurse. We assert this on the testimony
of the principles by which that movement is guided, and the work it seeks to do. And as,
throughout the whole course of Nature, stages overlap, and an early element in growth may
be found coexisting with a later, so with the Theosophical Movement. The Forces working
through it are working both for destruction and regeneration. Watch the trend of the world
today, and ask what impulse is prompting the vague unrest, the wild search for change,
distraction, and satiety; the eager call upon Life and Death to yield up the secrets of their
nature; the growing dissatisfaction with what once passed for good in manners, ways of
life, thought, amusement, religion. All these things - the outward result of increasing
knowledge and growing means of self-gratification, speak, at the same time, of causes
hidden far deeper. The rapid growth of modern civilization has occurred at a time and for
a purpose which the study of the law of cycles renders luminous. In the latter half of this
century the hour had struck for the Western world to participate in a Revolution as great in
reach and importance, - though silent, prolonged, and visible only by its effects, - as that
which made 1790 the beginning of a memorable decade for France. The dawn of this
universal Impulse towards change and progress was an initial phase of the Movement
which, later on, took shape under the name of Theosophy. It inaugurated a necessary but
direful period of transition, unrest, and demolition. Old things began their inevitable
disappearance from the arena where once they had served a needed purpose. The birth
of the New was heralded from afar by a gradual breaking-up of ground that for ages had
lain fallow, and by the removal of customs that had long ago become obstructions. The
Past was rapidly dying, and the Future had not yet been sighted, save by the longer vision
of the few, whom none heeded save to mock. Small wonder, then, that the Present Day
was, and still is, deplored by those who fail in the understanding of signs.
But by degrees, the phases changed. The T. S. was born, and gave a decided and
special trend to what before was vague and general. After an initial period of uphill warfare
against the bigotry and materiality of the age, its leavening permeated so far as to gain for
it a recognized place among the most important agents in 19th Century development. At
the same time, the great Movement which had incarnated a portion of itself in the T. S.,
was active in innumerable forms throughout the length of the civilized world. It would be
the height of narrow-mindedness to suppose that the flood of Divine Energy at work in our
midst today confines itself to one channel, or operates in one direction only. Foremost as
is our Society among the manifestations of the great Spiritual Will, it comprises but a small
part of the real Theosophical Movement. Under the new Constitution this point has
received the emphasis it deserves. Henceforth Theosophy, and the T. S. will take their
place as sections of

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one all-embracing Brotherhood, united under one great Leadership. Within its ranks will
one day be included, - is now included spiritually, - all who work unselfishly for another's
good. The Lodge has its agents in quarters least suspected by many an "orthodox"
Theosophist who, in the blindness of a too great exclusiveness, is often in danger of
passing a comrade unawares. Indeed, we may frequently include in the Theosophical
Movement, workers who would take it ill if they heard themselves so designated. It is very
necessary to keep ever in mind the distinction between a Theosophist, or a worker for the
advancement of humanity, and a believer in the Esoteric Philosophy. The one may or may
not include the other; but the name is the property only of him who fulfils the conditions
implied therein.
What, then, is it to be a member of the Theosophical Movement, the Movement
which has lately taken on the simpler name of Universal Brotherhood?
To put it simply, a movement of any sort is unthinkable without a definite trend and
idea. That to which we belong is, as its name implies, a movement Godwards. We may
write and think for a lifetime without exhausting all that is contained in that tremendous
idea. Different workers will view it from different aspects, but on one general principle all
will be agreed, - that the God-state implies the perfection of man in all parts of his complex
nature body, mind, soul, and spirit; with the consequent establishment of a Brotherhood
such as the world has long dreamt of, but never thought to see.
Every dreamer has had his Utopian vision, but the time is now approaching when
such happy fancies will be transformed into still happier facts. Certain sects of Christians
have long been foretelling the speedy arrival of a Millennium, in which peace and good-will
shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea. Let those scoff who may, that time is
not only fixed in the immutable decrees of karma, but it is nearer at hand than we wot of.
For its establishment forms the sole rationale of the Theosophical Movement.
Every effort, then, be every worker whomsoever, regardless of race, creed, and
locality, which aims at lifting a portion of the human race one step beyond its present level,
is an integral part of the work of the Movement. We trace its influence today in the
development of new and improved ideas on Education; in hygiene; in simpler and more
rational modes of living; in improved diet; in the better housing of the poor; in the
widening of the means of recreation, and mental development; in greater liberty for
women; in a more rational relationship between the sexes; in more liberal thought; greater
religious toleration; a deeper insight into natural laws; a keener appreciation of Art and
Polite Literature; in the spread of culture, and the dissipation of wide-reaching ignorance;
above all, in the growth of mystic thought which, under many names, is rapidly permeating
the religion of the day with the true spirit of its Founder.
The development of man is a theme which inspires many an ardent vision of
realization beyond the grave. But surely the right place for the consummation of a Race
is that on which the training and experience have been undergone. And more than this.
Those of us who believe in Reincarnation as the law of the Spirit's progress through matter,
know of a time before the birth of historic humanity, when, on lands now passed from view,
a race of god-like beings laid the seeds of wisdom and progress for their successors in
distant ages. The cycle has again turned when those Great Ones seek a new incarnation
in new prepared conditions. They come again, that God-like Race, and we who hold to the
testimony they left behind in those of their Race who per-

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sisted for the guidance of the new Humanity, will recognize them when they come, and lend
a willing hand to the building of conditions that shall be worthy of their exalted Presences.
So much for the objects of our Movement. Its methods, as we have seen, have
been, first of all, destructive, and, to an extent, will still be so, as long as ignorance,
prejudice, and materiality remain to be overthrown. But another principle is growing daily
more prominent, - a principle significant of the final stage upon which the Race, as an
Entity, has entered. Nature, as I have shown, crowns her highest growth with peace.
Struggle, violence, upheaval, are stages which have their early use, but which pass out of
existence as permanent factors in the perfected life. Now a new commandment has gone
forth again among men, as new and much needed today as when, 2000 years ago, it was
uttered by the Reformer of the Mosaic Dispensation. To love one another is as great as
the establishment of many religions, or the founding of deep systems of thought. To plant
a great Society whose fruits shall be felt in the carrying out of wide-spread reforms is a
grand and needed work, but it is not the highest. To form the basis of all International
Brotherhood, on the single principle "that ye love one another," will be the finishing task of
a Race grown strong and wise by the self-discipline of countless weary years. This work, -
the distinguishing feature of the Theosophical Movement, - has begun today, for perfection
throughout the ages. Although on the outer side much remains which may take centuries
in the doing, yet on the inner side, the battle is practically won. All that is now wanted is
to complete the touch between the interior and exterior planes, so that the harmony of
Nature's inner life may be reflected on the surface, and Brotherhood become a completed
fact. This is all; but the "all" comprises hard and unceasing activity. It is not enough to rest
on the prospect of a promised victory. Every grade of Nature must feel the thrill of that
promise transformed into actual fact. The making of converts to the Esoteric Philosophy
is of less importance, at the present juncture, than the sowing of broad, brotherly thoughts
and wise, kindly acts. By such methods we help to arouse the Self in every man; and no
Movement, be it philosophical, ethical, or religious, has motive grander than that. For by
so doing, we have done all we can, and our highest, for any man. The rest lies with That
which is aroused. Being, it must never be forgot, is better than believing. Indeed, I doubt
if the ideal humanity will be found united under one form of thought and faith. It is difficult
to see how uniformity of thought can exist apart from mental stagnation. On the mental
plane there must be diversity, for it is the plane of differentiation. Only, in the grand future
which is coming, diversity will be harmonized by a living, spiritual unity behind it. The only
faith is the knowledge of man's inherent godhood; and those who have that may depict that
godhood to their brains in whatever terms they find most helpful. Never in the history of the
world, did the cry for toleration sound so clearly as it is sounding today. It is for all to
remember, to whom that cry comes, that the stage of destruction is passing; and their only
warfare now is with dead forms, and unliving conventionalities. Even here, too, they do well
to be careful lest they crush one vital spark among the lingering ashes.
It is good to be alive in these days; it is supremely good to put one's self in line with
the great World-Forces which make up the true Theosophical Movement. All can do it who
will; and with each new worker comes the hastening of the Dawn.

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A FALSE NOTE OF INDEPENDENCE

by Burcham Harding

LET us be guarded lest we sound a false note of independence, which is discordant

with the true harmony of brotherhood. The foes of mankind are watchful at all times and
seek out our weak spots for attack; vanity, ambition, jealousy, are but weapons we allow
to be used against our own interests, we sharpen the weapons and give them a keener
edge and wider play by permitting them to linger in the mind.
In "Esoteric Buddhism" one chapter deals with the "progress of humanity," and it is
there stated that progress depends upon spirituality being able to dominate the intellect.
It is well to recollect that the basic ideas in "Esoteric Buddhism" were furnished by a Master
hand. The present false note of independence is but one more phase of this contest with
intellect. The individual is an independent being, able within certain limits to determine his
own course. He can assert his independence at every step, and put himself in opposition
to his surroundings. He can even go so far, if he has the courage, as to commit suicide.
The two paths of right and wrong are open to all, for unless man were free to commit
moral, mental and physical shipwreck, he could not learn to control that instrument the
mind, and acquire the power to exercise perfect self-control, which alone can fit him to be
entrusted with greater powers. Probably all the readers of this paper will agree that the true
path for mankind is summed up in the word "Brotherhood," that spirit of helpfulness which
springs spontaneously from the heart, and causes help to be rendered to all in need of it.
Is independence compatible with Brotherhood? It seems to me, that as the desire
to help others imbues our nature, we seek to curb the feeling of independence and
transmute it into interdependence. It is true we can be independent, but in our present
stage of evolution, where the mind is the point of development, the hardest fight is to make
this independence subservient to the general welfare. To insist upon independence seems
therefore to be a step backward in evolution, and is a direct harrier to progress.
That brotherhood involves interdependence is obvious. Nature teaches it in every
direction. Unless all parts of the tree cooperate, no growth can take place, and without the
help of every element, air, water, heat, and the soil, not a seed will grow. Similarly, unless
all the bodily organs work in harmony, sickness or death takes place. Consider for a
moment what would happen if the heart were removed from a physical body, could you
expect that great things would result from that mutilated body? Or if you wish to visit a
friend, and your limbs claimed their independence and refused to carry you, or if the hand
asserted its independence and refused to carry out your wishes! All such insistance upon
independence but cripples the individual and paralyzes his efforts. Independence can only
rightfully be asserted in the fulfilment of duty, and that duty is based upon the
interdependence of all creatures.
An amusing story was told the other day in relation to this question: a family agreed
that each of its members should be independent, and possessed a right to act without
reference to the others, and in fact their duty was to live independently. Each of them
made their own clothes; those of the husband, who was not a tailor, bespoke the fact at
every seam, reminding you of Robinson Crusoe.

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Being independent, each marketed separately, - and was found later cooking and making
their own meals. To an ordinary human being, the household was a chaotic pandemonium.
Even the cat was independent, and could not be interfered with, even when walking over
the tea table, lapping the milk from the pitcher, licking the butter, and sitting on the bread.
The very genius and spirit of the Theosophical movement is brotherhood, a mutual
dependence of every part from the innermost centre to its outer body. From the central
Founders, who are unknown to us, to the humblest individual whose heart has been
illuminated with a desire to help suffering humanity.
A very superficial study of the philosophy, which is based on Nature's law, shows
how the higher kingdoms are assisting the lower to reach a higher stage in evolution, the
vegetable raises the mineral, the animal helps the vegetable, and man is given power to
assist all the kingdoms below himself. The system displays throughout a constant
interdependence, and assistance given by the higher to the lower.
Similarly with man, the higher principles are ever contending with the lower, training
and helping them. In our present phase of evolution it is spirituality endeavoring to raise
the intellect to its own level. Sometimes the intellect rebels and refuses to allow the inner
light of spirituality to guide it, - but in such a case progress is arrested.
In the Theosophical movement, its adherents are fortunate in possessing a direct
link with its very heart, and can receive guidance if they choose to work in harmony
therewith. In every organization, even in a business house, there is a head which directs
all who are engaged in its operations. The head is not expected to divulge the whole of his
plans to the subordinates, but each is given his special work. Would we consider it in
accordance with common sense that the office boy should assert his independence and
demand to be consulted in every operation? No, each in his position has his duty to
perform, and it suffices if that be done well. We have to obey trustingly, in the conviction
that there is a wise hand and a clear head directing.
Take away the heart from the body and a corpse is the result; deprive the body of
its mind and you have an idiot. Extract the soul, and what is left? All parts have their office
and function, and are interdependent, but the higher must control and direct, if the lower
are to progress.
If this be so, would it be wise to make the body of the Theosophical movement
separate from its heart? Every analogy of nature and common sense clearly proves that
such an untoward condition must end in utter shipwreck.
Fortunately the movement is too well guarded, and too well guided for such to occur.

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WHY ORGANIZE THE UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD AS

AN AUTOCRACY?
by Ellis B. Guild

THE Constitution of the Universal Brotherhood is ordained and established "for the
benefit of the people of the earth and all creatures." In completing the details of the
organization the Constitution confers upon Katherine A. Tingley, whom it denominates the
Leader and Official Head, such powers and prerogatives as are usually termed Autocratic.
It is immediately asked: "Why does an organization so humanitarian in its purpose and so
unselfish in its object vest so much power in one individual?" It is because its objects are
unselfish. There are no emoluments connected with the office and its only perquisites are
unremitting toil and ceaseless effort for the good of others. The office is not a reward but
an actual Leadership.
There are many and weighty reasons why there should be one supreme executive
power in such an organization. It is a spiritual movement organized to bring about the
realization of a brotherhood of all men without any restrictions. It is neither political nor
social either in its methods or purpose. Its object is not so much to improve the material
conditions of men and add to their comforts as to make men fit to make proper use of better
conditions.
We hold that the real man is a soul and as such, all men have a common origin,
undergo similar experiences, and have a common destiny. The real man is divine and the
conscious knowledge of his divinity is the only power that can raise him from the personal
life to the real life - the life of the soul.
The movement which would bring about a realization of the universal brotherhood
of man to be most effective upon the hearts and lives of men must operate through an
organization concentrating the will and directing the thoughts and efforts of its supporters.
What form of organization will render it most effective? Let us look for the answer
in that universe of which man is the epitome. The planets of our solar system move in
orderly sequence and in majestic harmony about the central sun. Through and from that
sun go out the lines of force that hold them in that obedience which alone permits their
being. Beyond our own universe are solar systems and universes innumerable and of
magnitude beyond our comprehension, each marking the cycles of time in obedient
revolution about its self-appointed central sun. All the solar systems and universes which
make up the Kosmos are themselves in turn revolving in stupendous majesty about the
great Cosmic centre. Obedience to the mighty power of Cosmic brotherhood makes
possible their existence. Let discord arise among them or let aught disturb the perfect
poise of cosmic equilibrium and the instant crash of worlds will follow. Obedience is a
Cosmic law. The one Supreme and paramount authority holds the universes in all the
Kosmos in one united whole.
Let us back to earth and seek the analogy in the laws that govern all animated
beings - even the little brothers of our humanity. The birds of the air wisely choose to follow
their self-appointed leader. He leads because he has the qualities of leadership, strength,
endurance and bird wisdom. They follow because he demonstrates his ability to lead and
because that instinct winch is animal wisdom persuades them to obey for their mutual
good. In every herd of animals one is leader because of his strength and endurance and
his ability to defend the common welfare.
Man himself obeys the Cosmic, univer-

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sal, and instinctual laws which are fitted to his complex nature and follows a leader. How
unhesitatingly we accept the statement that the great occasion brings out the great leader,
and how unavoidably men follow and obey that leader. There must be the ONE in whom
converge the thought and wish and effort of the many and through whom the great force
of the many may find expression. He is the centre of their effort, the focus of their
endeavor and he directs their force to the point of their attainment. It is his genius and skill
and his power to converge their will to and through himself that makes him leader - and
they choose to follow.
Napoleon organized the impetuous Frenchmen, bringing order out of discord,
directed their forces as a unit, and conquered Europe. The "Iron Duke" bound together the
wish and will of Europe and the indomitable perseverance of England, and conquered
Napoleon.
Napoleon assumed the Dictatorship of France, founded his Empire and controlled
the destinies of Europe because he was a leader of men. Wellington deposed Napoleon
because he converged to himself the forces of a higher manhood and of nobler motives.
Abraham Lincoln centred in himself the mighty forces of brotherhood vibrating in the
hearts of a great people, and in a terrible war conquered selfishness and freed millions of
his suffering fellows from the shackles of unholy greed.
There is no such thing as democracy. There is no personal equality among men.
Men differ as to power, as to aspiration, as to attainment. Even in republics a leader is
leader because of his right to leadership. His fellows choose to follow. It is said that the
great palladium of English liberties is the town meeting, yet one, because of his qualities
of leadership, directs the wish and will of his fellows.
There is a truth beneath the doctrine of the "divine right of kings." No man is a
leader of his fellows because he is chosen to be such, but because in him inhere the
qualities of leadership. He must manifest in himself ideals and motives above those of his
fellows.
Obedience is rising to the plane of and acting in harmony with the ideals and motives
of the Leader. When that plane is reached, another who manifests within himself higher
ideals and purer motives becomes the leader in his stead.
This movement for Universal Brotherhood is a great spiritual movement. Its success
at this point in the evolution of humanity depends upon its ability to overcome the powers
of the lower nature and to loosen mental bonds, and to give to men the larger freedom of
the soul. It is to bring "Truth, Light and Liberation to discouraged humanity." To
accomplish this, harmony of effort and concert of action are necessary, and these can he
attained only through organization and Leadership.
Man is not moved only through physical desire and mental unrest. The divine spirit
within him impels to aspiration, and that to effort. The occasion demands the leader, and
the leader must be free to act and have power to combine and synthesize every force and
effort in behalf of the one great purpose - Universal Brotherhood.
That power extends only to the organization. There is only one requirement from
the membership, and that is devotion to the cause of Brotherhood. There is no catechism.
There is no creed. There is perfect freedom of act and thought within the lines of
Brotherhood.
This is a spiritual movement, and the only incentive to its membership is the good -
not of persons, but of the whole of humanity. Obedience here is simply rising to the plane
of and acting in harmony with the motive and spirit of the Leader.
It is simply reflecting back upon all men the Light of Love and Brotherhood which has
shone alike into the hearts of the Leader and the followers.

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--- 44

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD *
by Pluma Brown
 THROUGH all the changing schools, theologies, philosophies, and presentations,
old and new, runs the vital law or fact that those creatures of creation taking the human
form are bound together by something more subtle than the reasoning faculty can analyze:
- a something that quickens their interest in each other's welfare, and intensities according
as humanity develops unselfish thinking.
There is a law of unity pervading and underlying all nature that is recognized even
in the material world of scientific research. This unity of brotherhood existing in the lower
kingdoms is evidenced by the laws of nature. All work or evolution through the mineral,
vegetable and animal kingdoms is cooperative, but this cooperation is compulsory.
This is the law in the human kingdom as well, but with this difference: The individual
must choose whether he will work in accord or at variance with law.
At present, the whole social fabric woven from the needs and aspirations of human
life, is threaded through and through with institutions professing to be founded upon
Brotherhood. The thought of fraternity underlies all social organizations and much of the
religious and political work. The value and stability of this work depends upon the degree
that it recognizes the fundamental basis underlying the profession of Brotherhood.
It is generally accepted that all impulses to right thinking and doing come from some
Supreme Wisdom, some Great First Cause. But the fact must not be lost sight of that the
Great Cause never suspends established order to work out what may be a benefit to some
special

-------------
* Reprinted from the Jackson County Pilot, Jackson, Minn.
-------------

time, place or individuals. Therefore, it will seem evident to all thinkers that the unusual
prominence given the idea of Brotherhood now, must be a tidal wave, due at its own
appointed time. This is true, and in the measure that we work intelligently with divine cyclic
law will be the success of our endeavor.
The immense power gained from Niagara is obtained through working with the
natural laws governing the great torrent, not against it, and it was intelligent study into the
depths of its possibilities that made its harnessing an achievement.
The wave now starting shall roll high over creed and dogma in the centuries to come
and he who would ride on the crest must drop the burden of inherited prejudice and
superstition under which we were born. He must begin to think for himself.
Many raise objections to this broad teaching, claiming that it only leads to socialism,
anarchy and license without law. This is unphilosophical, unreasoning judgment, and is the
result of our past ideas of Brotherhood having been fostered by "isms" and societies, each
one trying to force its special doctrines upon humanity to the exclusion of all others.
Universal Brotherhood is a never to be realized "will o' the wisp" unless it have its
base in sound philosophy, unless there is scientific reason for its existence. The day is
past for unquestioning acceptance of any theory of life based on authority or assumption.
The heart doctrine is to supersede the eye doctrine of the past.
Every analogy in nature points to our origin in the one essence of the Absolute, and
as such we are but divided portions of that Great All, and therefore, the Universal
Brotherhood of Man is a fact in nature.
--- 45

Like air, our souls were breathed out into existence and there will be no sense of
separateness when we are indrawn to that from whence we came. White, black, yellow,
brown, proceeded forth from the one great Father of us all, in whom could exist no shadow
of injustice or wrong. Therefore, we cannot say that the experience of one seemingly far
removed from us may not have been ours yesterday, or may not be ours tomorrow.
This most visibly lessens the feeling of separateness that is the base of most of the
seeming difference between masses and classes today. Humanity needs to turn aside
from the insane pursuit of material ideas, long enough to recognize that on the spiritual side
we are divine, brothers equally pure, with no difference in caste, color or condition. It is
only upon the fleshly side, an appearance temporary, that impurity and inharmony manifest,
these depending upon our evolution, or the wisdom to which we have attained.
There are no mistakes in the divine plan. We are each having just the experience
most needed for our development. But only as we feel that these experiences are equal,
and all necessary to the fulfillment of some Infinite plan, can we be broad-minded, large-
hearted, and look from the central standpoint where is no large, no small, no rich, no poor.
When Universal Brotherhood shall once more live in the hearts of men, the division
between capital and labor will have ceased. Charity, that parcels out unfortunate humanity
in bundles and "job lots" will be exchanged for the love that is now too often but a far-off
vision, and that activity now so noticeable in strife and competition, will be given to mutual
helpfulness.

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--- 45

THE KINDERGARTEN OF THEOSOPHY

by Marie A. J. Watson

CHAPTER SIXTH.
How to study the Bible - Infallible Revelation Requires Infallible Understanding to
Interpret the Revelation - A Word about "Masters" - Memory of Past Live Possible

TO study the bible it must be compared with other and older religious books. The
truth in it is relative to what has gone before. Mankind has not existed for long periods prior
to the history of the Bible without truth. Truth is ever present with man; we absorb and
assimilate as much or as little as our condition permits. When we study the bible by itself,
it is like dissecting a man's finger, and then declaring that all about the science of anatomy
has been accomplished. Who wants to accept a ready-made and finished man-made
scheme about God? We are here to grow toward God. The object of religion is to become
one with God, and this cannot be done by any religious pap served to us by a clerical robe
and a white tie. We must each learn the way and go that way by ourselves. What seemed
to us the proper way a few years ago, may not now satisfy us, and if we desire to remove
some obstacle that is a stumbling-block to our advancement, we have the right to do it.
If it is necessary that you should run the whole gamut of religious systems, creeds,
and sects, do so, if you learn anything by it. Don 't be afraid of being called inconsistent,
wavering, changeable, for, after all, what many people.

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pronounce to be a steady Christian gait, may only be the well trodden, stony path of
indifference and selfishness hedged about by weeds of self-conceit and prejudice, stifling
the growth of sweeter blossoms that may dare to lift their heads. Dare to stand up and say
what you think. Don't let policy seal your lips. If the old things are good enough for you;
if you do not care to disturb that deadly calm, well and good; but if there is that within you
that bids you awaken, heed the voice, for it is the voice of God in your soul. This is the
celestial visitor that knocketh, will you admit him, or will you turn a deaf ear and cheat
yourself into a belief that you can secure happiness in the old ways?
This spirit of unrest is portent of good; it is the sign of action; - the honest soul tries,
in vain, to banish the speculative doubt which has entered the mind. Nothing but a
certainty of where we stand can satisfy this unrest. We must either face, Godless and
alone, that grey, awful waste of waters, whose horizon is eternity, with no star in the infinite
night, and no hope of a haven of rest, or we must get a better understanding of religion, of
life and its object. Spiritual truth comes to us through spiritual illumination, which gives birth
to that stage we call faith, yet this faith is based upon experience, outside of the physical
plane, it is true, but Theosophy proves how faith need not be a blind attribute, for it
scientifically shows the method by which faith may become knowledge based upon
experience. This method embodies the development of the sevenfold nature of man.
Modern Science has been accused of making an inroad upon religion. Geology has
proven that the story of creation as taught by theology is false. The men engaged in the
pursuit of this knowledge have been branded as infidels. Who wants fidelity to a lie
whether that lie was taught from the bible or elsewhere? What does all this mean except
that we must study the bible, with the search-light of the past thrown upon it; we must
study it as we would any other work, remembering that it is the product of man 's brain, and
that, therefore, it is possible that error may have slipped in alongside of the truth. Let us
also remember that there must be differences of opinion regarding the meaning and
interpretation placed upon the words of any writer or teacher. And then, too, infallible
revelation requires an infallible interpretation, and both would he useless, without an
infallible understanding to comprehend the interpretation.
No one can interpret an intellectual subject unless through the medium of his own
consciousness, which is, so to speak, the mirror in which he is compelled to behold what
shows itself; but all mirrors are not equally clear. Some of our poets have been greatly
astonished at the meaning of certain passages that the critics assign to them. All this must
be taken into consideration when we study any writing, book, teacher, or system of religion.
But does this prevent man from having religion? Does it hinder him from proving unto
himself that God is? Never. For he has that power within himself, however latent it may
be, whereby he can know. Man can cultivate the perception of this inner power. It is self-
evident that no one can employ any spiritual power, unless be has come into its possession
by the awakening of his own spirituality. God is revealed to man thus only, and man seeks
in vain in all the books of history, science and religion, if he expects to put his finger on God
outside of himself. Man cannot apprehend God without recognizing and using the God
power within himself. It is as useless to seek otherwise as it would be to seek to see the
sun, except by the means of the sun itself, or by aid of the light that issues from it. Modern
Science teaches the evolution of the physical body; it stops there, it does not touch upon
any other

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plane of life but the physical; the lowest and least portion of man's nature. Theosophy
takes up the "missing link" of Science and carries it into other realms of matter; matter too
etherial for the finest instrument of material science to discover; but there exists within man
himself a lens of such delicate mechanism, which enables him to perceive beyond the
domain of physical science. The soul of man, when developed, fashions her own
instruments adapted to the planes upon which she wills to function.
Our object in life should be to learn the best way in which to obey the laws of God
in the universe; for this reason we should study religion intelligently and reverently. If we
want to know sculpture, painting, or music, we must study the masters of these arts; we
do not restrict ourselves to those at home, but to extend our knowledge we look to those
abroad; we study those of reputation, of experience and knowledge. Theosophy claims
to have such masters in Religion and Science. Through the teachings of the wisdom
religion, we become acquainted with the truths embodied in Christianity. We learn that the
basic idea in all religions is one and the same. The esoteric or spiritual meaning, however,
does not lie on the surface; we must penetrate beyond the superficial; we must not merely
take for granted that which has been asserted, but we must prove all things unto ourselves.
This can only be done when man first recognizes the fact that it can be proven by himself
unto himself, that this inner perception can be developed.
Theosophical history teaches that there are men, living men, who, by their own effort
and will-power have advanced in the scale of evolution to such a state of consciousness
that they know the origin and the destiny of mankind. The existence of these masters or
Adepts is a reality. There are living witnesses to this fact. Do you say why do they not
come forward and show themselves to the world? Why do they not change things for the
betterment of humanity? A number of like questions could be put, and each query could
be met with a fit reason as to why it is not done in the way that appears best to our
judgment.
First, we can readily see how our own conditions limit the Masters from coming into
personal contact with us. Second, that they must regard Karmic limitations, for in many
instances interference would retard man's progression instead of enhancing it; for the iron
of the lower nature must be burned to a white heat, before it can be made subservient to
the Spirit. How do we know how often the Masters help mankind? How much is due to
their help in philanthropic and beneficent works in every country and every clime?
Improvements; inventions that better the material conditions of men; how many of these
owe their origin to the powers behind the throne? In fact the Masters are ever operating
to help forward the advance of the race.
Now, there is no such thing as accident in the Universe. There are failures, but no
accidents; everything is governed by law. If we admit one accident, where shall we draw
the line? But the Masters have no desire to be praised or worshiped, their motives so far
transcend our little concepts of what is worthy, that we cannot fathom them by the shallow
plumb-line of our opinions and judgments. We come nearer the truth when we think of
them as one great Heart throbbing in sympathy with all that lives, and each heart-beat
dispensing rays of feeling, like unto the sunlight going out in all directions, and are as
impersonal as the very light of heaven itself.

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CHINESE MEDICINE
by Huldah T. Gunn. M.D.

A CHINESE medical doctor has been described by a facetious writer as "a happy
compound of pedant, quack, fortune-teller, and spirit-rapper, flavored with a dash of
Confucian priest, just for the look of the thing." As I read this definition I thought it was not
necessary to go as far as China to meet with M. D.'s of a similar sort, and as they do not
represent the status of the medical profession in our own country, perhaps the same might
be the case in the Flowery Kingdom. With this idea in view I determined to look up what
I could find on the subject of Chinese medicine.
What I have to present is meagre indeed, from the fact that very few of their medical
works have been translated into English. They are numerous and very ancient, but are still
authority for Chinese practice, as it is a peculiarity of the race to conserve and transmit,
rather than to investigate and originate. They abound in traditions, speculations and
theories, but lack that cautious and candid spirit of investigation that we call scientific study.
They have collected with great care and patient research a great variety of facts, invented
many arts and brought a few to a high degree of perfection, but in all departments of
learning they are unscientific. But as medicine is the most unscientific of all the sciences,
if I may be allowed the paradoxical expression, I find John Chinaman, M. D., fairly abreast
of the times in practice, however wild and absurd in his theories of medicine, and in spite
of his profound ignorance of the anatomy of the human body. Dissections are interdicted
by law in China and discountenanced by public opinion; the people having the idea that
a mutilated body will enter the world to come in a dismembered state and remain so forever
after. Consequently they have very vague ideas concerning the internal organs, their
relative positions or their functions. Theories are furnished in great variety to account for
the nourishment of the body as their knowledge of the circulation of the blood, of
absorption, and the various physiological changes is very defective.
They make the "yin'' and the "yang," those universal solvents of Chinese philosophy,
account for everything they cannot understand. The yin they claim is the male, and the
yang, the female principle in nature, and when they are in perfect harmony in the body,
health is the result, and disease is supposed to be owing to a disagreement of these two
elements. The brain is said to be the abode of the yin principle in its perfection, and the
yang is located in the heart. The surface of the body receives the closest attention, and
there is not a square inch without its appropriate name, suggested by the relation which
they suppose it bears to the internal organs. Plasters and lotions are applied to these
places according to the diagnosis of the disease, predicated on the dual theory of the yin
and yang.
The pulse is very carefully studied and its condition regarded as the index of every
condition of the body. Great parade is usually made by the practitioner in examining it; a
combination of solemn nonsense and unfathomable wisdom, that we barbarians delight to
emulate. The Chinese doctor attributes to the pulse an endless variety of nice peculiarities
and subtle indications, which he has reduced to a classification termed inch, bar and cubit;
the inch being nearest the hand, and the bar and cubit further up the arm, following the
course of the radial artery. There is supposed to be a sympathy between these different
points of the pulse and the in-

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ternal organs which serves to indicate the nature of the disease, and consequently the
state of the pulse is principally depended upon in diagnosis. Discrimination is made also
as to which side of the body the pulse is taken, and upon the amount of pressure in
determining it. For instance, when the left hand "inch" is lightly pressed, it indicates the
heart. When the "bar" is lightly pressed, the state of the gall-bladder is indicated; when
heavily pressed the liver responds. The "cubit" lightly pressed sounds the state of the
urinary bladder, and heavily pressed tells the condition of the kidneys. The right wrist when
examined in the same manner indicates the condition of the intestines, lungs, stomach,
spleen and two imaginary organs, which they call the san tseaon, or "three passages," and
the ming man, meaning the "gate of life." Sometimes the very wise doctor finds it
necessary to feel all these pulses at once, a process, I imagine, resembling very much the
fingering of a type-writer.
There is a Chinese theory that every organ of the body is allied to one of what they
term the five elements - earth, wood, metal, fire and water. The heart, they say, being
allied to the element fire, all derangements of the heart must proceed from excess of the
principles of heat and dryness. The bowels being allied to the element earth, become
deranged through an excess of wind, and so on. They put great stress also upon what they
call the disturbance of the equilibrium of the vital spirits, which means, I dare say, very
much the same thing as we do when we talk of nervous prostration. Both terms are very
vague, and considerable guess-work is resorted to in the treatment of each. The practice
of Dr. Chinaman, however, is far in advance of his theories, and by experience and close
observation of cause and effect, symptoms and pains, he is enabled to combat pathological
conditions for which he can give no reasonable explanation, with his limited knowledge of
anatomy, physiology and biology; and his methods in many instances are perhaps less
harmful than some of our so-called scientific ones.
Out of the four hundred and forty-two medicinal agents enumerated in one of their
popular dispensatories three hundred and fourteen are vegetable, fifty mineral, and
seventy-eight animal. These medicines are ranged under six heads - tonics, astringents,
resolvents, purgatives and alteratives of poisonous humors in the blood. Chinese medical
men prefer to extract the active principles of drugs by careful and repeated boilings, for
which they employ baked clay vessels. Tea is the grand exception to this rule. They enjoy
tea drinking too well to spoil it by boiling.
The element of heat is very properly taken into account by the Chinese doctors.
When they direct a decoction to be taken hot, they do not mean it shall be drunk warm. Hot
infusions are given in the acute stages of diseases where sweating is called for and
spirituous tinctures are employed in chronic diseases. Bread pills are an old and favorite
remedy with them, and are said to effect wonders. Browned wheat flour is used in fluxes.
A pillow stuffed with fresh barley bran is credited with having cooling, soothing effects in
small-pox and other serious eruptive diseases of children. Wild honey is used largely as
a household remedy for its pectoral, laxative and emollient properties. It is used as a salve
for chapped hands and roughness of the skin, and is also applied in inflammatory
conditions of the eye and as a vehicle for unpleasant drugs in making up pills. Oil of
sandal-wood is a favorite remedy in many specific diseases. Gentian, or "dragon's gall
plant," as the Chinese call it, and many other agents with the bitter principle, they set down
as eminently anti-phlogistic and anti-rheumatic. Ginseng is a very old and popular remedy
with them,

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and is used as a tonic, especially where there is a loss of virility. The flowers of henbane
(hyosciamus niger) in combination with henbane (aconite) root, they use topically when
they wish to benumb the tissues for opening boils or abscesses. Prickly ash (xanthoxylum)
berries they use for indigestion and dysentery. As a rule, the Chinese employ few mineral
or metallic substances in the treatment of internal diseases. The poisonous effects of lead
are well understood by them. They use it only in making liniments, ointments and plasters.
Sulphate of copper is in general use; it is applied as a powder to chronic ulcers, bad sore
eyes, and the bite of a mad dog. They also use it as an emetic in cases of opium
poisoning.
I might go on enumerating scores of drugs from the Chinese Materia Medica, that
we employ daily in our practice, with more science, perhaps, but with no better results.
Many popular writers would lead us to believe that Chinese remedies consisted entirely of
such substances as dragons' tusks, asses' glue, silk-worm moth, spotted lizards, scorpions,
sea shells, hartshorn shavings, rabbits' milk, stalactite, persimmon tops, lotus seeds, etc.,
etc., mixed boiled and brewed after the manner of the witches in "Macbeth," and
administered with much necromancy, incantations and invocations to the gods of the
healing art.
It would he strange indeed, if among the eleven thousand eight hundred and ninety-
six formulae to be found in one of their ancient books on medicine, there was not much that
is absurd, ignorant and superstitious; but do not our own pharmacopoeias contain many
remedies equally useless, if not as disgusting - and obsolete - of course. And when it
comes to invoking the aid of the supernatural, have we not our clairvoyants, faith cures and
Christian scientists flourishing throughout the land? As for medical mountebanks and
charlatans in China, their name is legion, and so is our own profession honeycombed with
them, but so long as they are dubbed "regular" they live and thrive.
In consequence of their ignorance of anatomy, the Chinese doctors have no proper
ideas of surgery, and seldom attempt it. In their efforts to reduce fractures and dislocations
they present a strange mixture of folly and sense in the procedure. Wells Williams gives
an account of an instance where an English traveler fell from his horse and dislocated his
ribs. The doctor who was called caused the patient to be stripped to the waist, and then,
supported by two men, made to walk in the open air. While walking, he had unexpectedly
a basin of freezing water thrown on his chest, which caused him to draw in his breath with
great vehemence. Under this infliction he was consoled by being told by the doctor that the
sudden hard breathing would restore the rib to its natural position. This method failing, the
next operation was to sit the patient on the ground, and then, by the assistance of two men,
the doctor held a cloth over his mouth and nostrils till he was almost suffocated. This said
the Chinese Esculapius, by causing a violent heaving of the chest will be sure to force in
place the dislocated rib; and it did. The gentleman had also received a scalp wound, and
that was healed by being stuffed with burnt cotton.
The obstetrical branch of practice is almost entirely in the hands of women in China.
Acupuncture was invented in China, no man knows how many centuries ago, and
is still largely practiced with some good results, among many bad ones. They puncture for
syncope, for deep-seated pains, for swelling of joints, for sprains, for dry cough, and many
other ailments. Indeed, they often treat the human body like a huge animated pincushion,
and puncture it indiscriminately. The custom of applying caustics and cauteries of various
degrees of

--- 51

power is very general and often entails great suffering. Leeching and cupping is employed
to remove blood in some inflammatory conditions, but venesection is discountenanced,
especially in fevers: for says the Chinese leech, a fever is like a pot boiling, and it is
requisite to reduce the fire, and not diminish the liquid in the vessel, if we wish to cure the
patient. Had this philosophy of the Orient been recognized earlier by the M.D.'s of the
Occident, many a valuable life might have been spared that has been a victim to the
barbarous practice of bleeding.
The practice of inoculation or planting for small-pox, as they termed it, originated in
China. When, it is hard to estimate; for it was handed down to them from the Sung
dynasty, 1014 years before Christ. Their theory is that the poison of small-pox is
introduced into the system ab utero, and remains concealed till it has developed through
the agency of some external exciting cause. The victims to this barbarous practice are the
babies, and the propitious seasons for the operation, are spring and autumn, being careful
to avoid the 11th and 15th day of the moon.
The modus operandi is to impregnate a piece of cotton-wool with the variolous lymph
and introduce it into the nostrils. The procession of the morbific influences is marshaled
in the following order: "The nose is the external orifice of the lungs; when the lymph is
placed in the nose its influence is first communicated to the lungs, which governs the hair
and skin; the lungs transfer the poison to the heart; the heart governs the pulse, and
transfers the poison to the spleen; the spleen governs the liver; the liver governs the
tendons, and transfers the poison to the kidneys; the kidneys govern the bones; the
poison of the small-pox lies hid originally in the marrow of the bones; but when it receives
the impression from the inoculation it manifests itself and breaks out externally." Now I
doubt if Koch himself can give a more lucid explanation of the occult workings of his famous
consumptive cure, unless the mantle of Chint-sung, the supposed originator of the theory
of inoculation has descended upon him.
I cannot leave the list of Chinese remedies without noticing the celebrated red pills
of which we have all heard. Their composition is a secret in the possession of a single
family and is transmitted from generation to generation, and jealously guarded. In Peking
they have a prodigious celebrity and are unanimously extolled as a universal panacea for
all the ills a Chinaman is heir to. They are homoeopathic in size, and the dose is from two
to two dozen according to the gravity of the case. They are perhaps the most active
sudorific known to the Chinese medical world; but the mode of administering them is most
remarkable. A single pill is powdered and applied to the nose like snuff, which provokes
such a succession of sneezes, that the whole body protests, and breaks out into a profuse
perspiration. They depend, too, upon this wonderful pill in prognosis. If a pinch does not
make a man sneeze his case is hopeless; if he sneezes but once he will live but one day.
Hope revives and grows in exact ratio to the number of sneezes and the vigor with which
they are delivered.
The classes of diseases which most prevail in China are ophthalmic, cutaneous and
gastric. Intermittent fevers are also common. Dr. Lockhart ascribes the prevalence of
diseases of the eye to the practice barbers have of turning the lids over and clearing their
surfaces of the natural secretions of the eye. He says: "If the person's eyes are examined
after this process they will be found to be red and irritated, and in time conjunctivitis
supervenes, which being considered proof of insufficient cleansing, the practice is persisted
in till the lids become granulated; in some cases the

--- 52

tarsal cartilages contract and entropion (turning in of the eyelids) is the result of this
barbarous practice." In general the Chinese enjoy good health, their mode of living is
simple, and their diet, which is principally vegetable, is wholesome and nutritious, in spite
of the assertions of some travelers to the contrary; but as their dietetics is not pertinent to
this paper, I cannot dwell upon that subject.
Their custom is when ill from colds or fever, to suspend work, go to bed and stop
eating food of any kind; which in most cases allows nature to work her own cure. Their
medicines, as I have said, are mostly from the vegetable kingdom. This is corroborated by
Mr. Shen Woon, ex-Consul to New York city, in a letter I received from him in reply to an
inquiry on the subject. He says: "My opinion is that, however ignorant the Chinese may
appear in the eye of the Western physician of the science, they must know something by
experience and traditions. Canton is a province where medical practice is most deceptive;
the central part of China, where I am from, is not in lack of good doctors, and this
affirmation is warranted by my personal experience. In China we use chiefly vegetable
remedies, which are soothing, invigorating and healing by nature."
The Chinese are also a temperate people; and their moralists have always
inveighed against the use of spirits, and the name of I-tih, the reported inventor of
spirituous drinks, more than 2000 Years before Christ, has been handed down with
opprobrium, as he was banished by the great Yu for his discovery. Brandy is used in the
collapse stage of dysentery and cholera as a dernier resort and is called the "life-prolonging
draught." But the people are taught that the habitual use of it "injures the gall bladder, ruins
the stomach and rots the intestines" - and these lessons are very near the truth. Whiskey,
which they distil from corn, millet, and the juice of sorgo, they use principally in preparing
their tinctures.
In regard to the laws regulating the practice of medicine in China, there are none,
except that embodied in section 297 of the Chinese Penal Code, which reads as follows:
"When one who shall practice the profession of medicine or surgery without understanding
it, shall adminster drugs or operate with a piercing or cutting instrument in a manner
contrary to established rules and practice, and shall thereby contribute to cause the death
of a patient, the magistrate shall convoke other men of the profession to examine the
nature of the remedy such practitioner shall have administered, or the wound he shall have
made, and which has been followed by the death of the patient. If it should appear that the
physician or surgeon has only acted in error, and without injurious intention, he may by a
certain payment, obtain the remission of the punishment inflicted on a homicide, in the
manner established for cases of killing by accident; but such physician or surgeon shall
be compelled forever to quit the profession."
No medical "faculty" has the making of a Chinese doctor. If he can pass the
competitive examinations that every Chinaman is subjected to, if he wishes to be anything
above a hewer of wood and drawer of water, he has the right to choose the medical
profession the same as any other calling. Neither emperors nor mandarins nor literary
chancellors, nor imperial commissions charge themselves with any concern in the matter,
but philosophically dismiss it with the theory that it is to the interest of the sick millions to
see to it that the doctor of their choosing understands his business; and if he does not,
Section 297 of the Penal Code is his protection. On the whole, I think their system is rather
an improvement on our laws for making and unmaking, licensing and prohibiting, which are
becoming more and more complicated and arrogant in our free America.

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--- 53

THE SERPENT SYMBOL

by Sarah F. Gordon

MYSTICS see in the Serpent the emblem of Cosmic Force, a high spiritual essence
whose influence pervades the realm of matter.
The emblem of Eternity is a Serpent with its tail in its mouth: a circle, never
beginning, never ending. It also represents the Astral Light or Universal Soul from which
all that exists is born by separation or differentiation. Through all space thrill the magnetic
and electrical elements of animate Nature, the life-giving and death-giving, for life on one
plane is death on another plane. In the Secret Doctrine, it says: - "That 'Mystery of the
Serpent' was this: Our Earth, or rather terrestrial life, is often referred to in the Secret
Teachings as the great Sea, 'the sea of life' having remained to this day a favorite
metaphor. The Siphrah Dtzenioutha speaks of primeval chaos and the evolution of the
Universe after a destruction (pralaya), comparing it to an uncoiling serpent: - 'Extending
hither and thither, its tail in its mouth, the head twisting on its neck, it is enraged and angry.
. . . It watches and conceals itself. Every Thousand Days it is manifested'" (Secret
Doctrine, II, 504).
In the Kabala, the creative Force makes sketches and spiral lines in the shape of a
serpent. It holds its tail in its mouth, the symbol of endless eternity and of cyclic periods.
It is held that the ancients believed more in the spiritual or invisible powers of Nature
than the men of the present day. Spirit and Matter were opposite poles of the same
essence. The dual is in all, active and passive, male and female. The nearer to the heart
of mother Nature man keeps, the more he comprehends spiritual truths. A symbol once
adopted is kept by its sacredness, though with varying meanings according to that which
is uppermost in the mind of the user. Hence a knowledge of the soul life of races is the
only true guide in the explanation of symbols. The symbolic hieroglyphics of the ancients
were based upon the occult science of correspondences. They defended symbolic
teaching on the ground that the symbol left so much unexplained that thereby the intellect
was stimulated and trained to deep thinking. Often, alas, the reverse is seen; the symbol
being accepted as the thing itself. Occultism teaches that the possible in thought is
possible in action. Religion rests on a mental want, we hope, we fear, because we desire.
Both emotions prompt action and, to that extent, are opposed to thought. Religion has
been through all the forms of self-love, sex-love, love of country, love of humanity, while
in each is the germ of the highest love. Develop very strongly any of these forms of love
and it will concentrate whatever religious' aspirations a person has. All point to one high
form which can become a passion for truth. "By the Divine Power of Love all Nature
becomes renewed." This is the secret which underlies all the symbols. "Right thought is
the path to Life Everlasting: those who think do not die," is an old philosophical axiom.
Goethe said "Confidence and resignation, the sense of subjection to a higher will which
rules the course of events but which we do not fully comprehend, are the fundamental
principles of every better religion."
The Occultist believes that the spiritual and psychic involution proceed on parallel
lines with physical evolution; that the inner senses were innate in the first human races.
The serpent is the symbol of the Adept,

--- 54

of his powers of Divine Knowledge. It is the emblem of wisdom and prudence. Every
people revered the symbol. Jesus acknowledged the great wisdom and prudence of the
serpent. "Be ye wise as serpents." The serpent also symbolizes the creative power. The
creative powers in man are the gift of Divine Wisdom, not the result of sin. The curse was
not pronounced for seeking natural union, but for abusing these powers. Thus arose good
and evil. This is the real curse alluded to in Genesis.
It is owing to the serpent being oviparous that it becomes a symbol of wisdom and
an emblem of the Logoi or the Self-born. The egg was chosen as the universal symbol on
account of its form and its inner mystery. Within the closed shell evolved a living creature
apparently self-created.
The serpent represents the sensual, magnetic element which fascinates while it
causes ruin the alluring of the spiritual force into the vortex of sentient existence. By the
symbol of the serpent the ancients represented fire, light, life, struggle, effort, thought,
consciousness, progress, civilization, liberty, independence; at the same time it is the ever
revolving circle with its opposite poles, life and death, pleasure and pain, heat and cold,
light and darkness, active and passive. With heat comes expansion and consequent
disintegration into new forms of life. It is only through sentient manifestation that man can
rise to the plane of life immortal. It is in the experience earned through the tortures of
mortality that man may evolve a God. No spiritual and psychic evolution is possible on
earth for one who is forever passive. That would be failure on this material plane. Man is
born, he has to evolve the angel by long and repeated lives on earth. Human passions
correspond to the earth, which is the fructifier of the seed or germ sown in its depths. As
the Voice of the Silence says: - "Out of the furnace of man's life and its black smoke,
winged flames arise, flames purified, that, soaring onward 'neath the Karmic eye, weave
in the end the fabric glorified of the three vestures of the Path." "Inaction based on selfish
fear can bear but evil fruit. The selfish devotee lives to no purpose. The man who does
not go through his appointed work in life has lived in vain."
"Follow the wheel of life, follow the wheel of duty to race and kin, to friend and foe,
and close thy mind to pleasures as to pain. Both action and inaction may find room in thee,
thy body agitated, thy mind tranquil, thy soul as limpid as a mountain lake."

---------------
--- 55

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE *

(Continued.)

THE TWO PATHS.

THESE vestures are; Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Dharmakaya, robe
sublime.
The Shangna robe,** 'tis true, can purchase light eternal. The Shangna robe alone
gives the Nirvana of destruction; it stops rebirth, but, O Lanoo, it also kills - compassion.
No longer can the perfect Buddhas, who don the Dharmakaya glory, help man's salvation.
Alas! shall SELVES be sacrificed to Self, mankind, unto the weal of units?
Know, O beginner, this is the Open PATH, the way to selfish bliss, shunned by the
Bodhisattvas of the "Secret Heart," the Buddhas of Compassion.
To live to benefit mankind is the first step. To practice the six glorious virtues*** is
the second.
To don Nirmanakaya's humble robe is to forego eternal bliss for Self to help on
man's salvation. To reach Nirvana's bliss but to renounce it, is the supreme, the final step -
the highest on Renunciation's Path.
Know, O Disciple, this is the Secret PATH, selected by the Buddhas of Per-

--------------
* "The Voice of the Silence and other Chosen Fragments from the Book of Golden
Precepts for the daily use of Lanoos, (disciples) translated and annotated by H. P. B."
Published by The Theosophical Publishing Company, 41 Madison Avenue, New York.
** The Shangna robe, from Shangnavesu of Rajagriha, the third great Arhat or
"Patriarch," as the Orientalists called the hierarchy of the thirty-three Arhats who spread
Buddhism. "Shangna robe" means, metaphorically, the acquirement of Wisdom with which
the Nirvana of destruction (of personality) is entered. Literally, the "initiation robe" of the
Neophytes. Edkins states that this "grass cloth" was brought to China from Tibet in the
Tong Dynasty. "When an Arhan is born this plant is found growing in a clean spot," says
the Chinese, as also the Tibetan legend.
*** To "practice the Paramita Path" means to become a Yogi with a view of
becoming an ascetic.
------------

fection, who sacrificed the SELF to weaker Selves.

 Yet, if the "Doctrine of the Heart" is too high-winged for thee, if thou needest help
thyself and fearest to offer help to others - then, thou of timid heart, be warned in time:
remain content with the "Eye Doctrine" of the Law. Hope still. For if the "Secret Path" is
unattainable this "day," it is within thy reach "tomorrow.''* Learn that no efforts, not the
smallest - whether in right or wrong direction - can vanish from the world of causes. E'en
wasted smoke remains not traceless. "A harsh word uttered in past lives is not destroyed,
but ever comes again."** The pepper plant will not give birth to roses, nor the sweet
jessamine's silver star to thorn or thistle turn.
Thou canst create this "day'' thy chances for thy "morrow." In the "Great journey,"***
causes sown each hour bear each its harvest of effects, for rigid Justice rules the World.
With mighty sweep of never-erring action, it brings to mortals lives of weal or woe, the
karmic progeny of all our former thoughts and deeds.
Take then as much as merit hath in store for thee, O thou of patient heart. Be of
good cheer and rest content with fate. Such is thy Karma, the Karma of the cycle of thy
births, the destiny of those who, in their pain and sorrow, are born along with thee, rejoice
and weep from life to life, chained to thy previous actions.

-----------
* "Tomorrow" means the following rebirth or reincarnation.
** Precepts of the Prasanga School.
*** "Great Journey," or the whole complete cycles of existences in one "Round."
-----------
--- 56

............
"Act thou for them today,'' and they will act for thee tomorrow."
'Tis from the bud of Renunciation of the Self, that springeth the sweet fruit of final
Liberation.
To perish doomed is he, who out of fear of Mara refrains from helping man, lest he
should act for Self. The pilgrim who would cool his weary limbs in running waters, yet
dares not plunge for terror of the stream, risks to succumb from heat. Inaction based on
selfish fear can bear but evil fruit.
The selfish devotee lives to no purpose. The man who does not go through his
appointed work in life - has lived in vain.
Follow the wheel of life; follow the wheel of duty to race and kin, to friend and foe,
and close thy mind to pleasures as to pain. Exhaust the law of karmic retribution. Gain
Siddhis for thy future birth.
If Sun thou canst not be, then be the humble planet. Aye, if thou art debarred from
flaming like the noon-day Sun upon the snow-capped mount of purity eternal, then choose,
O Neophyte, a humbler course.
Point out the "Way" - however dimly, and lost among the host - as does the evening
star to those who tread their path in darkness.
Behold Migmar,* as in his crimson veils his "Eye" sweeps over slumbering Earth.
Behold the fiery aura of the "Hand" of Lhagpa** extended in protecting love over the heads
of his ascetics. Both are now servants to Nyima*** left in his absence silent watches in the
night. Yet both in Kalpas past were bright Nyimas, and may in future "Days" again become
two Suns. Such are the falls and rises of the Karmic Law in nature.
Be, O Lanoo, like them. Give light and comfort to the toiling pilgrim, and seek out
him who knows still less than thou; who in his wretched desolation sits starving for the
bread of Wisdom and the bread which feeds the shadow, without a Teacher, hope, or
consolation, and - let him hear the Law.
Tell him, O Candidate, that he who makes of pride and self-regard bond-maidens
to devotion; that he who, cleaving to existence, still lays his patience and submission to
the Law as a sweet flower at the feet of Shakya-Thub-pa,**** becomes a Srotapatta+ in this
birth. The Siddhis of perfection may loom far, far away; but the first step is taken, the
stream is entered, and he may gain the eye-sight of the mountain eagle, the hearing of the
timid doe.
Tell him, O Aspirant, that true devotion may bring him back the knowledge, that
knowledge which was his in former births. The deva-sight and deva-hearing are not
obtained in one short birth.

-----------
* Mars.
** Mercury.
*** The Sun.
*** Nyima, the Sun in Tibetan Astrology. Migmar or Mars is symbolized by an "Eye,"
and Lhagpa or Mercury by a "Hand."
**** Buddha.
+ Sratapotti or "he who enters in the stream" of Nirvana, unless he reaches the goal
owing to some exceptional reasons, can rarely attain Nirvana in one birth. Usually a Chela
is said to begin the ascending effort in one life and end or reach it only in his seventh
succeeding birth.
-------------
--- 57

STUDENTS' COLUMN
conducted by J.H. Fussell

"Would you consider it wise or Theosophical, or right to enforce the collection of a

debt by law. Would it not be better to lose than to stir up bad feeling; pitying our debtor
rather than hating him?
"Would it not be Theosophical to send a receipt in full to all our debtors who show
themselves unwilling to pay?"

In the first place what is wise is Theosophical, and what is wise and Theosophical
must be right. Under the present organization of society ownership is necessary, and it is
therefore right for one to protect himself in his lawful ownership. If a debtor is able and
refuses to pay a just debt he should he compelled to pay. To collect a debt, justly due, by
process of law does not indicate hatred of the debtor by the creditor, but rather a desire for
justice from the debtor. To send receipts in full to debtors refusing to pay would be only an
encouragement of injustice. He who justly owes and refuses to pay brings upon himself
the karma of that refusal, whether it be a suit at law, or the ruin of his credit. Justice is
more than a sentiment, it is a principle. Forgiveness is a sentiment only. To "forgive" a just
debt and allow it to go unpaid because of the refusal of the debtor is to make ourselves the
agent for deferring Karma, which might have been entirely exhausted by the payment of
his debt. We are thus hindering rather than helping him. - Paul

"Is it consistent for a meat-eater to be an anti-vivisectionist?"

Suppose we grant for a moment that it is not consistent. But why should we draw
the line at meat-eating? Is it right to take life at all? Then where shall we stop? Plants and
vegetables have their life too! Why cut down a plant or uproot a vegetable if in so doing
you destroy its life! Will you any longer pluck flowers and cut short their beauty and
fragrance that you may adorn yourself? Or will you refuse to destroy vermin? Then go a
step farther, will you continue to breathe when you learn that with every breath you draw
you destroy myriads of creatures? Every vital process of the body implies the destruction
of living forms.
It may be thought that this is going to extremes and you may say that breathing is
essential to the maintenance of life, that too the body requires food but that life can be
supported without meat-eating. Yet it is only by viewing the question in all its aspects that
we can hope to come to a correct solution of it.
In my judgment the test of right and wrong and of consistency in this as in all matters
is duty. If the performance of duty requires bodily health and if in certain cases this cannot
be maintained save by meat-eating then, I say, eat meat by all means. It is of no avail to
say that some can maintain health without meat-eating or that all could do so if they went
about it in the right way; the fact remains that as at present constituted the majority of men
and women cannot maintain health without meat-eating.
I fully believe there will come a time in the evolution of the race when meat-eating
will no longer be necessary or desired, but it is folly for us to pretend that we have yet
attained to that point. The majority of men and women in the Western world both desire
meat, and cannot maintain health or perform their duties without it.
Apply the same test of duty to vivisection. Is this practice essential to the
performance of duty? Has it benefitted man, has it advanced science? The great majority
of the medical profession

--- 58

are opposed to vivisection, and some of the most eminent physicians deny that any good
has come from its practice. (See article "A Great Unpunished Crime," published in
Theosophy, July, 1897.) Meat-eating and vivisection do not come in the same category.
Yet as the ideas of Brotherhood spread, as men and women begin to realize that
they live not for themselves alone, but for all people and all creatures, as we purify our
thoughts and ennoble our lives, gradually the present conditions will change, tastes will
become simpler, the animal nature more controlled and there will no longer be a desire for
meat.
Surely the natural and right way to bring about this condition is to transform one's
nature and elevate one's life, - to strike at the cause of the desire, not at the effect.
Mr. Judge once said "it is not a question of what we eat, but of how we eat."
Do we eat for the sake of enjoyment and gratification of the palate or with the view
of fitting ourselves to perform our duties? The primal question is one of duty. If this be
followed, all minor questions such as that of meat-eating will fall naturally into place and
find ready solution.

------------

YOUNG FOLKS' DEPARTMENT

THE WOODEN SPOON

by Onkel Adam

ONCE upon a time there was a wooden spoon that was as fine and neat as ever
could be, made of fine juniper wood with carved foliage on the handle. You never could
see anything neater than the pretty wooden spoon with its veins flaming between white,
yellow, and red, and every one praised the spoon saying: Oh, how pretty you are!
Then the spoon grew proud, for pride clings to all created things, and therefore a
wooden spoon can also be proud in its heart, which is in the midst of its crooked waist - in
the handle.
"Oh, that I was a silver-spoon," the wooden spoon thought, "for now there are only
servants who handle me; but were I a silver-spoon I dare say the king himself might eat
rice-milk with me out of a silver-dish. Being only wooden I will have nothing but meal-
porridge to wet myself in."
But the spoon said to its mistress, "Dear Mistress, I am rather too good to be a mere
wooden spoon; I just feel I am not fitted for the life down-stairs, I ought to be up-stairs. I
cannot bear servants, they are so clumsy and use me so badly. Dear Mistress, help me
to be a silver spoon."
Wishing to do as the little spoon wanted the mistress took it to a silversmith, who
promised to silver it. And he laid it over with silver, so that it shone as bright as the sun and
it felt so happy, that you almost could feel its little heart beat in the handle. When at home
again it was laid in the plate-basket and was allowed to call the silver-spoons by name, the
tea-spoons calling it aunt and the silver-forks cousin. Moreover, it counted kindred with a
soup-ladle, calling it grannie, although it never saw it before.
But when the spoons were to be used, it always was left in the plate-basket, though
it put itself on the top not to be forgotten, so it was not its fault that it was not taken out with
the others.
This having happened many times and it always was left, it complained to the
mistress saying, "Please tell the maid that I am silver-spoon just as good

--- 59

as anybody else. I can't understand why she makes any difference between me and the
others, as I look much brighter than all of them." "Well," replied the mistress, "from the
weight she knows you to be only a silver-plated wooden pin. "The weight, the weight,"
stammered the wooden spoon, "so it is not only from the brightness outside a real silver
spoon is distinguished from a wooden one?" "No, my dear, silver is much heavier than
wood, that's the matter." Well, make me heavier then, I insist on being as good as the
others. I can't bear this shame."
Wishing to help her little spoon the mistress took it again to the silversmith. "Oh,
dear," she said, "please make this spoon as heavy as a silver-spoon." "That 's impossible
without casting lead into the handle," said the smith. "Ah," the wooden spoon thought,
"then he is obliged to pierce my heart .... but we must suffer everything for the glory. He
may pierce my heart and cast it full with lead, can I only be regarded as a real silver-
spoon." And the silversmith bored deeply through the poor wooden spoon's heart, it felt
great pain, but it was silent and suffered. He cast lead into the bored hole, it ran through
the heart and stiffened within, but it suffered that too - everything for the glory.
At last it was ready, and new-silvered it returned into the plate-basket. But now the
maid took it for a real silver-spoon, and it would have enjoyed it, were there not a lump of
lead in its heart, but that prevented it from being happy with its glory.
For a year it was thought to be a real silver spoon, so well was it silvered and so well
was the weight weighed out. But then the mistress died.
The mistress being the only one who knew the truth the spoon nearly enjoyed her
death. "Now nobody knows anything else but my being a silver spoon," it thought; "now
my glory is strengthened."
But all the silver was sold and was to be recast. The poor wooden spoon, seeing
the melting-furnace, and knowing it had to be thrown in it, got quite frightened and began
speaking to the other spoons about the tyranny they exercised against the poor
defenseless things.
"To be sure, they will burn us up, they will kill us," it said.
"Oh no, they may very well melt us," said the silver spoons, "sorry to say, we have
a little copper within us, that we should like to have burnt away. After that we will be purer
and better than we were before.
But the poor wooden spoon would not be consoled, and when they were going to
throw it into the melting-pot it said with trembling voice:
"Dear Sir, certainly I am a silver spoon, that's clear, and that you can see outside
and feel from the weight too, but still I am not of the same kind of silver as the others, I am
of a finer sort, which can't stand the fire but ends in smoke."
"Are you quicksilver then?"
"Yes, quicksilver, as I am very quick to understand."
"Oh no, you are not quicksilver, but tin perhaps?"
"Oh dear, what do you think of me?"
"Or lead perhaps."
"Good Gracious, surely you can see that I am not lead."
"Well, I will see," said the master and would have bent the handle; but crash! it
broke, and the lump of lead fell out of it.
"Only a wooden spoon then."
"Yes," said the wooden spoon, which getting rid of the lead felt quite light and happy;
"yes, I am a wooden spoon, and now only wish to be so.
"Take away the silvering, dear sir, glue me together and put me downstairs together
with the other spoons, then I will tell them how foolish it is of a wooden spoon wishing to
be of silver."
---------------
--- 60

REVIEWS

Progress* has for a special course of instruction (beginning with the September
number), the subject of "Universal Religion," presented in a series of lessons by eminent
scholars, Asiatic, European and American. The first is an essay on "The Principles of the
Science of Religion, or Comparative Theology" by Prof. F. Max Muller. Though displaying
a broad and tolerant spirit, Prof. Max Muller is rather too confident in asserting that we now
have "accurate knowledge of the actual steps that led from every lower stratum to a higher
one, steps not imperceptible or merely postulated, but steps clearly perceptible and definite
by which the human mind has risen from the lowest elementary conceptions to the higher
and more complex thoughts of the present time." His theory is that "the human mind in its
endeavor to apprehend and to comprehend the world by which it found itself surrounded,
proceeded naturally from mere percepts to more and more general concepts," and
"afterwards it was driven for a long time to poetical, metaphorical, mythological and
religious expression of the surrounding phenomena of nature, till it finally reached the stage
of abstract thought, and recognized in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, both the extent and
limits of its powers." None of the other writers of the series carry this evolutionary theory
to the extreme that Prof. Max Muller does; and the array of facts which they present are
sufficient in themselves to show that the theory is erroneous. Thus Prof. Otis T. Mason
frankly admits that "the question is mooted whether certain phases of culture are the
productions of a people moving upward, or of one moving downward."
In the lesson on "The Religions of

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*Issued monthly by the University Association; University Building, New York;
Association Building, Chicago; $3.75 per year.
-------------

North and South America" Prof. George A. Dorsey says:

"The fundamental belief of Americans, as of nearly all primitive peoples, is that all
nature is animated; that every object, both animate and inanimate, lives and has a soul or
spirit. . . . The belief in the existence of a human soul seems to have been universal in
America. The Eskimos thought that the soul could leave the body in the night, go hunting,
dancing or visiting. Among most of the American tribes it was held that the soul could
detach itself from the body and wander about more or less at will. . . . Even the trees, the
flowers, the stones, all objects of nature, to the Indian think and feel. The voice of nature
is to him something real and tangible. . . . But his belief in souls is not confined to the
material objects of this earth; there are higher spirits or souls. . . There exists a Spirit World
from which revelations are received at times by means of dreams. But higher still is the
pantheon of souls or Gods who dominate the universe. . . To the American Indian all nature
is not only animate, but can be explained. He asks the cause of his existence; how he
came into being; how was the earth created; what makes the stars to shine; what means
the peculiarity of this animal, the plumage of that bird? And he has an answer for all these
questions. At times his answer is very long; it is a tale or myth. The mythology of America
is extremely rich and beautiful, and is well worthy of close study. . . . In some of the Pueblo
tribes there exist mysterious secret societies among the priesthood, entrance into which
is possible only after long ceremonies of initiation."
He quotes Dr. Brinton, who says of Viracocha, the Supreme Deity of the Quichuas,
whom they called Illa tucci, "the Ancient Cause":

--- 61

"Viracocha was placed above and beyond all other Gods, the essential First Cause,
infinite, incorporeal, invisible, above the sun, older than the beginning, but omnipresent,
accessible, beneficent. Does this seem too abstract, too elevated a notion of God for a
race whom we are accustomed to deem gross and barbaric? I cannot help it. The
testimony of the earliest observers, and the living proof of language, are too strong to allow
of doubt. The adjectives which were applied to this divinity by the native priests are still on
record, and that they were not a loan from Christian theology is conclusively shown by the
fact that the very writers who preserved them often did not know their meaning, and
translated them incorrectly. . . . The more interesting, in view of this lofty ideal of divinity
they had attained, become the Peruvian myths of the incarnation of Viracocha, his life and
doings as a man among men."
He also states that reincarnation or transmigration was one of the tenets of the
American Indians generally. The simple fact is that in the beliefs of these so-called
primitive peoples, and in their marvelous mythology, their lofty conception of the Supreme
Cause, there is more real knowledge of the phenomena and noumena of nature than is
possessed by all the scientists and theologians of the modern school. The whole series
of "lessons'' on Universal Religion is superficial to the last degree. The religions of China,
Greece, Rome, Babylonia, India, Egypt, etc., are presented, not as living faiths, but as
skeletons, mummies, and graveyard dust; and not one of the learned staff of contributors
shows the slightest appreciation of the vital truths contained in the old faiths he tries to
analyze so "scientifically." - J. M. P.
The Pacific Theosophist, for February-March, has a ring of exultation. The editor
gives a clear and convincing explanation of the reasons for the action taken at the Chicago
Convention, and rejoices that so great a step forward has been made; and Dr. Allen
Griffiths writes in the same strain. The article on "Jesus of Nazareth," by W. B. Wilson,
while containing much that is interesting, is by no means based upon the "newer criticism,"
and makes many slips, such as Revelations for Revelation, and referring to Paul's Letter
to Philemon as being "a gracious tribute to Brotherhood, besides being a beautiful example
of classic English." The English translators certainly deserve praise for the beauty of their
version, but the same praise can hardly be bestowed upon Paul's unclassical and very
crabbed Greek. The writer truly says of this Letter: "It is the natural expression of a lofty
soul touched by the atmanic ray from the super-spiritual planes of being." The sentiment
is excellent, but the wording is a little too technical. "The Cause of Discontent," by Miss
Anne Bryce, is also slightly blemished by the use of technical phrases, as "hierarchical
impulse," and "self-conscious entity"; yet it is tersely written, and sets forth many helpful
suggestions in a fearless way. - J. M. P.
How We Master Our Fate, Ryursula N. Gestefeld.* Because there is so much that
is really excellent in the work it is to be regretted that the literary form is not smoother, more
readable. The style is so disjointed, jerky, usually addressed to the second person, and
very didactic, that the reader gets the impression of being hauled around in an unfriendly
way. The object of the book is to convince people that they should think for themselves,
reason things out for themselves, become rulers of their own destiny. All this is true
philosophy, and Mrs. Gestefeld sets forth many cogent reasons for this independence of
thought and freedom from the bondage of outer circumstance;

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* New York: Gestefeld Pub. Co.
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--- 62

but in her over-enthusiasm in advocating her ideas she thrusts them at her reader on the
point of a lance, making him shrink back in dread of being impaled. Now, no one can be
made to do his own thinking by compelling him to accept a ready-made system; riding up
and down in an elevator does not strengthen the muscles as exercise in a gymnasium
does.
The man in the elevator may be uplifted, but his climbing ability is not increased.
Again, the method of treatment of the subject is not coherent, the abstract and the
concrete, and the argumentative and the authoritative, being incongruously combined: at
one moment the reader is in the empyrean, at the next he hits the solid ground with a
thump; he follows a close line of reasoning only to run up against an utterly irrelevant
biblical quotation. Nor is a consistent terminology developed; and for this reason it is
sometimes difficult to get at the author's real meaning; thus she makes constant use of the
word "create" where the whole force of the word is opposed to the very line of thought
which she is elucidating.
The book reveals clear and vigorous thinking, a pure purpose, and noble aspiration.

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--- 63

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

NEW YORK. - Since the organization of Universal Brotherhood on January 13th,

Brotherhood meetings have been held every Sunday morning in Lansing Hall, 459
Boulevard.
On Sunday evening, March 20th, a meeting was held in Chickering Hall, centrally
located on 5th Avenue, and seating 1200 people. Meetings will be held in this Hall every
Sunday morning at 10.45. The meeting on Sunday evening was most successful, there
was a large and enthusiastic audience and as two strangers remarked afterwards, it was
not a magnetic but an electric meeting. H. T. Patterson was Chairman, the speakers were
Iverson Harris of Macon, Ga., on "The Universal Brotherhood Organization''; Dr. E. B.
Guild on "Autocracy"; J. H. Fussell on "The letter killeth but the Spirit maketh alive"; James
M. Pryse on "Esoteric Christianity"; Dr. Robt. A. Gunn of New York on "Some phases of
Insanity"; Mrs. E. C. Mayer on "Woman"; Basil Crump on "Art"; D. N. Dunlop on "Liberality
in Thought."
Selections of music were given by Mrs. A. L. Cleather and Basil Crump and two
songs by E. A. Neresheimer.
A great many strangers were present and several enquiries were made after the
meeting in regard to the Universal Brotherhood.
Immediately after the Convention Mrs. Alice L. Cleather and Mr. Basil Crump
accompanied Dr. J. A. Anderson to the Pacific Coast and visited San Francisco, Los
Angeles, and San Diego, giving their musical lectures on Wagner's Music Dramas, and
arousing much interest. They also visited Point Loma and spent a day and a night there.
On their way back they stopped and lectured at Macon, Ga., and arrived in New York
March 18th. Everywhere they received most favorable newspaper notices. On
Saturday evening, March 19th, at the Waldorf-Astoria Assembly room Mrs. Cleather and
Mr. Crump gave an illustrated lecture on Richard Wagner with musical selections and
stereopticon views. The lecture was well attended by a very appreciative audience.
On Monday evening they lectured in Boston, returning to New York on Wednesday.
Iverson L. Harris after the Convention made a tour of the Central States and visited
24 Branches. He reports that everywhere with hardly an exception, the new order of things
has aroused great enthusiasm and members seem to have taken a new lease of life.
This is certainly the case at headquarters, the work of the office has been
overwhelming in all departments but everything goes steadily forward. Never has there
been such a spontaneity of effort which however does not flag but seems rather to become
greater and more effective as day by day passes.
Over 130 charters have been issued to lodges of the Universal Brotherhood. Many
of the Branches of the T. S. A. also sent in formal resolutions endorsing the action of their
delegates and supporting the new organization unqualifiedly. Letters from individuals
expressing loyalty and devotion are received every day. On every hand the members feel
that the work they love so well has been safeguarded from all attacks. Some few of our
brothers have left us, some are fighting against us. Alas! that there should be any so blind
as to seek to hinder us in our work for humanity. But, though they seek to tear down; we
go ever forward, building up, rearing a temple whose stones are the hearts of men,

--- 64

building a guardian wall which shall for ever keep back the evil forces that seek to impede
the progress of humanity.
As an example of the letters received the following is of interest from the New
Century T. S., Sacramento:
"We have not had a single secessionist from our local ranks over action of recent
convention. All members of Universal Brotherhood Lodge No. 12 seem to realize that
Brotherhood is a fact in Nature."
One member from the West writes; "This seems like a return to the old days of H.
P. B. and W. Q. J."
Another says: "I wish to say that I am very much encouraged and feel a great hope
for the future of the Society and its work for Humanity."
Every member in the T. S. A. should read the following words written by William Q.
Judge in August, 1895: "A great difference exists between the Theosophical Movement
and any Theosophical Society. The Movement is moral, ethical, spiritual, universal,
invisible, save in effect. A society formed for Theosophical work is a machine for
conserving energy and putting it to use. . . . Organized theosophical bodies are made by
men for their better cooperation, but being outer shells they must change from time to time
as human defects come out, as the times change, and as the great underlying spiritual
movement compels such alterations. One can see that to worship an organization, even
though it be the beloved theosophical one, is to fall down before form, and to become the
slave once more of that . . . which the T. S. was meant to overthrow. Some members have
worshiped the so-called T. S., thinking it to be all in all, and not properly perceiving its de
facto and piecemeal character as an organization. . . . H. P. B. herself declared that it were
better to do away with the Society rather than to destroy Brotherhood. . . . We have not
changed the work of H. P. B. but enlarged it. . . . It is not Theosophy, nor conducive to its
spread, to make legal claims to theosophical names, symbols, and seals, so as to prevent,
if possible, others from using them. Those who do not know true Theosophy, nor see the
difference between forms and the soul of things, will continue to worship form and to
sacrifice brotherhood to a shell."
On the evening of March 21st, the second anniversary of the death of our beloved
Chief, William Q. Judge, several of the members met at the house of Mrs. Tingley and
stayed until midnight talking about the Chief and the work. All the members of the original
Council - which so many know about - except two were present. E. A. Neresheimer was
unable to attend, and the other, C. A. Griscom, Jr., is no longer a member of that body.
Others present were Elliott B. Page, W. A. Stevens, of Buffalo; Iverson L. Harris, of Macon,
Ga.; and Mrs. S. W. Cape. It will be gratifying to the members to know that Mrs. Tingley's
health continues good, the contrast being very great when compared with the state of her
health at the time of that memorable first meeting of the Council at her house after our
Chief's death. Indeed, she looks quite able to make another Crusade around the World.
Applications for new charters and diplomas under the Universal Brotherhood are
coming in from England by every mail. Sweden cabled to Mrs. Tingley the other day the
word "Triumphant." Enthusiastic letters have also been received from Holland, Paris,
Australia and New Zealand. All are delighted with the new order of things. It is the year one
of Universal Brotherhood, - the New Order of Ages. The Heavens approve!

- Joseph H. Fussell

[A. F. U. I
A. D. 1898.]

-------------------------------

AUM

Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of
men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them; lest
haply ye be found to be fighting even against God. - Acts V. 38, 39
UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD
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Vol. XIII May, 1898 No. 2
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PEACE
by Adelaide A. Deen Hunt

AND the cry we hear is "Peace, Peace, but there is no Peace." Why does this wail
go up from the people? Whence comes the unrest, the antagonism, the desire to hurt?
From man himself. He has made the conditions, he alone is responsible for them. If he
understood himself, if he really desired peace, then it would become an accomplished fact.
That it must eventually be so many believe, but that the holy time may speedily arrive rests
entirely within man's own self. Deep within the real being lies perfect peace, as in the
depths of a storm-tossed ocean all is still. We see the surface, strewn, it may be with the
wreck of many a seemingly noble craft, and we shrink from the saddening sight, not
realizing that the storm will pass, the clouds break away and show the sun still shining,
while every staunch and trustworthy ship comes safe to port, and through it all the depths
have remained unstirred.
What man thinks, that he is, - so it is evident that the thoughts of the great majority
of humanity at the present day are not in harmony with the law that rules the Universe.
Were they, then in place of existing conditions in which man wars against his fellow-man,
torturing him until his cry rises to heaven for help, and nations gird on their armor to battle
for the right, the sword would be sheathed and peace reign throughout the earth.
As it is with nations so it is with organizations and individuals. We may take two
persons as emblematical of differing worlds, nations, races, or lesser groups, for the
analogy will hold good. One is irascible, unquiet, aggressive, seeing no good in any other,
looking only to the betterment of his own material condition, and what is the result?
Feverish unrest, utter disharmony and thorough impossibility of seeing any good in another;
a warped judgment, an intolerant criticism, an invading attitude, a disrupting force. The
other, quiet, self-controlled, dominating the lower nature by the Higher, desiring the good
of his fellow-man, earnest in all helpful work, unselfish, dispassionate, harmonious, carries
with him wherever he goes, a strength, a force that stills the tempest, quells the wrath of
the misguided and wins a moral victory without recourse to warlike measures.
But how many have girded on this armor? There are those who know that such a
force would be invincible, that nothing could stand against it, that man has but to carry
peace in his heart and the issue is assured. It does not matter that conflict may exist on
the material Plane. That is a condition brought about by man's self-delusion, which he
creates and blinds himself with, and so long as he arrays himself against the law of
Brotherhood, just so long there will be wars and rumors of wars, until

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he finds that he is tilting against a force so mighty, so powerful that, if he would save
himself he must lay down his arms. Somewhere in enumerating certain conditions, Mr.
Judge says, "In war, Peace." That seeming paradox remains for man to solve, and every
hour he who earnestly desires his brother's welfare draws nearer to its true solution. To
condone a wrong is to share it, to argue about it is to waste energy, to stand firm, in battle
array if need be, is already to have gained the victory. Did mankind, as a rule, understand
and accept this, there would be no need of standing armies or naval forces, or of stirring
nations up to armed interference: courts might be closed, laws, as they stand now,
become dead letters and peace would reign throughout the earth. A utopian dream, will
be said by many. In the present condition of things, - yes - but the seed has been sown
and a thrifty plant is already growing apace that shall fructify until, what today seems to
nearly all men a visionary dream, will become a realized fact.
We know that to some already the golden light is shining, "the light that never shone
on land or sea," while to others an occasional gleam only may be granted, but it fills the
soul with profound joy, with strength and steadfastness and yet with humility.
Such peace, such joy lies within the reach of every one who sincerely and
unselfishly desires to attain it, and it appears that the initial step towards it is to accept
one's conditions be they what they may. Most people are too anxious to do and not
sufficiently anxious to be.
"Why are we not doing something?" is a question often heard in these days. It is a
man's own fault if he is not doing something every hour, every moment of his life. Has he,
in the aggregate learned patience, self-restraint, silence - has he attained Peace? If not,
then he has plenty to do, even if no especial task for the aid of humanity has apparently
been allotted him. No army yet was ever formed that soldier and officer did not have to be
drilled before they were ready to take the field against an opposing force. Just what this
drill is, when begun, or how carried on, none can say, but what is true on the physical plane
is equally true on other planes of being. The drill in the latter case differs in kind, but it is
even more necessary. It is not so much what man does as what he is. When he has
himself somewhat in hand, when he has caught a reflected gleam of that peace which
passeth understanding, when he has learned obedience to the Law, for no one is fit to
command till he has learned to obey, then he will indeed become a useful atom of that
beneficent force that shall carry help and hope to suffering humanity. To do the duty of the
hour, however small, trifling or insignificant it may seem, and to wait must prove very
effectual discipline and lead on to the one path to peace and so to greatest usefulness.
If Truth, Light and Liberation are to reach Humanity, the attitude of mind of all
mankind must be changed, and this can only be done by each individual attaining the right
attitude. As centres of force it is necessary for all to be sure that the force is unselfish,
beneficent, and rightly directed. How many are sure beyond a peradventure? There
comes a certainty which admits of no doubt, no reasoning, but is an absolute truth to him
who has power to perceive it and that is a point all need to attain, especially those so
favored as to be enlisted under the banner of Universal Brotherhood. When that hour
strikes and those so enlisted act as a unit, opposition and antagonism must cease.
No great movement for the world's benefit was ever yet set in motion that evil forces
were not aroused, and what should be perfect harmony, through this cause becomes rent
with discord for a time, but in the end the harmonious utterance and action must prevail.

--- 69

No one really likes discord, but man allows himself to drift into such conditions until
the true vibration is lost and he may even forget that it exists. He goes on using this
instrument, all out of tune, increasing the clamor until the din seems to contain no note of
sweetness, but the notes are all there, all one, the sound is ever the same, but the keys are
being struck with false chords, - there is something wrong with the performer. He drives
himself and his audience into a frenzy without either recognizing it. In the midst of this let
a strong, pure note be sounded, let full chords of perfect sweetness and strength be
opposed to it, - for a time the discord may seem to prevail; but little by little the harmony
will become dominant and on the restless, seething, unhappy throng peace will fall with all
its restfulness, if they are honestly in search of it. He who wants the Truth finds the Truth;
he who longs for the Supreme goes to the Supreme. This, true of the individual, of the
family, of the group, must be true of the nation. It only remains for those who have these
issues at heart, who wish to see peace prevail, to fit themselves to become pure, true notes
in that grand chord that shall waken a responsive echo in the hearts of all peoples, all
nations. It is music that must come from the heart to reach the heart. Its action is on inner
planes. Musicians and poets have found it and given forth the tone or the word to move
and raise the people. Now in this opening golden cycle it is given to those who may be
neither musicians nor poets to do the same, but there is much to be done to accomplish
it. Deep down into his own nature in which is reflected the nature of every other human
being must man go, and there by unceasing effort, by constant vigilance, by earnest
endeavor must be overcome until the true note is struck, the harmony is perfected and
peace undisturbed by any outward clamor is his, then can he hope to aid efficiently in the
great work of Universal Brotherhood, of Peace to all men.
"Seek first the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you," and "the
kingdom of Heaven is within you.'' It is the Place of Peace, the base upon which must be
built all actions that shall accrue and be useful "for the Benefit of the People of the Earth
and all Creatures."

-----------

"Enter into the closet of your central nature, raise your eyes to their Divine source,
let your thoughts and desires run up through all the heavens, steadfastly front the Divine
glory, drop your lower self, and inbreathe the glory, till you are filled and clothed with its
beauty and strength. Then go forth to your calling, in dignity and sweetness.... Humanity
is too human for any form of religion hitherto propagated in the world. The doctrine of
humanity has been hidden in the centre of Heaven; but it is now descending and will
become the centre of the new earth." - From Children of the Age.

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--- 70

IAMBLICHOS AND THEURGY: THE REPLY TO

PORPHYRY
by Alexander Wilder

In the Lexicon of Suidas we find the following brief sketch of the subject of this
paper: "Iamblichos* the philosopher, a native of Chalkis in Syria, disciple of Porphyry who
was himself the pupil of Plotinos, flourished about the time of Constantine the Emperor
(basileus) and was the author of many philosophic treatises." He belonged to a noble
family, and received the most liberal education that could be obtained. He pursued the
study of mathematics and philosophy under Anatolios, probably the bishop of that name
who had himself delivered philosophic lectures at Alexandreia as a follower of Aristotle.
After this Iamblichos became a disciple of Porphyry, and succeeded to his place in
the School. He is described as scholarly, but not original in his views. His manner of life
was exemplary, and he was frugal in his habits. He lacked the eloquence of Plotinos, yet
excelled him in popularity. Students thronged from Greece and Syria to hear him in such
numbers that it was hardly possible for one man to attend to them all. They sat with him
at the table, followed him wherever he went, and listened to him with profound veneration.
It is said that he probably resided in his native city. This may have been the case, as the
affairs of the Roman world were then greatly disturbed. The philosophers,

-------------
* There are several persons of this name mentioned by ancient writers. One was
a king of Arabia to whom Cicero referred. A second was a philosopher who was educated
at Babylon and flourished under the reign of the Antonines. The original term is Malech or
Moloch, signifying king. It was applied by all the various Semitic peoples as a title of honor
to their chief divinity. The subject of this article employed simply the Greek form to his
name, but Longinus translated the designation of his own famous pupil, Porphyrios, wearer
of the purple.
-------------

however, were not circumscribed to one region, and there were schools where they
lectured in Athens, Pergamos and other places, as well as at Alexandreia. Plotinos spent
his last years at Rome and contemplated the founding of a Platonic commune in Italy; and
Porphyry was with him there, with other pupils and associates, afterward marrying and
living in Sicily. Alypios the friend and colleague of Iamblichos remained at Alexandreia.
Many of the works of Iamblichos are now lost. He wrote Expositions of the doctrines
of Plato and Aristotle, a treatise on the Soul, and another to demonstrate the virtues and
potencies existing in the statues and symbols of the gods. Another work treated of the
Chaldean Theology. The loss of this is much to be regretted. The religion of the
Chaldaeans was largely astronomic as well as mystical, and its creed could be read in the
heavens. Late researches indicate that the Egyptian, with all its antiquity, was derived from
it in the remote periods. The science denominated Mathematics, including geometry and
astronomy, was a part of the system, and all problems of genesis and evolution were
wrought out by it. The philosophy of Pythagoras was modeled from it, and the Rabbinic
learning was Chaldaean in its origin. It has been repeatedly suggested that the Mosaic
book of Genesis was a compilation from the same literature, and capable of being
interpreted accordingly.
lamblichos also wrote a Life of Pythagoras which was translated into English by the
late Thomas Taylor, and published in London in 1818. Part of a treatise on the Pythagoric
Life is also yet
-------------
--- 71
extant. It contains an account of the Pythagorean Sect, explanations of the Pythagorean
doctrines, the Profounder Mathematics, the Arithmetical Science of Nikomachos, and
Theological Discourses respecting Numbers, besides other divisions which have not been
preserved.
The most celebrated work ascribed to him, however, is the Logos, a Discourse upon
the Mysteries. It is prefaced by a "Letter of Porphyry to Anebo, the Egyptian Priest," and
is itself described as "the Reply of Abammon, the Teacher, to the Letter of Porphyry to
Anebo,, and Solutions of Questions therein contained." This work was also translated by
Mr. Taylor and published in 1821. The translation was thorough and faithful, but
unfortunately, it is difficult for a novice to understand. He would need to know the Greek
text itself. There is a profusion of unusual terms, and the book abounds with allusions to
occurrences, and spectacles in the Initiatory Rites which are nowhere explained, leaving
the whole meaning more or less vague and uncertain. It has been said in explanation of
this that Mr. Taylor desired the sense to be obscure, so that it would be difficult for all
general readers to understand it, as truth is only for those who are worthy and capable.*
The genuiness of the authorship has been strenuously disputed by Meiners, and
defended with apparent conclusiveness by Tennemann. It is certainly somewhat different
in style from the other works, and as is well-known, it was a common practice at that
period, not only for copyists to add or omit words and sentences in manuscripts, but for
authors themselves to give the name of

------------
* The writer himself prepared a translation several years ago which was published
in The Platonist. It is now undergoing revision with a view to make the author's meaning
more intelligible to the novitiate reader, and notes are added to explain the frequent
references to scenes and phenomena witnessed in the Autopsias and arcane ceremonies;
which, however plain to the expert and initiated, are almost hopelessly difficult for others
to understand.
------------

some more distinguished person as the actual writer. But there is said to he a scholium or
annotation in several manuscripts in which Proklos declares that this treatise on the
Mysteries was written by Iamblichos, and that he had merely disguised himself under the
name of Abammon.
Iamblichos was greatly esteemed by his contemporaries, and those who lived in the
ensuing centuries. Eunapios, his biographer, styled him Thaumasios, or the Admirable.
Proklos habitually designated him the God-like, and others actually credited him with
powers superior to common men. Julian the Emperor considered him as in no way second
to Plato, and reverenced him as one of the greatest among mankind.
Iamblichos made a new departure in the teaching of philosophy. He exhibits a
comparative indifference to the contemplative discipline, and has introduced procedures
which pertained to Magic Rites and the Egyptian Theurgy.* It was natural therefore that
Porphyry, his friend and former teacher, who taught the other doctrine, should desire to
know the nature and extent of this apparent deviation from the accepted philosophic
procedures. Uncertain whether his questions would otherwise reach the Master, perhaps
then absent front Egypt, he addressed them to Anebo, his disciple, who held the office of
prophet or interpreter in the sacerdotal order. He did not assume to blame or even criticize,
but asked as a friend what these Theosophers and theurgic priests believed and were
teaching in respect to the several orders of superior and intelligent beings, oracles and
divination, the efficacy of sacrifices, and evocations, the reason for employing foreign terms
at the Mystic Rites, the Egyptian belief in respect to the First Cause, concluding with
enquiries and a

------------
* "Theurgy. ....The art of securing divine or supernatural intervention in human
affairs; especially the magical science practiced by those Neo-Platonists who employed
invocations, sacrifices, diagrams, talismans, etc." ..... Standard Dictionary
------------
--- 72

discussion in regard to guardian demons, the casting of nativities, and finally asks whether
there may not be after all a path to eudaimonia, or the true felicity other than by sacrifices
and the technique of Theurgy.
The reply of Abammon is explicit and admirable, as affording a key to the whole
system. To us, perhaps, who have grown up in another age and received a training in
other modes of thinking, his statements and descriptions may appear visionary and even
absurd. We may, however, bear in mind that they did not appear so to those for whom he
wrote; and should respect the convictions which others reverently and conscientiously
entertain.
In the work under notice, the author plainly endeavored to show that a common idea
pervaded the several ancient religions. He did this so successfully that Samuel Sharpe did
not hesitate to declare that by the explanation given of them the outward and visible
symbols employed in the Arcane Worship became emblems of divine truth; that the
Egyptian religion becomes a part of Platonism, and the gods are so many agents or
intermediate beings only worshiped as servants of the Divine Creator. With this conception
in mind, this work may be read with fair apprehending of the meaning of the author.
He proposes to base the classification of Spiritual Essences upon the doctrines of
the Assyrians, but modifies it by the views better understood by the Greeks. For example,
he enumerates the four genera of gods, demons, heroes or demigods, and souls, and
explains some of their distinctions. Before concluding he introduces three other orders
from the Assyrian category, making seven in all, occupying distinct grades in the scale of
being.
In defining their peculiarities, he begins with "the Good - both the good that is
superior to Essence and that which is with Essence," the Monad and Duad of the
philosophers; in other words the Essential Good and that Absolute Good that is prior to it.
The gods are supreme, the causes of things, and are circumscribed by no specific
distinction. The archangels not carefully described. This may be because they belong to
the Assyrian and not to the Egyptian category. They are there enumerated as seven, like
the Amshaspands in the Zoroastrian system. They are very similar to the higher gods, but
are subordinate to them, and indeed seem to denote qualities rather than personalities.
After them come the angels. These are likewise of the East, and doubtless the same as
the Yazadas of the Avesta, of whom Mithras was chief. The Seven Kabeiri or archangels
preside over the planets; the Yesdis or angels rule over the universe in a subordinate way.
The demons or guardians carry into effect the purposes of the gods with the world and
those that are inferior to them. The heroes or demigods are intermediate between the
more exalted orders of spiritual beings and psychic natures, and are the means of
communication between them. They impart to the latter the benign influences of those
superior to them and aid to deliver from the bondage of the lower propensities. Another
race that Abammon names is that of the archons or rulers. These are described as of two
species: the cosmocrators or rulers of the planets, and those that rule over the material
world. Souls are at the lower step of this seven-graded scale, and make the
communication complete from the Absolute One to the inhabitants of the world. The result
of this communication is to sustain the lower psychic nature and exalt it to union with
Divinity.
This union is not effected by the superior knowledge alone, nor by the action of the
higher intellect, although these are necessary auxiliaries. Nothing which pertains to us as
human beings is thus efficacious. There must be a more potent energy. This is explained
subsequently.

--- 73

In regard to oracles and the faculty of divining, Abammon quotes the Chaldaean
sages, as teaching that the soul has a double life, one in common with the body, and the
other separate from every thing corporeal. When we are awake we use the things
pertaining to the body, except we detach ourselves altogether from it by pure principles in
thought and understanding. In sleep, however, we are in a manner free. The soul is
cognizant beforehand of coming events, by the reasons that precede them. Any one who
overlooks primary causes, and attributes the faculty of divining to secondary assistance,
or to causes of a psychic or physical character, or to some correspondence of these things
to one another, will go entirely wrong.
Dreams, however, which may be regarded as God-sent occur generally when sleep
is about leaving us and we are just beginning to awake. Sometimes we have in them a
brief discourse indicating things about to take place; or it may be that during the period
between waking and complete repose, voices are heard. Sometimes, also, a spirit,
imperceptible and unbodied, encompasses the recumbent individual in a circle, so as not
to be present to the person's sight, coming into the consciousness by joint-sensation and
keeping in line with the thought. Sometimes the sight of the eyes is held fast by a light
beaming forth bright and soft, and remains so, when they had been wide open before. The
other senses, however, are watchful and conscious of the presence of superior beings.
These, therefore, are totally unlike the dreams which occur in ordinary conditions.
On the other hand the peculiar sleeplessness, the holding of the sight, the catalepsy
resembling lethargy, the condition between sleep and waking, and the recent awaking or
entire wakefulness, are all divine and suitable for the receiving of the gods as guests.
Indeed, they are conditions sent from the gods, and precede divine manifestations.
There are many forms of entheastic exaltation. Sometimes we share the innermost
power of Divinity; sometimes only the intermediate, sometimes the first alone. Either the
soul enjoys them by itself, or it may have them in concert with the body, or the whole of the
individual, all parts alike, receive the divine inflowings. The human understanding, when
it is controlled by demons, is not affected; it is not from them, but from the gods that
inspiration comes. This he declares to be by no means an ecstasy, or withdrawing from
one's own selfhood. It is an exaltation to the superior condition; for ecstasy and mental
alienation he affirms indicate an overturning to the worse.
Here Abammon seems to diverge from the doctrine of Plotinos and Porphyry.
Indeed, he is often Aristotelian rather than Platonic in his philosophy, and he exalts Theurgy
above philosophic contemplation. He explains himself accordingly.
The Soul, before she yielded herself to the body, was a hearer of the divine
harmony. Accordingly, after she came into the body and heard such of the Choric Songs*
as retain the divine traces of harmony, she gave them a hearty welcome and by means of
them called back to her memory the divine harmony itself. Thus she is attracted and
becomes closely united to it, and in this way receives as much of it as is possible. The
Theurgic Rites, sacred melodies and contemplation develop the entheastic condition, and
enable the soul to perceive truth as it exists in the Eternal world, the world of real being.
Divinity, it is insisted, is not brought down into the signs and symbols which

--------------
* The chants of the Chorus, at the Mystic Rites. The choir danced or moved in
rhythmic step around the altar facing outward with hands joined, and chanted the Sacred
Odes.
--------------
--- 74

are employed in the art of divination. It is not possible for essence to be developed from
any thing which does not contain it already. The susceptible condition is only sensible of
what is going on and is now in existence, but foreknowledge reaches even things which
have not yet begun to exist.
Abammon explains the doctrine of "Karma" as readily as Sakyamuni himself. This
shows what King Priyadarsi declared, that the Buddhistic teachings had been promulgated
in Egypt, Syria and Greece. "The beings that are superior to us know the whole life of the
soul and all its former lives; and if they bring a retribution by reason of the supplication of
some who pray to them, they do not inflict it beyond what is right. On the other hand, they
aim at the sins impressed on the soul in former lives; which fact human beings not being
conscious of, deem it not just to be obliged to encounter the vicissitudes which they suffer."
His explanation of the utility of sacrifices is ingenious, but will hardly be appreciated
by many at the present time. Some of the gods, he explains, belong to the sphere of the
material world, and others are superior to it. If, then, a person shall desire to worship
according to theurgic rites those divinities that belong to the realm of material things, he
must employ a mode of worship which is of that sphere. It is not because of these divinities
themselves that animals are slaughtered, and their dead bodies presented as sacrifices.
These divinities are in their constitution wholly separate from any thing material. But the
offerings are made because of the matter over which they are rulers. Nevertheless, though
they are in essence wholly apart from matter, they are likewise present with it; and though
they take hold of it by a supra-material power they exist with it.
But to the divinities who are above the realm of matter, the offering of any material
substance in Holy Rites, is utterly repugnant.
 In regard to the efficacy of prayer, Abammon is by no means equivocal or indefinite.
He declares that it joins the Sacred Art in an indissoluble union with the divine beings. It
leads the worshiper to direct contact and a genuine knowing of the divine nature. A bond
of harmonious fellowship is created, and as a result there come gifts from the gods to us
before a word is uttered, and our efforts are perfected before they are distinctly cognized.
In the most perfect form of prayer the arcane union with the gods is reached, every
certainty is assured, enabling our souls to repose perfectly therein. It attracts our habits
of thought upward, and imparts to us power from the gods. In short it makes those who
make use of it the intimate companions of the divine beings.
It is easy to perceive, therefore, says Abammon, that these two, prayer and the other
rites and offerings, are established by means of each other, and give to each other the
sacred initiating power of the Holy Rite.
He denies the possibility of obtaining perfect foreknowledge by means of an
emotional condition. This is a blending of the higher nature with corporeal and material
quality, which results in dense ignorance. Hence it is not proper to accept an artificial
method in divining, nor to hold any one making use of it in any great esteem. The
Theurgos commands the powers of the universe, not as one using the faculties of a human
soul, but as a person preexistent in the order of the divine beings, and one with them.
The explanation of the use of foreign terms, not intelligible to the hearer, is
noteworthy. "The gods have made known to us that the entire language of sacred nations,
such as the Egyptians and Assyrians, is most suitable for religious matters; and we must
believe that it behooves us to carry on our conferences with the gods in language nat-

--- 75

ural to them." Names are closely allied to the things which they signify, and when
translated they lose much of their power.* The foreign names have great significance,
greater conciseness, and less uncertainty of meaning.
The First Cause, the God Unknowable, is indicated in graphic language, "Before the
things that really are and universal principles is one Divine Essence, prior even to the First
God and King abiding immovable in his own absolute Oneness. For nothing thinkable is
commingled with him, nor anything whatever; but he is established the antecedent of the
God self-fathered, self-produced, sole Father, the Truly Good. For he is the Being greatest
and first, the Origin of all things, and the foundation of the primal ideal forms which are
produced by the Higher Intellect. From this One, the Absolute God radiated forth; hence
he is the self-fathered and self-sufficient. For this is the First Cause and God of Gods, the
Unity from out of the One, prior to Essence and the First Cause of Essence. For from him
are both the quality of essence and essence itself - for which reason he is called the Chief
Intelligence. These are therefore the oldest principles of all things."
This is perhaps as plain and explicit as this subject can be made. The close
resemblance to the Brahman of the Indian system, from whom proceeds Brahma the
Creator, is apparent at a glance. Abammon cites also the Tablet of Hermes, which placed
Emeph or Imopht at the head of the celestial divinities, and

-----------
* We may perhaps, see in this the ulterior reason why Brahmans choose the
obsolete Sanskrit, Jews the Hebrew and Roman Catholics, the Latin in their religious
services, saying nothing of the "unknown tongues," the use of which in religious services
was so much deprecated by the Apostle Paul. We observe the same notion or superstition
in the attachment witnessed for the word Jehovah, a term falsely literated in place of the
Assyrian divinity Yava or Raman. Even the Polychrome Bible transmits this idle whim by
lettering the word as J H V H, which nobody can pronounce intelligently.
------------

named a First Intelligence as before him and to be worshiped in silence. The Chaldaeans
and also the Magians taught a similar doctrine.
It being established that the Supreme Mind and the Logos or Reason subsist by
themselves, it is manifest that all things existing, are from them - beginning with the One
and proceeding to the many. There is a Trine: a pure Intelligence above and superior to
the universe, an indivisible One in the universe, and another, the universal Life, that is
divided and apportioned to all the spheres. Matter is also introduced into the circle, being
evolved from the spiritual substance; and so, "materiality having been riven from
essentiality on its lower side, and being full of vitality, the spheres and all living things are
created and organized therefrom."
Abammon has taken a view of Fate which though in many respects acceptable
seems also to relate to the ruling of the nativity. It is not true, he insists, that every thing
is bound with the indissoluble bonds of Necessity. The lowest natures only, which are
combined with the changeable order of the universe, and with the body, are thus subjected.
Man, however, has, so to speak, two souls: one that participates of the First Intelligence
and the power of the Creator, and one from the astral worlds. The latter follows the
motions of those worlds, but the former is above them, and therefore is not held by fate or
allotment.
There is another principle of the soul superior to all being and becoming to all, nature
and nativity, through which we can be united to the gods, rise above the established order
of the world, and participate in the life eternal and in the energy of the gods above the
heavens. Through this principle we are able to set ourselves free. For when the better
qualities in us are active, and the Soul is led back again to the natures superior to itself,
then it becomes entirely separated from every thing that held it fast to the
------------
--- 76

conditions of nativity, stands aloof from inferior natures, exchanges this life for the other,
abandons entirely the former order of things, and gives itself to another."
In regard to nativities, Abammon admits that the divine oracular art can teach us
what is true in respect to the stars, but declares that we do not stand in any need of the
enumeration prescribed by the Canons of astrology or those of the art of divining. That the
astronomic predictions are verified by results, observations prove. But they do not relate
to any recognition of the guardian demon. It is true, he remarks, that there is the lord of the
house, as mathematicians or astrologists declare, and the demon bestowed by him. But
the demon is not assigned to us from one part of the celestial world or from any planet.
There is a personal allotment in us individually from all the universe, the life and corporeal
substances in it, through which the soul descends into the genesis or objective existence.
The demon is placed in the paradigm or ideal form, and the soul takes him for a leader.
He immediately takes charge, filling the soul with the qualities of physical life, and when it
has descended into the corporeal world, he acts as the guardian genius.
When, however, we come, by the sacred initiation, to know God truly as the
guardian and leader, the demon retires or surrenders his authority, or becomes in some
way subordinate to God as his Overlord.
Evil demons have nowhere an allotment as ruling principles, nor are they opposed
to the good like one party against another, as though of equal importance.
The "Last Word" includes a brief summary of the whole discourse. Abammon insists
that there is no path to felicity and permanent blessedness apart from the worship of the
Gods as here set forth. Divine inspiration alone imparts to us truly the divine life. Man, the
Theotos,* endowed with perception, was thus united with Divinity in the beforetime by the
epoptic vision of the Gods; but he entered into another kind of soul or disposition which
was conformed to the human idea of form, and through it became in bondage to Necessity
and Fate. There can be no release and freedom from these except by the Knowledge of
the Gods. For the idea or fundamental principle of blessedness is to apperceive Goodness;
as the idea of evil exists with the forgetting of the Good and with being deceived in respect
to evil. Let it be understood, then, that this knowledge of Good is the first and supreme
path to felicity, affording to souls a mental abundance from the Divine One. This bestowing
of felicity by the sacerdotal and theurgic ministration, is called by some the Gate to the
Creator of the Universe, and by others the Place or Abode of the One Supremely Good.
It first effects the unifying of the soul; then the restoring of the understanding to the
participation and vision of the God, and its release from every thing of a contrary nature;
and after these, union to the Gods, the bestowers of all benefits.
When this has been accomplished, then it leads the Soul to the Universal Creator,
gives it into his keeping and separates it from every thing material, uniting it with the one
Eternal Reason. In short, it becomes completely established in the Godhead, endowed
with its energy, wisdom, and Creative power. This is what is meant by the Egyptian priests
when they, in the Book of the Dead, represent the Lord as becoming identified with Osiris;
and, with such modifications as the changing forms of the various faiths have made, it may
fairly be said to be the accepted creed of the religious world.

------------
* The Beholder or Candidate looking upon the spectacles exhibited at the Initiatory
Rites.
------------
--- 77

THE SEPTENARY CYCLES OF EVOLUTION - THE SEVEN

ROUNDS AND THE SEVEN RACES
A STUDY FROM THE "SECRET DOCTRINE." *

(Continued.)

THE FIRST ROUND

Each cycle of Evolution develops one of the compound Elements as now
recognized, and as we go on, we see in each the dawn, so to speak, of the next Element.
We are now in the Fourth cycle or Round, and we know Fire, Air, Water, and Earth, and we
are beginning to study the nature of the fifth element, Ether, the characteristic element of
the next cycle. The First Round developed but one element, Fire, and with it a nature and
humanity in what may be called "one-dimensional space."** "The globe was fiery, cool, and
radiant as its ethereal men and animals during the first Round."***
The mention of cool fire indicates that this primeval "fire" is not what we now
understand by the term. It was in fact, Akasa, or Aether in its purest form. And there are
two "fires" spoken of in occult science, the first, the purely formless and invisible Fire
concealed in the Central Spiritual Sun, which is (metaphysically) spoken of as triple; the
second, the Fire of the manifested Kosmos, which is septenary.**** The first belongs to the
spiritual plane; the septenary Fire to our own, in some of its seven forms at least. The
particles of this primeval type of light and heat, (or "Aether in its purest form") on the plane
of manifested being, are "fiery lives," which live and have their being at the expense of
every other life that they consume. Therefore they are

-------------
* The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy. By H. P.
Blavatsky. References are to the old edition.
** Idem I, 250.
*** Idem I, 252.
**** Idem II, 241
-------------

named the "Devourers."* But they are also the Builders, for this "devouring" means "a
differentiation of the fire-atoms by a peculiar process of segmentation, through which
process they become life-germs, which aggregate according to the laws of cohesion and
affinity. Then the life-germs produce lives of another kind which work on the structure of
our globes."** "From the One Life, formless and uncreated, proceeds the Universe of
lives," says the Commentary. The genesis of life appears to be this: First, the cold,
luminous fire;*** second, the beginning of atomic vibration, producing motion and therefore
heat, and third a segmentation of the particles of the fire-mist. Fourth, these segments
become life germs, polarized cells, of some sort, because they are subject to the laws of
cohesion and affinity. And fifth, from these life-germs, which are probably still on the astral
plane, come the life-germs of the mineral kingdom, to form the structure of the earth. It was
only towards the end of the first Round that the simple Essence of the first Element became
the fire we now know.**** "Terrene products, animate and inanimate, including mankind,
are falsely called creation and creatures; they are the development (or evolution) of the
discrete (or differentiated elements.)"+
Into this fire-mist world, came the first of the three great classes of monads, the most
developed Entities from the Moon, therefore called the Lunar Ancestors,

------------
* Secret Doctrine I, 250.
** Idem I, 259.
*** The One Element in its second stage." Idem I, 140.
 **** Idem I, 259.
+ Idem II, 242.
--------------
--- 78

"whose function it is to pass in the first Round through the whole triple cycle of the mineral,
vegetable, and animal kingdoms, in their most ethereal, filmy, and rudimentary forms, in
order to clothe themselves in and assimilate the nature of the newly formed chain" (of
globes).*
As already stated, they have passed through the filmy shadows of the lower
kingdoms in the first globes of the Round, and have reached the human-germ stage with
the seventh and last, and they are to lead and represent the human element during the
second Round.** Man in the first Round and first Race was an ethereal being, a Lunar
Dhyani, non-intelligent, but super-spiritual***.... In truth, during this Round, man was no
man, but only his prototype or dimensionless image from the astral regions.**** He was
sexless, and like the animal and vegetable, he developed monstrous bodies
correspondential with his surroundings.+
We may tabulate the evolution of the life-germs thus:
1. FIRE,++ or pure Akasa, composed of
2. FIERY LIVES. - They differentiate the fire-particles into the
3. FIRE-ATOMS. They become the
4. LIFE-GERMS Which produce the mineral essence afterwards solidified.
5. Mineral Life, in their earliest, most ethereal stages.
6. Vegetable Life, in their earliest, most ethereal stages.
7. Animal Life, in their earliest, most ethereal stages.

THE SECOND ROUND.

The second cycle of evolution brought forth and developed two Elements - Fire and
Air, and its humanity (if we can give the name to beings living under conditions unknown
to men), was

-------------
* Secret Doctrine, I, 174.
** Idem I, 174
*** Idem I, 188
**** Idem I, 175
+ Idem I, 188
++ "The Spirit which is invisible Flame, which never burns, but sets on fire all that
it touches, and gives it life and generation." - Idem I, 626.
------------

adapted to this condition of Nature.* But we must remember that none of the so-called
Elements were in the first three Rounds as they are now,** and so it is said that this Air
may have been simply Nitrogen, "the breath of the Supporters of the Heavenly Dome," as
the Mahometan mystics call it.*** And again: "The second Round brings into manifestation
the second Element; AIR, that element, the purity of which would ensure continuous life
to him who would use it. There have been two occultists only in Europe who have
discovered and even partially applied it in practice, though its composition has always been
known among the highest Eastern Initiates. The ozone of the modern chemists is poison
compared with the real universal solvent which could never be thought of unless it existed
in Nature."**** And again; by Nitrogen as we call it, is meant the noumenon of that which
becomes nitrogen on earth, and "serves as a sponge to carry in itself the breath of LIFE,
pure air, which, if separated alchemically would yield the Spirit of Life and its Elixir."+
"Man 's process of development changes entirely with the second Round," says a
Teacher.++ And like man, "Earth - hitherto a foetus in the matrix of space - began its real
existence; it had developed individual sentient life, its second principle;"+++ the "first
shadowy outline of self-hood."++++ At this stage the second hierarchy of the Manus
appear, the Dhyan Chohans who are the origin of Form. It is still the lunar Ancestors who
lead and represent the human element, a much more exact phrase than man for beings still
living under conditions unknown to men. This

----------------
* Secret Doctrine I, 125
** Idem I, 142
*** Idem I, 254
**** Idem I, 260 and 144
+ Idem I, 626
++ Idem I, 159
+++ Idem I, 260
++++ Idem I, 453
-------------
--- 79

humanity, if the term be allowed, was still gigantic and ethereal, but growing firmer and
more condensed in body, and more like physical man. "Yet still less intelligent than
spiritual, for mind is a slower and more difficult evolution than that of the physical form."*

THE THIRD ROUND

We have now reached the third cycle of evolution, and even yet can hardly talk of
man, for during the earlier stages of this Round, vague and general terms are still used to
designate humanity. "The centres of consciousness of the third Round," we read,**
"destined to develop into humanity as we know it, arrived at a perception of the third
Element, WATER." Water, as a synonym of the Great Deep, or the Eternal Mother, also
signifies astral Matter, and the third Globe on the astral plane. "For all we know, (we read
further on) this WATER was simply that primordial fluid, which was required, according to
Moses, to make a living soul." And the Commentary speaks of the watery condition of the
Globe during the third Round. In all the old religions water is shown to be the origin of all
forms, and this is why Thales, the great natural philosopher, maintained that water was the
principle of all things in nature. This primordial substance is said to contain within itself, not
only all the elements of man's physical being, but even "the breath of life" itself, in a latent
state, ready to be awakened.***
 In this Round, then, not only the globe, but everything upon it, was in an astral
condition, the densest point that matter had yet reached. The third Round astral prototypes
were the shadowy sketches, as it were, of the future forms. "The fish evolved into an
amphibian, a frog, in the shadows of ponds, and man passed through all his
metamorphoses on this globe in the

------------
* Secret Doctrine I, 188
** Idem I, 252-3
*** Idem I, 345
------------

third Round" (in astral forms) "as he did in the present, his Fourth Cycle" (in physical
forms).* "All the forms which now people the earth are so many variations on (the seven)
basic types originally thrown off by the MAN of the third and fourth Rounds,"** and one of
the most interesting diagrams in the Secret Doctrine is that on page 736, volume II, which
gives, as the "unknown root" of science, "one of the seven primeval physico-astral and bi-
sexual root-types." Some of these astral forms of the last Round have consolidated with
the Earth itself, and appear to us as hard fossil shapes. "The zoological relics found in the
Laurentian, Cambrian, and Silurian systems (of the Primordial Epoch) are relics of the third
Round. Such are the fern-forests, fishes, first reptiles, etc., which at first astral, like the
rest, consolidated and materialized step by step with the new vegetation of this Round.***
But when the prototypes have once passed from the astral into the physical, an indefinite
amount of modification ensues.
Man has now (towards the end of the Round) a perfectly concrete, compacted body,
at first the form of a giant ape, and is now more intelligent, or rather cunning, than spiritual.
For on the downward arc he has now reached a point where the dawn of the human mind
begins to overpower the spiritual element in his nature. The veils of matter are growing
thicker over the ray of the Divine within his soul. Still he becomes a more rational being,
his stature decreases, and his body improves in texture, though he is yet more of an ape
than a god.**** But by the end of the Round, the Lunar Ancestors were already human in
their divine nature, and were thus called upon to become the creators of the forms destined
to serve

-------------
* Secret Doctrine II, 357
** Idem II, 683
*** Idem II, 712
**** Idem I, 188 All this is almost exactly repeated in the Third Root-Race of the
fourth Round.
-------------
--- 80

as tabernacles for the less progressed monads, whose turn it was to incarnate.* These
"Forms" are called the Sons of Passive Yoga, because produced unconsciously, in a state
of meditation.** The Sons of Will and Yoga owed their being to the exercise of conscious
Will, and were a later development.
The diapason of type is run through in brief in the present process of human foetal
growth, which epitomizes not only the general characteristics of the Fourth, but also of the
third Round, terrestrial

------------
* Secret Doctrine II, 115
** Idem I,165, 207, 275.
------------

life. Occultists are thus at no loss to account for the birth of children with an actual caudal
appendage, or for the fact that the tail of the human embryo is, at one period, double the
length of the nascent legs. The potentiality of every organ useful to animal life is locked up
in Man - the microcosm of the Macrocosm, and what Darwinists call "reversion to ancestral
features," leads us further back in the processes of evolution than Haeckel or Darwin ever
dreamed of going, for of course they were confined to the geological and biological history
of the present cycle.

(To be continued)
------------------

RICHARD WAGNER'S MUSIC DRAMAS.

by Basil Crump

VIII - PARSIFAL (Continued)

"Verily that body, so desecrated by Materialism and man himself, is the temple of
the Holy Grail, the Adytum of the grandest, nay, of all the mysteries of nature in our solar
universe." - H. P. Blavatsky
"The name of Hall the second is the Hall of LEARNING. In it thy soul will find the
blossoms of life, but under every flower a serpent coiled .... Stop not the fragrance of its
stupefying blossoms to inhale.... This Hall is dangerous in its perfidious beauty, is needed
but for thy probation. Beware, Disciple, lest dazzled by illusive radiance thy soul should
linger and be caught in its deceptive light." - Voice of the Silence.

IN the second Act we are transported to the evil and delusive realm of the black
magician Klingsor. The stormy Prelude prepares us for the weird and terrible scene which
is to follow. Klingsor perceives the approach of Parsifal, and prepares himself to employ
his most subtle arts to lure his victim to destruction; for well he knows that the "Pure
Simple" is his most dangerous enemy. When the curtain rises the magician is seen in the
tower of the Castle of Perdition surrounded by necromantic appliances. He is watching the
progress of events in his magic mirror; on his head is the red turban which has always
been the distinguishing mark of evil sorcerers.* He now causes a cloud of bluish vapor to
arise and calls with imperious gestures on Kundry, who is to be his chief instrument of
allurement. Notice that he conjures her by the names of some of her past incarnations:
 Arise! Arise! Come to me!
Thy master calls thee, nameless one!
Eternal she-devil! Rose of Hell!
Herodias thou wert, and what beside?
Gundryggia there! Kundry here!

As the wretched one rises in her ethereal or astral form in the vapor she utters a
piercing shriek of pain and terror, and calls for sleep or death rather than she shall be
forced to such devilish work. But Klingsor tells her that she

------------
* Since Wagner's death Klingsor's turban has been altered in color to white, and
those of the Grail Knights from white to red! Frau Wagner has thus completely reversed
the symbology intended and has shown her entire ignorance of Wagner's mystical use of
color. It is indeed high time that the performance of mystery-dramas - as of old - was under
the control of occultists who know what they are about. The sorcerers of the East are
called "Red Caps."
------------
--- 81

is obliged to obey his will because she has no influence over him. "Ha" she cries with a
mocking laugh, "Art thou chaste?" Enraged, but terrified, for the shaft strikes home, he
mutters darkly: - Terrible extremity! Can the torment of irrepressible longing, the fiendish
impulse of terrific desire, which I forced to silence within me, loudly laugh and mock me
through thee the Devil 's Bride? Beware! One man already has repented of his scorn and
contempt, that proud one, strong in holiness, who once spurned me, his race succumbed
to me, unredeemed shall the pious guardian pine; and soon - I sometimes dream - I shall
be guarding the Grail myself."
But already the young hero is at the walls, and Kundry is hastily dismissed to her
work while the sorcerer watches with uncanny glee the prowess of Parsifal, as right and left
he strikes down the guardians of the ramparts who bar his way. For this awful incarnation
of selfishness cares not who - even of his own retinue - is destroyed, so long as he himself
prevails and gains his end. Parsifal now stands on the wall looking with wonder at the
garden of flowers, in which numbers of young maidens are running about bewailing the
wounding of their lovers. Their distress, however, changes to merriment when they
discover that this handsome youth does not wish to harm them. Quickly decking
themselves as flowers they cluster around him seeking eagerly for his favor and caresses.
They are the personifications of the sensual appetites which are fostered by indulgence:
"If you do not love and caress us, we shall wither and die," they cry. This garden is the Hall
of Learning referred to in the extract from the Voice of the Silence which heads this article.
This is Parsifal's first contact with the temptations of the senses, but while admiring
these beautiful appearances he is not attracted by them, and quickly grows impatient of
their attentions. He is about to escape from them when a voice calls from a bower of
flowers: "Parsifal! Stay!" It is the first time he has heard his name since his mother uttered
it in sleep. The maidens leave him, and he stands face to face with the temptation which
lured Amfortas to his fall. Kundry, transformed into a woman of extraordinary beauty, is
seen reclining on a floral couch: "Twas thee I called,'' she repeats, "foolish pure one, 'Fal
parsi,' thou pure foolish one, 'Parsifal.'" This vision only fills the youth with "a strange
foreboding"; but Kundry at once begins her work by speaking to him in most pathetic
accents of Herzeleide, his mother, and her tender love for him. She thus enchains his
sympathy and introduces her theme in its most innocent and pure form: "I saw the child
upon its mother's breast, its first lisp laughs still in my ear; how the heartbroken Herzeleide
laughed too, when the delight of her eyes shouted in response to her sorrow! Tenderly
nestled among soft mosses, she kissed the lovely babe sweetly to sleep; its slumber was
guarded by the fear and trouble of a mother's yearning; the hot dew of a mother's tears
awoke it in the morning." Accompanying all this is the sorrowful motive of Herzeleide:

[[music score]]

Once again the painful recital of his mother's grief and death plunges Parsifal in self-
reproachful distress, as it had done in the first Act. Kundry then cunningly offers him as
consolation, from herself, the love which Herzeleide bore to Gamuret his father, and twining
her arms around his neck she at length imprints a kiss upon his lips. But instead of falling
a victim to her charms, as

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Amfortas did, Parsifal starts up in horror and clutches his heart, crying, "Amfortas: - The
wound! - The wound! - It burns in my heart. - Oh! Wail! Wail! Terrible Wail! It cries to me
from the depths of my heart. . . Oh! - Torture of love! How all things vibrate, heave and
throb in sinful lust! . . . (Rising into a state of complete exaltation and terribly quiet.) My
eyes as in a trance, are fixed on the Sacred Cup; - the Holy Blood glows; the divine and
most gentle rapture of redemption palpitates through every soul far and wide: only here
in my heart the torment will not abate."
Kundry, whose amazement has changed to passionate admiration, attempts to
renew her caresses; but in them all Parsifal sees only the causes of the downfall of
Amfortas, and, rising to his feet, he thrusts her from him with horror.
Foiled in this direction, Kundry instantly tries yet another device: He is the
Redeemer she has sought through the ages and whom she once mocked as he hung upon
the Cross. Can he not feel for her sufferings? Oh! - Didst thou but know the curse, which
through sleeping and waking, through death and life, pain and laughter tortures me, ever
steeled to fresh suffering, unendingly through my existence! . . . Let me be united with thee
but for one hour, and then, though God and the world cast me off, in thee I shall be saved
and redeemed!"
"For evermore thou wouldst be damned with me," replies Parsifal, were I to forget
my mission for one hour in the embrace of thine arms! For thy salvation also am I sent, if
thou dost refrain from desire. The consolation which shall end thy suffering, is not drawn
from the fountain whence that suffering flows; salvation will never come to thee until that
fountain is dried up within thee."*
"Was it my kiss then which revealed the world so clearly to thee?" pursues Kundry,
wildly. "Then would the embrace of all my love make thee a God." Love and redemption
thou shalt have, replies the Chosen One, "if thou showiest me the way to Amfortas," and
with these words we hear the splendid motive of Parsifal as Hero:

[[music score]]

Enraged at the defeat of all her arts, Kundry curses Parsifal's path and calls on
Klingsor to wound him with the Lance. May he wander through the world and never find
the path he seeks. Klingsor now appears on the Castle wall and aims the Lance at Parsifal,
but instead of striking him it remains poised over his head. Grasping it, he makes the sign
of the Cross with it, saying: "With this sign I exorcize thy magic: as I trust that this shall
close the wound which thou hast inflicted with it, so may it overthrow thy illusory splendor
in sorrow and ruins!" With a loud crash the castle falls to pieces and the magnificent
garden becomes once more a desert

------------
* In Light on the Path the following passage was condemned by Madame Blavatsky
as an error of the writer's (not the author's): "See it (the way) by testing all experience, by
utilizing the senses...." The true teaching is here given by Parsifal and in the Voice of the
Silence by Madame Blavatsky as follows: "Do not believe that lust can ever be killed out
if gratified or satiated, for this is an abomination inspired by Mara (the Great Ensnarer,
corresponding to Klingsor.) It is by feeding vice that it expands and waxes strong, like to
the worm that fattens on the blossom's heart."
------------
--- 83

waste strewn with faded flowers, while Kundry falls to the earth with a loud cry. The last
sounds from the orchestra are the wail of disappointed desire and the heart-rending cry of
the wounded Amfortas. I here give the former motive; the latter appeared in the previous
article:

[[score]]

Thus has the Sacred Lance, the weapon of the Will, which was lost through yielding
to desire, been regained from the clutch of self by purity and selflessness. But immediate
redemption cannot be obtained. In the wanderings which the divine hero has to undergo,
in his search for Amfortas, Wagner clearly shows us that the results of sin have to be
worked out ere the Temple of the Grail is finally attained, the burning wound is healed, and
the Redeemer-Ring is set upon his throne.

(To be continued)
-------------

CYCLES OF INSPIRATION
by Rev. W. E. Copeland

IT has been written more than once that during the last twenty-five years of each
century the Helpers of Humanity are able to influence the human race as at no other time
during the century, either sending a messenger, or arousing a ferment in the religious,
intellectual or social world. Sometimes a religious or intellectual genius appears,
sometimes a great movement in the social or intellectual world is made manifest. In this
series of papers I shall try to see whether this statement is true. Having access only to the
ordinary libraries, not being able to obtain histories of China, India or Egypt preceding the
Christian era, I begin the study with the year preceding the Christian era, and ending my
first paper with the fifth century.
The century before the Christian era witnessed the final conquests, which made
Rome mistress of the world, and the ultimate conversion of the then known world to
Christianity possible; these conquests were completed during the last twenty-five years of
the century. This was the famous Augustan Age; the golden age for Roman literature.
Then lived her great poets, statesmen, historians and philosophers. Then gathered at
Rome the priests of every religion prevailing in the provinces; then came Mystics from
various parts of the world and the teaching of Oriental philosophy to the people of the West
began. But the special event which marked the work of the Masters was the birth of Jesus,
which occurred, so competent scholars assure us, four or five, if not ten years before the
year one of the Christian era. Events described as occurring at the time of the birth of
Jesus took place a number of years before the date usually assigned, and therefore it was
in the last quarter of the century preceding the Christian era that Jesus was born. The
movement in the social and religious world called Christianity was at first a movement in
the interests of universal brotherhood and a mystical religion.
In the latter part of this century lived Apollonius, of Tyana, a genuine mystic, a
wonder worker, who attracted the attention of all the Roman world, a philosopher teaching
a lofty and spiritual philosophy, an ascetic living a pure and blameless life. Some have
imagined that Apollonius was the real founder of

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Christianity and that the Gospel stories were historical romances, using the name Jesus,
which means Savior, in place of Apollonius. Whether Apollonius had any connection with
Christianity or not, it is certain that he advocated a similar system of morals, a similar
theory of human nature and may well be regarded as one of the messengers sent out by
the Great Lodge with every recurring cycle. Indeed the Stoic School of Philosophy adorned
in a later century by Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, used much the same
language with which the Gospels and Epistles have made us familiar, and was a movement
in the same direction.
The first century is full of interest from first to last as we have the Christian
movement beginning. Whether the Christian Church was an outgrowth of Buddhism,
whatever that church may finally have degenerated into, yet in the beginning the movement
was for truth, light and liberation for distressed humanity; its corner-stones were liberty,
fraternity and equality. In the last quarter of the century we witness the destruction of
Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews. Thus ending the tendency strong among the
early Christians to make of the new movement another Jewish sect, and placing in all the
principal cities of the Roman Empire a body of Jews among whom Christian Jews could go,
sure of finding fellow countrymen, thus making it easy to carry the new thought and the new
social order to all parts of the then known world. The destruction of Jerusalem seems to
have been the only evidence of the great Helpers work in the first century.
During the last quarter of the second century Christianity takes on a new character
and all the Church became interested in what the German historian Neander calls "Oriental
Theosophy," a system of Secret Doctrine closely resembling the Theosophy of the present
day. Madame Blavatsky recognized this similarity and advised students of Theosophy to
include in the list which they were to study, the writings of the Gnostic Christians. So
powerful was this tendency that it seemed at one time as though it would altogether control
the young church. There is no doubt that the Gnostic teachers were the most intellectual
men in the church and their teachings have affected the religious thought of Christendom
down to our own day. Valentinus, Marcion and Basilides lived in the middle of this century,
but in the last quarter their ideas, which were pure Theosophy, became current in the
Christian Church and affected many of the Church Fathers. They teach much the same
scheme of Evolution as is outlined in the Secret Doctrine.
In the last quarter of the third century we hear much of Neo-platonism, which was
a Theosophic movement on broader lines than Gnosticism, and more heathen than
Christian. Neo-platonism was a mingling of Greek Philosophy and Oriental Theosophy,
and made its headquarters at Alexandria, then the most remarkable city perhaps in the
Roman World. To Alexandria came teachers of all philosophies and all religions, for in that
city, in the Serapeion was the grandest library of ancient times, comprising some 900,000
manuscripts, written in every alphabet or hieroglyphic known to any nation. Neo-platonism
was almost identical with Modern Theosophy and was the popular belief in a city, which
was devoted to philosophizing, whose people were more interested in a new "ism" than in
anything else in the world.
To Alexandria came the priests of every religion and the Magi or learned men of
various nations, many of them members of various brotherhoods, who still initiated into the
Ancient Mysteries. These priests, Magi, Philosophers and Christian teachers all spoke on
the streets, and there was never lacking a

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crowd to hear. Life was easy, it took but little to feed and clothe the people. That little was
quickly obtained and the rest of the day was spent in philosophizing, so there was fertile
soil for new ideas, and they grew with great luxuriance.
While at the close of each century the powers of light endeavor to influence the
world, the powers of darkness are stirred up to an equally great effort, and in some
centuries what is most noticeable is their victory. So it was in the 4th Century. In its early
part Constantine made Christianity the state religion, thus beginning the movement which
should destroy the liberty and fraternity so noticeable in early Christianity. After the
infamous council of Nice, much like a modern political convention, Orthodoxy began to rear
its hideous form, until the controversy between Arius and Athanasius involved nations in
war and we hear much of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy; the simple teachings of Jesus, the
profound and beautiful system propounded by the Gnostics, both were overturned for the
formal and mechanical creed which has been known as Orthodox, and which was enforced
by the power of the State. So deep an interest did many of the Emperors in both the West
and the East take in the creeds, which their subjects accepted, that the whole power of the
state was used to compel conformity. In the last quarter of this century was born Hypatia,
the most remarkable woman of antiquity, who we may believe was one of the messengers
from the Great Lodge. In Alexandria, Hypatia, the inspired priestess of Neo-platonism, or
Theosophy, had in the Serapeion a large school of students from all parts of the Roman
Empire. This School did not flourish in all its glory until the next century, but Hypatia was
born in the third century and prepared for the work she was to do in the next century, when
the power of darkness became too strong for the great scholar and teacher, who, at the
instance of Cyril (now called St. Cyril), was torn to pieces by a mob of Nitrian monks, who
thereby honored and glorified their God.
In the fifth century the Christian community has changed to an Orthodox Church,
and both Emperors and people as well as Bishops and Priests, are intent on securing
conformity, more interested in advancing Orthodoxy than in defending the Empire from
incursions of barbarians. The Western Empire became Orthodox, and gradually faded
away to a mere shadow of its former greatness, sinking into such utter corruption, that
recovery from within was impossible. The Christian movement had lost its regenerating
power, and for the next ten centuries was content with formalism and Orthodoxy,
conserving much of the old spirit but never letting it become active. Under the same
guidance which had brought Christianity in the century before the Christian era, the
Germanic tribes, and tribes of Asiatic barbarians, were let loose upon the Roman Empire,
and in the last quarter of the century, in 476, Odoacer, the Visigoth, conquers Rome, so
long mistress of the world, and makes it possible for the whole of Europe to be influenced
by the remains of civilization still lingering in Rome, and also is made possible the
establishment of the papacy, which fell heir to much of the power belonging to the Roman
Emperors. The Goths took possession of Rome and Italy while the Vandals conquered
much of North Africa and most of Christendom passed out of the control of Italians into that
of the Goths and Vandals. These barbarians became at least semi-civilized and carried
their civilization back to the rude tribes of which they were members, thus preparing the
way for other movements in later centuries, all directed by the Great Lodge.

(To be continued)
-------------
--- 86

THE LARGER WOMANHOOD

by C. M. N.

(Concluded)

MOTHERHOOD
"And now I have my son, and all my life is bliss."

OH! mystery of all mysteries, the incarnation of a divine spirit in flesh, the human
soul. Oh! love than which none other is purer, save the love of God, a mother's love. What
can we say on such a subject?
There was a time when from every mother's heart would have gone up the grateful
cry that rose from Sujata's: "Now I have my son and all my life is bliss," and over the future
years would have stood out the beautiful bow of promise.
It is recorded of Sujata:

"Wherefore, with many prayers she had besought

Lukshmi: and many nights at full moon gone
Round the great Lingham, nine times nine, with gifts
Of rice and jasimine wreaths and sandal oil,
Praying a boy."

In those days a son was a gift from the Gods, and later many a mother has prayed
earnestly, and through long months of weariness and pain has looked longingly forward to
the coming of a son. In such cases the little stranger was accepted as a gift from God.
Earnest and careful was the training of the child and there was reasonable hope for his
future, that he would be manly and strong and that his possession in all the years of her life
would fill the mother's heart with bliss.
To many mothers of today this is a picture easily recognizable. Many a happy heart
beats faster at the thought of the little life that is protected and nourished by her life, and
many a woman loses all sight of personal suffering and danger in loving hopes and plans
for her child that is to be. In such a home there is a loving lord, whose grace, added to the
sunshine of her baby's smile, makes the loving summer of some happy woman's home.
Such is the ideal picture. Such we would all have our homes and for such a state
we all humbly pray our Gods. But the picture has a companion more common than itself.
If this first picture were true to the great majority of cases now, we would not need to be
studying the subject. But we are fallen upon troublous times and the very fountains of
manifested life are being polluted. Vice and social impurity are abroad in the land until the
mother to whom a child is a welcome guest, stands trembling for its safety and cannot say
in her heart that its coming has filled her heart with bliss but that it has, rather, filled her with
anxious care.
All sorts of causes have been assigned for the trouble. All kinds of reforms and
remedies are being tried. It would not fall within the limits of this short paper to discuss
them. We have been working to cure the effect while we left the cause mainly untouched.
Let us, sisters, go to the heart of the matter, the home itself, and the relations existing there
between husband and wife. We are upon sacred ground and must tread reverently. Yet
must the temple of God be freed from the money changers and all his altars be made
clean, if we would be able to say: "And now I have my son and all my life is bliss."
Entrusted with powers fit for Gods; enabled to recreate or form matter into a fitting
habitation for a human soul;

--- 87

having these great mysteries of nature, as yet so far beyond his comprehension, placed
at the disposal of his will; humanity has degraded and debased his powers and has loaded
what should have been the altar of the Gods, with unspeakable filth. This is the source of
the social impurity and moral unsoundness that is honeycombing civilization today. We
must look farther back than this generation, and nearer home than the brothel for the
cause. And while we earnestly work to suppress it now we must, if we would hope for
ultimate success, lay broad and firm the foundation in the home.
When a child comes into the home as the lamented result of the indulgence of the
animal desires of its parents, what will the child be? Can we hope that it will have little of
animality? And generation after generation adding such experiences, is it possible to hope
that the animal nature will not grow stronger with each passing generation. Think of it
sisters. Is it any wonder humanity is an easy prey to vice? Is it any wonder that in children
we often find this part of the nature abnormally developed at the expense of the higher
faculties?
None of us who have had any experience in life can pretend to believe that
unwelcome children are rare cases, or by any means confined to what we, in our pride, are
pleased to call the lower classes. It is an evil deeply hidden in the hearts of our homes, but
very widespread, nevertheless, and it is the true root of social impurity.
Still more deeply hidden are other evils which have a terrible prenatal effect on the
child. While Nature is busy with her great mysteries the person of the mother should be
sacred. Nothing but holy and pure influences, physical and mental, should be brought to
bear upon her, for each impression on the mother has a tremendous effect on the child.
Yet how often is this sanctity violated.
How often upon the sacred mysteries of Nature are intruded the lowest passions of
human animal nature. And the helpless offspring comes into the world handicapped by
unnatural tendencies, almost foredoomed to a life of impurity, by the lack of control of those
who had no thought for its future moral welfare when their own beastly nature was in
question.
Is it strong language, sisters? Perhaps so, but the need is very urgent and too long
has mistaken delicacy held us back from discussing these things. Many a sister has eaten
her heart out with remorse as she has watched the little one so dear to her and learned a
bitter truth too late. Many an earnest teacher in the public schools has felt herself
powerless to stay the tide of impurity there when her search has revealed to her eyes the
source of the trouble in the home life of the parents. Many an honest physician has looked
with alarm upon the results of the past and with dismay as to what the future will be if
children are not brought into this life under purer and better conditions, and many a mother
whose own children have come to her as welcome gifts from above, has had occasion to
weep for the soiled mind and sometimes the impure habits which have come to her little
ones from the contaminating influences from these other sources, through association in
the public schools.
The cause of the trouble lies in the very heart of our home life. The remedy is to
take out the cause, root and branch. It cannot be done in a day, it will not show so great
results on the surface as some other forms of work for social purity, but it will be the most
effectual.
I hear some sister say: "Woman cannot alone alter these conditions." No, She must
have the help of her husband, and part of her work will be to teach him, to bring to his busy
mind this subject, which perhaps he has never given any consideration, and loyally,
lovingly,

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patiently help him to conquer the lower man and let the higher rule his being. Trust me,
sisters, the loving wife can accomplish much in this direction if she will try.
Then she may teach her sons and daughters these lessons.
The value of self-mastery over the physical, that the body may be the servant, not
the master.
The beauty and necessity for the highest purity in the closest relations of life. And
the sanctity of the condition of Motherhood.
Had these lessons been thoroughly taught, had the tremendous force of thought as
a molding power, both on the present and coming generations, been fully appreciated in
the past, we should have today a very different race of people. Instead of a tendency to
all material vice and a strengthening of all animal desires, we should have had self-control,
purity and chastity.
It is an evil that has not sprung up in a night, neither can it be overcome in a day, but
we can make a beginning; we can set in motion causes which shall have a tendency
toward better things, and trust never-failing Karma for the rest.
Reincarnation has a great bearing upon this subject. If each soul were new created
upon its birth into this life and sent out into varying conditions by the will of some being,
then we might pray with reason for pure souls in our children. But as the law of natural
selection rules these matters, we have it mainly in our own control what sort of children we
will have.
Every reincarnating Ego goes, by unalterable law, into that family where the sum of
virtues and vices of the parents most nearly fits his present state and offers the greatest
chances for his future development. Thus will be seen the importance of absolute purity
in the parents if one would have pure children; first, that pure spirits may be attracted;
second, that having been brought to the family, all influences may tend upwards. Again,
reincarnation furnishes a second motive for purity, in that every effort to keep pure here will
add to the certainty of the Ego being reincarnated in purer, better circumstances in the
future. This should be a comfort and strength to those who find themselves in
circumstances where personal purity is hard to maintain, and should arm them anew for
the struggle.
The subject is a wide one and only a few thoughts can be given as starting points
for the earnest study we all must do in the quiet of our homes.

-------------
--- 89

AT THE MATINEE
by Nancy Boyd Miller

IT is a January day and cold for Washington. The beautiful trees in the Square and
in the White House grounds are etched in delicate tracery of grey against the white walls
of the White House and the blue sky above. The row of magnificent elm and linden trees
on the "H" Street side of the Square lift their tall wide-spreading branches in a charming
network of varying shades of grey against the blue sky or floating white cloud. It is almost
two o'clock and the people are going to the matinee. A stream of warmly-clad women flows
along from H. Street into the Opera House. A trickle of the same kind drops in from the
Square and a little ripple or two from "the Avenue." When the varying streams have all
flowed in, I drop in myself and take my seat in one of the mezzanine boxes and look about
on the sea of humanity which the little streams have formed; but I cease to regard them
in a "watery light." They are too solidly human and "fleshy," suggesting indeed all kinds of
flesh. Such a collection of seal-skins, beaver-skins, fox-skins, rabbit-skins, otter-skins,
mink-skins, astrakhan, ermine on the women's shoulders! Such a waving of feathers; all
kinds of feathers, birds' wings and whole dead birds, with ghastly bead eyes, on the heads
of the women. I assure you the civilized matinee girls have left the savage red man away
out in the cold in the clothing of themselves in the skins of animals and the feathers of
fowls.
My eyes rest on a fat woman with firm red cheeks and bright eyes. Her broad
shoulders are covered with the soft pretty skin of several beavers. I do not like to think how
many beavers it did take to make that cape for those broad shoulders. On her head is a
big velvet hat; the rich, glossy, pretty velvet almost entirely hidden by waving ostrich
plumes, and a dead bird with outstretched wings, which must have been beautiful in life;
a bright plumaged, swift-winged creature. I think of what he was in some fragrant shady
wood, flitting from tree to tree; a sparkle of life and color, and joyously busy perhaps about
his housekeeping, his duties as husband and prospective father; taking to his wife a
delicious worm or bug, or other dainty bit, as she sits on her pretty little nest, which they
have both taken such pleasure in building, and leaving her with a loving and musical adieu,
he flits to a limb near by and sings to her, encouraging her in her monotonous maternal
duties, and incidentally giving pleasure to any one who will listen. But he is a doleful
enough object now. All the bright joyous life gone. The exquisite song hushed forever.
The "God-like speed of those beautiful wings" destroyed. A poor, dead, pathetic little bunch
of feathers, with glass eyes and sewed to a hat!
Aigrette plumes rise from many a hat and bonnet all over the house. Everybody
knows that one aigrette plume signifies a family of young birds dying in the agony of slow
starvation.
My eyes come back to the beaver cape on the shoulders of the fat woman and I
wonder if, by any possible means, the stout lady could be made to comprehend that
complicated piece of engineering - a beaver's dam. Hundreds of tons of stone, mud, logs
of wood, all placed with wonderful accuracy by the hard-working, skillful little engineer, and,
perhaps, just when be has cut down a good sized tree and has cut it into the length
required and quickly placed it, away down in the water where it stays, to the be-

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wilderment of the civil engineer, instead of floating, as it would do, if placed by a mere man
and civil engineer, a trapper or hunter knocks him on the head or shoots him or kills him
in some other way, and robs him to trim a dress or make a cape!
This afternoon it seems to me all the matinee women are well-fed looking, rosy
cheeked - rather aggressively so. The too suggestive furs and feathers have set me
thinking vaguely of the other animals in their make-up. The juicy steaks, "rare roasts,"
birds, ducks, chicken, turkeys, fish, crabs, taken in! I think shudderingly of the two large
thick slices of "rare" red roast beef, each in a little puddle of the life-blood of the slain
creature, on the plate of a young woman opposite me at the table at dinner last evening.
As I saw her disposing of the bloody flesh, I wondered if a long line of sad-eyed oxen could
not claim a large share of her. But my attention is called to the stout lady of the beaver
cape. She unbuttons the cape at the throat and pushes it away a little. The lights are
turned low. Did I say that these well (?) dressed people had come to see Mr. Irving play
"The Bells"? Mr. Irving is alone on the stage, fearfully listening, listening for the phantom
sleigh-bells; watching, watching for the phantom sleigh, and the ghosts of his own creating.
A growing horror and fear in every line of his face and every movement of his hands. All
eyes, except my own, are fixed on the stage. The movement of the stout lady, pushing
back the beaver - I mean the beaver cape, attracts my eyes. In the dim light the cape
seems to have a curious movement, even after her fat hands have settled comfortably into
her lap. I strain my eyes through the dim light and watch the softly undulating movement
of the fur. Presently the dim sad eyes and funny little nose of a vague, ghostly little beaver
slowly take shape on the shoulder of the stout lady. A gentle-heaving of the silky fur in
front, which might be, but is not, the breathing of the stout lady, and out of it glimmers
another sad-eyed little face. A shadowy movement of ghostly wings floats softly about the
woman's hat, hovering, dimly radiant, about the melancholy little bundle of feathers and
bones. The Sleigh-bells tinkle through the snowy distance and the matinee women dread
to see the ghosts of Mr. Irving's conjuring, fear to see what the approaching sleigh may
bring. My eyes grow accustomed to the dim light. Dim, indistinct figures seem to float
about the house. On the hat of a pretty young woman, from among the aigrette plumes rise
a group of the yellow mouths of fledglings, opened appealingly. Long lines of vague,
shadowy figures float away from each woman's face; dim, shadowy outlines of gentle, soft
little lambs, the ghostly faces of pretty little calves, the fine, though shadowy, faces of cows
whose mild, sad, mother-eyes gaze reproachfully into the eyes of the matinee folks, in
whom they have such large shares. Dim ghostly lines stretch out behind the cows and their
calves, the sheep and their lambs, birds, young and old, pretty little partridges, plump even
in ghostdom; ducks, whose plumage shines faintly brilliant, chicken, turkeys, rabbits, fish,
crabs, terrapin; long lines of the devoured, all gazing sadly into the sepulchres which have
received their bodies. I cannot stand the reproachful gaze of my own long line of ghosts
and I find it so intensely unpleasant to be regarded as a sepulchre, and the sepulchre of
such a bewildering variety of bodies, that I flee from the Opera house, and as I go I am
pursued by the wails of the violins and I think shudderingly of how awfully we are indebted
to defunct cats for the sweet soul-stirring strains of the violin music.
I am glad to get out and into the out-of-door world. The sun is setting in great
magnificence. All the western sky

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is ablaze with rose-colored and golden lights, against which the wide-spreading branches
of the beautiful trees in the Square are etched in varying tones of grey. A little newsboy
goes by crying in soft southern accents, cheerfully yet with a strangely pathetic little ring -
"Star yer! Eve-nin Star yer." I take my way across the Square, gazing into the rose-colored
sky and listening to the cheerfully pathetic voice of the little colored boy - "Star yer! E-v-e-
nin Star yer."

-------------
DR. AMI BROWN
by M.J.B.

AFTER a lingering illness, our brother, Dr. Ami Brown, passed away from this life,
on the morning of March 6th, at his residence in Boston. His funeral was held on March
8th. Many of his fellow Theosophists were present, four of whom served as bearers, and
Robert Crosbie, the President of the Boston Branch, read some appropriate selections and
made a few suitable remarks. Many hearts are saddened at the loss of so worthy a
brother, companion and friend.
Dr. Ami Brown was born at Ipswich, Mass., on August 11th, 1825. He was one of
the oldest members of the T. S., having, in 1876, joined the original body, simply called The
Theosophical Society, as it existed in New York City when it was so young a tree that as
yet it had no branches. After investigating mesmerism and kindred subjects, Dr. Brown
floundered for some years in spiritualism, but always with a logical mind unsatisfied with
its attempted explanations of phenomena; then he fell in with Colonel Olcott, who at that
time had taken a step beyond spiritualism, and was in what Dr. Brown termed his
"Elemental stage," that is, a stage in which he ingeniously made elementals account for all
phenomena. Of course, many and long were the discussions held by these two enquirers
after truth, one of whom was a founder and the other a member of the only organization
that offered them satisfaction in this regard. As in those early days the T. S. had no
literature, for even Isis Unveiled had not yet appeared before the public, the little that was
learned came orally from H. P. B., and was tersely, and sometimes obscurely, given forth,
as was necessitated by the crude condition of the enquirer. Dr. Brown grew with the
organization, which he had joined, as it held one hand out to the spiritualist and psychic,
leading them upward on their own ground, and pointing with the other hand to a vantage
ground above and beyond them, which the more developed finally reached, while others
dropped away satisfied with their old level. It is needless to say that Dr. Brown was among
the foremost in the society's ranks. He felt that he had at last found a philosophy which
offered a solution of life's problems as nothing else had ever done. He was staunch and
true to his convictions, and he has always remained loyal to the movement and to its
successive leaders. He saw no reason to turn traitor because of a natural and necessary
change of method and administration. He was loyal and friendly towards H. P. B., and the
same regard was transferred to her successor, William Q. Judge, towards whom he felt
also a loving personal attachment. Then when William Q. Judge passed away he found
no more difficulty than before in transferring his loyalty and trust to still another leader in
the person of Katherine A. Tingley, and he easily recognized the fact that as a great cycle
was drawing to a close, the world's evolution

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[[portrait: Dr. Ami Brown]]

--- 93

demanded still greater administrative changes, and it was without effort that he adapted
himself to them.
 Dr. Brown's career as a Theosophist was somewhat unique. Constitutionally
delicate, as he was, and extremely modest and retiring in disposition - perhaps partly
because of his lifelong infirmity, an extreme lameness - his work for others was individual
and never public. Many members can testify to the immense help they received from his
kind heart and clear mind, in their first wrestlings with the philosophy.
He possessed to an eminent degree what was so lauded by H. P. B. and W. Q. J.,
and what is still urged upon us by our present leader, and that is, sound judgment united
with good common sense, and in addition to this, he had a heart as tender as a woman's
and the simplicity and unpretention of a child.
As long as his health permitted he delighted in spending some hours a day at
Headquarters, ready to be of service in talking to strangers and others who dropped in
upon him.
He seemed not only to fulfil the duties of a brother to humanity at large, but to
answer conscientiously all the demands of closer ties, which specially endeared him to the
loving wife and two children who now mourn his loss.
After his illness became so severe that he was no longer able to leave home, he was
always eager to hear anything pertaining to the welfare of the Brotherhood, and would ask
what was going on now, meaning in the ranks of the T. S. as if that were the only
interesting centre of action in the world. He would, in the midst of pain, brighten with the
subject until he became his own clear headed and always amusing self, for he had a fund
of quaint humor in his nature that was irresistible.
His last Theosophical act was to sign our branch protest against the present
conspiracy working to remove our leader from her rightful place.
The accompanying portrait is a copy of a sketch of Dr. Brown taken by W.Q.J. One
day the two were sitting in the Boston T. S. room, harmoniously and pleasantly discussing
some philosophical question, as they frequently did, the doctor's massive head and striking
profile temptingly presented in bold relief, when W. Q. J. picked up a stray piece of paper
and unconsciously to the doctor, made the sketch referred to, which is by some considered
the doctor's best likeness and which original, is now in the possession of the Boston T. S.
Dr. Brown and we, his comrades, have worked harmoniously together in this life, as
we undoubtedly worked together in many a past life, and shall do in many a future one.
Although we know that there is no death, yet our hearts will sadden at the removal
from our midst of that personal presence that was so dear to us.

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"LADY MALCOLM OF POLTALLOCH"

by Eleanor Dunlop

You can visit Poltalloch - Lord Malcolm's estate - by journeying to the west of
Scotland, a land of mist and heather, of lonely hillside tarn, and mountain torrent. The
family homestead is a fine old place, - a kind of feudal castle where the Malcolms for
generations back have lived and died.
That home has been bereft of the sweet presence known as Lady Malcolm, but in
many an humble heart she lives - a bright and lasting memory. Lady Malcolm possessed
many of the peculiar qualities of the Gael - that mysterious race whose last heritage seems
to be a perception of life's infinite pathos, ever lit by the Beauty of the world. We can see
her as a child playing on the dimpled beach, pausing to hear what the ocean murmurs to
the fairy of the shell, or running races with the wild sea horses who lash their white tails in
fury against the resisting rocks. We can see her, when little more than a child, entering
Lord Malcolm's ancient home as its youthful mistress a bride of twenty summers. In
imagination we can fill in the future of Lady Malcolm's life story - but this is neither a time
or place for such a portrayal; we can best recall the happy memory of a strong unselfish
soul who "did what she could" for the Cause of Brotherhood.
Time, thought, and money - all that she had and was, were gladly given to the work.
W. Q. Judge has written "To fail would be nothing, to stop working for humanity
would be awful," and so thought Lady Malcolm, when the doctors had whispered "We can
do nothing more for her," whilst the nurse wet her parched lips, with the drink she could not
take.
Propped up in bed, her fragile hand scarce able to hold the pen, she wrote letters
full of suggestions, and plans for the work - cheery letters - no weeping, or saying of
farewells - rather a call to arms than a bugle note of retreat. Not till death quietly took hold
of that hand, did it relinquish its noble work. Let us look long and earnestly at Lady
Malcolm's strong, sweet face; her eyes look to us like one of her own mountain tarns, in
whose dark liquid depths the blue of heaven is reflected. At times a light, not born of sea
or land shone rapturously, then passed - leaving them as before, dark and inscrutable yet
withal tenderly compassionate; she was graceful as a fawn, stately, and dignified, with that
old-world air, so seldom seen of late. "A lady every bit of her," simple and unaffected,
homely of speech and manner she won the entire confidence of all who met her.
Lady Malcolm was one of H.P. Blavatsky's pupils at Avenue Road, in London,
faithful to her as to her successor - W. Q. Judge. The "Great Sifter" has been kept busy
since the T. S. was founded. "The useless chaff it drives from out the grain, the refuse from
the wheat!" Such a process took place in 1895 at the Convention of the "European
Section." Lady Malcolm, although at that time an invalid, attended the convention, and with
many others testified for Brotherhood by withdrawing from that scene of intolerance; it was
she, who invited all who had thus left, to her house in Cumberland Place, where a new
society was organized which elected W. Q. Judge President for life - thus showing to all the
world that Brotherhood was not only a theory but a fact to stand by. This is now a matter
of history, as is also her warm hearted reception of the Crusaders; who visited

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London whilst on their tour round the world. During this time Lady Malcolm threw open her
house to receptions, dinners for press men and social gatherings, joining in all, with an
enthusiasm, born of loyal zeal for the Cause of Truth and Brotherhood; during these
memorable ten days, one of her carriages was set apart for Mrs. Tingley's use. A bond of
deep sympathy existed between her and our dear Leader which needed only the
quickening of her presence - to fan into an abiding faith and trust. As a proof of this Lady
Malcolm bequeathed a considerable sum to the S. R. L. M. A. which she felt was a beacon
light towards which all discouraged souls might look for comfort. And now let us consider
Lady Malcolm's life work, what she accomplished, single-handed and isolated, for the
Cause of Brotherhood. Neither an eloquent speaker, nor a literary genius - just a quiet
unselfish worker, whose heart was a well-spring of Compassion. A mind attuned to the
harmonies underlying life's discords - a voice speaking of what it knew in the language of
the heart. Such was Lady Malcolm, and through all she said and wrote ran a vein of
sparkling humor which brightened the dullest fact, making the darkest outlook seem like a
game of hide and seek. She wrote on an average five long letters a day. To use her own
words she wrote "As a soul, a heart, never as a person." North, south, east and west flew
these white birds, bearing messages of loving counsel, of hope and abiding faith in the Soul
of things. She always strove to awaken in each soul she wrote to a belief in their own
Divinity, in their own inherent power to conquer and subdue.
I will quote a few sentences from the Irish Theosophist of November, 1896, in which
Lady Malcolm gives a few "Hints on Theosophical Correspondence'':
"Let your correspondents know that their confidences will be respected. Ever appeal
to their better nature; approve, more than blame. Tact and tenderness are necessary;
realize to yourself your correspondent's hopes, fears, environment, daily life, before you sit
down to write."
Thus she wrote, and thus daily fresh channels were found through which the life-
giving currents flowed.
To those who were beyond the reach of her pen, she sent books, the writings of
those who, having passed thro' the struggle, turn back to extend a helping hand to those
who need it. Such books are earth's priceless treasures. So this wise soul bought
countless books and scattered them broadcast through the land - books suited to all ages
and conditions. Parcels of these were sent to Lodges and Centres throughout Great
Britain, to public libraries and reading-rooms, not to speak of those "isolated members" who
were all of them known to and helped by Lady Malcolm.
In the Theosophical News of November 23, 1896, we read the following statement:
"The Theosophical Society has lost the visible presence of one of its very best and
most devoted workers. Lady Malcolm of Poltalloch died on Monday, October 12th, at 1
A.M., quietly and painlessly, after a three months' illness of terrible pain, borne without
murmur or complaint." Shall we mourn for her who has gone? Nay, rather should we
rejoice that "the pilgrim'' is at rest if only for a little.
This age - this epoch in life's history, needs strong souls - demands them, whether
they be powers of good or evil. The host of heaven and hell, of light and darkness, confront
each other as the iron gates of the 19th Century close. Let us raise a song of victory, a full
harmonious note of peace and good will.

-------------

JACK'S PROBLEM
by Charlotte Abell Walker

"HELPING and sharing is what Brotherhood means," said little Jack Sheldon with
a very earnest look in his blue eyes.
"Yes, dear," replied his mother. Mrs. Sheldon liked to have her boy think out his own
problems and after a glance at Jack's face went on with her sewing.
 "It means a great deal, doesn't it, Mamma?"
"A great deal, Jack."
"I don't think I could be a brother to some of the boys in my class, the dirty, ragged
boys I mean," said Jack, his face flushing a little as he met his mother's eyes.
"I understand, dear."
With a sigh of relief the boy flung himself on a low seat at his mother's side. "You
always do understand me, mamma dear. It is such a help."
"And it is very helpful to me Jack that you let me share some of your heart troubles.
I don 't like dirty boys either, but we often find splendid characters under the dirt and rags
and that is what counts most. Don 't you think so Jack?"
"Why, of course I do!" said Jack, with a laugh. "Do you know, I think you are the
very funniest mamma a boy ever had! I always think I am going to have my way about
doing things because you hardly ever say I must, or must not, but somehow you always
make me do your way."
"Not my way exactly, Jack, it is your way, only you did not happen to see it so plainly
at first. I want to guide, not control you, Jack. Self-control is your most important lesson
to learn, my son."
"But, mamma, it is so much easier to do things when you say I must. It is awfully
bothersome to think out things for myself."
"Older persons than you have found the same difficulty. We all must learn to decide
our own problems, but we can be helped by asking older and wiser persons than ourselves
for advice."
"Well, mamma, I think my problems are easier than yours anyhow," said Jack, as
he lovingly squeezed his mother's hand. "I just wish some of the boys in my class had
mothers like you. I think a Motherhood League would be a pretty good thing, don't you,
mamma?"
"The best thing in the world, my darling."
Jack was silent a moment and then he began whistling softly "Brothers we." His
eyes had a far away look, almost too earnest for one so young, but it was soon succeeded
by one of boyish determination. "Well, I've settled it!" he exclaimed, springing to his feet.
"If we all are brothers, a little dirt on the outside doesn't matter much, so I'll just look for the
boy inside, and if he is clean, things will come right somehow."
Five minutes later Jack was playing in the street just as happily as though there were
no vexatious problems in the world, but his mother's heart ached as she thought of the
great responsibility of motherhood and of the little preparation made for it in the lives of
most women. "Women have higher privileges than the right of Suffrage can give them,"
she had said to a friend one day. "The enormity of woman's work is appalling."
"What kind of work?" asked her friend. "That of helping ignorant mothers train their
sons to be more obedient, and to teach them the brotherhood of humanity before they are
given the right to help make laws for the people."
"Well, how can we do that; don't you think that these mothers would re-

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sent our interference even if we should be brave enough to visit them in their homes, and
try to inculcate our views for their good?"
 "That is the stumbling block, it seems to me, in the way of most reforms. We want
to inculcate our views and utterly ignore theirs. We should strive instead to get these
mothers to be coworkers with us, to get their views on the subject and see if from a
consensus of opinion we cannot do greater good for all the down-trodden and oppressed
than by obtaining the right of suffrage for our sex. If women will not awake to their great
responsibilities as mothers, and keep their little ones pure while they are yet in the home
nest, they should not expect to do much themselves towards purifying the government.
Can we expect Reformers in a few weeks of electioneering, to teach our sons honesty and
loyalty to the best interests of their country, if we in twenty-one years have failed to teach
them the great principles of the Brotherhood of mankind? We must learn to be less
sentimental in the education of our sons and give them sound practical advice that will
stand the tests of business life. We have the training of the men who make the laws and
if we show such a lack of wisdom and judgment, when their natures are in a plastic state
that we cannot mold them into fixed principles of right and wrong, we had better set
ourselves to learn our duties and responsibilities as mothers before we demand the right
to meddle with the laws they have had to frame without much assistance from us. I feel like
crying from every hilltop, 'Mothers awake to your higher life! Be no longer creatures of
weak impulse! Arouse yourselves to the grand possibilities of your power to rule your
homes wisely and well and you have only to lift your hands and the world will obey!'"
Mrs. Sheldon put away her sewing with a sigh, and then stood at the window a
moment watching the children who were playing in the street. Jack was among them. He
looked up and smiled as he saw his mother. "Dear Jack," softly murmured Mrs. Sheldon,
"Helping and sharing is what Brotherhood means. I am Sure you will do your part."

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FRAGMENTS
by Adhiratha

EVERYBODY looks out for something; most people look around them as far as their
eyes carry them and then stop; some look within, into that unlimited space, where, when
vision ceases, the real begins. Internal vision has to go into Pralaya,* too, but the real will
stand when beyond inverted sight there is unfathomable darkness; in that darkness sound
yet prevails. But internal vision is more real than external vision and it lasts as long as the
Monad** lasts as such, during a Mahamanvantara.*** What the seeds of sound are in the
Absolute is beyond creatures to know; we stop and bow down in deepest reverence. But
on the road which lies in this direction there are many things and real things, as far as real
may mean "lasting through one great age of Brahma." Let us call this real and the sheaths
unreal, of which the physical is the utmost illusion of all, than which there is no greater
illusion. So we have to work up from the very bottom of the ladder to which we have
descended. We had to descend, we had to believe it to be real, or we should never have
known it. We cannot investigate that which we do not believe to be really existing, and
inasmuch as we will never know the soul if we deny its existence, we could never have
known the physical world without believing it to be real through the power of Maya.****
We know the methods of investigation of the physical, because we have evolved
senses and faculties which respond to it

------------
* Pralaya, a cyclic period of rest alternating with a Manvantara, a period of activity;
night alternating with day. - Editor.
** Monad, the unit life, the persisting unit of consciousness. - Editor.
*** Mahamanvantara, a great period of manifestation. - Editor.
**** Maya, illusion. - Editor.
-------------

and take it in. These senses and faculties however, do not hold good for investigating other
planes of consciousness, and if we want to do this we must evolve others, each set
responding to the plane to which it belongs. Much that we do and think however, belongs
already to other planes and only appears physical. All men think, sometimes very little, but
the thought-plane is that of the conscious performance of thinking as such, and not as a
physical disturbance. Unless we do that we do not think self-consciously, but automatically.
Doing a thing consciously means to master it, and we do not really think consciously as
long as we do not master by will and knowledge every thought of ours. Thinking is doing
work on the thought plane, and as a carpenter builds a house and not the house builds
itself by the carpenter's hands, so we must perform thinking as we will it, and think such
thoughts only as we have willed to think. But, oh, how long it takes a man, even with the
best intention to do this. Two difficulties obstruct the way: The habit of doing otherwise,
and the obligation to still act on the physical plane in order to work out past karma. If we
try to do our best to overcome the first of these obstructions, we do all we can and must
leave the rest to karma.
So now the first thing to do is to find out our habit of not thinking, which is but
entering extraneous thought-currents. Truly H. P. Blavatsky calls this earth the "Hall of
Ignorance"; in the physical we can only learn that we are ignorant, we can only find out that
our pretended knowledge here is not knowledge but ignorance; form and name as the
Hindu philosophy says. Thinking from a physical, earthly aspect is ignorance and illusion.
We have to learn

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this first, but at the same time we must learn the real thinking; we cannot unlearn unless
we learn, and we cannot learn unless we unlearn. H. P. Blavatsky calls the next hall the
"Hall of Learning," and the third, the "Hall of Wisdom." The first of those two appears like
a critical state between ignorance and wisdom, as the critical state of water before turning
into steam. The forces of both states act on it, and it does not know which way to go.
Learning in fact means the taking of a decision, one way or the other, for an entity having
freedom of choice; it is no advancement in itself, but may lead to advancement. Thus a
man as a thinker is in ignorance, learning, or wisdom, at each moment of his mental
activity. If he understands this well, he may begin to learn to do his own thinking and finish
by dispelling all ignorance by the mastery over his whole thinking system.
But even this is not introspection, it is only what any reasonable man should do in
order to be really somebody. Beyond the "Hall of Wisdom" stretch the "Waters of Akshara"
the infinite, the beyond-thought, but thought has to be mastered first before it can be left,
or else it will always be a disturbing element. Thoughts on the thought-plane are like
objective things on the physical plane; as we build up our physical worlds around us by the
power of representation and will, so we build up our thought world by thought
representation and mastery of same.
There are always two ways of viewing a thing, looking at it, and seeing by it. You
see a beetle crawl in the dust, that is you see its movements; then you observe where the
insect wants to go and for what purpose, and thus entering into the insect's mind you see
by it. With our thoughts it is the same. We know our habit of thought and we can feel
habitual thoughts creeping up to us, trying to enter into our consciousness; we see them
but we do not as yet enter into them. When we enter them, then we formulate the thoughts
and so to say use them, give them strength and allow them to get hold of us more easily
the next time. If we do not formulate them but oppose them, then there ensues a fight
between our will and the acquired force of habit.
It is only when we have vanquished the latter that we can do our own thinking with
less difficulty, and at last mastery will give us freedom of thinking.
It is only after we have gained this freedom that we may begin to try what Patanjali
calls the arrest of the "modifications of the thinking principle." By giving form to thought the
thinking principle is modified, and by arresting the latter no more mind-pictures are
produced and the consciousness may go beyond. This is so different from our every-day
habit, and we know so little of it, that, as we are told, unguided we shall fail. We may study
the books on Yoga, but, as H.P. Blavatsky says, we have to look out for our teacher in the
Hall of Wisdom and on no lower plane. Happy he who reaches his teacher, who does not
look out for him in the physical, who is not deceived by the astral, but who masters himself
so as to reach the pure mind plane where the Master is ready whenever the pupil is ready.

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--- 100

THE KINDERGARTEN OF THEOSOPHY

by Marie A.J. Watson

CHAPTER VI. - (Continued)

BUT to believe in the existence of the Masters, we must believe in the possibility of
an ideal state of man; and we must have an ideal and contemplate it daily, that we may
grow like it. The materialist or worshiper of protoplasm holds no ideal, and so long as his
thoughts keep him in this state of consciousness, he will not progress beyond it. We must
have some definite thing toward which to strive. The Buddha and the Christ are types of
perfection, exemplified to us; they are perfected men; and perfect man is Godlike. To say
Jesus is the Son of God, says nothing, since all men are the sons of God; the distinction
lies herein, that Jesus was conscious of and had realized his sonship with God, but
ordinary man knows it not and has not realized it.
Reincarnation alone, gives the clue to the existence of such perfected souls. They
are not miraculous meteors, flashing from some equally miraculous throne located in the
land of superstition. The Ego must return again and again, until it becomes conscious upon
all planes in nature. Ordinary man has self-consciousness, but it relates mostly to the
physical plane of being. Can we believe that man passes away from here after one short
life, to return no more, leaving his work unfinished? Is it reasonable to suppose that the
stupendous task that has been accomplished through millions of ages, evolving physical
man up to his present stage, has had for its object the mere giving to man the privilege of
flitting for a few short years upon the scene, scarcely knowing how or why he breathes?
You may say, you have no remembrance concerning any other life, but must this ignorance
be permanent? You can develop out of this unconsciousness into the consciousness of
former lives. How is this to be done? Only by exerting your will power, and by persistent
effort to recover what you have forgotten. There is no royal road to knowledge in anything,
we must work for success in this, as in any other line. Take our physical-brain-
consciousness, for example; do we know anything thoroughly until we have given special
study to it?
Memories become obliterated from the mind even in this one short life; how do we
regain them?
Often by association of ideas we are enabled to remember facts that were buried
in the long ago; sometimes the odor of a flower, a strain of music, a picture or a word, is
sufficient to recall experiences of years long past. Here we have a lesson. We see that
by bringing together the conditions and the ideas that centred about that certain period, we
regather these experiences, and they become realities once more. It is by this same
process that recollection of our past lives is brought about; for all in nature proceeds by
natural law; we must by mental effort force the conditions and ideas together which
constituted periods in our former lives. We hear much of intuition and intuitive knowledge.
Whence come they? It is not that some particular person is favored and receives such
knowledge by mere abstraction, meditation or concentration; this is only relatively true,
because there must have been a preparatory training through many lives before this
method could be applied. The physical brain must have evolved up to the stage where it
has become receptive to truth from its own higher mind. The function

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the counterpart of that which in the lower brain mind we call memory, just as we say instinct
is an attribute of the lower mind which the animals share with man, and which relates only
to the animal or physical plane; while intuition is an attribute of the soul, and reaches out
on all planes. Now this higher power gives to the physical brain its receptivity for
knowledge and, by repeated efforts of the will, each successive physical brain evolved
through successive incarnations, becomes more receptive to truth, until at last, the physical
brain becomes active in the possession of knowledge, where before it was receptive.
When it is active, there is union between the lower and the higher mind, and then the
physical brain becomes conscious of past experience; then is effected the resurrection of
the higher Ego, from the tombs of earth life.
Thus we see that there is a slow up-building of the physical brain, until it has
acquired the power of freeing the mind from obstructing causes; this power in theosophic
parlance is called, "hindering - the modifications of the mind." When this is accomplished,
we are able to penetrate more deeply into the dim regions of the past, and we recollect
facts which enable us to locate and determine their relation in proper sequence. Such
knowledge will enable us to understand our conditions and surroundings. Our Karmic
record unfolded, even in a measure, helps us to accept our life more bravely; stimulates
to new courage and new endeavor to help ourselves and others. It further proves to us that
there are no leaps in nature, no partiality, no favors, no injustice, but that whatever has
been gained has been earned; there is no room for dissatisfaction, hatred or jealousy.
Whatever is, has come to us from the past, and what shall be, must come from the present.
Let us make the present profitable, and the future must become so. A mere idle faith in the
belief that something outside of our own efforts shall lift us out of our present
consciousness, is fruitless. When we come into true sympathetic relations with man and
nature, we learn most about them. By research and study, by reason and spiritual insight,
by employing all these means, man may prove for himself the immortality of the Ego; that
it inhabits new physical bodies; that it is, in fact, rooted to the earth, until it outgrows its
necessity as it climbs ever to higher and higher planes, until it finally blossoms into the
perfect flower of spiritual life.
The world stands at the beginning of a new epoch. It is not of vital importance to
add another form of religion to the already long list. If evolution for the soul is true, there
must be multifarious forms of religion, each adapted to the particular class of worshipers.
All men are attracted to that which seems best to them. You cannot make a Christ or a
Buddha of a savage. Man must grow into the knowledge of the truth; substituting one
dogma for another does not help man; you can persuade a man to worship in your
particular form, but do not flatter yourself, therefore, that you have made a convert, for,
after all the idea behind the form of worship will fit exactly to the focus of his conception.
The only way to destroy error is to know that it is an error, and how it is an error, and to
make its beholder understand that something else is better; this, theosophy endeavors to
do. It does not by harsh denouncement, tear down what has been laboriously built up
through the ages; it treats mental blindness as it would bodily blindness, with compassion,
tolerance and love. It ever encourages man to greater and nobler effort; it teaches that
human life has its wave-life, its pastoral life of peace; its wider range upon the hill tops;
its view from the mountain peaks, and its still higher winged-life of glorious visions; as
Peter walked the waves toward his Master, now sinking,

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now, by new effort, sustained, so shall we learn in time, to tread the waves of passional life
triumphantly.

CHAPTER VII. THE OBJECT OF THEOSOPHY - THE LAW OF KARMA -

REINCARNATION
What can Theosophy claim for itself that causes its followers to believe it to be their
duty to present its teachings to the world. It has for its principal object the forming of a
nucleus of a Universal brotherhood. Also to study ancient and modern religion, philosophy,
science and art and to investigate the laws of nature and the divine power in man. What
is philosophy but the experience, the history of humanity condensed and formulated into
a system of order. The facts of human experience have been observed, analyzed,
compared, studied, and the results have become consciousness itself, and, as such should
not be gainsaid. The period of human existence is divided into cycles, during each of which
collective mankind gradually reaches the culminating point of the highest civilization; and
then again with the same gradual process it recedes on the downward arc of the cycle. So
are philosophies born, developed, and reach their highest point of thought, mentally and
spiritually, and they are left as a legacy bequeathed to the coming races. So it behooves
us to study these ancient philosophies, using them as a ladder whereby we may ascend
to the heights which their originators have already scaled. The problem to solve the origin
and destiny of man will ever agitate the thinker, and compel him to seek and investigate all
means available towards its solution. The first step on the path of wisdom is to exercise
the mind, to do our own thinking. To merely believe with a blind faith in something that has
been taught us, is not only a sign of mental laziness, but a selfish regard for one's own
feelings, a dislike to be disturbed out of this rut of mental ease.
The current doctrines of the forgiveness of sins and the atonement are as ordinarily
understood pernicious to human development. Take the first of these, how in the nature
of things and according to law can sin be forgiven? That every cause has its effect is
apparent to every one. And who can atone for me; not God himself, since I am of his
substance, and like him too I must be free, and can make or mar my destiny.
All religions teach that the spirit, the divine soul, in man is a spark of the One Life,
the Absolute, but they do not teach as theosophy does that this spark has to win self-
consciousness, that it gains experience through all the lower kingdoms, and when the
human stage is reached, then commences the battle between the lower and higher natures
in man, and all progress from this time on, is a matter of personal endeavor. This gives a
satisfactory explanation of the inequalities existing in the conditions of men, between the
rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the wise and the ignorant, the good and the
evil. Did not St. Paul say, "What a man sows that also shall he reap." And this reaping
must be on the plane where the sowing took place. The effects will be manifest on the
physical plane and in a physical body.

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THE ANCIENT DRUIDS

THEIR HISTORY AND RELIGION
by Rev. W. William

THE Science of Comparative Religion originating out of the philosophic spirit of the
age, has already won for itself a recognized position in the domain of positive knowledge.
By its patient investigations amongst the wrecks and fragments of past and almost
forgotten religious systems, that have reached us, and by a careful and accurate
comparison of them with present existing religions, our knowledge of them has been
considerably enlarged, so that taking a retrospective glance, we are able to realize the
inner life and comprehend the thoughts and ideas which have swayed the minds and
molded the characters of mankind in all ages of human history.
Availing itself of the doctrine of evolution and its teachings, Comparative Religion
has been able to translate and express in scientific terms, the historical development, as
also the laws of growth and decay which govern the religious principle in man's nature. By
the aid of Comparative philology it has tracked Religions in their migrations, followed them
in their numerous ramifications and explained the causes of their chief distinctive features
and even fixed the locality from which they first radiated as a common centre; so that the
philosophic student, after a general review and calm consideration of the many interesting
facts and data presented before him, arrives at this conclusion that the same fundamental
truths and ideas lie at the basis of the many and diversified systems of religion; that all of
them are but the reflections of man's faith, the expressions of his spiritual growth; - that
their differences are mainly due to the influences of environment, of climate and natural
scenery - the chief instruments in exciting intellectual thought and meditation that have
entered so largely as formative elements in religious development.
This is particularly noticeable and perceptible in the history of Ancient Druidism, one
of those old-world religions whose origin is shrouded in mystery as dark and impenetrable
as the groves and forest recesses in which its rites and ceremonies were celebrated and
performed. Out of the dim and mystic Past, the Druid Bards loom up as beings of a
commanding and awe-inspiring character, invested with tremendous powers and
possessors of a secret knowledge of Nature and an occult philosophy which caused them
to be regarded with sentiments of the deepest reverence. In the unfolding of the great
panorama of History they suddenly appear begirt with a power and authority more than
kingly in its extent and influence, majestic in form and feature, calm and self-contained in
their deportment, with brows encircled with golden coronets, and arrayed in all the splendid
robes and glittering insignia of a lofty and learned priesthood. Thus they appear on the
stage of human life, and after discharging their functions and playing their parts in the
world's drama, they disappear, retiring into that dark oblivion, the grave and cemetery of
all that is mutable and human and in the minds of posterity exist no more, save and except
as umbra nominis magni shadows of a great past.

HISTORICAL SKETCH
The history of the Ancient Druids owing to the scanty details and meagre imperfect
traditions of their religious and philosophic teachings that have been handed down,
becomes a subject requiring deep and prolonged research, a dis-

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criminating analysis, and a clear intuition in the separation of those incrustations of truth
and error, fact and fiction which in the course of centuries, have gathered round them and
which have hitherto hindered and prevented us from obtaining right and adequate
conceptions and views of their character as elements and factors in the religious life and
development of Humanity. But few writers and historians have directed their researches
in a field of knowledge which though limited and contracted in area, is rich with the relics
and fragments of a race, the knowledge and details of which constitute a most interesting
chapter in the universal history of Nations.
In the collection and marshaling of these various details, as also in piecing together
the scattered historical data and placing them in their natural relationship and order, we
hope to present, inadequate though it may be, a somewhat clear and vivid outline of a
subject which to the theosophical mind is fraught with great interest and at the same time
is calculated to become to the general reader, a source of instructive knowledge.
In order to avoid confusion in treating of the Ancient Druids and that the reader may
obtain a clearer idea and conception of the subject, we shall first sketch their history and
then present an outline of our investigations into their religion, its similarities to and
differences from old-world faiths and systems of belief. Thousands of years ago the
country of Bactria situated to the east of the Caspian Sea and stretching to the borders of
northern India, was inhabited by a large number of tribes of the same origin and united
together by the same manners and customs and modes of religious worship. They were
chiefly agriculturists and possessors of large herds of cattle. Living at peace amongst
themselves, their numbers became so much increased that their territories were finally
unable to supply them with the necessaries of life. Calling together a council, it was
decided that certain numbers should emigrate and form settlements for themselves and
their families in lands that lay toward the regions of the setting sun. Accordingly a large
body consisting of those who were headstrong and of fiery temperament, left their homes
and after wandering across the wide plains of Asia Minor, some of them settled in northern
Germany; while others forced their way into Italy and Greece. The first were the ancestors
of the Celts, whose descendants Julius Cesar found in Britain when he invaded it; the latter
were the progenitors of the Greeks and Romans. The tribes that remained at home,
through some unknown causes, probably on account of climatic changes and a consequent
dearth of the means of subsistence, were compelled to relinquish their homes when part
of them settled in Persia. The remainder proceeded southeast and entered that part of
India known as the Punjaub.
These facts in the early history of the Aryans are beyond question and constitute
what a learned German has described as the discovery of a "new world" and we now know
that Icelander and Roman, Greek and German, Persian and Hindoo, Briton and Arab are
all brethren, the descendants of a common ancestry, wanderers from the same homestead.
Though to acquaint ourselves with the history of the wanderings of these various
tribes is a subject of great interest, we are compelled to limit and restrict our investigations
and follow in the rear and wake of the Celts who were the first to leave their fatherland. It
was an eventful period in their history when they went forth in quest of new homes; - a
hazardous enterprise entailing upon them great privations. It involved the clearing a
pathway through dense forests, the fording of broad rivers and rapid streams, and contests
with foes

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ever on the alert to oppose their advance and thwart them in their enterprise. They were
a tall, muscular race of men, carrying stone battle-axes on their shoulders and horn bows
at their backs. As they wended their way westward and traversed the extensive plains over
which they had first to pass, and as the dim outlines of the mountain peaks and summits
of their native country faded from view, their courage abated not, for they were buoyant
with hope in the future. In their hearts was an innate love of liberty and freedom, whilst
their natures vibrated with those religious sentiments which form the basis of all true
manliness and earnestness of character, essential in the achievement of lofty aims and
purposes. By their indomitable energy and ceaseless perseverance, they entered Europe
at length, leaving traces of the route they took in the Celtic names of places where they
settled and of the rivers on whose banks they dwelt.
Nowhere in the countries through which they passed could they settle for any length
of time, for they were hurried forward by an ever-increasing wave of numerous hordes of
emigrants who were on the same quest as themselves and never found rest until they
reached Brittany, a province in the north of France. Here they found their home and also
in the island of Britain. In process of time, becoming settled and established, the Celts
formed amongst themselves for purposes of mutual defense vast confederations of warlike
tribes. They became fond of hunting, expert and skillful agriculturists and dwelt in conical
huts formed of the branches of trees, covered with the skins of animals slain in the chase.
They painted their bodies with figures to distinguish their families and rank, of which they
felt so proud that in the most inclement season they preferred the dispensing with any kind
of clothing. Like the Persians, their distant relatives, they held idolatry in abhorrence and
overturned and destroyed the images and temples of the vanquished.
Whilst in their native land, the heads of families discharged all priestly duties and
were termed Rishis, by whom were composed most of the hymns forming the Rig Veda,
but owing now to their altered conditions and circumstances of life, the Celts, in order that
they might be better able to attend to the means of self-preservation and provide for their
respective families, relegated and intrusted the discharge of all priestly functions to certain
individuals who have become known to us as the Druids; the derivation and meaning of
which name is still a matter of dispute and uncertainty. Pliny the Elder, a noted Roman
author, derives it from the Greek word drus, an oak, but several Welsh scholars maintain
that it comes from Derwyda, the old British form of the word, a compound of derw, a wise
man, a vaticinator or prophet. However this may be, the word Druid was used to designate
a class of priests and philosophers corresponding to the Brahmans of India, the Magi of the
Persians, as also to the hierophants and scholars of ancient and modern people.
Amongst classical writers Caesar in the sixth book of his De bello Gallico, is the first
who states that the Druids were the religious guides of the people as well as the chief
expounders and guardians of the law. As, unlike the Brahmans in India, they were not an
hereditary caste, and enjoyed exemption from military service as well as payment of taxes;
admission to their order was eagerly sought after by the youth of Gaul. The course of
training to which a novice had to submit was protracted, extending over twenty years, -
resembling in this particular the system of education still in vogue in India. The office of
Arch Druid was elective, extending over a lifetime, and involved supreme authority over all
others. Desultory references and brief notices of the learning of the

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Druids are met with in the writings of Aristotle, Diogenes Laertius, the church fathers Origin,
Clement of Alexandria and St. Augustine.
According to Pliny, the Druids held the mistletoe in the highest veneration. Groves
of oak were their chosen retreat, esteeming as a gift from heaven whatever grew thereon,
more especially the mistletoe. When thus found, it was cut with a golden knife by a priest
clad in a white robe, two white bulls being sacrificed on the spot. The name given to the
mistletoe signified in their language All-Heal, and its virtues were believed to be great. The
Moon Plant was held in great reverence by the Druids, as also by the Hindoos, whose
praises of its occult virtues are dwelt upon in many of their most ancient writings.
The Druids had schools in the forests, where youths committed to memory certain
maxims in verse, inculcating the worship of the gods, bravery in battle, respect to chastity
of women and implicit obedience to Druids, magistrates and parents. These verses
sometimes contained an allegorical meaning which was explained under an oath of secrecy
to those educated for the higher orders of the priesthood. They were divided into three
classes, the Druids proper, who were the sole judges and legislators, presided at the
sacrifices and were the instructors of the novitiates. They were dressed in white robes.
The second class were the Bards, who accompanied chiefs to battle and sang hymns to
the god of war. They had to undergo a novitiate-ship of twenty years, during which they
committed to memory the traditionary songs, the exploits and deeds of daring and valor of
past chiefs. After passing the customary ordeals and examinations, they were given to
drink of the waters of inspiration, which we are inclined to think was the same as the juice
of the soma plant amongst the Hindoos; after which, like the Brahmans, they were said to
be twice born and were henceforth held in the highest respect and veneration by their
countrymen. The color of their garb was green.
The third class was that of the Vates or Diviners of omens and all the phenomena
of nature, the flight and song of birds. They were also skillful in compounding herbs,
philtres and medicines, and wore a blue and white colored robe.
Such is a brief outline of the history of the Druids, their functions and duties. The
subject of their religion and philosophy will receive a separate consideration when we come
to deal with them. For the present we must leave them in the seclusion and silence of their
forest groves, surrounded by admiring neophytes, and as the last echoes of their mystic
teachings resound in our ears, we divine the reason of that reverence and veneration with
which they were regarded by all nations, and why they were able to wield an influence
which in its extent and power has never been paralleled, either in ancient or modern times.

(To be continued)
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THEOSOPHY AND UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD

By Zoryan

(Continued)

WHAT is this grand majestic sound* risen so suddenly in the sweet and tender
morning hour?
The first rays of the Sun have touched the Memnon's statue.**
The Lords of the Immortal Wisdom came down to dwell in human souls, as far as
those were ready.
The lunar beauty of the twilight skies and its selenic image are now flooded with the
ubiquitous singing light of the Sun, which breaks the barriers of the night, and takes the
moon, the skies, the earth, the waters as so many tints and shining notes of the one joy of
Brotherhood Eternal, which awoke with daylight from out the Immortal Regions and brought
the warmth of heart, the inner heat of action by the indwelling everlasting Right, the new
Ideal ever-present, the beatific glory, which dissolved the lunar sighs and longings into
perpetual heart-notes of its song, whose choral strain embraces the whole human kind.
This happened when humanity reached the middle of the Third Race and had
gathered enough of power and intensity of aspiration to respond in the terms of
consciousness known to it and in synchronous vibrations to the consciousness of the
Immortal Egos, so that two might become one,
The Secret Doctrine*** gives many hints as to the nature of these Celestial Be-

--------------
* Sound corresponds in Indian philosophy to Akasha, through which act the forces
of Angelic Mind, which is different from mortal mind of men, and superior to it, just as sound
is superior to other senses, being more within, perfectly void of opacity, ubiquitous, each
note being complementary to another and founded on the Unity expressed in the keynote.
** The colossal statue of Memnon in Egypt greeted the sunrise with a melodious
strain, produced by vibrations of molecules of the stone in the first rays of the solar heat.
*** By H. P. Blavatsky.
----------

ings. Descriptions it could not give, as no description will avail, because our earthly terms
of expression are all pertaining to the world of separateness, of the square divided and
subdivided into smaller squares, where no amount of classification will give unity, - not that
unity of being included in the large square, but the real conscious inner unity of the higher
world, which is symbolized by the triangle. Even when we say that the Divine Hosts and
Hierarchies of the Triangle are divided and undivided at the same time - "the undetached
sparks" in the One Flame, as the Secret Doctrine expresses it - the phrase should be
understood mystically, and not as an objective vision. This great truth is spoken only in
symbols, poetical, for mystic natures, and purposely crude for the crowd, which hangs to
the literal sense.
Let us then turn our eyes to the great pyramid of Egypt, which was constructed by
the Teachers to commemorate the important event of their presence, and even more, of
the presence of that Divine Triangle as touching with its lower line the square of earthly life
and knowledge. Little can we say, but in our contemplative silence there springs the
upward fire and then we can see how the Pyramid reminds one of "the Root that never
dies; the Three-tongued Flame of the Four Wicks. The Wicks are the Sparks, that draw
from the Three-tongued Flame shot out by the Seven - their Flame - the Beams and Sparks
of one Moon reflected in the running waves of all the Rivers of the Earth." *
The fiery Pyramid on the watery base; the Eternal on the passing; Changeless
Truth, giving its Rays to the reflections of its Moon, and then withdrawing them

-----------
* S.D. I. p. 65, third ed.
-----------
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back, gathering them into itself, reflections, light and all; - who can understand the mystery,
who has it in himself? Perhaps that Sphinx, so deeply meditating in the still vastness of the
desert.
The Sphinx has a human face. Surely it will speak. Yet its lips do not move, its eyes
do not even look upon us. Set and immovable is its face, as if the light of Eternity, on which
it gazes, had enraptured it above all earthly visions. No speech proceeds from its lips,
unless that divinely human face is that speech itself, silent, spiritual, merged into the divine,
conscious of naught save the harmony of silence, of which all ages speak and cease and
speak and cease again. Can we understand this Voice of the Silence? Though it is above
all understanding, yet each one of us has a Sphinx-like Inner Face, which, after its outer
visage has been cheated by passing joys and torn by illusions and woes, - draws all its light
inside, and arisen and immortal, as it feels itself alone, becomes silent and rises above
itself. And though we return again into the world, that one grand moment, which is above
all moments and outside their revolving sphere, ever remains with us, giving deep hue to
the blue skies, a divinely-golden glow and the radiance of the immortal glory of the soul to
all unselfish earthly loves, which it gathers into One Love, all sparks and reflections it
gathers into another higher Moon, which is now the face of the divine and manvantaric
Sphinx, through which we all shall gaze into the Fount itself of all our Unity and
Brotherhood, into the mystery sublime of the Eternity's Great Breath.
And yet this Sphinx has not lost itself in that mystery; the Root of its life, wisdom
and bliss is there above all play of Maya and above all woe, but its branches and leaves
descend from its head to all its body. Not for himself alone has man risen even above
himself, but for all nature, of which his body is a symbol. He pours his light from the
mysterious selfless heights upon the millions of selves and lives in them. In pure, life-giving
streams his light feeds all men and creatures of the earth, - and this is why the Sphinx is
often sculptured with a woman's breasts, - a holy symbol of sacrifice. The lion-body of the
Sphinx symbolizes the natural forces in man, and all lower selves and their heaving plane
of interchange of forces in human kind.* They are also the smaller centres of evolution, led
upwards, ordered, ruled, helped on their ascending path. The Sphinx's serpent tail**
emerging from the primeval genetic sea of evolution, from the first boiling chaotic depths,
symbolizes those lower and incipient kingdoms of nature which necessarily must follow and
depend on the superior kingdoms. This dependence arises from an organic unity, perfectly
regulated, and not any occasional interchange. Thus stands this lonely sentinel of the
Pralaya of his country. By whom was it reared, by whom understood?
He alone knows what the Great Pyramid is, who is but another expression of that
secret himself; his enraptured face and his silence suggest how the questioner must
search for the answer. His heterogeneous body is only a symbol of what will happen after
the mystery is found. Explaining the different parts of his body will avail nothing. True unity
is not on the lower planes of existence.
And yet we have a germ of this true unity in our souls, even in our special and
exceptional sub-race of our modern times. What then, it was when the first self-conscious
men at the close of the Third Race were as "the towering giants of godly strength and
beauty" - when the descent of the Divine Mind from the Celestial Hierarchies produced
undreamt-

-------------
* According as we take the narrower or wider meaning of the Sphinx.
** On some sculptures.
-------------
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of civilizations, when the higher senses were active and the soul was not buried, as it is
now, in a living casket of flesh and bones, where it has got in by long and long thoughts of
identification, no matter what led to it, desire, hatred, anger, fear or doubt? No poet has
depicted those times satisfactorily yet, and if we wish to read the story, perhaps in
children's gleaming eyes we get the flashes of the past, or in some martyr's open gaze,
when he renounces his bodily existence and his soul starts off like some great winged bird
freed from torture. Poor indeed is the modern age; what avails that so many deeds were
done, words said, and thoughts considered, if they entrap the man in their wide and
streaming net, instead of leading him, where he really is that which he so much does and
speaks and thinks? But in those past ages men knew that they were a million times more
than what they can do, say or even think. Their souls were as self-luminous, limpid lakes
of inner truth and inner bliss, which at every touch they were too glad to distribute to those
who needed, and to give them part of their life, their blood (in the sense spoken of by
Jesus), their joy and thus live in them, without losing themselves in the least. And indeed
as they were in others, others were in them, whether it was a day, or a glorious night, when
all the stars came upon the skies and none was lacking. The soul-presence was not
limited by a thought, it was not limited even by a myriad of thoughts and systems, passing
and flickering as they were, when they floated, like clouds light or dense, in the soul's bright
sky. It was best and clearest, when there were no such clouds in soul's bright shrine, for
the real immortal soul of man is the presence of All-thought of the whole present great
cycle of a monad and embraces past, present and future within the cycle's limits all at once.
It is comparatively omniscient and omnipotent on its own plane, and it cannot contact a
limited personality, but through mind. Now Mind, doing so, can take rightly all objects as
shadows of the soul ideally as parts of itself, externalized only for a time and desirous to
return, or it can in its blindness seek to identify the soul with the objects and run after them.
Therefore mind is called higher or lower. With the help of the higher mind, the soul even
on this plane sees nothing but its eternal essence, which is knowledge. All things for it
appear from the standpoint of ideas. They are its ideas, its joy, its love, its sorrow. It is its
self-assertion of hardness, which stones manifest in their inertia of velocity of revolving
atoms; it is its sunny fragrance in the small lives of plants, its shadow forms and reflected
fires in animals. "It is my sphinx-like shape in my brother men," says the soul, "my objects
of perception and my essence of knowledge, the earth and skies and myself are there.
"All this is mine; aye, all this is 'I,' for without seeing this I could not see myself; I
should be blank and void and my heart would be cold if I had none to love, my knowledge
would be dark, if I had none to know, my immortality would be lost, if I had no immortal
friends; greeting to you, my brother men, ye imperishable stars enlightening my lonely star,
and revealing to me this grand eternal flaming space, which without you would not be more
than naught. If it is destined to me to become one with it, it is because there is a hope, that
I shall be one with you and one with all. Infinity of Life in the final consummation of
Brotherhood Eternal and the mystery which is in its inner depth." Thus speaks the human
soul to the host of stars, reflecting them in its sweet, placid, shoreless waters, full of the
bliss of contemplation, that if there is a reflection of the All, there must be the real All, and
the great day: "BE WITH US'' must come at last.

(To be continued)
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EVOLUTION IN BRIEF
A GEOMETRICAL FAIRY TALE FOR THEOSOPHISTS.
COMPLETE IN SEVEN CHAPTERS
by W.

"God always plays the Geometer." - Plato.

"The Universe was created not by numbers but Geometrically." - Plato.

[[small illustrations throughout]]

IN the ancient schools of Philosophy Geometry, Mathematics, and Music, were

compulsory subjects of study - and all the regular solids are to this day known as "Platonic"
forms. Why? Nobody seems to know.

CHAPTER 1. THE O
There was once upon a time a centre of Consciousness, --- and being all by itself
was rather lonely so he went for a walk.
He had not the least idea that there were such things as planes or solids or any of
those things about, or that he had such a large sphere of existence around him.
So that when he ran up against a plane of Consciousness he was very much
surprised, and he said to himself, "Great Scott! what is that," for the plane of
Consciousness was invisible until he ran up against it. However, not being of a timid
nature, he advanced a Step, when suddenly he saw an apparition in the form of a Circle.
Jehoshephat! he said, that must be the Devil; I think I'll go home again. But that
seemed to be rather weak minded so he pulled himself together and cautiously advanced,
and as he did so the circle grew apace, but, as it seemed friendly, he advanced, expressing
his surprise, but when he walked right into it and his centre of Consciousness coincided
with that of the plane it suddenly became invisible, and his amusement was so great that
he completely lost his head. But although he lost his head he did not lose Consciousness
or faint or do anything foolish or undignified, but, he communed with himself, saying it was
indeed the Devil and now he has got me as sure as Eggs is Eggs, and the Devil deceived
him into thinking he was a plane of Consciousness, and so he went home to think it out.

CHAPTER II. THE I

The second day, still believing himself to he a plane, he went out again and this time
the moment he came into contact with the plane of Consciousness he saw a line straight
up and down and he thought it was rum, but the Devil persuaded him and he went and
stood in it and he thought he became two planes.

CHAPTER III. THE +

And the next day he had further and different experience
going home in the following frame of mind.

CHAPTER IV. THE [cube]

And on the fourth day having the head of a Cube, he saw fresh forms and figures,
the first was the form of an equilateral triangle and on going nearer it changed into a
hexagon. Well, said he, this beats everything. And he went and stood in it as before and
somehow it

--- 111

seemed to fit him, but how a solid cube could fit a flat hexagon, he could not make out and
then as he stood there he seemed to see the equilateral triangle which preceded the
hexagon and then it all seemed to turn into a solid and not a flat figure at all, and he
believed it was so.

CHAPTER V. THE ----

The next time he went out he saw the following shape
which as he went nearer became ---- and as before he went and stood in it. And this time
it gave him a queer feeling in his feet that made him jump, and as he jumped about it,
seemed to again turn into a solid and he said, I've-got-a-head-on this time and no mistake,
but what he meant was I-cos-a-hed-ron, and his wits began to woolgather.

CHAPTER VI. THE ----

And he tried to get home, but he was rapidly becoming possessed, and in his
stumbles he fell, the shock turned him completely inside out and he became a
dodecahedron. He quite lost all memory of his former self and was completely in the toils
of the Demon of Illusion.

CHAPTER VII. THE [dodecahedron] *

-----------
* The universe has been likened to a dodecahedron.
--------------

THE SEPTENARY NATURE OF THE THEOSOPHICAL

SOCIETY
by M. Herbert Bridle

UPON whatever scale other universes may be built the one to which we belong is,
we are taught, built upon a sevenfold division and it has been pointed out, that all things,
with which we have to do, may be studied from these sevenfold aspects. Not that there are
hard and fast divisions that can be separated each from the other, for this is not the case.
The sum total of the seven is a unity and always remains a unity, so long as it exists, but
this unity manifests, or expresses itself, in a sevenfold manner.
If we look with sufficient care we shall find that all organisms, or organizations of any
character, reflect this sevenfold division which in Theosophical parlance are termed -
Physical Body, Astral Double Kama, etc., etc., and we can always pretty fairly judge of the
progress of any organism, or organization, in its development, by noting which of its seven
principles is the dominating one.
Thus a Society, such as the Theosophical Society, may be divided into The Body,
which will be represented by the whole membership; The Astral or Design Body is
represented by the tendencies of the Branches and Lodges, which constitute the organs
of sensation, as it were, while the kind of vitality these manifest will represent the Prana or
Life Energies of the whole.
The Kama Rupa, or Desire Body, will be made up of the passions and desires of
those whose efforts are all of personal tendency, and which are mainly devoted to
maintaining the particular form to which they are attached, and who desire to retain the
forces of the whole, chiefly in the principle they represent.
A few of these will constitute the Kama Manasic element of the organiza-

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tion, for they will be more advanced intellectually, using their reasoning powers for the
purpose of advancing the interests of the Society as a society merely, and in order to
exploit their own superior mental powers. Their great forte is "an appeal to reason" alone
and as unfortunately their reasoning begins from a personal Kama-Manasic, or Kama Rupic
bias, it generally leads them astray unless, in a moment of (lower) self-forgetfulness they
gain light from a higher principle that enables them to "reason aright."
If now we apply all the above to the Theosophical Society, we shall see that those
who today, and always have, constituted the true Divine-Wisdom Society, are they who
care more for the whole than a part.
They seek to guide the growth of the Society in harmony with the spirit that pervades
the whole, and provide means whereby the Spirit of Truth and Wisdom may spread through
and irradiate the whole organization, and when any organism or organization - for both are
the same - has arrived at this point, Intuition begins to speak.
The doubting, debating Manas having come to a point where it recognizes its
limitations and the necessity for something beyond its mere reasoning faculty to take
charge, if the organization is ever to become anything more than a reasoning animal: the
"doubting manas having reached this stage, it begins to look and listen for the "illuminating
Buddhi." The Buddhi has been there ready to act and control all the time, but the "doubting
manas," attentive to its fair process of putting two and two together and as often making
them five as four, has practically ignored the light of Buddhi - Intuition - until, trouble and
distress, teaching it the true value of its lower power, it looks above for a higher, surer light,
in whose illumination doubting manas can throw aside its doubts and, led by the clear,
pure, bright light of Buddhi - Intuition - follow and act its part. So the true T. S. has, by
experience, attained to the point where the Intuitive Faculty can act and take control of the
organization, so that with unfaltering steps it can follow out, by reason, subordinated to
Intuition, the plans the Buddhi light shows to he wise and good.
This Centre of Intuition, call it by what name you will, becomes then in fact and in
truth, the Head and Leader of this true T. S. Catching from the Lodge of Light, - the Atma
of this true T. S., the true light of Theosophy - Wisdom Divine - it sends forth into the whole
organization this illuminating ray of Intuition. If Manas has learned well its part and duty to
the whole, it heeds this light of Soul-Wisdom and reasons and acts from that standpoint
alone. If, alas! proud of its seeming- powers, its "high development," its "independent
judgment," it ignores and contemns this light, then does the whole organization become
naught but a reasoning animal, where else it might have been a God, and done a God's
work midst human kind.
How often have we seen foolish ones of good parts, equipped by nature to do a
man's work well, had they but less conceit, fall far short of "what they might have been" and
like the selfish devotee, live to no purpose; - lest it be a warning unto all, who see their lack
of wisdom.

-------------
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AN ELDER BROTHER
by Eleanor Dunlop

"There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st

But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim
Such harmony is in immortal souls!
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay,
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it."
- Merchant of Venice

THE World's Need has never yet cried in vain for a Champion. Forth from the Lodge
of Light the Great Soul emerges at the appointed hour. "He of the great heart, and deep
seeing eye" appears on life's arena to do battle with Its Ancient Foes. Thus stepped forth
Buddha in the far off East, bringing to his downtrodden countrymen light, hope, and
liberation. And thus the lowly Nazarene came unto his own - but being of them rejected
turned to the Western world with his Gospel of Peace and good-will. Right down the ages
these Great Souls follow one another in quick succession,
Pythagoras, Plato, Lao-Tze, Shakespeare, Emerson, Blavatsky - still on they come.
Pioneers of truth and liberty, Liberators of the Divine Forces of love and harmony.
Novalis has truly said of such, "There is but one temple in the Universe - the body
of man. We touch heaven when we lay hands on a human form." God Incarnate in the
flesh is still a divine mystery which few can penetrate. Time and space seem like veils by
which the tender mother protects her infant from the light; as we grow older and stronger
nature will remove, one by one, the wrappings of our childhood.
Can it be more than 2000 years ago that Pythagoras lived and taught? He seems
such a familiar spirit to me - yet we are told that about 500 years B.C. Pythagoras first
looked into his mother's eyes in the fair isle of Samos. Here Nature taught him his a b c
and much else besides. Eager in his search for truth, Pythagoras left his island home.
Traveling was a very slow business in those days - and yet this dauntless soul journeyed
as far as Egypt to get instructions from the Priest Initiates. From that old land of occult
knowledge Pythagoras took what he could receive and then started for the East to visit the
Persian and Chaldean Magi and the Sages of India.
What founts of wisdom to drink at! - still there was a higher source for such as he.
We see him now, his earnest face lit by a new light, as he sets out on his homeward
journey. On arriving in Europe Pythagoras went to reside in Crotona - which was then a
fashionable Italian resort, whose inhabitants were notorious for their luxury and
licentiousness. In the midst of this depravity, the Great Soul lived and worked, sending out
rays of light and truth, until about six hundred men and women recognized in him their
Master. These followers formed themselves into a society - pledged to secrecy and
practical brotherhood - "Promising to aid each other in the pursuit of wisdom; uniting their
property in one common stock for the benefit of the whole.'' The first lesson this
brotherhood had to learn was Silence. Only the advanced pupils, after years of devotion
and service, were allowed to ask questions or raise objections.
"He said so," was sufficient for his followers, no proof whatever being granted. By
intuition alone the probationer could hope to advance - without this guide he was virtually
disqualified. "Ipse dixit" - "He said so." Thousands of years have passed since these
words dispelled the doubts and fears of our brothers in Crotona.
Let us see what and how wise Pytha-

--- 114

goras taught his followers. The central note of his teachings was harmony - the adaptation
of each to the whole.
"The morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy," when the
inception of this world took place. Numbers, he says, are the essence and root of all things
- the elements out of which the Universe was constructed. "The relation of the notes of the
musical scale to numbers, whereby harmony results from vibrations in equal time, and
discord from the reverse," led Pythagoras to apply the word Harmony to the visible
Universe. "The distance of the heavenly bodies from one another corresponded to the
proportions of the musical scale. The heavenly bodies, with the Gods who inhabit them,
move round a vast central fire, the principle of life.'' As numbers proceed from the Unit, so
Pythagoras considered this Central Fire to be the source of Nature's forms. Whether they
be Gods, demons, or human souls, according to the rate of vibration is the form produced,
Music and rhythmic motion lie at the root of all things. Carlyle was a Pythagorean, though
possibly he would have been the first to deny it, for we find him saying in one of his essays:
"All inmost things are musical, all deep things are song. The primal element of us; of us,
and of all things. The Greeks fabled of sphere harmonies, it was the feeling they had of the
inner structure of nature; that the soul of all her voices, and utterances was perfect music.
See deep enough and you will find music. The heart of nature being harmony if you can
but reach it."
Pythagoras taught the immortality of the soul. Ovid represents him as addressing
his disciples in these words - "Souls never die, but always on quitting one abode pass to
another. I myself can remember in the time of the Trojan War I was Euphorbus, the son
of Panthus, and fell by the spear of Menulaus. Lately being in the temple of Juno at Argos,
I recognized my shield hanging up there among the trophies; all things change; nothing
perishes. The soul passes hither and thither, occupying now this body, now that. As wax
is stamped with certain images, then melted, then stamped anew with others, yet is always
the same wax, so the soul being always the same, yet wears at different times, different
forms." Pythagoras taught orally as did Jesus 500 years afterwards. The greatest
teachings the world has yet received, were given by the soul through the medium of sound.
God said "let there be light, and there was light." "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt
amongst us."
----------------
--- 115

THE SOKRATIC CLUB

by Solon

(Continued)

A VERY interesting and in some respects amusing meeting of the Club was held in
the ladies' reception room shortly after the members of the Club had been deluged with
circulars issued by a few who were trying to sow dissension in the ranks and to disrupt the
Club because they did not have direction of its affairs. What the character of some of these
circulars was, will become evident from the conversation which took place at the meeting.
When I arrived I found several of the members had assembled and were in little
groups discussing the situation. I was invited to have a cup of tea and join the group
around Mrs. Wilding, who was hostess that afternoon.
How some people ever got into the Club is a marvel to me to this day. The
Professor once said that everybody must be given their chance, but from my limited point
of view I think that some had had an unlimited amount of chance and had got to the end
of their rope and their chance long ago. Superficially at least this was the case, and yet on
looking beneath the surface it was evident that even these people - disintegrators and
ambitious though they were - still served a purpose in the organization to bring out in others
the noble qualities of unselfishness, loyalty and devotion. I once asked the Professor about
this and he said that this view was correct; that exactly the same process occurs in any
organization which is not one merely in name but a living body, as occurs in the human
constitution. If the individual takes a step forward in his development, he immediately
comes upon new difficulties, the tendencies of his lower nature assert themselves more
strongly as if to bar his way; but by fighting against these, by persisting in the upward
course, the nature becomes purified, the lower tendencies are, as it were, sloughed off and
sifted away. In the process of sifting, by the very conflict between the higher and the lower
natures, the higher gains strength and new qualities of the soul are revealed. They thus
serve a purpose in the life of the individual and their correspondences in the life of an
organization. This does not mean however that these qualities or those representing them
in an organization are to be encouraged, they are to be transmuted, and that which is not
capable of being transmuted must be gotten rid of to be used up by nature and purified in
her great workshop.
This explanation by the Professor made clear many things to my mind, but I have
slightly digressed from my account of the Club's doings. I intended to relate a somewhat
amusing conversation, but instead have taken up the serious side of the matter; so, asking
the reader's pardon, I again take up the thread of my story.
In the little group around Mrs. Wilding were two new members of the Club, Mrs.
Moore and Miss Alice Holdy who, interested in the humanitarian work carried on by some
members of the Club, had expressed a desire to help in that direction and so had applied
for admission as members. They had attended but a very few meetings and had read very
little of the literature studied generally by the members.
I couldn't help laughing inwardly as I was paying my respects to the hostess to hear
the Rev. Alec praising Miss Holdy's hat and dress and discussing the dress of several other
ladies in the room.

--- 116

I knew this was one of his traits but every time I heard him talking in this strain it made me
smile.
Rev. Fulsom. - (to Miss Moldy) "Did you see Mrs. R. just come in. She is over
there, on the other side of the room. Hasn't she a lovely bonnet, it is perfectly ravishing,
she always dresses in such excellent taste. But I have no patience with some people. The
other day when she called to see me at the office and I was having the most delightful
conversation with her - she has such a soft melodious voice - who should come in but Miss
Y. who always has so many questions to ask and wants information about books and work
and everything else, and then she was dressed in an old gown - she may be a good woman
but she has positively no taste in dress - and had on an old green bonnet, that it quite spoilt
the harmony of my conversation with Mrs. R. and I had to say that this was my very busy
day and would they excuse my attending to my letters."
Miss Holdy was almost laughing outright and had difficulty in restraining herself, so
to save the situation Mrs. Wilding broke into the conversation and asked Miss Holdy what
she had been reading lately.
Miss Holdy. - "Oh, such an interesting book, all about the Mahatmas - I don't know
whether that is pronounced right, but I mean the wise men who taught Madame Blavatsky.
It was in the Occult World and it tells all about getting astral messages and making tea-
cups grow in the roots of trees and all sorts of queer things. I do wish I could meet a
Mahatma, or that one would come here."
Mrs. Moore. - "Don't be foolish, Alice. You know the Mahatmas live in Tibet or the
Desert of Gobi, or some other un-get-at-able place, so how can you expect them to come
here? "
Miss Holdy. - "Well they might come in their mayavi rupas - I don't know what that
means, but Madame Blavatsky says so - perhaps it is a kind of airship, they do have the
most wonderful things, you know. But what is a mayavi rupa, Mr. Fulsom?"
Rev. Alex. Fulsom. - "Well, Miss Holdy, I can't say I know anything about it myself,
the word means an illusion body, or dream body, and the books say it is the same kind of
body you have when you visit places in your dreams. But that doesn't mean anything to
me and I'm afraid I cannot help you."
Mrs. Moore. - "But haven't you been to India, Mr. Fulsom, and didn't you see any
Mahatmas there or have any messages from them? How long did you stay in India, and
did you go to Tibet?"
Rev. Alex. Fulsom. - "What a lot of questions - I really cannot answer them all at
once. I was only in India a very short time. It was so hot and uncomfortable and there was
nothing to eat - the only meat one could get was chicken - that it made me quite sick and
I had to come home. One's stomach must be attended to. No, I didn't see a Mahatma, I
do not consider myself worthy of entering into their August presence."
The Professor. (who had just come in and heard the last remark) - "Would you know
one if you saw one, Alec? They might appear as very humble and lowly, as did Jesus, and
perhaps to ordinary eyes, no different from other men. However, don't let me interrupt, I
must go over to speak to Mr. Berger who I see has just come in. So, goodbye for the
present."
Mrs. Wilding. - "But do come back again soon, Professor."
The Professor. - "Oh yes, I certainly will, in a very short time."
Miss Holdy. - "But Mr. Fulsom, I thought you knew all about the Mahatmas, for you
have had messages from them, haven't you. At least Mama said that you had, for you sent
out two circulars and wanted the members to follow

--- 117

some advice given in the messages. You know I don't understand these things and only
want to learn."
Rev. Folsom. - ''Yes, Miss Holdy, it is true that I received two communications which
I believe to be from the Mahatmas, but you will understand that I cannot go into any detail
in regard to them."
Mrs. Wilding and I looked at each other and it was evident to both of us that unless
something were said there would be a misunderstanding on the part of others, for some
had been misled by these so-called messages.
Solon. - "But Alec, why don't you say that the second message was practically a
contradiction of the first. Do you know, I honestly believe somebody was fooling you."
Rev. Alex. Folsom. - "Well, Solon, of course you are entitled to your own opinions.
I do not know, however, by what process of ratiocination you arrive at such a conclusion,
but - I acknowledge that apparently there was a contradiction between the two
communications. I cannot explain it. I simply accepted them as they came to me."
Mrs. Wilding. - "Well that was a long time ago and nearly everybody has forgotten
about it, but it does seem strange - pardon me, Mr. Fulsom, for I do not refer to you, for
I think you acted quite honestly from your point of view, though perhaps mistakenly from
mine - it does seem strange that anyone should use the names of those great Helpers of
Humanity to bolster up their personal claims. Indeed I do not think they could be so used
by one who really believes in them."
Solon. - "That is my view too, but apart from the pity of it all, there is something so
ludicrous in the feeble attempts made by the poor deluded fools to gain notoriety and
position by such means."
Mrs. Wilding. - "Yes, ludicrous in the extreme but unfortunately some people cannot
see the humorous side of it and then what makes it worse, some of these pretenders are
not simply deluded, but act deliberately and maliciously."
Miss Holdy. - "Why, is it possible that anyone would act like that? How dreadful! But
do tell me - do you know anything about that queer circular which Mr. --- Mr. --- what is his
name? Oh, I remember, Mr. Grover, sent out. Mama had one of these queer circulars and
she couldn't understand it at all. He talked all the time about his being directed and there
was a lot of personal correspondence in it that he had promised to keep private. Mama
thought it was shameful to break a promise like that, not to speak of his conduct in printing
those letters at all which hardly seemed the part of a gentleman."
Rev. Alex. Folsom. - "I haven't seen the circular, what was it all about? "
Miss Holdy. - "Oh, I don't remember much about it, but it was all 'I am directed' and
'As I may, might, would, could, or should be directed,' - all written in that style. And then
there was such a funny message, something about civilized people not being able to keep
their promises, - I think, if any real Mahatma sent that message, he must have meant it for
Mr. Grover himself, because of the shameful way in which he broke his own promise as
shown in his own words. But the funniest part of the message was about 'evil listening' and
about these words standing out and staring people in the face to haunt them in their
dreams. And that if anybody thinks this absurd they had better devote themselves to
politics exclusively."
Mrs. Moore. - "The very idea. Why to politics, I'd like to know? There are just as
honorable men in politics as in any other walk of life. Mr. Moore has been in politics for
thirty years and he has never been known to break his promise, nor to listen to evil nor
speak evil of others. If evil listening is bad,

--- 118

evil speaking is much worse and I imagine Mr. Grover or whoever wrote that message must
be having some very bad dreams and be continually haunted by having things staring him
in the face. I'd just like to give this Mr. Grover a piece of my mind. I am sure his Master
cannot be one of those who have attained human perfection or he would have a better
knowledge of the world."
Mrs. Wilding. - "Well, be a little charitable; perhaps the poor young man doesn't
quite know what he is writing; perhaps some fair face has disturbed his day-dreams. I
don't know who his Master may be, but you know there are all sorts of Masters, - dancing-
masters, circus-masters, post-masters, writing-masters. After all, although it may be
necessary to understand what is going on around us and we must always use our
discrimination in regard to these matters, yet they do not help us very much, if at all, to
understand the great helpers of Humanity. Perhaps they may serve to show what the
Helpers are not. But here is the Professor just coming in. Mr. Fulsom, do ask him to come
over here. Oh, and there's Mrs. Keaton just going to speak to him. Oh, dear, she'll keep
him talking all the evening. Do go, Mr. Fulsom, and ask them both to come and have a cup
of tea."
Mrs. Keaton had been a member of the Club for some time and was a very
interesting character and clever writer. She used to dress rather gorgeously, though with
some rather remarkable combinations of colors, making a striking but not always
harmonious appearance, giving me always the idea of restlessness and ambition. I have
always had a theory that entirely apart from any love of display common to so many, the
colors which people wear are symbolic of their natures and general attitude of mind.
She also usually made quite a display of jewelry. She was a very entertaining talker,
generally doing all the talking, provided you would listen, but the way in which she would
contradict herself at different times was most amusing. The Professor and she stopped a
few paces from where I was sitting and I heard the Professor say to her: "The boy has had
a great opportunity, a magnificent opportunity, that many a one would have willingly cut off
his right hand for, and now he has lost it through his ambition. You helped him in his
course and will have to suffer with him, but let me warn you both to stop this business right
here for your own sakes, for you cannot harm the work or those whom you are attacking,
and every force you send out against them will be a boomerang and return to you.'"
Mrs. Wilding. - "Professor, do come. We have been expecting you such a long time.
Mrs. Keaton, won't you join us too?"
Mrs. Keaton. - "Many thanks, Mrs. Wilding, but I cannot stay. I must beg to be
excused this evening."
Miss Holdy. - "Oh, Professor, there are such a lot of things we want to ask you."
The Professor. - "I thought you were going to ask Mr. Fulsom; hasn't he answered
all your questions?"
Rev. Alex. Fulsom. - "Oh, no, I have been taking the part of a listener today, and I
think Miss Holdy has been waiting for you."
Mrs. Wilding. - "The fact of the matter is, Professor, that we have been discussing
that unfortunate affair of Mr. Grover's circular. But for my own part, while I recognize the
pity of it all, the ludicrous side comes uppermost all the time. I think it is a very good thing
that there are no more 'mind-born' sons floating around. What a civilization we would have
if everybody had such children; judging from the only one I ever heard of - if he is a fair
sample - we should soon have a fine state of things, verging on chaos, I fancy."
The Professor. - "Yes, I think we are to be congratulated that no more speci-

--- 119

mens of the species you refer to are extant - probably born of an excited fancy. But,
seriously, the present tempest in a tea-pot affords an admirable object-lesson and one that
should be a warning to all not to play at occultism or pose before the world as possessing
peculiar powers. Bear in mind that no one can play at these things with impunity, all may
seem to go smoothly for a time, but the lightning though it tarry long never fails to strike
when the time comes. All have had repeated warnings and can plead not one excuse for
their conduct."
Mrs. Moore. - "I don 't know very much about these matters, but one thing puzzles
me. How does it happen that people get these ideas that they possess extraordinary
powers? I should call it a form of insanity."
The Professor. - "Such a state of mind may be clue to several causes. It may be
due to ambition and the desire to pose before others as a sort of savior, and after a time
by constantly dwelling upon this idea self-hypnotization results, so that such a one may
actually come to believe he really is that which at first he only pretended to be. Think of the
harm that such a one might do if not checked and exposed, especially if unscrupulous, and
pity the poor fools who are deluded by him. He may work very subtly and keep himself in
the background, using others as cat's-paws to work his ends before the world, playing on
others' ambitions for place and power, and when the game fails leaving them in the lurch.
But as I have said, the law does not fail and at the last the lightning strikes.
"Then there are other causes that ultimately lead to this self-delusion and
hypnotization, such as the use of drugs, chloral, cocaine, opium and others which induce
a form of hallucination and complete the work begun by ambition; the mind being
previously set in this direction becomes completely enslaved by this idea. If you could go
into our insane asylums today you would find many who imagine themselves to be Christs
and Napoleons, - even in my own experience I have met seven Marie Antoinettes, and as
for Mary Queen of Scots - she is to be met with in every large city. Such people entirely
ignore the injunction of the ancient sages, 'Be humble if thou would'st attain to Wisdom, be
humbler still when Wisdom thou hast mastered.' The presence of the great Helpers of
Humanity is not to be entered by heeding the vaporings of a diseased mind or by following
any one who may declare himself to be 'directed,' but by unselfish work for others and by
humbly striving to be like them, helpers - in however small degree - of the Great Orphan,
Humanity."
(To Miss Holdy). - "I fear, Miss Holdy, your questions will still have to remain
unanswered for the present, but I hope it will not be long before we meet again when I shall
be delighted to talk with you. In the meantime let me suggest that you read very carefully
the letters which are published in The Occult World."
Mrs. Wilding. - "But you are surely not going so soon, Professor."
The Professor. - "I am very sorry to leave you, but I must go; I have an important
engagement to attend to. So, goodbye to you all."

-------------
--- 120

LIVE IN THE PRESENT

by E. A. Neresheimer

BOTH the Past and the Future are contained in the Present; the past is the
progenitor of the present and the future is the child thereof.
In the light of the theory of repeated births on earth and the progressive evolution
of the human Ego it is easy to conceive that we ourselves must have been the makers of
our present conditions by our conduct in the past; also, that what is in store for us in the
future must largely depend on what we do now.
Although the present conditions in which we live are entirely the outcome of the past,
the whole of that past evolution is not expressed or manifested in any one life in the
physical body; the human Ego being a too many sided and conglomerate entity. The
entire past of individualized existence is focused, ready for development in the present life,
but never is fully manifested nor can it be entirely objectivized for want of an appropriate
vehicle which would respond simultaneously on all planes.
And, the future is always in the hands of the present so far as the use which we
make of the present is concerned. There is a desire in the mind of every individual to
repeat again and again pleasant experiences; consequently it is easier to drift into a
groove than to pick up a new and untrodden path. If this desire is much indulged it breeds
indolence and folly. It is another thing to consciously and determinately enter upon and live
over again an experience; in such instance the act is not a repetition but a positive step
for the purpose of gaining knowledge. Another phase is to dwell in the future; building
castles in the air, tickling the emotions with prospects of sensations of future indulgences,
which are again similar only to the pleasing experiences which we have already had. But
the temptation is so great to paint to one's self the most improbable far-off situations
relating the same to precious personality in delightfully magnified proportions, that in this
fancy we easily lose sight of the actual surroundings. Likewise the tendency to permit the
welling up of spite and anger, contemplating to vent them on unsuspecting individuals in
revenge for certain supposed unpleasantnesses which some one has perpetrated upon us,
but which that person has long since forgotten.
All these phases of day-dreaming are futile, wasteful, injurious. Meantime the
present becomes the past, never to be recalled, and we have missed the chance to live it
or to learn from it our lesson.
It is clear that few people possess the power of living in the present from lack of
concentration and observation.
How many people know or remember the simple things of their surroundings - the
pattern of the carpet in their room, the exact position of or even the objects that adorn their
table or mantelpiece; whoever listens so attentively to a conversation as to hear every
word that is said and gives it sufficient consideration to understand its purport? Or, who
observes the cyclic functions of his own body so diligently and correctly as to draw from it
the knowledge to obtain perfect health? These important functions are heedlessly passed
by for indulgences in trivial sensations.
Were we to observe more closely on own natures, thoughts and actions, we would
learn more from them than from all the books in creation; in fact, our own bodies, minds,
souls, are the very book of nature. All that is of permanent value in knowledge comes from
within.

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Adepts become such by introspection and by the universal application of the principles
which are garnered at this fountain-head of all knowledge. It is true that we can only
appreciate in others what we know about ourselves; that is to say, the feelings, emotions
and ideas of others are to us what they interpret to our consciousness in terms of reviving
memories of past experiences which are already our own. These are the only standards
by which we can measure what is going on within the souls of others.
Happiness, joy, sorrow, indifference, emotions, aspirations, are the elements of
expression of soul-life; the deeper we have tested the experience of each of these, the
more responsive are we towards like experiences of our fellow men.
The mind is so constituted that the consideration of either the past or the future
crowds out the wholesome contemplation of the present moment; thus it is that worry over
the events of the future often agitates us to no small extent. The source of this failing is the
want of elasticity to accommodate ourselves to involuntary change. Our attitude towards
the customary mode of living or certain surroundings, is more or less fixed and is often
accompanied by fear of what others will think of a change in affairs which circumstances
may compel us to face. Although the thing dreaded never comes to pass exactly in the
way it is imagined; when it does occur and one is in it, it proves in reality never as bad as
was feared. Having once experienced this, it is unwise to contemplate trouble about the
future at all, much less to dwell on it and paint a trouble-picture in detail.
Notwithstanding, prudence dictates vigilance over possible future events so far as
the same are involved and growing out of the obligations from previous actions.
Obligations and duties must not be lost sight of in the least, and active measures with full
knowledge of the responsibility must be adopted to discharge the same. If that be done the
dreaded future misfortune will never come.
Life is full of burdens mainly because we permit it to be weighted with thoughts of
the past and with fear of the future.
If attention and diligence be applied to momentary duties with full regard to
observation of details in all directions and calmness and concentration on the present be
practiced, then there is no time nor leisure left to fall into grooves of repetition or to indulge
thoughts of an impossible future.
Every duty presents in each instance a new and never before experienced field or
observation.
The restlessness of the mind to be constantly doing, doing, is a natural force which
belongs to the present period of evolution. This must express itself in some way, it remains
to be well studied and trained in order to recognize its power and turn the same to good
account. If unguided by knowledge or by spiritual aspirations it runs unbridled beyond the
limits of balance and then becomes the inevitable producer of painful experiences.
But these are the ways of nature! By allowing us to transgress the limits she
teaches by hurling back the offender.
Whatever the effects of our past lives may be which express themselves here and
now, they must run their course and the lessons which they have to teach are to be found
only in the full appreciation of the present moment. If that be understood aright, then we
have the key to our own mystery.

------------
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STUDENTS' COLUMN
Conducted by J. H. Fussell

When Manas loses its ray by the destruction of a personality, does Manas
reincarnate? If so, whence does the new personality get its Karma?
When at the middle of the fifth round such a number of Manases or individual egos
are not able to reincarnate on account of being unable to get sufficiently spiritualized
personal existences or vehicles and consequently are unable to gain sufficient experience
to become Gods - what becomes of them? - J. B.

For the sake of the general reader it will be well first of all to define the technical
terms used in the question. Manas is that aspect of the nature of man winch is usually
denominated the mind, or the rational thinking principle, that which endows man with self-
consciousness. Man in his aspect of Manas is the thinker, the reasoner. The thinking
principle or Manas in its higher aspects cannot come into direct contact with the physical
plane and hence, it is said, it sends forth a ray from itself which incarnates in the physical
man and becomes the "lower" manas, the brain-mind, the thinking principle as we ordinarily
understand it, by means of which the personal man guides and controls his actions. This
ray or lower manas is during incarnation attracted on the one hand to its parent, higher
manas, and on the other by the allurements of sensuous existence. Should it become so
immersed in sensuous existence as to utterly break away from its parent, the personal
man, the man as we ordinarily know him becomes soulless, bereft of the guiding light of
higher manas. The ray is lost, the personality is cut off from the soul and at death is
destroyed, returning to the great reservoir of nature.
When this happens does manas reincarnate? H. P. Blavatsky in one of her writings
states that two courses are open to the soul. It either enters upon a long period of rest until
a new cycle of manifestation comes around in which it again takes up its task of
incarnation, or it immediately incarnates again in a new personality. Whence comes the
Karma of this new personality. So far as merely personal Karma is concerned I think this
will be derived from the elements and sources from which the component parts of the
personality are derived. But since the Ego or Soul "is held responsible for all the sins
committed through and in every new body or personality" (Key to Theosophy, Section VIII,
"On Individuality and Personality") and since Karma is recorded in the Soul itself, the soul
will be attracted to that environment and personality which provides the best conditions for
the working out of its Karma.
I think it must be that the Karma of the new personality must be very similar to what
it would have been had not the thread between the personality and the soul been broken
in the preceding life, and in any case with the load of Karma of that and the other past lives
the struggle must be terrible. For the soul has, as it were, forfeited its place in the present
evolution and has to win it back, fighting against all the accumulated evil of its past personal
existences.
As to the other question concerning the middle of the fifth Round - the moment of
choice for the whole race, - those egos who can go forward enter upon a period of spiritual
evolution that leads up to the divine, while those who have not reached that point of
development which would enable them to enter upon this higher evolution drop out and
pass into pralaya, - a great period of rest - to wait until a new period of human evolution.
No soul is ever lost, though it may fail

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repeatedly to carry out its destiny and achieve its glorious purposes, but it is in essence
divine, and must ultimately attain to a conscious recognition of its own divinity. - J. H. F.
--------

THE NEW CYCLE.

In the Sec. Doc., vol. ii: page 454 (435) it is said: "The cycle of the Kali Yuga is said
to have begun between the 17th and 18th of February in the year 3102 B.C." And on page
72 (69) of same vol. is said: "The year 1887 is from the commencement of Kali Yoga 4989
years."
If these two statements are consistent, the latter must mean, that the year beginning
February 18, 1887, and ending February 17, 1888, is the year 4989 of Kali Yuga. For,
counting months at 30 days each, the time backward from the year 1 (the end of the year
1) B.C. to February 17,
3102 B.C., is 3101 years 10 months and 13 days. Add for time A.D. 1887 years 1 month
and 17 days and we get 4989 years - which reaches to February 17, 1888, including the
whole of 1887 and part of 1888.
So, to complete the first 5000 years of Kali Yuga - conceding the date given above
from the S. D. to be correct - we must include the whole of the year 1898, and January and
the first 17 days of February in 1899; and the second 5000 years will begin February 18,
1899. I can see no escape from this, mathematically and astronomically; and would like
to know if any other date than 3102 B.C. is known for the death of Krishna and the
beginning of Kali Yuga. It is true that 3102 + 1898 = 5000; but in that equation we include
the whole of both years; and reckon from January 1, 3102 B.C. to December 31, 1898.
 Of course all changes in Nature are gradual, and practically the exact date may be
unimportant.
------

In reference to the question about the beginning of the new cycle, I beg leave to call
attention to a few points gleaned from the Secret Doctrine. The paging in parenthesis
refers to the old edition. It must be remembered, of course, that H. P. B. expressly
disclaimed for that work either infallibility or authority; but we may take its statements as
true prima facie, and as the best evidence, perhaps, that we have.
1. The last word about cycles has not been given out, and too much stress must not
be laid on exact dates or exact computations. "There are some details which may not be
explained, for secrets of the higher Initiation would have to be given out, and that cannot
be done." II: 55 (51). See also I: 68 (36); II: 322 (3o8-9); 413 (395).
2. The year 3102 B. C. is given as the beginning of Kali Yuga in the places quoted
in the question, and also in a quotation from the French astronomer, Bailly, at I: 722-30
(658-67). If this date depended on records alone, it would be too uncertain for serious
discussion; but the time that has elapsed since the occurrence of an astronomical event
can be accurately determined. See I: 713 (650). In the following places reference is made
to the close of the first five millenniums of Kali Yuga; I: 27 (XLIV). In about nine years the
first 5000 years of Kali Yuga will end. (Note, that the Secret Doctrine was published in
1888).
I: 671 (612). We are at the very close of the cycle of 5000 years of the present
Aryan Kali Yuga.
II: 54 (51). A Brahmanic calendar for 4986 Kali Yuga compiled in 1884-5 A.D.
Fourteen years from 1885 ends in 1899; and 4986 + = 5000.
II: 555 (527). Five thousand years ago, the date of Krishna's death, is also given as
the beginning of Kali Yuga, From that day the Kali Yuga began for mankind. See II: 149
(140), and 580 (550).
3. Statements in the Puranas about the Kalpas must be taken in different senses,
according to their references. "Thus these ages relate, in the same language to both the
great and the small periods." I: 396 (369). The whole of Sec. VII of Vol. I bears on this
subject. Every nation and tribe of the Western Aryans, like their Eastern brethren of the
Fifth Race, has had its golden age, . . several of them have reached their Iron Age, the Kali
Yuga, an age black with horrors. I: 706 (645). The forth-

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coming sixth sub-race - which may begin very soon - will be in its Satya Yuga (golden age)
while we reap the fruit of our iniquity in our Kali Yuga. II: 155 (147). Every sub-race and
nation has its cycles and stages of evolutionary development. II: 314 (301).
4. A Brahmanic Calendar whose figures "refer to the evolution beginning on Globe
A and in the First Round," is given at II: 71, etc. (68, etc). See also articles in the Path, III:
17; V: 114; VII: 205; IX: 234. Theosophist, VII: 115. The Forum, first series, questions
13 and 37.
The general conclusion is that the exact turning point of a cycle cannot be known,
either by computation beforehand or by observation at the time, for "Nature does nothing
by leaps."
Resolutions taken and enterprises commenced when the movement of a cycle is
favorable will no doubt be more successfully carried out; but if good resolutions occupy the
mind at all times, favoring influences will not be lost; and if laudable enterprises wait for
the edict of the astrologer, they may never be begun.

"Let us then be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate,
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor - and to wait. "
- G. A. Marshall

---------------

YOUNG FOLKS' DEPARTMENT

PENNY BRIGHT - A TRUE FAIRY STORY

by Elizabeth Whitney

SUSIE was nine years old, and she went to the Lotus Group every Sunday. But
today she had a had cold, and it had begun to snow outdoors, so her papa said, "Little girl,
you will have to stay home today, I am very sorry about it." Then he gave her a penny, the
same as usual, and said "Good Luck!"
Susie didn't feel happy, and she sat down in a corner with her Lotus Song Book,
thinking of all the other children singing together. "Yes,'' she thought to herself, "they'll sing
the Circle Song and Tiny Buds and Happy Sunbeams, and then have 'silent moments,' and
then take up the pennies" - (here she looked at her own penny). "It's a very bright one,"
thought Susie. And then she thought of the candy store on the way to school. "Wish I had
a stick of butter scotch," she thought to herself; "no, chewing gum would last longer, I'd
rather have that"; but as she thought more about it she said to herself, "Guess after all a
pep'mint stick, a-ring-a-round-red-one, would taste the best." So that was settled.
"Oh dear," thought Susie, "how I wish" - and she gave such a wriggle that the penny
slipped to the floor and spun round in a circle.
"Oh, you funny penny," said Susie, jumping down after it. "How round you are, you
are just like a circle!" and she turned the penny over and over in her hand as she hummed,
"Never begun and without end, see the great circle's even span." Then Susie thought
about the Rainbow Fairy Play they were to have the next week. Susie's color was indigo
for she was the "Spirit of Thought," and she thought she would practice it. So she sang:

"I am the Spirit of Thought, wending mysterious ways,

Make in your sweet heart a pure home for me,
I will enlighten your days."

She still held the penny in her hand, and she thought it grew brighter every time she
looked at it. When she came
--- 125

to the chorus, "Brothers we,'' she sang it all right, as far as "to and fro as we go, we are
wise and fair to see," then the next words kind of slipped away, so she just made up to fit
the tune," - "La La La, penny bright," and then finished up all right with "the white light of
unity." Then she stopped short with surprise, for right before her stood the cunningest,
teentiest fairy you ever dreamed of!
The fairy was all in blue (dark blue), with a crown all of gold that seemed to have a
diamond on top; anyway, it shone out with a big white light. And the fairy's eyes, well, they
were simply bee-yew-ti-ful! as though you put violets and pansies together and made a new
flower! and there was a kind of smile in the fairy's eyes that made Susie sing to herself,
"Happy little sunbeams," as the fairy stood bowing and smiling at Susie, saying "At your
service."
As soon as Susie found her breath she said, "Why, how did you get here?"
"Came at the call," said the fairy in the sweetest voice, as though you took the
loveliest sounds you ever heard in a piano, organ, harp and violin and put them together
into a new sound!
"I didn't hear anything," said Susie.
"Because you did it," said the fairy. "Music, you know," she went on to say, for Susie
looked puzzled; "La La La - that's my note in the Great Song."
"Oh," said Susie, with delight, "of course, each of us is a note. I never saw it before,
though."
"Well, that isn't all," said the fairy, "you called my outside name, too."
"And that isn't all,'' said the fairy. "You found my color too, for I am the Indigo Fairy
from the Rainbow (Spirit of Thought); and," said the fairy, "one thing more - you struck the
right tune. You see, in your heart you have been making a pure home for me, and I will
enlighten your days. All the children in the world know my note, and I've danced and sung
myself almost to pieces. They all know my color, but they keep mixing it up with red and
green. They all know my outside name, but they keep putting me in a dungeon and every
time I escape, Giant Selfishness comes after me. None of this could happen, only the tune
that keeps me together and my inside name, have been lost!
"It is a perfect golden age since I've been called out, by note, color, outside name
and tune altogether!
"You found the lost tune, 'Brothers we.' To you - my Liberator - I will ever be a Loyal
Guide and Light Giver (L. G. for short, as it stands for all)."
"L. G.," thought Susie, "why, it stands for Lotus Group too!"
"So it does,'' said the fairy (for being the Spirit of Thought, she knew right off what
children thought, before they had time to speak).
"There's another thing," said the fairy. "This wand."
Now Susie had been looking at the wand as much as she could for it dazzled her
eyes like sunshine. The handle was as blue as the sky and yet it was as bright as light;
and it made Susie think of "Happy little Sunbeams darting through the blue." The end of
the wand Susie thought was just like her mama's opal ring that turned into all the colors of
the rainbow at once.
"Yes," said the fairy (knowing what Susie was thinking), "the Happy Sunbeams go
darting through the blue, to open all the doors (the colors, you know) at once. Opal, you
know, is a short way of saying, open all. It is the way to the heart, to the Purple and Gold
(my inside name is there). Now this wand may be little, but oh my, it is important. Don't
forget it, please! It belongs to the lost tune and if you want help, you must think hard, to
find its name and right place in the tune.

La La La, Penny-bright

will always bring me, but if you want to use this wand, please" -
But Susie had been thinking hard and

--- 126

from the way the fairy spoke she knew the name and place in the tune was this way:

Help me, please

To do right.

"Yes," said the fairy, "You have it. Now you must find my secret name; it will help
you to see the White Light of Unity, then - ah, then we can go on our travels!''
Susie thought and thought, and then she happened to look up into the fairy's eyes,
then it came in a flash - "Why, of course, Purple Pence! I never knew before what it was!"
and she finished the tune joyfully,

Purple Pence help me see

The White Light of Unity.

"Right!" said the fairy, joyfully. "Now, we can go on our travels; we can start any
time, at the call."
Then in a flash of white light the fairy disappeared, and Susie's papa came into the
room, saying: "Little daughter, come to supper." And Susie ran to take his hand, singing:
[[ends]]

-----------

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

THE most important event of the past mouth was the Children's Celebration on the
13th, the anniversary of the birthday of William Q. Judge. All the Lotus Groups and most
of the Branches kept this anniversary in memory of our beloved Chief and his work.
In New York an entertainment of stereopticon lantern-slides formed the main part
of the programme. The pictures illustrated the growth of this country and its history, all
being related to the great Brotherhood Movement which has culminated in the Universal
Brotherhood Organization. Pictures were shown of Columbus, Washington, Franklin,
Lafayette, and of events in their lives, the story being interestingly told by Mr. --- Cutter in
the character of Uncle Sam, which greatly delighted the children. The pictures concluded
with views of Point Loma and the flag of the S. R. L. M. A., after which were shown portraits
of H. P. B., W. Q. J., and Katherine A. Tingley. The Aryan Hall was simply packed with
children, the grown-ups having to stand in the doorways and aisles.
Many reports have already come in of the celebration of the 13th from Branches and
Lotus Groups, but cannot be given here for lack of space. We may mention, however, the
entertainment at Youngstown, Ohio, which consisted of songs and marching by the children
and stereopticon views. In Cambridge the children - even the very smallest taking part -
gave tableaux representing all the nations. In Boston, after the entertainment, a supper
was given to the children, and in Fort Wayne a Brotherhood supper was given to a large
number of poor people and children. The newspapers in Fort Wayne were very interested
in this work and gave excellent reports. A new Lotus Group has recently been formed in
Omaha, Neb., and an entertainment was held and gave great delight to the children. A
very successful and interesting entertainment was also given in Providence, to which the
public were invited.
The Secretary of the Universal Brotherhood Organization reports that 17 new
Lodges have been formed since the Convention, and that applications for diplomas are
received every day.
Mr. Burcham Harding is making a tour of the Pacific Coast Lodges giving lectures
and also showing the stereoptican views of the Crusade, which were first shown at the
Bazaar in New York. Mr. Harding reports splendid work being done everywhere on the
Coast, and states that he has found the news-

--- 127

papers much more willing to open their columns to notices of Universal Brotherhood
meetings than formerly to notices on Theosophy. The word is proving to be a magic "open
sesame" and attracts many to the meetings.
An idea which originated and is being carried out in Buffalo is worthy of being put
into operation by every Universal Brotherhood Lodge. A stiff paper cover is made for the
magazine Universal Brotherhood. On the outside is printed "This magazine is prepared for
free circulation by Lodge No. --- America of Universal Brotherhood, founded by Katherine
A. Tingley, January 13th, 1898." (Then follows address of local Lodge.) Inside is the
following: As the purpose is to keep this periodical in constant circulation, Readers will
please use it carefully, and when read hand it to some one who will be interested in it or
return it to the Lodge room when another will be issued. Rooms open from (time, day of
week, etc.). Will each reader please write below the name and address of the friend they
hand it to" (followed by columns for name and address).
On the other outside cover are printed "Extracts from the Preamble and Constitution
of Universal Brotherhood," viz.: The Preamble, Article II, Sec. 1, 2, 3; Article X, Sec. 1, 2;
Article XIV, Sec. 2; followed by the words: "This organization wants the assistance of
every man, woman and child who believes in the Brotherhood of Humanity."
Then follow notices of meetings of the Lodge and below are given the Objects of the
International Brotherhood League.
The magazines are sent to Hospitals, Prisons, Tenement Houses and lent to anyone
who may desire to use them. Already much interest has been aroused in this way and they
have proved a godsend to many in prison and in the hospitals. For further information on
this matter, members should address Mr. W. A. Stevens, 500 Lafayette Avenue, Buffalo,
N. Y.

T. S. IN AUSTRALASIA.
The report of the annual convention held March 13th has been received and gives
a glowing account of the proceedings. The following resolution was moved by the
Chairman of the Convention:
"Resolved, that at this Convention of the Theosophical Society in Australasia,
assembled at Sydney, Australia, on the date known as the 13th day of March, 1898, we do
hereby proclaim Katherine A. Tingley as Leader of the Universal Brotherhood Movement
throughout the world, and pledge to her our loyalty and unswerving support and to follow
her without cavil or delay in all action by organization and otherwise, that she may deem
necessary to bring Light, Truth and Liberation to the Human Race."
The resolution was carried with tremendous enthusiasm, the whole audience
standing and giving three ringing cheers for the Leader of the Movement. E. A
Neresheimer was unanimously elected President with great applause, the Rev. S. J. Neill,
of New Zealand, Vice-President and Alice L. Cleather, Recording Secretary and
International Representative.
On the arrival of Alice L. Cleather and Basil Crump in Liverpool after their visit to the
United States, a short stay was made and meetings held. These were so well attended and
such enthusiasm aroused that it was as though a convention were being held. Bro.
Sandham said that the meetings were like the Crusade Meetings held on the arrival of the
Crusade in 1896.
In London the work is going on steadily as usual. The new organization of Universal
Brotherhood has united the members more closely than ever. Under the auspices of the
International Brotherhood League special work is being done among young people,
meetings are

--- 128

always well attended and results are very encouraging.

Much good work is being done throughout England by the Crusader issued twice a
month and copies of which are sent to the various Lodges in Europe and to India and
Australia. This paper is for the purpose of carrying forward the work done by the Crusade
and must therefore be of great interest to all members in America. As the members in
England have but small financial resources, it is only by their great devotion that this
valuable work is kept going and any help or subscriptions from the United States will render
much assistance to the band of Brothers across the water. - J.H. Fussell

IMPORTANT NOTICE.
It is requested that the following directions be implicitly followed, otherwise delay and
confusion may result. Members should keep these directions where they can be easily
referred to:
The Universal Brotherhood Organization. All communications relative to this
organization, also all money, fees, dues, contributions for the organization should be
addressed to F. M. Pierce, General Secretary, 144 Madison Avenue. All money is turned
over by the Secretary to the General Treasurer.
The Theosophical Society in America. Address all communications to E. A.
Neresheimer, President, 144 Madison Avenue, New York.
The E. S. T. Address all communications to the Secretary E. S. T., 144 Madison
Avenue, New York.
Purple Pence. The old Purple Pence plan is being revived and new boxes will be
issued very shortly. The Purple Pence Committee consists of E. A. Neresheimer and Clark
Thurston. All contributions should be sent to E. A. Neresheimer, Treasurer, 144 Madison
Avenue, New York.
The International Brotherhood League. Address all communications to H. T.
Patterson, 144 Madison Avenue, New York.
The New Century. Address all editorial communications to The Editor, New Century,
144 Madison Avenue, New York. All money and subscriptions should be sent to Clark
Thurston, 144 Madison Avenue, New York.
The Universal Brotherhood Magazine. Address all editorial communications to the
Editors, 144 Madison Avenue, New York. All money and subscriptions to the Magazine
should be sent to the Theosophical Publishing Company, 144 Madison Avenue, New York.
Important. Please always state when writing to UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD,
whether the Organization or the Magazine is meant, and address "Universal Brotherhood
Organization," or "Universal Brotherhood Magazine," as the case may be.

THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY

The Theosophical Publishing Company is now under the full control of Mr. E. A.
Neresheimer and will be carried on on a larger scale than heretofore. Several new books
are in course of preparation and will be issued before long. We hope that all our members
and friends will give their support to this work which was begun by William Q. Judge. All
profits accruing from the Theosophical Publishing Company are used to further the work
for Brotherhood.
---------------------------

AUM

"There is no purifier in this world to be compared to spiritual Knowledge; and he

who is perfected in devotion findeth spiritual knowledge springing up spontaneously in
himself in the progress of time." - Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter IV.

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol. XIII June, 1898 No. 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE NEW ORDER OF AGES

by Alexander Wilder
 ALL human progress is in circles, and never directly in straight lines. Such is the
course of events, the order of the seasons, the career of the stars in the sky. After all
advancing there is an apparent going backward all growth has its periods of retardation,
all ascent its descendings likewise. We find this abundantly confirmed by example in the
brief space of human activity of which we have been able to obtain historic records. Where
it has been imagined otherwise, we can find it only apparently so. Where there is evolution
and manifestation, there has always been a prolific seed to set the development in motion.
The fragrant Nymphaea, the creamy pond-lily, or the sacred lotus, may have sordid mud
for its birthplace and maintenance, but it began with a rudimentary plant. The like is always
engendered from its like.
We may be content, therefore, to contemplate ourselves as having a human
ancestry all the way to remote ages. We are perfectly safe in relegating the simian races
to their own, with the assurance of the Creed - "as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be, world without end." The origin of human beings may be counted as from the
source to which their nobler aspirations tend. The oak and the pine grow toward the sky,
because the effort is instinctive in the seed. We have good reason to presume as much
in regard to ourselves. In regard, however, to conjectures about dates and periods we do
not care to speculate. The point in the past is yet to be found at which a memorial of
human beginnings may be set. Indeed, it is a matter entirely beyond our power of thinking.
We do well to rest content with deducing what we may from the facts at our hand, and from
the intuitions with which we are endowed.
There is innate in us all a desire and aptitude to learn what is beyond the scope of
our present knowing. Our animal wants come first, and are peremptory, but the gratifying
of them does not set us free from unrest. We are conscious that we are something else
than brute animals, and it is manifest in the passion to know, and possess. The infant child
will cry for the moon, explore the flame of the candle with his fingers, and pull the doll to
pieces in order to find out the mystery of its construction. He even becomes curious about
existence. I have heard a child that had attained to vocal speech discourse extensively and
as from actual memory, of his residence and employments in the years before he was born.
When, likewise, the phenomenon of dying is beheld, children become inquisitive about it,
eager to know what has actually oc-

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curred, whether it is all or there is still living and being in some mode and form not plain to
them. They are not willing to admit that the person is no more.
In this eager passion for more perfect knowing, and in these curious conjectures, are
manifested the instinct of that life which is beyond time, and scintillations of the grander
truth. The mind seems to exhibit the reflection of some concept, some memory of the
Aforetime, and to have caught with it as by refraction from the other direction, an
impression of the life continuing. From views like these the poet Wordsworth was prompted
to write his memorable verse: "Heaven hangs about us in our infancy."
There has been in every people having as such a worship and literature, the memory
or conception of a primitive period of felicity. "The races of men were wont to live as gods,"
says Hesiod. "Their life was devoid of care, labor and trouble; no wretched old age hung
imminent over them, but with hands and feet always vigorous as in youth they enjoyed
themselves without any illness, and when at last they died it was as though they had been
overcome by sleep. They are now benignant demons hovering about the earth, and
guardian spirits over human beings."
In the Aryan records of India are similar traditions of the Hiranya or Golden Age of
righteousness, in which was no labor or sorrow, no priests or sacrifices, and but one God
and one Veda. The Yasna, or Book of Worship of the Parsis, also describes the happy
reign of Yima, in which there was neither cold nor heat, neither decay nor wasting disease,
nor malice inspired by the devas;* father and son walked forth each like

-------------
* Deva, which in Sanskrit signifies a divine being, here means a devil. The ancient
schism between the two great Aryan peoples is indicated in these conflicting definitions of
characteristic words. Thus Yima, who is described in the Avesta as the ruler set by
Ahurmazda over living men in the Garden of Bliss, is changed in India into Yama, the first
man and sovereign in the region of the dead. There are many other of these counterparts.
------------

the other in the freshness of fifteen years. "Men enjoyed the greatest bliss in the Garden
which Yima made."
Akin to this legend is that of the Garden or Park of Eden depicted in the Book of the
Genesis in Hebrew story, copied apparently from that of the Grove or Park of the Gods in
Babylonia. We may perceive a striking resemblance in the outcome. The serpent came;
Yima beginning to desire the wrong, the celestial light withdrew. Long ages of evil followed,
ages of silver and copper and iron, full of trial and calamity. Yet the Divine One has by no
means wholly abandoned the children of the Earth. Here and there along the succession
of ages, the "kingly majesty," or radiance unites itself with heroic men and gifted sages, till
the circuit shall be completed. "That which hath been is that which shall be," and not
absolutely new. The Golden Age, the Treta Yug, that preceded all, comes again as the
cycle returns upon itself. "Now comes again the Virgin Astraea, the Divine Justice," sings
the poet Vergil; "the reign of Saturn returns, and there is now sent down a new-born child
from on high." The "kingly splendor," the light of the ages, now attaches itself to the new
prophet Sosianto, the greatest of the sages and to all who are with him, in order to
accomplish the restoration of all things. "The world will now continue in a state of
righteousness; the powers of evil will disappear and all its seed pass away." (Zamyad
Yasht)
A very similar culmination is set forth by early Christian teachers. It is related that
the Apostle Paul was brought before the court of the Areopagos at Athens, by several Stoic
and Epikurean philosophers, to explain certain of his doctrines which they accounted
strange and alien, He protested that he was simply describing a Divinity whom they were
worshiping without due intelligence of his character. He is the Creator and Disposer of all
things, the apostle de-

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clared; and does not dwell in temples or depend upon offerings from his worshipers. Nor,
is he far from any one of us, for in him we live and move and are, as several of the poets
have affirmed: "We likewise are children of God." The former want of intelligence,
however, is not regarded, but now a superior way of life and truth* is announced to all
mankind everywhere: inasmuch as he has set a day or period in which the habitable earth
will be ruled with justice and the Right hold sway thereafter.
This expectation has been a significant feature in subsequent history. It was not
confined to any single religion. Not only was it general in the Eastern world, but it was also
current in the new Continent of the West. The natives of Mexico greeted the coming of
Cortes as the promised return of the "Fair God," Quetzalcohuatl, which would be followed
by the establishment of a new reign of peace. The Mayas of Yucatan exhibited a similar
confidence. These illusions were speedily dispelled when the Spaniards began to manifest
their insatiable rapacity and merciless cruelty, but the belief is still cherished in many parts
of that country that Motzuma himself, who was in some unknown way, adopted in place of
the other, as the primitive hero of the people, is now living in a celestial abode, and will yet
come and restore the Golden Era. The Peruvians had also a tradition that Viracocha will
come from the region of the Dawn and set up his kingdom. Other cities and tribes have
similar beliefs.
Christianity began with a like conception of a happier era for mankind. The epistles
of the Apostle Paul mention it as an event near at hand, and even in the Evangelic writings
are many sentences affirming the same thing. The

-------------
* Greek, [[script]], metanoein. This term is translated "to repent," in the authorized
version of the New Testament, but I have taken the liberty to render it as a noun, by the
phrase here given, considering it as meaning etymologically, to go forward to a higher
moral altitude, or plane of thought.
-------------

prediction is recorded in them that "this gospel of the reign of heaven shall be proclaimed
in the whole world for a testimony to all the various nations, and then the end will come."
The Apostle supplements this by the emphatic statement that it had been proclaimed in all
the created world beneath the sky, and thus gives his sanction to the general expectation.
The unknown author of the Apocalypse seems to have been somewhat less catholic than
Paul and covertly denounces him. He sets forth the concept of a new Jerusalem, which
he describes as the holy city, complete in every respect, with the names of the tribes of
Israel inscribed on its foundations and of twelve apostles on its gates, descending out of
the sky from God, and illuminating the Gentile nations with its light.
The beatific vision failed of being realized but the expectation remained all through
the Middle Ages as an important element of Christian doctrine. At the beginning of the
Tenth Century this appeared in conspicuous form. This was a period of calamity almost
unparalleled, war unceasing, years of famine, frequent earthquakes, and pestilence rapidly
supervening upon pestilence, as though the human race was doomed.
The belief was general throughout Europe that the present order of the world was
about to be dissolved. The augurs of ancient Etruria had predicted that the time of national
existence for their country would be a thousand years and it had been verified. The
duration of Christendom it was supposed would be for a like period. The coming judgment
was at once the hope and the terror of that time. Under this conviction the Crusades and
wars of extermination against heretics and unconverted peoples, were undertaken in rapid
succession. The Pontiff at Rome claimed divine authority over the nations. The Emperor
of Germany followed by assuming to be Prince of the Holy Empire to whom all kings and
rulers owed alle-

--- 134

giance, and the attempt was made by force of arms to plant peace perpetually in the world.
Frederick Barbarossa perished in a crusade, but his faithful people continued for hundreds
of years firm in their belief that he was only sleeping in the tomb, and would yet awake to
realize the hope of the nations.
In these days of repression and violence it did not seem possible to divest men's
minds of the persuasion that the expected reign of justice would be a dominion of external
state and magnificence, and to show them instead that it was to be a brotherhood of
charity, in which the pure thought, pure word and pure deed are prominent.
Yet several writers in the New Testament appear to have declared this very
distinctly. Paul affirms that the reign of God consists in justice, peace and joyfulness in a
holy spirit. It is also recorded that Jesus himself described it as not of this world to be
supported by war and violence, or to make its advent with external manifestation, "Lo, the
reign of heaven is within you" - such is the explicit statement. But men looked for the star,
not in the sky over their heads, but rather in the pools that were beneath.
Some juster conception, however, was possessed by clear-seeing Mystics who
flourished during the Middle Ages. There were gifted men, devoted to the profounder
knowledge, who sought to escape persecution by the use of a secret speech with a covert
meaning intelligible only to one another. Perhaps they were a fraternity like other
sodalities. Some thought them illuminated from above; others, that they were dabbling in
forbidden arts. What was not easily understood was accounted as magic. When the
Renaissance came, the dense cloud began to dissipate, and men began to apprehend
more clearly. The early Reformers had some distincter perception, but the obscurity was
still too dense for open vision.
And thus the centuries passed.
It is said to be darkest just before daylight. This figure is employed to indicate the
woeful period that often precedes a happier one. The Sixteenth Century was characterized
by crime and calamity. From that time has been a steady bettering. It was as the slow
coming of morning. There were no changes to be considered marvelous, no miracles
except as every event about us, if we might but see more deeply, is a miracle. There was,
however, a gradual unfolding of higher principles of action, and a broadening dissemination
of knowledge. For those whose eyes were open there was much to be descried; and
those who had ears to hear caught the sounds of the harbingers of the new day. Emanuel
Swedenborg, the Swedish Illuminate, looking into heaven like the Martyr Stephen, beheld
it opening to reveal the winding up of the former order of things, and the evolution of the
new. We may interpret him as we are best able, but the intrinsic verity of his revelation
may not he denied.
The world of thought is enlarging itself as never before during the historic period.
There is no Holy Office or Star Chamber with its tortures to repress and punish dissenting
beliefs. There is greater freedom in regard to religious faith, and a wholesome increasing
independence of formal creeds and dominating teachers. Yet while perhaps drifting more
widely apart in speculative opinion, there is evidently an approximating to a closer unity of
sentiment and a higher standard of duty.
We are nearing the end of the period when conquest, slaughter and rapine are
honored as glorious war. There is a public opinion maturing among the "plain people" that
all controversies can be determined justly without such recourse. In this the self-interest
of the selfish and the conscience of the conscientious concur as one. The reign of God is
the reign of justice, and the reign of justice is the reign of peace.

--- 135

Nevertheless, we may not expect any speedy developing of Eutopia, or an ideal

commonwealth of nations. There is an infinitude of preparation necessary, not merely in
teaching, but in doing. The mills of the gods grind slowly, and there are hundreds of
millions that people the earth that are not in condition to realize a very hopeful
development. They require other discipline than that described by the Zulu chief: "First a
missionary, then a consul, and then an army." The century that is about to open has in
store for us, we trust, better things than have marked the long array of ages in the historic
past.
It is not enough that scientific learning is widely extended, and mechanic arts
developed to greater perfection. Civilization, properly understood, means something more
vital and essential. It embraces life as a whole, a knowing how to live. In it the strong
uphold the weak, the greatest serve the humblest, the wisest are those who dispense the
most benefits. It implies a moral development, aiming to realize a perfect society.
The century now about to close, despite its shortcomings, made a long advance in
that direction. In many respects it has also retrograded toward the former estate, both in
ethics and legislation; but the Twentieth Century taking up its work will doubtless set out
anew toward the ideal civilization.

------------

THE LAW

To the pure there is no taint,

Peril comes not nigh the brave;
Free man dreadeth no constraint;
Truthful living shuts the grave.

Will and work and fate, alway

In a certain cycle run:
Eastward gaze brings dawn of day;
Battle given is battle won.

Waking dreamer! shut thine eyes

That thou see more clearly this,
 Deep in time own being lies
Heaven's expanse or Hell's abyss.

- John Mills, 1864

------------------
--- 136

RICHARD WAGNER'S MUSIC DRAMAS

by Basil Crump

VIII. - PARSIFAL (Continued)

"All (his lives) are cast aside at last, and he enters the great Temple, where any
memory of self or sensation is left outside, as the shoes are cast from the feet of the
worshiper. That Temple is the place of his own pure divinity, the central Flame which,
however obscured, has animated him through all these struggles. And having found this
sublime home, he is sure as the heavens themselves. He remains still, filled with all
knowledge and power. The outer man - the adoring, the acting, the living personification,
goes its own way hand in hand with Nature, and shows all the superb strength of the
savage growth of the earth, lit by that instinct which contains knowledge." - Through the
Gates of Gold.

"The perfected 'likeness' of the noblest work of Art should, by its arousing influence
upon our feeling, point us the way to find the archetype whose 'somewhere' must perforce
reveal itself to our own inner life, set free from Time and Space, and filled alone with Love,
and Faith, and Hope. . . .
"What untold gain could we bring to those who are on the one hand terrified by the
threatenings of the Church, on the other driven to despair by the physicists, could we fit into
the lofty building of 'Love, Faith, and Hope' a clear knowledge of the ideality of the world, -
limited as it is by the laws of Time and Space, which are but the fundamental conditions of
our perception. Would not, then, each question of the vexed spirit, each 'when' and 'where'
of the 'other world' find its answer in a happy smile?" - Wagner's Religion and Art

SINCE the time when Parsifal left the ruins of the Castle of Perdition on his long and
weary quest, the condition of the Grail Brotherhood has gradually become worse. Amfortas
has refused to again unveil the Grail, and the Knights, deprived of its miraculous
sustenance, have ceased their noble deeds, each seeking in the forest for himself the
common sustenance of roots and herbs. The aged Titurel, whom only the divine light of
the Grail could keep in being, has at last pined away and died; while his faithful armorer
and companion, Gurnemanz, has retired to a hut in the forest to prepare by meditation for
his end.
All this, together with the weariness and sorrow of Parsifal's wanderings, is depicted
in the Prelude to the third Act, which opens as follows: -

[[music score]]
 We also hear the Thoren-motive, that divine promise which now announces the
coming of the Regenerator. It is the dawn of Good Friday and Gurnemanz is roused by a
groaning from a thicket hard by. Going to it he discovers Kundry, clad in the coarse garb
of the first Act and apparently rigid and lifeless. Let us remember that she represents the
material forces of Nature now about to awake with the Spring and the dawn of a New Cycle
- a Cycle of material and

--- 137

spiritual regeneration. "Awake!" says Gurnemanz, "Awake to the Spring!" He chafes her
hands and brow and at length arouses her from her torpor; but how different now is her
mien! All the wildness has vanished, and the only two words she utters in this Act are
"Service - Service!" Setting about some useful work she presently draws the attention of
Gurnemanz to a figure in the distance clad from head to foot in black armor with closed
helmet and lowered lance. The stranger approaches in a dreamy, hesitating manner and
seats himself on a knoll with an air of patient but intense weariness. Questioned by
Gurnemanz he answers only by silent movements of the head, until requested to put off his
weapons in honor of the holy day; then he thrusts the lance upright into the earth, and
laying his helmet and other weapons beside it, kneels before it in silent prayer. Gurnemanz
is overcome with emotion, for he recognizes Parsifal and the recovered Sacred Lance; so
also does Kundry, who gazes calmly and intently upon him. Rising, he greets the aged
Gurnemanz tenderly, and to his question whence he came, answers:
"By paths of error and suffering I came; am I to deem my wanderings over and feel
that my struggle is at an end. . . . Or - must I wander further?" Then he tells him that it is
Amfortas whom he ever seeks, the wounded brother "whose bitter wail I listened to once
in foolish amazement, to whom I may now consider myself as chosen to bring salvation."
But the curse laid upon him by Kundry had caused him to be continually baffled and to
engage in many painful conflicts. One may ask how it was that Kundry had the power to
do this? Because in her evil aspect as temptress she represented the misuse of Nature's
forces through selfish desire, and the Higher Self or Christos in man has to endure the
results of that sin in its effort , to redeem the lower self. That redemption is deferred until
those results are worked out under the law of Cause and Effect. Parsifal lives for the world
instead of dying for it; guarding the sacred Lance, which he might never wield in his own
defense, he suffers many a wound, but brings it back undefiled to the Grail's domain.
Now he hears from Gurnemanz that his wanderings are at an end; but the recital
of the sad events culminating in Titurel's death fills him with distress and self-reproach that
his blind foolishness should have permitted all this misery to come about. Notice here that
Titurel does not entirely depart until the new Messenger is ready to undertake the sacred
trust. Humanity is never completely deserted by its Elder Brothers, although through its
own folly it may have to pass through dark cycles of error and suffering. "The Light has
never faded and never will."
Parsifal is now conducted to a spring where Gurnemanz removes his dusky armor,
revealing beneath a garment of pure white. While Kundry loosens his greaves and washes
his feet, he asks if today he will be led to Amfortas. Gurnemanz assures him that will be
so, for the funeral ceremony of King Titurel is to take place, and Amfortas has promised
once more to unveil the Grail. Then, at Parsifal's request, he sprinkles his head, the
following motive accompanying this act of baptism:

[[score]]

--- 138

Kundry now takes a golden phial from her bosom and anoints Parsifal's feet, drying
them with her hair. Taking the phial gently from her he hands it to Gurnemanz, saying to
her: "You have anointed my feet; now let the companion of Titurel anoint my head, that
today he may yet hail me as King." So Gurnemanz performs the solemn and touching rite,
folding his hands upon his head: "So was it promised to us," he says reverently, "so do I
bless thy head - and hail thee as King. Thou - pure one - compassionate sufferer,
enlightened deliverer! (The Thoren-motive is heard.) As thou hast borne the sufferings of
the redeemed one, so now take the last burden from his head."
Meanwhile Parsifal unobserved has taken water in his hand from the spring and now
sprinkles it on Kundry's head, saying: "My first duty I fulfil thus: be baptized and believe
on the Redeemer!" His first act of kingly compassion is to receive forever into the holy
community the one who tempted him and then cursed his path. And she - who through
many lives could only laugh, storm, and rage - bows her head to the earth and weeps for
the first time.
"How beautiful the meadows seem today!" says Parsifal, gazing in quiet rapture
upon the sunlit landscape, "I once met with magic flowers, which climbing up to my head
eagerly sought to clasp me; but never saw I the grass, the flowers, and blossoms, so
sweet and tender, nor ever smelled they so childishly pure, nor ever spoke to me with such
loving confidence." For, as Gurnemanz explains, "ransomed nature gained this morn her
day of innocence," and Kundry, her representative, looks up at her conqueror and deliverer,
her eyes filled with tears. "Thy tears have also become a dew of blessing"; he says, "thou
weepest, see, the meadow smiles;" and bending down he kisses her gently upon the brow.
The bells of Monsalvat are now heard, and they hasten to invest Parsifal with his
Knight's mantle. Grasping the Lance he follows Gurnemanz, and this time Kundry comes
also. The scenery moves as in the first Act, only in the reverse direction, the
accompanying music taking the form of a most impressive Death March in honor of Titurel.

[[score]]

The Temple is veiled in gloomy twilight, and the Knights enter in two trains, one
bearing Titurel's coffin and the other Amfortas, before whom is borne, as before, the shrine
of the Grail. Setting down the coffin in front of the altar, the Knights call upon Amfortas to
be mindful for the last time of his office. As Amfortas wearily replies that he would more
willingly accept death, the coffin is opened and at the sight of their dead Master the Knights
make a sign of horror and utter a cry of lamentation. Addressing the corpse, the wounded
son prays that the peace of death may descend upon him; then, as the Knights press
around him commanding him in Titurel's name to unveil the Grail, he rushes amongst them
in a paroxysm of despair, and baring the bleeding wound to their gaze calls on them to "kill
the tortured sinner," and then the Grail will glow for them of its own accord. Meanwhile
Parsifal has entered unobserved with Gurnemanz and Kundry; advancing as the Knights
recoil in fear from

--- 139

their distracted king he touches the wound with the point of the Lance, saying, "Only one
weapon can avail! Only the Lance which opened the wound can close it." The face of
Amfortas glows with intense rapture and he staggers healed but fainting into the arms of
Gurnemanz.
Be whole, purified and redeemed!" continues Parsifal, "For I now perform thine
office. Blessed be thy suffering, which gave the highest power of pity, and the strength of
purest knowledge to the timid Fool."
Marching with stately steps towards the centre of the Temple he raises the Lance,
and with his eyes fixed upon its point he calls the Brotherhood to witness that he has
restored the sacred weapon to its sanctuary. Then, mounting the steps of the altar, he
takes the Cup of the Grail from its shrine and kneels before it in silence. Gradually it begins
to glow with a soft light, and the gloom in the Temple deepens as the light from the dome
grows brighter, while the celestial choirs and the Knights join in one great paean of joy and
wonder:

Miracle of Highest redemption!

Redemption to the Redeemer!

A ray of light descends upon the Cup which glows with an intense lustre, and, as
Parsifal elevates it, the White Dove, emblem of the Divine Spirit, floats down from the dome
and hovers over its latest Messenger. Kundry with eyes ever fixed on her Redeemer falls
lifeless to the earth; Desire is dead, and the deceptive, illusory powers of nature are
dispelled by the light of Truth. No grander figure was ever depicted than that of Parsifal as
he stands, the embodiment of compassionate Love, before the adoring Brotherhood, the
"living link" between them and the fount of Divine Love whose light and power now radiate
upon them from the Cup he holds.
This last and truly inspired effort of a noble life-work speaks with such clearness and
simplicity to our hearts that we must deem any further attempt at interpretation
unnecessary. Wagner once said of his Lohengrin drama that all that was needed for its
understanding was "a healthy sense and a human heart;" and if the great lesson of
"Parsifal" is Sympathy, so it is by that power, and not by any intellectual process that we
shall grasp its true significance.

------------
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THE SEPTENARY CYCLES OF EVOLUTION

THE SEVEN ROUNDS AND THE SEVEN RACES.
A STUDY FROM THE "SECRET DOCTRINE" *
by Katherine Hillard

(Continued)
THE FOURTH ROUND
AS this is the cycle of evolution to whose second half the present humanity belongs,
it is of course described more fully than any of the others. We have now got beyond stages
and steps in the development of a nascent humanity, and have to deal with the seven well
defined Root-Races of the Round, described more or less perfectly as they are more or
less material, for in each Round the experience of the former cycle is repeated on a new
basis, and the early Races resemble in character the earlier Rounds.
With this cycle, we reach the solid state of matter and the centres of consciousness
of the Fourth Round have added earth as a state of matter to their stock, as well as the
other three elements in their present condition, for none of them as we have already heard,
were in the three preceding Rounds as they are now.** The Fourth Round transformed the
gaseous fluids and plastic form of our globe into the hard, crusted, grossly material sphere
we are living on. "Bhumi" (the Earth) has reached her fourth principle.''*** That is the
principle called Kama in theosophical parlance, which is desire in the soul of man, cohesion
in the kingdoms of nature. It is what Jacob Boehme called "the astringent quality," or the
principle of all contrac-

-------------
* The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science. Religion and Philosophy. By H. P.
Blavatsky. References are to the old edition.
** Idem I, 253.
*** Idem I, 260.
--------------

tive force, which produces hardness, and solidity, the grossest and densest condition of
matter. But it is not molecular matter itself, least of all the human body, which is the
grossest of all our principles, but this informing force, the middle principle, the real animal
centre, because from it spring the animal passions and desires. But as everything in nature
has its two sides, this principle is the motive power that keeps the universe going, for
without desire in some form we should have universal stagnation, and in its highest aspect
it is aspiration, and leads the soul towards the Divine. And as man develops with the globe
on which he lives, it is only in the Fourth Round, the middle-point of the life allotted to our
earth, that he completely develops in himself this corresponding Fourth principle, which
forms the fitting vehicle for the Fifth principle, which is Mind. And as there are no sudden
transitions in Nature, but all conditions and states of consciousness shade into one another,
so the blending of the Animal Soul, (or the emotional nature) with the Intellectual Soul (or
mind), forms what is called Kama-Manas, or the lower mind, sometimes spoken of as the
human Soul, as it partakes of the human and of the divine elements. It is the special
characteristic of this last half-cycle, and with the next, we shall develop the Higher Mind.
"Intellect has had an enormous development in this fourth Round," says a Teacher,
"and the world is teeming

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with the results of intellectual activity and spiritual decrease." "From the time of the Fourth
Race, the hitherto dumb races acquire our present human speech, language is perfected,
and knowledge increases. At the half-way point of the Fourth Race, which is, of course,
the half-way point of the Round, humanity passed the axial point of the minor (Manvantaric)
cycle." *
We have seen that the differentiation of the primordial germ of life (in the fifth globe
of the first Round, or the fifth Creation) has to precede the evolution of the Third Hierarchy
of the Forces of Nature before those (so-called) "gods" can become embodied in their first
ethereal form, and for the same reason animal creation has to precede divine MAN on
earth. This is why the fifth Creation called that of "the sacred animals," precedes the sixth,
that of "the divinities." In the First Round the animal atoms are drawn into a cohesive,
human, physical form. In the Fourth Round the reverse occurs, and the human atoms
thrown off during the life of man, are drawn into animal forms according to magnetic
conditions developed during life. This is the real meaning of metempsychosis,** as
explained in H. P. B.'s article on the Transmigration of Life-atoms, in Five Years of
Theosophy. "By his own evil acts, a man may condemn every atom of his lower principles
to become attracted by and drawn into the bodies of lower animals by virtue of the
magnetic affinity thus created by his passions." For in the Fourth Round, man is the
dominant note, and from its very beginning, "all in nature tends to become Man. Man is the
alpha and the omega of the objective creation."*** And from its initial period, the human
kingdom branched off in several directions.
Man was the first and highest (mammalian) animal that appeared in this

-----------
* Secret Doctrine I, 189
** Idem I, 455.
*** Idem II, 170.
-----------

creation," says the Commentary. "Then came still huger animals; and last of all the dumb
man who walks on all fours."* "The form of the gigantic Ape-man of the previous Round,
was reproduced in this one by human bestiality, and transfigured into the parent form in the
modern anthropoid. ** This topic will be more fully treated under the head of Races, as it
is properly a sub-division of the main subject, human evolution.
--------

THE FIFTH ROUND

We are now only in the Fifth Sub-Race of the Aryan, or Fifth Root-Race of the Fourth
cycle of evolution, and therefore the next cycle, or Fifth Round, may certainly be spoken
of as the "remote future," and it is no wonder that few glimpses can be given us of
conditions of existence so far ahead of our own. For this Aryan Race, which is now in its
Dark Age, will continue to be in it for 427,000 years longer and then there are two sub-
Races, and two Root-Races, each with its 7 Sub-Races, to follow before the Fourth Round
comes to an end. But owing to the often mentioned law of the overlapping of cycles, we
find that the characteristic Element and the characteristic "Principle" of the coming Round
are already beginning to be foreshadowed in the present one. For we are already endowed
with Mind, (the Fifth Principle) which is to be fully developed in the next cycle, and are
diligently trying to get at the nature of Ether, which is to be the Fifth Element. It is in the
Fifth Round that the full development of Mind as a direct ray from the Universal
Consciousness will be finally reached, a ray unimpeded by matter.*** For as we are told
elsewhere,**** with the next Element added to our resources in the next Round,
permeability

-------------
* Secret Doctrine II, 288
** Idem II, 730
*** Idem II, 147
**** Idem I, 257
-------------
--- 142

will become so manifest a characteristic of matter, that its densest forms will seem like a
thick fog and no more. This condition of things is admirably illustrated by a Roentgen-ray
photograph of a booted foot, where you see the leather, the nails, the stocking, the flesh
and the bones like layers of fog of different densities, but perfectly defined form.
This fifth, semi-material element Ether, will become visible in the air, we are told,
towards the end of the 5th cycle.* It will then be as familiar to man as air is now, and those
higher senses whose growth and development it subserves, will, during that 5th Round,
become susceptible of a complete expansion.** This is not the Ether of our scientists, that
is but a higher form of physical matter, one of its seven subdivisions, while the 5th Element
is a subdivision of astral matter, called Akasa in its highest form. It is the medium which
conveys the vibrations of thought, as air conveys the vibrations of sound, and therefore is
said to "correspond" to the human mind. Cosmically, it is defined by occult science as "a
radiant, cool, diathermanous, plastic matter, creative in its physical nature, correlative in
its grossest aspects and portions, immutable in its higher principles. In the former condition
it is called the Sub-Root; and in conjunction with radiant heat, it recalls 'dead worlds to life.'
In its higher aspect, it is the Soul of the World; in its lower, - the DESTROYER."***

----------
* Secret Doctrine 1, 12.
** Idem I, 257
*** Idem II, 13
----------

But all the elements, even this mysterious Akasa, are but conditional modifications and
aspects of the ONE and only Element, which is the Source of them all.* "To put it plainly,"
we read elsewhere, "Ether is the Astral Light, one of the lower principles of what we call
Primordial Substance, or Akasa." And this Primordial Substance is the vehicle or medium
of Divine Thought. "In modern language, the latter would be better named Cosmic
ideation** - Spirit; the former, Cosmic Substance - Matter. These, the Alpha and Omega
of Being are but the two facets of the one Absolute Existence,*** Ether, or the Astral Light,
is the vehicle of every possible phenomenon, whether physical, mental, or psychic.**** And
every one of the seven Cosmical Elements each, with their 49. sub-divisions (343 in all,
with about 70 of which chemistry is acquainted) is, at one and the same time Life and
Death, Health and Disease, Action and Reaction.+ For occult science shows, as our
modern chemistry begins to teach, that everything has its good side and its bad, may be
healing agent or a deadly poison, and furthermore, that the principle we call Life, underlies
and is active in what we call Death.++ And so lunar magnetism generates life, preserves
and kills it.+++

-------------
* Secret Doctrine, I, 326.
** Cosmic Ideation being the origin of human Thought.
*** Idem I, 13
**** Idem I, 330
+ Idem I, 347
++ Idem I, 261
+++ Idem I, 398
-------------
--- 143

THE SEASON'S MESSAGE

by Charlotte E. Woods

IS It part of the work of our Movement to remove the scales from the eyes of blind
custom, and reveal some of the vital truths which father and support it? If so, a few words
on the symbolism of Easter may not be out of place.
This season, resting on the most beautiful of all the Church traditions comes to us
instinct with the living poetry of Spring breezes, and opening, flowering life. It carries also
the higher poetry of a deep, spiritual significance. The occult fact that in Spring new
spiritual forces are awakened into activity may account for the original placing of the Easter
Festival in the early part of the year. In Britain, as is well known, the Christians make their
Festival a continuation of that celebrated by the Pagans in honor of Eostre, the Dawn-
goddess, to whom offerings of cakes were made. Of these our familiar "hot-cross buns"
is a Christianized copy. The time-honored "Easter Egg" is also glaringly Pagan in origin.
From the "Anguinum" of the Druid, back to the Hiranya Egg of the Puranas we can trace
the egg-symbol repeating itself in every ancient cosmogony, - Greeks, Phoenicians,
Romans, Hindus, Japanese, Siamese, the North and South American tribes, savages of
remote islands even, uniting to reverence in this symbol one of the great ground-facts of
the Universe.
Space forbids to enter at length into the seven-fold meaning of the "Easter Egg,"
even were such a disquisition within my power. A gleaning or two of helpful thought lies,
however, in the suggestion that the egg, in all cosmogonies, brings forth a god. Brahma,
Osiris, Itah, Ra, Dionysus, are all egg-born Divinities.
On this account, perhaps, the Christians - especially the Greek and Latin Churches -
fully adopted the symbol, and spiritualized it into a commemoration of Eternal Life, Hope,
and Resurrection. That they were also alive to its more occult meanings we cannot, of
course, determine.
It is, perhaps, sufficient for us to realize that the Resurrection, or its inner side is no
myth but a divine fact in occult nature. Life Eternal, though periodic in manifestation, is
ever repeating itself within appointed limits. The God in the Egg is the message of Easter
both to the barren earth, and the weary soul of man. Each spring renews the hidden forces
of life on all the planes of being; on each human heart the Dawn-goddess sheds her light.
The soul may have its Easter, though that inner Festival is timed by no human calendar.
Still I am inclined to stand up for the occult basis of times and seasons, even when
exoterically determined. And of this present juncture particularly, when the very Heavens
are proclaiming a new birth for humanity, we may look for the breaking of the Son-God from
this egg, and strive with confidence of faith for a resurrection of all that is best and noblest
in ourselves. Our chief drawback lies in not expecting and demanding enough. The
resurrection-forces in man need aid from his will, cooperation by heart-belief, and
intellectual assent. Not yet have we reached the stage of full and unhindered abandonment
to the inner life, which makes external nature an embodied Harmony. Her peace and
wondrous beauty of growth was ours once, shall be ours again. "For since by man came
Death, by man came also the Resurrection from the Dead." The first Adam and the
Second;

--- 144

the man fallen into the tomb of matter; the man triumphant through matter, - both are
complements of nature's greatest Fact. Not one of us but may feel the stirring at his heart
of new forces working towards a resurrection that is perhaps nearer at hand than we dare
to realize. Come it must, for the time is nearly fulfilled, and the Son-God waits to break
forth in glowing radiance upon the lives of men, and so our Easter symbols become
pregnant with spiritual meaning, and a divine hope.
If the Future is big with promise for the world, it is big with promise for us also. We
may boldly go forward in a spirit of reverent expectation, knowing that the Dawn comes
quickest to those whose eyes are on the East.

--------------

THE SCIENCE OF LIFE

by Rev. Francis Edgar Mason

LIFE is a science and can be demonstrated on scientific principles as infallible as

the science of mathematics. Man is at present subject to the laws of nature because he
has not yet learned his supremacy. Ignorance alone makes him subservient to her laws
and decrees. The universe is man's true realm, but his contracted sense of himself has
minimized it to a planet. The external world is thought phenomena. Matter is not a cosmic
entity, but the phenomena of mind. Commensurate as man's mind improves, the external
conforms to the renewed mentality. Life has been placed on a religious instead of a
scientific basis, and man has become a pensioner upon hopes and a vassal to traditions.
He makes the future the storehouse of his ignorance by relegating thither all that
contributes to make life harmonious, and prostitutes the present. Religion has kept man
in Adam's shoes for 6000 years and fed him on hopes that mature only in the skies. The
Adamic hypothesis of life starts from an effigy and keeps man in the dust of ecclesiastical
ignorance, reaping the thorns and thistles of misconception. Man assumes an imperfect
hypothesis and imposes upon himself conditions compatible with his thoughts, for as is the
premise so is the conclusion. If man would utterly repudiate the religious* foundation of
being and affirm his present and intrinsic perfection he would resurrect himself out of the
tomb of ecclesiasticism, and become the sovereign of the universe.
Sin and discord originate with a false conception of man and continue only so long
as concessions are made to the belief. The "fall of man" is the substitution of physicality
for the spiritual facts of life which is the fact of being. Intelligence alone conquers the world.
The God of mysticism** is the acme of ignorance. A god in the sky is merely a mental idol
and the superextollation of the Nazarene is the prostitution of the human family. Man is all
he can make himself. The possibilities of an Infinite alone mark the circumference of his
powers. Man is the counterpart of God, for the mind of man is the climax of divinity. The
realization of his divinity gave the Nazarene power over the world. His achievements are
within the possibility of all. There is no favoritism in living economies.

-----------
* So-called religious. The true religious foundation is also philosophic and scientific.
- Editor.
** Of mysticism as popularly misconceived, but not of mysticism in its true sense. -
Editor.

--------------
--- 145

SOME WORDS ON DAILY LIFE *

WRITTEN BY A MASTER OF WISDOM

"IT is divine philosophy alone, the spiritual and psychic blending of man with nature,
which by revealing the fundamental truths that lie hidden under the objects of sense and
perception, can promote a spirit of unity and harmony in spite of the great diversities of
conflicting creeds. Theosophy, therefore, expects and demands from the Fellows of the
Society a great mutual toleration, and charity for each other's shortcomings, ungrudging
mutual help in the search for truths in every department of nature - moral and physical.
And this ethical standard must be unflinchingly applied to daily life.
"Theosophy should not represent merely a collection of moral verities, a bundle of
metaphysical ethics, epitomized in theoretical dissertations. Theosophy must be made
practical; and it has, therefore, to be disencumbered of useless digressions, in the sense
of desultry orations and fine talk. Let every Theosophist only do his duty, that which he can
and ought to do, and very soon the sum of human misery, within and around the areas of
every Branch of your Society, will be found visibly diminished. Forget SELF in working for
others, and the task will become an easy and a light one for you....
"Do not set your pride in the appreciation and acknowledgment of that work by
others. Why should any member of the Theosophical Society, striving to become a
Theosophist, put any value upon his neighbor's good or bad opinion of himself and his
work, so long as he himself knows it to be useful and beneficent
-------------
* Reprinted from Lucifer Vol. I, p. 344. It is intended to reprint from time to time
some of the early articles written by H. P. B. and others which were published in the early
days of the T. S. - Editor.
------------

to other people? Human praise and enthusiasm are short-lived at best; the laugh of the
scoffer and the condemnation of the indifferent looker-on are sure to follow, and generally
to outweigh the admiring praise of the friendly. Do not despise the opinion of the world, nor
provoke it uselessly to unjust criticism. Remain rather as indifferent to the abuse as to the
praise of those who can never know you as you really are, and who ought, therefore, to find
you unmoved by either, and ever placing the approval or condemnation of your own Inner
Self higher than that of the multitudes.
"Those of you who would know yourselves in the spirit of truth learn to live alone
even amidst the great crowds which may sometimes surround you. Seek communion and
intercourse only with the God within your own soul; heed only the praise or blame of that
Deity which can never be separated from your true self, as it is verily that God itself called
the HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS. Put without delay your good intentions into practice,
never leaving a single one to remain only an intention - expecting, meanwhile, neither
reward nor even acknowledgment for the good you may have done. Reward and
acknowledgment are in yourself, and inseparable from you, as it is your Inner Self alone
which can appreciate them at their true degree and value. For each one of you contains
within the precincts of his inner tabernacle the Supreme Court - prosecutor, defense, jury
and judge - whose sentence is the only one without appeal; since none can know you
better than you do yourself, when once you have learned to judge that self by the never
wavering light of the inner divinity - your higher

--- 146

Consciousness. Let, therefore, the masses, which can never know your true selves,
condemn your outer selves according to their own false lights.....
The majority of the public Areopagus is generally composed of self-appointed
judges, who have never made a permanent Deity of any idol save their own personalities -
their lower selves; for those who try in their walk in life to follow their inner light will never
be found judging, far less condemning, those weaker than themselves. What does it
matter, then, whether the former condemn or praise, whether they humble you or exalt you
on a pinnacle?
"They will never comprehend you one way or the other. They may make an idol of
you, so long as they imagine you a faithful image of themselves on the pedestal or altar
which they have reared for you, and while you amuse or benefit them. You cannot expect
to be anything for them but a temporary fetish, succeeding another fetish just overthrown,
and followed in your turn by another idol. Let, therefore, those who have created that idol
destroy it whenever they like, casting it down with as little cause as they had for setting it
up. Your Western Society can no more live without its Khalif of an hour than it can worship
for any longer period; and whenever it breaks an idol and then besmears it with mud, it is
not the model, but the figured image created by its own foul fancy, and which it has
endowed with its own vices, that Society dethrones and breaks.
"Theosophy can only find objective expression in an all-embracing code of life,
thoroughly impregnated with the spirit of mutual tolerance, charity and brotherly love. Its
Society, as a body, has a task before it which, unless performed with the utmost discretion,
will cause the world of the indifferent and selfish to rise up in arms against it. Theosophy
has to fight intolerance, prejudice, ignorance and selfishness, hidden under the mantle of
hypocrisy. It has to throw all the light it can from the torch of Truth, with which its servants
are entrusted. It must do this without fear or hesitation, dreading neither reproof nor
condemnation. Theosophy, through its mouthpiece, the Society, has to tell the TRUTH to
the very face of LIE; to beard the tiger in its den, without thought or fear of evil
consequences, and to set at defiance calumny and threats. As an association, it has not
only the right, but the duty to uncloak vice and do its best to redress wrongs, whether
through the voice of its chosen lecturers or the printed word of its journals and publications
- making its accusations, however, as impersonal as possible. But its Fellows, or Members,
have individually no such right. Its followers have, first of all, to set the example of a firmly
outlined and as firmly applied morality, before they obtain the right to point out, even in a
spirit of kindness, the absence of a like ethic unity and singleness of purpose in other
associations or individuals. No Theosophist should blame a brother, whether within or
outside of the association, neither may he throw a slur upon another's actions or denounce
him, lest he himself lose the right to be considered a Theosophist. For, as such, he has to
turn away his gaze from the imperfections of his neighbor, and centre rather his attention
upon his own shortcomings, in order to correct them and become wiser. Let him not show
the disparity between claim and action in another, but, whether in the case of a brother, a
neighbor, or simply a fellow man, let him rather ever help one weaker than himself on the
arduous walk of life.
"The problem of true Theosophy and its great mission are, first, the working out of
clear, unequivocal conceptions of ethic ideas and duties, such as shall best and most fully
satisfy the right and altruistic feelings in men; and second, the modeling of these
conceptions for their adaptation into such forms of daily life

--- 147

as shall offer a field where they may be applied with most equitableness.
"Such is the common work placed before all who are willing to act on these
principles. It is a laborious task, and will require strenuous and persevering exertion; but
it must lead you insensibly to progress, and leave you no room for any selfish aspirations
outside the limits traced..... Do not indulge personally in unbrotherly comparison between
the task accomplished by yourself and the work left undone by your neighbors or brothers.
In the fields of Theosophy none is held to weed out a larger plot of ground than his strength
and capacity will permit him. Do not be too severe on the merits or demerits of one who
seeks admission among your ranks, as the truth about the actual state of the inner man can
only be known to Karma, and can be dealt with justly by that all-seeing Law alone. Even
the simple presence amidst you of a well-intentioned and sympathizing individual may help
you magnetically.... You are the free volunteer workers on the fields of Truth, and as such
must leave no obstruction on the paths leading to that field."
---------

"The degree of success or failure are the landmarks the masters have to follow, as
they will constitute the barriers placed with your own hands between yourselves and those
whom you have asked to be your teachers. The nearer your approach to the goal
contemplated the shorter the distance between the student and master."

-------------

"Human character does evermore publish itself. It will not be concealed. It hates
darkness, - it rushes into light. The most fugitive deed and word, the mere air of doing a
thing, the intimated purpose, expresses character. If you act, you show character, if you
sit still, you show it; if you sleep, you show it. You think because you have spoken nothing
when others spoke, and have given no opinion on the times, on the church, on slavery, on
the college, on parties and persons, that your verdict is still expected with curiosity as a
reserved wisdom. Far otherwise; your silence answers very loud. You have no oracle to
utter, and your fellow-men have learned that you cannot help them; for, oracles speak.
Doth not wisdom cry and understanding put forth her voice?" - Emerson, Spiritual Laws.

--------------
--- 148

SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

by William E. Gates

"OUT of suffering let sweetness spring; and if one must use a crutch, wherever it
is planted, like an Aaron 's rod, let blossoms rise."
The period through which we have been passing has in every direction been
understood, or felt, rather, to be one of transition. Over all the world men have looked
forward to the new order, to which the old one, passing, shall give place. Materialistic
science has with giant strides reached her Ultima Thule, and the great unknown, the X of
nature, is becoming manifest. Even when science had come to her final conviction that she
was forever fixed in the bondage of matter, her next step has found the unreal to be instead
the Real, the True and the Potent. Impelled by the upward necessity of progress men have
scratched the surface of things, until with one accord the mind of science has
acknowledged them to be only forms and appearances, and man's consciousness, which
is his spirit, has rebelled against their emptiness, and demanded Reality in life - and has
found it.
This advance towards Reality has not been sudden, but steady. No miracle is being
wrought, except the ever underlying wonder of nature's being, the Love which finds its way.
Our history for a thousand years has been one of deep suffering and struggle, of search
for light through such despair that society has been almost brought to a revolution as the
only means whereby to break its chains. So keen has been the agony that many have
called for social death rather than this continued bondage. Finding no other plane on which
to act than that of matter, form and convention, man has failed to recognize the true divinity
of his nature and powers, has misunderstood himself and them, declared them evil, and
utterly missed glories with which the chaos of our social life has been pregnant.
For all this suffering, born of bondage to material life and objects, has been but the
motive force developing within us those qualities by which we might break through the
crust. Man's nature is not changed, nor the life of humanity, but only unfolded, and the
present has no quarrel with the past - it is itself that past born into a new life with wider
meaning. For even as we have worked, the term transition has ceased to be most
descriptive of the day, and unfoldment taken its place, as the scales drop away from our
eyes, and we begin to see the meaning of all those elements in human life which,
circumscribed as their too petty field has been, we hated and called evil, but which are now
destined, transfigured, to take their place in the economy of a divine society.
The part of America in the advent of this new order bears the deepest interest. The
very name has magic in it. Four centuries ago the land of Europe bounded a society where
life had lost its zest, and the impulse of humanity streamed across the sea, Ponce de Leon
like, to seek the fountain of youth - and found it. A new continent for habitation, symbolical
of the new life in store for humanity upon it, a land buoyant with inspiration, with realization,
with discovery, lay prepared by ever-responsive nature to crown the yearnings and faith of
her children. And in like manner down to the present time do all our struggles and mistakes
within our environment, our growing conviction of the emptiness, the deadness of the lower
plane of life and our enlarging appreciation of the Reality

--- 149

underlying all forms and conventions, on the one hand, and the widening of that
environment, the manifestation of the inner and real on the part of nature, on the other,
seem but the converging lines to one great focus-point of unification and demonstration,
out of which now extend into a new life and a new time all the forces and qualities which
twisted and tangled in their former narrow quarters threatened to destroy themselves and
the race.
There seems a new birth to have come for everything. Out of our suffering
sweetness springs, and all our moral, mental, spiritual crutches which we have hated and
wished to break, planted even unconsciously under the constraint of the upward striving
of the race, burst into blossom and become the shady trees of the new region we are
entering.
To one in the midst of the rush for land and gold four hundred years ago the world
may well have seemed a chaos of ambition and lust, but at this distance we can see that
mankind was but working out the needs of its external destiny, impelled by the inner desire
for a broader life. Almost in our own lives we have seen science, impelled by the same
force, set out with seeming intent to destroy every possibility of any higher life than the
material, only to come face to face with a deeper, inner order of being, which furnishes the
key to the seeming chaos, and a confirmation to the longings of the heart. Our men of
science have devoted their lives to the denial of a spiritual world and tried to confine life in
a chrysalis of matter; but the weapon they forged to break the shackles of superstition was
freedom from hard and fast conventions of thought, and finally, however unwillingly, yet
because they have been true to this principle at bottom, they have themselves been forced
to devour and dissolve to nothingness the very prison they built.
And so too with all this complex social, economic and political life we lead.
 It seems all chaos and contest, but a very little below the surface we find its real
meaning - and it is here not bad but good. I do not mean alone the great fact that in its
pursuit of wealth our civilization has bound the whole world into one great family, in its rage
for power has subdued great material forces, brought men a thousand miles apart within
sound of each others' voices, preserved their motions and speech for other times, in its
efforts for commercial dominion has woven interdependence anew - into the lives of nations
- has produced a great vampire called international finance in obedience to whose laws the
life blood of the economic world, almost coextensive with the physical, ebbs and flows as
in a single body. The harshness of all these things is but the incident to be sure of the
present economic system, and will drop off under a new order, while the union and
interdependence will remain. But I mean that apart from this physical unity, seemingly
bought at so great a price as a foundation for the new temple of humanity, there is far less
evil in the present life of humanity than we are wont to believe. Our present communal
organization is that of a business world, and our social life bows to that, so that under the
stress of urgent necessity to hold one's own in business, every iota of brotherhood is
crushed out - in business. But separate the men from their bargaining, and in every one,
hardly excepting even the thousandth man, you find a ready recognition of brotherhood,
a pleasure in kindness - so long as it does not interfere with business, for business is
necessity, and men there have no choice. Go further, and you will find among all but a few
with whom accumulation has become monomania, making them economic pirates, another
way of saying social drones - among the great mass of men you find an infinite weariness
of their service at rolling the stone of Sisyphus, a galling of the chains placed

--- 150

on them by the Frankenstein's monster they have evoked. The system is cruel, awful,
degrading, loved by no one, and the very ones who struggle most fiercely to do something
within it would hail another order with the greatest joy. And when the system is once
removed, - as it must be, since if it ever was necessary for sufficient production it now is
so no longer - what may we not expect from the enormous energy of the American people,
their innate altruism, their idealism, their deep belief in Man? Our sins are many, but they
are the errors of necessity, not crimes of the heart, and for that reason out of all our
sufferings will sweetness spring; the activities that now seem destructive will become
constructive; the promptness, directness, merciless pruning of superfluities, instant
adaptation of means to ends, crushing out of sentimentality, all those qualities in which we
have developed and which have made us seem so cruel, our spiritual crutches, will again
prove our redeemers, and transfigured by their enlistment under the opened heart of man,
build up a world-wide kingdom for the one universal ideal - the Brotherhood of Humanity.
This inspiration to brotherhood, this encouragement of striving humanity, a profound
and frank belief in the human heart, it is the work of the Universal Brotherhood to exalt.
That organization stands as the crown of a movement whose keynotes have been reality
and unity of life. Ever since the formation of the society in 1875 it has passed through
steadily successive siftings, ever weeding out by the sheer force of its nature and of events
those who allied themselves to the principles of form and selfishness, leaving them to show
their own colors, and going on. This sifting out and working through seeming trials to the
establishment of an environment, a fitting instrument, at the same time that the body itself
was trained up to the point of fitness to use it and to the establishment of interior trueness
and freedom to see the divine work to be done, have been for the entire history of the
society so identical and single in their character that this fact cannot be better shown than
by extracts from two letters written at a similar period to the present, by W. Q. Judge. They
are interesting as showing too how clearly all that has taken place was a part of the original
plan of the founders, and how the work now outlined for the Universal Brotherhood was
even then really offered to members, only they could not see it and had to wait. And it is
noteworthy that these letters were written just before and after the formation of the Esoteric
Section, as a haven and protection to the movement in the sifting time.
On July 7, 1888, W. Q. Judge wrote: "I wish very much that you had your branch
started, because a crisis has arrived in the T. S. in which H. P. Blavatsky wants the
cooperation of the American branches. This crisis is not apparent to us in the West for the
reason that it exists in the East, but as the T. S. is a living body it feels everything just as
a man does what happens in any part of his body. It is therefore better that you should
begin with five who have an enthusiasm for her than it would be to start off with a lot who
at the very first fright would fly off. As I said, this is a critical time. As a matter of fact we
are also in a period when THE REAL CHARACTER OF ALL THEOSOPHISTS IS TO BE
UNVEILED WHETHER THEY KNOW IT OR NOT, but I have alluded to this in the Path
before under cover for those who might be able to see."
And on Feb. 8, 1889, he wrote again: "Constitutions should be plain and direct. You
seem to tend to too much detail and spinning out. The Masters have said this is to be a
Universal Brotherhood. You cannot define Theosophy to be this or that thing, but any
Branch can if it chooses make itself one

--- 151

that demands of its members a swallowing of the particular Theosophy of H. P. B. or . . .

or any one they like. All constitutions are so much wasted paper if the human beings in the
Branch are not (1) Earnest, (2) Brotherly, (3) United, (4) Direct, and (5) Studious or
thoughtful. Laws and Rules are useless if men are not fixed at least on something. The
something provided by Masters is the ethical and philosophical aspect of theosophy, and
these in writing They have declared to be our proper work, for the world needs a change
of heart and not a change of scene. Follow a plain model and the rest must be left to the
members, for a thousand constitutions will not in themselves make a good theosophist and
long By Laws are only means for making trouble. Such are my sentiments. You can read
this where and when you like and to anybody. - William Q. Judge."

-------------

THE KINDERGARTEN OF THEOSOPHY

by Marie A.J. Watson

CHAPTER VII. (Continued)

Throughout the whole tenor of the writings of the New Testament the doctrine of
reincarnation is implied. It is constantly being represented as man being born into the world
under a load of guilt and sin. Whence its origin, if not in a preexistent life? From whom did
man inherit his sin, if not from his own acts? If it does not mean this, it means nothing at
all, and contradicts every principle of common sense, in that guilt can be contracted without
action, or that man can act without existing. So there is a preexistent life demonstrated by
the principles of reason, and we have abundance of evidence in nature herself of this law
in the Universe.
Every tree that puts forth flower and foliage each year bears witness to this law. The
clematis of last year withered and died, but with return of Spring, new blossoms adorn the
vine; the same old root sustained it before and nourishes it now. The transformed
caterpillar, now a winged butterfly soaring into the its new element, the air, of which it had
no knowledge in its caterpillar state, is another witness to this law; the worm spins its own
shroud, makes its own coffin, yet within this tomb it lives, emerges into new life, new
conditions. The caterpillar casts off its skin seven times before its final metamorphosis,
sometimes in a few days, sometimes not until the next summer, and again not until seven
years, when comes the last and glorious transformation. The Greeks found in this change
the type of the liberation of the soul, hence they called the butterfly Psyche, the soul. There
is always the subjective state, or Devachanic interlude between the death and birth, as the
night, when the physical body of man rests, comes between each day of activity; so in the
larger cycle of man's life the soul rests between each incarnation. Why should it be thought
incredible that the same soul should inhabit an indefinite number of mortal bodies, and thus
have opportunity of prolonging experience until it becomes ripe for transplanting into other
spheres? Even during this one life our bodies are continually changing, and every seven
years, science tells us, that not an atom composing our bodies but what has been decayed
and restored by other atoms; so we see that even in this one life the soul inhabits many
bodies, and when old age advances we do not therefore say that

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the man is other now than he was in his youth. Then why not carry out this principle in the
permanent and only real part of man's nature, his trinity, or what is called the reincarnating
Ego that wears out its bodies, shedding the personalities, by the same law that the body
sheds its atoms.
The one-life theory is only accepted by two classes, either those who do not think,
and accept ready-made religious food on blind faith, so starving the spiritual nature, or by
the other class who like to shift the responsibility of their misdoings upon a Saviour who is
to atone for them by the sacrifice of blood shedding, transferring punishment on the
innocent. If punishment may be transferred, so may duties, and chaos is introduced into
the moral order of the Universe.
To the just man, the thinker, the doctrines of the law of Cause and Effect, or Karma
and Reincarnation, comes like a beacon shining upon the dark waters of human life, He
knows that past errors can only be blotted out by right knowledge, and the will to conform
to that knowledge. So alone can the character become perfected.
Desire is the basis upon which all character is formed. The Kama principle, or
desire, is an impulse, a law, in the Universe as it is in man; but in man there is the will to
decide what the nature of his desire shall be. To satisfy a desire strengthens it; refusing
to act upon a certain desire necessarily represses this particular desire, and weakens all
similar desires. A desire never satisfied must die of inanition. It is evident, then, that
choice strengthens some desires and weakens others. This must encourage desires of a
like kind, whether of a selfish or unselfish nature, and these desires repeatedly expressed
in action develop character; and just in the degree in which repeated acts for good have
reacted upon the will, does the will spontaneously act for good. It has lost the power to act
for evil in the same proportion. Thus, when an Ego expresses in his character, integrity,
charity, morality, clear judgment in distinguishing between the finest shades of right and
wrong, this beauty of soul has not been given him by any power outside of his own effort,
but by repeated struggles in many lives with the lower nature, by the overcoming of the evil
or selfish desires of the animal man. "Unto him that overcometh is salvation" are the words
of one Master, and "As ye sow, ye shall reap," came from the same lips.
Man when studied as a septenary being, is again sub-divided into two principal
divisions, called the lower quaternary, and the spiritual triad or trinity.
The four lower principles make up the gross physical body which represents the
personality and which is subject to decay, since it is made up of substances which are
changeable and transitory. We know that the atoms comprising our bodies are continually
changing, dropping into decay and being shed, but the consciousness within man is the
same and remains permanent; the man of seventy is convinced of the same conscious
identity he had at thirty, although his body has entirely changed. But this lower quaternary
has inherent in it the potentiality of the spiritual nature which represents the individuality,
the real consciousness, the reincarnating Ego. That part of man which sows and reaps,
which is responsible for the deeds done in the flesh, is the personality. The higher and
lower natures continually act and re-act one upon the other; the sinful or evil nature is in
the lower quaternary, but as that is a part of the whole which includes the Ego, the latter
is responsible for permitting the lower to rule it and therefore suffers. The Ego sinning in
conjunction with one personality, may in another receive punishment through that other as
a channel, and in each successive incarnation the Ego shares both the good and the evil,
until

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it finally has trained the lower nature into obedience to the laws which the Ego has learned
in its vast round of experience.
In nature there are seven planes or states corresponding to the seven principles in
man, man can become conscious on these planes as he develops his seven-fold nature.
The soul does undoubtedly function upon other planes than the physical during sleep,
illness, trance, when the physical machine is at low ebb, but as one does not enter upon
these other planes voluntarily, by putting his own will into action, he cannot impress his
lower brain mind with aught that the soul has cognized while temporarily absent from the
physical plane, or if the soul brings back anything from its wanderings it is not reliable
because it impresses the brain so feebly, that the results become mixed up with the
productions of the brain-mind itself, and error and confusion must affect the testimony.
The object of reincarnation, of evolution, is, that the Ego shall become conscious
upon all these planes, have experience in all these states while in the physical body, that
it may so train the physical organs that they shall become perfect instruments to be used
by the Ego on all planes in nature. That there are planes of consciousness other than the
material whereon the Ego now functions we have abundance of evidence given in a great
deal of the literature of today, and of all times, and many have had personal experience of
this fact. There are those who remember these experiences, and the psychic or astral
plane, the second and nearest plane to this, is the plane of experience of mediums and
sensitives as they are called. This plane is largely influenced by the emanations of the
gross, physical plane; it is therefore dangerous to the morals, and the health of the
individual who enters it not knowing the law, nor comprehending the nature of the elements
making up this plane. The astral body of man corresponds to this plane; both are material,
but of a far finer grade of matter; both plane and body are of so subtle and ethereal a
nature, compared with the gross physical body and plane, that the astral body of man finds
no hindrance, no inconvenience to penetrate gross matter, hence the coming and going of
apparitions through closed doors, etc. Now there are those who have developed their inner
powers, and who can and do consciously enter these various planes in nature, and have
become acquainted with the forces and beings who live on these planes.
All these planes are peopled with beings, some inferior and some superior to man.
They represent different degrees of consciousness. The adept can shift his consciousness
from one plane to another with equal ease, and knows how to control these forces. He has
developed faculties, which are still latent in ordinary human beings. These powers are not
miraculous, and because they are not so is the reason of their slow and gradual attainment;
they are the result of long training, and self-sacrifice through many incarnations.

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THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE *

THE TWO PATHS.

(Continued)
BE humble, if thou wouldst attain to Wisdom.
Be humbler still, when Wisdom thou hast mastered.
Be like the Ocean which receives all streams and rivers. The Ocean's mighty calm
remains unmoved; it feels them not.
Restrain by thy Divine thy lower Self. Restrain by the Eternal the Divine. Aye, great
is he who is the slayer of desire.
Still greater he, in whom the Self Divine has slain the very knowledge of desire.
Guard thou the Lower lest it soil the Higher.
The way to final freedom is within thy SELF.
That way begins and ends outside of Self. **
Unpraised by men and humble is the mother of all rivers, in Tirthika's*** proud sight;
empty the human form though filled with Amrita's sweet waters, in the sight of fools. Withal,
the birth-place of the sacred rivers is the sacred land,**** and he who Wisdom hath, is
honored by all men.
Arhans and Sages of the boundless Vision+ are rare as is the blossom of the

-------------
* "The Voice of the Silence and other Chosen Fragments from the Book of Golden
Precepts for the daily use of Lanoos (disciples) translated and annotated by H. P. B."
** Meaning the personal lower "Self."
*** An ascetic Brahman, visiting holy shrines, especially sacred bathing-places.
**** Tirthikas are the Brahmanical Sectarians "beyond" the Himalayas, called
"infidels" by the Buddhists in the Sacred Land, Tibet, and vice versa.
+ Boundless Vision or psychic, superhuman sight. An Arhan is credited with
"seeing" and knowing all at a distance as well as on the spot.
-----------

Udumbara tree. Arhans are born at midnight hour, together with the sacred plant of nine
and seven stalks,* the holy flower that opes and blooms in darkness, out of the pure dew
and on the frozen bed of snow-capped heights, heights that are trodden by no sinful foot.
No Arhan, O Lanoo, becomes one in that birth when for the first the Soul begins to
long for final liberation. Yet, O thou anxious one, no warrior volunteering fight in the fierce
strife between the living and the dead,** not one recruit can ever be refused the right to
enter on the Path that leads toward the field of Battle.
For, either he shall win, or he shall fall.
Yea, if he conquers, Nirvana shall be his. Before he casts his shadow off his mortal
coil, that pregnant cause of anguish and illimitable pain - in him will men a great and holy
Buddha honor.
And if he falls, e'en then he does not fall in vain; the enemies he slew in the last
battle will not return to life in the next birth that will be his.
But if thou wouldst Nirvana reach, or cast the prize away,*** let not the fruit of action
and inaction be thy motive, O thou of dauntless heart.
Know that the Bodhisattva who Liberation changes for Renunciation to don the
miseries of "Secret Life,"**** is called "thrice Honored," O thou candidate for woe
throughout the cycles.
The PATH is one, Disciple, yet in the end, two-fold. Marked are its stages by

------------
* See page 33, foot-note No. 3; Shangna plant.
** The "living" is the immortal Higher Ego, and the "dead" - the lower personal Ego.
*** See page 75, footnote No. 2.
**** The "Secret Life" is life as a Nirmanakaya.
------------
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four and seven Portals. At one end - bliss immediate, and at the other bliss deferred. Both
are of merit the reward: the choice is thine.
The one becomes the two, the Open and the Secret.* The first one leadeth to the
goal, the second to Self-Immolation.
When to the Permanent is sacrificed the Mutable, the prize is thine: the drop
returneth whence it came. The Open leads to the changeless change - Nirvana, the
glorious state of Absoluteness, the Bliss past human thought.
Thus the first Path is LIBERATION.
But Path the second is - RENUNCIATION, and therefore called the "Path of Woe.''
 That Secret Path leads the Arhan to mental woe unspeakable; woe for the living
Dead,** and helpless pity for the men of karmic sorrow; the fruit of Karma Sages dare not
still.
For it is written: "Teach to eschew all causes; the ripple of effect, as the great tidal
wave, thou shalt let run its course."
The "Open Way," no sooner hast thou reached its goal, will lead thee to reject the
Bodhisattvic body, and make thee enter the thrice glorious state of Dharmakaya which is
oblivion of the World and men for ever.
The "Secret Way" leads also to Paranirvanic bliss - but at the close of Kalpas without
number; Nirvanas gained and lost from boundless pity and compassion for the world of
deluded mortals.

------------
* The "Open" and the "Secret Path" - or the one taught to the layman, the exoteric
and the generally accepted, and the other the Secret Path - the nature of which is explained
at Initiation.
** Men ignorant of the Esoteric truths and Wisdom are called "the living Dead."
------------

But it is said: "The last shall be the greatest." Samyak Sambuddha, the Teacher of
Perfection, gave up his SELF for the salvation of the World, by stopping at the threshold
of Nirvana - the pure state.
.........
Thou hast the knowledge now concerning the two Ways. Thy time will come for
choice, O thou of eager Soul, when thou hast reached the end and passed the seven
Portals. Thy mind is clear. No more art thou entangled in delusive thoughts, for thou hast
learned all. Unveiled stands Truth and looks thee sternly in the face. She says:
"Sweet are the fruits of Rest and Liberation for the sake of Self; but sweeter still the
fruits of long and bitter duty. Aye, Renunciation for the sake of others, of suffering fellow
men."
He who becomes Pratyeka-Buddha* makes his obeisance but to his Self. The
Bodhisattva who has won the battle, who holds the prize within his palm, yet says in his
divine compassion:
"For others' sake this great reward I yield" - accomplishes the greater Renunciation.
A SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD is he.
..........
Behold! The goal of bliss and the long Path of Woe are at the furthest end. Thou
canst choose either, O aspirant to Sorrow, throughout the coming cycles!
OM VAJRAPANI HUM

-----------
* Pratyeka Buddhas are those Bodhisattvas who strive alter and often reach the
Dharmakaya robe after a series of lives. Caring nothing for the woes or mankind or to help
it, but only for their own bliss, they enter Nirvana and - disappear from the sight and the
hearts of men. In Northern Buddhism a "Pratyeka Buddha" is a synonym of spititual
Selfishness.
-----------
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[[photo: H.P. Blavatsky]]

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HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY

by James M. Pryse

[[Greek script]]

"I came to cast a fire into the earth; and what am I to choose, if straightway it is
kindled? Now, I have a lustration to be lustrated with; and how am I constrained until it be
accomplished!" - Luke xii, 49.

To kindle anew the spiritual fire in the hearts of the men of this generation, who were
fast falling into materialism and concerned solely with the things of earth, was the mission
on which H. P. Blavatsky was sent; yet while she strove to arouse, inspire and enlighten
others, her own heroic soul was enduring the ordeal of purification through the mystic
lustration of fire. In times to come she will be remembered, perhaps be understood. The
truly great stand far in advance of their fellows, and are appreciated fully only by the
generations that come after; they are understood by but few in their own times. Near
scrutiny is only for small things; that which is big has to be observed at a proportionate
distance to be judged adequately. It is told that among the statues presented in
competition to be placed on a temple in ancient Greece there was one that appeared
rough, unfinished and angular, exciting the ridicule of the judges; but when each of the
perfectly finished statues had in turn been placed aloft only to be taken down because its
details were indistinguishable at so great a height, and the gleam from its polished surface
only confused its outlines, the rejected one was finally elevated to the place, and all were
lost in wonder at its beauty, for its rough surface kept the outlines clear, and distance
softened its rough-hewn curves,
If H. P. Blavatsky appeared rough, crude and even uncouth to those about her, it
was only because she had been cast in a titan mold. In this age of complaisant
orthodoxies, conventionalized schools of thought, of commonplaces hackneyed and inane,
she seemed strangely out of place; like an old-time prophet, boisterous as Elijah,
grandiose as Isaiah, mysterious as Ezekiel, she hurled scathing Jeremiads at the puerilities
and hypocrisies of the nineteenth century. She was a forerunner shouting loudly in the
wilderness of beliefs. She did not belong to the present age. Her message came from the
mighty past, and she delivered it not to the present but to the future. For the present was
shrouded in the darkness of materialism, and in the far past was the only light by which the
future could be illumined. Not from the living-dead present but from the dead past will the
living future emerge. Thus ever, as the wisest of the Greeks has said, "the living are born
from the dead." In thus seeking to revive the wisdom of the ancients, she was not so
erratic and out of place as she seemed to the unthinking. For she proclaimed, to all those
who had ears to hear, the long-forgotten truths of which humanity now has need. She bore
witness of the Gnosis to an age that had become agnostic. She brought tidings of the great
Lodge, which in times of old was the "good Shepherd" of mankind. In an era when the
mysteries had perished, degenerating into unclean orgies even as corruption disintegrates
the body after the spirit has fled, Jesus took the place of the mystic Hermes, announcing
himself as "that good Shepherd," and restoring for a season the arcane rites. But later his
Society became only the tool of a Roman Emperor, the prop of a falling State. The church
became the necropolis of the

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new-born spiritual hopes which this vilest of Herods had slain. Religion developed into a
gigantic "trust"; superstition became an elaborately organized system, which to question
was a sin, to doubt - a crime. Humanity had no more a shepherd or a fold, and felt the fang
of wolves. If any imagine that men are capable of shepherding themselves, let them study
the history of the past twenty centuries. If Christians dream that they are still "one flock,
one Shepherd,'' let them waken long enough to count the number of their sects, and to
discover that the wilderness in which they are wandering is not the pasture of their Lord.
The Christ, should he return, would have ninety and nine to seek for every one remaining
in the fold.
To call the many and to choose the few, bringing them again into the Masters' fold,
was part of H. P. Blavatsky's work. Faithfully she discharged her duty, yet it was an odd
flock that came together; many have gone out in the desert again, untameable,
insubordinate; wolves in sheeps' clothing have often crept into the fold. For every faithful
disciple she seems to have had eleven Judases turn against her. But success has already
crowned her efforts, and the future will know her again, and understand. For she is one of
those over whom death has no power, for she held the key of death and its mysteries. If
there is any one thing of which the men of this age are constrained to admit their ignorance,
it is the nature of death. The Christian's professed belief that death is but a door giving
entrance to eternal bliss does little to lessen his dread to pass through that grim portal. He
no longer can take comfort in thinking that the wicked unbelievers will be eternally roasted
in the hereafter; for reason and a Revised Version have drawn the fires of hell, and left it
as cold and empty as is a church on week days. The Spiritualists had eagerly questioned
the ghosts about the secret of death; but the ghosts, though wiser than the Theologians,
only knew of a summer-land and a winter-land where the Shades of the dead are neither
happier nor wiser than people are on earth. And the scientists, while admitting their own
ignorance, refused to receive the testimony of the ghosts, and even denied the existence
of the forlorn Shades. Yet until the problem of death is solved, that of life remains
incomprehensible also. The solution offered by H. P. Blavatsky was that of the ancient
philosophy, and it is simple enough for even the unlearned to understand it, while every
man has in his own interior nature the means to ascertain its truth. Sleep and waking are
but life and death in small. It was not mere idle fancy when the old mythology made Sleep
the twin brother of Death. Both teach the same lesson, and the one is no more mysterious
than the other. Existence is the going outward from the Eternal Life, the divine and
changeless Peace; and death is the returning inward to that centre of rest. When man
sleeps, his soul passes into the Underworld of the Shades, the realm of ghosts, and thence
into the world of spirit, the true home of the soul. The soul of him who is dead traverses
the same regions, and takes its rest in the same abiding-place; and like the soul of the one
who slumbers it must return to the outer life when its repose is ended. A longer rest it has,
and wakens in an outer form purified and renewed, which to the soul is as a change of
raiment. As all who live must die, so all who die must live again. Death and sleep are the
in-going of the soul, waking and life are its out-going; and the spheres of sleep and of
death are the same. It is only deep forgetfulness of the past that makes death seem a
thing of terror; yet there is no need that man should thus forget. As long as a man lives
almost solely in the things of the outer senses, and pays worship only to a God whom he
conceives to be a being apart from himself - thus looking always outward - how can

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he remember that which is treasured within, in the deep recesses of his own soul? All
memory is an introversion of the mental vision. To remember past events, as of the day
before, the consciousness turns back upon itself, to read the records written on the brain.
Mark how the man who is striving to recall some half-forgotten event closes his eyes and
abstracts his senses from the things about him. Let a man cease to worship idols, and
seek for the light within his own soul, and then the past becomes no more a blank, but a
living record; then will he gain self-knowledge and attain that changeless Peace which is
the true centre of man's being, and the only altar of the God of Life. Then, whether the
body be living or dead, the conscious life of the man remains ever unbroken, continuous.
That H. P. Blavatsky is one of those who live a conscious spiritual existence throughout the
ages, scorning to drink of the Lethean waters of the Nether-world, her true followers are
assured. They do not look upon her as one dead, knowing that she has but departed for
a season, to return at some time when humanity, it is to be hoped, will be better prepared
to recognize and welcome Truth's messengers.
-----------

"The spiritual Ego of man moves in eternity like a pendulum between the hours of
birth and death. But if these hours, marking the periods of life terrestrial and life spiritual,
are limited in their duration, and if the very number of such stages in eternity between sleep
and awakening, illusion and reality, has its beginning and its end, on the other hand, the
spiritual pilgrim is eternal. . . . I have given you once already a familiar illustration by
comparing the Ego, or the individuality, to an actor, and its numerous and various
incarnations to the parts it plays. Will you call these parts or their costumes the individuality
of the actor himself? Like that actor, the Ego is forced to play during the cycle of necessity,
up to the very threshold of Paranirvana, many parts such as may be unpleasant to it. But
as the bee collects its honey from every flower, leaving the rest as food for the earthly
worms, so does our spiritual individuality, whether we call it Sutratma or Ego. Collecting
from every terrestrial personality, into which Karma forces it to incarnate, the nectar alone
of the spiritual qualities and self-consciousness, it unites all these into one whole and
emerges from its chrysalis as the glorified Dhyan Chohan." - H. P. Blavatsky, Key to
Theosophy

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THE ANCIENT DRUIDS
THEIR HISTORY AND RELIGION
by Rev. W. Williams

(Continued)

IN our preceding remarks on the Ancient Druids, we gave a short sketch of the
wanderings and migrations of the Celts from their native land until their final settlement in
the northwest of France and the neighboring island of Britain in which the system of
Druidism attained to its highest development. Owing to freedom from the incursions of
surrounding nations, their numbers increased to such an extent, that the country of Wales,
the Isle of Mona, Ireland and part of Scotland became peopled by Celtic tribes who were
accompanied by their Druid priests and bards and formed the great strongholds of
Druidism, to the spread of which, their extensive forests with their leafy dells and shady
groves mainly contributed.
The existing remains of such enormous structures as Stonehenge and Avebury, of
huge cromlechs, dolmens and menhirs, in Cornwall, Wales and Ireland, have been we think
erroneously attributed to the Druids. It is more probable that these megalithic temples and
betylia were already in existence on the arrival of the Celts, and were made use of for their
annual assemblies and the celebration of their sacrificial ceremonies with which they were
inaugurated. The Celts were not builders like the Suryas or members of the Solar race.
They were hunters and agriculturists and the exigencies of their modes of living, left them
neither time nor leisure to attend to works of architecture, of which they had no need, as
Nature herself had provided them with structures and temples fairer, more enduring and
grander in their proportions than those upreared by human arts and skill.

"The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned

To hew the shaft and lay the architrave,
And spread the roof above them - ere he framed
The lofty vault to gather and roll back
The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood
Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down
And offered to the Mightiest, solemn thanks
And supplication. For his simple heart
Could not resist the sacred influence
Which, from the stilly twilight of the place.
And from the gray old trunks that high in heaven
Mingled their mossy boughs, and from the sound
Of the Invisible Breath, that swayed at once
All their green tops, stole over him and bowed
His spirit with the thought of boundless power
And inaccessible majesty."

The existence in America and Africa of structures similar to those of Stonehenge

tend to show that they were rather the erection of the Atlantean race, those Cyclops of
Antiquity the wrecks and ruins of whose Architecture, fill the minds of all beholders with
feelings of wonder and admiration.
It has been observed by students of Comparative Religion, that all systems of belief
possess in common certain fundamental ideas and conceptions which according to the
prominence given to them, become influential means and powerful agents in developing
and molding national character. Appealing to peculiar mental and spiritual faculties, they
bring out and incite to activity latent powers and forces which result in the evolution of those
religious systems which have prevailed from time immemorial throughout the world.
Confirmatory evidences of this fact are amply furnished in the rise and progress of religion
in Arabia, China, India and Christendom. The doctrine of the unity

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of the Divine Being lies at the basis of all their cosmogonies and systems of philosophy, to
which become attached, in course of time, teachings of Metempsychosis or Reincarnation,
of moral and physical causation and speculations which crystallize into dogmas on the
nature and ultimate destiny of man. There is also an embryological law which governs their
development by which we can account for the many and differing phases of growth which
they exhibit, as also the causes of their decline and extinction. Those in which the principle
of humanity has been the ruling element, have attained the greatest longevity and become
the most active and universal agents in the progress of civilization and the advancement
of the Arts and Sciences which ameliorate the conditions of life and enable man to utilize
the forces of nature and make them subservient to his welfare and enjoyment.
Religions, like empires, upreared on any other principle than that of humanity, have
been transient in duration, disastrous rather than beneficial to the human race, and
contained within them the seeds and elements of their own decay and annihilation.
Sporadic in origin, as luxuriant in growth as tropical plants, like these they were short-lived,
and, having no root in human nature, withered away and became extinct. This, as we shall
presently see was the case with Druidism, a graft from that old prehistoric Aryan Religion
whose vigorous offshoots attained to marvelous developments under the influences of
more southern climes.
The religion of the Celts, like all other ancient religions, was patriarchal in its
character, until, as we have stated, their altered circumstances and newly acquired modes
of life necessitated a change which resulted in the relegation of religious rites and
ceremonies and their celebration to certain individuals characterized for their learning and
holiness of life, who henceforth became known by the name of Druids. In silent forest
glades and groves, they had ample opportunity, like the Aranyakas in India, for the
development of those high spiritual states of ecstasy in which the whole realm of
knowledge and the secrets of nature became unveiled and revealed to their wondering and
inquiring gaze, and so long as they were unswayed by ambition and remained content to
be advisers and teachers, the fame of their extensive learning and the vast stores of
knowledge which they accumulated, caused them to become subjects of the highest
reverence. The rumor of them spread throughout all lands, so that students from all parts
of the world flocked to them for instruction, and tradition states that Pythagoras himself was
indebted to them for the doctrine of Metempsychosis. It is admitted by Greek writers that
he was a disciple of the Celtic sages and acquainted with Abaris, a great Druid adept, who
instructed him in the doctrine of the Abred or Circle of Courses, which, like the Gilgal
Nishmoth or revolutio animarum of the ancient Kabbala, is intimately connected with the
doctrine of Reincarnation. Iamblichos, in his life of Pythagoras, informs us that it was the
common opinion that he had been instructed by the Celts. Diogenes Laertius expressly
states that the philosophy of Greece came originally from the Celts. Stephanus Byzantius
relates that the name of Abaris belongs to the Cymry or ancient inhabitants of Wales, in
whose language it is a familiar term meaning The Contemplative One, or as we would now
say, The Philosopher. We gather from the fragments of Hecatoeus, an ancient Greek
historian and traveler, that Abaris was a Hyperborean, which, taking into consideration the
scattered notices of him in other Greek writers, clearly demonstrates that the
Hyperboreans, to whom they frequently refer, were the Celtic inhabitants of Britain. This
fact receives additional confirmation

--- 162

from the description which Hecatoeus gives of the geography, climate, harvest capacity,
temples, groves, priests and harpers or bards of the island of the Hyperboreans, which
plainly indicate it to have been Britain and no other country. Polyhistor, a great authority
with ancient historians, mentions in his book of Symbols, that Pythagoras had visited the
Druids, as also the Brahmans, and Aristotle especially affirms that Grecian philosophy was
not of indigenous growth, but derived its origin from Gaul, whilst the Roman poet Lucan
goes so far as to declare that the Druids alone were acquainted with the true nature and
character of the Gods. Herodotus relates that a deputation consisting of two young
Hyperborean virgins visited Delos, where they were received and entertained with great
honors, and who continued to reside there till their death, after which the young women,
in honor of their memory, cut off their hair before marriage, and rolling it around a distaff,
deposited it on their tombs, which were situated eastward behind the temple of Diana.
Taking a general review of all these scattered references we are able to form some
idea of the widely prevalent influence of the Druids and the vast power they wielded over
the popular mind. Arrogating to themselves like the Brahmans, the possession of all
knowledge, human and divine, natural and supernatural, they ultimately aspired to become
spiritual autocrats and reigned with absolute sway in the domain of conscience to which the
impressive and imposing character of their religious rites and ceremonies, their August
assemblies in the midst of deep forests together with their mysterious and secluded mode
of living greatly contributed. The splendid spectacular display of their annual festivals, their
stately processions accompanied with strains of awe-inspiring music, of priests and bards
arrayed in magnificent robes and bedecked with the glittering insignia of their rank and
office, their solemn invocations to the great Deity and invisible Gods, and their no less awful
curses and dread anathemas and formulas of excommunication thundered forth against
offenders, all these tended to invest them in the midst of spectators with the aureole of a
regal majesty wielding mystic and direful powers. This was especially the case at the
yearly festival of cutting the mistletoe which was celebrated in the depth of those sombre
forests in which the Druids had their retreats and principal sanctuaries.
In these immense primeval forests existed vast openings, in the centre of which
arose like rounded domes majestic oaks of great antiquity. As the time approached, bards
were sent forth in all directions to summon the people to the great religious ceremony of
the year. Vast multitudes from all quarters assembled at the appointed place where they
stood waiting the commencement of the long looked for ceremony. A feeling of awe and
dread seized hold of the vast crowd as the echo of a choral chant first resounded amidst
the forest glades and the dim outline of white robed priests hearing lighted torches emerged
from out of the darkness leading the sacrifices. Amidst a solemn silence unbroken by the
rustle of a leaf, undisturbed by the flapping of the night bird's wing, the August procession
came slowly on, headed by three venerable Druids of highest rank and dignity and crowned
with ivy, one carrying bread intended for offering, another bearing a vase filled with holy
water, the third holding a sceptre of ivory the characteristic mark of the chief Druid. Then
followed the high pontiff whose office it was to gather the sacred plant, crowned with a
garland of oak leaves, and arrayed in a magnificently embroidered robe aglow with the
lustrous emblazonry of mystic symbols. In his hand was a massive golden crosier and on
his breast

--- 163

a large ruby flashing forth rays of a strange and wondrous light. Suspended from his girdle
by a chain of precious metal hung a pruning knife of gold, having the form of a crescent.
Behind him marched the nobility and others of inferior rank. On arriving at the centre of the
grove, a triangular altar of wood was constructed around the oak from which it seemed to
rise (unity in the circle and trinity in the altar). A circular tablet was then appended to the
tree, on which were inscribed mystic letters signifying God the Father, Sovereign Light,
Principle of Life to the World. Two white bulls were then offered, when a Druid cast upon
a fire lighted at each of the angles of the altar a slice of bread on which some drops of wine
had been poured and as the mystic flames serpent-like darted and flashed upwards,
suddenly the weird stillness was broken by the choral strains of the Bards as they chanted
a most impressive litany.

The smallest of the small,

Is Hu the Mighty, as the world judges.
But the greatest of the great to us,
And our mysterious God.
Light his course and active;
The glowing sun is his car,
Great on land and on the seas.
The greatest we can conceive.
Greater than the worlds.
Let us beware of mean indignity
To Him who deals in bounty.

Ere the strains had ceased to echo through the forest, the Arch Druid by means of
a ladder ascended the tree and cut without touching it, the branch of mistletoe with his
golden falchion, allowing it to fall upon a white linen cloth, which had never been used, the
four corners of which were held by young Druidesses, great care being taken that it should
not touch the ground. In profound silence portions of the sacred plant were distributed
amongst the crowd of spectators. The ceremonies completed and the Druids returning
again to their sombre retreats and sanctuaries, the remainder of the night was spent in
feasting and revels.
Having now finished the sketch of the history, as also of the rites and ceremonies
of the Druids we shall next deal with their Theology and review the causes which led to
their final overthrow and extinction. We leave them in the possession of fame and power,
renowned and respected for their learning, exercising a sovereignty and sway over the
popular mind that brooked no dispute, that feared no rivalry. The cynosure of nations,
centres of law and religion, hedged about with a sanctity and divinity greater than that of
kings, they built up a system of Religion which with its stately priesthood, its magnificent
rituals and imposing ceremonies aided by profound learning and occult knowledge
appeared impregnable to the assaults and ravages of time, and proof against all the
elements of decay, and thus we leave it, equaling in its grandeur and magnificence that
famed city of which its monarch and founder said in his heart, "Is not this great Babylon,
that I have built by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty."

(To be continued)
-------------
--- 164

PARALLEL PASSAGES
by H. Percy Leonard

READERS of the Bhagavad Gita have often been struck with the thought that they
have met with identical teaching in the Christian Scriptures, and the following is an attempt
to assist such comparisons. In the absence of direct evidence to show the higher antiquity
of the Gita, it has sometimes been claimed that the author of the Gita has copied from the
New Testament, but considering the religious pride of the Hindus and their scorn of
depending upon outside sources, the idea of plagiarism may be dismissed from the mind
as absurd.
N. B. In all cases the quotations from the New Testament are taken from the
Revised Version. [[reformatted below]]

[Bhagavad Gita:] Chap. II. Thou shalt forever burst the bonds of Karma and rise
above them.
[New Testament:] Romans VIII. There is therefore now no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus.
-------
[BG:] The hungry man loseth sight of every other object but the gratification of his
appetite, and when he has become acquainted with the Supreme he loseth all taste for
objects of whatever kind.
[NT:] Matt. V. 6. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they
shall be filled.
---------
[BG:] Chap. V. He whose heart is not attached to objects of sense finds pleasure
within himself.
[NT:] John VII. 38. He that believeth on me... out of his belly shall flow rivers of
living water.
---------
[BG:] Chap. VI. To whatsoever object the inconstant mind goeth out, he should
subdue it, bring it back and place it upon the Spirit.
[NT:] II. Cor. X. 5. Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
-----------
[BG:] Chap. VIII. Know that the day of Brahma is a thousand revolutions of the
yugas.
[NT:] II. Peter III. 8. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years.
----------
[BG:] Chap. IX. Taking control of my own nature I emanate again and again this
whole assemblage of beings, without their will, by the power of the material essence.
Whatever thou doest . . . whatever thou eatest . . . commit each unto me.
I am the same to all creatures; I know not hatred nor favor.
[NT:] Rom. VIII. 20. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but
by reason of him who subjected it.
I. Cor. X. 31. Whether therefore ye eat or drink . . . do all to the glory of God.
Matt. V. 45. For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and the unjust.
-----------
[BG:] Chap. XI. Forgive O Lord, as the friend forgives the friend.
[NT:] Matt. VI. 12. And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
----------
[BG:] Chap. XII. He is also my beloved servant who is equal minded to friend or
foe, the same in honor and dishonor, in cold and heat, in pain and pleasure, and is
unsolicitous about the event of things, to whom praise and blame are as one.
[NT:] Phil. IV. 12. I have learned in whatsoever state I am therein to be content.
I know how to be abased and I know also how to abound, in everything and in all things I
have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry both to abound and to be in want.

--------------
--- 165

FACES OF FRIENDS

[[Photo: Torsten Hedlund]]

OUR two Swedish friends whose portraits we give are Torsten Hedlund and Dr. Erik
Bogren, well known to all the members in Sweden and also to many of English and
American members.
Both of them are old staunch supporters of the principles of our Order and with Dr.
Zander, whose portrait we gave in the February issue, and Mrs. Scholander and many
others have helped to spread Theosophy in Sweden and have held the Fort through all
difficulties and trials.
Together with Mrs. Hedlund and Brother Harnqvist and Mrs. Harnqvist they attended
the European Convention held in Dublin in August, 1896, the year of the Crusade, and
many warm and lasting friendships date from that day. There a link was formed between
America and Sweden which was further strengthened when in Berlin where Mrs.
Scholander, Brother Tonnes Algren and others came to meet the Crusaders and which has
been kept firm and strong and is the promise of the progress of the work in the future.
Brother Bogren has also become well known in America, having attended the
memorable Convention of February 18th of this year in Chicago, where he became
endeared to all who met him.
Another of our Swedish Brothers. Mr. Ljungstrom, was also at the Convention and
remained in this country until May 14th. The annual Convention of the T. S. in Sweden is
to be held the last week in May and we send Greetings and a friendly hand-clasp to all the
faithful hearts in that ancient northern land, to welcome them into the Universal
Brotherhood.

[[Photo: Dr. Erik Bogren]]

----------------
--- 166

CYCLES OF INSPIRATION
by Rev. W.E. Copeland

II.
IN the 6th century we find in the last quarter very plain evidence of the
commencement of a wave of influence which has affected the whole world. Mohammed
was born in the year 569, an event having almost as great an influence on the history of
civil and religious liberty, as the birth of Jesus some six hundred years before. How great
this influence, we cannot learn until we study some of the succeeding centuries. Today,
however, the Koran disputes with the Bible for the allegiance of savage races and as a
missionary religion in some respects Islamism surpasses Christianity.
During this same period arose an institution in Europe, which was to do much on the
one hand to foster religious liberty and on the other to rivet the chains of Orthodoxy over
the minds of Europeans. For several centuries there had been monks and anchorites and
even collections of monks presided over by an abbot, but this century was made notable
by the establishment of the Benedictines at Monte Casino. From this time forth monastic
orders flourished, Black Friars, White Friars and Gray Friars, monks and nuns of many
orders throughout Europe. Monasteries during the stormy times of the Dark Ages were the
asylum of science and letters. Without those religious men, who in the silence of their cells,
transcribed, studied and imitated the works of the ancients, those works would have
perished. The thread, which connects us with the Greeks and Romans, would have
snapped. In the sciences we should have had all to create. In war, Greek Fire was a
terrible missile of destruction, in peace the fire of Greek literature has ever been an agent
of progress, and has again and again broken up the crust of conservatism, and this was
kept smouldering in the monasteries to blaze out every few centuries and illumine the
world!
While monasticism afforded in its cells a refuge for many a radical scholar, destined
to do much for civil and religious liberty, as a whole it was an agent of Mother Church to
compel conformity. In the seventh century the work of Mohammed began to have its effect.
Just as Jesus was born in the century before the first of the Christian era, preached in the
early part of the first century; and just as Christianity was firmly established in the closing
years of the century; so Mohammed was born in the sixth century, wrote the Koran in the
early part of the seventh century, in the latter part of which century Islamism was firmly
established. In this century, by the power of the sword, Africa and a part of Asia were
converted to Islamism. Syria, once the centre of Christian thought, and Egypt with all
Northern Africa, which had once powerfully influenced the Christian creed, became
Mohamedan, threw away the Bible and accepted the Koran, replaced the cross with the
crescent and declared that Mohammed was the prophet of God.
In the eighth century, most of the Western world is shrouded in densest darkness,
but in the Califate of Bagdad, ruled by Haroun al Raschid, and in France ruled by
Charlemagne we find centres of light. During this century the Moors made conquests in
Europe and founded the Moorish kingdom of Cordova in Spain, whence was to come much
that would aid future civilization. In Bagdad were established schools, where scholars
could study Astrology, As-

--- 167

tronomy, Algebra and Arithmetic, Medicine, Surgery, Chemistry and Philosophy. Hither
came Jews, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians and Hindus, some to teach and some to learn.
Researches into every department of Science, especially the Occult, were encouraged.
Once more the flame of learning burned brightly and had an influence potent in succeeding
centuries and all this because in the Koran it was written "The ink of the scholar is more
precious than the blood of the martyr," thus placing Islamism in direct opposition to
Christianity. Islam encouraged study, Christianity put a premium on blind faith.
Yet in France Charlemagne was forming another light centre, which by and by
should make itself known throughout Europe. He was giving to the nations of the West
some kind of order and was teaching obedience to law as well as the value of study. The
most remarkable of European sovereigns was the great Charles of France. Herculean in
body, he was equally strong in mind, and at the close of the eighth century he had made
ready to have the crown placed on his head, in the last week of the century, as Emperor
of the West. He could not do what Haroun al Raschid easily performed in Bagdad, for he
had the conservatism of the Church in opposition; but he worked well to make ready for
the coming of the light in the later centuries. Writes Guizot "In whatever point of view,
indeed, we regard the reign of Charlemagne, we always find its leading characteristic to be
a desire to overcome barbarism and to advance civilization. We see this conspicuously in
his foundation of schools, in his collecting of libraries, in his gathering about him the learned
of all countries, in the favor he showed towards the influence of the Church, - for everything
in a word, which seemed likely to operate beneficially on society in general or the individual
man. We also find evidence that the Great Charles was interested in Occult matters and
knew something of the Occult side of Nature and of Man. We may well regard him as one
of the great souls of that period and that he furthered the cause of humanity, remembering
that sometimes by peace and sometimes by war that cause is advanced; sometimes by
the pen of the scholar, sometimes by the brush of the artist, and sometimes by the sword
of the soldier.
 In the ninth century we can see no particular event in the last quarter which indicates
the marked progress of humanity. Yet in 872 Alfred earned his title of the Great, as king
of England. Then was established in England trials by jury, of which Coleridge writes, "I
gaze upon it as an immortal symbol of that age, - an age called indeed dark, - but how
could that age be considered dark, which solved the difficult problem of universal liberty,
freed man from the shackles of tyranny and subjected his action to the decision of twelve
of his fellow countrymen." In the last quarter of the century we see wandering life decline,
population becoming fixed, estates and landed possessions becoming fixed. We trace,
writes Guizot, the first dawnings of the restoration of Science. If Charlemagne in France
may be regarded as a worker for humanity in the eighth century; we may look upon Alfred
of England as also a worker in the ninth century, and perhaps he did as much for the
progress of human thought as did the great Charles.
The tenth century witnessed a remarkable sight. In Spain we have the light centre
of Europe. The Goths, or Christian people of the peninsula, were driven into a small
province on the north; all the rest of the country was in the possession of the Moors, then
the most civilized, free and intellectual people of the world. To Toledo, Cordova, Seville
and Grenada came scholars and artisans from all the world. Even the common people
knew how to read and write, while Christian nobles and kings could only make their

--- 168

mark. Cleanliness, which is next to godliness, prevailed throughout the Califate of

Cordova, while Christian Europe had no conception of the value of soap and water. The
refinements of modern society were in common use among the Moors. In their schools and
colleges, taught by Jews and Orientals of various religions, the beginnings of science were
studied and much attention was paid to the mystical and Occult. The architecture and
legends bear witness to the presence in this favored land of men far advanced in the arts
of civilization and the science of life. The pearls of wisdom were offered to all who would
accept, and many were instructed in the mysteries of the higher life. Again the wonderful
literature of Greece was opened for the reading of the people, with the usual effect of
stimulating thought. There seems to be more power wrapt in the essays, poems and plays
of Ancient Greece than in any other collection of recorded thought now existent in the
world. Again and again interest in Greek thought has aroused the thinking world to take
another step forward on the Perfect Way. The Saracens did a vast deal for the civil and
religious liberty of the world; never again did the people of Europe become enwrapped in
such dense darkness after once the light was kindled in Moorish Spain.
While the Moors in Spain were making ready for a new dispensation, the people of
Europe very generally expected the end of the world. They had no conception of the fact
that through the efforts of the Moors the old dispensation had ended, but they were
expecting a physical dissolution, when the earth should he purified and made ready for the
Saints. Interest in the Occult everywhere prevailed. Mystics abounded, many were led to
enter upon that path which leads to oneness with the divine, and the influence urging men
to a higher life was plainly felt. Everything was being prepared for the next century, which,
with 500 B.C., 1 A.D., 500 A.D. and 1500 A.D., are the noticeable centuries during the last
2500 years.
---------------
--- 169

EVOLUTION AND MIND

by T. M. S.

WITH the development of mind in man it is not necessary for a changing form of the
physical body. Admit, as do De Quatrefages and other anthropologists, that the form of
man has not changed since the post-tertiary period and all animal forms have changed;
then we should reason that the human form had reached its limit of differentiation.
We are evolving on the mind plane in nature, or humanity is now in the stage of the
evolution of mind. The difficulty modern science meets with, is in the doctrine of
biogenesis, life from life. Pasteur has shown that spontaneous generation is not a fact in
nature.
Evolution is regarded as the law of life - the regulative law of all life. If life is an
advantage and evolution is its process, why is it that so many infants do not have a chance
to come under its sway? If life is not an advantage why is it that so many are compelled
to live to old age?
Assuming, as all thinkers must, that the Universe is under law, then the many
problems raised by the foregoing questions are cleared up by the application of the law of
reincarnation.
The universe and the whole of creation is eternal. The matter in the universe is
neither more nor less than at the beginning - hence it has been used over and over again
for these bodies of ours, and as well for other purposes. If force can express itself through
matter in the form of humanity once, it can do it again. Matter displays itself on different
planes, as on solid, liquid and gaseous, give it the proper conditions and the manifestation
follows. The human plane is a plane for the manifestation of matter under a different rate
of vibration of force as compared with the planes just mentioned. When we fully appreciate
the universality of intelligence or consciousness, as well as the universality of matter and
force, we are enabled to understand both man and nature, in the sense that our scope has
been extended, and the view assumes grander proportions.
Just as the earth had a beginning in space as a vapor, separated from all other
bodies and yet held to all other bodies, so had man a beginning. The vapor from which has
differentiated our earth came from space - that is the potency for its formation was inherent
in space. This vapor was ages in condensing and out of that gradually condensing vapor,
by a process of differentiation, came all that belongs to the earth.
As man is evolved in and from nature, hence potentially man must have existed in
the vapory condition of the earth. Else, where came the first germ? It is just as reasonable
to consider man as involved and evolved in nature and as passing through the same stages
as did our earth in early time, as it is to wait until after the earth has been formed and then
attempt to account for the first germ of life. Hence a vaporous earth and a filmy man, etc.
Thus it is that science is hunting for missing links that will never be found, because plastic
life had no skeletons to leave in the mud of prehistoric times. And now that mind is the
study of the hour they sadly lack a proper basis, a philosophy that will aid in solving the
problems of psychic phenomena.
Assume that the earth and all its accompaniments existed in the plastic state and
what we see is the unfoldment of in-

--- 170

herent capabilities, and then extend the same reasoning to man and his attributes, and
work out the problem of evolution along that line for a while. It will not take long to show
that the missing links are gradually filled in, for all our missing links are in our knowledge
of nature and not in nature itself.

--------------

SONG OF THE MAID IN THE SERPENT-CAVE

by Zoryan

In peace,
Enchanted sleep,
O Serpents of the deep!
Till even dreams shall cease
Forevermore.
Afloat
On waves of song
Your soul shall glide along
Till gains the solar boat
The farther shore.

One sound,
Though many a tone;
Each one is not alone
And each in all is found
Boundless and free.
The chains
Are riven, no cloud
The chanting stars may shroud
That hear in choral strains
Eternity.

Upon
My harp they sing;
Each serpent now a string -
Sound, Spirit and the son,
A line midst twain;
Its end,
Where fastened, mute,
A soundless Absolute,
With whom it doth ascend
 With Him to reign.

What bliss
On that far side,
Where borne on Music's tide
Each takes the Mother's kiss
With love replete;
The bold,
Those brothers who disperse
The vibrant Universe,
She gathers to her fold
The One to meet.

Below,
Your shadows gross,
Though stretched upon the cross.
With joy are all aglow,
Radiant and free;
And round
The Harp and Cross combined
Sweeps the Eternal Wind
The Great Breath's silent sound
Of Harmony.

------------

STUDENTS' COLUMN
Conducted by J.H. Fussell

"How do Theosophists regard the writings of Emerson? Is he looked upon as a

Great Teacher?"
IN most cases one would hesitate to venture an expression of belief for
Theosophists as a body, but in regard to Emerson, I think there must be great unanimity
of opinion among them. This, notwithstanding the fact that the world at large cannot agree
upon his rank or place. Orthodox believers in Creed and Dogma feared his free thought
that repudiated all religious forms. The ignorant and materialistic, as always, hastened to
criticize what they could not understand, and he is named Pantheist, Idealist,
Transcendentalist, Sciolist and even Charlatan. The Theosophist seeks Truth in all her
varied forms and pays small heed to the label which the world attaches to a man or to his
ideas. So reading Emerson with inquiring, sympathetic mind, he finds him teaching One,
Infinite Eternal Cause, the Unity of Soul, the reign of Justice and Immutable Law, - Karma,
Reincarnation, Universal Brotherhood and Man 's Divine Perfectibility. In short, he finds
him teaching pure Theosophy. It is an open question whether he gathered this Philosophy
from Eastern Sources, from Plato or from that "Centre in himself, where Truth abides in
fullness." He was a student of ancient Religions and Philosophies, but he continually
affirms his reliance and dependence on the "Inner Light." There cannot well be doubt that
he was one of the world's Great Teachers. His power of stimulating thought in others is
most marked and his optimism is a continual inspiration to the "weary and the heavy-
laden." My own opinion is that Emerson was born far to the east of other men, so that he
grew and blossomed in the full Light of that Sun, of which we just begin to sense the rising.
That he came here from pure compassion for the world, so we might see to what grand
height and gracious majesty man may attain. - V. F.
-------

"Is it possible to abuse the law of Karma?"

Karma being "the Ultimate Law of the Universe, the source, origin and fount of all
other laws which exist throughout Nature" (Key, 201, o.e.), the question must be answered
in the negative.
The terms "use'' and "abuse" apply to the actions of beings whose nature, whether
it he good or evil, depends upon Karma. Karma gives back to every man the
consequences of those actions, without any regard to the moral character of those actions.
It is man who plants and creates causes, and Karmic law adjusts the effects, which
adjustment is not an act, but universal harmony ever tending to resume its original position.
Karma is both "cause" and "effect." In our present condition, individually and collectively,
we represent the "effects" of "causes" produced by ourselves. In so far as these effects
are evil, they arise from the ignoring of the essential divinity of all beings, the
interdependence of humanity, the law of Universal Brotherhood.
Every human condition, whether it be high or low, powerful or weak, has its
responsibilities to humanity and all creatures. The higher and more powerful the condition
the greater the responsibility. It is within our province to abuse our interdependent divine
nature, our responsibilities, our opportunities, or to use them for the highest and greatest
good. In either case, the stern and implacable law of Karma takes its course, faithfully
following the fluctuations. - R. C.

--------------
--- 172

NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW

A DIALOGUE
by Elizabeth Whitney

Scenic effects: Interior of room; piano; table; box of candy; lamp; small basket;
pinwheel papers of rainbow colors.
Characters: Mother; Bessie and Julia, sisters; Clara, a friend.

PART I.
Time. - Afternoon.
Bessie and Julia come in from school with hats and books; throw off hats and
unstrap books as they talk.
Bessie. - "Wonder where Mama is!"
Julia. - "Guess she has gone out."
 Bessie. - "Aren't you hungry? I am."
Julia. - "What's that on the table?" (walks to table, reads name on box.) "Candy!"
(lifts cover up high and looks in.)
Bessie. - (runs to her side) "Oh my, don't it look good!"
Julia. - "Let's have a piece."
Bessie. - "Oh no, we mustn’t touch it."
Julia. - "It must be meant for us anyway. It is just like that mama bought last week."
Bessie. - "But it hasn't been given to us. Mama don't like us to touch things unless
we know."
Julia. - "Pshaw! candy is different, it's for everybody."
Bessie. - (looking in box.) "My, isn't that pink one delicious! um! it looks fine, don't
it? and that chocolate one. I just know it has a marshmallow inside, how I love 'em! Oh
dear, do you suppose it really is for us?"
Julia. - "That orange one is mine anyway - here goes." (She pops it into her mouth.)
"Elegant! um-um - better have one. What's the difference, no one will ever know."
Bessie. - (turns, looks longingly and picks up quickly a big chocolate, and takes a
bite.) "I knew it! it is a marshmallow."
Julia. - "It's a nice big box, isn't it. Let's have another."
Bessie. - "Oh no, Julia, some way it don't seem right, even if it is meant for us.
While you are doing your practicing I'm going to see Clara. Goodbye." (Bessie goes out
the door. Julia walks round the room, stops at box of candy and says:)
"Pouf! what's the difference, no one will ever know." (Takes a piece of candy and
goes to piano, to practice.)
Enter Mother.
(From adjoining room, where she has heard the conversation - she stops by the
piano and says:)
"My dear, as soon as you finish, there is something very pleasant for you and Bessie
to do." (She passes out same door as Bessie.)
Julia. - (jumping up from piano.) "Gracious! Mama was in the other room all the
time. Wonder if she heard us? Oh well, it wasn't anything wrong anyway, only a piece of
candy!'' (She walks around the room as she talks, then sits at the piano and plays a few
chords. Then jumps up, and walks toward window.) "I wish we had let that old candy
alone!" (Looks out the window.) "Oh there come Clara and Bess! I must finish that old
practicing." (Goes to piano.)
Enter Bessie and Clara.
Bessie. - "Oh Julia, do hurry up with your music. We met Mama just now and she
says we are to drive with her to the hospital to see the children when you are through."

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Enter Mother.
(With basket full of colored papers.)
Bessie. - "You look like a rainbow, Mama.''
Mother. - "I thought we might as well be working while Julia is finishing."
Clara. - "It looks as though it was going to be fun instead of work."
(Julia plays softly as the others sit down by table together.)
 Mother. - "This candy was sent to me for the little children at the hospital. Don't you
think it will be more fun for them, if we wrap each piece in a different color?" (Takes a piece
of paper and fastens up a candy, giving the paper a twist.) "See - this way it looks more
interesting, don 't it?"
Clara. - "Oh what fun! It will be like a grab-bag. We can put the candies in the
basket and the children can choose their color."
Bessie. - "And it will he such a surprise when they open it."
"Isn't that red one a lovely shade?" (Holds up a piece and sings - I am the spirit of
Love, etc. The others join and Julia plays the song on the piano. - Rainbow Series Lotus
Song Book.)
Clara. - "That red ought to go to some one who is very sad. When the children
choose their colors wouldn't it be nice to tell them about the meaning and sing the songs
about them?"
Bessie. - "They always like music, I think it would be lovely."
"Don't you love the one about Nature - the green color?" (She starts the song and
the others join.)
Julia. - "My time is up." (rises from piano and joins the others.)
"My, isn't it pretty!"
Clara. - "Oh, Julia, please go and play the song for the yellow color. I love that one.
It makes things shine so when we are singing it," (Julia plays and all sing.)
Julia. - "Now, girls, let's sing the one about Thought. I like the indigo and yellow to
go together." (All sing.)
Mother. - "It is a beautiful one. We seem to keep thought in our hearts, yet we can
send it out to all the world. Did you ever feel as though your heart really was the whole
world? Just as a star shines out with light for the world and yet remains a star, so it seems
as though one's heart could beat for the whole world and feel everything and yet remain
your heart all the time."
Bessie. - "Well, when I think about the stars I feel something like that. It seems as
though I went up inside myself somewhere, and kind of spread out into everything - it is all
so light and lovely and feels so nice." (Jumps up with a piece of light blue paper, held
above her head, and looking up sings "Look to my shining blue star," etc.)
Clara (tips the box and looks in). - "These are getting low - I'm so tired sitting still for
(jumps up, singing) 'I am the spirit of Life'" (dances around the room and catches hold of
Bessie. The two sing together the second verse of the Orange color.)
Julia. - "Girls, you haven't sung the Violet yet, and it's the best of all - the faithful
messenger." (All sing.)
Chorus, "Brothers We" (all sing, while Julia counts the candies and puts them into
the basket; Mother pins papers left over together into a circle; Clara and Bessie illustrate
the song by standing with arms around each other during first verse, and dance gracefully
forward and back during the second verse.)
Mother (at close of song). - "Girls, there seems to be something alike in all those
rainbow colors that I never thought of before. (Holds up the wreath.) "Here is Red - Love.
It goes everywhere and is in everything. Orange - the spirit of Life. That also goes
everywhere and is in everything. Yellow - the spirit of Wisdom, the shining light, seems to
be The-Feeling-That-Knows, which is in everything. Green - the spirit of Nature, surely that
is
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everywhere. Blue - the shining cover, is over everything; like the sky, that has no
beginning or end. Indigo - the spirit of Thought, seems to be everywhere at once. We can
think of India and California (the extremes of the world) in the same thought. Violet - the
faithful messenger - "
Bessie. - "Why, of course! The faithful messenger surely can go everywhere. Isn't
it funny, each color seems to be everywhere at once, and yet each stays its own color just
the same!"
Mother (holds up wreath and quotes). - "'And we make for truth sake, the White light
of Unity.' I shouldn't wonder if the whole world was like the rainbow, made up of many
things that seem to have no connection if you think of them alone, but put all together, each
one in its right place, they all blend or melt into each other and make one thing - the White
light of Unity, or Brotherhood."
Clara. - "Do you suppose each of us is a real rainbow color. I feel as though I was
when I sing the yellow color."
Mother. - "Perhaps we are. If so, then each of us is not only a special color, but
each of us must be the whole rainbow as well.''
Bessie. - "Oh, what fun! I guess that must be why we all seem to be just the same,
and yet we all seem to be very different some way."
Mother. - "We think we are different. But really and truly we have the same kind of
bodies, and do the same things with them, like putting them asleep and waking them up,
and keeping them clean, and dressing and feeding them, and making them comfortable as
possible. And we all have the same desires, we want to have everything there is in the
world, we want to be happy and we like well enough to give pleasure when it don't interfere
with our own comfort, and sometimes we give up our pleasure for others, when we don't
have to but just because we want to. Then we can all think, and we can learn to read and
write. And we all have Life, and we can all love; really each one of us can do everything
that any one else can do. The difference seems to be that we don't all do the very same
thing at the very same time.
"If each of us is like the rainbow, of course we must be made of all the colors, though
we seem to be only one. If each of us would find our right place in the big rainbow of life,
then we would blend and find out that really we are one thing."
Julia. - "It seems queer to think of the world being like a big rainbow. A rainbow is
all so smooth and beautiful, and I never get tired of seeing it, but people and things that
happen, don 't seem like that. I don't see why it is that way."
Mother. (holds up circle.) - "Like this circle, the world is a perfect thing in itself, each
part fitted to every other part, with no beginning or end, all being really one thing. It is a
perfect plan of harmony. The force which holds each part in its place in this perfect plan,
we call Law. If each part follows the Law, if it lets the force work through it, in order to carry
out the perfect plan, then we have Harmony. That means each part is doing its share in
the great plan. It is helping the Law to make a perfect form in which Life and Love and
Light can be expressed. These three things, Life and Love and Light, make the one thing
we call Law which is the force or power which holds things together and builds up the whole
world to fit the perfect plan.
"Each of us is a part of this plan and we have to learn that we must follow the Law
of Harmony, in order to make the world beautiful, which is the perfect plan. Then each of
us will know that we are not only a part, but we are the whole thing."
Clara. - "But why don't we know it now?"

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Mother. - "Because the perfect plan is not finished yet. What is that verse about the
embroidery that you girls recite?"
Clara. - "Take your needle my child, and work at your pattern - it will come out a rose
bye and bye. Life is like that, one stitch at a time, taken patiently and the pattern will come
out all right like the embroidery."
Bessie. - "Oh I see how it is! The world is a kind of pattern and each of us are
stitches in embroidery that are put in to make the real thing come out. We don't care for
the pattern by itself, we only use it to go by, so as to make a perfect flower, when we put
in the different colors. It is such fun to see the colors all coming out into a real thing in the
pattern."
Mother. - "That is why we like to watch things growing. They are all following a plan
- a pattern - and if nothing interferes, they come out perfect. Each of us is following in the
great plan of the world in the same way. The Law of Harmony directs what each of us is
to do, but sometimes we don't follow the pattern. We put in wrong stitches and wrong
colors. Then we are going against the Law. We are not following the great Plan of
Harmony, but we are trying to pull the plan into pieces, and we make discord. We try to
break the Law of Harmony. But the Law can't be broken, for it is the one thing that is under
everything, to hold things together. We pull and push and try every way we can to break
it, but all we do is to get out of step with the others; then we are not in our right place, and
the good Law works and works until things are made straight again. After a time we learn
to work with the Law and when each part learns to do this, our perfect Plan will be finished."
Bessie. - "How nice it is to be alive when you think of all the things in the world we
can all do, and that the world is a beautiful great circle of rainbow colors."
(Takes the wreath of colors and dances around in circles singing.)
[Circle Song] - "Never begun and without end," etc.
Julia. - (Walks to window.) - "The carriage is here, let's get our hats." (All rise.)
(Julia carries basket of colors gracefully on her shoulder; Bessie puts wreath on her
head, and all sing as they go out.)
"Colors bright all unite in a heavenly harmony."

PART II.
Time. - Evening.
Enter Mother, Bessie, Julia. (Take off hats.)
Mother. - "Well girls, it was certainly a great pity, but we can't help it this time. If we
had known there was to be a new child, we would have given to her first, for the others
have had so much since they have been at the Hospital. Next time we will be sure to have
extra pieces."
Bessie. - "Oh Mama, I'll never forget how that little girl looked! Her face was so sad
and she didn't make a fuss at all. It seemed as though she was so used to being left out
of things, that it didn't make any difference to her. Oh, it made me feel - just - awfully!"
(Puts handkerchief to her face as she throws herself into a large chair, crying.)
Mother. - "Well dear, it certainly was not your fault, and we will try to make up for it
next time.''
Bessie. (jumping up.) - "But it was my fault, Mama. If I only hadn't eaten that big
chocolate! (gesture of despair.) I felt it was wrong for we only supposed the candy was
meant for us. Oh dear!" (Walks around the room unhappily, then turns to Julia.)
"Julia, you said that no one would ever know the difference, but that poor little sad
face girl does know, I know she does, and Oh dear, I'll never, never, never feel happy
again." (Throws herself in chair as before.)

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Julia. - (Who has stood thoughtfully leaning against the back of a chair, head resting
on her hand, now steps forward, saying forcibly.)
"I don't see how it is, Mama, that such a little thing as a piece of candy should make
such a big difference. It wasn't Bess' fault anyway, for she never would have touched the
candy except for me. She felt it wasn't right but I didn't see why - only a piece of candy! no
one would ever know the difference."
Mother. - "Well dear, now that you think about it don't you see that some one did
know all the time? The feeling Bessie had, whispered it was wrong, because it was
breaking the Plan of Harmony. But that grinning little imp - (Greed, jumped into the way
and blocked up the door that leads to the inside place, in the very centre of which the
Feeling-That-Knows can be found. So it was only a faint whisper Bessie heard.
"The good Law of Harmony uses every single piece of candy in the plan; nothing,
no matter how small and useless it seems, is ever left out. The Plan was for you to help
make the children at the Hospital happy and glad, with the candy. Instead, you broke the
Plan by taking what was not intended for you, it was not your share. The Plan was for you
to give pleasure, and you did the opposite and took away pleasure, for instead of taking to
the little sad faced girl, the greatest gift in the world - Hope - you made her feel that the
world was unfair and cruel and she had no share in it. The other children who noticed she
was left out, felt they were lucky to have been first, and the next time they will be sure to
crowd and push to get their share and not be the one left out. So instead of leaving the
merry little companion Joy behind you, the grinning little imp - Greed is there and now the
Good Law Harmony will have to work and work to keep the beautiful Plan from being
spoiled by discord."
Julia. - "Oh Mama, isn't there something I can do to help the Good Law Harmony?"
(she walks around the room excitedly.) "I can just tell you this thing for sure. That little imp
- Greed, shall not make me break the Plan any more. Mama, I know what you mean now
by the Feeling-That-Knows, for I felt it when you came into the room and I hoped you had
not heard Bess and I; but that horrid imp - Greed, kept saying it was right to take the
candy. Guess I'll listen to the Feeling-That-Knows, next time." (turns to Bessie.) "I tell you
what it is Bess, I'm going to save my money and buy a whole box of candy just for the little
sad faced girl." (Sits down at the piano.)
Bessie. - "Oh Julia, how lovely! and let's take just gold paper to wrap it up in, and I'll
get some flowers and then we'll tell her how it was she was left out. All because of that imp
- Greed, who made us break the Plan; and if we tell her all about the beautiful Plan the
Good Law Harmony is making, and that it was all a mistake about our leaving the imp -
Greed behind us, perhaps she will help us chase him away from the Hospital, and then the
Plan will be all right again." (Walks over to piano.)
Mother. - "Well, dear, if you can only get all the children to work together, the little
imp - Greed, will disappear so suddenly, no one will ever know where he went. And that
will be the very best way to help the Good Law Harmony carry out the beautiful Plan." (All
sing "Circle Song.")

---------------
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REVIEWS

The Two Paths,* by Marie Watson, F. T. S. - This little novel is on occult lines, and
mesmerism, trance, clairvoyance, astral bodies, etc., all have place in its pages. It is
readably written, and has the merit - rare in works of this class - of being accurate in its
statements. It is difficult to combine occultism with love and the other elements which go
to make up the modern novel, but Mrs. Watson has handled the subject skillfully, avoiding
incongruities and things improbable. In this respect it is to be hoped that she has set a
pattern for those who write romances on these subjects.
The Pacific Theosophist for May. - "Babylonis Imperatrix," by Dr. J. A. Anderson, is
a scathing denunciation of orthodoxy. It is full of fervid enthusiasm, and has many fine
lines, though some of the lines have too many feet for orthodox scansion, and are
somewhat heterodox in the matter of caesuras. But the wild energy of the poem carries
it triumphantly through these irregularities of versification. The editorial, "Selfish or
Selfless," sums up the present state of affairs in energetic prose. The contributed articles
are of a helpful kind, except "Was it Memory or Prophecy," which is the narration of a
"vision" - or rather a nightmare - of the inquisition. Only literary skill of the highest order can
present a vision in suitable language; and, on the whole, visions are not wholesome
anyway. In Theosophical literature they have never been a success.
The International Theosophist for May is the Internationalist under a new name, and
with Mr. F. J. Dick on the editorial staff in place of Mr. G. W. Russell. But despite its
change of name the magazine

-----------
* Alfred C. Clark, publisher, Chicago.
-----------

unswervingly maintains its literary individuality and high standard of excellence.

Progress for April deals with the various phases of Christianity. It is as nearly
orthodox as a decent regard for modern scholarship will allow, and shows how diplomatic
Theology can be when driven to the wall. While admitting that the Gospels are
"compilations," and that the Gospel of Matthew is by "an unnamed author," diplomatic
language in saying that "the fourth Gospel comes from the Apostle John," explaining that
it comes from him either directly (about 80-96 A.D.), or indirectly, through some disciple of
his who, after his master's death, collected certain characteristic material from the apostle's
teaching and put it forth under John's name (about 100-130 A.D.)." Apparently the modern
Christian expositors seem to think that authors of their sacred books, had no higher notions
of literary honesty than they themselves have. Having presented Christianity in a most
wooden way, literal and materialistic to the last degree, an essay is given on "Christianity,
the Universal Religion," followed by others on "Christianity Compared with other Religions,"
in which the "other religions " are misrepresented and decried outrageously. Thus,
Brahmanism is said to have "no basis for a fundamental distinction between morality and
immorality." "Brahmanism denies the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man."
The fundamental weakness of Buddhism is that it denies all reality. According to it there
is no God and the supreme aim of man is to cease to be . . . What we call the soul does not
survive death." "Confucius went about doing good, but he did little to

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stimulate the God-consciousness. Laotze had a profound God-consciousness, but

condemned the active philanthropy of Confucius." This is what the University Association
calls "the study of universal Religion!"
- J. M. P.
The National Intelligencer (Weekly),edited by George P. Keeney has recently printed
several articles on Brotherhood. Among these was "Brotherhood," by James M. Pryse,
reprinted from the UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. Notices have also very kindly been
given of this magazine and the literature connected with our work.

-------------

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES

WHITE Lotus Day, May 8th, the anniversary of the death of H. P. B. was kept by the
Lodges throughout the country. In New York the Universal Brotherhood meeting held in
the morning was given over to addresses on H. P. B.'s life and work, the speakers were H.
T. Patterson, Elizabeth C. Mayer, J. H. Fussell and James M. Pryse and selections were
read from the Light of Asia and the Voice of the Silence.
The Aryan Hall is now beautiful decorated with the Crusade flags and banners which
our Leader has kindly lent. On Sunday evening a special meeting was held at the H. P. B.
Lodge to commemorate the day. The Lodge was tastefully decorated with flowers, the
speakers were Dr. E. B. Guild, H. Crooke and D. N. Dunlop.
Brother Todd writes from New Britain, Connecticut, of a nucleus for work being
formed in Willimantic and says "I shall make an effort to get centres started in all the
important places in this part of the State."
In connection with the International Brotherhood League, a Flower Mission has been
started at 607 East 14th Street, New York. The purpose of the work is to distribute flowers
to the sick among the poor and needy, and in this way much real help can be given in other
directions. There is no better way of appealing to the hearts of the sick than by a flower
given with sympathy and love, and in the true spirit of Brotherhood, and in this way it is
possible to reach many who would otherwise be overlooked. - J. H. F.
-------

TO THE BRANCHES OF THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN AMERICA AND LODGES OF

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.

CRUSADE MEETINGS.
The anniversary of the memorable day, June 13th, 1896, when the Crusade of
American Theosophists left the shores of this country on their arduous journey around the
world should be fitly celebrated as an event of great importance in the history of the
movement. In 1897 the H. P. B. Lodge of New York celebrated the occasion with great
success and it had the effect of reviving to memory the achievements of this venture and
its bearing on a possible international unity among all the nations of the world.
All great things have small beginnings and the seeds which were scattered along
that mystic cable tow of Brotherhood will spring up in due time; the beneficent forces who
are engaged in helping Humanity in its onward course have been afforded a point of
contact for exercising their influence which shall not only awaken the ideals of Universal
Brotherhood but which will also provide a vehicle for intercommunication between all souls
who have awakened to the point

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where they can be useful to the progress of Humanity.

And this is the real significance of the Crusade.
The observance of this anniversary should give opportunity of realizing the
magnitude of the undertaking which was brought to an unequivocally successful termination
by the wise conduct of our Leader, Mrs. Katherine A. Tingley. Her vigilance to accomplish
this result never for one moment relaxed. Nor should it be forgotten that it required most
extraordinary foresight, tact and power on the part of the leader to hold and to keep
together the body of workers as a unit considering the diversified elements which were
represented in their characters and dispositions.
It will be observed that had not the Crusade been accomplished just at the time of
its completion, the present troublesome times and the war would have made it impossible.
A special meeting should be called on that date in each year at which appropriate
addresses should be made bringing out these facts and their application; music, flowers
and decorations with flags of the nations visited by the Crusade should be provided
wherever possible.
In the central position of the decorations should be a Crusade Banner similar to that
taken around the world by the Crusaders and inscribed with the words "Truth, Light,
Liberation for Discouraged Humanity" and with the T. S. seal arranged as below. The
Banner should be of purple silk with gold letters and seal, plain edges, no fringe. The
dimensions are, height 60 inches, width 44 inches.
The flag decorations will serve a very important purpose in the course of time, and
while it is not expected that each branch will at once be able to procure these flags
immediately, a beginning

[[banner]]
might be made at once with the flag of our own country and as many more as is
convenient. But the collection of the flags of these nations should go on one by one until
it is completed, no matter whether this will take short or long time. The primary object is
that these flags will form permanent decorations of a very unique character of the meeting
rooms of our organization which will serve as a constant reminder of the international
character of our work. It should be understood from the beginning that these flags shall be
the property of the Universal Brotherhood organization, so that they cannot be claimed at
any time by any dissenting faction in the branches, they should therefore be voted as
belonging to that organization, with a clause that they be forwarded to Headquarters when
so demanded where they will be preserved for those who carry forward the link unbroken,
thus affording a protection for all time of a symbol of identification for those who are in the
right spirit which is connected with the real heart of the movement.
With fraternal greeting I remain,

E. Aug. Neresheimer, President T. S. in A.

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HINTS FOR WORK IN UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD LODGES

THE T. S. A.
THE following is stated for the information of members.
By act of the Convention of the T. S.A. held in Chicago, February 18th, 1898, the T.
S. A. adopted the Constitution of the Universal Brotherhood Organization and became an
integral part thereof. The Universal Brotherhood is a Universal Organization whose objects
are to carry out in a broader way than before possible the aims and objects heretofore
followed by the T. S. A. as it existed prior to the Convention. The T. S. A. as a department
of the Universal Brotherhood now has the following specific objects:
"The principal purpose of this Society shall be to publish and disseminate literature
relating to Theosophy, Brotherhood, ancient and modern religions, philosophies, sciences
and arts.
"The subsidiary purpose of this Society shall be to establish and build up a great
library, in which shall be gathered ancient and modern literature of value to the great cause
of Universal Brotherhood."
It should be clearly understood that members of the T.S.A. by becoming members
of the Universal Brotherhood do not cease to be members of the T.S.A., but still remain and
are kept on the books as such. Also all new members joining the Universal Brotherhood
thereby also become members of the T. S. A.
The T. S. A, has simply taken up a more specific work as stated in its objects, and
although all the members cannot write, yet each one can help in the distribution of
literature, suggestions for which will very soon be sent to all members.
It should be borne in mind that by the action of the delegates at the Convention of
the T. S. A., Branches then and there accepted the Universal Brotherhood Organization,
and hence, there was no necessity for any ratification of delegates' actions by the different
Branches. Also - no others have the right to the name T. S. A. except the members of the
Universal Brotherhood.
---------

LODGE NOTICES
It is suggested that on syllabuses of meetings, letter paper where used, etc., should
be given the following information (this should be followed literally).

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD,
Lodge No. , (Address.)

Two of the departments of the Universal Brotherhood are: "THE THEOSOPHICAL

SOCIETY IN AMERICA, AND THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD LEAGUE."
"Extracts from the Preamble and Constitution of Universal Brotherhood." - Then
follow: Art. I, Sec. I; Art. II, Secs. 1, 2, 3; Art. X, Secs. I, 2; Art. XIV, Sec. 2; followed by
the objects of the I. B. L.
Where the Lodge uses printed letter paper the above should be printed in a column
on the left hand side.
Advertisements and notices, and signs outside Lodge rooms should be:

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.
Lodge No. ---
(Theosophical Society in America.)
(The International Brotherhood League.)

Then follow any notices of meetings as desired. Any inquiries as to the T. S. A. and
the I. B. L. can then be answered fully and their objects and relation to the Universal
Brotherhood distinctly shown. Where the Lodge has a Library, which visitors are permitted
to use, reference should also be made to it,

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and wherever possible a reading room should be provided which can be open to the public
if only for a few hours each week.

ADVERTISE.
Advertise, if possible. This is one of the greatest possible advantages to a Lodge,
it keeps the name before the public, and if a standing advertisement is kept in a paper it
helps towards a friendly relationship with the press. At first there may not seem to be any
return from advertising, but the very fact of the announcement each week will have its
effect and may be the means of calling the attention of many to the existence of the
Organization.

SYNOPSIS OF MEETINGS.
It is also an excellent plan to send a short, concise synopsis of meetings to the
newspapers. It is best as a rule to send this by mail, saying it possibly may be of interest.
Keep sending these regularly even if not inserted.

INVITATIONS TO MEETINGS.
Copies of the Syllabus and invitations to meetings should also be distributed and in
small towns where the Lodge is only small and even if meetings are held in a private house,
invitations should be given to attend; many people can be reached by personal invitation
who would not attend otherwise, being ignorant of the purposes of the Organization.

DISTRIBUTING LITERATURE.
I heartily endorse the plan adopted by the Buffalo Lodge for distributing and loaning
literature, magazines, etc. This plan was originated by Mrs. E. E. Gates, of Cleveland,
Ohio, and was fully described in the May issue of this Magazine.

CONDUCT OF MEETINGS.
The use of Questions and Answers has been largely adopted by many Lodges and
has been found of great value and interest. The meetings are opened by reading the
objects of the Universal Brotherhood and of the T. S. A. and particularly Article X, Sec. 2
of the U. B. Constitution - special stress being laid upon this. These should be read at
every meeting. Then one or two short addresses or papers should be given or an
appropriate article read from the U. B. Magazine or the New Century, and the rest of the
time filled up by Questions and Answers. Always have some questions prepared and some
one ready to answer them. Questions should be put in writing and handed to the
Chairman, who will ask different members to answer. By having extra questions always
on hand the necessity of using any personal questions or any liable to arouse antagonism
may be avoided. The Chairman should always use his discretion. Also it has been found
to be an excellent rule to permit visitors to ask questions in writing but not take part in
discussions. Private conversations may always be held with them afterwards and fuller
explanations given if needed.

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION.

The subjects, as heretofore, for discussion and questions should all relate to
Theosophy, but members should try to always bring in something of the Heart Doctrine.
The public meetings should always be conducted for the benefit of visitors, even if only one
be present. Addresses should not be simply for students, but for enquirers. All can help
at the meetings. Some may feel diffident about talking or reading a paper, but can at least
write down a question, or perhaps find some short quotation apropos of the subject and
read it in the meeting, but the very presence of members with sympathetic attention and
the desire to help the cause is a great factor in the work.
Lodges should use discretion as to holding closed meetings for members only, but
some public meetings should be held by all Lodges, and at regular intervals. When,
however, any matters

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relating to the organization have to be brought before the Lodge - or any explanations to
be made - this should be done in a closed meeting for members only.
 Any one trying to disrupt the organization or disturb the meetings should be
discouraged - we are not asked to tolerate that which would disrupt or disturb the work.
The Chairman should always use tact and discrimination. It is not a bad plan to
occasionally talk of things which we do not believe in or uphold, and what Theosophy is not,
in order to remove misconceptions.
But it would be entirely out of place and contrary to the principles of our work to
unkindly criticize other organizations, churches, societies, etc. If we give our ideas and
present the truth, this will of itself help to remove error.

MUSIC AND FLOWERS.

Music is a great factor at all times and especially helpful now. It is a great
harmonizer and Lodges are requested to make great efforts to have it at all meetings.
Always try to have it good, however little you may have. Poor music and bad vibrations are
detrimental, and tend to produce discord in the meeting. Friends will often assist in
providing music, even if the members themselves cannot provide it.
Another important factor that has a great influence, far more than is generally
supposed, is the use of flowers. Always try to have flowers at the meetings or growing
plants. Bring the suggestion of nature into all your work and meetings, afterwards the
flowers can be taken to poor sick people and help to bring a ray of light into their lives. A
flower given to a poor sick little child is of far more real value than a costly work of art. The
flower dies soon, but the influence of its beauty may have touched the heart and be a
lasting benediction throughout life, and especially when the flower is given in the spirit of
love and true Brotherhood, breaking down for a moment the separation that divides us one
from another, by giving from the heart to the heart.
A flower mission has been started in New York for the benefit of the sick poor.
Flowers and plants are received every Friday and distributed every Saturday. This is one
of the best ways of reaching the hearts of those who are sick and in distress, and opens
the way to rendering practical help in other directions. There is great need of working along
practical Brotherhood lines and of showing by our active sympathy that we indeed realize
the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity and all creatures.

ANNIVERSARY CRUSADE MEETING.

I heartily approve of the suggestion made by Mr. A. Neresheimer in the present
issue of UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD of commemorating the anniversary of the starting
of the Crusade on June 13th. This will be a constant reminder of the work that was
accomplished through the loyalty and devotion of members all over the world and in which
the members of the T. S. A. had so large a part.

STUDY CLASSES.
Most of the Lodges have had study classes for the study of Theosophical literature.
I suggest that works on History, and general literature be also taken up and studied from
a Theosophical standpoint and with relation to Brotherhood. Many people, and especially
young people, can be interested in this way. An effort should be made to interest young
people as above, and by forming boys' clubs and girls' clubs. More attention should be
paid to social intercourse and to bringing out the kindly instincts of our natures. Many
young people can be reached in this way, and much good done. It is not necessary that
any effort should be made to get them to join the organization, they are

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our young brothers and sisters now, and let us help them to understand and realize it.

A SUGGESTION TO SPEAKERS.
It is well-known that a well-written paper or well-prepared address is often spoilt and
loses half its value because of bad delivery. More attention should be given to this, it is one
of the ways in which members who take part in meetings may become more ready to help
in the work of bringing the truth to humanity, and should not be neglected.

BYE-LAWS.
Present Bye-Laws of Lodges - formerly used as Bye-laws of Theosophical Branches,
should be retained as they are save to declare the adoption of the Universal Brotherhood
Constitution and that they are part of the Universal Brotherhood Organization. This is only
a temporary arrangement until the next annual Congress of the Universal Brotherhood,
when the matter will be fully presented.

ADJOURNMENT FOR SUMMER.

Some of the Lodges adjourn for the summer, others keep up their meetings
throughout the year. This is left entirely in the discretion of the individual Lodges.

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD LEAGUE.

The temporary committees of the I. B. L. previously appointed will continue to act
provided the members of the committees have received their diplomas in the Universal
Brotherhood; but any one who has not received such diploma ceases to be on such
committee.
We must work in harmony in order to do any good. At the same time strangers or
others not members of the Universal Brotherhood but wishing to help the practical work of
the I. B. L. can do so without joining the Universal Brotherhood and may apply for
membership in the I. B. L., but it must be understood that such persons are not antagonistic
to the Universal Brotherhood.

NEW MEMBERS.
New members are not accepted by Lodges but by the Leader and Official Head and
do not become members until their diplomas are received. Applications of membership in
a Lodge of the U. B. should pass through the President's hands before being sent to the
Central Office. It must be plainly seen that this is a protective measure, many persons
having at various times sought to come into our organization representing other bodies and
seeking to gain a foothold and to represent their own views instead of desiring to help on
the work.

DONATIONS TO THE WORK

Members have often sent money to one or another of the workers at Headquarters
requesting that it he placed where most needed. Hereafter all members are requested to
state in which department of the work they wish their donation to be placed. In times of
stress should any one department be in more need than others information of this will be
given.
Members should consider some means by which funds can be raised to help on the
work which is increasing all the time. If it had not been for the help given to the finances
by the Bazaars held last December in aid of the work, the T. S. A. would have been
seriously in debt and the work greatly hampered. The Universal Brotherhood will need
funds to continue its work as no dues have been asked for from the old T. S. A . members
and the funds on hand at the time of Convention are still the property of the T. S. A. It is
therefore suggested that preparations be made to hold some kind of entertainment in
December for this purpose - half the proceeds to go to the local work of the Lodge and half
to be sent to the Central Office for the general purposes of the organization. If this is
properly attended to it should

--- 184

cause no strain on members and by providing some entertainment for the public, and thus
awakening the interest of others, their attendance and help can be obtained.

IMPORTANT.
For whatever department of work money is sent be very careful to properly address
it, and please pay attention to the directions given in last issue.
As one of the workers at Headquarters, Mr. A. L. Conger, Jr., has joined the army,
no papers or money for the work should be sent to him, as this would lead to much delay.
It is with regret that we lose him for a time, but he is fulfilling what he considers to be his
duty and we hope will be back again with us in the future.
A Mr. Fuller and a Mr. Webster, stating that they are from the College of the
Mysteries have been at San Diego lecturing on ''The Mysteries." It is hardly necessary to
remind members that they are in no way connected with the S. R. L. M. A., and we are sure
members will not be misled into thinking that they are. From what I hear the lectures are
not worthy of the attention of our members.
All the officers of the Universal Brotherhood have entered heartily into my plan to
hold the next annual Congress of the U. B. at Point Loma on the grounds of the S. R. L. M.
A., and by giving this information thus early it is hoped that many may be able to make
arrangements to go. Special rates will be arranged for and the proceedings will last one
week.
At the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition to be held in Omaha, Nebr.,
from June 1st to November 1st, Brother Lucien B. Copeland and the other members of the
Omaha Lodge hope to make arrangements for a Theosophists' Day, similar to that held at
Nashville, when a presentation of Theosophy will be made.

- Katherine A. Tingley

---------------------------------------
 AUM

"Theosophy is the shoreless ocean of universal truth, love, and wisdom reflecting
its radiance on the earth, while the Theosophical Society is only a visible bubble on that
reflection. Theosophy is divine nature, visible and invisible, and its Society human nature
trying to ascend to its divine parent." - H. P. B.

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol. XIII July, 1898 No.
4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LUCKY AND UNLUCKY DAYS

by Alexander Wilder, M. D.

THERE is said to be a vein of superstition in everybody's constitution. I do not set

myself against this declaration, or presume to pass judgment upon it. I have known
avowed disbelievers and agnostics who consulted professional clairvoyants, astrologists
and fortunetellers, and shaped their action by what they were told. Yet I would not scoff
at them, for they were acting out a principle of their being, and whether they were moving
in error or wisely, they were none the less genuine and sincere. After all, the intrinsic
qualities of the nature are to be estimated rather than the incidental manifestations. We
do well to heed the utterance of Steerforth in David Copperfield: "Think of me at my best."
Even superstition has its excellences. It is not, and never was wholly visionary or
absurd. Its origin is in the higher department of our being, where we reach out from
matters of sense and conjectural reasoning in quest of some higher truth which mere logic
and sensuous faculties are not capable of apprehending. When human beings were more
simple and their spiritual faculties were not overlaid by dense coverings of grosser thinking
they felt more certain of their relations to ethereal natures. It was no marvel then, that they
conceived that they held converse with others who moved and even existed outside of
physical bodies, that they became cognizant of facts and events known and planned in that
world where thought is action, and that they learned of periods, days and hours in which
it would be fortunate or of evil omen to undertake any enterprise. Their faith, childish and
irrational as it now may be regarded, was nevertheless of that mountain-moving character
that brought them face to face with the things that are, and enabled them to know.
In these days when classified conjecture is honored as science, names are applied
as being actual descriptions of things. If an opprobrious epithet is given, it passes often as
deciding the whole matter. The beam in the eye of the critic serves to aid in the survey of
the mote in the eye of the brother. To be scientific is accounted better than to be clear-
seeing, just and true.
In this way it has become a fashion to dispose of everything outside of accepted
theory by such sweeping terms as superstition. They seem to forget when they adopted
this epithet that they had degraded it from its pure meaning in order to make it serve an
unworthy purpose. It once had a place among angels, and meant no less than a stand-
--- 188

ing above, an exaltation of the soul above things of sense, a surviving when the external
frame was dead. It was a prophetic condition; the superstitious person could communicate
with Divinity and perceive the future.
But gods were dethroned to supply religious systems with devils. In like manner
noble words were perverted from their proper meaning, to meet the behest of scorners.
In this way superstition that once meant the cognition of sublimer truth is now only known
as over-scrupulous exactness in religious matters, false religion, and belief in the direct
agency of supernatural beings, or in singular or extraordinary events, or in omens and
prognostics. Under these definitions every religion would be included, not even excepting
the various forms of Christianity.
Nevertheless, when any belief has been generally entertained among the several
races of human beings, and in all ages, there is very strong presumption that it is
substantially true. The mind is not capable of thinking a thing that does not exist. We may
therefore, with reasonable assurance, accept the notions and traditions, that have come
to us from the past, as having in them a living seed of truth, and are warranted in crediting
what we hear of a like character, which is from truthful witnesses. In so doing we may be
sure of the approval of our own conscience, and that we are moving forward in the
company of the noblest and purest minds of all ages, those who were -

"While in, above the world."

The current notions that certain days are propitious and others unfavorable, are
doubtless generally derived from tradition and superficial observation. Some of them
originate with ancient astrologic beliefs. That the stars were set in the firmament of the
heavens for signs or foretokens, the first chapter of the Genesis distinctly sets forth. The
ancient temples were plots of ground marked off with religious formalities primarily for
observation of the sky, to contemplate or consider, or in other words, to consult the stars.
The vault of the heavens was mapped out in constellations, twelve of which were in the
Path of the Sun, which he took in his yearly journey, and they were styled by the
astrologists houses. They are mentioned as such in the Assyrian Tablets: "He made the
mansions of the Great Gods on high (twelve) in number."*
It was believed anciently that these divinities of the sky took part in conflicts between
nations and between individuals. "From the heavens they fought," the prophetess Deborah
sings; "the stars from their orbits fought against Sisera."
There were propitious and unpropitious seasons, as the months were reckoned, and
as the "lords of the houses" in their respective turns, were in authority. Hence Hesiod
advises: "Observe the opportune time."
The month of May, for example, has been regarded from unremembered antiquity
as being inauspicious for the contracting of marriage. This conceit has drifted down to the
present time, and it is still entertained by many. There are other notions of the same
category, but the change from Old to New Style in the computing of time, and the growing
inclination to discard such things are likely to sweep the sentiment entirely out of existence.
The old mythopoeic theogonist of ancient Greece has given a very complete record
of the auspices of the several days in the month, which he describes as having been fixed
by the all-counseling Supreme Zeus himself. It may be well to remark however, that in this
arrangement the month is regarded as consisting of thirty

-------------
* Lepsius says that the Great Gods of Egypt had not an astronomic origin, but were
probably distributed on an astronomic principle when the kingdom was consolidated. It was
necessary then to preserve the divinities of the several former dominions, which was done
by including them in this way in one system.
------------
--- 189

days, and that in the Grecian calendar it began about the third week as computed by us.
Whether the eleven days which have been eliminated from the reckoning in the transition
to New Style are to be considered, is for the curious individual to determine for himself.
Whoever, therefore, is disposed to accept this classification and arrangement of lucky and
unlucky, must bide the chances of their harmonizing with the present dates.
First of all the first, fourth and seventh days of the month were all esteemed as holy
days. The first had observances in commemoration of the new month, the fourth was
sacred to Hermes and Aphrodite, and was considered, when the omens were propitious,
to be the most suitable for the contracting of marriage.
The fifth was unqualifiedly unlucky, a day in which quarreling and misfortune were
likely to occur. The sixth was unfortunate for girls, both in respect to birth and marriage,
but it was auspicious for the birth of boys. In other respects, it was adverse - a day
characterized by raillery, falsehood, treacherous speaking, and clandestine wooing by fond
discourse.
The seventh day of the month was esteemed as holy beyond other days. Upon the
seventh day of the month Thargelion it was said that Apollo was born.* This day was
observed accordingly at the oracle-temple of Delphi and other places sacred to this divinity
by the singing of hymns of praise, pious offerings, and fervent supplications.
The eighth and ninth days are suitable for the transacting of business and the
performing of necessary work. "The first ninth is entirely free from harm and

-----------
* According to the Symposiacs ascribed to Plutarch, Socrates was born on the sixth,
and Plato on the seventh of Thargelion. The priests of Apollo at Delos used to affirm that
the goddess Artemis or Diana was born on the sixth. Thargelion was the eleventh month
of the Attic year, and began at the middle of May.
-----------

evil omen," says Hesiod; "lucky indeed is this day for planting and for being born, to man
as well as to woman; it is never a day that is altogether unfortunate." The tenth is a
fortunate day for the birth of boys. The eleventh and twelfth are both propitious to industry,
but the twelfth is far more so than the eleventh. It is a suitable day for housewives to begin
important work in the household.
The thirteenth is a day to hold back from beginning to sow, though it is proper for the
setting of plants. "The fourteenth is a day sacred above all others." It is fortunate also for
the birth of girls. The sixteenth is described as "very unprofitable for plants, but auspicious
for the birth of men; yet on the other hand it is a day not propitious for a girl either to be
born or joined in wedlock." The seventeenth is a good day for the man in the country to
thresh grain or to cut timber for implements or furniture.
The nineteenth is quaintly described as "a better day toward evening." The twenty-
fourth is emphatically pictured as "in truth a very perfect day," and the caution is given to
avoid gnawing the heart with grief. It is best in its omens at early morning, but becomes
worse as the evening approaches.
The days which have here been indicated are those which are significant. The
others are harmless and without omen, or anything of moment. A day is sometimes a
mother and sometimes only a keeper. One person esteems some particular day as most
auspicious, while another is as positive in belief that some different day is better. Few,
nevertheless, are able to indicate the days that are really propitious. He is the lucky one
who distinguishes the omens and avoids the mistaking of them, who guides his conduct
intelligently with reference to what is boded and promised by the immortal ones.
Thus far Hesiod. As poet and as the counselor of the industrious and thrifty,

--- 190

he was truly wise and thoughtful. Perhaps this is praise enough.

The distinguishing of days and periods as sacred and profane, as fortunate and of
ill omen, is older than any record of history.
The cycle of the week appears from early dates to have been regarded as more
directly influential in human affairs. Perhaps this has been the case because it is a matter
more familiar, and more directly within the province of the understanding. The ancient
belief assigned to each of the days a virtue of its own; to some of them good omens, and
to others auspices which were less fortunate. The number was fixed at seven and might
conform to the number of planetary worlds and divinities. A name has been given
accordingly to every day of the week to signify the divinity or patron genius of a planet, that
was supposed to have a marked influence upon the fortunes of individuals for that space
of time. We thus have Sun-day, Monen-day, Tuisko's day, Woden's day, Thor's day,
Freyja-day, Sathor-day. The Romans had also named the days in corresponding order:
Dies Solis, Dies Lunae, Dies Martis, Dies Mercurii, Dies Jovis, Dies Veneris, Dies Saturni.
This is no caprice taking its rise within any time comparatively recent. The ancient
Assyrians also divided their months into weeks of seven days each, and attached a magic
significance to particular periods. Nor is this accounted to be orginal with them but to have
been adopted from the Akkadians, a Skythic people whom they had supplanted in the
Euphratean country. The Assyrian month was lunar, extending from the first appearing of
the new moon to the period of its utter disappearing from the sky. The seventh day of the
first week was sacred to Merodakh, the god of Light, and to his consort, Zirat-banit*

-----------
* Merodakh, was the Amar-Utuki of the Akkadians and Khitans of the Upper
Euphrates. He appears to have been recognized and worshiped by Cyrus as the Mithras
of the Persian worship. Zirat-banit was the Succoth-Benoth, or Suku the Mother of the
Babylonian and Akkadian pantheons. These divinities, as well as "the Sabbath or rest-day,
passed to the Semites from the Akkadians," as we are assured by Professors Sayce and
Tiele.
------------

and it was observed with a solemnity that was full of terror. It was denominated sulum, a
term which signifies dies nefastus, the unlucky day. Upon the Sabbath the king was strictly
enjoined from eating cooked food, changing his clothes, putting on new garments, and from
performing any act of religious worship, driving in his chariot, holding court, and from taking
medicine for a bodily ailment.
There were similar conditions for every seventh day during the entire month. The
fourteenth was regarded as sacred to Nergal and the goddess Belat, the twenty-first to
Shamas and Sin, the Sun and Moon, and the twenty-eight to Hea or Nisrokh and Nergal.
The strictest sabbatarian of modern time was outdone by the rigid austerity of the Akkadian
and Semitic Sabbath.
The nineteenth day of the month, however, was a joyful exception. It was accounted
a "white day," a gala day, a day of good fortune, and the beautiful goddess Gula was its
patron.
The beliefs respecting fortunate days and unlucky ones have been extended to later
times, and are recognized in the records and literature of different peoples. The days of
Saturn and the Moon were considered inauspicious beyond others. If we attached
significance to this persuasion we would be disposed to agree with it. We have frequently,
if not generally found both Monday and Saturday untoward in the way of taking any new
step, beginning a work, or transacting business with others. We have also observed a like
experience with others. By no means, however, do we suppose that there is any specific
magic or occult influence in the matter. It seems to be due to the fact that in the general
arrangements of business inci-

--- 191

dent to the cessation of employments on Sunday, many persons are obliged to contract
their sphere of action upon the days immediately before and after in order to accord with
this practice. Their movements affect the plans of others, creating more or less of
obstruction of effort. Their influence thus extends to a remote distance. Perhaps there are
sprites in the region almost contiguous to our physical senses that have a hand in effecting
all this; but for common purposes the reason which has been suggested appears to be a
sufficient explanation.
Nevertheless, the general belief must be accounted for by proofs of a more
recondite nature. The thinkers of far-off times had implicit reliance upon the decrees of
fate, the utterance of the purpose of Divinity.* The Superior Power, having determined
upon something gives oracular signs, by way of making it known to human beings. The
planets, which are dominant over the days of the week are significant in such matters, and
to be regarded. Saturn was always regarded by the astrologers of Babylon as of malignant
aspect. The planets, it was believed, had emanated from the sun, and Saturn being the
oldest had been sent forth farthest into the outer region of darkness. It bore the name of
Khus or Cush, the son or emanation of Ham, the sun. It was the Sun of the Underworld,
in Erebus or the remote West.**
 This seems to explain the reason of the awe or terror with which the Assyrians
regarded the seventh day of the week, prohibiting every act not absolutely necessary, lest
it should entail evil upon them.
The Gnostics did much to perpetuate

-----------
* The word fate from the Latin fatum means etymologically, that which is spoken.
** This concept was also entertained in Egypt. The region of the dead was
denominated Amenti, or the West, and Osiris, as the ruler, bore the title of Ra-t-Amenti
(Radamanthos). He was the son of Seb, the Siva or Kronos of Egypt, the lord of death.
-----------

this impression. In their Theogony, the Demiurge or Creator was the genius of the planet
Saturn, and the Evil Potency that seeks to mislead and injure mankind. Their influence was
probably active in the religious change by which Sunday was made the sacred day instead
of Saturday.
Astrologists have generally described Saturn as the most potent and most malignant
of all the planets. Its influx is represented as imperceptibly undermining the vitality of the
bodily organism. A vast part of suffering is thus accounted as due to its malefic action.
This does not, however, even if actually true, show conclusively why the day of Saturn
should be regarded as productive of misfortune.
We may make the same appeal in the case of Monday. We are aware that the
moon has borne an evil reputation for malignant influence on plants, as well as on the
atmosphere. Various disorders of mind and body have their names from the baleful
influence exerted upon individuals; but they have never been imputed to the day of the
moon. We must suppose that Monday is not specially unlucky, except as folly, misconduct
or accident happens to make it so.
Modern fancy has designated Friday as the inauspicious day of the week. So deep
is this impression that sailors are unwilling to begin a voyage on that day, but are confident
when they set out on Sunday. Others whom we would suppose were more intelligent are
equally credulous. In this case we have an example of a perverted tradition. Friday, in
olden times, was the day of good fortune above others. It was sacred to the benign
goddess, the Mother in every ancient faith; the one who gives delight and success. The
Assyrian Kings always on the evening of the day presented an offering to the divinities
Merodakh and Istar, invoking them with the significant open hand. It was a

--- 192

day propitious for every important undertaking. When, however, the old worships were
superseded, it seems to have been considered necessary to break the charm. It was
accordingly set apart for capital punishments and inquisitorial tortures, till the odium and
accumulated terrors led men to curse the day as fraught with direst evil. Other devices
were employed in like manner to eradicate confidence in other good omens. The result,
however, has been as might have been foreseen. There has been no increase of faith, and
the popular belief in omens and auspicious days has only been changed. Fetishes,
ceremonies, and lucky periods are as much a matter of belief as before, but the objects
have been modified. But amid it all, it may safely be borne in mind that good fortune is
attendant on Friday as on other days.
We may hope little from the days as they are marked in the calendar. We do not
question that there may be a difference in their serviceableness for specific purposes as
there is in regard to humidity and temperature. That is a fact, however, to aid us to shape
our action wisely, and by it we may not be overborne. There is a time suitable for
everything in its order, and they who are truly intelligent will apperceive it. We may not
count one day secular or profane more than another. All days are alike fortunate and alike
sacred.
The fortune of a month is not influenced by an accidental first sight of the crescent
moon, nor are the events of a day affected by the casual pointing of a sharp object in a
certain direction. These are notions derived from former usage. Yet we confidently believe
that there are auxiliary agencies in the universe about us superior to our common ken, that
in one way and another impart to us conceptions of what we should do. Yet whoever
lingers unduly for opportunity to manifest itself, and neglects to take the current that serves,
is liable to lose the object aspired for. On the other hand, the wise and the heroic will storm
the very gates of apparent misfortune, and, like Samson, carry them off. "The kingdom of
the heavens suffereth violence," said Jesus; "and the violent take it by force " As the
purpose inspires to effort so the day is made lucky. Justice in our action, wisdom in our
thought, and charity in our motive are essential to a true insight. The individual is his own
star, his own fortune, his own destiny.

---------------
--- 193

ALCOHOL AND ALCOHOLISM *

by Robert A. Gunn, M. D.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

I have been requested to speak to you for a few minutes on the subject of
alcoholism, its causes and treatment. In order to do so intelligently, it will be well to say a
few words about alcohol itself.
The word "alcohol" is derived from two Arabic words, al, "the," and kohl "antimony,"
and the name was applied to that metal reduced to an impalpable powder, which was and
is still, used by the ladies in the East to color their eye-brows and lashes. Because the
Spirit of Wine was as fine and volatile among liquids, as the Arabian cosmetic was among
powders, the same name "alcohol" was given to it by Europeans.
Pure alcohol is a colorless liquid of agreeable taste and color, composed of the
elements, Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen, in the proportions of 24 ounces of Carbon, 6
ounces of Hydrogen and 16 ounces of Oxygen. A number of other compounds of these
elements are also called alcohols, but this one, which is known as "ethylic" alcohol is the
one with which we have to deal.
This liquid is the basis of all stimulating beverages and is the ingredient that gives
to all such beverages their intoxicating and narcotic properties. It has long been known that
the liquid was produced by the fermentation of saccharine solutions and subsequent
distillation, but it is little over two decades since the phenomenon of fermentation was
explained on a scientific basis. It is now known that this process is caused

------------
* Abstract from an address delivered at Chickering Hall, before the Universal
Brotherhood Organization, May 15th, 1898.
------------

by the presence of organized vegetable cells, which belong to a species of fungus, to which
scientists have given the name of mycoderme cerevisiae. These little bodies imbibe
nourishment, absorb oxygen from the saccharine solutions and give off Carbonic Acid. The
fine, white dust found on the skins and stems of ripe grapes is made up of myriads of these
little bodies and were originally unintentionally introduced into the grape juice, thus causing
fermentation, the product of which was wine and spirits.
When starchy substances are employed for obtaining alcohol, yeast is added to
hasten fermentation, and the microscope has demonstrated that the activity used to
ferment, is a little organism, similar to that found on the grape. The absorption of Oxygen
and the giving off of Carbonic Acid gas by these organisms so changes the chemical
composition of the solutions of sugar (or starch converted into sugar), that the remaining
liquid is composed of alcohol, water, coloring matter and flavoring substances; and the
pure alcohol is obtained by the distillation of this remaining liquid, after the process of
fermentation has been completed.
It may surprise many of you to know that alcohol is one of the most universal agents
found in nature. It is present in minute quantities in water, and in the atmosphere; it is also
known that the decomposition of sugary particles in the earth produces alcohol, and the
Carbonic Acid gas found in coal mines and caves is undoubtedly the residue of this gas
formed in far distant ages by the fermentation of organic matter, which has been, through
succeeding ages turned into coal. Alcohol exists in fruits,

--- 194

growing plants, and even the bread we eat contains a small portion. Experiments have
proved that 40 two-pound loaves of bread will produce as much alcohol as is contained in
an ordinary bottle of port wine; it is also found in the human body, and is produced there
even when no alcohol is taken into it. The digestion of the food we eat consists of a series
of processes of fermentation, beginning with the action of the saliva in the mouth, and
ending with the absorption of the digested foods by the amaeboid cells of the human body.
Alcohol is a constant product of the digestion of sugar and fats, and the formation of the
various acids of the body depends upon the production of alcohol as the first step in the
process, in the body as well as out of it.
The saliva, gastric juice, pancreatic juice, intestinal juices and bile are so many
ferments, composed in a large measure of little organisms similar to those above
mentioned, and thus the preparing of the food to nourish the body also depends upon the
phenomenon of fermentation and the production of alcohol.
Though alcohol is thus found to be so universal, and to exist in the human body,
when taken into the system in its common form, it produces effects that may be beneficial
if required, and very injurious if it is not needed in the human economy.
 Some years ago I gave this subject much attention and wrote a little book entitled
"The Truth about Alcohol." In this treatise I discussed the subject under three heads, viz.:
The History of the Use of Stimulants and the Theory of Stimulation; the Physiological
Effects of Alcohol as a Food, a Medicine and a Poison, and the Remedies best calculated
to correct the evils of Intemperance.
Regarding the theory of stimulation I would like to read from this little book the
following extract:
"Long before the days of Rome, before Greece was dreamed of, before Babylon was
built, before Moses lived, and even before the days of Egyptian civilization, early man had
discovered the use of stimulating beverages, and knew the effects of intoxicating drinks.
The pages of Egyptian papyri, 2000 years old, and the more modern records of Herodotus,
contain accounts of drunkenness, but nothing of its origin; but there can be no question
that it originated among primitive races, who were in the habit of drinking the expressed
juices of fruits, which at times had undergone fermentation. The pleasurable sensations
experienced were undoubtedly soon associated with the drinking of the juices that had
stood for some time, and thus what was first produced accidentally soon came to be made
intentionally.
"It is certainly true that the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians,
Greeks, Jews and Romans, were all given to the use of alcoholic stimulants, and that most
of them had their own special kinds of stimulants, and their gods who presided over their
drunken revels. When the Romans invaded Britain they found that the Britons used a liquid
made from barley, called curmi; and all the peoples of Europe used some kind of
stimulating beverage which had alcohol for its base.
"The craving for stimulation and for stimulants, in one or another of their innumerable
forms, is not a local, unusual, arbitrary or statutory thing, but a rooted and universal passion
of human nature. It is this deep basis of the propensity of human nature that gives to the
subject its mystery and perplexity.
"The rationale of stimulation is indeed not so puzzling. Food builds up and maintains
the vital activity of the whole animate creation in its working state; but that is not enough
for man. He leads a life of high and complex feeling, subject to wide fluctuations, while his
intellect furnishes him with the means

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of influencing his emotional states. He therefore seeks those agencies which act to arouse
pleasurable emotion, and these are stimulants. Capable of appreciating the immediate
pleasure, but incapable of realizing adequately the distant pain, the habit is formed, and
use runs into abuse.
"What, then, is to be done? Here logic is soon at fault, for the headlong reformer,
who fixes his attention on some special phase of evil and would eradicate it, root and
branch, is soon found to be himself involved in something not very unlike what he so
zealously condemns - he, too, is an object of reformatory solicitude. One thunders against
the whole tribe of alcoholic stimulants, from ethereal wine to acrid whisky, and never
touches, tastes, or handles them; the pipe will do for him. Another counterblasts tobacco -
content with abundance of strong coffee. Another decries all these together, inspired by
the stimulus of concentrated potions of tea. Still another ingests, perhaps only vegetables
and water, and fulminates from the pulpit or platform against all these gross material
indulgences, yet is lifted into the seventh heaven of enjoyment by the stimulating incense
of flattery and applause which comes up from admiring auditors, and without which life
would be 'flat, stale and unprofitable.' Others get from music, pictures, theatres, fashion,
novels, newspapers, or travel a quieter form of excitement, which though often running into
dissipation, is less harmful than ordinary narcotic stimulants. How far the ball-room, the
political campaign, or the religious revival may be the equivalent of a drunken spree we will
not pretend to say, but that they are all marked by a common character - stimulation of
pleasurable feeling, carried to a pitch of excitement that ends in reaction more or less
exhausting - is not to be denied.
"These are facts that no one can gainsay, and when we speak of the use and abuse
of alcohol, we must not forget that it is only one of the many stimulants that are used and
abused every day. The man who seeks pleasure from alcoholic stimulants is often denied
pleasures that would make alcohol unnecessary could he but enjoy them. Now, let us
propose to the temperance fanatics to take away from the human family all the luxuries that
make life enjoyable, and that are unnecessary for its maintenance, and see how many
would sacrifice these and continue the fight. See if each one would not have some special
luxury or enjoyment that he would cling to as tenaciously as the moderate drinker does to
alcohol.
"In fact, there is no nation, and there are very few individuals, who do not make daily
use of stimulant narcotics in some form.
"1. Coffee leaves are taken in the form of infusion by two millions of the world's
inhabitants.
"2. Paraguay tea by ten millions.
"3. Coca by at least fifteen millions.
"4. Coffee bean, pure or mixed with chicory, by forty-five millions.
"5. Cocoa, either as chocolate or in some other form, by fifty millions.
"6. Hasheesh is eaten or smoked by three hundred millions.
"7. Opium by four hundred millions.
"8. China tea is drunk by five hundred millions.
"9. All known nations of the world are addicted to the use of tobacco, either in
smoking, snuffing or chewing."
I read this simply to show you the universality of the use of stimulants of some kind
or other, and to point out the conditions of human society which make the use of alcoholic
stimulants so prevalent and so injurious to the human race. In the complexities of human
life and in the conditions that surround human activities, there is a demand for something
more than excitement of the mere individual, and as I have before stated, some obtain this
excitement in one way and some in another. A few

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are so situated that they can have pleasures that satisfy their higher lives, and thus know
little or nothing of the troubles or sorrows of life. Unfortunately, the large mass of our
population, especially in cities, have no home enjoyment. They do not see a ray of
sunshine from morning till night. They go to work early and work all day in the worst places
and at the hardest kind of work, for barely enough money to keep body and soul together.
When they go to their cheerless home of two or three poorly lighted, illy ventilated rooms,
and sit down to a meal of bread and butter, with five or six small children, they have nothing
of cheer or comfort to make them forget their hardships, even for the moment. The only
place open to them, where they can enjoy a little social life, is the saloon. Naturally they
go there and while away a little time and indulge in liquor, even to excess, for the purpose
of enabling them to forget, for a short time the hardships of bread winning at starvation
prices. When we see the condition in which the masses of our population live, and know
the hardships and sufferings which they endure, we often have not the heart to blame
them, if they do resort to stimulants as the only means by which they can experience a little
pleasure and relief from care. It is these conditions of life that cause the prevalence of
intemperance among the masses of the people, and until they are righted we can never get
at the root of this evil. Instead of crime being largely due to intemperance, I contend, that
both are the result of the evils of our social conditions, and if we ever succeed in rooting
out either, we must go to the very bottom of our social superstructure to find the cause.
Instead of spending our energies in fighting the liquor traffic, let us strive to improve the
conditions of the poor; provide for them more comfortable homes by regulating the building
of tenement houses by just legislation; secure for them places of social entertainment and
cheap instructive amusement; engage speakers and singers to amuse and instruct them,
instead of temperance lecturers; create among them the desire to appear well in public
places; so change our educational system that all children shall receive a good physical
and moral education as a basis for intellectual training. I suggest that every tenement
house be provided with a public reception room and a play room (the latter on the top of
the house) which shall be furnished and cared for by the owner of the building. Do these
things and the masses of the human race would be made purer and better, and there would
be less craving for artificial stimulation, such as the poor can only get from liquor.
I am glad to say that it is just such work as this that the International Brotherhood
League has been organized to do, and what they have already done to improve the
condition of the masses of the people is an earnest of what they will certainly do in the
future.
As my time is limited I must now pass hurriedly to the consideration of the effect that
alcohol has upon the human system. That this may be understood, it is necessary to
commence with the consideration of the cells of the human body. Every tissue of the
animal body is made up of myriads of little organized cells or bodies, called amoeba, and
these are constantly reproducing themselves and dying, so as to keep up life. They are
sustained by nutrition that is taken into the system in the form of food, which is prepared
by the various processes of digestion and assimilation.
When alcohol is taken as such into the system it is directly absorbed by these little
organisms, and a sensation of over-stimulation is the result, and this condition affects not
only the individual cells but through them the entire body, including the brain and nervous
system.

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The first effect of a stimulant is that of excitation, and many times this excitation is
pleasurable, but as soon as this passes off it is followed by a corresponding depression.
The depression is so marked, especially in those addicted to the continued use of
stimulants, that they are obliged to keep up the stimulating effect by frequent imbibition of
alcohol, and thus when a person depends once upon any narcotic to produce pleasurable
sensations, he cannot be satisfied with a moderate use of the stimulant, but is obliged to
repeat it over and over again until it becomes a habit, and this habit continued produces
a diseased condition of the cells, and consequently a diseased condition of the entire body.
In this manner we have, first, the intoxication of the cell which leaves the person in various
degrees of stimulation and excitation, and finally, the narcotic stage, which is the last effect
of large and continued doses of alcoholic poisons. When we get to a certain stage of
excitation, a man is said to be drunk, a condition that is nothing more nor less than acute
mania. The nervous system is so affected that the functions of the brain become
disconnected, and we have the condition of intoxication or drunkenness. As soon as this
acute mania reaches a certain point the nervous system becomes excited by the excessive
flow of blood to the brain, and after a time an obstruction of the circulation to the brain
results in a profound sleep, which in many cases resembles coma or death. This condition
is the final stage of a single drunken bout, but of course, the nerve cells become habituated
to this stimulation, so that a larger amount of alcohol is required to produce this effect
during repeated sprees, and like all other narcotic poisons, when once used, the quantity
must be increased to meet the demands of the diseased nervous organism.
There is one peculiarity about persons who drink. They are made up of periodical
drinkers, and habitual drinkers, and there is really quite a marked difference between the
two. Periodical drinkers will continue to use stimulants to a certain point and until the
nervous system and the brain cells become so saturated with alcoholic poison, that they
cannot tolerate it longer, and then, after a protracted spree they will stop and seem to be
free from the craving for stimulants for a considerable time. At first they may go five or six
months or longer, but the intervals shorten with each outbreak.
After a period of abstinence, varying from a few days to many months, the craving
for stimulants becomes so great that they find it impossible to resist the temptation to drink.
This condition may be accounted for by the fact that the nerve cells become so exhausted
that they can no longer be excited by the alcohol, but as they gradually regain their tone
to a certain point, the nervous activity is resumed and the system being weakened by
previous debauches, the nerve cells demand some stimulation to keep up the wear and
tear of every day life. Thus it is that without aid a person is certain to yield to the desire for
drink and again continue until the nerve cells are paralyzed by alcoholic poison. This
condition, instead of being a vice for which the patient must be blamed, is really a disease,
and should be treated as such. Nothing will aid him, excepting to treat his body as a
diseased organism, just as we would treat a person suffering from any other disease.
On the other hand, our habitual drinkers find it necessary to keep up the use of
stimulants continuously, and will drink one or two ounces of some strong alcoholic liquor
from three to six or even from thirty to forty times a day. They become accustomed to the
stimulation, and for a time may be able to continue their work under this false stimulation,
but sooner or later the nervous system

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[[photo: Dr. Robert A. Gunn]]

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becomes so saturated, and the nervous force so destroyed, that they hardly realize a
conscious existence. If they stop the use of alcohol even for a few hours they suffer from
nervous tremors and exhaustion, which leaves them almost helpless from physical
weakness.
The tissues of the body all become abnormal and the brain cells so changed as to
result in general paresis and other forms of insanity. The patient is the victim of a diseased
physical condition and becomes entirely irresponsible, not only for his habits but also for
his actions.
Right here I desire to say that I believe our laws are defective in the manner in which
they deal with persons under the influence of alcohol. I contend that an intoxicated person
is suffering from a condition of acute mania, and is entirely irresponsible for his actions, and
I further believe that the laws should be so changed as not to hold him responsible to the
full penalty, for any crime he may commit in such condition.
The practical question that confronts us is, what can we do to destroy the craving
for alcohol, and overcome the conditions of the system that make the craving possible?
I answer that our treatment must be moral and physical, as well as medical. The first thing
to be accomplished is to get control of the patient and see that he is comfortably situated
where he can have no opportunity to procure liquor. Then we must direct our attention to
the elimination of the poisons from the system, and so tone up the vital organs as to bring
about a healthy action of the digestive and nervous systems.
It is useless to attempt the treatment for drunkenness unless the patient can be kept
under restraint for the first few days, and it is important to impress upon him that we are
interested in his welfare and are anxious to help him reestablish himself in the position in
life which he should occupy. In a word, we must let him see that we are willing to extend
to him a helping hand and that we consider his condition a disease instead of a vice or a
crime. When we do this we find our work greatly simplified, and the patient at once
becomes anxious to help himself, because he feels that some one is interested in him.
To be successful in the treatment of alcoholism, the supply of alcohol must be cut
off at once, and such remedies must be administered as will eliminate the alcoholic poison
from the system. When this is accomplished the next thing to do is to build up and tone the
nerves so as to get it back to its normal condition. This done, healthy digestion is restored
and perfect nutrition speedily follows. The starved tissues of the body are supplied with
healthy nutriment which takes the place of the alcohol, and thus the craving for artificial
stimulants is destroyed.
When properly treated along these lines the craving for alcohol is destroyed in from
three to five days, and in about, three weeks' time the general vitality of the system, in the
majority of cases, will become normal. It is now that moral influences must be brought to
bear to prevent the possibility of a relapse into former habits. Many persons have not the
moral courage to refuse a friend, when asked to take a drink, for fear of being laughed at
or ridiculed, and it is often the case that a person of this kind will begin the drinking habit
again, not because he craves the alcohol, but in order that he may appear sociable. Again,
the cares and worries of life press hard upon some men, especially if they have been
unfortunate and have lost their position through liquor. If they fail of success in their efforts
to gain a livelihood, they will often become discouraged and may deliberately resort to the
use of alcohol again, not because of the craving, but to drown their troubles. From these
causes the drinking habit would naturally grow upon them again,

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until finally they become slaves once more to alcohol, just as they acquired the habit in the
first place. For these reasons the social conditions and surroundings of those who have
been cured of the alcohol habit, should be taken into consideration. They should be made
to feel that they had friends who were willing to help them and they should be encouraged
in their efforts to help themselves. Let them realize that some one is interested in their
welfare and they will be far more likely to persevere in their good intentions, until they have
reestablished themselves in the sight of the world, so that they can hold up their heads
among their fellow men. When once interested in the duties of life and surrounded by
influences that keep them away from the evil associations of the past, and with their minds
occupied by healthful endeavor they cease to regard artificial stimulants as essential to
their existence.
I am glad to say that the work now being performed by branches of the International
Brotherhood League in this city, Boston, Buffalo, and elsewhere, in behalf of the poor who
have become slaves to alcohol, is producing splendid results. They not only care for the
patients but furnish them medical treatment and do all in their power to improve their home
lives and social conditions, thus adding moral aid to the medical treatment essential to
building up their physical condition.
When properly managed I am satisfied that 95% of all the cases of drunkenness can
be radically cured, especially if the patients are made to realize their condition, and are
anxious to help themselves. Where there is no disposition on the part of a patient to
overcome the craving for liquor, the only way in which he can be managed is to place him
under proper restraint where he will be obliged to take the medicines until the craving is
destroyed and the nervous system built up; then he can be made to realize his condition
and the moral influences will go far towards helping him in his regeneration.
In conclusion, I wish simply to say that the work of the Universal Brotherhood, when
properly understood by the public, cannot fail to receive the commendation and support of
all lovers of humanity, and I believe that the day is not far distant when the work they are
now doing in reclaiming the unfortunate victims of alcoholic beverages, will become one of
the leading factors in solving the liquor question. By interesting and helping the poorer
classes, they are supplying that pleasurable excitement of a social life which is the natural
form of stimulation, which takes the place of all desire for the use of alcoholic beverages,
while at the same time they are reclaiming those who have already fallen victims to the
evils of intemperance, because of the inequalities that have ever existed in our social
conditions,

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COMPASSION
by Adelaide A. Deen Hunt
"And he who still with strict Compassion lives, finds ample space in which at last to
die."

WHAT is the meaning of this apparent perversion of words? Why should

compassion be strict?
Metaphysically it might serve to show that whatever takes on form is not the Real,
and that whatever inheres in this material plane is limited. Compassion is strict, because
in no true sense is it maudlin sentiment. It must be just to be Compassion, and through
that very necessity of justice may hurt the ministrant of Compassion, more than him who
needs its benign influence.
In this closing cycle when the Wheel of Life is turning rapidly, revolving through
clouds and angry flames, the outcome of man's evil passions, but ever progressing toward
the new light, many, unable to bear the rapid motion in which every impulse is quickened,
every good and evil desire accentuated, every act more positive in its effects, drop away
into the darkness and are left behind. Can the wheel pause for these? No, the hearts of
those who go on, may feel sad, may ache for many who have been pulled away by those
who, unable or unwilling to progress themselves, have dragged the weaker ones away with
them; but even in the very depths of his sorrow man may not pause. In that same Wheel
of Life are millions looking longingly for the Light, seeing it already dawning for them, and
none may strive to arrest it for the sake of those who have fallen away and who must wait
until it again reaches them in its cyclic round.
In these days of actual war with another nation, what would be thought of the
common sense of one who would bring a spy into the camp, simply because he had known
and loved him before relations had become strained, before this antagonist, from, it may
be, a false sense of duty to those with whom his lot was cast, had become an active or
even a seemingly passive opponent? This pseudo-sentimentalist would probably through
the judgment of a military court share the fate of the spy, and like Arnold of old be deemed
a foul traitor to his cause, while Andre, being honest so far as his convictions went, had the
sympathy of those even though they might not condone his crime or spare his punishment.
Everybody must see that there is no true Compassion in such condonation - it is merely a
yielding to the weakness of one's own nature that cannot bear to be hurt.
Compassion is no weak, wailing, floppy damsel wearing her heart upon her sleeve,
but a strong, glorious Angel of Light, girded with the sword of justice, but glowing with the
golden light of love and bearing the precious balm of mercy.
The initial step toward reaching the Higher Compassion is sacrifice, and this means
that from the moment one has turned toward the path that leads to final attainment he must
be ready every instant of his material existence to yield himself for the good of humanity;
but, as yet, like our raw recruits in camp, he must be drilled to be of service in striking an
effective blow for the help of suffering humanity, and that drill comes hourly, momently into
his life. It is to do cheerfully the small duty that looks so trifling, that may even be
distasteful, without a murmur, - nay, as Mr. Judge puts it, "He must work and if he cannot
have the sort he desires or seems best

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suited to him, then must he take and perform that which presents itself. It is that which he
most needs. It is not intended either that he do it to have it done. It is intended that he
work as if it was the object of his life, as if his whole heart was in it."
Thus only do we exercise true Compassion in our small environment, and fit
ourselves to follow on in that Path where have gone before us the Masters of Compassion.
They, who, having "overcome the self by the Self," have lifted the lid of that too long closed
eye of discernment, and see no longer "as through a glass darkly but face to face.'' They
who have attained, who, through many long lives of sacrifice and love have won the right
to bliss eternal, but have turned back from the glory, at the threshold of Peace
unspeakable, of Bliss inconceivable, and wait throughout the aeons of manifestation to aid
their suffering brothers.
"Not my will but thine be done," - the will of the highest within us, utterly regardless
of the swaying and urging of our personal desires, doing our simple and always manifest
duty if we put our own predilections aside and listen to the inner voice. It is our first effort
toward divine Compassion.
There are always wounds to heal, hearts to bind up, weak ones to strengthen, weary
ones to aid, and if, often, the help must assume the form of a tonic rather than an emollient,
it is all the nearer true, because it would be far easier for us to apply the temporary
alleviation than to use the helpful but harsher scalpel or cautery. This does not mean that
we are to constitute ourselves censors of our fellows, but it does mean that we are not to
be carried away by our own hysterical emotions, by our dread of being pained, by any
perverted idea of Brotherhood into slurring over or condoning acts or thoughts that tend
toward the injury of real Brotherhood and the cause of Humanity.
Each one of us will have all he can do to reach true Compassion by drilling ourselves
into small acts of sacrifice that come to us hourly, in overcoming our own material
tendencies, and in aiding with every little helpful act those about us who need them. Not
by taking another's work when it is his duty to do it and he is able to perform it, but by
helping the overburdened and the weary. Even a look of love and sympathy into another's
eyes may help him to go on with a task that seemed more than he could accomplish,
though we may not be able to lift a finger in apparent help. Compassion is not
benevolence, it is not alms-giving, it is not even sympathy. These are only some of its
outward forms of expression and perhaps not of so much account as many of us imagine.
Divine Compassion implies that the point of balance has been reached on inner planes,
and its reflection may be made visible in our present condition. It is said of the Knight of
the Holy Grail,
"His strength was as the strength of ten, because his heart was pure."
Behold the text from which to write the sermon of our lives; - to keep the heart pure,
or, if it should have been sullied by evil contact, to purify it, so that our strength may be "the
strength of ten" when called upon to oppose evil forces leveled against us.
Who has not felt the restfulness of one who stands firm, unswayed by the fluctuating
emotions of those about him, steadfast, silent, true, a pillar of strength? He may say no
word, but (the form is immaterial) the presence is enough. It fills one with courage, with
strength to go on, to bear a cross perhaps that seemed crushing one, to stand firm when
the very foundations of life seemed rent away. He, of equal mind, having attained the point
of balance, can exercise true Compassion though he seems not to move in any way.
And such a Compassion are we daily and hourly environed by, though having

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eyes we see not. It is that which keeps us One, keeps together the nucleus of an army that
is gathering from all quarters of the globe, flying many banners, but each in due time
coming to array itself under that banner that went forth with the Crusade, bearing Truth,
Light and Liberation for Discouraged Humanity as its motto; - the advance step in that
Order of Universal Brotherhood organized "for the Benefit of the People of the Earth and
all Creatures." This cannot be too often repeated, for thus was the keynote struck for that
true Compassion whose echoing vibrations shall ring clear and sweet throughout all time,
and true Brotherhood no longer be an altruistic dream, but a fact harmonizing with all of
Nature's laws, and man himself be a living exponent of the highest Compassion possible
to him.

------------

THE PILGRIM
by Isabella Grant Meredith

MY faltering feet upon the Path are set;

Strait is it, Lord, with pitfalls everywhere,
And hidden snare, and subtly woven net,
And thorns that cling and tear.

Ever I fall, yet struggle up and on;

Thick Dark encompasseth the narrow wynd.
No rest, tired feet, until the night is gone;
Press on, till Dawn ye find.

Weary? O, yes - of failure.

Deep the pain
Of ever falling, vanquished in the fray!
Yet must we rise and, trusting, strive again,
There is no other Way.

No going back to Youth's fair morning bow'rs,

Sweetness that failed, and memories that pall;
The pleasures of those debonaire glad hours
Were but Illusions - all!

There is but this remaineth. On to press

Despite disheartenment and wounds and night.
And - stirs some vague sense of Blessedness,
And - somewhere - there is LIGHT.
Better in such high quest o'erworn to cease,
Than in life's joyless mirth a cycle wind;
The goal is One - there only dwelleth Peace,
And "they who seek shall find."
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SOPHROSUNE
by James M. Pryse

AN Indian, learned in the language of his tribe, states that the name Hiawatha
means "He-who-has-found - his-mind - and-knows-how-to-use-it." This seems a long
statement to be contained in one word; but the ancients had a knack of expressing definite
ideas in single words. The Theosophist, in attempting to define the word karma, finds that
each letter of it apparently expands into a paragraph of English, and that even a lengthy
paraphrase is too vague to be understood without an elaborate commentary. Concise
expression requires definite knowledge; and the semi-civilized Anglo-Saxons have not as
yet gained insight into the verities of philosophy, nor have they developed refinement of
language and nicety of expression. Their notions of psychology are too vague to require
a definite terminology; their classification of the virtues is as loose as their practice of those
virtues. The old Hellene, who had found his mind and knew how to use it, had a single
word to express that soundness and wholesomeness of mind which comes from a perfect
control of one's longings and desires; and this sophrosune was one of the four cardinal
virtues which were summed up in right-conduct, and whose observance brought man into
harmony with divine Law.
True civilization is the regulation of human affairs in accordance with nature's laws;
it is not too harsh, therefore, to say that the modern peoples are but semi-civilized. Thus
a city, or state, with the ancients, meant a grouping together in orderly arrangement of
people representing all the various departments of life, thus forming a miniature universe.
The modern city is a congeries of conflicting elements. True religion is knowledge of man's
faculties, forces and qualities, and the attuning of these with nature both material and
divine, so that he may work in unison with the divine will in every realm of nature. Modern
religion is a war of sects, a seventh-day worship of a laconic deity who communicates with
his creatures only on rare occasions, as when he spoke to Moses from a burning bush; a
wifeless God whose family consisted of a single son whom he sent to this earth on a
bootless errand. Content with fables regarded as divine inspiration, the semi-civilized
modern carries on his perfunctory worship in the expectation of a post-mortem heaven, not
having eyes to see that

"The earth is crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God."

Not that the religious fables are in themselves absurd; on the contrary, they are
poetry of the noblest kind. But their poetic imagery when theologized becomes grotesque.
The story of Adam, as told by the archaic writer, is one of purest beauty, unexampled and
marvelous. Imagination is awed by the vision it conjures up of that first man, the outer form
of clay fresh from the great potter's hand, the mysterious inner life breathed into it - that
same Breath which moved upon the waters of the spatial Deep, and wakened the worlds
and made suns and stars to shine. The sole inhabitant of a planet, he was insphered by
solitude as vast as the brooding love of God, till even the Eternal pitied him and comforted
him with deep sleep, from which he woke to find a maiden by his side. No matter if the
maiden proved to be his undoing; it were better to be outcast

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and accursed than to dwell forever in dread solitude. Compared with this archaic tale,
Robinson Crusoe is a feeble romance, and even the Iliad reads tamely. Whether it was
Moses or another who wrote it, he was one of the poets of all time, not inferior even to
those later dramatists who followed it with the lovely romance of a Redeemer's birth. But
it took the semi-savages of the Middle Ages to travesty these charming tales of old times,
turning them into a dismal Theology; and only an unsoulful barbarian like Milton could
caricature them in ponderous verse, making the primitive couple sermonize at each other
like two sanctimonious parsons, and expanding the fine old myths into an epic as solemnly
ugly as an Alaskan totem-stick.
A clever medical man once wrote a book advocating the theory that the nature-
hating element in certain religions is an actual disease which comes upon old nations when
in their dotage, and that the emanations from these decaying and dying nations poison the
mental atmosphere, causing contagious insanity. He contended that the European peoples
were collectively insane during the Dark Ages, and that the world, though convalescent,
has not yet recovered its normal mental condition. He pointed out, perhaps unkindly, that
oddly dressed people who pound drums and rattle tambourines as they parade the streets
howling about the salvation of the soul can hardly be regarded as having well-balanced
minds. Certainly a verdict of temporary insanity would he the simplest way to dismiss the
countless religious crimes of the Middle Ages; and senile Rome, with the death-rattle in
her throat in the days of Constantine, set afloat mental microbes enough to poison the
whole solar system. May all her sins be forgiven her save the stupid Aeneid, with which
even now schoolboys are tortured, and the still stupider Paradise Lost, which was penned
in imitation of it.
Ancient philosophy, however, had no tendency toward nature-hating: its God was
the universe as a divine One, and the attributes of the One are the Good, the Beautiful and
the True, which ever seek to express themselves in the outer universe. Under the
inspiration of such a philosophy, art embodied the loveliest forms, science was the reverent
unveiling of nature's secrets, religion was spontaneous, and worship was an overflow of
joyousness. Not humbling himself before a distant and dreaded Deity, but exalting himself
in ecstatic contemplation of the all-pervading Spirit of Beauty and Truth, the ancient
philosopher was a lover of nature, and God's love welled up in his heart. Then to think was
to know, for the mind was clear as the cloudless sky, and the Sun of Truth illumined it.
But it has to he recognized that the blind forces inherent in the gross elements are
inimical to the divine potencies; and it is out of these gross elements that the physical man,
the Adam of clay, is molded. While the moderns look upon the brain as the centre of
thought, the ancients knew that the whole body thinks, and they located in it three great
centres of mental action, corresponding to the three worlds; also they took into account
mind in itself, which is utterly apart from the body. Therefore they speak of four "minds,"
and of four degrees of knowledge. Without the sound body there cannot be the sound
mind; nor can any one who is a slave to the animal passions, or swayed by longings and
desires, or blinded by religious fanaticism, have perfect mental health. To be of sound
mind, one must practice the four virtues: manliness, the fortitude which remains unshaken
by all the trials of material life; self control, the equilibrium which is undisturbed by the
emotions and desires of the psychic nature; discrimination, the acceptance of truths and
the rejection of irrational dogmas and opinions; and, as the syn-

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thesis of these three virtues, right-conduct, the full performance of duty in every department
of life. The attainment of each of these virtues led to its corresponding degree of
knowledge or wisdom; and the fourth was followed by spiritual illumination. This was the
path pursued by the ancient to make himself a man among men, in the expectation of
becoming a god among gods.

-------------

OUR HOPES
by Marcus

WHEN the disciple obtains his first momentary glimpse* of transfiguration, it is

because the character of his hopes has changed. Coexistent with desire is hope, for hope
has its rise in dissatisfaction.
Who is satisfied and at peace?
Only he who has transformed hope into faith, as he transmutes desire into Will.
But let us not belittle the office of desire, for were it not for this, the universe could
not be.
Because desire is the expression of an impulse originating in the one Centre - that
"from which all proceeds, to which all shall return" - there must always be unrest, but
through unrest comes growth.
The ordinary man is forever unsatisfied. Money, distinction, novelty, he may
possess and enjoy each in superlative degree, yet fail to find satisfaction. Having money,
he finds that it only turns to ashes, but still he keeps on accumulating, hoping with greater
riches to gain happiness.
Having social position, he still strives for the highest, and attaining it, is disappointed.
He turns from sensation to sensation, but in the end cries out in "vanity and vexation of
spirit."
This is because he has sought to reverse the method of the Centre. He has tried
to turn back, unchanged, that

------------
* Light on the Path, I. Note 6.
-----------

which it has already thrown out. He has given the Prodigal Son the husks that the swine
did eat.
 The divine energy, which is itself Compassion, has been, by its conductor, deflected
and reversed. It has been attracted from without. Hampered by its instrument, its effect
has been acquisitive. It has reached out through the lower mind to acquire, to enjoy, to
increase. Its object has been personal ease, comfort, commendation, prosperity.
Yet these are but necessary steps.*
Man learns all his lessons by the hardest methods. He refuses to learn them easily.
This is why the daily life and experience of each of us is calculated to show most glaringly
his weakest points. He constantly strives to cover his weaknesses, but is never forced to
conceal his good points. Rather he has often to drag virtue into the open, and label the
exhibit, in order to convince people of his possession. He has worked and toiled for gain,
desiring that which men call of value, hoping that with its acquisition would come
satisfaction - hoping that the cry of unrest which arises in the soul itself, could be stilled in
this way.
But the soul cannot be defrauded.
In time, perhaps after many lives of disappointment, when he has exhausted all that
men call dear, and still has not silenced the demand of the soul, he

--------------
* Light on the Path, I. Rule 20.
--------------
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stops and asks himself the meaning of it all. Heretofore he has asked the question only of
that which is outside of self.
At the moment when he puts the question clearly to himself, disentangling it from the
network in which all his consciousness has become involved - the soul replies.
There may fall upon his hearing at first only a faint echo of the reply.* He may not
realize that he has heard even this, but now there springs into being within his heart a hope
that is quickened into warmth and life by that answering current from the soul. And whether
he realizes it or not, there has begun a subtle change in the character of both desire and
hope.
He has hoped to find peace through the satisfaction of desire. He now hopes simply
that peace may be found, but trusts not himself to say how, nor when, nor where.
When the thought has once been directed toward the one Centre, it is more easily
guided at the next effort,** and as he questions himself again and again, as he looks
deeper, he sees clearly that that which he has so carefully and laboriously garnered and
guarded, has never nourished him. He has cultivated desire, but now the object of desire
has lost its value.
Still he hopes. Something must be which can and will satisfy, and together attracted
by the inner warmth and light, desire and hope turn toward that.

------------
* Light on the Path. Comment II.
** Ibid. Comment I.
------------
 When desire and hope turn inward, he begins at last to believe that the way can be
found, and when he institutes this condition, the soul again responds. Belief that he may
hear, has made hearing possible.
Still faintly comes the response, but its gently harmony once heard and recognized,
can never again be wholly ignored.*
And now he finds within himself a kingdom that he has not suspected to exist.
The long dynasty of personal hope is overthrown. The outward-going energy which
heretofore has been able to manifest only as a pleasure-seeking instinct, finding no longer
an outward magnet to which it is attracted, now yields to an interior current, and follows a
new line of least resistance. It finds a broader channel, and although in the lower nature,
there may be for a time some pain in loss, there must also be such gain that Desire, as
such, no longer exists. It ceases to act and to be, being transmuted, by Spiritual Alchemy,
into Aspiration. It has become a compeling power in the interests of the Real and the True.
It is now guided from within, and coming to the aid of the Will, is made one with the Will,
thus uplifting - evolving - accomplishing, to that extent, the purpose of Being.
That which was first hope and then belief, is now faith: faith that is one with
knowledge.

------------
* Light on the Path. Notes 5 and 6.
------------
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARRIAGE

By The Late A.C. Lindsay

THE question of The Philosophy of Marriage is coming daily more and more to the
front; men have of late
years bestirred themselves to consider the subject, not always from any very high motive,
but because if not their own children, those belonging to other people are getting to be
inconveniently numerous. That is to say, selfish man has had his own way, and does not
find it a success.
To the Political Economist is due the credit of having found out that there are too
many children, he finds them too numerous to feed and keep clean, and therefore says
"don 't have them." Whereupon kindly disposed folk have considered what can be done
or suggested to alter this very sad state of things, and the results of their considerations are
various plans for the limitation of progeny.
I have a general idea as to what some of these systems are, but must confess it is
a subject from which I recoil as from something unclean, but a knowledge of detail is not
necessary in judging as to whether they have started on the right path, and I clearly and
unhesitatingly say they have not.
Thanks be to the Allwise we cannot disobey His Law and yet escape from the
consequences of so doing, otherwise indeed we should quickly run down the steep to
destruction. Nature, the sweetest of friends, the most strength-giving of Mothers, becomes
an implacable foe to those who have the temerity to set themselves in defiance of her
obeying the voice of her Author, who says, "Thus far shalt thou go and no farther."
 But others are troubled on higher grounds than those of the Political Economist, their
ideas of purity and refinement are shocked by the state of things in the midst of which they
find themselves, the worst feature being the complacence with which that state is tolerated
by the majority.
The standard set up for general attainment is lamentably low, and the first thing to
be done seems to try and arouse the consciences of those capable of being awakened to
a higher ideal. At the present time, Man is looked upon as a creature unendowed with the
instincts of the lower animals and acting of his own free will, and yet, except theoretically,
he does not act of his own will but is more or less the puppet of his lower passions, by the
action of which latter he is often brought into circumstances far removed from what he
would have wished, bringing upon others anxieties and trouble for which perhaps they are
unprepared.
The Natural Guardian of men's morals, namely the Church, sanctions marriage, that
of Rome reserving the higher (as she thinks) state of celibacy for her Priests, and the
Anglican allowing the same freedom to clergy and laity alike. They each advocate practical
purity in the unmarried of both sexes, and expect it to be found amongst women of nurture,
but are somewhat hopeless as regards men. Faithfulness to the one woman is all they ask
or expect of the married.
And here we will pause to notice the difference plainly to be seen by those not
wilfully blind, between Divine and Human teaching. Christ when asked on these subjects
said that "All men cannot receive this saying save they to whom it is given." An answer
admirably calculated to disarm the insincere, at the same time allowing endless possibilities

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to those really seeking light, and putting no stumbling block in the path of the mediocre, by
ideas which though as high as they could at that moment grasp, were not so high as should
be hoped for.
On the other hand, St. Paul in answering questions on the subject, after explaining
that he had "no commandment of the Lord" gives palliative advice, whereby showing that
the moment man essays to speak without the "Command of the Lord" he is likely to lower
the ideal.
This would have been plainly seen by the Church had she kept her own eye single,
and employed all her energies in maintaining Truth, instead of using them in trying to prove
her own infallibility and authority: but the Church has never led the people as she might
have done had she humbly followed in the footsteps of the Master, but has assisted in
perpetuating, and in some cases originating error, and it is only when her doings become
intolerable to the consciences of the people, that they are roused to insist on reformation.
Undoubtedly at the present time a very beautiful idea of marriage exists silently in
the hearts of some, but the ideas of society in general are such that the subject is shunned
by common consent, and our women are brought up in absolute ignorance of it, as it is not
supposed they could maintain the purity that comes naturally to them and yet look forward
with equanimity, still less with pleasure to what awaits them once passed the Hymeneal
Altar. It is true that with a true woman the joy is great of loving and being loved, supplying
as it does an absolute need of her nature, and this joy goes far to reconcile to what seems
to have become the inevitable, but alas! that her own sweetness and large heartedness
should only have proved the means of leading to a decided drop in her moral status, which
deplorable fact, she sees clearly only when the glamour of delight at being so intensely
loved begins to wane; for love (by which I mean love in the popular sense) dependent as
it is, at least to some extent on physical conditions, cannot last a joy for ever, and rarely
lasts long on the man's part, although much more enduring on the woman's.
But to think of the general state of things as they are, and then turn to what they
might be, is enough to make angels weep. Why will not man learn to know himself and
respect the God-implanted powers that are within him, instead of being content to remain
actually living in a less rational manner than the brute creation.
Want of faith in himself is greatly the cause of his moral progress being so slow as
to seem almost like standing still. He will not allow that there is a spirit within him requiring
first to be recognized and then to be nourished and strengthened; and yet there are times,
in the lives of many of the more cultivated men at least, when they seem under a holy
influence, and when to indulge in passion would be an impossibility. This is generally when
the higher nature has been deeply affected, as on the death of a dear one, or the more
delightful state of loving deeply a pure woman.
Those who have had these feelings will be ready to consider the reason why the
animal passions have at other times so undue a power, and in considering this subject we
might search back generations and still find causes that are bearing effects in the present;
but as we cannot undo the past we will content ourselves with glancing at things as we find
them and begin by noting the code of morals generally adopted in preparing our youths to
battle with the world.
They are taught to be truthful, and honest, brave, industrious, courteous, and many
other good things, all of which subjects can be talked about, preached about and written
about, but on the all important subject of chastity

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little is done or said, and how unreasonable this is.

If our ideas of honesty were so obscure as for it to be allowed that the wish to
possess could not be controlled, and that we were justified in taking what belonged to
another whenever opportunity occurred, should we not find coveteousness and greed very
much on the increase? or if we considered the habit of drinking stimulants rather a manly
virtue than otherwise, should we not succeed in training up a vast number of uncontrollable
inebriates? What grounds then have we to hope that, having left the sexual instinct of
youth not only untaught but open to any vile influence that may have come in its way, the
results would be as near perfection as they might with better training become?
I do not overlook the fact that with regard to the vice of impurity we must remember
that it comes in direct contact with strong physiological laws, and although training can do
much, do not for a moment assert that an ordinarily selfish man could be educated into
complete control of his passions, but it is the very fact of his being possessed of these that
makes it the more necessary that he should be reared in a morally pure atmosphere and
have every advantage that education can supply. But too often the reverse is the case.
Public School Masters and others seem to feel the matter of uncleanness is beyond them
to deal with, that if an inkling of wrong comes to their ears they must take no notice, partly
because it would seem as if the boys told of each other, and also it would be like prying into
the boy's inmost soul. The boys 'code of honor should certainly be respected, although I
could wish it were a little more respectable, but they have got their ideas from somewhere
and even their code, conservative though it be, might improve if sufficient influence was
brought to bear upon it.
I feel convinced that the true reason schoolmasters and others are powerless, or
nearly so, to deal with this matter is a much deeper one than those usually given. The real
reason is that their own position is illogical. I once heard a fast young man reply to a friend
who was trying to point out the wrong of immorality: "Oh, morality! as for that, morality is
only a matter of degree"; and according to the teaching of his church and society in
general his position was unanswerable, but he was wrong.
Morality has no degree, immorality has many degrees; just as there is no degree
in honesty, but many in dishonesty, no degree in truth, many degrees of untruthfulness;
and so with purity. Purity like truth is not to be tampered with, and we must put ourselves
in a safer position if we would impress others, and not say, "I may be impure to a limited
extent, it is natural, but you must not be more impure than allowed by the standard I have
set up." We do not say it in so many words, but rather gloss over with conventionalism,
and try to hold up our heads as though our consciences were all right, but they are not all
right, neither ought they be.
And with regard to parents, let me ask why it is that they cannot bear to touch upon
these subjects even with their own children, when they know it would be so much to their
children's advantage? Having asked the question I will answer it. Because their own lives
are not sufficiently pure, and they are constrained to throw the fig leaves of ambiguity over
the entire subject, leaving to others who have not their delicacy the opportunity of poisoning
the minds of those who would, in many instances, be just as open to receive good as bad
teaching. Bad influence brought to bear on the young mind produces passions and feelings
for which nature is in no way responsible, and which being awakened prematurely lead to
all kinds of evil, not the least of which is the fact that men have come to look upon what is,
as what must be, and confuse the natural ins-

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tincts with the abnormal growth produced by a faulty civilization. The mind like the body
develops according to what it feeds upon, and the moral atmosphere must be pure if our
youths are to grow up pure, not necessarily ignorant, for in the present state of society,
ignorance often means danger, and although the less a child's mind is burdened with
subjects in advance of its growth the better, still a child would be happier and healthier if
acquainted with the physiological laws of his being, before he leaves his mother's side, than
allowed to mix with his fellows whilst still ignorant of any of those laws, and receive his first
knowledge on so momentous a subject, through the distorted medium of an unclean mind.
These latter thoughts apply chiefly to our male growth, and although a much more
guarded plan is adopted with our girls, there is still great room for improvement. To keep
every fact from them seems to be the aim, and the result is pitiable in the extreme.
Sometimes total ignorance, more often a mixture of crude knowledge and ignorance,
brought about by the attempt to keep the young mind in the dark being but imperfectly
carried out, and accidental facts becoming known without any chance of proper
explanation, and at the root of the matter is the bare fact that the mothers cannot tell their
daughters the truth, - it is not sufficiently chaste and they shrink from speaking. A general
dissatisfaction with things as they are is growing on every side. Many fathers recoil from
giving their daughters in marriage and many a mother dreads parting with her daughter
knowing what grave reasons there are for doubting her future happiness.
The physical side of marriage has received attention and importance out of
proportion to its deserts, or necessities, inasmuch as it has been considered the summum
bonum of marriage; neither has the placing of it in this position been to ensure the
perfection of the race, or in accordance with reasonable conclusions which might be arrived
at even on physical grounds, but because man loses control of himself having called up
that within him that masters his will.
Although the perpetuating of our species is a very important duty, and when the
result of willing to do right, a very ennobling one, two souls can exist in complete harmony,
even if circumstances negative their having children. I know of a case of two people who
married before their worldly position was sufficiently established, in their friends' opinion,
to warrant their doing so. But the girl was overworked, having taught in a school for several
years, and the man craved for a home, and her society; so he resolved to have no children
until their circumstances improved. The great love he bore that woman prevented passion
ever assuming a higher place than God intended it should, and their happiness was greater
than "The Many" could understand. Unfortunately it is only "The Few" who can believe in
the utter and complete mastery to be attained by man 's higher nature over the lower, but
it needs only the longing after purity to once take possession of his heart for the power of
self-control to grow, soon to develop into a power, to lose which would be to lose all that
he most prizes.
Nothing on this earth can surpass the ecstacy felt by men and women thus standing
free from the thraldom of the lower self. The mind may then be allowed to reason on the
subject without fear of being worsted or of having to tolerate the inward discord between
the "still small voice" and worldly wisdom, a disagreement seldom alluded to, but which,
from the fact of the "still small voice" being smothered in the controversy, is continually
sapping our spiritual vitality, bringing as a consequence a state of depression and
joylessness affecting both mind and body, and defying all efforts to cure.

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Owing to self-sufficiency and love of ease, those in the foremost ranks have not
recognized the imperative need for them to move onward, but nevertheless the need is
there, and those in the van of civilization will have to acknowledge that they must lead
reform by first reforming themselves.
----------------

FEAR AND FEARLESSNESS

by Poeri

THE average mind, thoughtless and careless excepting as relates to the externals
of life, fails to observe the overpowering influence which fear, and the lack of it, exert on
human life.
 In order that we may be placed on a common basis of understanding, let us at once
raise ourselves above the lower plane, and consider only, the higher mental, and semi-
spiritual (the semi-spiritual is emphasized to distinguish it from the truly spiritual, as the
latter is an absolutely fearless plane of action).
Cesar said, "the unseen most powerfully affects the minds of men." The force of this
statement will be better appreciated when we consider the attitude of the human mind
towards the Law of Cause and Effect.
The "First Cause" has ever been the great mystery which, with fear and trembling,
man has tried to discover hidden behind the ever visible Effect. Governed largely by his
unreasoning fear, man yet dimly senses some great cause concealed within the storm, -
the earthquake, - and the raging sea. He emphasizes his ignorance by embodying this fear
in a revengeful personal Devil, and a wrathful personal God.
In his dense ignorance, and the resulting abject fear, he offers them propitiatory
sacrifice of everything, but his selfish desires, until finally, in his despair and desperation,
he often turns, in mock bravery, and curses both; yet he has not freed himself from fear;
he is still in the snare of illusion, set for the self-sufficient, the inexperienced and unwary
traveler.
During this period of illusion, fear plays the important role; - fear of the unseen, the
intangible.
Men seek to embody this invisible something, in a form visible to the physical eye,
or at best, make for it a mental form before which they fall in trembling adoration.
The African savage falls prostrate before a wooden God made by his own hand, and
in his own image. His more evolved brother does the same before his own mind-made,
man-imaged God. Which has the advantage in point of honesty and consistency? Both
are governed by fear of the unseen, which the visible, to them represents, but is not
understood. This fact is recognized and taken advantage of, by those who seek control
and power, for selfish purposes. With these objects in view, they seek to hold men in
ignorance of the cause, or reason for what is observed. This leads to doubt, and
questioning, and provides the opportunity for the "blind guide" to attain to temporary
prominence by posing as a "great light," and the poor unfortunates, wandering in the
darkness, are lured to their destruction, as the moth is to the candle.
There is another class of people who are best described by the old saying, "fools
rush in where angels fear to tread."
People who possess a sort of fearlessness, based upon almost absolute igno-

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rance and over-mastering self conceit, - these, the unprincipled power-seeker plays upon,
and leads, by flattery, and praise of their "marked ability and fearlessness." He places
them in positions of prominence where they, in blissful ignorance, act as his tools. If a
friend cautions them of their danger, they are promptly warned against being influenced by
fear, - they, brave, intelligent, thinking men and women, to be frightened! absurd! The
friend, who has stood by and helped them through good and evil report; who has tried to
strengthen them by never yielding to nor indulging their weaknesses, is held up to them and
the public, as an enemy, masquerading in the guise of a friend - as a dangerous person,
who is seeking control and power by prostituting the sacred relationship of friend and
counselor.
By such methods do unprincipled men seek power and place. In the past some
have raised themselves to positions of prominence only to be ultimately hurled down into
shame and oblivion, by their awakened dupes.
The whole field of history is strewn with such lamentable wreckage - landmarks of
human weakness and folly, left to warn the oncoming brothers to use Caution and
Discernment; to discriminate between the "worthy" and "unworthy" - the true and the false
guide and teacher; to learn that it is one of man's highest duties, to judge his fellow, not
by the spoken word, but by the work accomplished, be it good or evil.
"The great orphan humanity," has paid dearly for these lessons, learned while
traveling the apparently barren wastes of life, on its toilsome return march towards the
dawning light of Truth.
The Great Cycle just closed, haply found many of these weary pilgrims, transformed
by the fire of past experiences, into warriors, strong, bold and fearless; equipped and
ready to march into the New Cycle - into the New Order of things, without questioning or
doubt; thoughtful only of the great fact, that finally, they had stepped out into the light; that
they were possessed by an overwhelming desire to return and help those brothers who
were yet lost in the darkness which they had left behind. These fearless ones then saw the
Moses who had led them up out of the wilderness; with great joy they recognized an old
friend, comrade and Leader who had helped and led them many times during their fierce
battles and weary marches of the past. Would they not hasten to renew their pledge of
trust, devotion, and allegiance to such an one, regardless of the warning cries of those
whom they had met many times in the realms of darkness out of which they themselves
had passed?
They had "paid the price'' - they had learned to discriminate between the "worthy"
and the unworthy" brother - between the children of light and the children of darkness.
They had "slain the slayer," and banished the great illusion of self. What had they to fear,
now that the landscape, and the whole universe was to them made gloriously radiant in the
light of the Spiritual Sun. Now the dark places were made light, and the hearts of men
were to them as open books. They had found Freedom, not from, but in the Law of right
action - Independence from self - Autonomy with the Universe.
In finding the oneness of all things, they had made the acquaintance of all. The
Devil of Fear had disappeared, and in its place stood the Fearless God-Man. They had
dared to entertain the mental conception that God is Human, and by doing this they had
discovered that Humanity is Divine and should be, through the practice of Brotherhood, the
highest expression of Deity.

-----------------
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THEOSOPHY AND UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.

by Zoryan

(Continued)

AFTER reading what the Secret Doctrine says of the Third Race, one could dream
and dream through ages about the grandeur and the beauty of those beings. Well it is to
know, that our ethereal bodies were free, luminous and dew-fresh, when they descended
with the First Race upon this earth, and that this state will foreshadow the future after the
primeval purity is regained. But infinitely better is it to know that the core of our Being, the
inner Fire, the Heart and free ideal Mind are of the same substance as that living, breathing
and changeless Truth, on which the whole Universe is hinged and in which it floats,
reflecting it in a thousand ways in every atom, man and world.
As much of that Truth, as informs a planet is called the Logos, and as much of it
again as informs a man is called his Spirit, and they are really the same, though difference
in vehicles makes the manifestations seem unlike. And again the manifestations are
different because ideas can be manifested only imperfectly and in part, just as in geometry
the great, invisible and unprovable space becomes visible by its numerous dividing and
subdividing films: points, lines, superficies and solids in their exhaustless and yet
harmonious combinations. And yet these floating fragile films are really dividing
themselves; the space remains as ever unchanged, unmoved and undivided, and it is
always invisible and seemingly vacuous in itself, - but in order to see this vacuity, the
resting films for the eye are necessary between which we see the space as interspaces.
Yes, these films, the only things we see physically, we see only as limits to our sight and
limits to those invisible inter-spaces which give breadth and depth to the universe, and
which are the only things, though invisible, which really concern us in our geometric
relations with this world.
As space to form, as darkness to color, and as silence to sound, so is the all-
embracing divine spirit to every manifestation of matter, - interpreter, container and
expounder of its own spacious changeless Self; whose numberless ideal Rays are defined
by their shadowy ends. Yet the inner core of every Spirit-Ray between the defining matter-
shadows (for every limited idea has its limits and its shadows in itself), that inner core, the
Secret Doctrine says, is void of matter, as we know it. It has mystic breadth and depth and
is of the same nature as Divinity itself, from which it is never divided, for even the limits
hang in It and can not cut it, just as a man cannot cut space with a knife.
Thus this great Fire of the core, the Fire which has no limits, for it is within and
without all limits, ever the same, pure, clear, untrammeled, unconfined, therefore above all,
understanding all, this is the Divine Fire, the pure celestial dewdrop in the opened lotus of
man's soul, the only treasure which keeps the soul ever fresh and golden and like unto one
of the immortal gods.
Then the soul itself is that vehicle, that lotus flower opened to the celestial sunny
dew and whose prison of matter is pierced by the divine shafts of light, whose ideas are
sunny rays escaping from their prisons of finality with the

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radiance of Love to all that lives and breathes, whose defining films, under the impact of
this expansive tender force become more and more clear as some roseate gauzy clouds
proclaiming the glory of the Sun, - and this is the great, golden, all including omniscient Fire
of the radiance of the unity of all ideas resting in one Bliss - the second Fire, which is the
Divine Fire of the Heart.
Then again the glorious Swallow of the interspaces of the Radiant Stars of the Heart,
their Messenger and Ray from each to all, the Builder of the moving systems of the
manifestations of the Radiant Truth, which are its collective speech (the Third Logos), the
Bird which dives into the depths to save, what it has lost in the past, those dreams dropped
from Unity and Truth, the Light in transit, the dark Son of Radiance dissolved in the skies,
the Light-bearer, the destroyer of the dark limits, the daring Liberator and Regenerator of
Mankind, - the third Divine Fire, the Angelic Mind.
These are the three Stars of the Eternal Radiance resting on dreamy mortal man
and awakening his dreams to the consciousness of that great gleaming Self of Wisdom and
of Light which needs no fuel to feed upon, for it is itself the fiery Fountain of all life, the
knower and container of all things.
Where are the words, where are the colors, where is the music to relate the greatest
mystery of life? Words but confine that which opens our prison-house of time and space;
colors but darken the pure, the beautiful, the crystalline translucency visible to its endless
end; sounds but still the joy of the eternal silent Breath - where no sound is first and no
sound is last and the great harmony is only heard.
No! by no outward means comes the great initiation of the human Race. But simply,
when the many cease to speak, the One is heard, "the inner sound which kills the outer."
Brotherhood, therefore, thus understood, is the only means of opening the way.
When a Son of Will and Yoga* begins to see in his clear rosy skies the dearest smile
of the Eternal, the same above, around, and everywhere, then he completely forgets his
power of the outer seeing and the shadow of its form, for that smile is so enchanting, so
self-sufficient, that the beguiling current of events ceases. The Eternal alone remains,
victorious, alone, ideal, true, as if to say: "It is of me that all dreams strive to say; and after
me, that all the runners chase, and with my flashes, that all the ripples of the water sparkle.
All forms in a different way express my endless form. All ideas are but symbols of the great
Truth of mine. All loves seek only me in all the husks of shadows. And though I speak to
thee in a different way than to others, and though I am a seemingly different Being, born
of thy own divine and undying radiance and of all thy past, yet am I a Ray of the same
Eternal, that is seen everywhere and in all forms, for it remains the same forever, unseen,
formless, timeless and causeless in thy own inmost depths. Thou hast awakened? Then
know: with me, and with my Golden Heart and my Star of Truth in its Divine Bosom thou
shalt forever abide."
And what if a man dies?
The radiant smile of the Eternal yet remains on the soul 's glorious skies, and in it
is all the blessed lustre of the Heaven-World. Dreams upon dreams pass before the soul;
and as the golden mountains loom beyond its view and glorify the beauty of the scene, so
the Radiance of the Heart Divine shines from beyond the dreams and makes them true.
Those moments lived on earth when it flashed through the shadowy curtain of man's life,
like summer lightning flashes through the gauzy film of fleecy clouds, those moments never
cease in the still air of the

--------------
* Secret Doctrine, II, 173.
--------------
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Heaven-World. For they are now radiant dreams, the thought-flowers of the Angelic Mind.
Their roots grow in the golden soil of the heart, their flowers wave towards those brothers
whom they help, and to the earthly dwellers they seem as some strange and fanciful plants,
growing upside down. In the musical stillness, in the electric freshness of the Heaven-
World the soul holds sway, and the fiery fountain of life leaps high into the balmy air and
its waters are fragrant, bright and clear. Here at last the heart may send forth its radiance
undisturbed, and learn the depth of its own powers, and so prepare for the next battle in
the earth-world, though it is all wrapped in its sweet dreams, yet it is not itself, but others
that it sees, and in those others it hears the echo-music of the Universal Heart. So this
heaven-world is not a phantasm, but rather the great shore of the infinite ocean of Life
Divine, where are the echo-murmuring sea-shells with their imprisoned sprites, whose
melodious plaint whispers so sweetly its accord with the victorious song of the World-Soul's
ceaseless waves.

(To be continued)
------------------

The Supreme Critic on all the errors of the past and the present, and the only
prophet of that which must be, is that great nature in which we rest, as the earth lies in the
soft arms of the atmosphere; that Unity, that Over-Soul, within which every man's particular
being is contained and made one with all other; that common heart, of which all sincere
conversation is the worship, to which all right action is submission; that overpowering
reality which confutes our tricks and talents, and constrains every one to pass for what he
is, and to speak from his character and not from his tongue; and which evermore tends
and aims to pass into our thought and hand, and become wisdom, and power, and beauty.
We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul
of the whole; the wise silence, the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is
equally related; the eternal ONE. - Emerson, The Over-Soul.
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THE SOKRATIC CLUB

by Solon

(Continued)

THE next time I visited the Club was shortly after the annual Convention, which was
attended by members from all over the country. As I had been unable to be present, being
away, traveling at the time, I was naturally anxious to hear some account of the
proceedings for I had known beforehand that some radical changes were to be proposed.
These I found had been adopted by an overwhelming majority, though a few, a mere
handful of people, to whom I have already referred, thought they had been very badly
treated because they couldn't have control of the Club. And because the great majority
would not go their way, but recognized a leader in the work in which the Club was engaged
and had accepted that leader with supreme power in the highest office in the Club for life,
the minority declared the majority to be all in the wrong, to be hypnotized, to be worshipers
of a person, to have given up all freedom of action and in fact to be altogether deluded. So
the three or four chief dissenters with their handful of followers met in solemn conclave and
solemnly declared that the majority were no longer members of the Club but that they - the
few - would still uphold it and carry on its work. This, briefly, was what I learned in
conversation in a very few minutes after I arrived at the Club Headquarters.
"But," I said, "isn't it absurd, ludicrous, for a small minority to take that attitude? By
what sort of reasoning do they presume to hold this position? Have they possession of
these Headquarters and Club-rooms or the archives or anything that would entitle them to
call themselves the Club? What have they, anyway, to support them in their claim?"
Mr. Moore. - "Absolutely nothing."
Mrs. Wilding. - "I think you forget one thing, Mr. Moore."
Mr. Moore. - "What is that?"
Mrs. Wilding. - "Why, their mainstay and great support, the mysterious unknown and
unknowable, from whom Mr. Grover receives his directions."
Mr. Moore. - "A sort of dark horse in fact. Though rather an unknown quantity I
imagine. I thought that at least Mr. Penta prided himself on his 'horse-sense.' He is
certainly very fond of talking about it, though where it comes in following a dark horse, I
can't say."
Solon. - "What would happen, I wonder, if some of the minority began to investigate
this 'dark horse.' It is a marvel to me how the much-directed Mr. Grover contrived to
persuade even the few to cast in their lot with him. Well, he will find that the American
public are not so gullible as he evidently expected, though his few faithful followers may be.
But how did he manage it?"
Mrs. Wilding. - "Perhaps I can throw a little light upon it. These people love mystery
and it is really surprising what a little red chalk and a few mysterious messages judiciously
distributed among the worthy will accomplish. I can count among my close friends almost
a dozen on whom this little game has been tried. They did not accept the bait however as
they had a little more common human - not horse - sense than our young friend credited
them with. But in other cases flattery and the honor - very question-

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able, I should say - of receiving one of these messages turned the poor fools' heads. Then
there were one or two hurried journeys and private consultations, all so gratifying to the
vanity and conceit of the participants."
Solon. - "Oh, yes. We do so like to be consulted. In fact the Universe would be run
much better if the Almighty would but take our advice and profit by our wide experience, -
dontcher know! "
Mrs. Wilding. - "That is just it. All these people thought they ought to be consulted.
Hadn't they been members of the Club for so many years and it had always been run in a
certain way and it always should be run in just that way? But there was one other little
scheme they worked for all it was worth. They sent out the report that all the important
members favored their plan, that they had a great majority and wrote to many in the country
we shall win and they, meaning us, will lose."
Mr. Moore. - "But I imagine they somewhat overreached themselves for their
electioneering circular was finally signed by only seventeen names some of whom I never
heard of before. What an awakening it must have been to Grover and Penta to find out of
over three hundred members present only fifteen or twenty supporting them. And poor
Mrs. Keaton who dreamed that her mind born son was the idol of the Club, I really pity her.
It must be a great care to have such a son, and I suppose he told her they would sweep
the country. The Convention must indeed have been a sad awakening for her."
Mrs. Wilding. - "But there is one man who is happy and that is Mr. Penta. At last the
one dream of his life has been realized. In some funny sort of way the minority of the old
governing committee representing the ridiculously small minority of the members elected
him to three offices; Vice-President, Acting President, and Treasurer."
Solon. - "Ah! that accounts for it. I met him the other day and I couldn't understand
what was the matter with him. He held his chin so high and was so puffed out and had
such an air of importance that the sidewalk really wasn't broad enough. But I understand
it now. It does seem funny though; something of the same order of a man's persuading
a half dozen people to agree to call him President of the United States after the whole
country had elected another man as President. But if it gratifies Mr. Penta to consider
himself Vice-President, Acting President and Treasurer of the Club why should we deprive
him of the pleasure. It is a sort of harmless delusion, it can't hurt anyone and it certainly
is a considerable source of amusement. But I do not think our President's actions will be
at all affected thereby. Poor Penta! To what lengths will not horse-sense drive a man!
And poor Grover! By this time I imagine he regrets he is even so much as a point in space,
which used to be his favorite conception of himself, though I always thought a line slightly
bent suited him much better. Perhaps he is experiencing some of the dreadful Karma he
prophesied for others. You remember what he said to some of the devoted old ladies;
'Wait just a little longer, just a little more patience.' I guess they will have to wait a long
time."
Mrs. Wilding. - "Suppose we now go and join the Professor at the other end of the
room. He and Miss Holdy and Mr. Berger have been talking for the past half hour and I am
sure they must have struck some very interesting subject."
We all agreed to this and Dr. Roberts coming in at that moment also joined the party.
Miss Holdy as usual had been plying the Professor with questions with all the enthusiasm
of a young and earnest member. They had evidently been talking about the new Universal
organization of which the Club had now become a part.

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Miss Holdy. - "But, Professor, I do not understand what you mean by a spiritual basis
to the society. If it were a religious organization it would be all right. All religions claim to
have a spiritual basis but while this organization is for the purpose of helping everyone it
isn't religious in the ordinary sense, at least not as I understand it."
The Professor. - "But it is religious in the true sense. To paraphrase Christ's words;
religion is not saying Lord, Lord, but doing the will of the Father, i.e., of the divine nature
within each. Then another writer of the New Testament says in effect that pure religion is
to do good and keep one's self unspotted from the world. No one can truly be said to live
unless he has and recognizes a spiritual basis to his nature. And an organization which
aims to elevate humanity must also have and recognize a spiritual basis if it is to
accomplish its aims."
 Dr. Roberts. - "I must say that your ideas, Professor, seem very far-fetched and
visionary, but perhaps I don't quite catch your meaning. Please explain what you mean by
a spiritual basis. I can understand a good solid material basis but I confess a spiritual one
somewhat puzzles me."
Mr. Berger. - "Well, Doctor, you have at least heard the spiritual nature of man
spoken of as being the very essence of man's life, and of which the very highest and
noblest qualities are but reflections and manifestations such as compassion, love and self-
sacrifice. It seems to me if you grant that man has this spiritual nature which links him to
the divine in all men and in all Nature that any organization which seeks to aid humanity
and evoke these qualities in the lives of men must have them represented to a greater or
less degree in its own ranks.
The Professor. - "Yes, but we must go a step further. One of Nature's great
purposes in evolution is to build up more and more perfect organisms and the
distinguishing feature of an organism is a central controlling force or life. It may be seen
in the hypothetical molecule, in a crystal, plant, animal and man; in a world and in a system
of worlds. In fact it is the central, controlling, guiding life that makes this universe a
Kosmos and not chaos. And this is true not only of an individual man but of races. The
whole of humanity tends to become an organism. Look at man, his body composed of
myriads of individual 'lives,' each having its own life, its own consciousness. What we call
the man himself is but an individual 'life' on a higher plane of development who is able to
synthesize these myriads of 'lives' into an organism, thus helping each individual life while
as an instrument they furnish him with the means of further development."
Dr. Roberts. - "That is all very well in regard to man, or a plant, or even a world, but
I cannot see that your theory applies to a body of people. What would become of the free-
will of the individual?"
The Professor. - "Suppose we take one fact that concerns the whole human race.
Physically considered man is confined to the limits of the earth's surface. There is a central
controlling force governing this earth and all beings upon it to which man is completely
subservient in his present state of evolution. What we call the laws of nature are but the
varied expressions of this central controlling force or life and are the means by which it
acts. We are subject to these laws willy nilly and cannot transgress them without paying
the penalty."
Dr. Roberts. - "Yes, I grant that."
The Professor. - "Then you will be able to follow me when I say that there is a central
controlling force on every plane which man cannot escape from. There are laws governing
the psychic world, the mental world and the spiritual world. And as man progresses in
evolution and

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begins to live consciously with knowledge of the law his power increases to act with or
contrary to the law, hence his greater responsibility which comes with knowledge.
"Now suppose a number of men and women awake to some knowledge of
themselves and their responsibility, this very fact would link them together. But even
though they came together and formed an association still another factor is required to
make of that association a living organism. In every association and community the need
of this is felt and various are the means by which it is attempted to supply it. I mean that
the controlling force must be represented by and centred in a person. But neither in the
case of hereditary rulers, nor of rulers or chief officers elected by the people or in any other
way now in use among nations or communities can this factor be so supplied as to insure
the highest good. The government of no nation nor community nor even city is perfect
today. As has been so often shown in times of crisis in the history of the world a leader is
such by virtue of his own powers and because of his focusing and representing certain
powers in himself, and no election nor hereditary right can confer upon anyone the qualities
of leadership. Then granting such a person with the qualities of leadership there will be
those who recognize him or her and who not giving up their will or their freedom yet
exercise both will and freedom in following that leader. Now, if the association thus formed,
whether it be national or some society or club, if its purposes be along the lines of nature,
and for the progress of humanity - to that extent will it become a true organism, each of its
parts being as intimately related one to another and to the leader as are the various organs
and cells of the body related one to another and to the heart."
Dr. Roberts. - "Well, I must say it sounds all very well. It is quite a beautiful
conception, but a little too Utopian, I imagine, for it to be accomplished even in a hundred
years."
The Professor. - "Doctor, it is going on under your very eyes. The history of this
Club is the history of the formation of an organism, and at last nearly all the members have
awakened to the fact, - though some always recognized it - that for true progress there
must be a central controlling life, and happily they have recognized the one in whom that
life is centred, and who can and will guide and direct this work of uplifting humanity, which
is the main object of our organization. The organization is thus becoming an organism, just
as man is an organism, having its outer and its inner nature, its heart and various organs,
and being linked through its heart to the higher spiritual powers in nature. This is the basis
of its true life, and upon this depends its continuance as a living body."
Dr. Roberts. - "As you know, Professor, I am not a metaphysician, but of a very
materialistic frame of mind. I have some more questions to ask, but will defer them until
another time, as I do not want to monopolize your attention."
The Professor. - "Oh, don't think of that, Doctor, but I must leave you now, as I have
other duties to attend to. Au revoir."

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THE KINDERGARTEN OF THEOSOPHY

by Marie A.J. Watson

CHAPTER VIII.
THE MIND AND ITS DUAL POWERS - THE THEOSOPHICAL VIEW OF DEATH
- THE FREEDOM OF THE SOUL THROUGH CONQUEST OVER THE LOWER NATURE.
ACCORDING to the theosophic enumeration, mind in man is the fifth principle and
is dual in its character. It functions on the lower plane when it attaches itself to the lower
quarternary, when its desires are only to seek the gratification of the personality, the life of
sensation. When the mind functions on the higher planes, it attaches itself to the higher
principles and so becomes the triad, the only permanent part of man. The mind represents
the midway point, as it were, in the journey of matter returning to spirit. It lies within the
power of each one of us, whether we will march on, or turn back like Lot's wife, and dwell
upon what we have left behind. Being turned into a pillar of salt has an esoteric meaning,
which may be read thus: That by continually looking back, and dwelling upon the material
planes, and by longing and desiring not to part with these delights of the animal man, we
get lost in the jungles of sense-life, and the mind becomes crystalized as it were, in a fixed
condition, which only the breath of the spirit can dissolve. To overcome this condition is
a difficult thing, it is the time of choice. "Many are called, but few are chosen." The chosen
are those who have received the truths into deeper soil. They are few, not because of any
arbitrary selection, or of any limitation of Divine love. Nature is not silent regarding the
spiritual life. The lack is in us; we insistently limit to our material uses, the disclosures of
nature. Our spiritual insight must be awakened to the divine truths in which she manifests
the Father's Love. Jesus said: "The truth shall make you free." Freedom not from the
world, but from the power of the worldly. The spiritual life has the discipline of discipleship,
it means to cultivate patience, tolerance, charity, love, it is an entire submission of the lower
self to the higher. Thus takes place the crucifixion of each unto his own saviour, who was
born within himself.
Now what has Theosophy to say upon the subject of death? It teaches that when
the soul leaves the body, it retires from a life of activity into a state of subjectivity; it is a
rest for the soul just as sleep is a rest for the body after a day of toil. This state is called
Devachan, it is heaven, each man makes his own. Necessarily this states varies with each
Ego. All the experiences of one lifetime, are embodied after death within the astral form;
then all experiences that pertain to the higher nature, that is, all the unselfish thoughts and
deeds, all the good we have done, are separated from the selfish and evil. The Ego
assimilates the experiences relating to the spiritual nature withdrawing from the lower mind
principle, and rests in a state of supreme bliss, where all its aspirations are realized, and
every good is strengthened and ripened. This state is an ideal reflection of the late
personality. The duration of this period would be in proportion to the spiritual experiences
of the Ego, and when these are exhausted, the Ego refreshed, rewarded for all the good,
is now ready to start anew into a life of activity.

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What has become of the evil, the selfishness left behind? The physical body and
the astral body are now disintegrated, but the production of mind cannot perish. All the
selfish desires, the impure thoughts, the evil conduct, these collectively form an entity, a
force, which lives on its own plane. The Ego emerging from the blissful state ready to
incarnate is attracted to its bundle of errors by right of ownership; this is the load of sin it
must take upon its own back, this is the "original sin," with which the new personality is
tainted. It now, however, has another opportunity of making good former deficiencies. The
Ego selects its physical parents, to furnish it with a body adapted to its needs, it seeks that
channel which offers the best opportunity for its further development. This selection is of
course always limited by Karmic law. The Ego before coming into material life again knows
itself, knows just what progress it has made, but when it becomes again entangled in the
new personality this knowledge becomes dim, and often wholly obscured.
 The personality, composed of the old selfishness and ignorance, separates itself in
thought from its own Ego. In its material combination it thinks only of its own personal
comfort, characteristic of the animal nature. Yet it dimly feels the power above it, the
thread that links it to some superior force, and so it fashions in its lower and limited mind
a God outside of itself. It forgets all knowledge of the existence of its own higher nature.
Therefore must a man be born again ere he can enter the kingdom of Heaven. When the
knowledge of the Higher nature has been born in the lower mind of man, when the desires
of the personality have become one with the desires and aspirations of the Ego, the
spiritual soul of man, then is man regenerated or born again. So we see that Theosophy
considers that life without death would be like an endless day, a prison house of the soul.
It would be as if the sun stood firmly fixed at noon, forever preventing the larger illumination
of his setting. So we welcome death, not because of the sorrow and burden of life, but
because of its joy, not because of our pessimism or despair, but because of our faith and
knowledge. We thus welcome Death that life may be more full. It is not that death
translates us from one place to another, we can never be transplanted into the kingdom of
heaven, it is planted in us. By deeds of kindness, by charity, by love for our neighbor do
we irrigate the soil of the lower nature and prepare it for the seed of the tree of life. Like
Jesus, we must gain the victory over death, over that which must die, the personality.
When the soul has attained complete power over the body then she becomes free.
Then she needs no more experience in matter, then has she earned eternal rest, which in
Eastern literature is termed Nirvana. This state is not annihilation. The Ego is not hindered
from exercising its own will power - the consciousness which has grown and expanded into
Godlike power, how can this be annihilated? But the Ego realizes that it is no longer an
entity apart by itself, setting up a force of its own. It has come into conscious recognition
of the oneness of its own will with the Divine Will. It knows itself as a part of the great Self.
It may rest within the bosom of its Father for it and the Father are one. It has earned
Eternal rest, but the compassion and great love of such a divine soul is one with the divine
love, its nature is to forego all thought of self even of the most ideal state, it is forced by its
own nature into the desire to help the rest of mankind, and while one soul still remains in
need that help is not withheld.
Selfishness is not a plant grown from Theosophy. It teaches that when we work for
others we do most for ourselves.

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To be one with God we must first be one with humanity, in thought, act, and feeling. These
teachings are put forward by individuals who belong to a brotherhood composed of men
who have devoted their lives to the study of spiritual things; they function upon the higher
planes in nature. They are nearer the fountain-head of truth and receive its divine light, in
a purer state than where the rays are filtered through the denser planes of matter. The
divine light shines for all, but we must draw nigh unto it; if we bury ourselves in the damp
cellars of materialism, if we enfold ourselves in the cold hard shell of selfishness, the
warmth of the spirit cannot touch us, and thus are we dead indeed.
The lower self must be trained until it comes into complete harmony with the higher,
which higher self is a part of the one spirit, the All. The accomplishment of this work is the
object of reincarnation, it is by the Ego's own effort that it advances. It must conscientiously
perform every duty on every plane of life. No one can do the work for us. Yet we must aid
one another wherever and whenever opportunity offers, both mentally or otherwise. Death
is to be considered not as an evil, but an opportunity offered us to equip ourselves with
better ways and means wherewith to further our development. To waste no time in regrets,
to push on, to do better, to be better, to know ourselves, truly, thus only can we become
masters of ourselves. Immortality has to be won, the consciousness of immortality can only
be ours as we reap it from the field of experience. This is the soul's harvest, to know that
for it there is no death, it is immortal when it knows its own source of life, when it is
quickened by the eternal spirit. This is a direct appeal to each reader to think for himself,
to reject these teachings if they do not appeal to his reason and to his higher nature. He
can investigate these truths, he can verify them by his own experience. The dwelling too
much and exclusively on material things corrupts the soul. Jesus said, "What shall it profit
a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" The teachings of Jesus pure and
simple, unadulterated by theologic and church infusion are identical with the teachings of
Theosophy. Theosophy covers all grounds, it embraces all science, physical, mental, and
spiritual. It furnishes the need of the heart, the mind, and the soul of man. It is therefore
welcomed by all who truly seek to become better and wiser. Theosophy comes not as a
destroyer but as a builder, a regenerator, inducing men to practice what they preach, the
law of love as taught by Jesus and by every great soul who manifests the Christ spirit within
himself.

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THE SEPTENARY CYCLES OF EVOLUTION. THE SEVEN ROUNDS AND THE SEVEN
RACES.
A STUDY FROM THE "SECRET DOCTRINE" *
by Katherine Hillard

(Continued)

THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH ROUNDS.

ALL that can be said of periods so remote, and conditions of existence so utterly
different from the present, is necessarily very general, and the last two Rounds are usually
spoken of together. To begin with, we are told that the sixth and seventh Elements are, as
yet, absolutely beyond the range of human perception. They will, however, appear as
presentments (presentiments?) during the 6th and 7th Races (of this Round), and will
become known in the 6th and 7th Rounds respectively.** The elements now known have
arrived at their state of permanency in this 5th Race of the 4th Round. They have a short
period of rest before they are propelled once more on their upward spiritual evolution;
when the "living fire of Orcus" (Darkness) will dissociate the most irresolvable and scatter
them into the primordial One again.*** The Earth will reach her true ultimate form -
inversely in this to man - her body shell, only after the 7th Round, toward the end of the
Manvantara (or great cycle).**** Before the Earth reaches her 7th Round her mother Moon
will have dissolved into thin air.+ And when the next great cycle, or Manvantara, begins,
the Earth will become the "mother Moon" of a new world. On page 572 of Vol. I,
-------------
* The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy. By H. P.
Blavatsky. References are to the old edition.
** Idem I, 12.
*** Idem I, 543.
**** Idem I, 260.
+ Idem I, 155.
------------

there is a diagram of the Moon in her 7th Round, and the Earth-chain to be, which may be
compared with the diagram on p. 200, same volume.
The "Lunar Ancestors" (or Pitris) have to become "Men" in order that their Monads
may reach a higher plane of activity and self-consciousness, the plane of the "Sons of
Mind," (or the Solar Ancestors). In the same way the human Monads (or Egos) of our 7th
Round, will become the "Terrene Ancestors" of a new world (or "planetary chain"), and will
create those who will become their superiors.* That is, each condition of matter and state
of consciousness known as "one globe" of the seven-fold Earth-chain, has received its
primitive impulse from a similar condition and state in the Moon. This impulse from the
Moon-chain has started the corresponding centre of nascent force in the Earth-chain from
the laya, or passive, into the active state, only upon a higher plane. So the Beings, our
former selves, who built up the astral body of man from their own substance, "the subtler,
finer form around which Nature builds physical man," have to go through all human physical
experiences in order to develop self-conscious Mind, and become intellectual as well as
spiritual entities. Now we can only see with our physical eyes that which is physical, so that
all visible planets must exhibit to us only their physical form. We see the dead body of the
Moon, for

------------
* Secret Doctrine, I, 180
------------
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instance, which has not yet dissolved. When we reach the astral plane, in the 5th Round,
we shall perceive her astral body with our astral eyes, but we cannot see it now with our
physical eyes, even though it exists.
"Those Monads still occupying animal forms after the middle turning-point of the
fourth Round, will not become men at all during this Manvantara. They will reach to the
verge of humanity only at the close of the seventh Round, to be, in their turn, ushered into
a new chain - after pralaya* - by older pioneers, the 'Seed-Humanity' for the next great
cycle."** This corresponds with the statement that our "ancestors" reached the "human
germ stage" only at the close of the minor cycle of the first Root-Race. And furthermore
we are told that "the next great Manvantara will witness the men of our own life-cycle
becoming the instructors and guides of a mankind whose Monads may be still imprisoned -
semi-conscious, - in the most intellectual of the animal kingdom, while their lower principles
will be animating, perhaps, the highest specimens of the vegetable world."***
This is why it is said that "the 'Door' into the human Kingdom closes at the middle
of the fourth Round"; because "the Monads, which had not reached

------------
* Period of rest and inactivity between two cycles of activity.
** Secret Doctrine, I, 182.
*** Idem I, 267.
------------

the human stage at this point, would find themselves so far behind humanity in general that
they could reach the human stage only at the close of the seventh and last Round"* as
before stated.
The only exceptions to this rule are "the dumb races," whose Monads are already
within the human stage, as these half-animals are later than, and on one side descended
from, man, their last descendants again, being the anthropoid and other apes.** These,
the highest mammals after man, are destined to die out during our present (fifth) Race,
when their Monads will be liberated, and pass into the astral human forms (or highest
elementals) of the sixth and seventh Races, and then into the lowest human forms of the
next (fifth) Round.*** The apes generally will be extinct before the seventh Race
develops.****
But man, as we have already said, tends first to become a god, that is a divine
being, and then God; to be absorbed into the Infinite ocean of the Divine Consciousness,
with which his spirit shall be identified. But it is said in the Sacred Slokas "The thread of
radiance which is imperishable, and dissolves only in Nirvana, re-emerges from it in its
integrity on the day when the Great Law calls all things back into action."+

------------
* Secret Doctrine, I, 173.
** Idem I, 183. .
*** Idem I, 184.
**** Idem I, 263.
+ Idem I, 80
------------
--- 226

PATIENCE
A CHINESE FABLE
by Herbert Crooke
THE other day when looking over some children's books my eye chanced to light on
the following story, which has its parallel in the lore of many nations. Musing over it I was
reminded how often gods and goddesses, wise men and their wives, kings and queens are
made to stand in parable for the dual nature of man. It is only by the use of this key that
many of the ancient writings of the East and elsewhere can be understood, foolish as they
read and seem to be to the etymologist or the collector of folk-lore without the use of such
a key. Who, for instance, nowadays believes in the literal Adam and Eve story, or the story
of Noah and his wife of the Bible? As an allegory they are alone valuable when we have
the key to unlock the mystery.
 Now in the following story, as in many others of the lands of the Rising Sun, the
divine nature of man is typified as the sage, the little nature, lower mind or normal mental
intellectuality of man is the sage's wife who is married to him but does not understand his
purpose and, if stupidly foolish in not acquiescing in his wider knowledge of men and
things, becomes forever divorced. The emperor is the embodiment of divine law which
rules in all the kingdoms of nature, though the ignorant know it not while the wise become
its administrators.
The lesson of the story is the value of patience, not a patience which is sleepy and
indolent but a steady, persistent working while waiting. This virtue can only be practiced
where there is trust and steadfastness of purpose. The mind that is not steadfast becomes
impatient; impatience as it were troubles the waters which cast many broken reflections,
none of them true; the soul governed by such a mind becomes hopelessly lost and in
despair brings about its own destruction.
As of the individual man so of organizations and nations. The pages of history are
strewn with the wrecks which are terrible monuments to the wilful folly of men. And these
old world stories are left for us as beacons in the darkness of our ignorance that by the
exercise of our own divine powers we may guide our barks aright.

The Story of Tai-ko-bo.

Tai-ko-bo was a very learned sage who dwelt in the town of I on the Isui. Although
learned he was very poor and spent his time fishing in the river. This he steadily did, day
after day for a long time, but instead of using a barbed fish hook, he had but a straight
piece of copper wire at the end of his line. To the frequent inquiries of the people who saw
him he replied that he expected to catch a big fish. One day his wife came to him and said:
"Honorable husband, why do you not work and make some money, instead of trying
to do what is impossible? You have fished here for several years, and have not even
caught a little minnow."
"Women never know what is passing in a man's mind," he replied, "wait, I will catch
a big fish."
But she impatiently pulled up his line and, on examining his hook, became very
angry, exclaiming, "You have been making fun of me all the time, I will

--- 227

not live with such an idiot. Please divorce me."

After vain endeavors to induce her to be patient, Tai-ko-bo finally did what she
requested and henceforward she was no longer his wife.
One morning, not long after the separation, the emperor came by and, seeing the
sage, asked what he was about. Tai-ko-bo replied in his usual fashion, whereupon the
emperor questioned him, and replying, he said:
"I am showing the people the wisdom of waiting. I have been five years watching
for your Majesty to come this way and to ask me this question. Nothing good is done in a
hurry."
The emperor talked for a long time with Tai-ko-bo, then took him to his palace and
gave him charge of the troops, remarking:
"The general who can wait will always achieve victory!"
 When Tai-ko-bo was once riding in state surrounded by his soldiers a beggar woman
requested permission to speak with him. He sent her to his mansion and on his return had
her brought to his presence and thus addressed her:
"Woman, what do you want of me?"
"Honorable Tai-ko-bo," she said, "I am your divorced wife. Have pity upon me I pray
you, and take me back! You are now rich and I repent ever having given you cause to put
me away."
He looked at her sternly, filled a cup with water and bade her take it, saying:
"Empty that on the ground!"
The amazed woman obeyed and asked: "Now, great sir, will you receive me back?"
"I will," he sternly answered, "when you can put the water you have spilt back into
that cup!"

--------------

Come, I will make the continent indissoluble,

I will make the most splendid race the sun ever shone upon,
I will make divine magnetic lands,
With the love of comrades,
With the life-long love of comrades.

I will plant companionship thick as trees along

all the rivers of America, and along the shores of all
the great lakes, and all over the prairies,
I will make inseparable cities with their arms about each other's necks.
By the love of comrades,
By the manly love of comrades.

- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

------------------
--- 228

PASSING EVENTS
BY AN EYE-WITNESS.

I. - ON THE TROLLEY-CAR.
DEAD-STOP! One-two-five-seven-nine cars in line. How tiresome, when she was
in such a hurry to keep her appointment!
Accosting the guard, ''Can you tell me, please, is this liable to last five minutes or
twenty-five?"
"Don't know," gruffly answered the guard. How grumpy he was! His face alone was
sufficient to block the line.
No L. station - a lot of mud to wade through if she got off the car - at least a ten-
minute walk - and she was tired! Well - no help for it.
As she started out of the front door, the motor-man remarked "Have to get off,
Lady?"
"Well," she replied, "what do you think of it? Will we stay here very long?"
"No countin' on 'lectricity, Lady. We may move in a minute, and we may be stuck
for an hour."
"Dear me, I can't risk that," and off she went.
After walking some distance, she heard a jangling of bells - Ah, the car was moving -
why didn't she know?
A voice called "Lady, Lady." Turning she saw the motor-man making frantic motions
to her. The car stopped. She walked towards it. "Lady," said the motor-man, "you paid
your fare, you have a right to ride - come right in here," he added cordially, opening the
door.
The Lady smiled, and the words "kind hearts are more than coronets," flitted through
her mind.
Looking up at the big, kindly motorman, she met a look in his eyes that re-called, as
she sat down, one of Maeterlinck's essays, where he says something to the effect that
under all the inanities - the commonplace - of life, our souls are nodding to each other.

II. THE LILY OF KILLARNEY

Prelude.
Pleasure-loving friends, to Earnest Worker. "Do come to the theatre with us."
"Can't you drop that absorbing old Brotherhood work just for one afternoon?"
"It is worth your while, for it really is a unique thing."
"Sort of on the order of thing you call Brotherhood, I imagine."
"Ah, that bait catches! In future we will know how to claim your attention.''

The Theatre.
"The name is attractive. 'American Theatre.'"
"Yes, I thought it would please you. You have such a fad for Americana."
"It's the principles it represents that delight me. Not because of the name itself."
"Oh, well, we won't go into that point with this mandolin quartet inviting us to listen.
Stand by the palms a few moments. They play 'Lucia' delightfully. I want you to hear it.
I'm going to make a 'special request.'"
"Ah, how pleased he is, - see the others as he tells them! How appreciative they
are. It doesn't seem like vanity."
"No, I think they feel real pleasure in giving pleasure. They seem to lose themselves
in their melody."

--- 229

"Who would have supposed there were so many people in New York! How they
stream in. Elevators? Well, this certainly is a well-appointed theatre."
"The mandolins and palms are entrancing, but the Play awaits us, - come."

The Play.
 "What is it that makes theatres so fascinating? Do you suppose it is because people
have a dim sense of life itself being a play, and are always expecting to find the real thing
when the curtain rises?"

End of the Act.

"How good the chorus is."
"Yes, it is a pleasure to find so well-balanced a performance. No 'stars,' but every
one first-rate."
"Perhaps that is why there seems more spontaneity than usual. All are not made
subservient to the Leading Lady. It must seem worth while to try to do one's best when all
have an even chance."
"Don't you think the costumes and scenic effects are excellent?"
"Yes, indeed. That scene at Lake Killarney is enchanting, with the purple hills in the
background - the sunny sky - the clear water - and the dainty blending of color in the
foreground in the costumes of the chorus."
"It shows what can be done if people do not grab so for the mighty dollar. The prices
are never higher than seventy-five cents. Every Wednesday the entire house is open at
twenty-five cents, reserved seats. You can reserve seats as far ahead as you like and they
are held for you till the week of the play. Then you pay for, and claim your seat, or let it go -
as you like. The person down on the East side has the same privilege as yourself. You
see all sorts and conditions of men here."
"Yes, it is extremely interesting. There is such a free atmosphere about it all.
Perhaps because it doesn't cater to a distinct class. Is it always so good, or is it because
this is Irish?"
"Oh, yes - excellent every time.''

End of Play.
"Well, what do you think of it?"
"I think you were right about its being on the order of Brotherhood. For no matter
what the motives of the financial managers may be, the fact remains - That here is given
a practical illustration of the principle of Universal Brotherhood. Every man an equal
chance and every one a share."

----------------
--- 230

STUDENTS' COLUMN
Conducted by J.H. Fussell

WHAT IS THEOSOPHY?
THIS was the subject of a sermon recently preached by Dr. J. C. Jackson, pastor
of Eastwood (Texas) Congregational Church. The following extracts are taken from a
newspaper report and we have to thank the preacher for the attention he has given to
Theosophy, though we regret that, as in the case of most critics, he has apparently not
read deeply in the subject and treats it entirely superficially.
"The text was taken from Eph. iv. 54, 'That we may be no longer children, tossed to
and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men, in craftiness after
the wiles of error.'
"He spoke in part as follows:
"Among the causes conducing to persons taking up with what Paul so appropriately
calls 'winds of doctrine,' are these: (1) They have not been intelligently instructed and
devoted in Christian faith, (2) they have not been apprised beforehand of the character of
the theories or doctrines which mislead them. When they hear of these novelties they
cannot bring a trained mind to bear upon them, nor have they stores of knowledge by which
to test them."
Later on he refers to the Neo-Platonists and to Paracelsus, Jacob Boehme and
Swedenborg as Theosophists. Does the reverend gentleman mean to infer that these did
not have trained minds and does he infer the same of H. P. Blavatsky, the great exponent
of Theosophy in this century. If so I would request him to read their works which stand out
like beacon-lights in the literature of the whole world. And as for the rank and file of
Theosophists, how many of them has the gentleman met? Has he read our publications?
Is he not making a grave charge upon very unsubstantial grounds? In answer to (1) it is
sufficient to say that many of our members have been instructed (and supposedly in an
intelligent manner, but I leave the reverend gentleman to answer for the intelligence of his
cofreres) in the Christian faith and are still Christians. Theosophy enables a man to study
Christianity intelligently, in fact Christ's teachings are Theosophy pure and simple, though
we Theosophists draw a distinction between Christ's teachings and the theological dogmas
which the Churches have woven around them. There are many who are better and truer
followers of Christ today because of their study of and belief in Theosophy. We would
recommend to Dr. Jackson that he make an intelligent study of Theosophy before he
criticizes it further and classes it with "religious fads and fakes." We are glad that he makes
"no attack on anyone who has become infatuated with these delusions as individuals"; and
we do not object that "the authors of the systems and the leaders of the movements
''should' come in for their share of legitimate criticism." But we demand that it shall be
legitimate criticism and that implies a knowledge of that which is criticized.
"Tonight we are to answer the question, What is Theosophy? It means literally 'Wise
about God' . . . It is an ancient system of philosophy and religion combined, with a claim of
special insight into the Divine nature, and its processes in material and spiritual creation.
"Some of its adherents profess to call into exercise a higher range of faculties than
are ordinarily possessed, as the source of their deeper insight into the divine essence, or
else they claim a supernatural revelation. Others make no such pretensions, but
promulgate theosophy as the best speculative form of wisdom."
We have not much fault to find with

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this definition, though "Wisdom from God" is a more correct meaning of the word
Theosophy, but if Theosophy be "Wise about God" would to God there were more
Theosophists in the world and more people seeking to become Theosophists as do the
members the Theosophical Society. As for the possibility of exercising a higher range of
faculties - which Theosophists claim is possible for all men - has the lecturer forgotten the
words of Christ: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." Does
he think that Christ meant it? If so, then the power and knowledge which God possesses
man may and will possess also.
"Theosophy differs from other forms of philosophic thought in discarding the process
of going from the known to the unknown. It assumes to know the Infinite at first hand,
through consciousness."
If the Infinite be the Infinite it would be interesting to learn how one may know the
Infinite in any other way than at first hand, supposing that knowledge of the Infinite is
possible. But I fear the lecturer is again not very sound in his knowledge of Theosophy.
Where did he get the statement that Theosophists claim to know the Infinite. Let me refer
him to the following statement by H. P. Blavatsky: -
"The Secret Doctrine establishes three fundamental propositions: - (a) An
Omnipresent, Eternal, Boundless and Immutable PRINCIPLE, on which all speculation is
impossible, since it transcends the power of human conception and could only be dwarfed
by any human expression or similitude. It is beyond the range and reach of thought - in the
words of Mandukya, 'unthinkable and unspeakable.' . . one absolute Reality which
antecedes all manifested, conditioned being."*
Then the lecturer objects to reincarnation but possibly is not aware of a case of
reincarnation recorded in the New

------------
* The Secret Doctrine, I,14.
------------

Testament (St. Matthew xvii. 10), where it is stated that John the Baptist was Elias come
back again.
Then summing up he says: -
''I cannot say that there is anything particularly harmful in it [which is certainly very
kind of him]. It is an innocent sort of a lunacy. . . Theosophy does not deny the existence
of evil, and thus encourage its practice; it recognizes material and moral evils and miseries
and perceives the impossibility of escaping the consequences of sin.
"For the heathen who had nothing superior it was a valuable religion - far better than
nothing. But as a philosophy for today it is nonsense and as a religion for those who can
have Christianity it is like returning to the log huts of our pioneer fathers would be from the
beautiful, comfortable and healthful homes of today."
Quite true, Theosophy does not deny the existence of evil or that the consequences
of sin can be escaped. But it goes further than do the teachings of the Churches in
showing through Karma and Reincarnation that man may rise above evil and progress ever
onward towards that perfection which Christ spoke of.
The simile of the "beautiful, comfortable and healthful homes" is not a happy one.
What of the great masses of the people in the crowded tenement houses of our big cities?
What about the poverty, the wretchedness and vice to be found in all Christian - as well as
heathen lands? Has Christianity lessened all this in the 2000 years in which it has been
taught? Is there not something lacking, not from the spirit and the teachings of the Christ,
but from the Churches and the systems of theology that have overlaid these teachings until
they are almost forgotten?
But even if we compare Christianity to the beautiful, comfortable and healthful
homes of today, - then Theosophy with its simple, and yet profound Truths, (and among
these I count the simple, and yet profound teachings of Jesus) must be likened to the blue
vault of heaven, sun-lit and star-lit, where the soul of man reaches out to the Infinite

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and knows no bounds. After all a house very correctly describes Christianity today with its
many dividing walls and compartments, its many creeds ane sects. Some people cannot
bear to contemplate the sublime immensities of space, they are not strong enough to
breathe the purer air of the mountain tops, and so must needs tarry a little longer in the
plains, dwelling in houses. But the soul will at last assert its divinity, will break down the
barriers that confine it and pass out into the free open sunlight of life.
As for Theosophy's being nonsense, the lecturer did not mention the fundamental
teachings of Theosophy - that of Universal Brotherhood and the essential divinity of man.
These are the teachings which the Theosophical Society and the Universal Brotherhood
Organization are promulgating and practicing throughout the world today. Are not these
the soundest philosophy, the truest religion? The main purpose of Theosophy and the
Universal Brotherhood Organization, organized for the benefit of the people of the earth
and all creatures, is "to teach Brotherhood and to make it a living power in the life of
Humanity." No doubt for the heathen who has nothing superior, this is "a valuable religion -
far better than nothing." Will the reverend gentleman inform me what religion is higher,
more Christ-like? It surely is not necessary for me to inform him of Christ's own saying: -
"Not he that calleth me Lord! Lord! shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth
the will of the Father who is in heaven;" or of St. James' definition of "pure religion and
undefiled" - to help those in distress and keep one's self unspotted from the world.
It is perfectly plain that Christ was not troubled about beliefs, creeds, and dogmas;
in fact, he said, "He that willeth to do the will of the Father, shall know of the doctrine." The
Theosophical Society holds that every man's belief
is his own concern, all that we desire is that men should seek the truth and do their duty
as men and brothers. It may interest Dr. Jackson to read the following clause in the
Constitution of our Society.
"Every member has the right to believe or disbelieve in any religious system or
philosophy, each being required to show that tolerance for the opinions of others that he
expects for his own."
In conclusion, let me again thank the reverend gentleman for bringing Theosophy
to the attention of his congregation, and also the Editor of the newspaper (I regret I have
not the name of the paper as only a cutting was sent) for giving so full a report. I earnestly
recommend to Dr. Jackson a further study of Theosophy. - Joseph H. Fussell
----------

"If man is made in the image of God, how do Theosophists say there is no personal
God?"

According to the Old Testament (Gen. I. 26, 27) man (adam) was made in the image
(tselem) of the Gods (elohim); but nowhere is it stated that man was made in the image
of the one God. In the New Testament (Col. I, 15) the Christ, or Logos, is said to be an
image or manifestation (eikon) of the invisible God; and the human being, when he has
"put off the old man and put on the new" through regaining the inner consciousness
(epignosis) "is renewed according to the image of him who ensouled him" (Col. iii. 9, 10);
and while it is said that men have come into existence according to a likeness (homoiosis)
of a God (Jas. iii. 10), by the latter word the Logos or "second God" is intended. The
Logos, as the sum-total of the conscious spiritual universe, may reasonably be regarded
as a personal God; and man, as a mikrokosm or little world containing in himself all that
is in the makrokosm or big world, is truly an image of the latter.
Theosophists do not "say there is no personal God"; on the contrary, they admit the
existence of innumerable per-

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sonal Gods, but deny that Absolute Deity can be regarded in any sense as a person, for
personality implies limitation. To ascribe omnipresence and omnipotence to a personal
being is only to use contradictory terms, as shown by the shrewd question of the irreverent
small boy: "If God can do anything, can he make another God so big he can't lick him."
The Logos is the image of the invisible God, and man is an image of the Logos; but
there can be no "image" of the Absolute. To conceive of the Deity as a person is simply
the worst form of idolatry. - J. M. P.

----------------

YOUNG FOLKS DEPARTMENT

A SPRING SONG
by Elizabeth Whitney

THE wind blew very cold, and Mother Nature's children shivered, for their summer
clothes were very thin. They were getting tired of frisking about, and began to talk of their
soft warm beds, which they had nearly forgotten, for summer was like a beautiful, long,
sunny day, and winter, a long, sweet dream of sleep, to these Flower Children.
Then Mother Nature called her children. "Little ones, come - into bed you must go,
for Winter is here. And Winter laid a snow-white coverlid over their heads, so warm, and
soft - and Mother Nature sang a sweet lullaby:

"Sleep, little ones, pretty ones - sleep,

Sunbeams guard thee as into the deep
They send their message of love.
To rise again, at the dawn of day,
This is the Flower Children's way,
To bring Life and Love - Light above.
Now Winter is here,
In thy hearts keep cheer.
Sleep, little ones,
 Sleep, pretty ones, Sweet - thy - sleep."

And the Flower Children smiled, and smiled, and were fast asleep!
What rosy dreams they had! All about Sunbeams, and Humming-birds, and the
gentle South Wind, and the gay West Wind, and the pattering Raindrops, and the Twinkling
Stars that told them such funny stories. Well - these Flower Children lived over and over
again, their happy, joyous life, until, by and by, Mother Nature's voice called, "Children,
Spring is coming.''
Then, how they scrambled out of bed! What a hurry they were in!
"Oh, bother, do we have to take a bath?"
"Look, mother, we are perfectly clean."
But this was a matter about which Mother Nature was most particular - AND - very
firm. So, into the tub they went, splash! And out they came, rosy and fresh, the sweetest
buds you ever saw.
"Now, my children," said Mother Nature, "there is a great deal of work to do. Just
look at your clothes."

Dear, dear, where was the lovely color,

Their summer clothes were all outworn!
Sadly they gazed on one another
And felt forlorn.

"This will never do," said Mother Nature, briskly. "Each must set to work at once,
for Spring is coming!" How the children jumped, and became full of life! There was
something magi-

--- 234

cal about Spring is coming" - (just the same way, as when a lot of you hear that "Circus is
coming," or "Christmas is coming.)"
And presently, they heard the voice of Spring, singing as she glided over the earth:

"Rise, sweethearts, to meet the dawn,

Fill with gladness, life's sweet song.
Up - up - arise!
Sunbeams greet thee
From the skies."

Ah! that was it. The Sunbeams! Of all the loveliest things, in the lovely, lovely world,
the Sunbeams were the very loveliest. The hearts of the Flower Children swelled and
swelled, with eager longing to rise to the Sunbeams (had they not dreamed of them all the
long winter?). And they worked, each one as hard as possible to help Mother Nature
transform things (they knew that was the only way they could rise to the Sunbeams).
One little heart did her share so quickly, she was always helping out the others.
How eager she was to meet the Sunbeam! In her heart she remembered, but, would it be
the same - when -
 How long it seemed! They could hear Spring's sweet voice more clearly every day.
Well, that showed that they really were rising, and some day - perhaps -
---------

Little Kathy loved flowers. In her dreams she talked with them, for she knew their
language - Love.
It was Easter morning and Kathie's heart was full of the Spring Song of Joy. She
knew that Easter was a beautiful Spring festival, and it meant that Life, and Light and Love
had come again to make the world glad.
How sweet and fresh the air was, with sparkling Sunbeams everywhere. Too early
for flowers, for there were still a few patches of snow on the ground. Well, they would take
a walk into the woods - because it was Easter, a day of rejoicing, for Light, and Life and
Love had come.
Ah, what is that! Kathy was on her knees in a second, brushing away the snow and
saying in a loving voice, "You dearest, sweetest Spring Beauty, how brave you are to push
through all the snow, so as to get here on Easter!"
Sure enough! there was the sweet, little, eager heart, that had worked so hard to rise
to meet the Sunbeam, nodding and smiling at Kathy!
"Oh, you lovely, dear, sweet little thing," said Kathy, "you have sunlight in your heart,
and are so full of joy, I am going to take you, root and all, to a poor, little sick girl I know,
who will love you and love you - and you will love her, won't you, dear little Spring Beauty? -
and sing to her the Song of Life, for this is Easter - and that is why you have come little
flower, to bring Light and Life and Love. Aren't you glad, dear little Spring Beauty?"
And the little eager heart, that had worked so hard to rise, was filled with the Spring
Song of Joy. For she had met the Sunbeam, and it had whispered in her heart:

"A song of Love is thine to sing,

Life's rich treasure thou wilt bring
To all who find the Light."

And the little Spring Beauty knew,

And the Sunbeams knew,
And Kathy knew,
(What all the Lotus Group children know)
Heart-Light
makes
Sunlight.

----------------
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FEAST OF THE ROSES

by Gertrum Mason

The little buds were fast asleep when June the sweet Rose month came in and sang
to them a little song:
 "Ah - little buds - awake, arise!
Open now your little eyes,
Spring has passed and Summer has come,
Away we will go to the Land of the Sun!"

Then did the little buds arise and rubbing hard their little eyes, gayly danced around
sweet June and sang a happy, merry tune:

Joyfully we dance and sing,

Greet we thus the Sun our King;
We will ask of him a boon
To crown as Queen the Month o' June.

Then will we a grand feast spread,

Roses yellow, white and red -
Pink ones too - we'll not forget,
All may gladly join our set.

Every rose upon the earth

We'll invite to join our mirth,
And at this feast will June decide
Which is her especial pride."

Then Apollo the Sun God, began to play upon his lyre of seven strings - the colors
red and yellow, and when he struck all the colors at once it made white. This sweet melody
called all the roses to the feast.
First came the stately Hot-House beauties that had been blooming all winter in
conservatories; they bowed before June and said:

"We are earth's fairest flower,

Poets sing in praise of our power,
Alone we stand without rival.
We have made the ballroom gay,
Dinners, parties, (people say)
Are not complete without us.
None there are so fair as we,
June's special pride we'll surely be."

Then came a whole flock of Garden Roses - hundreds of them - and very jolly were
they, as they sang to June:

"Chemists make of us perfume,

In confections rich we bloom,
Joy give we, in the sick room;
To all the world we send good cheer,
Our virtues last throughout the year,
 June's special pride are we - no fear."

Then from these roses filled with pride - June turned aside, and sent by the birds a
message above - to the God of Love. And Love sent forth his shining dart quivering into
Nature's heart - with silvery sunlight - rosy flame from the
dawn - thus Summer's sweetest child was born.

By highways and hedges you'll find June's pride

Shy little Sweet Brier - Nature's own child
It lives to give
And it gives to live
For the best of living is love, you know,
And the reason I know - June told me so!

---------------

MY FRIEND FROGGY
by E.C. Kramer

Some years ago I lived in the country, and in the garden were several lilac bushes
(one being right between the stoop and a window).
Every morning I used to go out to attend to the flowers. One morning I stood looking
around as usual, when what should I see but a large frog sitting right under this lilac bush
looking at me. He did not seem to be afraid of me,

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so I went closer to him and he did not move, but looked at me with his great, bright, yellow
eyes, straight in the face, as if he was trying to find out if I looked as though I would hurt
him. At last I got quite close to him and commenced to talk to him (as I do to anything I
meet, for I love them all); we had quite a long talk and came to a good understanding with
each other.
So I went every morning to talk to my little friend and always found him waiting for
me. I was often accompanied by a large yellow cat, who would sit beside me and seemed
to take quite an interest in what was going on. This went on for a long time until I was
taken sick, and was confined to my bed for some weeks; but when I was getting better I
would sit just inside the kitchen door, where the sun came in on me. Sitting there one day
and enjoying it very much, I heard a little noise outside as I sat looking down at the door-
sill, when what do you think I saw! - why, a little green head raised itself just over the sill
of the door, then two large yellow eyes, then two little green hands, and then the whole
body of my little friend Froggy was sitting looking at me, and a very loving look I thought it
was, too. He sat there quite a time and we talked, and after he had made sure I was all
right, he hopped off again. Now no doubt some of you can tell what made this little
creature come to look for such a great, big, powerful being as I must have seemed to be
to little froggy?
-----------

LITTLE BEE BROTHERS

by E.C. Kramer

I was sitting on the stoop one day sewing, when I heard the dog barking furiously.
I went to see what was the matter with him, for he had his nose close to the ground; he did
not keep it there long, but kept turning round and skipping about as if he was crazy. I could
not see anything for some time, but on looking close to the ground I saw a large bee
carrying another bee on his back, and on looking closely at them I found that the bee that
was being carried had been hurt in some way, and his brother bee was taking him home
or to a place of safety. So I put my hand flat on the ground, and the bee seemed to
understand what I wanted him to do, for he walked directly on it with his burden on his
back, and I carried them to a large tree, and placed them high up as I could reach out of
the way of harm. I thought they would be able to find something to eat on the tree till the
sick one was able to go to his home.
I wonder if some one can tell why the dog did not keep his nose close to the ground?
And why he kept turning round? And where the bee got his brotherly instinct from?

--------------
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THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES

NEW YORK. - Meetings of the Aryan T. S. and the U. B. Lodges in New York, close
for the summer June 12th, to resume in September. This will give an opportunity for our
workers to enjoy a little relaxation during the hot months and to begin work again in the fall
with renewed vigor.
The closing public meeting will be to celebrate the anniversary of the departure of
the Crusade, June 13th, 1896. This will be held Sunday, June 12th, in the Aryan Hall, all
the Lodges and Branches in New York participating. Mrs. Tingley, F. M. Pierce, H. T.
Patterson and Rev. W. Williams will be present. The Hall is to be decorated with the
Crusade Flags. On account of going to press earlier this month the report of the meeting
will appear in next issue - the present date of writing being the tenth. On June 13th, a
social gathering for members only is to be held and is understood that a very attractive
programme with music has been arranged.
DECORATION DAY. - In the parade on Decoration Day in New York the
International Brotherhood League was represented by a large float beautifully decorated
with the Crusade flags of the nations and flowers. The wheels were one mass of yellow
and white chrysanthemums and also the dashboard, the latter having the letters I. B. L. in
white on a yellow ground. On the float were twenty-five children of the Lotus Group, two
of whom stood on a raised platform; one, a girl dressed as Liberty in the American and
Cuban flags and holding the Banner of the I. B. L.; the other a boy in a naval suit holding
the American Flag - the Stars and Stripes. The other children were seated each holding
two small flags, the Stars and Stripes and the flag of the U. B. (the S. R. L. M. A. flag).
There was also a Lotus Group banner held by one of the children.
The float was accorded an excellent position in the parade and the Grand Marshal
expressed great pleasure in having the I. B. L. represented. All along the line it received
great applause and was the cause of much appreciative comment. This representation of
the International Brotherhood League in a military parade is of great significance. A
photograph was taken of the float just before starting and has been reproduced in The New
Century of June 11th. All members should secure a copy.
CINCINNATI. Mr. Burcham Harding has recently been visiting Cincinnati and as a
result a new Lodge of the Universal Brotherhood has been formed in that city. He also
visited Toledo and lectured before several hundred people in Golden Rule Park which the
Hon. Mayor Jones of Toledo has devoted to the use of the public. The subject of the
lecture was "Brotherhood" and several questions were afterwards asked - the Mayor taking
part.
SWEDEN. - Cable reports from the recent Convention held in Sweden state that the
Universal Brotherhood Organization has been adopted by a great majority. Brothers
Crump and Herbert Coryn attended from England by request of the Head of the E. S. T.
AUSTRALIA. - The President of the T. S. in Australia (N. S. W.) has issued a very
interesting letter to the members in Australia, giving an account of the Convention of the
T. S. A., held in Chicago, February 18th, and also copies of the Resolutions adopted by the
T. S. in Aus-

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tralasia, at the Convention held in Sydney, March 13th, in which they accept the Universal
Brotherhood Organization, and declare the T. S. in Australia to be part of the Theosophical
Literary Department of the U. B.
The following extracts are from the letter referred to:
"This was the third and complete establishment of the sublime ideals and objects for
which this institution was founded at New York, in 1875, in the midst of a materialistic age,
to bring Light, Truth, and Liberation to the Human Race. . . . To that wise and heroic heart,
H. P. Blavatsky, was entrusted the introduction of the philosophy and science of the true
nature of the Universe and man, preserved by the Helpers of Humanity through all ages
in their archaic purity and integrity for the present and future races of mankind. Her work
was creative.
"The next step was taken by the martyred successor, our second Leader and
Teacher, the 'friend of all creatures,' William Q. Judge, who carried for so long the
weaknesses of his untrained associates, and who preserved at the cost of his life the purity
and sacredness of the gigantic task of H. P. B. His work was preservative.
"The third step was taken by our present Leader. . . These Three form an unbroken
triple cord . . . to carry out the sublime and beneficent purpose of Brotherhood, not for one
Race alone, but 'for the people of the earth and all creatures.' To recognize the first there
were but few, to recognize the second there were some hundreds, but to recognize the
third there is a well-organized army situated in all parts of the world, many who have never
forgotten the stern lesson that the death of the second Leader was directly caused by want
of recognition and the weakness of some of his intimate supporters, known to his friends,
but since laid bare to the world by their own deeds.
 "The work of the third is that of Regenerator.
"The work of the Regenerator must prove destructive to old forms, and those who
fail to grow and expand to the new environment will cling to the disintegrating shell of the
past, and so choose their own fate. For the work of the Regenerator dispels the darkness
of the past that has so long shrouded the divinely human being. Her crowning act was the
establishment of Universal Brotherhood on the 18th day of February, the first day of a new
cycle well-known to many, and the last hour of a long cycle of spiritual darkness; the depth
of whose degradation has been witnessed by those who were prepared to see during the
last six months the darkest hour that comes before the dawn of the New Day and the New
Life for Humanity.
"The glorious forces of the Sun are liberated and overpower all obstacles that would
madly seek to stop its masterful power. Thousands of hidden souls have sprung out of the
dark to proclaim with irresistible force the new-born spiritual life of humanity. All hail to the
rising sun of righteousness never more to be dimmed from the memory of man. "
- T. W. Willans,
Pres. T. S. in Aust. (N. S. W.)

NEW ZEALAND.
The following interesting account has been received:
"On April 15th at the usual Friday evening meeting of the Waitemata T.S., particulars
of the "Universal Brotherhood" organization were read, and so delighted were members
with the movement that on motion of Bro. St. Clair, President of the T. S. in Australasia (N.
Z.), it was unanimously resolved to adopt the new constitution, and form a branch of the
U. B. right away. Accordingly an application was written out and signed by members
present, several who were absent came into town and signed next morning, and the
application was

------------
--- 239

forwarded by the outgoing mail to America that day.

"The first public meeting convened by the Local Committee of the International
Brotherhood League, was held in the Tailoress Hall, Cook Street, on Thursday evening,
May 5th. The Rev. S. J. Neill as Delegate from the two Thames Lodges presided.
"The proceedings were opened and interspersed with musical selections, Mr. and
Mrs. Jackson, Miss Wood, Mrs. Davy, Mrs. St. Clair and Mr. Hickson contributing. The
Chairman explained the objects of the meeting and traced the history of the Theosophical
Movement up to its unfoldment into Universal Brotherhood. Bro. John St. Clair spoke on
"The necessity for practical Brotherhood" and showed how selfishness and the want of
brotherly feeling caused all the misery and suffering in the world, and that if man would but
live up to the high ideal of Brotherhood there would be no need of war and the suffering and
poverty in the world would cease. Miss Evitt gave an excellent paper on the "Sorrows of
the Poor." Bro. Wilcox read the objects of the I. B. L. and other interesting information from
the New Century.
"A number of friends remained behind to give in their names as members.
"White Lotus day. May 8th being Sunday was observed in the usual way in
commemorating the anniversary of the departure of H. P. B. The meeting opened with an
organ solo by Mrs. St. Clair and was followed by readings from the 'Voice of the Silence'
and reminiscences of H. P. B. Members joined in singing 'The White Lotus' from the Lotus
song book and the meeting closed with an organ solo.
"Regular public meetings are to be held at which music will be a special feature, and
Universal Brotherhood promises to meet a want long felt in this Colony.
"Lotus work is carried on regularly at the Thames, and at Headquarters, Marine
Chambers, conducted by Mrs. St. Clair. The children meet every Sunday morning at 11.30
A.M. Thanks to Bro. Judson, who has kindly lent us his American organ, we are able to
have music and singing at each meeting and the little sunbeams are charmed with the
songs in the Lotus Song Book.
"The H. P. B. Lodge, Thames, and K. A. Tingley Lodge, Thames, continue active
work and are making good progress. They have a new book shop in Mary Street where
T. S. literature and magazines can be obtained. The pictures of the New Century causing
the passer-by to halt and look in.
"- Fanny St. Clair, Hon. Sec."

THE SEARCH-LIGHT. No. II of this interesting publication has been issued and may
be obtained by members sending 10 cents to the Editor, Search-Light, 114 Madison
Avenue. This publication is for members only.
THE LITERARY STAFF OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN AMERICA. Dr.
Jerome A. Anderson, Vice President of San Francisco, has nearly completed a new work.
Mr. James M. Pryse is also writing a new book for students and has already prepared the
first of a series of pamphlets which will be issued under the auspices of the T. S. A., the
Literary Department of the Universal Brotherhood. The work of this department is being
rapidly pushed forward and by Fall will assume large proportions and through its means
thousands will be reached, where heretofore only hundreds have heard of Theosophy or
the work of the Society.
THE PACIFIC THEOSOPHIST. It is with much regret that we hear that the offices
of the Pacific Theosophist were partially burned and much valuable matter belonging to the
magazine destroyed, also some of the plates of Dr.

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Anderson's new work. We hope, however, that the magazine will soon resume publication
and extend our regrets to Dr. Anderson for the loss he has sustained.
BUFFALO, N. Y. The following letter is of interest as showing how the Buffalo
Branch keeps ever up with the times.

June 9th, 1898,

DEAR EDITOR:-
The Buffalo Evening News has fathered a scheme for sending a car load of
provisions, and other stuff to the Boys of the 65th in camp at Falls Church, Va., and the
Public Library made an appeal for books to go along at the same time; both met with the
hearty cooperation of the Buffalo public, and Lodge No. 80 of Universal Brotherhood took
advantage of the situation by sending along about 200 copies of UNIVERSAL
BROTHERHOOD, New Century and such other reading matter as was at our disposal, all
nicely covered with our special cover, stating who and what we are, the time of our
meetings, and the extracts from the Preamble and Constitution and By-laws; with all the
leisure that the boys have at their disposal in camp it will be strange if at least half of them
do not get a sight of that "cover" if nothing more, and I am inclined to think it will create
more than a little talk on the subject; if it don't, why, we have made our effort just the same.
- W. A. Stevens

TAMPA, FLORIDA. Through the efforts of Mrs. W. S. Abbott, of Tampa, Florida,

copies of UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD and the New Century are on sale at the camp and
many have also been given away and find much favor among the "Boys." Several hundred
leaflets have also been sent for distribution. This is excellent work and is having good
results, the literature being eagerly read by many.
Mme. de Santos, a member of the Aryan T. S., New York, at present visiting in
Tampa, writes as follows: "There has been considerable interest among the soldiers and
I hope good work for the cause of Brotherhood. One of the first companies of Volunteers
to leave this port went equipped with Brotherhood literature. They sent a messenger for
it the day before embarking on the transport. - J.H. Fussell

---------------------

AUM

"Leave to the diamond its ages to grow, nor expect to accelerate births of the
eternal. - Emerson, Essay on Friendship

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol. XIII August, 1898 No. 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHILOSOPHY AFTER THE DEATH OF HYPATIA

by Alexander Wilder, M.D.

HISTORIANS seem to have regarded the murder of Hypatia as the death-blow to

Philosophy at Alexandreia. Professor Draper characterizes it as a warning to all who would
cultivate profane knowledge. "Henceforth," he adds, "there was to be no freedom for
human thought. Every one must think as the ecclesiastical authority bade him."
Certainly the Patriarchs at the Egyptian metropolis had spared no endeavor,
however arbitrary, to engraft their notions upon the Roman world, and to bring about
uniformity of religious belief. The doctrine of the Trinity had been officially promulgated by
the Council at Nikaia. The orthodox Homoousians had been engaged for a century in a
mortal struggle for supremacy with the heretic Homooisians. Men murdered one another
upon the religions issue of homoian and tauto. The nitre-fields abounded with monks as
numerous as frogs, and ready at summons to seize their weapons and do any violence to
promote the cause of the Prince of Peace. Theodosios the Emperor had proclaimed
Christianity as the religion of the Court and Empire, and made Sunday the sacred day of
the newer faith. Egypt surpassed all other countries in religious fanaticism, and Gregory
of Nazianzen praised it as the most Christian of all, and teaching the doctrine of the Trinity
in its truest form. The former worship was forcibly suppressed. The patriarch Theophilus
closed the Cave of Mithras, desecrated the temple of Serapis and destroyed its magnificent
library of seven hundred thousand scrolls.
The Egyptian learning was denounced and interdicted, but such Egyptian customs
and notions as had been deeply infixed in the regard of the illiterate commonalty, were
transferred with the necessary modifications into the creed and liturgy of the church. The
attempt was made to substitute burial as a Christian usage for the ancient practice of
mummying the bodies of the dead. The goddess Isis, the "Great Mother" of the former
faiths, became Mariam Theotokos, Mary the Mother of God, and her worship established
beside that of the Trinity. The distinction of clergy and laity which was before unknown,
was now introduced. Such Egyptian customs were also adopted by the priests as the
shaving of the head, the celebration of Twelfth Night, the burning of candles around the
altars and robing in white surplices. Relics of saints were exhumed with which to work
miracles. The break with "paganism" was thus made less marked.
Another dogma was hatched from the

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slime of the Nile. Setting aside the spiritual conception of the Supreme Being, it was taught
that God was anthropomorphic, a person in shape like a man. The patriarch adopted the
new doctrine, and seems to have enforced its general acceptance by the aid of an army
of soldiers and monks, who drove the other party from the country.
The Catechetic School, which had been established and sustained by Clement,
Origen and others of superior scholastic attainment was in the way of the new form of
religious progress. The ignorance and fanaticism that reigned in Upper Egypt and Mount
Nitria, repudiated utterly the learning of the teachers at Alexandreia. The patriarch took
sides with the larger party, which was sure to be better fitted to his purposes, the
Catechetic school was closed, and the Arian church-buildings were seized by the partisans
of the patriarch.
Cyril succeeded to Theophilus and maintained the same policy. He had no sooner
seated himself in the archi-episcopal chair than he set himself at the suppressing of rival
religious beliefs. The Novatians were first assailed, and after that the Jews were driven
from Alexandreia. The learning of the city was now in the hands of the adherents of the
former worship, and Hypatia was teaching in the School of Philosophy. The next step to
be taken was to put her out of the way, and her murder was the one infamous act which
placed a lasting stigma upon the reputation of the unscrupulous ecclesiastic. His whole
career was characterized by kindred enormities.
In the French Revolution of 1793, one faction had been no sooner exterminated than
another as formidable appeared in the ranks of the victorious party. The course of affairs
in Egypt at this period was in strict analogy. The Arians who were suppressed at
Alexandreia, found protection in the camp of the army, and flourished for many years.
They dedicated a church at Babylon to their murdered bishop, now St. George of England,
and the country abounded with pictures on the walls of the churches representing him as
slaying the Dragon of Athanasian error. About this time Eutyches, of Constantinople, a
partisan of Cyril, was excommunicated by a Council for teaching that Jesus Christ had only
one nature, that of the Logos incarnate, aid therefore his body was not like that of other
men. The Egyptian church took up the controversy and was condemned by the Council
of Chalkedon. This separated Egypt from the Catholic Church, and brought the religious
war into geographic lines.
While these things were going on, the Nubians overran Upper Egypt. It had been
confidently affirmed that under the forceful measures that had been employed, the old
worship had been effectually suppressed. Now, however, it sprang up anew. Large
numbers of monks, and others who had professed Christianity, now took part at the rites
of lsis and Serapis. This was all within seventy years after the decree of Theodosius, and
less than forty years after the death of Hypatia.
There were troublous times over the whole Roman world. The change of religion
had by no means strengthened the Empire, either politically or morally. It had been
followed instead, by incessant rivalries of the clergy, and innumerable religious broils, all
of which tended to weaken the imperial authority. The ill-governed provinces revolted, and
the various peoples and tribes from Northern Europe swarmed over the Southern countries,
and even into Africa. After Vandals, Goths and Allemans, came the Huns, most terrible of
all. Attila carried devastation close to the walls of Constantinople and then into the heart
of Italy. There he died in the year 453.
The School of Philosophy at Alexandreia had still continued its work. Like

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the flexible reed, it had bent as the storm passed over it, and then risen from the earth erect
as ever. The extinguishing of one luminary had not utterly darkened its sky, but only served
to reveal the presence of other stars that had not been observed before. Severe as was
the shock from the murder of the daughter of Theon, there were others to occupy the place
acceptably in the lecture-room.
Syrianus was the principal teacher. He was learned and profound; and his lectures
were frequented from all regions of Western Asia. He was an indefatigable writer, and
produced extensive expositions and commentaries upon the doctrines of Plato and
Pythagoras. His works, however, have been left untranslated. He wrote a commentary on
the Metaphysics of Aristotle, of which there is a Latin version, and controverts the
objections of that philosopher. He was a zealous Platonist, and at the same time he
regarded the writings of Plotinus and Porphyry with a veneration similar to that which he
entertained for Plato himself.
Among the students who attended his lectures were Moses, of Chorene, and two
others from Armenia. Isaac, the patriarch of that country and Mesrobes, a statesman of
great learning, had planned the forming of an Armenian alphabet after the plan of the
Greek. Heretofore, writing had been done sometimes with Greek letters, sometimes with
Persian, and sometimes with Aramaic or Chaldean. Under such conditions a high degree
of enlightenment was not easy to maintain. The Alexandreian text of the Bible was
regarded by them as the authentic version. The translation in their possession had been
made from the Hebrew or Aramaic, and was written in Aramaic letters. They resolved to
have a new Armenian version from the text which they regarded as the genuine original.
Moses and his companions were accordingly sent by them to Alexandreia, as being the first
school of learning in the Roman world.
The young men, of course, were Christians, and likewise admirers of the Patriarch.
They were too sagacious, however, not to be aware that the knowledge of the Greek
language in its purity was not to be had from Cyril and his ill-taught associates. They
accordingly joined the Platonic School and became pupils of Syrianus. Under his tuition
they made remarkable proficiency in the several departments of Greek literature. Not only
were they able to make the desired new translation of the Bible, but they extended their
labors to the writings of different classic authors. As a result of this, Armenia became a
seat of learning. It held this distinction until the next conquest. The history of Armenia
which was written by Moses of Chorene is a monument of learning and accuracy.
Shortly after this, Syrianus left Alexandreia. The Platonic School at Athens, at which
Hypatia and Synesios had been students, was now enjoying a fair degree of prosperity.
Its conductors extended an invitation to Syrianus to remove to that city and become its
leader. Alexandreia was fast losing its reputation as a literary metropolis. The invitation
was accepted, and from this time the later Platonism made its home in the city of the former
Akademeia.
In the meanwhile a vigorous attempt was made to establish a Peripatetic School of
Philosophy at Alexandreia. Olympiodoros, a native of Upper Egypt, was the founder. He
possessed excellent literary ability and composed several works; among them
commentaries upon the writings of Aristotle, a treatise upon the Sacred Art of Alchemy, a
history, and several other works that are now lost. His endeavors to establish a new
Lyceum, however, were not very successful. It was true that after the closing of the
Catechetic School, there had been a turning of attention to the doctrines of Aristotle; and
these have since been in high

--- 246

favor it the Roman Church. But there had been set up partisan lines at Alexandreia
between adherents of the old worship and the new, and Alexandreian Christians were
hardly willing to sit at the feet of a teacher, however excellent, who did not subscribe to the
formulas of doctrine promulgated by the Council of Nikaia.
Very little of the literature of that period has been preserved to the present time.
One cause, doubtless, was the bigotry and intolerance of Emperors and prelates, who
required all books to be destroyed which they did not approve. Another was the increasing
indifference to classic learning and literary attainment. This certainly was the fact in Egypt.
The arts in which that country had formerly excelled were now passing utterly out of
knowledge.
The skill in preparing of papyrus was almost wholly lost. There were eight different
kinds of this article. The hieratic was the best, and was used for the sacred books at the
Temples, and for the scrolls in the Great Library. Two more kinds, equal to it in value, were
devised in the reign of the Emperor Octavianus; and there were two cheaper kinds sold
in Rome. The Saitic papyrus was of inferior quality and was sold by weight. There were
now other kinds made at Alexandreia after what were considered improved methods,
which, nevertheless, like the cheap paper of our modern time, soon fell to pieces. Every
book written upon it has perished. No book which was written between the third and
eleventh centuries of the present era has remained, except those which were written upon
vellum or parchment. Hence we know little more of the philosophers of Egypt. A literature
which cannot be preserved becomes speedily a dead literature, and a people without a
literature is barbarous.
There was, however, one distinguished pupil in the School of Olympiodoros who was
destined to outshine those who had gone before him. Proklos, the son of an Asian of the
city of Xanthos, in Lykia, came to Alexandreia to pursue his studies. He omitted no
opportunity to perfect himself in liberal knowledge. Besides attending at the lectures of
Olympiodoros, he also received instruction in mathematics from Hero, rhetoric from
Leonas, general knowledge from Orion, a native Egyptian of sacerdotal lineage, and in the
Latin language at the Roman College. He was also in familiar relations with the principal
men of learning at Alexandreia. He appears to have been unfavorably impressed by what
he witnessed of the social and religious influences prevalent in the city. He removed to
Athens, and became the pupil of Syrianus and Asklepigenia, the daughter of Plutarch. So
broad and profound was his learning that Syrianus named him as his own successor in the
School of Philosophy.
At the age of twenty-eight he produced his masterpiece, the Commentary on the
Timaios of Plato. Only five books of this work remain; the others are lost. He also wrote
a Commentary on the First Alkibiades, a treatise on the Platonic Theology, Theologic
Institutes, a Grammatic Chrestomathy, and Eighteen Arguments against the Christians;
also Hymns to the Sun, to the Muses, two to Aphrodite, one to Hekate and Janus, and one
to Athena.
Proklos was thoroughly proficient in the Oriental Theosophy. He considered the
Orphic Hymns and the Chaldaean Oracles as divine revelations. He had the deepest
confidence in his own sacred calling and office. He regarded himself as the last link in the
Hermaic chain, the latest of the men set apart by Hermes, through whom, by perpetual
revelation, was preserved the occult knowledge signified in the Mysteries.
He could not conceive of the Creation of the Universe by arbitrary fiat, and excepted
to Christianity because it was unphilosophic in respect to this subject.

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He believed the utterance of the Chaldean Oracles in the matter: That prior to all things
is the One, the Monad, immovable in ever-being. By projecting his own essence, he
manifests himself as Two - the Duad - the Active and Passive, the Positive and Negative,
the essence of Mind and the principle of Matter. By the conjoining of these two the cosmos
or universe emanates with all things that pertain to it.
Proklos, however, did not teach that evil was of or from matter, but consisted in an
arresting or constraining of energy in its legitimate action.
He inculcated the harmony of all truth, and endeavored accordingly to show that
there was a direct and vital connection between every teacher, however much they might
seem to differ. There was really an agreement, he affirmed, between the Dialectic of Plato
and the Reasonings of Aristotle, between the Chaldaean Oracles and the Western
Philosophy. The following summary, made by the writer from his treatise entitled The Later
Platonists, presents a fair delineation of his views.
"He [Proklos] elaborated the entire Theosophy and Theurgy of his predecessors into
a complete system. Like the Rabbis and Gnostics, he cherished a profound reverence for
the Abraxas, the 'Word' or 'Venerable Name,' and he believed with lamblichos in the
attaining of a divine or magic power, which, overcoming the mundane life, rendered the
individual an organ of the Divinity, speaking a wisdom that he did not comprehend, and
becoming the utterance of a Superior Will. He even taught that there were symbols or
tokens that would enable a person to pass from one order of spiritual beings to another,
higher and higher, till he arrived at the absolute Divine. Faith, he inculcated, would make
one the possessor of this talisman.
"His Theology was like that of the others. 'There are many inferior divinities' he
reiterated from Aristotle, but only one Mover. All that is said concerning the human shape
and attributes of these divinities is mere fiction, invented to instruct the common people and
secure their obedience to wholesome laws. The First Principle, however, is neither Fire nor
Earth, nor Water, nor anything that is the object of sense. A spiritual substance [Mind] is
the Cause of the Universe and the source of all order and excellence, all the activity and
all the forms that are so much admired in it. All must be led up to this Primal Substance
which governs in subordination to the FIRST.
"This is the general doctrine of the Ancients, which has happily escaped the wreck
of Truth amid the rocks of popular error and poetic fables."
"The state after death, the metempsychosis or superior life is thus explained by him:
'After death the soul continues in the aerial till it is entirely purified from all angry and
voluptuous passions; them it doth put off by a second dying of the aerial body, as it did of
the earthly one. Wherefore, the ancients say that there is a celestial body always joined
with the soul, which is immortal, luminous, and star-like.'"
Perhaps no philosopher of the ancient period was more broad, more catholic and
liberal in his views, and yet so comprehensive. Proklos comprises in a single concept, the
"good law" of Zoroaster, the dharma of India, the oracular wisdom of the Chaldean sages,
the gnosis and intuition of Western mystics. We are forcibly reminded of the confession
of the audience on the day of Pentecost, that everyone however remote and alien in
personal affiliations, heard alike the utterance of the apostle in his own language.

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A FRAGMENT
by Zoryan

ADMIRABLE and beautiful is the outer plane of existence, this physical world of
ours; many are the attempts to fathom its mystery. Unity seems to pervade all: the one
sky blazes with sun, moon and stars, with clouds, meteors and bows of wondrous colors;
do they move together, or each its way? Why do we see and feel them as the one beauty?
The eyes of the child-mind open with blissful wonder. Why do these ever-shifting beauties
seem to strike the soul as something ever present, beyond a doubt, ideal, everlasting?
In deep reverie, the soul takes this picture to itself, a moment seems eternity; the
picture is, it must be, it always will be. Then when the soul is perfectly satisfied, glad and
content, and returns back to the physical eyes, the skies are shifted, the picture is gone,
another is in its stead. You can protest, close your eyes again, return to it in perfect surety,
then once again opening your eyes, lo! a third picture is on the sky.
O, wonder of it! Why do things move and stand at the same time, move in the world
and stand in the soul, - where is the centre, where the circumference? What is this middle
space? Where is a refuge, whence the origination?
Surely it must be, says the spectator who is now trying to search it out. But his outer
eyes are too open, his inner powers too sleepy. In the outer world alone he tries to find the
Law.
He studies sciences, he sees the order of Nature everywhere, he imagines that his
chase after the shifting things is ended, and that his mind will vibrate with perfect harmony
with the sequences of things. Light, heat and sound, - all are waves for him, just as the
seasons of the year and the birth and death of planets.
Now he craves for numbers to count his modes of motion. He makes many
calculations, but satisfaction is as far away as ever.
Motion is, that is true! But who moves, who lives? Then in his search he dissects
the things to find the molecules in their perpetual dance. Out of these innumerable points
he builds his world. But a new wonder springs. How do those small things feel the
presence of all their comrades throughout the world, how do they move unerringly in space
and take cognizance of their coworkers, no matter how far away? Does space speak to
them, or they know themselves? Are they the microscopic Gods?
Then the investigator returns back. He sees a power of strength and a beauty of
form beyond the crystal, he sees vitality beyond the plant . . . . and so on he goes.
Again he turns to man, to earth, to star, till he stops at the threshold of the
Unknowable and becomes silent for a while and bows before the ineffable mystery.
Then he returns with a new message to his world. He brings forth a truer philosophy
and lifts up the thought of men. Thus he vibrates from one extremity to the other, the
dweller of the middle plane. Now he sees the One expressed in the many, again he listens
to what the many speak of the One.
And what speak they indeed?
They speak of the one form of space, wherefrom many forms do spring. Who has
ever touched space? Some even doubt its existence and call it a sub-

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jective form of thought. Yet all forms speak of this form, and all solid things speak of this
dream. Without it all would be solid and we could then touch nothing.
Who has ever seen matter? Colors we perceive, and the darkness beyond, without
which no color could be seen, and without admixture of which no relativity could exist.
Who has ever heard force? All forces speak of silence, and the meaning of all,
purpose of all, is silent.
So then things speak of dreams, yet dreams are unknown as long as they remain
but symbols - and veils of the beyond. Who will lead out of this astral world of real
phantoms? If the spectator has faith and is not bewildered, it is well for him. Though the
world now is a double field of dreams, the one seemingly so hard and unyielding, the other
apparently so transitory and elusive, yet he lives, and in that life he feels, though the reality
is hidden.
And as he feels so, the rosy dawn of life congeals into the red clouds of passions.
Between the touchable things and the untouchable dreams he chooses the things and
separations. And yet he feels that it is for the sake of dreams that the chase goes on. In
that period of life all the world around him takes a very hard and perishable aspect. It
becomes friend and enemy in turn. This middle period is the most illusive. Symbols and
dreams turn into dragons full of life and implacable power.
Where to escape? The human mind creates in thought the better world. The mind
ceases to serve the passions and becomes the lord. The world has its origin in the mind-
stuff, but has forgotten to dissolve after the thought was ended, and has become hardened
by desires.
It seems that much of man was absorbed in the world, and much of the world sank
into man. Having it in himself, the spectator began to create a world of his own and was
satisfied. The original plan and unity for the first time appeared understood as much as
man could imitate them in the creation of his own civilizations. The great dragon of mystery
now turned into the silent and meditating Sphinx. The mystery is nearer. It is within man
himself.
We stand now on the threshold of the new race. If the unity is within, what is that
power that can perceive it? The Heart is that power, and it conforms and arranges the
mind creations. It discovers the new, it knows what is best, it is full of harmony. It gives
the keynote, it sounds forth the sweet chord, it enjoys the beauty. It is the Universal Chant
of Glory, sounding as sweetly in the heart of my brother man as in myself and everywhere,
one and the same. Different shells on the seashore of mystery gather it and re-tell it in
different ways, yet it is the same story everywhere. Every child will recognize the note, no
matter how faint and incomplete, and smile a bright response. It is its voice that we hear
at the gray dusk and in the silence, . . . let us listen intently; the Heart of the World is
speaking, and in its voice are the eternal voices of the living and the departed.
In it are all voices, which are One Voice - the Voice Divine. Issued from the
Unknown Cause of Being, it stands as an Eternal Witness. Let us then bow our heads
before the awful Mystery and keep our song of life in perfect harmony with that one divine
keynote and all its overtones which are in ourselves and everywhere. At every right place
and time let us add each his own clear note. O! what sweet privilege to find our place in
the universe and to be part of the All.

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WORKING FOR THE SELF

by James M. Pryse

TO the word "unselfishness" I have an unquenchable antipathy. The word "altruism"

is offensive alike to philosophy and to etymology. When anyone talks of "working for
others" and "living for others," I consider his phrases to be meaningless cant; for such
"working for others" is not a reasonable thing to do, and to "live for others" is wholly
impossible. I regard altruism - "otherism" - as a pernicious doctrine, the negation of true
self-existence, put forward by people whose intellects have become so warped by the
dogma of a personal Deity that they declare him to be the only self-existent Being and deny
the self-existence of man, whom they declare to be merely a "creature" or created being.
Denying that man is a creature, and rejecting the dogma of "otherism," I affirm the Self. It
is quite evident that all action arises from self-interest, nor can we conceive of any other
possible source of action. Each individual must necessarily act from his own centre;
and in order to shift that centre of action he would have to transfer his individuality along
with it. To "live for others" one would have to cease existing individually and become
merged in those "others," a useless transfusion such as may be accomplished with dividual
life-forces, but which is impossible to be performed with the individual Life. Again if it is
wrong for a man to work for the advancement of his own personal interests, where is he
morally the gainer if he takes to "working for others" in order to further the personal
interests of those "others"? There would seem to be less excuse for him if he went out of
his way to aid and abet others in their "selfish" efforts than if he had merely been "selfish"
on his own account. He would be like the newly "converted" maiden who, when the
revivalist persuaded her that her jewels and finery "were weighing her down to hell," went
and gave them all to her younger sister,
And why should "doing good to others" be any more meritorious than doing good to
one's self? Equally in both cases it would be doing good. Every act is preceded by an
incentive or motive; otherwise the act could not be originated or performed, for there would
be no impelling principle. Now, when one does, of his own volition, any act for the benefit
of another person, the incentive must necessarily reside in himself, and not in the other;
consequently he is in reality acting for himself. After all, it is not actual unselfishness, but
only selfishness through another. The fontal energy, whether of will, of longing or of desire,
wells up from the depths of his own being, no matter into what channel it may be diverted.
The mother sacrifices herself for her child because it is her child. Who lays down his life
for his friend, does so because it is his friend. However noble and praiseworthy such deeds
may be, still they do not constitute unselfishness; for always they are blemished,
sometimes even vitiated, by the notion of possessing. Often the love for another is
narrower and more pernicious than even self-love; for a man will perpetrate unjust acts to
further the interests of one whom he loves which he would scorn to become guilty of in the
furtherance of his own interests. A person who is becomingly modest about his own
attainments may be the veriest braggart about the accomplishments of some one on whose
friendship he prides himself, or who is related to him by

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family ties. A man who appreciates the good qualities of himself falls into self-conceit,
becoming contracted, mean and detestable; but pride of family, of class, of sect, of race,
is only self-conceit on an enlarged scale. It is not appreciation of the good qualities as
such, but merely the self-satisfaction of regarding them as possessions. Yet man never
really possesses anything; he can only hold things in trust, and that usually for but a brief
season. He is the world's beggar, and there is nothing that he can claim as his own; even
his body is borrowed from the elements, nor can he retain possession of it. Death deprives
him of it, and restores it to the elements whence it was derived. If he cannot retain the
outer form which he calls himself, how can he lay claim to others, calling this one "my
child," and that one "my friend"? This mistaken notion of ownership may make parents so
tyrannical in attempting to control the destiny of their child as to cause their hapless
offspring to wish that somehow he could have been born an orphan; one's friend may
monopolize him so tenaciously as to arouse yearnings for the less oppressive society of
a mere acquaintance or even of a stranger. That ingratitude is so common is due to the
patronizing spirit with which favors are usually bestowed; the self-reliant person forced to
accept the favor shrinks from this suggestion of his inferiority, hesitating to appear grateful
lest that be taken as an admission of a claim against him, while the servile person, in his
covert resentment at the superiority of his patron, becomes an ingrate, and actuated by a
vague feeling of hostility may do him an evil turn.
Altruism is a wrong philosophy of life, for it is an assertion of the separateness of
human beings. Now, the real basis of ethics, the initial point of all true philosophy, is the
oneness of all living beings; the many are illusory manifestations of the One, upon which
they are dependent, and without which they could not exist. Altruism is a moral arithmetic
that ignores the unit. The dogma of a personal God is in effect an assertion that the unit
has no relation to numbers, and that the numbers are derived from zero: God, the One,
is apart from the universe, and the universe had to be created out of nothing. Starting with
this error, every attempt to solve any problem in life necessarily leads to a reductio ad
absurdum. A rational system of morality cannot be up-built on such a fictitious foundation.
It is clearly evident that before there can be the many there must be the primal unity, and
that every being and thing in the multiform universe derives its individual existence from this
unity. There is but the one and only Self for all beings. Right action comes from referring
all one's thoughts and deeds to this ever-present, all-pervading Self. A man should not
work for himself nor for other selves; he should work solely for the Self.
It is true that what a man thinks, that he becomes; yet usually the lives of men are
nobler than their creeds; for there is in the mental realm of each man an element of
intuitive, unformulated thought from which he derives his inspiration, and which is more
potent than any formulated beliefs in prompting him to be virtuous, generous and
benevolent. His reasoning may be a mere process of revolving in his brain-pan the
concretions of thought, the corpses of ideas; but always the free and living ether is there,
vibrant with impulses from the Self universal. He becomes spontaneously "unselfish" just
to the extent that he becomes ministrative to his real Self. Every good man is a
philosopher in action, even if his intellect has not been trained to philosophy. Broad
sympathies, philanthropy, generosity and helpfulness spring from this recognition of the
unity of life. Only in an age when this unity is so far lost sight of as to render possible the
coining of such a

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word as "altruism" could a professed philosopher make use of so absurd a title as "the
synthetic philosophy." Philosophy is synthesis in the highest and most inclusive sense;
and science is but the particular application of it to the different departments of nature.
Morality is philosophy applied to human conduct. People speculate as to what will be the
religion of the future. If there is to be a religion of the future, it will be equally as fallacious
as the religions of the past. True religion does not belong to the future or to the past, but
is the changeless spirit of Truth; it is eternal, and therefore in its fullness known only to the
Immortals. It manifests through the lives of men, not through their professions of belief.
Every good deed performed by any individual for the benefit of his fellow-beings is a
revelation of God through man, more eloquent than all the bibles. They only are Christians
who tread the path that the Christ trod; none are Buddhists save those who follow in the
footsteps of the Buddha. And the divinity of the Buddhas and the Christs is in this, that they
do nothing of themselves, but that through them the One Self is the doer. He who acts
from personal motives, however great his deed, however wide his influence, is merely a
man; but whoever acts from universal motives, even in the minor affairs of life that have
seemingly little importance, is more than man; he is, like the Galilean, a Theanthropos, a
God-man, for it is the God-self within him that performs the deed. And in such actions
there is no thought of merit or of reward, no notion of separateness from "others''; it is
simply the divine Love irradiating among men, as freely and ungrudgingly as the sun sends
its light into space.
It is not enough that a man should love his fellow men. A man may do that, and toil
with seeming unselfishness in his philanthropy, but only to accomplish more harm than
good, and even to bring about his own destruction. lf, in "working for others," he persists
in regarding them as really other than himself, he may be excluding the dictates of the One
Self, shutting himself off from the source of true inspiration, and deadening his intuitions,
thus losing the guidance that alone can render his effort effectual. To repudiate the
supreme source of individual strength is to call in the lower elemental forces, the fires that
burn but give no light. Thus it sometimes happens that the philanthropist whose purpose
is not sufficiently high, even though his life is pure and his labors unselfish, opens the door
to these lower psychic forces, becomes "mediumistic," and is preyed upon by astral
influences, the earth-bound souls and nameless creatures called into existence by the evil
thoughts of men, to which his purity of life makes him all the more vulnerable. It is unsafe
to abandon one's own individuality, or to go astray from one's own duty in seeking to
assume the duties of others. The human individuality is Deity focused in man, and it is not
to be thus rashly cast aside. Even the physical body is sacred, to be devoted to the
purposes for which the individuality takes upon itself the outer existence; whoever profanes
it, or becomes guilty of suicide either by intentional violence or by sinful perversion of the
bodily functions, meets with heavy penalties. But to destroy one's outer life is as nothing
compared with the abandonment of the inner life. And it is a desecration of that interior Self
to seek merely "to do good" on the outer plane of activity while at the same time ignoring
the Good and averting the eyes from the Beautiful and the True. A man who does not
understand his own nature, has no grasp of the real purpose of living, and does not
perceive the inner causes which are outwardly manifested in suffering and sorrow, is not
well equipped for humanitarian work. Public "charities" are largely a failure. In such work
the

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left hand usually has a detailed report of what the right hand is doing. Too often there are
Judases who have the carrying of the box, and the poor get but a small share of what is
thrown into it, and that only after the sacrifice of their self-respect. It is indeed Christian to
look after the orphans, but it is most decidedly unchristian to herd them in asylums and to
array them in uniforms of satanic ugliness. If men would but turn their eyes toward the
Light which is within themselves, there would no longer be this futile striving in the
darkness, this hopeless groping with helpless hands. If they would but work for the Self
which is within them, there would then be no need of charities, no notion of helping others,
no delusion of self and other selves; for then the great Self would be working through each
and for the whole, and the prime cause of human misery would be done away with forever.
That cause is the Satan which beguiles men into the belief that they are separate from God
and from their fellows; and when that Satan of separateness is dethroned, mankind in a
divine unity will be God's own Son arisen, white-robed, star-crowned, and holding in his
hand the keys of Death and of the world of Gloom; immortal in beauty, truth incarnate,
goodness triumphant, humanity will itself be the work of the ages perfected in the divine
Selfishness of the One Self who says, "Thou shalt worship no other Gods but me.''

------------

"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine
Providence has found for you; the society of your contemporaries, the connection of
events. Great men have always done so and confided themselves childlike to the genius
of their age, betraying their perception that the Eternal was stirring at their heart, working
through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must
accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not pinched in a corner,
not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but redeemers and benefactors, pious aspirants
to be noble clay plastic under the Almighty effort, let us advance and advance on Chaos
and the Dark."
- Emerson, Essay on Self-Reliance.

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THE ESSENES
by Arthur A. Beale, M. B.

ONE of the most interesting and romantic pages in history, and one that tells most
vividly the changing evolution of an occult movement, is that which relates to the ancient
sect of the Essenes. We trace, with interest, the glorious onward march of their mighty
organization to that dreadful gulf when the chain was snapt and a dark blot fell on
Humanity, culminating in the destruction of that flickering light of occultism as it was
struggling in Alexandria, till the paralyzing touch of Rome killed the last of the prophets,
burnt the great library, and so traduced the sacred writings in order to usher in a time-
serving system of beliefs, inaugurated by its mighty apostle of perversion, the time-honored
Eusebius.
Nowhere else can we more certainly detect his dire work than in the history of the
Essenes.
Josephus, from whom perhaps we can best gather information regarding this curious
people, as they existed at any rate in the early years of our era, distinctly teaches over and
over again that in those days there were three sects of the Jews.
 "The first is that of the Pharisees, the second that of the Sadducees, and the third
that of the Essens as we have frequently told you; for I thought that by this means I might
choose the best, if I were once acquinted with them all; so I contented myself with hard
fare, and underwent great difficulties, and went through them all. Nor did I content myself
with these trials only, but when I was informed that one, whose name was Banus, lived in
the desert, and used no other clothing than grew upon trees, and had no other food than
grew of its own accord, and bathed himself in cold water frequently, both night and day, in
order to preserve his chastity, I imitated him in those things, and continued with him three
years."
Now if, as Josephus tells us, these three sects of the Jews existed in his time, how
is it that not a mention is made of the Essenes in the New Testament whilst frequent
allusions are made to the other two, viz., Pharisees and Sadducees? How is it that
Eusebius is so careful to associate the Essenes with the Early Christians only? This was
part of the plot to destroy the occult movement and to utilize the force for the sectarian
ecclesiasticism. This is quite consistent with the well known interpolation into the writings
of Josephus, where Jesus is mentioned that gives the thing away at once; sandwiched,
as the paragraph is, between the description of Pilate's system of water-work in Palestine,
and the seduction of Paulina in the temple of Isis at Rome.
The passage runs: - "Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be
lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, - a teacher of such men as
receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of
the Gentiles. He was (the) Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men
amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not
forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had
foretold, these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of
Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."
This makes one believe that Eusebius who H. P. Blavatsky tells us is respons-

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ible for this interpolation, was not so clever as we are led to believe, since the whole act is
so clumsy and so independent of context that his hand is shown at once. But of the
Essenes, H. P. B. says in her Glossary: "Essenes, a hellenized word, from the Hebrew Asa
a 'healer,' a mysterious sect of Jews, said by Pliny to have lived near the Dead Sea per
millia soeculorum (for thousands of ages). Some have supposed them to be extreme
Pharisees, and others, which may be the true theory, the descendants of the Benim Nabim
of the Bible, and think that they were 'Kenites' and Nazarites. They had many Buddhistic
ideas and practices, and it is noteworthy that the priest of the Great Mother at Ephesus,
Diana (Bhavani), with ninny breasts, were also so denominated. The title 'brother' used in
the Early Church was Essenean; they were a fraternity or a koinobian or community like
the early converts."
Another passage from Isis Unveiled speaking of the remnants of the Ancient
Egyptians says:
"Their sacred scribes and hierophants were wanderers upon the face of the earth,
obliged by a fear of a profanation of the sacred mysteries to seek refuge amongst the
Hermetic fraternities, known later as the Essenes, their esoteric knowledge was buried
deeper than ever." And again in Isis Unveiled: "The Gnostics entertained many of the
Essenean ideas; and the Essenes had their 'greater' and 'minor' mysteries at least two
centuries before our era. They were the Isarim or Initiates, the descendants of the
Egyptian hierophants, in whose country they had been settled for several centuries before
they were converted to Buddhistic monasticism, by the missionaries of King Asoka, and
amalgamated later with the earlier Christians; and they existed, probably, before the old
Egyptian temples were desecrated and ruined in the incessant invasions of Persians,
Greeks, and other conquering hordes. The hierophants had their atonements enacted in
the mystery of Initiation ages before the Gnostics or even the Essenes, had appeared."
Turning now to Josephus we find a number of interesting facts about the Essens.*
It seems from this authority that at the time of the wholesale persecution of the Jews by
Herod, the Essens "were excused from this imposition," and he explains this from the fact
that he respected them for the sake of Manahem, who many years previously, when a
child, had prophesied that Herod would be raised to a great height of princedom although
he was only a private gentleman. Herod remembered this in after years and so respected
his order, the Essens. Josephus tells us the Essens lived the "same kind of life as do those
whom the Greeks call Pythagoreans; concerning whom I shall discourse more fully
elsewhere.'' Again in his Wars of the Jews, he says: "For there are three philosophical
sects among the Jews. The followers of the first of whom are the Pharisees; of the second
the Sadducees; and the third sect, who pretend to a severer discipline, are called Essens.
These last are Jews by birth, and seem to have a greater affection for one another than the
other sects have. These Essens reject pleasures as an evil, but esteem continence and
the conquest over our passions to be virtue. They neglect wedlock, but choose out other
persons' children and form them according to their own manners." "These men are
despisers of riches" and considered all property of members "as common to the whole,"
there being amongst them no appearance of poverty or excess of riches. "They think oil
is a defilement," but consider sweaty bodies and white raiment good. They dwell among
all cities and in traveling carry no luggage, only weapons to protect them-
------------
* Josephus always spells it in this way.
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selves from thieves. "And as for their piety towards God, it is very extraordinary"; they
speak of nothing profane before sunrise and supplicate the rising sun. They eat their meals
with great ceremony, saying grace before and after meals. They occupy themselves during
the day with various crafts, but in all things under the dictatorship of their curators "only
these two things are done among them at everyone's own free will, which are, to assist
those that want it, and to shew mercy." "They dispense their anger after a just manner, and
restrain their passions. They are eminent for fidelity, and are the ministers of peace;
whatsoever they say also is firmer than an oath; but swearing is avoided by them, and they
esteem it worse than perjury, for they say that he who cannot be believed without (swearing
by) God is already condemned."
They also study diligently the ancient writings and "inquire after such roots and
medicinal stones as may cure their distemper."
A probationer who seeks admission is prescribed strict living for one year, before he
is at all admitted, when he is presented with a small hatchet and girdle and white garment,
continence being required. If successful he partakes of the waters of purification, but is not
yet admitted, for "his temper is tried for two more years" and if worthy he is admitted, taking
tremendous oaths of piety to God and justice to all men and that he will do no harm to
anyone, either of his own accord or by the command of others; that he will hate the wicked
and assist the righteous, and will shew "fidelity to all men, especially those in authority, that
he will not abuse his authority nor endeavour to outshine his subjects, either in his
garments, or any other finery; that he will be perpetually a lover of truth" and reprove those
that lie "that he will keep his hands clear from theft, and his soul from unlawful gains; and
that he will neither conceal anything from those of his own sect, nor discover any of their
doctrines to others, no, not though anyone should compel him so to do at the hazard of his
life." He "will abstain from robbery, and will equally preserve the books belonging to their
sect and the names of the angels (or messengers)" (here the translator in a footnote
suggests that the mention of angels was suggestive of "'worshiping of angels' blamed by
St. Paul as superstitious and unlawful in Coloss. II. 8," which seems to be both a mark of
ignorance as to its import on the part of the translator, and the corruption that was involved
in the compiling of Paul's writings so called): but to return to Josephus. Anyone culpable
of any heinous sin was cast out of the society and compelled by their own vows to starve
themselves, not being permitted to partake of food from strangers.
They honored the name of their legislator (Moses), to blaspheme whom was to die,
and they stringently observed the seventh day, as one of rest on which day they will neither
prepare food or remove any vessel from its place; preparing everything on previous days
with scrupulous care in all details. They recognized four classes of division amongst
themselves. They were long lived, often reaching over a hundred years as the result of
their simple diet and regular course of life.
"They contemn the miseries of life, and are above pain, by the generosity of their
mind. And as for death, if it will be for their glory, they esteem it better than living always;
and indeed our war with the Romans gave abundant evidences what great souls they had
in their trials, wherein, although they were tortured and distorted, burnt and torn to pieces,
and went through all kinds of instruments of torment, "yet could they not be made to either
blaspheme their legislator or eat what was forbidden, but smiled in their pains," and
laughed those to scorn who inflicted tor-

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ments upon them and resigned up their souls with great alacrity, as expecting to receive
them again.
"For their doctrine is this 'That bodies are corruptible, and that the matter they are
made of is not permanent; but that the souls are immortal, and continue forever; and that
they come out of the most subtile air; and are united to their bodies as in prisons, into
which they are drawn by a certain natural enticement,' etc.
"There are also among them who undertake to foretell things to come, by reading
the holy books, and using several sorts of purifications."
There was a certain order of Essens who, whilst not embracing entire celibacy,
permitted marriage for the purpose solely of propagating the race. He contrasts all this with
the Pharisees who represented the letter and stereotyped Ecclesiasticism, and the
Sadducees (the out and out materialists of those days). So the tragedy of life worked out
then, exactly as it does today. History repeating itself in complicated cycles within cycles.
Such is a picture of the Essens as depicted by Josephus, and that as told by Philo
is similar; told, perhaps, in a more racy way and evidently the writings of a misogamist, if
not a misanthropist, and it would seem that De Quincey studied the account rather of Philo
than Josephus. Philo especially emphasizes their abhorrence of marriage and the great
love of peace and truth and their disinclination to indulge in any occupation that might by
any possibility be interpreted or converted into a channel of war, injustice and misery, but
Josephus, who aspired to be himself an Essene, is the most reliable authority, though one
regrets his exoteric style of description.
Pliny tells us their home was in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea, where they had
existed for thousands of ages. This may be a slight exaggeration, but even taking it at
years, this falls in with the probability that their origin was Egyptian. This is made more
probable by the fact that their great legislator was Moses, who himself was brought up in
the Egyptian schools. H. P. B. says that their teachings were Hermetic, and that their sect
was the recipient of the teachings of the latest exiled hierophants and scribes of Egypt.
That they overran the whole of the coasts of the Eastern extremity of the Mediterranean,
but especially settling in the districts of the Dead Sea. They became powerful about a
century before our era (when Caius Caesar was born), about which time this district was
greatly worked by Buddhist missionaries sent out by King Asoka, himself probably being
of an occult dynasty, and so their philosophies and teachings became strengthened by
various asceticisms distinctly Buddhistic, and Josephus himself describes such a Yogi in
Banus, before mentioned. These missionaries extended their tour probably to these
islands, especially Ireland, and fanned the ancient flames of occultism in that land. So
there stand the Essenes, the link between the two great schools of occultism, Egyptian and
Buddhistic, and maybe Chaldean. They came like a rolling flood into our own era, Jesus
himself supposed to be an Essene, whose teaching at any rate was essentially Essenean,
the Gospel stories being probably nothing more than the pictures of the Essenean
mysteries in the very act of emerging from their esoteric secrecy into exoteric
manifestation, for contrary to De Quincey, who says "they made no mystery of their
doctrines," they were under very severe vows not to divulge these secret writings, nor the
names of their Adept Masters. The wave rolled into our era, but only to smash itself
against a wall of scepticism, materialism and ecclesiasticism, for although for a century or
two it enjoyed a robust activity amongst the Gnostics and Pythagoreans, culminating

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in that glorious outburst of mysticism of the first water at Alexandria under the leadership
of Ammonius Saccas in the 2d century, and later that of Plotinus and Iamblichus between
the 3d and 4th centuries, and in a very crippled way the truth filtered down to the 5th
century, when the real rule of the ecclesiastical terror was ushered in with the discreditable
and cruel murder of Hypatia by the infamous Saint Cyril, and the last fruits of ancient
wisdom were gathered in. Eusebius and the Cyril fraternity had done their work and the
glorious inquisition was heralded with pomp.
But the fires smouldered and, as we know, broke into glorious flame to light a lurid
world by Theophrastus Paracelsus and later on by Count St. Germain, Cagliostro and
others.
De Quincey, in his article on Rosicrucians and Free Masons, confutes the idea of
these bodies having any relation to the Essens and Theraputae but finds no difficulty in
associating the ragamuffin crew of Theosophists, Cabbalists, Astrologers, Theurgists and
Alchemists of the 16th century, but denies any origin to either Rosicrucians or Free Masons
previous to the commencement of the early years of the seventeenth century. It is curious
that about the sixteenth century there was amongst the then Cabbalists a general belief
that in the seventeenth century there was expected a general reformation which would
affect the whole human race, "Paracelsus having represented the comet which appeared
in 1572 as the sign and harbinger of the approaching revolution."
Referring to this criticism of De Quincey, whilst acknowledging the possibility that
no organization existed by the name of Free Masons or Rosicrucians, we are not prepared
to participate in his sectarian bias and prejudice, backed up as it is by entire ignorance of
the esoteric teachings of the Essenes or Rosicrucians. For even in his reasons for
dissociating the Free Masons with Essens he makes one blatant mistake in saying they,
the Essenes, made no mystery of their doctrines, and another bold statement, when he
says they (Essenes) had no symbology; first because he could not know the full esoteric
teachings of the Essens, whilst what we do know teems with symbology, such as the
hatchet, the girdle and the white garments. But what we do maintain is, that the occult
wave that comes pouring down through the ages, through Chaldean, Egyptian and Indian
mysticism, and through the Therapeutae and Essenes, the Gnostics and Neoplatonists, is
the same, long continuous; that the fires of occultism have ever been burning behind, in
the mystic Rosicrucian and other lodges. And that now the fires are relit, the beacons are
active and shortly will be seen such a blaze of Brotherhood and Love that every temple that
does not respond to its eternal impulse, that does not recognize the call of human hearts,
and prefers the superstitions of its Theologies to the open hearted love of man for man, is
doomed with an ever lasting desolation. Woe unto ye, idolators and time servers, woe unto
ye countries that worship a mock sovereignty when the fountains of living water have
become unsealed and the Light of the Throne of Love and Light has risen for all time.

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CYCLES OF INSPIRATION
by Rev. W.E. Copeland

III.
TOWARDS the close of the eleventh century occurred one of the great movements,
beginning in 1096 and exerting its full influence during the next century. Certain centuries
stand out above others, as those in which humanity has been most influenced for good or
ill: the fifth before Christ, when Greek literature was forming; the first century when
Christianity was being planted; the sixth century, when the religion of Mohammed was
taking shape; the eleventh century, when the Crusades altered the destiny of Europe; the
sixteenth century, when Protestantism shook the old church to its foundations. These
centuries are separated from one another by about 500 years, and are the important
epochs in the history of human progress in modern times, each recording a distinct effort
to bring men into Liberty, Fraternity and Equality.
In 1095 was held the Council of Clermont, and under the burning eloquence of Pope
Urban II., the assembled multitude with one voice welcomed the Crusade against the
Saracens, as the will of God.
"The Crusades," writes Carlyle, "took their rise in religion, their visible object was,
commercially speaking, worth nothing. It was the boundless, invisible world that was laid
bare in the imagination, and in its burning light the visible shrunk as a scroll.'' While the
Crusades were started purely in the interests of the Roman Catholic Church, they were to
result in an awakening of men's minds, which should finally overthrow the dominion of the
church. By the Crusades was at length broken that long reign of darkness which had
threatened a total ending of civilization. Nothing tends to broaden men so much as travel,
and mingling with strangers. Provincials from all over Europe were thrown together and
learned that there were other nations than the one to which they belonged; they also
learned, after a sojourn in the Holy Land, that the followers of Mohammed were cultured,
educated and chivalrous. Indeed, the chivalry which exerted so great an influence in
succeeding centuries was largely a plant of Saracenic growth. From the time of the
Crusades we have a Europe, and then began what has come to be known as European
civilization.
In the twelfth century we hear much of Universal Brotherhood; the long-forgotten
teachings of Jesus and the practices of the early church are brought to the front. The
Waldenses or Poor Men of Lyons, and the Albigenses, both practiced Universal
Brotherhood. Liberty, Fraternity and Equality were proclaimed with enthusiasm and the
church at once began to persecute these heretics. But the seed of progress had been
planted by the Crusades, people were awakening from their long sleep. The Crusaders
had met with Greek culture in Constantinople, had learned that there were Christians far
superior to themselves in culture. The Crusaders had also come in contact with the
Saracens and had been surprised to find the followers of Mohammed cultivated, refined,
good fighters and thoroughly chivalric, and they would no longer accept for truth all which
the priests told them. In sunny Provence gathered magicians and scholars of the Occult,
here was the

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home of heresy and the headquarters of chivalry, which in the last part of the century
became a great power.
Chivalry was pure mysticism, the knight, while he was ever at war, engaged in hand
to hand contests a large part of his time, yet cherished an ideal; of which ideal the
troubadours were continually singing. Serving seven years as page, seven as esquire, only
after a severe testing did the aspirant for knighthood succeed in winning the highly prized
spur of gold. He was to be temperate, chaste, obedient and ever ready to defend the weak
and oppressed. Chivalry attempted to bring life and light to a dead and darkened world,
it lifted many out of dead materialism into a living idealism and sowed seeds of progress
and human sympathy, which were to germinate in later centuries.
In the thirteenth century there is a great awakening all over Europe, both in civil and
religious affairs. Italian and German cities are beginning to obtain power and to protect the
citizens against the Robber Barons. Only in cities is it possible to obtain the highest
intellectual development. In solitary caves, on mountain top or ocean side one may attain
great spiritual development, but for the intellect to reach its height there is needed the clash
of mind with mind. In various parts of Europe mysticism flourished; we hear of Friar Bacon
in England, of Raymond Lully on the continent, and alchemy finds many students. In this
century was preached the Everlasting Gospel, which proclaimed a dispensation whereby
men could be religious without priest or church. The Knights Templar were at the height
of their power, practicing occultism in their priories, and practically independent of the
Church of Rome. They were imitated by the Knights of St. John, Knights of Malta, and
several secret bands of brothers among the Germans.
In the fourteenth century Mysticism gains further power; especially in Germany we
have many Mystics, who say as said John Tauler, the famous Dominican friar, "I was led
to a new view of religion, of life and of the Universe by a master, whose name I never
knew, but who brought me from darkness to light." In England Wycliffe broke away from
a church in which rival popes were hurling anathemas and curses at one another. The
scandals of the church had become so great as to attract very general attention. Chaucer,
Dante, Froissart and Petrarch flourished, the church was publicly derided, and such religion
as prevailed, was condemned. The powers of darkness, ever active, started the Inquisition
in the hopes that the kindling light might be extinguished and the stirring of new life be
smothered; those powers are ever on the alert when the triumph of light is near at hand,
and they too are more active towards the close of each century. But the work of the
preceding centuries had been well done, and light prevailed over darkness.
In the fifteenth century the light burned still brighter and the springtime came, when
we have the Renaissance, affecting Religion, Social Life, the Arts and Sciences. Greek
Literature, that yeast of the ages, ever alive and active, was brought from its long seclusion
and again aroused intellectual life. The Spanish Catholics succeeded in expelling from
Spain the Moors and Jews, and extinguishing that light which for centuries had made Spain
the light centre of Europe, and by this action lighted fires in Italy, Poland, France, Germany
and England, which have given permanent and increasing light down to the present day.
The latter part of the century witnessed the two great events which were to change society
throughout Europe, the discovery and utilization of the Art of Printing and the discovery of
America. The first helped to bring about reform in the church, and

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the second to make England the greatest power among the nations of the earth and
prepare the way for the new continent and the new people, who were destined to prepare
a social state in which Freedom and Brotherhood were to prevail.
Yet all is not bright in this century. Chivalry, that great mystic movement of the Dark
Ages, vanishes and is replaced by commercialism, which in the succeeding centuries was
to bring the races and religions nearer the one to the other; but when first appearing
productive of much which was materialistic, lowering the tone of society, which under the
influence of chivalry had been lifted to an unusual height, at least with the noble born.
This century records the life and travels of Paracelsus, an Occultist, who more than
any other mystic has affected the people of Europe. In Florence during this same century
appeared a mystic, Savonarola, who profoundly affected the people of Italy and who taught
a purely spiritual religion. In Bohemia, then occupied by a cultured people, Jerome of
Prague and John Huss headed an important revolt from the Roman Catholic church.
With the 15th century ends the 1000 years of darkness from which it seemed that
Europe could never recover, yet during all of which forces were at work charged with
bringing Light and Liberation to a darkened and enslaved people. For the seeds to
germinate in the vegetable world, it needs that they be buried in the earth away from the
sun, so it is in the social and religious world. The Dark Ages were needed that the seeds
of Universal Brotherhood might germinate, not yet was the flower of perfected humanity to
appear; but during the Dark Ages all things were made ready for the new dispensation in
the 20th century.

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THE COMMON ORIGIN OF MAN.

" . . . by demonstrating on logical, philosophical, metaphysical, and even scientific
grounds that: - (a) All men have spiritually and physically the same origin, which is the
fundamental teaching of Theosophy; (b) As mankind is essentially of one and the same
essence, and that essence is one - infinite, uncreate and eternal, whether we call it God
or Nature - nothing, therefore, can affect one nation or one man without affecting all other
nations and all other men. This is as certain and as obvious as that a stone thrown into a
pond will, sooner or later, set in motion every single drop of water therein."
- H. P. Blavatsky, Key to Theosophy.
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[[Photo: Alexander Wilder]]

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FACES OF FRIENDS

ALEXANDER WILDER, M. D.
DR. ALEXANDER WILDER'S name is very familiar to our readers through his
interesting articles. He come from Puritan ancestry, and though he had but little education
except common school, through his own efforts he acquired a knowledge of Hebrew,
Greek, Latin and French, and is one of the best Greek scholars and writers on Platonic and
Neo-platonic philosophy in the country. In 1854-5 he was a clerk in the State Department
of Public Institutions at Albany, then he became editor of the New York Teacher, also of the
College Journal. He was on the staff of the N. Y. Evening Post from 1858-71, and from
1878-84 was Professor of Physiology, Psychologic Science and Magnetic Therapeutics in
the U. S. Medical College.
In 1876, at the instance of the publisher, Col. Olcott placed in Dr. Wilder's hands the
manuscript, then without a name, of "Isis Unveiled." He read it critically and without
partiality, and counseled its publication as certain to make a commotion among curious and
thinking persons.
Dr. Wilder later met Madam Blavatsky. She was then living in New York City. Dr.
Wilder describes her as follows:
 "She had what I considered a Kalmuk physique, a lively expression, always
something to say that was worth hearing, and, I think, was generous with money. She was,
however, very intense in arguing. Personally I found her entertaining. She appeared to
have a wide fund of knowledge on philosophic and religious subjects, acute powers of
discerning, and original ways of thinking. One could discourse of races, ethics, opinions,
discoveries and individuals, ancient and modern, and she seemed at home in them all. To
me she was always courteous and obliging. She did, unasked and unwitting to me, two
favors of great importance to me which relieved me of much embarrassment. That, if there
was nothing else, would make me careful not to injure her in reputation or otherwise.
"The second season that I knew her, a curious decoration was placed in the dining-
room. It consisted of the figures of several tropical animals, wrought ingeniously with the
gayly-colored leaves of trees gathered in autumn. I remember some of them - birds, a lion,
I think, an elephant, a man and the Sivaic triangle. Col. Olcott called my attention to the
circumstance that the creatures were placed all in procession, one after the other, and no
two facing. We used to have amusement at this. I do not know but it was the procession
of the Book of Genesis, all solemnly marching toward the Ark. But I will not venture that
opinion. When the 'Lamasery,' as some of the profane called it, was broken up, these were
all cast out in the rubbish. I rescued the elephant and the triangle, and have them in
Newark. The wind, however, has disfigured them.
"Madame Blavatsky did me the honor of procuring from publishers of periodicals
everything I had ventured to write and to ask me to write out my views on a variety of
topics. I found some of these things in 'Isis.' I did not write them for that purpose, but of
course they were at her service."
Dr. Wilder is the author of several brochures, e.g., "Later Platonists," "The Soul,"
"Mind, Thought, Cerebration," "Life Eternal," "Ganglionic Nervous System," etc., etc,

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THE VALLEY OF SOULS *

WEARY of the misery songs of the Western World, weary of its air and steam and
pain, weary of polemics and wire-drawn romance and faded sentiment! Art thou weary of
all this? When that hour comes, take refuge in India of the olden time - in the India of
Kalidasa, where the King Dushmanta wooes Sacoontala under palms; where the gazelle
starts in the quiet noontide at the footstep of the solemn-eyed Brahmin. In the infinitely
deep, solemnly joyful India, where man for the first and last time declared and determined
to himself what was eternal truth, and in that faith lived and died. In that glorious India
which gave to the world a glorious drama, like that of Shakespeare, and the most perfect,
sublime poem ever written, in the Maha-Bharata - a poem before which the highest flight
of Milton is trifling and the genius of the whole West feeble. Believest thou not? Read -
and find in it the grand primeval epic of which the Iliad and the Song of the Nibelung and
all Norse and Finnish Saga Cycles and Slavonian Rukopis are reflections, echoes, after-
songs.
I might speak much longer of the sentiment of the East, but what I now have in hand
is one of its legends, which lies before me and which I translate, trusting that it may prove
as pleasing to the reader as it has been to me:
According to an Indian tradition, below the earth, in the second sphere of inferior
heavens, whither sunrays never pierce, there lies a vast valley, half-lighted or ever in
strange twilight. There are unearthly bluish foliage gleams, in phosphorescent light on the
trees; the plants, strangely formed, are

-----------
* Reprinted from a very old magazine, author unknown.
-----------

only crystallizations of different colors, their flowers are wildly expanding gems, leaves of
emerald and topaz, calyxes of amethysts, Chrysopras and garnet, daisies of diamond,
lotuses of all marvels, all gleam and wildfire and mystery and change!
In the midst of this strange twilight all is silence. There is heard neither the song of
a bird nor the murmur of a bee. Any earthly being would die there. Even the wind is never
heard to murmur among those motionless trees.
A great lake, fed by no source, fills the lower portion of the valley, not with bounding,
sounding water, but with a solemn bed of white vapor, which bathes without wetting the feet
of mountains, the base of promontories, or winds like a gleaming scarf around shining
islands. But there is movement in this silent world. Across the vapory sea flit forms, not
of flesh and blood, but almost of the same substance as the lake in which they continually
sink and rise. At times they leave it and wander or flit along the silent shore. Dreaming,
dreaming ever, lost amid a real unreal, not life, not death, what are they? They live
between their past life and a new life - for they are the souls which await a new existence
on earth. After having been judged by the terrible and incorruptible Yama, at once the
Pluto and Minos of the Hindoo hell; after having been duly punished for their bad or
rewarded for their good lives; after having been reconciled to Brahma, the Preserver, and
Chiva, the Destroyer, they await births on earth and new lives.
One day Chitra Goupta, the angel of green hue and six-winged, came as first
minister of Yama, to obtain his souls for the earth, and met before the gate Scheetala, the
protectress of children born or

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about to be born. The green angel lowered upon her, for he saw in her a rival.
"Comest thou again to importune us with griefs, and to demand for thy nurslings gifts
which only the superior gods can accord?"
"I demand nothing more," said Scheetala "for I have obtained of Brahma what I
desire for the benefit of all humanity, and I come to declare his order."
"And that?"
"Listen, Chitra Goupta, and be proud to aid me in so great and holy a work. Often
man is born to occupy a body not to his liking. From this time he will be made aware of his
future destiny, and may accept or refuse it. Such was the prayer I addressed to Brahma,
and he has granted it."
The minister of Yama, the lord of hell, burst into god-like laughter. Then again silent,
he said:
 "Dreamest thou, Mother! Did Brahma himself, intoxicated by the soft perfumes of
Camalata, or the sweet liquor of the Amreeta cup, did he dream when making this
promise?"
For answer Scheetala drew from her scarlet robe the decree from Brahma, carefully
wrapped in the sacred leaves of lotus and of cusha, and gave it to him, while the diamond
gate opened of itself before him.
"The world is coming to its end!" murmured Chitra Goupta, sending out such a sigh
that all the air-light souls were blown before it over the lake like foam before the wind.
"What! make man the master of accepting or refusing his destiny! The excess of kindness -
oh, ancient mother, has made thee weak; in future there will be no souls to furnish, save
to the rich and powerful. Before half a century, kings will he born without subjects, and
Brahmins will preach to the deserts.''
"Let us try!" said the goddess.
They swept together toward the shore through the silent land

"Where the cock never crew,

Where the sun never shone and the wind never blew."

As he approached the lake, the Summoning Angel read aloud from the register of
fate the last names on earth of six souls. As each name was pronounced the lake
quivered, a light ebullition appeared at one point of its misty silver surface, then a shadow
shot upward and slowly passed to the shore. Then Chitra Goupta made known to them the
decision of Brahma, reading to them also the final clause:
"The soul refusing to occupy the body predestined for it must remain here in the
Silent Land among the shadows so many years as it would have passed in that body."
Then he summoned the first soul - that of an old Yoghi or saint, who had left behind
in Mysore the tradition of a life passed in holy austerities and the most cruel self-torments.
"Thou," said the angel, "wilt be born again in an honest family of merchants,
removed equally from the honors which disturb reason and the misery which depraves it.
Rejoice!"
"Rejoice doubly," added Scheetala, "for I have been allowed to watch thee even unto
the end. After having just reached the sweet consciousness of the light of the sun and the
kisses of thy mother thou wilt - still wrapped in the robe of innocence - die an infant. This
time thou wilt obtain the triumphant prize without having striven, without having suffered."
"Die a child!'' exclaimed the old saint. "What! put my lips to the edge of the cup
without half draining it - see the gates of life again on me and pause at the threshold!
Better not to be born. I have tasted the joys of heaven - I wish to taste those of earth. I will
wait." And with a gesture indicating refusal, he plunged again into the lake.
"Folly is found even in seeking heaven," said Chitra Goupta, and, with

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a gesture, he called the next soul.

"Excessive virtue is subject to remorse as well as vice," said Scheetala. The next
was a beautiful Bayadere, whose voluptuous dances and grace had been admired by all
Benares. Her loveliness had made her one of the chosen ones of the temple, a favorite of
the Brahmins while on earth, and of the gods after death. The beautiful shadow advanced,
bounding as in a dance, to the feet of the divine pair, who were seated on a rock of
malachite deeply veined with gold.
"Thou wilt be beautiful," said the messenger of Yama, "and thy beauty will make
thee the wife of a wealthy lord. He will lavish on thee every treasure. Rejoice!"
The soul of the Bayadere thrilled, as with rapture - she glanced like a fawn, around
on the endless millions of gems, on the strange wealth which adorned the Land of
Shadows, as if anticipating that these in another life would be regarded far differently than
here. But before assenting she asked: "Will the Nabaub be young?"
"He will be thrice thy age, but will soon die, leaving thee his wealth, and then thou
wilt marry again, one who will be young and beautiful."
"And I, shall I be a mother?"
"Thou wilt not."
The Bayadere was at once in deep misery.
"Without children! Disgraced again! No children!"
And turning away she sank deep in the lake, murmuring as she vanished in its
shades:
"To live without children is to be ever dying."
The messenger of Yama smiled grimly.
"Didst thou expect all this?'' - oh, mother of the newly-born? All refuse what all on
earth covet. Thy sex, gentle goddess, is capricious as ever, even in the Realm of
Shadows."
"If the tree condemned never to bear fruit could speak - Oh, Chitra Goupta, it would
reply, 'Sterility is a disgrace.' For woman it is worse still. Brahma, the divine, has deigned
since the first day of creation to share with her the creative power; almost from infancy she
thrills with the aspirations of maternity; a woman, herself young anticipates giving birth.
Man, a god, thou knowest not the mystery of maternal feeling. Poor Bayadere! - I well
understand her refusal."
"'Tis well, Scheetala; but we are in danger of not finding a soul willing to quit this
valley. Well, the next is a man - and ambition, the great thirst for honor, moves all his kind.
This time I shall not fail." And with a gesture he called the next soul.
"Rejoice!" said Chitra Goupta, as he came upward - "rejoice and thank the gods.
Thou wilt be born a king!"
"King!" cried the soul. "A sad and cruel trade is that in these days. To be the
executioner of one's own family in order to maintain a firm hold of the people and then,
when one has merited the wrath of heaven and the scorn of man, to become the pensioner
or the prisoner of the iron armies of the Western world! Never. My uncle was the powerful
ruler of the Dekan; he put out my eyes with fire, fearing that I might supplant him, and he
died a wretched servant of the English. King! I had rather be born in the humblest hut of
a Pariah than in the golden halls of the monarch of Delhi."
"The danger is greater even than I feared," said the minister of Yama, "since even
wealth and kingdoms are refused. But we are only half advanced. Onward!"
Of two other souls summoned, one was to occupy the body of a banker who would
be most unscrupulous in acquiring wealth, but who would be enormously rich, while
suffering much at the same time from bad health. The other
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was destined to be a poor working man, but gifted with strength and health.
"To be miserable and healthy," said the latter, "will be to have a good stomach with
the devil of hunger lodged in it."
"Riches in company with suffering," said the other, "is a garment of gold over a
corpse."
And so both refused!
"Well, Scheetala," said the Angel of the Green wings smiling proudly, "dost thou still
believe it to be right to show man his future life, and leave it to his choice to live or not to
live? On this condition, as I say, the world would soon be depopulated. Thanks to the
prayer addressed by thee to Brahma, there are now five poor mothers who are weeping
for their children born dead!"
And the good goddess bowed her head low in shame, making no reply.
"Believe me," he added; "go no further, for no soul will again venture on the road
of human life."
Unfolding the register, he was about to erase the six names inscribed, but the last
soul still lingered near.
It was the shadow of a poor girl of Patna, whose only lot on earth had been that of
suffering. A stranger to pleasure, power or fortune, she had lived for years only for her
aged mother, and when at last she was about to be married to one who loved her well, she
had perished the day before her nuptials, stung in the foot by a serpent.
"Feeble child of a fatal destiny,"said the angel, I will not say to thee as to others -
rejoice - for I have only to offer thee a new existence of pain and suffering. Two souls have
just refused wealth and health. Thou art to be poor and in suffering. Wilt thou accept?"
Without retiring, the shadow rested silent, as if a gleam of future happiness was at last
gleaming on her dimly.
"Poor daughter of suffering," exclaimed the kind goddess, "accept the privilege
accorded by Brahma, and decline. Not only will poverty pursue thee and weakness and
pain overtake thee, but finally, after a life of harsh field-labor, thou wilt be burned with thy
dead husband."
But the girl's soul asked, hopefully and almost with joy: "But will he be my beloved?
Will he love me then as he once loved - he for whom I am to suffer so much?"
"For a time - yes."
"Blessed be the holy name of Brahma - I accept."
A throb, as of rapture, thrilled through all the silent land, the shadowy lives to be
threw their pale forms upward to the twilight, and the pale soul, led by the goddess, floated
away over the portals of eternity toward the world, while Chitra Goupta rose to the seventh
sphere where the decree of Brahma was registered by Indra.
In his golden book of the chosen names of those who were in future lives to reach
the highest bliss, Indra wrote the name of the peasant-girl of Patna.

---------------

SOME WORDS OF WILLIAM Q. JUDGE

 by G. L. M.

THOSE who have read the "Culture of Concentration," and it is to be hoped all have,
cannot have failed to be struck by the great stress Mr. Judge there lays on the destructive
power of pride and anger.
Pride, which nearly all have in a greater or less degree, may be overcome, or at
least held in check, by measuring ourselves with the great Helpers of Humanity rather than
with our fellows; but anger is for many a far more formidable, if not so subtle, a foe.
Nowadays most of the earnest workers in the Movement have ceased to think much
of their own progress; but they are struggling all the harder with their lower nature that they
may give as much help and as little hindrance as possible to the Great Work. Many such
have grown to see that feelings of anger or irritation, even though forbidden expression,
have nevertheless proved tremendous obstacles to effective effort. And possibly such
have grown to realize with discouragement that active work, which has been their salvation
on all other points, has seemed on the contrary to increase irritability. So that to them there
may have come sometimes a temptation to run away for a time from all and everything.
To such the following words of Mr. Judge will doubtless be of as much help as they
have been to the original recipient. The italics are Mr. Judge's.
"Anger may be felt anywhere in the body and sometimes only in one centre. Some
are liable to entire anger. Best way is to hold on, meditate on the unity of all, strive for
calmness.
"As to temper, it is due to irritability. That comes from rajas. It is increased by
action, until mastered. There is no specific road. You have to conquer in all the small
instances by force and by trying to keep up a serene and non-contemptuous state of mind.
"At the same time read as discipline and aid some heavy book such as the Kapila
Sankhya Aphorisms or Patanjali's. This will induce a calmer habit. Request or pray your
Higher Self also to help you, and try to arouse confidence.
"Do not go alone. It will do no good. It will simply put off and that is no progress.
"But seize every small occasion for conquering, either by undoing at once what you
did in that way, or by not letting yourself do it.
"Despise no one. Each time you despise any one you add to your own irritation."

----------------
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THE SOKRATIC CLUB

by Solon

(Continued)

PRESENT. Mrs. Wilding, Miss Holdy, Dr. Roberts, Mr. Moore, Mr. H. Turner, Solon,
and Mrs. Miller, an elderly lady, very quiet but well-informed, very devoted and attached to
the work, a great friend of the Professor's, and much liked by all of us.
Mr. Moore. - "So Mr. Penta and his few friends who think they are the real and only
Sokratic Club and that we don't belong to it have had their little Convention and are going
to do everything along the original lines."
 Mrs. Wilding. - "Perhaps after all they are working a little more along the original line
than they imagine."
Mr. Moore. - "Well, that somewhat surprises me to hear you say that, Mrs. Wilding.
What do you mean?"
Mrs. Wilding. - "Oh, simply that there has been opposition to the work from the start,
and whenever the time has come to take another step forward and to enlarge the work,
there have been some who, not able to see beyond the end of their noses, and afraid that
in the larger work they themselves would be of less importance, strenuously opposed
everything that was not strictly according to precedent. And Mr. Grover and Mr. Penta, and
their friends have certainly acted along the original lines of opposition laid down by the
original opposers to the work. More's the pity for them."
Mr. Turner. - "Have any of you ever seen a crab come out of his shell? It is an exact
illustration of just the process the club has been going through."
Miss Holdy. - "Why, I never heard that crabs ever come out of their shells, how do
they manage it, and how do they get back?"
Mr. Turner. - "Well, first. of all they don 't get back, that would be impossible, they
grow a new one and the old one is - well, a shell and that is all. I was down at the
seashore the other day and saw a crab just coming out. It was one of the most interesting
incidents of natural history that I have ever witnessed. I imagine it must be a very painful
process for the crab and just emerging from its protecting house, it is of course very tender
and any rough handling would kill it. It very gradually and slowly loosens itself from the
shell and first one part and then another emerges until at last it is entirely free. I cannot
give you all the technical terms, and no doubt Dr. Roberts could tell you a great deal more
in detail about the operation, but I want to use it simply as an illustration. The most
interesting point about the matter is that the crab is larger when it has left the shell than
when it was in it, so you see it could not get back again, but it is still the same crab though
with a larger view and greater possibilities."
Dr. Roberts. - "In fact, that is the reason for its leaving its shell, it is obliged to do so
in order to grow, and it immediately begins to form a new shell for the purpose of
protection."
Miss Holdy. - "So, Mr. Turner, that is your little crab story, please now tell us the
interpretation."
Mr. Turner. - ''Well, I think that is easily enough seen. The crab operation is nothing
more than what has been go-

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ing on in the Club, we have left our old shell and have entered upon a broader, freer sphere
of work. Those who see only the shell may think it very foolish of the crab to leave it and
may hold on to the shell and think they have the real thing. But the living vital part is
growing all the time and so continually leaves the old forms and builds new ones better
suited for its purposes."
Dr. Roberts. - "So far, so good. But in the case of the Club a new and, I think, very
cast-iron shell was already provided beforehand. Your analogy doesn't hold good there,
I think."
Mr. Turner. - "No, not strictly, but the reason is that we are taking our illustration from
a lower plane of nature and in the world of men there are other factors which must be taken
into account and one of these is the power possessed by some to foresee and to provide
for the future. As for the new organization's being apparently so cast-iron in character, I
think you will agree with me that there never was so much freedom or such great
opportunity for work in the club or such harmony and fair dealing as now. The cast-iron
part of it is simply for protection just as the crab's shell is for protection and again it has
enabled us to discriminate between those who follow the mere form and those who look
behind the form and see the spirit. That a protection was needed against certain elements
has been amply shown by the past history of the club."
Mrs. Wilding. - "But Mr. Moore was going to tell us about Mr. Penta's convention.
Was he elected President?"
Mr. Moore. - "No. Dr. Doe was elected. You know that Penta - or at least this is his
version of it - accepted the offices of Vice-President, Acting President and Treasurer only
from a sense of stern, cold-blooded duty, and at the convention of course he did the grand
act, no doubt still cold-bloodedly for perhaps he suspected that Dr. Doe would be elected
anyhow. However, he is partly consoled by still being Vice-President and Treasurer."
Solon. - "As for his frigid sense of duty, it is well known to all at the Headquarters of
the club who were at all intimate with him that he has worked cold-bloodedly for office ever
since long ago and for some time before the Convention he circulated the most pessimistic
reports and prognosticated the most dire results about the affairs of the Club, none of which
however have proved true. He is the only one of the old governing committee at the
headquarters who has left us."
Miss Holdy. - "But where was Mr. Grover? Wasn't he at the Convention? Why
wasn't he made President?"
Mrs. Miller. - "What! Mr. Grover accept the Presidency of a small organization like
that. No, no, you don't understand Mr. Grover. When he was President of the whole Club
some little time ago, he wasn't satisfied and nobody ever dreamed of his wanting to be the
President of a small disconnected fraction of the Club. Certainly he is too smart a man to
take that office again. He has left it to the tender care of his dear colleague and co-worker
Dr. Doe. Mr. Grover aimed at bigger game; I thought everybody understood that who had
watched his career."
Mrs. - "Oh, yes! That was perfectly plain long ago and when his little plans didn't
work, he deserted his post by resigning from the Presidency and even gave out that he had
joined the Club and become connected with the work for only a time."
Miss Holdy. - "The impudence of the fellow! But what was it he aimed at and why
did he resign?"
Mrs. Miller. - "He wanted to be the power behind the throne. In fact he wanted to
make the Club a puppet show and to pull the strings and prognosticate funerals and so
forth. There is another who also likes to play the power behind the throne and I have often
won-

--- 271

dered since the flash-light was thrown upon the doings of certain people who had
obstructed the work why Mrs. Purple who had the facts did not throw the flash-light on that
person too. No doubt it will all be done in good time, but I know this much, that Mrs. Purple
received a document purporting to have been written by some high authority while Mrs.
Purple and Mr. Grover and some other members were in Europe. The writer imagined
herself to be acting in our Director's place and when they returned it was sent to the latter
accompanied by a letter urging that it be sent out to the members."
Mrs. Moore. - "Oh yes! wasn't it written by some one in England?"
Mrs. Miller. - "No, by some one in America, at whose house Mr. Grover nearly
always stayed. It was there that the four who have been so often spoken of as being the
chief instigators of the disaffection, used to meet privately and consult the oracle."
Mr. Moore. - "Ha, ha, I know now whom you mean. Whenever I think of that house
I am reminded of the warning that the old Romans used to put at the entrance to their villas:
'cave canem,' only in this case the warning ought to read 'cave ' - what is the Latin? - well,
'cave oracle,' beware the oracle. But what became of the document?"
Mrs. Miller. - "Oh, our Director threw it in the waste basket, where many of its kind
had previously gone."
Miss Holdy. - "Is she a member of the Club?"
Mrs. Miller. - "No, not since its organization, and I am sure none of the members
would encourage her to join. This foolish desire to have remarkable documents sent out
simply impedes the work and deludes the unwary. The Professor saw this some time ago
and also our Director, and both have repeatedly warned the members against these
things."
Mrs. Wilding. - "Yes, and the plan adopted by a certain young man whom you know
and who wanted to gain power, and pose before the members, was to take some passage
from some old book, transpose or change a word here and there and use it in his articles
and correspondence so that he might appear as a great sage."
Miss Holdy. - "What a task and what an awful responsibility to keep up the deception
and not be found out."
Mrs. Wilding. - "Oh, a great many did find him out and one of the reasons why I love
and respect our Director so much is that she always takes especial pains to put everything
in the simplest way possible, and always avoids mystery. She speaks direct from the heart
to the heart, and always with such a sweet spirit of compassion, so different from the
autocratic and exclusive oracle just referred to."
Mrs. Miller. - "I have been thinking during this conversation that it is very necessary
to talk over these matters. The club has such a wide field of work that it is essential that
its members should study human nature, and we must not be debarred by false sentiment
from looking facts in the face. The physician and medical professor point out to the student
the disease, and show what steps must be taken to eliminate it. Without such study it
would be impossible for the student to learn and to acquire the knowledge necessary for
him to cure the disease. So must we study the diseases of the personal nature,
selfishness, ambition, pride, love of power. In other words, we must learn discrimination,
though ever ready to stretch out a helping hand to all. But for the sake of suffering
humanity we cannot shut our eyes to the doings of those who would hinder our work."
Mr. Moore - "Well, if some of the disaffected ones do not wake up soon I shall be
very much surprised."
Mrs. Wilding. - "I wonder whether Dr. Doe will know his own mind any

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better now he is President, or still say one thing and repent it afterwards, as he did at the
convention."
Solon. - "Yes, I must say it surprised me when I heard that he voted for the
resolutions in Committee and then refused to accept them afterwards. Maybe it was the
tears of the women, according to one report I heard, that affected him, for you know he is
very sympathetic. I don't mind a man's taking time to consider anything if he is in any doubt
about it, but I do say, let him not act until he is willing to stand by his action."
Mrs. Wilding. - "He told everybody before he went to the convention that he was
going there to act the part of peacemaker, and of course, having this great idea of his own
importance and mission, he fell an easy prey to the flattery of Grover, Penta & Co. But in
spite of his professions of peace, his first voting for the resolutions and repudiating them
afterwards, showed that he was anything but at peace with himself, as his language also
testified when he characterized an alleged statement of someone as a 'living lie.' But one
may expect strange contradictions in one who follows the erratic oracles that issue from the
little suburban town not far from here. I can't imagine what must have been the feelings
of himself and others, as one by one these oracles failed and especially after so much
money and energy had been spent in carrying out their plans, which only ended in failure
and ridicule."
Mrs. Miller. - "The moral of which is, don't follow oracles or run around after people
who write mysterious documents."
Mrs. Wilding. - "But Dr. Doe could hardly have been expected to act otherwise than
he did. He tried to patch up a false peace between the Professor and those who so falsely
accused him some years ago, and then later when those who opposed the Professor had
formed a club of their own, he tried again, though he knew they had not at all departed from
their old attitude."
Solon. - "I believe very strongly in that verse in the Bible - something about there
being a time for all things. There's a time to talk peace, no doubt. But there is also a time
for strong, vigorous action, such as our Director took to prevent the subtle forces of
selfishness and ambition eating out the spirit of our organization. Our Director was backed
up and we have succeeded, but it was just because the Professor was not supported at
one particular time and by the one who should have done so, that those accusations were
not knocked clean on the head at the time."
Miss Holdy. - "But how could that have been? I thought everything was done that
could be. But please tell me particularly what you refer to."
Solon. - "It was when the Professor went over to the European headquarters of the
Club because of these false accusations and Dr. Doe went with him. You must have heard
that the Professor refused to defend himself, and we all looked to Dr. Doe to do the right
thing at the right time. Well, the right time came. It was at a private council meeting. The
Professor made his statement, and all that was needed was one strong, vigorous word
from Dr. Doe to have settled the whole thing then and there forever. The Professor couldn't
say this word. It had to come from the one who was sent over by us to defend the
Professor. And it didn't come. Instead, the Doctor got up and began talking about peace,
and eulogized the Professor's accusers, said how much good work they had done, and -
excuse me - talked mere sentimental rot. One strong word of direct support of the
Professor, and his accusers would have been absolutely alone and without power.
However, it's an old story, but it explains much that has happened since."
 Mrs. Miller. - "I remember when the Professor came home, how keenly he

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felt this lack of support and how disappointed he was, but after all the Doctor is a good
man, and I am sure did not act wilfully against the Professor, but was simply carried away
by sentiment, and is so easily influenced."
Mrs. Wilding. - "It certainly makes one smile to think of the prospects before the so-
called original Sokratic Club, which Mr. Penta described in one of his circulars as 'officered
my myself,' and now officered by Dr. Doe, Mr. Penta and Mr. Penta, and to be run strictly
along the lines of horse-sense."
Mr. Turner. - "By the way, I should have said that the crab I spoke about was a
horseshoe crab, so the little incident of crab evolution will perhaps appeal more strongly
to Mr. Penta's horse-sense than if it had been one of the ordinary species."
Dr. Roberts. - "But, tell me, Mr. Turner, does not the new Constitution which the Club
adopted by becoming a part of this Universal Organization, does it not kill all self-reliance?
And does it not require implicit confidence in one's leader?"
Mr. Turner. - "To the latter question I answer, certainly, yes; to the former,
unqualifiedly no."
Dr. Roberts. - "And suppose one did not have this confidence in the leader?"
Mr. Turner. - "Then, naturally, he would not seek to join the organization."
Dr. Roberts. - "You mean you would exclude him."
Mr. Turner. - "No, he would not seek to enter; he could not do so honestly, because
he could not accept the constitution."
Dr. Roberts. - "This would mean then that your organization was after all not
Universal, since there are some who cannot or will not enter it".
Mr. Turner. - "Ah, Doctor, I am afraid you misunderstand the sense in which the
word universal is used. The organization is not universal, that would mean that all
humanity belonged to the organization as an organization. But it is universal in its aims,
it is in fact for the benefit of the whole human race and all creatures, and no less for those
outside than for those within its ranks. As for its constitution being iron-bound, let me give
you another illustration. A child will eat anything and is usually most fond of those things
which are most ruinous to its digestion, but the wise man eats only those things which will
nourish the body and which will keep him well and strong. The foolish man permits all
kinds of thoughts to make a playground of his mind - to quote an old saying, but the wise
man guards his mind and thinks only those thoughts that are good, and pure, and true.
You might say perhaps that the wise man had hedged himself in with cast-iron rules. Well,
if you like to describe it in that way - well and good, but is he not wise after all? And is he
not able to do better work in the world? Is he not more free than the foolish man who does
not control himself? Now I claim that the action taken by the Club is exactly similar to the
action taken by the wise man, and as the wise man will admit to his body and mind only just
such food and thoughts as are in keeping with the purposes of his life and work, so our
organization admits only those members who are worthy and well qualified and who will
carry out the purposes and aims of the organization. This illustration ought to appeal to
you, Doctor, and I certainly cannot see how anyone can fail to understand the wisdom of
our course."
 Dr. Roberts. - "Please do not think I oppose it, for I certainly do not - there were only
a few points that were not quite clear, and as you knew I have heard so much from the
other side."
Mrs. Wilding. - "Well, when I hear them talk about autonomy and self-reliance I
always think of a party of travelers crossing a mountain range. They need a guide and they
follow the guide's

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directions implicitly but no one would therefore accuse them of lacking self-reliance. And
if some other travelers should come and ask to join them but at the same time expressing
lack of confidence in the guide and that they would judge for themselves and would reserve
to themselves the right to follow his directions or not as they saw fit, would it not be the only
sane and proper thing for the party of travelers to decline to permit the others to go with
them? The others might talk autonomy all they wished but in my opinion they would be
following but a shadow, for surely government of any kind whether auto, or not auto,
requires some degree of wisdom and common sense."
Solon. - "In my opinion the party of travelers showed by their action that they fully
appreciated autonomy and exercised it too, both in following the guide and in refusing to
admit the others to their company, and also showed their self-reliance in following their own
calm sober judgment. Self-reliance does not consist in rejecting the guidance of one wiser
than ourselves when we are able to recognize such a one. And to come back to the Club
the members in the first instance had to rely on their intuitions and their own higher nature
in accepting the changes which have been made. Besides, the cast-iron rules apply only
to the organization and are simply for its protection. The individual is free as ever and I am
sure no one would wish to coerce any member to remain in the organization who did not
desire to do so but preferred to follow his own sweet will and conform to no rules or
regulations."
Mrs. Wilding. - "I wonder how Mr. Penta and Dr. Doe and the rest of that ilk reconcile
their individual autonomy with their acceptance of the constitution which they and their few
followers have adopted. However it is getting late and I must go home, so good-bye until
we meet again."

----------------
--- 275

CONVERSATIONS WITH OURSELVES

by Eva F. Gates

A NEWSPAPER writer giving a light sketch of the theosophic concept of man's

nature says: - "According to this philosophy, a man may sit in his bare soul and lay his
body, his mind and his other parts around him in a semi-circle and hold converse with them
making up a very respectable 5 o'clock tea party all by himself."
That a person may analyze and hold converse with his principles and glean wisdom
from the process is to be seen by reading E. D. Hitchcock's "Remarks on Shakespeare's
Sonnets." And Barnstorff in his "Key" says: "Shakespeare in his Sonnets gives us simply
intuitions of the soul; he depicts his own ultimate, spiritual personality under the form of
appeals of his mortal to his immortal man; of his external being, which belongs to time and
circumstance to his higher self, which belongs to humanity and eternity; invocations, so
to speak, of the civil and social man to his genius and his art.''
These sonnets are supposed to be addressed to persons, but it appears to be more
reasonable to regard them as "soul studies," as the poet's conversations with his complex
self, regarded as a soul struggling with a double nature by which he is linked to earth and
heaven.
Under the disguise of the language of love, the witnesses to the Truth who carried
the torch through the dark ages, have permitted that torch to cast some gleams of light into
the darkness of that time. And beneath the surface meanings of the "fables and fairy toys"
the real meaning is to be looked for by those who have "lover's eyes," quick to penetrate
disguise.
Love represents devotion to the Divine; to Knowledge; to Humanity; to Beauty as
the representation of Divinity; to Religion. Love is the esoteric devotion to God, for the
guidance of which Chaucer gave mystical rules in his "Court of Love."
Plutarch, Spenser, Sir Philip Sydney, wrote sonnets addressed to ladies -
personifications of ideals. This is the meaning of the love literature of the Middle Ages, of
the time when men "were tongue-tied by authority."
The Sonnets of Shakespeare show the spirit of man to be one with God and Nature.
A sense of this unity was the secret joy of the poet, taking the name of love. The joy of a
part for a whole which it was just beginning to recognize as itself.
This Unity as "Beauty's Rose," the spirit of humanity - is realized as double in its
manifestation in man, where it is called the "Master-Mistress." The master, the reason, the
mistress, the affections, for one interpretation.
Hence comes the double nature of man, with which his consciousness has to battle
and from whence proceed the tribulations of life.

"Two loves I have of comfort and despair,

Which like two spirits do suggest me still;
The better angel is a man right fair,
The worser spirit a woman colored ill."
- Sonnet 144.

Thus are personified the reason and the affections. The affections may pass into
the passions when they are not balanced by reason and harmoniously adjusted.
In the 146th Sonnet he advises himself to sacrifice the passional side of his nature
to feed his soul.
Addressing his spiritual nature or con-

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science in the 61st Sonnet, he says:

"Is it thy will thy image should keep open

My heavy eyelids to the weary night?
 Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,
While shadows, like to thee, do mock my sight?
Is it thy spirit that thou sendest from thee
So far from home, into my deeds to pry;
To find out shames and idle hours in me,
The scope and tenor of thy jealousy?
O, no! thy love, though much, is not so great;
It is my love that keeps mine eye awake;
Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
To play the watchman ever for thy sake;
For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,
From me far off, with others all too near. ''

The idea that the soul of man is free during sleep to commune with the Over-soul
is beautifully expressed in the 27th Sonnet.

"Weary with toil I haste me to my bed,

The dear repose for limbs with travail tired;
But then begins a journey in my head,
To work my mind, when body's work's expir'd;
For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,
Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee;
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Looking on darkness which the blind do see;
Save that my soul's imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,
Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new.
Lo, thus by day my limbs, by night my mind,
For thee and for myself no quiet find."

The lower self in its pride and faults, and the change to the contemplation of the
Higher Self as that to which praise alone is due are expressed thus:

"Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye,

And all my soul, and all my every part;
And for this sin there is no remedy,
It is so grounded inward in my heart,
Methinks no face so gracious is as mine,
No shape so true, no truth of such account;
And for myself mine own worth do define,
As I all other in all worths surmount.
But when my glass shows me myself indeed,
Beaten and chopp'd with tann'd antiquity,
Mine own self-love quite contrary I read;
Self so self-loving were iniquity.
 "Tis thee, myself, that for myself I praise,
Painting my age with beauty of thy days.''

Thus by skimming the mere surface of these sonnets we see it is not at all
impossible to converse with the various aspects of our natures and learn to balance and
harmonize the different parts, until, like the Great Unity which they reflect, all is order and
symmetry in the little world as in the great, to which it belongs.

-----------------
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THE KINDERGARTEN OF THEOSOPHY

by Marie A.J. Watson

CHAPTER IX.
THE ATTITUDE OF THEOSOPHY TOWARD SPIRITUALISM. TO UNDERSTAND
THE PHENOMENA IT IS NECESSARY TO STUDY THE SEVEN-FOLD NATURE OF
MAN. THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL NOT DEMONSTRATED BY SPIRITUALISM.
THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF IMMORTALITY MUST BE BORN WITHIN THE SOUL
ITSELF.

IT would seem that since Modern Science has condescended to place far-sighted
spectacles upon the nose of the "Psychical Research Society," thus endeavoring to get a
glimpse beyond the gross, physical plane. Abundance of evidence having accumulated of
strange phenomena, yet Science being completely unable to formulate a solution thereof,
it would seem as if all clear thinking minds would admit consciousness to be possible apart
from the physical organism, and consequently be compelled to postulate an inner Ego, or
soul, or spirit. The error made by spiritualism is that finding something which exists and
persists after the death of the physical body, it mistakes this second body, composed also
of matter, for the real and permanent part of man and not understanding his complex or
sevenfold nature, one of the mere vehicles of the soul is thus confounded with the soul
itself. That this vehicle shows intelligence is not strange since it contains a memory of the
just-closed earth life from its long association with the physical brain, just as a glove will
retain the shape of the hand when the hand is withdrawn, but it is not the hand itself. This
astral shell, as it is rightly classed by theosophy, is doomed to disintegration which takes
place as a natural process when not interfered with, as it represents nothing more of value
as such in the economy of nature.
All forms are subject to annihilation, but the will, the soul, which animates the form,
is an eternal power; it can be brought into contact with matter but it cannot be permanently
united therewith. Nothing can be united with eternal and perfect life but that which is
eternal and perfect; that which is good and perfect therefore can alone continue to live;
that which is evil or imperfect must be transformed, refilled in the crucible of nature. If all
the elements constituting a person were good, that person would be wholly immortal. Such
a being would be a full "septenary" or one who had evolved upon all planes; and naught
of such elements could manifest in the seance room. What does manifest is obvious to the
illuminated thinker. So on the other hand, if there were nothing good in the person, nothing
could be saved but all must be transformed. If a portion be good, another portion evil, the
good will live and the evil finally perish. The divine in man cannot die, but all that is merely
elemental or animal in him is subject to dissolution. Animal man is the son of the animal
elements, out of which his animal soul was born; the animal instincts and desires existed
before the divine spirit illuminated them and made them into man; the animal soul is
derived from the animal kingdom, and if man is like his animal parent he resembles an
animal in his instincts and desires. If he is like the Divine Spirit shining through the animal
elements, he becomes like a god. If his reason is absorbed by his animal instincts it
becomes animal reason, if it rises above his animal desires it becomes angelic.
Animals follow out their annual in-

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stincts and ascend as high in nature as their position will admit; they do not sink below that
position, but animal man may sink below the brute; such animal attributes die with the
animal elements to which they belong. For such personalities there can be no immortality
although they can and do manifest in the seance circle. Man therefore should ally himself
to the Divine and not live in the animal elements of his soul. Man has an Eternal Father
who sent him to gain experience in the animal principles, but not for the purpose of being
absorbed by them as in that case man becomes an animal while the animal principle would
have nothing to gain. So we see that the astral body after death belongs on the astral
plane and has no business on the physical, but may be drawn thereto by the desire of
friends of its late earth life, thus hindering the soul from escaping from one of its vehicles
and thus actually holding it a prisoner in Kama-Loka or Purgatory. Spiritualists who are
ignorant of this law, nevertheless practice sorcery and Theosophy warns against it not only
because it hinders the progress of the departed soul, but because it also works injury to the
medium and to all who participate. The attitude of Theosophy towards spiritualism is as
towards any system of thought that teaches error, viz., to make the error known, not in a
carping spirit but in that of true brotherhood, and in the interest of humanity.
Theosophy recognizes whatever may be good in the teachings of Spiritualism but
it cannot therefore be silent on so grave an error which involves so much injury to
incarnated and disincarnated souls alike. It speaks with no uncertain voice concerning
these dangers and if the spiritualist will investigate with impartial, unprejudiced mind, the
truth will be demonstrated concerning the phenomena he witnesses, he will know that the
pure, the good, the spiritual do not manifest on this lowest, physical plane without a
physical body wherein the Ego can have opportunity to gain more experience, to win a
victory over some shortcoming, and which it cannot do except on a plane where temptation
exists. The Ego just retired from active earth life, having shed the physical body, is now
busy endeavoring to rid itself of the astral body likewise, and when this is accomplished it
withdraws to a still higher plane where it belongs by essence of its nature, being purged of
the lower principles or vehicles; it is not the mere puppet ready to dance to the mediumistic
piping of the curiosity seeker or even to the earnest but misguided mourner.
Spiritualism made its advent into the world when Materialism was rampant, setting
itself up as an authority upon all questions concerning the life of the soul. Spiritualism is
an illegitimate child, the result of church bigotry on one side and cold materialism on the
other and though it seems to be thriving it yet has the peculiarity of a "spreading green bay
tree" that it appears healthful and green after it is dead. Spiritualists claim that the
demonstration of the immortality of the soul rests with spiritualism. Is this true? Not so is
the soul convinced of immortality, not by any outside evidence. Spiritualists seek the
phenomena over and again many years, yea, some witness it a life time, and yet are they
not convinced; doubt still preys upon its victim; he ever seeks fresh phenomena hoping
for more convincing proofs. The consciousness of immortality must be born from within the
soul itself, this is the legitimate way; all other means are but spurious imitations, and as
such they but deceive.
The objection of Spiritualists to abandon the idea or belief that that which manifests
is not the real self lies herein: that if the astral form is also to be lost there is nothing left
to identify the soul, that they cannot then recognize their departed in the other life. Such
reasoning is childish in the extreme. In the first

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place that the astral body exists after the dissolution of the physical does not prove that
nothing also exists beyond the astral, nor can we think that the real, the permanent, the
spiritual part of man is less informed than the lower, transitory nature, nor can we think that
the higher development of man results in his knowing less. Does the recognition depend
upon a body or form of any sort? Even here on the physical, limited sense-plane we have
other means at our command by which to recognize friends; surely on higher planes the
power will not be diminished. On the soul plane soul will recognize soul according to the
law governing that plane.
From each plane something is contributed to the make-up of man, and at the
dissolution of the personality, the four lower principles go back from whence they came;
the three higher, born from the higher planes are the permanent part of man, the trinity, and
if the personality is to become immortal it has to become united to this in its long
pilgrimage. We now see that there is perforce something incorruptible and eternal in man
as well as something corruptible and temporal, and man may use his free will to identify
himself with the one or with the other. The will of a person retains its own qualities or
attributes after the death of the person, for this will is not the person; the personality
consists of personal qualities that are represented in his form, or in the four lower
principles, and when it is dissolved, whether the physical or the astral, there is an end to
that personality. The will or Ego that informed that personality, and many others before it,
exists, and when it has become illuminated by the divinity of its own spirit, it will continue
as a conscious entity and is then immortal.

CHAPTER X. CONSCIOUSNESS ON VARIOUS PLANES

When we closely investigate man's nature, we find that he is correlated to all known
forces in the Universe, that all the various substances in existence are congegrated and
concentrated in him, that the Universe is one, and that everything within it is connected with
the whole and with every other part, that no act or thought occurs without affecting each
portion of the great whole. We also know that the parts cannot know the whole or the
unknowable until the fraction becomes again the whole member. The whole attracts the
parts by the inherent nature within each. "I and my Father are one" may be translated thus;
my limited consciousness which has been growing and evolving through long periods of
evolution, has finally enlarged and become one with the Divine consciousness. The
Universe is in fact consciousness expressing itself on various planes. The first
differentiation of consciousness is in the universal mind principle, which manifesting upon
all planes, is simply the universal mind principle differentiating and individualizing, evolving
into self-consciousness when man comes into being. Our Philosophy teaches that every
atom is intelligent, and if conscious, and intelligent, must be receptive to intelligence,
receptive to suggestion; and if this is true we can see how great is our responsibility, for
the atoms composing our bodies are continually being cast off by us, and new ones taken
up.
Are we not in this sense the arbiters of our own destinies? Do we not make our
environment? These lower or lesser "lives" make up the physical and intellectual man. Are
we not verily our "brother's keeper" in this sense? The atoms we discard, how do we
impress them, with good or evil impulses, or are we indolent and cast them off no better
informed than when they became one with us? When we once know this truth, a
foundation is ours upon which we may truly build immortal character. We can then become
conscious builders in the Universe. Thus is evolution car-

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ried on. Man can hasten or retard his evolution, individually and collectively. How else is
the "Golden Age" to be brought about, and the brotherhood of man? So long as the atoms
that compose the man are selfish no reformation is possible. We begin at the wrong end
of the line to better man's conditions, we try to change the results without attacking the
cause of the disorder. To occasionally think a good thought, to do a kindness as impulse
dictates, is better than not doing so at all, but to make much headway man must acquire
and evolve the habit of doing good, thinking good, until it has become natural to him; when
this has become the rule instead of the exception, then the principle of love will be
conscious on all planes. Then will the "lion lie down with the lamb."
We may view this subject from various aspects . The lower states of consciousness
manifesting in the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms cannot be appreciated by man
until he learns to know himself; for when he truly knows himself, he knows other selves.
But this we do know; that the consciousness expressed in these lower kingdoms is not
capable of aspiring to the higher planes, nor does it function upon any other but its own
plane. The power to do is latent within, however. To exercise this power is only possible
to man. That man does exercise this power involuntarily is an established fact. But to
exercise this power voluntarily, by the aid of the will, that is another matter altogether. To
be able to shift the consciousness at will to one plane or another, to be at home, as it were,
upon any plane in the universe is a possibility open to man, but it involves effort, labor and
the will to cultivate one's whole nature. We must come into sympathy with everything that
lives if we would understand Life. We may understand things intellectually from books and
study, but yet be very far from knowing things truly. We must know the soul of a thing if we
would truly know it, and to do this, we must evolve consciousness upon the soul plane.
Man must unfold his seven-fold nature to enable him to become conscious on the various
planes of the universe.
In the physical world, we, the earth, the stars, the planets, are all of one matter, and
through this oneness of material are we able to communicate. Now, on the psychic plane
the psychic bodies are also of one matter and through this oneness of material we are
again able to communicate, and as on that plane, matter is more subtle, so communication
is swifter, easier and more complete than on the physical plane, but as man does not
generally enter upon this psychic plane voluntarily, the means of communication between
the physical and the psychic planes are necessarily defective. In fact, what is thus
communicated may often be misleading and unreliable. The one who enters this state of
consciousness voluntarily, and knows the laws governing these planes, can alone obtain
knowledge from such a source which is complete and reliable, and so with all the various
planes in the Universe. This is the object of evolution, yea, of life itself, to have knowledge
of all planes of being, and how can we have this wisdom unless we become conscious on
successive planes? Thus can we work on all planes, and thus become god-like. To do this
is a stupendous undertaking, for to become gods we must possess attributes of gods, and
to be god-like is to become unselfish in the whole nature. Love for the orphan humanity
alone must dominate our thoughts and actions. Naturally the question that presents itself
to the earnest student is, "How shall I learn to develop consciousness upon other planes,
what method must I pursue?"
Now, there is a legitimate and healthy means whereby this can be accomplished,
and there is also an abnormal and unhealthy method which, if pursued, will

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lead finally to destruction of the spiritual power in man. To study one's self with a fervent
aspiration, to desire to know because of the good we can do for the world, to desire no
powers but such as are born from the unfoldment of the higher nature, for in the evolution
toward perfection powers are gained, but they are the accompaniment of the cultivation.
Man must first seek to become more pure in living, more unselfish, more spiritual in his
aspirations, ere he seeks to become conscious on other planes of being, whereas in his
selfishness he would but learn to control elemental forces for his own use and pleasure.
Nature's laws are wise, for the one who persists in selfishly cultivating his latent
powers, in the end fails; for some mightier force controls him to his own doom. If he
hastens the process of his evolution by physical means, neglecting the cultivation of his
spiritual nature - which would protect him always from malign influences - if he neglect this,
then does he open the door to influences more evil and selfish than himself, since he will
attract them by the selfishness within himself, and so he would become but the tool of
these stronger forces in Evil. But the man who develops rationally, intelligently, striving to
live unselfishly, neglecting no part of his composite nature, aspiring to know other planes
beyond the physical, awakens that faculty latent within his own soul, sets up vibrations on
higher planes corresponding to the thought waves from his own brain, and thus likewise
comes under the benign influences stronger and more potent for good than he alone is,
and so may draw help and courage from this divine source. Humanity as a whole draws
help, fortitude, strength and inspiration from the same benign influences just in proportion
as individual men and women uplift their consciousness upon the planes where oneness
is the law. The more spiritual the plane the less of separateness is manifest. Nor does this
mean annihilation. It is simply consciousness beyond self, it becomes more than self-
consciousness, never less.
 (To be continued)
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THE ANCIENT DRUIDS, THEIR HISTORY AND RELIGION

by Rev. W. Williams

(Concluded)

THROUGH Druidism, with all its fame and prestige, had now passed away, yet the
spirit of it survived in its order of Bards who, now scattered throughout Wales, Ireland,
Scotland, and many parts of Britain, became wandering minstrels and sole depositories of
Druidic philosophy and learning. There are clear evidences of their existence in all these
countries. They were treated with the utmost respect and exempted from taxes and military
service, and reverenced as the sole survivors of an age of freedom and liberty, the
traditions of which are still cherished in the heart of every true Celt, for they gave poetic
expression to the religious and national sentiments of the people which have never become
entirely extinguished. It was, however, chiefly in Wales that Bardism attained its highest
development and continued to exert a powerful influence even after the introduction of
Christianity into that country. This was also the case through the middle ages, and after
the conquest of Wales.
At stated intervals great festivals or Eisteddfodaw were held at which the most
famous bards from various districts met and contended in song, the umpires - being
generally the most learned of the princes and nobles. To this day, these festivals are
celebrated not only in Wales but in America, Australia, New Zealand and wherever
Welshmen abound, who still cherish and retain many of the Druidic traditions, apothegms,
symbols and emblems. In Brittany and other parts of France still exist ancient customs and
superstitions of Druid origin which have utterly repelled the eradicating influence both of the
Catholic and protestant clergy. Through these Bards has been handed down what
knowledge we possess of the theology and philosophy of the ancient Druids. The Barddas
one of the great occult books preserved in the bardic college in Glamorgan has been
published, and contains a vein of teaching and thought clearly which may certainly be
regarded as of Druidic origin. Editorial exigencies preclude us from pointing out at great
length the many similarities and interesting analogies and correspondences with the
religions and philosophy of the East which are presented in the above-named work. To do
this in an adequate and satisfactory manner would swell our remarks into a volume, and
we therefore most reluctantly limit ourselves to giving short extracts in which are expressed
some of the chief teachings of the Druids and a translation of The Circles of Existence
which we trust may not prove devoid of interest to the student and general reader. For the
better understanding of them we would observe that the Bardic theology is expressed in
tercets or verses consisting of three lines, the number three being held in great esteem by
the ancient Druids.

THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY

Three are the Circles of Being.
Cyleh y Ceugant - The Circle of Space.
 Cyleh y Abred - The Circle of Evolutions.
Cyleh y Gwynfyd - The Circle of Happiness.
Three are the successive states of animated beings.

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The state of existence in Annouln,

The state of liberty in Abred,
The state of happiness in Gwynfyd.
Three are the phases of existence:
Commencement in the Abyss (Annoufor).
Transmigration in Abred.
Completion and perfection in Gwynfyd.

As supplementary and forming a commentary on these circles, we give the following

extracts - Souls when purified ascend to still higher spheres from whence they can no more
descend. Souls that are sullied with earthly impurities are refined by repeated changes
(incarnations) and probations till the last stain of evil is worn away and they are ultimately
ripened for immortal bliss in a higher sphere - the abode of the Blest - of the Sages - of the
Friends of Humanity. With respect to the creation of the Universe we learn that this grand
event took place "by the voice of the Divine energy, that is, by its melodious sweetness,
which was scarcely heard when, lo! dead matter gleamed into life, and the non-entity which
had neither place nor existence flashed like lightning into elementation, and rejoiced into
life and the congealed, motionless shiver warmed into living existence, the destitute nothing
rejoiced into being a thousand times more quickly than the lightning reaches its home."
One of the Masters being asked, with what material did God make all corporeal things
endowed with life? replies, "With the particles of light, which are the smallest of all small
things, and yet one particle of light is the greatest of all great things, being no less material
for all materiality that can be understood and perceived as within the grasp of the power
of God. And in every particle there is a place wholly commensurate with God; for there is
not and cannot be less than God in every particle of light, and God in every particle;
nevertheless, God is only one in number. On that account every light is one, and nothing
is one imperfect co-existence but what cannot be two, when in or out of itself."
How were animation and life obtained? "From God and in God they were found;
that is from the fundamental and absolute life; that is from God uniting himself to the dead,
or earthliness; hence motion and mind, that is, soul. And every animation and soul are
from God, and their existence is in God, both their pre-existence and derived existence;
for there is no preexistence except in God, no coexistence except in God, and no derived
existence except in God and from God."* With reference to the evolution of men we give
the following: "It is necessary that every living and animate being should traverse the circle
of Abred from the depth Aunwn, that is, the extreme limit of what is low in every existence
endowed with life, and they shall ascend higher and higher in the order of gradation or life,
until they become man, and then there can be an end to the life in Abred, by union with
goodness."
"But no man at death shall go to Gwynfyd (Nirvana) except he who shall attach
himself in life, whilst a man, to goodness and godliness. The man who does not thus attach
himself in godliness shall fall in Abred to a corresponding form and species of existence of
the same nature as himself, whence he shall return to the state of man as before. And then
according as his attachment be either to godliness or ungodliness, shall he ascend to
Gwynfyd (Nirvana), or fall in Abred when he dies. And thus shall he fall for ever, until he
seeks godliness, and attaches himself to it, when there will be an end to the Abred of
necessity and to every necessary suffering of evil and death."

THE CIRCLE OF ABRED (EVOLUTION).

Three necessary things are there in the circle of Abred, - the primordial origin of life,
the protoplasm of all things, mortality and death.

------------
* Barddas, p. 257.
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Three things shared by every animated being whilst in Abred, Divine aid without
which there could be no consciousness, the privilege of sharing in divine love, and
harmonious action with the Divine in order to attain the end and object of their destiny.
Three necessary causes operate in the circle of Abred, that of the development of
the bodily structure of every animated being, that of the attainment of universal knowledge,
also that of moral growth in order to triumph over the spirit of evil (Cythraul) and obtain self-
deliverance from evil (Droug) for without these there could be no progress.
Three essentials are there in order to obtain perfect knowledge, reincarnations in
Abred, in Gwynfyd and reminiscence of past experiences.
Three are the things inevitable in Abred, the transgression of law (natural and
spiritual), deliverance by death from Droug and Cythraul, growth of spiritual life.
Three are the essentials to man's triumph over evil, - suffering, calm endurance of
change, - liberty of choosing, by which he can determine his own destiny.
Three are the alternatives offered to man, Abred and Gwynfyd (heaven and hell)
necessity and liberty, - good and evil, all in equal balance, man being able to attach himself
to one or the other.
By three things man falls under the necessity of Abred; ceasing to strive after
knowledge, refusing and resisting good - preferring the evil, in consequence of these he
descends in Abred to the place for which he qualifies himself and begins again his
pilgrimage through the circle of evolutions.
Three principal things to be acquired in the stage of humanity - knowledge - love -
and moral power. These cannot be acquired anterior to the human stage but through the
exercise of liberty and free choice. They are the three victories. They begin with humanity
and attend it through all the cycles of the ages.
Three are the privileges incident to humanity - the adjusting of evil and good, giving
rise to comparison - liberty of choice giving rise to judgment and preference - increase of
moral power. These are necessary in the working out and accomplishment of human
destiny.

THE CIRCLE OF GWYNFYD - (HAPPINESS)

 Three are the principal blessings in the circle of Gwynfyd, - freedom from evil,
freedom from care, freedom from death.
Three things attainable by man in the circle of Gwynfyd, his primordial genius, - his
primordial love and memory of past incarnations without which he cannot attain to perfect
happiness.
Three are the Divine gifts to man, - a life complete in itself - an individuality
absolutely distinct, - and natal genius. These constitute the personality of every animated
being.
Three are essentials to universal knowledge - transmigration through the stages of
being - the memory of each incarnation and its experience - the power of passing at will into
previous states for the enlargement of knowledge and experience and these are attainable
in the circle of Gwynfyd.
Three are the things of endless growth; fire or light, - intelligence or truth, - spirit or
life; the ultimate result of which is the rule over all things when the circle of Abred
(evolution) will terminate.
Three are the things continually decreasing, darkness, error and death. Three are
the things which ever become stronger, Love, Knowledge and Justice.
Three are the things which daily become weaker, Hate, Injustice, and Ignorance.
Three are the beatitudes in Gwynfyd, the reciprocal sharing of benefits, - the willing
recognition and ready acknowledgment of individual genius and Universal Brotherhood
based upon the love of God.

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Three are the prerogatives of the Divine, to be self infinite, to become finite in the
finite and unification with all the various states of existence in the circle of Gwynfyd.
From this outline of Druidic teaching we learn: that in those remote ages, the
doctrines of reincarnation and Karma, were understood and grasped with that clearness
of apprehension so as to make them facts of the Universe. Its moral teachings were pure
and healthy, inculcating chastity in all the relationships of life, the infringement of which was
visited with the punishment of death. Druidism throughout its whole career kept itself
perfectly pure and uncontaminated from those vices and phallic impurities which have so
shamefully degraded most of the great religions of the world ancient and modern.

-------------

MY KINGDOM
by David

WHEN I was last born into Theosophy, I came in as President of a Branch; and a
very little Branch it was, too; five all told. Besides myself, there were my friends X and his
wife, and my two chums Y and Z.
When we concluded to enter the fold, there were just offices enough to go around
and I was put in President on the plea of the leisure at my command, and Mrs. X was made
Secretary for a similar reason; and I joined with the others in regarding it a sort of
pleasantry, when addressed with mock homage by them as "Mr. President."
But gradually a change crept in with additional numbers, and when we hired a long
room near the centre of the town and placed the official table and two chairs upon the little
platform at one end of it, I noticed that Madam the Secretary dispensed with all the quips
and quaint sayings that before had characterized her reports of our proceedings, and
attended strictly to business; and also that the term "Mr. President" took on a more serious
meaning; and when the town's people began to crowd in and fill our seats on all extra
occasions, I, myself, was sensibly impressed with the importance of my position; and the
narrow vistas of my life began to widen out as I applied to them the broad bases of
Theosophy. I and Theosophy were to awaken the world, especially I, which thought
immediately added an inch at least to the dignity of my stature; full, round tones to my
voice; and a benevolent expansion to my gestures that expressed an amiable patronage
of all humanity, to whom I gave my spare time and all my pocket money, and felt virtuous
and quite deserving of any notice that might be taken of me at Headquarters.
Soon I noticed that X began to blossom out as a clear-headed essayist, that Y talked
wisely and from notes only, and that Z was on his feet with a spring at any specially
puzzling question, and made all clear as a well-trained lawyer could; all of which was of
great use to me and redounded to my official glory; but the annual election approached
and I wondered if X's increasing popularity might not suggest a change in presidents to
some shortsighted members, though any reasonable one might see that it would never do
to have two of a family at the head, and

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Mrs. X must be retained as Secretary. Why, they would run the whole thing and leave
nothing but hard work for the rest; really Y would do better than that, but he hadn't a
particle of enthusiasm, and was coldly intellectual, and oblivious altogether of the Heart
Doctrine, which alone tells in Theosophy; and Z, poor fellow, hadn't a penny to spare for
the work, and cash, hard cash, had to back up Theosophy as well as everything else.
Clearly, I was the one appointed by "Those who Know" to do this work; and I straightway
proceeded to reinforce Their powers and preference by all my own business acumen.
I pulled a wire here, touched a button there, and made a "cinch" wherever I could;
and finally took a trip to New York where I found all at Headquarters too busy to get really
well acquainted with me, and to fully appreciate my merits; but I met two or three other
fellows on an errand similar to my own and we got together and exchanged confidences
as to what we had "caught on to" and retailed mysterious, cabalistic words let fall in our
presence; caught a whiff or two of things occult, as the workers rushed by on nameless
errands; then wrapping this new cloak of mystery and prophesy about us, we took the
home train; and imitating the curt and preoccupied manner of the sphinx-like official
workers, I proceeded to set everybody in the home Branch on the qui vive to learn of the
wonders I was supposed to have seen, but was too discreet to reveal.
My personal importance being thus emphasized, I felt ready for the ordeal of the
election, whose outcome, however, gave me so scant a majority over X that perhaps I was
not as courteous to him as I ought to have been, when he complained that while I had
taken on outwardly the wisdom of the owl, Theosophy had taken all the old jollity and good-
fellowship out of me; and when Mrs. X confirmed his opinion, I excused them both in my
own mind, on account of the defeat just sustained, and their consequent psychic condition.
That peculiar fever that attaches itself to the selfative, I decided, must be hard enough to
endure of itself, and should appeal to the magnanimity of the friends of the sufferers who
ought to pass it by in considerate silence.
But I had little time to waste on trivial things, for though many offered their help in
the Branch work, I felt that the reports and returns were most important, as the least
carelessness might reduces the averages; and, indeed, I had some trouble in reconciling
Mrs. X to the proper business methods of keeping them up, in her share of the work, where
they would be a credit to the Branch. Then, too, frictions and discords began to rage
fiercely, and so many were dropping out that I had no time for restoring harmony within the
heart of the circle, in my anxiety to get new recruits to fill the vacancies; and the whole
thing wore on me so, and I saw so plainly that my efforts were not appreciated, that I felt
deserted by my nearest friends, and when I asked myself, "What is it all for?" there was no
soothing, interior voice to reassure me, and I well remember the night when these
conditions reached their climax and I went to sleep with a glaring red interrogation point
flaming before my inner sight, to awake with a start in the middle of the night with a firm
conviction that my whole being was in the grasp, fibre by fibre, of an octopus whose
purpose was total destruction, from the limbs that had done the errands of the brain, to that
brain's finest convolutions from which had emanated the commands that had ensouled
selfishness, deceit and all uncharitableness. This passion for place and power was in
possession of me, and not I of it.
In one wild illuminating flash, I saw the whole evil of my being, and till daylight, with
uncompromising industry I tore away the roots that had been feed-

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ing upon me, and rose weak and wan but a sane man and light at heart through relief from
the burden that had lifted from my shoulders.
A good half of my second year still remained in which to undo the mischief I had
done. At last I realized that the desire for recognition and justice that I found within myself,
was native to every heart and only needed the proper kind of encouragement to become
a healthy, helpful source of brotherliness; for the long exiled poor, whose only dole has
been reluctant bounty, require so little, and what is so easy to give, to make them content
and happy; just the recognition of their common humanity that they are one of us and
welcome to share in our common labors and mutual recognitions.
I threw wide to the sunlight the prison I had made for the timid, of superstition worse
than dogma.
I gave liberty to the youth whom I had so bound to me by self-interest and
intimidations, and taught them to seek their truest manhood outside of the bonds of intrigue
and self-seeking and on the basis of uncompromising truth.
I found that many individual needs could be supplied within the society by discovery
of the acquirements of each, and applying them to the wants of the others; thus we formed
schools within schools and scotched the serpent of favoritism till all hands were willing, all
hearts happy, and the fact dawned upon me that the Branch was running itself, and on
noiseless wheels, requiring but a watchful eye and kindly hand to avert any serious friction;
and when at the next election I was made president unanimously (though against my will)
I caught a glimpse of my real kingdom and knew it lay in the realm of service, service in any
capacity, and to the lowliest brothers in the Branch through whom alone it might reach
outwards and become a part of the Universal Brotherliness that is to leaven the world.

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STUDENTS' COLUMN
Conducted by J.H. Fussell

THE SERPENT SYMBOL.

THE serpent and the dragon are used by different nations as symbols of Life and
Wisdom, and therefore signify also the Masters of Life and Wisdom, or the great Teachers.
The sloughing of the serpent's skin suggested a perpetual renewal of life to the primitive
peoples, and the serpent with its tail in its mouth formed an endless line, the perfect circle
that symbolized Eternity. Because all things must have their opposites, Life involved
Death, the power to heal implied the power to slay, and therefore we have the two
serpents, the light and the dark, that twine around the caduceus of Mercury. Both the
serpent and the dragon symbols, like all important myths, have their septenary significance,
and may be taken in many senses, ranging from that cosmic force which we call physical
life, to the Logos itself, the origin of life and Wisdom.
The solar Chnouphis, or the soul of the world, according to the Gnostics was figured
by a serpent standing on human legs. Chnouphis was the Spiritual Sun of Enlightenment,
or Wisdom, and therefore the patron of all the Egyptian Initiates. In Isis Unveiled, Vol. II,
p. 213, is an explanation of the Gnostic symbolism of the Serpent as the Logos. From the
unfathomable Abyss (the veil of the Unknown), issues a circle formed of spirals, that is a
grand cycle composed of smaller ones. This is the "Spiritual Sun," and coiled within and
following the spirals lies the serpent - emblem of Wisdom and Eternity - the dual
Androgyne. The cycle (or circle) represents the Divine Mind (Ennoia) a power which does
not create, but must assimilate, and the serpent (the Agathodaemon, the Ophis) represents
the Shadow of the Light, non-eternal, but the greatest divine light on our plane. That is, the
Unity manifesting itself as the Logos, a double principle of Good and Evil. When Ennoia
and Ophis are separated, one is the Tree of Life (spiritual), the other the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil. Therefore we find Ophis urging the first human couple to eat
of the forbidden fruit; the Logos, or the bearer of divine creative wisdom, teaching mankind
to become creators in their turn. The Cross was an evolution from the "tree and the
serpent," and thus became the salvation of mankind (Secret Doctrine II, 216). A careful
study of this Gnostic symbolism will explain all the serpent myths. For further information
see Secret Doctrine (old edition) I, 253, 363-4, 403, 410, 442, 472, 549. II, 202, 208, 214,
230, 236, 356, 504, 528, 280, 364, 381, etc., etc. - K. H.
---------

"It is often said that suffering is Life's great teacher, but can we not also learn and
progress through that which brings pleasure and happiness? Should we not take each as
it comes and endeavor to learn its lesson, or should we always turn away from pleasure?"
Pain and pleasure are not things in themselves, but are perceptions of transitory
conditions of harmony or disharmony, and as such are equally a part of Life, and equally
teachers. Pleasure is agreeable because of its harmony, even though that be local and
transitory, pain is disagreeable because of its disharmony. Pain and pleasure are relative
to the experiencer, conditions that give pain to some will give pleasure to others.
Selfishness gives rise to the seeking of

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congenial personal conditions, and brings about a conflict of purposes which makes it
impossible to maintain any one condition. The Soul seeks harmony, but that harmony must
be that of all souls, true harmony lies in the line of the ideal progression of humanity, in the
sweep of universal harmonious conditions.
Our work then should be to think, speak, and act understandingly for Universal
Brotherhood, and in the meantime, as the conditions which exist were established by
ourselves individually and collectively, we can take as much as merit has in store for us,
learning from the pleasure that comes to us, the beauties of harmony in the present and
its great promise for the future, and finding in its sunlight, courage and inspiration to
faithfully pursue the work that must ultimately cause the ways of the world to be those of
pleasantness, and all its paths to be peace. - R. C.
---------

"In a Lodge meeting the opinion was advanced that character does not change
during life, but remains the same from the cradle to the grave, merely unfolding. Is this a
correct view? Does it not imply the doctrine of fatalism and destroy all free-will?"
Let us answer the question on the basis laid down by that most delightful reasoner,
Patanjali.
There is, says W. Q. J., commenting upon Aphorism 9, Book II, "a natural tendency
to manifestation on the material plane, in and through which only the spiritual monads can
attain their development, and this tendency, acting through the physical basis common to
all sentient beings, is extremely powerful, and continues through all incarnations."
Clearly, then, one result of incarnation is experience gained through matter. But
evolution is twofold in its results. The soul gains experience from matter, but it also leaves
its impress upon matter, hence succeeding incarnations provide it with instruments refined
and perfected, not only through use, but also for use.
The soul, or "perceiver," being "conjoined in the body with the organ of thought," it
follows that incarnation leaves a mental deposit, which is the basis of experience in
subsequent lives.
An operation performed with a surgical instrument is an index of the surgeon's skill.
The use of personality and personal environment as an instrument, is an index of the
experience and knowledge of the soul. Character, then, is the ability of the soul to use
present environment. It is the sum of past "mental deposits," and does change through
growth and unfolding. There is no possibility of fatalism in the matter. Just as many
operations are accomplished by utilizing the force of gravity, so enlightenment is reached
by utilizing the "self-reproductive power" of spirit - the power which enables "the real
perceiver and knower" to evolve. - Mary F. Lang
 The fixed points of every proposition should first be clearly understood, and
definitions settled. Our first absolute point here is the axiom that nothing comes except
from a sufficient cause, and this at first sight seems to lead, without escape, to a crass
fatalism, and we reach with George Eliot "the imprisoning verdict that one's philosophy is
the formula only of his personality." But with her we seek to escape this prison, and this
very effort to escape is evidence of a wider truth existing somewhere. Man's failure to rest
satisfied with fatalism as a theory is an argument against it which cannot be philosophically
ignored.
But there is still a greater obstacle. To hold that life is merely the unfolding of what
existed at birth does imply, without question, fatalism and destroy progress. But if the life
of one man is so, so is the life of the race; and if there is no progress for the man or the
race, but only elaboration of existent causes and conditions, so must also it be with the
universe, and manvantara after manvantara repeat the same useless show,

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and the whole universe be but an automaton. And this is more than unthinkable, it is
inconsistent and contrary, for we find evolution and progress as vital principles, which they
could not he in an automatic universe.
The trouble lies in the vicious circle of our argument, a very circle of necessity. We
have so restricted our thought to the material that we limit our idea of causation to some
finite thing precedent in point of time to its effect. The character which unfolds we also
regard as a sort of limited personality, instead of an infinite, divine, and spiritual quantity,
manifesting itself in orderly sequence according to its own nature. The inner nature is not
simply endowed with freedom - it is free determination itself, and the spirit of progress is
one attribute of the great First Cause in the manifested universe.
The central, working reality in every man is infinite in its potentialities, and if we find
an actual limitation to its expansion in manifestation, that limit is determined not by lower
things, but is in obedience to the harmonies of yet interior, higher realities, the spirit of the
race, as this in turn is attuned to that greater unit, the planetary system, and this to the all.
Man's ultimate character is divine, self-sufficient, and the farther in we get, the less limited
and purer it becomes. - W. E. G.
---------

"Can the human soul, astral body, or whatever it may be called, be separated from
the physical body, temporarily and projected whither the owner wills? Can you tell me how
this is done, and what the necessary conditions are, also whether or not it is possible to
every one to acquire this power?"
In the first place the human soul and the astral body are not identical. The soul is
the man himself, the inner real being, who uses the astral and physical bodies and the
other parts of the nature as instruments. In a sense, the soul is free from the body
temporarily, every time we think deeply when our attention is taken away from the physical
body, so that for the time we forget it and also during sleep.
It is possible to separate the astral body from the physical, but it should not be
attempted owing to the great dangers, mental, moral and physical, which attend such
separation, unless the whole nature has been purified and complete knowledge of one's
self has been acquired on a sure foundation of philosophy and the practice of the highest
ethics.
It is not likely therefore that information should be given how to bring about such
separation of the astral from the physical, and H. P. Blavatsky, William Q. Judge, and the
present Leader of the Theosophical Movement and all advanced students of Theosophy
discourage all psychic practices as leading to no good results but on the contrary doing
much harm. No true progress can be gained in this way. What is needed is a study of the
philosophy and an endeavor to realize the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity.
In connection with this subject of acquiring psychic powers, students are
recommended to read "True Progress: - Is it aided by watching the Astral Light?" by Bryan
Kinnavan, published in The Path, Vol. V. p. 112. In it occurs the following: - "Devote
yourself, therefore, to spiritual aspiration and to true devotion, which will be the means for
you to learn the causes that operate in nature, how they work, and what each one works
upon. . . This too is the old practice enjoined by the ancient schools . . . They compelled
the disciple to abjure all occult practices until such time as he had laid a sure foundation
of logic, philosophy and ethics; and only then was he permitted to go further in that strange
country from which many an unprepared explorer has returned bereft of truth and
sometimes despoiled of reason." - Aries

--- 291

"The statement was made recently in the Students' Column that all men would be
saved eventually. Does not this conflict with the 'death or loss of the soul' spoken of in Isis
Unveiled, and other theosophical writings. What is the meaning of Christ's statement:
'What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul?' How can a man lose his soul which, I understand
Theosophy to teach, is man himself?"
The question must be made clear to our minds before it can be answered with any
degree of satisfaction. What is it that is to be saved, and what is it to be saved from? To
answer such questions satisfactorily we must turn to the most comprehensive and rational
of all philosophies - THEOSOPHY. Here we find that man is made tip of a higher and lower
nature, the permanent and impermanent, the Divine Soul and the personal man. It is the
personal man, then, who has to "work out his salvation." The personal man is composed,
so to speak, of all the mental, physical and psychical characteristics. The higher always
seeks to manifest through the lower, and it is the task of the lower mind to overcome the
limited perception of life which is the only real death, and become united with its parent, the
Divine Soul. While it is true that the Divine Soul by its very nature is immortal throughout
eternity, the personal man has to win immortality. How is this done? By purifying the
thoughts and living nobly and unselfishly; for nothing but that which is in its essence divine
can inhere in the eternal. The Divine Soul can only attract back to itself that which is of its
own nature. Therefore all the noblest elements of our nature will endure while that which
belongs to the lower and personal will fade out in its appropriate time and place.
The statement of Jesus quoted in the question is, in the light of what has been said,
more easily understood. It is possible for the lower mind, the personality, to become so
immersed in material life that all connection with its parent source may be cut off; darkness
may so usurp the place of sun, moon and stars in our firmament that no light of the divine
can reach us. This severance from the higher during lifetime, brought about by a long
course of persistence in evil, is really the "loss of the soul" as I understand it. To partake
of the immortality of the Divine Soul, the human soul - the personality - must be purified
through the pain of experience, for that indeed is the purpose of life; it is through the eating
of the fruit of the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" that we approach "the tree of life"
eternal. It is an old saying "that while there is life there is hope," and it may be applied in
this connection; that while man is in a body the feeblest aspiration upwards forms a "thread
of union" with his "father in heaven" - the Divine Soul.
With this in view we begin to realize more fully our responsibilities as members of
tile Universal Brotherhood organization. By a strong spiritual appeal we may arouse and
fan once more into flame the smouldering fires of divinity in the hearts of men and women,
and in some cases, at least, help to build anew the bridge which leads from the lower to the
higher, the human to the divine; thus making possible the "salvation" of human souls. It
should be well borne in mind, what is in fact universally admitted, that everything that is
worthy, heroic, noble, beautiful, good and true is by its nature immortal. Let us see to it that
the efflorescence of each life is made up of eternal elements and we shall have gained
immortality for the human soul, and made possible its union with the divine. Eventually
harmony must be restored throughout the entire Kosmos even at the loss of many
personalities, for all that is of the purely personal life must pass at some time into the "sea
of forgetfulness," there to be remembered no more. - D. N. D.

--- 292

"Do animals reincarnate, in other words, do they possess a reincarnating ego? It

seems to me that there must be some spark or unit of consciousness which ascends in a
continuous and unbroken line through all the lower kingdoms up to man and beyond."
In the Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, p. 17, (new ed., p. 45), the third fundamental teaching
is given as follows:
"The fundamental identity of all souls with the Universal Oversoul, the latter being
itself an aspect of the Unknown Root; and the obligatory pilgrimage for every soul - a spark
of the former - through the cycle of incarnation, or necessity, in accordance with cyclic and
Karmic law, during the whole term. In other words, no purely spiritual Buddhi (divine soul)
can have an independent conscious existence before the spark which issued from the pure
essence of the universal sixth principle - or the Oversoul - has (a) passed through every
elemental form of the phenomenal world of that Manvantara, and (b) acquired individuality,
first by natural impulse, and then by self-induced and self-devised efforts, checked by its
Karma, thus ascending through all the degrees of intelligence, from the lowest to the
highest Manas, from mineral and plant, up to the holiest archangel (Dhyani-Buddha.)"
This is a very important and clear statement and according to it there is a spark
which ascends in an unbroken line through all forms of life from the lowest to the highest,
and if we take reincarnation in a general sense, the spark is continually reincarnated or
reimbodied in new forms. The persistent principle is assuredly there, otherwise evolution
and progress would be impossible, but whether we can apply the term ego to the divine
spark manifesting in the stone, or the plant, or the animal, depends on our definition of
terms. If by egoity is meant that state or condition of consciousness in which there is
knowledge on this plane of the individual self and recognition of self-persistence, then
egoity cannot be applied to the kingdoms of nature below the human and perhaps not fully
even to all members of the human family. But the divine spark is present everywhere, and
the animal form is a vehicle for its manifestation, represents one of its modes of
manifestation, and is one stage in the evolution of its powers on this plane. In order to gain
all experience in this mode of being it is reasonable to suppose that the soul or divine spark
must pass through all animal forms and in this general sense we may say that animals do
reincarnate.
- J. H. F.

--------------
--- 293

YOUNG FOLKS' DEPARTMENT

by Albert E.S. Smythe

FOUR, THREE, TWO, AND ONE.

AS I went on my way through the Enchanted Land, I saw two of the quaintest fellows
I had ever dreamed about. They were some way ahead of me, and as I had not yet seen
anyone who could tell me anything I wanted to know, I ran after them and shouted.
They swung around and faced me, and I was puzzled to see that they always kept
a little distance apart, but with always the same distance between them, as if, indeed, each
held a hand of the same invisible companion.
"How do you do?" I said.
"How do we do?" said one of them. "He doesn't do a thing," said the other.
"We do it all," they both shouted, and then laughed so much that I grew quite red in
the face and thought them very rude.
"He thinks we have no manners," said one of them.
"Neither we have," said the other.
"Isn't it jolly?" they both shouted, and one catching hold of my right hand, the other
my left, they swung me around in such a swift and giddy dance that the flowers and the
grass and the sky and the clouds all got tangled up in great coils of red and green and
white and blue ropes, whirling and spinning in endless circles. I was so dizzy when they
stopped that I staggered about and had to sit down. They stood beside me and laughed
so much I felt sure they could not have any ribs, as mine always ached distressfully if I
laughed half so much.
"Why do you laugh like that?" I asked them.
"Why do we laugh?" they shouted, and immediately went into such an uproarious
fit I was afraid something might happen. It did not seem right to laugh so much, almost.
I was even afraid I might get over my indignation and begin to laugh also, and I was quite
certain that if I did I should need a doctor.
"He hasn't seen us cry," said one.
"Nor laugh on the other side of our mouths," said the other.
"Do you cry as badly as you laugh?" I asked.
"Of course we do, " they replied.
"Please don't then."
"Oh, we won't; we were crying just a little while ago. Generally one of us laughs
while the other cries, but that never occurs except with strangers. Didn't you feel miserable
when you were climbing the Far Hills?"
"Yes," I said; "dreadfully."
"Well, we were crying then, and so we had to laugh when you came here, and
couldn't see Number One."
"What's Number One?" I asked.
"Oh, you're a silly," said one of them. "You were dancing with Number One just now.
We are Two and Three. You are number Four. Can't you see Number One between us?"
"No," I replied, "I can only see the air."
"And you can't see that, you stupid. But if you will try and tell the truth we can show
you lots of things, and perhaps you can learn to see Number One."
"Which of you is Two and which is Three?" I inquired.
"Either you please," said one of them.

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"Sometimes I am Two and sometimes I am Three. But you are always Four, and One is
always one."
"Have you no other names? I have another name than Four,'' I said.
"Yes; I am Mister Cause, and this is Master Consequence. Or if you like I am
Master Consequence and he is Mister Cause."
"We are both each other," said his quaint companion.
"I am everybody's Daddy," said one of them.
"I am everybody's Sonnyman," said the other.
"I am Day,'' said the first.
"And I am Night," said the other.
"And I am Night," said the first.
"And I am Day," said his fellow. And so they began such a chant that I cannot
remember the tenth part of it, and my head quite reeled with the confusion and the extent
of it all. For they seemed to exchange places and characters with each response, and they
assumed so many and so various forms and appearances that the whole world seemed to
pass before me in a vision.
"I am Birth."
"And I am Death."
"And I am Death."
''And I am Birth."
"I am Past."
"And I am Future."
"I am Future."
"And I am Past."
And so they continued until they seemed to have named and represented all the
things and all the ideas I had ever heard of, and far more that I had not, all of them
arranged in couples and all of them apparently interchangeable. At last they stopped with
a repetition of the names they began with.
"I am Mister Cause."
"And I am Master Consequence."
 "And I am Master Consequence."
"And I am Mister Cause."
"I am the Daddy."
"And I am the Sonnyman."
"And I am the Sonnyman."
"And I am the Daddy."
"Have you quite finished?" I asked when they ceased.
"Oh dear, no! We are the Twins of May. We go on forever," cried one. "If we didn't,
we would be suspended. You remember we told you that we did it all?"
"Yes," I admitted, ''but I wasn't sure if you were not joking."
"We never joke," he replied.
"Not when you laugh as you did?"
"That was a most serious matter," he said.
"Well, it was," I conceded. "You are a queer couple. Still, if you can tell me
something about the Enchanted Land I shall be very much obliged."
"Don't mention it," said one, "for there is nothing to tell. You must just go with us and
see it all. We can show you everything. That is what Number One keeps us for.''
"And does Number One go with us?" I asked.
"I told you he was between us. If Number One wasn't here we couldn't be together.
Number One takes our hands and we take yours, you see. Would you like another dance?
"Not just yet," I said, though I felt that I would like to see everything change into coils
of colored rope again.
"Sometimes people can see Number One in the dance," remarked one of them; I
never was quite sure which of them spoke. ''
"Is that the only way to see Number One?"
"No, there is another way."
"What is it?" I enquired, for I was strangely curious, and longed to look on the face
of this Invisible and Silent One.
"You must become a Number One yourself," they said.
"But is that possible?"
"For some it is," answered one. "For all it will be," said the other.
"And how can it he so?"

--- 295

"When the First is Last and one lives for others," they told me.
"Has Number One any other name?"
"Yes; many others. Love and Justice, and Karma, and Fate, and Mercy, and
Providence, and The Law, and a host of others. But those who speak these names often
forgot that Number One always holds our hands, and can only be found between us."
"And which of the Names do you like best?" I asked them.
"We have no desire,'' said they. "We see with clear eyes."
"But you have better names?" I persisted.
And one said, "There is Life, and to it belong Peace and Eternity. "
And the other said, "There is the ever unfolding Beauty."
"And Life and Beauty are two of the names?"
 "These are two of the names," they said.
And I went forth with them, and I dwell in the Enchanted Land, Number Four with
these three, and three of us are shadows.

--------------

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES

New York. - In some respects the Central Office is very quiet, there being no
meetings held during the summer, but the work in the different departments goes on the
same and the stream of enquirers and applicants continues unabating. Our Leader is now
in the country, some little distance from New York and it will interest the members to know
how she usually spends the day. Her summer home is hilly and beautifully wooded, so
there is plenty of shade and at the same time a fine view across the valley towards the
west, especially beautiful in the evening at sunset - an ideal place to rest and come into
close touch with nature. Yet her work goes on as ever. She is up at 7 A. M., and before
breakfast takes a walk. After breakfast she attends to her correspondence which is very
large. This takes until 1 o'clock. The afternoon is spent in matters pertaining to our large
organization and in arranging and looking over articles for The New Century and the
UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD Magazine.
A telephone message or telegram may at any time arrive and necessitate a change
in the routine of work. There is always an extra heavy mail when letters come from Europe
and Australia, and Mrs. Tingley keeps a stenographer well occupied. A little thought and
care on the part of members would often greatly lessen the work, for it often happens that
some member writes for information in regard to the I. B. L., and in the same letter sends
an order for books from the T. P. Co., and a communication for the E. S. T. All these have
to be separated and sent to the various departments, thus causing a great deal of extra
labor. Then letters are received from some who are not satisfied to do their own duties that
lie before them but write about the duties of others and devise plans for the work, etc. All
these things have to be attended to by our Leader and it may take a day to straighten out
some tangle which a member has thoughtlessly caused. There is another matter that she
wishes to be brought to the attention of some. There are many organizations with good
aims and it has often happened that members of these organizations have sought
admission into the T. S. or the U. B., with the purpose of aiding their own societies, and the
over

--- 296

enthusiasm of some T. S. and U. B. members has led them to almost adopt the aims and
theories of these societies and to turn the energies of themselves and fellow-members of
their Lodge in support of them. It is of far greater importance to build up our own
organization than to seek to get other societies to affiliate with ours, or advocate their
special theories.
Our Leader's work sometimes continues until two and three o'clock in the morning.
She is always bright and inspires hope and courage in all who meet her. Letters come
continually from Sweden and India begging her to visit those countries and this she herself
longs to do. She is deeply attached to India and although the natives saw her for so short
a time, some for only an hour or two yet they are most devoted to the work and have as
clear a conception of the purpose and spirit of the work as most of the members at
Headquarters.
The organization grows continually and of course this growth entails more work. In
the E. S. T. alone several persons could be kept busy all the time (only trained workers can
be of service in this department) and in every department there is an increase in the work.
We all felt that our Leader ought to take a rest but the only way in which she could
reconcile herself to do so and to go away from the city into the quiet and peace of the
country was in realizing that it was in order to gain more strength for the enormous work
in the fall and the more easily to finish up what must be done at once.
- J. H. Fussell

-----------------------

AUM

"O friend, never strike sail to a fear. Come into port greatly, or sail with God the
seas." - Emerson, Essay on Heroism

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol. XIII September, 1898 No. 6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THEN - AND NOW

by Herbert Coryn

"My spirit has passed in compassion and determination around the whole earth - ."

THAT might justly be the claim of H. P. Blavatsky, but the words are Whitman's,
another if a lesser, of those "torch-bearers'' of the century whose work yet awaits an
acknowledgment surely coming.
It is twenty-four years since H. P. B. began her public labors; six since their
conclusion. Measured against centuries, twenty-four years seems but a little span, yet
within the limits of these last inches of time, the work, the changes of centuries, have been
compressed. We could see, day by day, almost hour by hour, we who knew what to
expect, the altering color of public thought and feeling.
Though, on earth as we see them, pursuing their myriad ways of life, men are
separate units, yet also they have their being in one atmosphere of their collective thought.
From this each draws; to it each contributes, just as with the air they breathe. Because
of this there are cycles, rhythms, epochs of general thought; times of general bent this way
or that; times when ideas will bear fruit, and others when they will fall sterile and be no
more heard of till their season comes. The state of preparedness prevails among all minds
in the conscious atmosphere; then comes the sower with his opportune seeds, the new
ideas for the times, and men seize them eagerly, even when they follow an ancient custom
and revile the sower.
So here is the old question - does the Leader create and compel the movement, or
does the movement call forth and crown the Leader? The movement is like the coming of
spring; no man can create or hasten it; but, if when it is come, no sower of fit grain appear,
the summer can but cover the fields with weeds. So the Leader is seed-sower, and before
that work can begin he must tear the hard ground into furrows for his seed.
The furrowing against the spring-coming of a new era was the voluntary task of H.
P. B., standing almost alone in the grey fields, and the seeds of her sowing have taken
root. This must seem absurd to those who now hear, for the first time, of this woman; to
those who have no other picture of her than that drawn by her enemies or by those who
saw her blindly; and to those who only know of her as the target for ceaseless accusations,
infinitely varied, throughout the years of her public work.
What was this work, and what is her place as a maker of history? Her work endures,
its results widen day by day;

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with those to whom it was confided in her life, or who have assumed it since her death, and
who thereby get touch of her living power, in the hands of such are the keys of the future.
For that which she taught in its outline to a few will in its fullness constitute the future
religion of all humanity. We stand near to the source of a stream flowing outward to all
men; let us see that those who drink of it know whose hands first struck the rock. To say
what we know of her, to couple her name with her enduring work, is answer enough, in its
good time complete and final, to all the charges that fell about her feet through all those
twenty years, charges that never stayed her for a moment. For all future generations we
can thus secure that her name and repute shall be as was her life.
Her work was to sow the idea of Brotherhood into the soil of mysticism. From time
to time in western history the color of mysticism develops in the general consciousness,
manifesting as a desire to search into the hidden deeps of nature and man. The collective
mass of men resemble the individual man who is stirred to look within himself, to lead
henceforth a life that shall manifest his inner nature. He looks into and attends more
closely to his own soul. If in this attempt his aim is high, his intent pure, or if, by following
the teaching and example of some one higher than himself, it become high and pure,
infinite good will result. But if his aim be or become impure and selfish, he may root some
gained power of soul in that selfishness; or he may break reactively from his quest and
plunge back lower than ever into his former way of life. So with the nations, and men
collectively. When, at its cyclically returning season, the impulse or atmosphere of
mysticism develops in the general consciousness, the never-failing Leader will try to cast
far and wide into the air ideas which, taking root in the hearts of men, would secure the
swift coming of that golden age both prophesied and remembered by every people. But
hitherto they have failed, died in the inhospitable soil; and the light of mysticism in the
consciousness of men has gone out, leaving always behind it a deepened gloom. Then
men have run riot in reaction, broken out into bloodshed, sunk back upon sensation and
lust, reasoned themselves into materialism and applied to its blind creeds the sacred name
of philosophy.
Such has hitherto been the history of mysticism in Europe.
The mystic is he who sees; it is the others, and not he, who walk veiled. Mysticism
is the consciousness in the soul of its divinity, the awareness of itself as a Light now free
or hereafter to he freed, not touchable by death. This consciousness, in the degree of its
clearness, is mysticism: for the man in whom mysticism is perfectly absent there is no
consciousness save what is rooted in the sensations and emotions of his body. Mysticism
therefore consists in the being aware of certain great facts of which the totally unmystical
person (a rarity) is not aware; and the immediate knowledge or consciousness of these
facts has no relation to the clearness or vagueness, the elaborateness or simplicity with
which they are intellectualized, systematized, related to common science, thought out, or
expressed. Just as common sensations may serve as food upon which the intellect may
work to the extent of its ability or which it may leave undigested, so these highest intuitions.
And as, whether intellectualized or not, the physical sensations may constitute the whole
spring of action, so these highest intuitions. According to the one or the other case, the life
lived will be base or noble.
Two forms of Brotherhood may exist among men; one real, spiritual, rooted
(consciously or not) in mysticism; one false, and ultimately involving its own

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destruction. This second is the "Brotherhood" of thieves or of assassins, where men are
banded to destroy, to gain for themselves at the expense of others, to thieve collectively
the property or rights of others. Of this "Brotherhood" today affords us many types. But
in the end the "Brothers" and "Comrades" and "Citizens" must turn upon each other and
pursue towards each other the policy which formerly they pursued towards their opponents
or victims.
The other Brotherhood is real, spiritual, "a fact in nature," known to be so by the
spiritual or mystical consciousness. Every soul "sees indeed" - is mystical - when it sees
or feels this. Every mysticism is imperfect, impermanent, or utterly evil, when this is no part
of it! It is one of the deliverances of the mystical consciousness, perhaps the highest; it
is a part of those other deliverances - the freedom of the soul, its divinity, its absolute life,
its relation to the ultimate spirit of life - of the mystical consciousness. A gleam of it is
present in nearly all men; it is easily apprehensible by the intellect; it affords a complete
guide to practical life; it is the readiest mounting-step to all the other spiritual truths, the
base and even every step of the ladder.
Taking advantage of the general atmosphere, of the promised spring-time, H. P. B.
scattered this idea and formed the Theosophical Society to go on with her work; knowing
well that if when men's minds had swung toward mysticism, "occultism," had become for
a period more subjective, and would at the same time let fructify the seed-idea of
Brotherhood, hope could not soar too high of the glory of the immediate future. She did not
argue; she proclaimed her message of many truths; she knew that in this case the far-
spreading, interlaced, rank overgrowth of weeds would wither as the fruit-trees rose; that
the false "Brotherhoods" and false "philosophies" would go down before the true.
 And so it is. The seed has struck root, the young leaves and treasuring buds are
already under the sun.
In 1875 the Theosophical Society was founded; in 1898 it had earned and assumed
the title of Universal Brotherhood, meaning that by that principle, applied to "all creatures,"
the world should be henceforth ever more and more completely guided. Now there is a
membership of many thousands and the ranks spread in many countries, in nearly all
countries. And this growth has been achieved against opposition, ridicule, slander, hate,
such as perhaps no other society has ever had to face. Much of the opposition, sometimes
taking intellectual forms, sometimes taking also far subtler and far grosser, has in reality
been based on deeper foundations than intellectual dissent. Beside the opposition of
bigotry and of the established order in all its forms, there has been the opposition and hate
of reactionaries from our own ranks, who, quickly tired of the growing intensity of the real
inner life, instinctively shieing at the very thought of self-restraint or self-denial, turned
violently about, and in self-defense against even self, were driven to denounce without
measure that to which for a moment they had been attached, and in denouncing it to
include its Leader and leaders. There has been the opposition of those who, consciously
or not, had come to a belief expressed by the words and practice "Let us eat, drink and be
merry, for tomorrow we are no more." Much materialistic intellectualization is but an
attempt, unconsciously made, to justify a life of sensuality. It is done against the warnings
of the real soul which knows that "tomorrow" we do not die, but reap what we have sown.
They are irritated by the presence of this constant and ancient Witness, and turn vengefully
upon whomever ventures to call attention

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to what, in denying, they feel to be true. And beyond these there were other and subtler
sources and methods of opposition.
But all were useless and the principle of Brotherhood reigns over wider and wider
areas. The pulpits repeat the ideas and even the phrases of our magazines. Our lecturers
are welcomed and their lectures reported. We have taken place in the public mind and
have colored the currents of public thought and action. Brotherhood has even made itself
felt at last in the dealing of nation with nation, and whatever the settling of some old
accounts may bring about, in the near future, of pain and bloodshed, on the other side of
the cloud is the glory of the new day. Here and there on the earth its peace already rests,
and in that peace itself a promise of a higher and grander future than we have yet dared
to picture, the souls of men can "drink in wisdom on every hand." But twenty-four years,
and so immeasurably great a work! Let another twenty-four pass, another fifty! We can
feel the breath of all those who in ages past worked for this hour, worked and waited, and
yet worked again. We have learned that Life is not limited by years nor by time; that the
will to work for man, resting on love is its power, not ceasing when body and brain must
cease. Knowing this, we are already immortal, in thought as in fact. We need no more
forget ourselves into mortality, quitting the greater companionship we have begun to feel.
The spirit of the age is with us, touching the hearts of all, waking impulses, intuitions, unfelt
for ages. A little trust, even a little hope, a willingness to slip loose from old moorings -
these are all we need.
------------

"Let thy soul lend its ear to every cry of pain, like as the lotus bares its heart to drink
the morning sun.
"Let not the fierce sun dry one tear of pain before thyself hast wiped it from the
sufferer's eye.
"But let each burning human tear drop on thy heart and there remain, nor ever brush
it off, until the pain that caused it is removed."
- H. P. Blavatsky, The Voice of the Silence.

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ZOROASTER, THE FATHER OF PHILOSOPHY.

by Alexander Wilder, M. D.

SEVEN cities are named as claiming to have been the birthplace of Homer. His
great poem is the classic above other literary productions, but the personality of the man,
as well as the period and place in which he lived, is veiled in uncertainty.
A similar curious indefiniteness exists in regard to the great Oriental sage and
teacher of a pure faith, Zoroaster. There have been credited to him not only the sacred
compositions known as the Venidad and Yasna, the remains of which sadly interpolated,
are preserved by the Parsis of India, but a large number of Logia or oracular utterances
which have been transmitted to us by writers upon ancient Grecian philosophy and
mythology.
Mr. Marion Crawford has presented him to us in the character of a young Persian
Prince, a pupil of the prophet Daniel, who had been made governor of Media by
Nebuchadnezzar. He is described as learned in all the wisdom of the prophet himself, and
the learning of the wise men of Assyria. Dareios Hystaspis having become the "Great
King," Zoroaster is compelled by him to forego the warmest wishes of his heart, and
becomes an ascetic. Having retired to a Cave, he performs the various rites of religion,
and passes into trances. His body appears as dead, but the spirit is set free, and goes to
and fro returning to its place again. Thus he attains the intuitive comprehension of
knowledge, to the understanding of natural laws not perceptible by the corporeal senses
alone, and to the merging of the soul and higher intelligence in the one universal and divine
essence.
The late Dean Prideaux propounded somewhat of a similar statement many years
ago. He did not scruple, however, to represent this Apostle of the Pure Law as a religious
impostor and made much account of the theory of Two Principles, as evidence of his
perversion of the true doctrine.
The conjecture that Zoroaster flourished in the reign of Dareios Hystaspis, is chiefly
based upon two ancient memorials. The Eranian monarch Vistaspa is several times named
in the Yasna and other writings, and many identify him with the Persian King. Ammianus
the historian declares that Hystaspis, the father of Dareios, a most learned prince,
penetrating into Upper India, came upon a retreat of the Brachmans, by whom he was
instructed in physical and astronomic science, and in pure religious rites. These he
transferred into the creed of the Magi.
Some countenance for this conjecture appears from a reading of the famous
trilingual inscription at Behistun. This place is situated just within the border of Media on
the thoroughfare from Babylon to Ekbatana. The rock is seventeen hundred feet high, and
belongs to the Zagros* range of mountains. This was

--------------
* Occult symbolism, says Mr. Brown in Poseidon, has frequently availed itself of two
words of similar sound or of one word of manifold meaning. We notice many examples of
this in the old classics and in the Hebrew text of the Bible. This name Zagros is strikingly
like Zagreus, the Bacchus or Dionysus of the Mysteries, and his worship was carried from
this part of Asia. In an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar, we find the name "Shamas
Diannisi," or Shamas (the sun-god) judge of mankind. Osiris, the Egyptian Bacchus, had
also the title, apparently a translation, Ro-t-Amenti, the judge of the West. The Kretan
Rhadamanthus, doubtless here got his name.
The Zagros mountains were inhabited by the Nimri and Kossaeans, which reminds
us of the text: "And Cush begat Nimrod." For the ancient Susiana is now called Khusistan,
and was the former Aethiopia. Assyria was called the "land of Nimrod," and Bab-el or
Babylon was his metropolis. (Genesis x - 8, 10, 11, and Micah v - 4.) The term nimr
signifies spotted, a leopard; and it is a significant fact that in the Rites of Bacchus, the
leopard skin or spotted robe was worn.
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engraved about three hundred feet from the foot, and was in three languages, the Skythic
or Median, the Persian and the Assyrian. Sir Henry C. Rawlinson first deciphered it, and
found it to be a record of Dareios. The monarch proclaims his pure royal origin, and then
describes the conquest of Persia by Gaumata the Magian, the suicide of Kambyses, and
the recovering of the throne by himself. He distinctly intimates that he was first to
promulgate the Mazdean religion in the Persian Empire. The Kings before him, he
declares, did not so honor Ahur'-Mazda. "I rebuilt the temples," he affirms; "I restored the
Gathas or hymns of praise, and the worship." Doctor Oppert, who read the Medic
inscription, asserted that it contains the statement that Dareios caused the Avesta and the
Zendic Commentary to be published through the Persian dominion.
On the tomb of this king he is styled the teacher of the Magians. In his reign the
temple at Jerusalem was built and dedicated to the worship of the "God of heaven," thus
indicating the Mazdean influence. Dareios extended his dominion over Asia Minor and into
Europe, and from this period the era of philosophy took its beginning in Ionia and Greece.
Porphyry the philosopher also entertained the belief that Zoroaster flourished about
this period, and Apuleius mentions the report that Pythagoras had for teachers the Persian
Magi, and especially Zoroaster, the adept in every divine mystery. So far, therefore, the
guess of Crawford and Dean Prideaux appears plausible.
It should be remembered, however, that other writers give the Eranian teacher a far
greater antiquity. Aristotle assigns him a period more than six thousand years before the
present era. Hermippos of Alexandreia, who had read his writings, gives him a similar
period. Berossos reduces it to two thousand years, Plutarch to seventeen hundred, Ktesias
to twelve hundred.
These dates, however, have little significance. A little examination of ancient
literature will be sufficient to show that Zoroaster or Zarathustra was not so much the name
of a man as the title of an office. It may be that the first who bore it, had it as his own, but
like the name Caesar, it became the official designation of all who succeeded him. Very
properly, therefore, the Parsi sacred books while recognizing a Zarathustra* in every district
or province of the Eranian dominion, place above them as noblest of all, the Zarathustrema,
or chief Zoroaster, or as the Parsis now style him in Persian form, Dastur of dasturs. We
may bear in mind accordingly that there have been many Zoroasters, and infer safely that
the Avesta was a collection of their productions, ascribed as to one for the sake of
enhancing their authority. That fact as well as the occurrence that the present volume is
simply a transcript of sixteen centuries ago, taken from men's memories and made sacred
by decree of a Sassanian king, indicates the need of intuitive intelligence, to discern the
really valuable matter. Zoroaster Spitaman himself belongs to a period older than "Ancient
History." The Yasna describes him as famous in the primitive Aryan Homestead - "Airyana-
Vaejo of the good creation." Once Indians and Eranians dwelt together as a single people.
But polarity is characteristic of all thinking. Indeed, the positive necessarily requires the
negative, or it cannot itself exist. Thus the Aryans became a people apart

-----------
* It is not quite easy to translate this term. The name Zoroaster, with which we are
familiar, seems really to be Semitic, from zoro, the seed or son, and Istar, or Astarte, the
Assyrian Venus. Some write it Zaratas, from nazar, to set apart. Gen. Forlong translates
Zarathustra as "golden-handed," which has a high symbolic import. Intelligent Parsis
consider it to mean elder, superior, chief.
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from the Skyths and Aethiopic races, and again the agricultural and gregarious Eranians
divided from the nomadic worshipers of Indra.* The resemblances of language and the
similarities and dissimilarities exhibited in the respective religious rites and traditions are
monuments of this schism of archaic time.** How long this division had existed before the
rise of the Great Teacher, we have no data for guessing intelligently.
It may be here remarked that the world-religions are not really originated by
individual leaders. Buddhism was prior to Gautama, Islam to Muhamed, and we have the
declaration of Augustin of Hippo that Christianity existed thousands of years before the
present era. There were those, however, who gave form and coherence to the beliefs,
before vague and indeterminate, and made a literature by which to extend and perpetuate
them. This was done by Zoroaster. Hence the whole religion of the Avesta revolves round
his personality.
Where he flourished, or whether the several places named were his abodes at one
time or another, or were the homes of other Zoroasters, is by no means clear. One
tradition makes him a resident of Bakhdi or Balkh, where is now Bamyan with its thousands
of artificial caves. The Yasna seems to place him at Ragha or Rai in Media, not far from
the modern city of Tehran. We must be content, however, to know him as the accredited
Apostle of the Eranian peoples.
 Emanuel Kant affirms positively that

------------
*The name of this divinity curiously illustrates the sinuosities of etymology. It is from
the Aryan root-word id, to glow or shine, which in Sanskrit becomes inda, from which conies
indra, the burning or shining one. The same radical becomes in another dialect aith, from
which comes aether, the supernal atmosphere, and the compounded taame Aithiopia. It
is therefore no matter of wonder that all Southern Asia, from the Punjab to Arabia has
borne that designation.
** Ernest de Bunsen suggests that this schism is signified by the legend of Cain and
Abel. The agriculturist roots out the shepherd.
-----------

there was not the slightest trace of a philosophic idea in the Avesta from beginning to end.
Professor William D. Whitney adds that if we were to study the records of primeval thought
and culture, to learn religion or philosophy, we should find little in the Avesta to meet our
purpose. I am reluctant, however, to circumscribe philosophy to the narrow definition that
many schoohnen give it. I believe, instead, with Aristotle, that God is the ground of all
existence, and therefore that theology, the wisdom and learning which relate to God and
existence, constitute philosophy in the truest sense of the term. All that really is religion,
pertains to life, and as Swedenborg aptly declares, the life of religion is the doing of good.
Measured by such standards, the sayings of the prophet of Eran are permeated through
and through with philosophy.
Zoroaster appears to have been a priest and to have delivered his discourses at the
temple in the presence of the sacred Fire. At least the translations by Dr. Haug so describe
the matter. He styles himself a reciter of the mantras, a duta or apostle, and a maretan or
listener and expounder of revelation. The Gathas or hymns are said to contain all that we
possess of what was revealed to him. He learned them, we are told, from the seven
Amshaspands or archangels. His personal condition is described to us as a state of
ecstasy, with the mind exalted, the bodily senses closed, and the mental ears open. This
would be a fair representation of the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg himself.
I have always been strongly attracted to the Zoroastrian doctrine. It sets aside the
cumbrous and often objectionable forms with which the ceremonial religions are
overloaded, puts away entirely the sensualism characteristic of the left-hand Sakteyan and
Astartean worships, and sets forth prominently the simple veneration for the Good, and a
life of fraternalism, good neighborhood and

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usefulness. "Every Mazdean was required to follow a useful calling. The most meritorious
was the subduing and tilling of the soil. The man must marry, but only a single wife; and
by preference she must be of kindred blood. It was regarded as impious to foul a stream
of water. It was a cardinal doctrine of the Zoroastrian religion that individual worthiness is
not the gain and advantage of the person possessing it, but an addition to the whole power
and volume of goodness in the universe.
With Zoroaster prayer was a hearty renouncing of evil and a coming into harmony
with the Divine Mind. It was in no sense a histrionic affair, but a recognition of goodness
and Supreme Power. The Ahuna-Vairya, the prayer of prayers, delineates the most perfect
completeness of the philosophic life. The latest translation which I have seen exemplifies
this.
"As is the will of the Eternal Existence, so energy through the harmony of the Perfect
Mind is the producer of the manifestations of the Universe, and is to Ahur' Mazda the power
which gives sustenance to the revolving systems."
With this manthra is coupled the Ashem-Vohu:
"Purity is the best good; a blessing it is - a blessing to him who practices purity for
the sake of the Highest Purity."
But for the defeat of the Persians at Salamis it is probable that the Zoroastrian
religion would have superseded the other worships of Europe. After the conquest of
Pontos and the Pirates the secret worship of Mithras was extended over the Roman world.
A conspicuous symbolic representation was common, the slaying of the Bull. When the
vernal equinox was at the period of the sign Taurus, the earth was joyous and became
prolific. The picture represented the period of the sun in Libra, the sign of Mithras. Then
the Bull was slain, the blighting scorpion and the reversed torch denoted winter
approaching to desolate the earth. With the ensuing spring the bull revives, and the whole
is enacted anew. It is a significant fact that many religious legends and ceremonies are
allied to this symbolic figure. It was, however, a degradation of the Zoroastrian system.
It is a favorite notion of many that Zoroaster taught "dualism" - that there is an
eternal God and an eternal Devil contending for the supreme control of the Universe. I do
not question that the Anhra-mainyas or Evil Mind mentioned in the Avesta was the original
from which many of the Devils of the various Creeds were shaped. The Seth or Typhon
of Egypt, the Baal Zebul of Palestine, the Diabolos and Satan of Christendom, the Sheitan
of the Yazidis and the Eblis of the Muslim world are of this character. Yet we shall find as
a general fact that these personages were once worshiped as gods till conquest and
change of creed dethroned them. This is forcibly illustrated by the devas, that are deities
in India and devils with the Parsis. Whether, however, the Eranian "liar from the beginning
and the father of lying," was ever regarded as a Being of Light and Truth may be
questioned. Yet there was a god Aramannu in Aethiopic Susiana before the conquest by
the Persians.
Zoroaster, nevertheless, taught pure monotheism. "I beheld thee to be the universal
cause of life in the Creation," he says in the Yasna. The concept of a separate Evil Genius
equal in power to Ahur' Mazda is foreign to his theology. But the human mind cannot
contemplate a positive thought without a contrast. The existence of a north pole
presupposes a south pole.
Hence in the Yasna, in Dr. Haug's version we find mention of "the more beneficent
of my two spirits," which is paralleled by the sentence in the book of Isaiah: "I make peace
and create evil." Significantly, however, the Gathas, which

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are the most unequivocally Zoroastrian, never mention Auhra-mainyas as being in constant
hostility to Ahur' Mazda. Nor does Dareios in the inscriptions name Auhra-mainyas at all.
The druksh or "lie" is the odious object denounced. But evil as a negative principle is not
essentially wicked. In this sense it is necessary, as shade to light, as night to day - always
opposing yet always succumbing. Even the body, when by decay or disease it becomes
useless and an enthraller of the soul, is separated from it by the beneficent destroyer. "In
his wisdom," says the Yasna, "he produced the Good and the Negative Mind. . . . Thou art
he, O Mazda, in whom the last cause of these is hidden."
In his great speech before the altar, Zoroaster cries: "Let every one, both man and
woman, this day choose his faith. In the beginning there were two - the Good and the Base
in thought, word and deed. Choose one of these two: be good, not base. You cannot
belong to both. You must choose the originator of the worst actions, or the true holy spirit.
Some may choose the worst allotment; others adore the Most High by means of faithful
action."
The religion of Zoroaster was essentially a Wisdom-Religion. It made everything
subjective and spiritual. In the early Gathas he made no mention of personified archangels
or Amshaspands, but names them as moral endowments. "He gives us by his most holy
spirit," says he, "the good mind from which spring good thoughts, words and deeds - also
fullness, long life, prosperity and understanding." In like manner the evil spirits or devas
were chiefly regarded as moral qualities or conditions, though mentioned as individuated
existences. Their origin was in the errant thoughts of men. "These bad men," the Yasna
declares, "produce the devas by their pernicious thoughts." The upright, on the other hand
destroy them by good actions.
In the Zoroastrian purview, there is a spiritual and invisible world which preceded,
and remains about this material world as its origin, prototype and upholder. Innumerable
myriads of spiritual essences are distributed through the universe. These are the Frohars,
or fravashis, the ideal forms of all living things in heaven and earth. Through the Frohars,
says the hymn, the Divine Being upholds the sky, supports the earth, and keeps pure and
vivific the waters of preexistent life. They are the energies in all things, and each of them,
led by Mithras, is associated in its time and order with a human body. Every being,
therefore, which is created or will be created, has its Frohar, which contains the cause and
reason of its existence. They are stationed everywhere to keep the universe in order and
protect it against evil. Thus they are allied to everything in nature; they are ancestral
spirits and guardian angels, attracting human beings to the right and seeking to avert from
them every deadly peril. They are the immortal souls, living before our birth and surviving
after death.
Truly, in the words of the hymn, the light of Ahur Mazda is hidden under all that
shines. Every world-religion seems to have been a recipient. Grecian philosophy obtained
here an inspiration. Thales inculcated the doctrine of a Supreme Intelligence which
produced all things; Herakleitos described the Everlasting Fire as an incorporeal soul from
which all emanate and to which all return. Plato tells Alkibiades of the magic or wisdom
taught by Zoroaster, the apostle of Oromasdes, which charges all to be just in conduct, and
true in word and deed.
Here is presented a religion that is personal and subjective, rather than formal and
histrionic. No wonder that a faith so noble has maintained its existence through all the
centuries, passing the barriers of race and creed, to permeate the later beliefs. Though so

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ancient that we only guess its antiquity, we find it comes up afresh in modern creeds. It is
found everywhere, retaining the essential flavor of its primitive origin. It has nobly fulfilled
its mission. "I march over the countries," says the Gatha, "triumphing over the hateful and
striking down the cruel."
It has survived the torch of Alexander and the cimiter of the Moslem. Millions upon
millions have been massacred for adhering to it, yet it survives as the wisdom which is
justified by her children. The Dialectic of Plato has been the textbook of scholars in the
Western World, and the dialogues of Zoroaster with Ahnr' Mazda constitute the sacred
literature of wise men of the far East.
"The few philosophic ideas which may be discovered in his sayings," says Dr. Haug,
"show that he was a great and deep thinker, who stood above his contemporaries, and
even above the most enlightened men of many subsequent centuries."

------------

"THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM" *

by Mary F. Lang

STRETCHING down the ages is a luminous chain, the links of which are
messengers whose office it has been to bring us tidings of a kingdom which may he ours
for the asking - a world in which we may live, will we but take up the claim already
preempted for us by our own divinity.
Perhaps the light, which, in this closing nineteenth century, has shone the brightest,
and flashed its rays to the greatest distance, is that of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who has
offered us, over and over again, assurances of a realm into which he has entered - a world
in which he has lived.
There can be to my mind, no stronger evidence of the fact of its existence, than its
denial by those who cannot understand his message.
That he speaks a language which some are utterly unable to comprehend, is proof
that there are, indeed, realms of consciousness, distinct from one another, and to which
man is related by corresponding faculties, differing as widely as

-------------
* Matt. xxiv - 14.
-------------

do the conditions to which they relate him.

No man can speak or comprehend the language of the inner life without having
entered therein.
Emerson - as, indeed, each of the links of that luminous chain - points with grateful
recognition to those whom he knows as Companions, and, with loving acknowledgment,
introduces us to the goodly company of Claude St. Marten, of the gentle Christian Mystic
Jacob Boehme, of the greatly misunderstood Paracelsus, of Plato, and a host of others.
Jacob Boehme, who, just three hundred years ago this very time was being persecuted by
the church for daring to believe and to teach the innate divinity of Man, turning back in the
same simple fashion, leads us to the mystical Comradeship of St. Paul and of Jesus.
Back still further, link by link, we may trace the shining chain, till we reach the
ancient Sages of whom Narada was one, hearing from them each the same story of the
world in which they lived, in which we may live.

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That this is indeed a part of our birthright, is the assurance given to him who
understands the mystic language - assurance given by the very fact of understanding.
What is the meaning and the cause of the wide difference in men?
Here is one who lives only to eat, drink, and be merry; who rages when the senses
are cheated of enjoyment, and who has no force with which to make himself felt, except
when crossed in desire.
This is but molecular activity in human form, with strong affinity for certain
conditions.
Here is another whose enjoyments are of a higher order; who reasons slightly, who
has ideals apart from personal pleasure, but whose mental vision is bounded by a horizon
which includes - with singular inconsistency - only that to which attaches uncertainty, to
which attaches a "but," and an "if," and a "therefore"; for he does not know, and so must
reason himself into belief, which, at best, is only opinion.
For such a temperament there never can be peace.
Here is yet another whose utterances are all affirmative, and this because of
knowledge that is one with interior experience; who evinces none of the unrest incident to
changes of belief, none of the irascibility, turmoil, passion, inherent in the uncontrolled
lower nature.
What constitutes the difference? Is it something so mysterious that we can never
understand it? Must we relinquish the problem as impossible of solution?
The materialist cannot solve it. The adherent of orthodox dogma and creed dare not
attempt it. The solution is only found in a philosophy which recognizes Man as a being in
process of becoming God; - a philosophy which recognizes in every kingdom of Nature, an
identical spiritual basis, with gradually yielding limitations; for Consciousness is one, and
is only apparently subdivided by that through which it manifests. This very philosophy has
been the Gospel of all of the Apostles of "Sweetness and Light," from the time of the
ancient Sages to the present.
If there is, in man, an element of divinity, with what less than this can he gain
spiritual perception? If he have gained the condition of spiritual conception, what faculty,
or organ, or essential element of his nature, - less than the soul itself - relates him, or can
give him, direct cognition of Truth?
"The natural man," - St. Paul declares - "perceiveth not the things that are of the
Spirit, for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them because they are
spiritually discerned. But the spiritual man judgeth (discerneth) all things, and himself is
judged (discerned) of no man."
And again: - "What man knoweth the things of a man save the man himself? So
likewise the things of God, no man knoweth save the Spirit of God within the man. And the
Spirit knoweth all things and revealeth them unto the man."
Consciousness manifests in the lowest forms of life as affinity. In vegetable life, as
affinity expanded into conscious selection. In the animal kingdom it is conscious selection
focused in the principle of desire. In man, it is desire, reinforced with more or less of mind.
In some few of the human race, it is intuition, or the dawning perception of the
Oversoul to which man is related by his Higher Nature - his real Self.
It is this potentiality which makes possible inspired utterances. The Seer or Mystic
has direct cognition, or - as St. Paul puts it - "sees face to face" the truth to which he gives
utterance.
To quote Emerson: - "He enters into the closet of God and sees causes."
Says Patanjali: - "The Soul is the Perceiver; is assuredly vision itself pure and
simple; unmodified; and looks di-

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rectly upon ideas."

The testimony of all mystics is to affirm the simplicity of the truth.
Says Emerson: - "There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening we shall
hear the right word."
Says Jacob Boehme: - "Oh, how near is God to all things! Nevertheless, nothing
can comprehend him unless it be tranquil, and surrenders to Him its own self-will. If this
is accomplished, then will God be acting through the instrumentality of everything, like the
sun that acts throughout the whole world."
Says Jesus: - "Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes."
But while this kingdom is a fact, and its gateways are wide open to all, there is a
certain condition attached to entrance therein, - a condition utterly relentless in its
inflexibility, yet so slight that its existence is unsuspected until after it has been complied
with. Its realization is a part of that process of becoming which is itself the purpose of life.
Yet its statement is so simple that to him who does not realize it, it seems mere words, for
it is only that we must believe in the existence of the Kingdom.
Until we do believe that it exists, its gateways may stand as wide open as always,
but we cannot see them. For us, they and the realm within, have no existence. But given
the password of belief in man's divinity, belief that this divinity is the cause of evolution,
there is then established an effect which opens to our perception the "dim star" that will one
day become the infinite light." These are but steps upon the ladder of evolution, the
ultimate goal of which is spiritual life. And this must be reached by degrees of growth - not
by sudden transition from gross physical experience.
The spiritual principle, the Christ, has been long crucified, but today we hear more
and more often and clearly, the testimony of those for whom the stone is "rolled away'' -
whose eyes are no longer "holden" - and we welcome the dawn of the Renaissance of spirit
- the new birth, which Jesus declared to be the only means of entrance to the Kingdom of
Heaven.

--------------

"We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;

In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
 We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."
- James Bailey, Festus.

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MAN'S RELATION TO POSTERITY

by Lucien B. Copeland

THAT history repeats itself is a truism which requires no special exemplification at

the present day - so constant are the evidences - and the signs of this phase of the times
include a realization of present truth in sayings which are popularly supposed to apply
particularly, if not solely, to ancient days. What may have been especially meant to the
people of Corinth by Paul's allegation that "Old things have passed away" is possible of
varying interpretation, but in the present transitional age the familiar words recur with new
and definite meaning. Many customs of even a quarter century back are now gathering
dust in the realm of abandoned antiquities, and the adventurous spirit of progress seems
disposed to make even broader strides; but with the possibility that this transitional
tendency may too closely resemble the swinging pendulum, which goes from one extreme
to another, only to react in its former direction.
Still the present and its proper employment is of more immediate concern - for it
shapes the future - and while one may regret the relegation to obscurity of certain things
and methods, yet is there room only for rejoicing that the order of change is sufficiently
comprehensive to include improvement in the use of the chiefest faculty recognized in
man's possession, that of reason; and while cosmos may contain stronger and more far-
reaching search-lights, yet is it a fact that only a beginning has been made in mastering the
tremendous potency of intellect.
Another strong tendency of the present day, which unfortunately cannot be included
in the general order of change, being as it is a continuance and even accentuation of the
hoary past, is the purposing of events for the exclusive benefit of the one purposing, - in
plain words, sole regard for self. Through some unknown but beneficent law, posterity
does unavoidably profit, unintended though it be, by its predecessors' well-directed energy;
but its seeming right to such fruits closely resembles right of ownership in a derelict.
However, thanks to reason and a something all but unconscious which prompts to
kindly things, we are beginning to regard coming humanity in new light and to bend closer
investigation upon our relations and possible obligations to the younger generations.
It has been tersely said that "man's only inalienable right is the right to do his duty,"
and while actual disregard of such high ethics cannot rob posterity of the products of
industry, it may occasion the loss of what is desirable if not of even what is due. In
attempting to determine then the needs of children - for in no other way can we determine
our own relation and obligation thereto - the first attitude to claim attention would naturally
be that of parent to child; but this is a relation too exclusive to give comprehensive results,
to say nothing of being weighted down with precedent and therefore prejudice. It occupies
a field by itself and, if objectionable in the manner of its occupancy, can perhaps, like other
seeming impregnable positions, be best overcome by a flank movement.
 A second aspect would be from the standpoint of that which is too frequently treated
as the real individual, the physical body; but the study of hygiene has already very clearly
defined what is advisable for proper preservation of health and, although this field of in-

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vestigation is far from being exhausted, yet it is a matter which has already acquired such
momentum, so to speak, in the right direction, that an attempted spur to further
investigation is unnecessary.
One view, however, seems to have been ignored, a view which is most
comprehensive of all: - that in which everyone regards himself, as an individual, a human
unit; and in considering this position there should be taken into account not merely our
indebtedness, but also the child's merit and what it has a right to expect from its elder
brothers in the great human family.
The superficial observer may be inclined to echo the "cui bono" of old in the modern
parlance, "what is there in it," and thereby does he voice a question which can only be
answered by ascertaining the mutual interrelations of mankind. Without extended mention
of cooperation and other socialistic theories so rapidly gaining advocacy, it also appears
from even brief examination that the invisible bonds which connect all humanity are of a
very close character, so close in fact that suffering and want of every kind, occasion,
seemingly without reason, a desire to help; and yet, why should one regard another's
welfare from any but a personal standpoint? Why should not the spectator be absolutely
indifferent unless his own preserves are in danger of encroachment? These are fair
questions and thus far have been satisfactorily answered only in one way: that a law of
unity invests humanity, and for that matter the entire universe, resolving into a single unit
all that is. Wherefore does it follow that the condition of the individual must be directly
dependent upon the condition of the entire human fabric and vice versa, even as in the
physical body each member only prospers when the entirety prospers and every member
suffers when any portion suffers.
Thus, even from selfish motive, does it behoove every member of the larger unit,
humanity, to plan and intend every act, even to his inmost thoughts, for the profit and
advancement of all, for in so doing is he but bettering himself; and this good business
policy would require that the needs of children have our closest attention and most careful
consideration, especially in view of the fact that their immaturity makes them so almost
entirely dependent upon their elders not only for material necessaries, but also for mental
and spiritual pabulum.
Thus then does it appear that the child's needs are my needs, and even as I care
for every portion of my physical body and personal environment, so must I, when broader
vision is attained, extend my environs until I include therein all of which I can conceive or
form a cognition.
In this new relation to humanity we view the coming generations in another light and
the nature of the heritage we shall bequeath will be largely determined by the correctness
of our answer to the biblical question, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
Of the truth of the saying, "As a twig is bent the tree is inclined," no special proof can
be required, the statement being so manifestly axiomatic; and one would naturally be
desirous, when applying the adage to the human race, of directing the development of the
child in such manner that the mature growth may show symmetry and true progress. If,
however, on the other hand, the twig be not bent then the tree perchance will not be
inclined, the tendency of nature being to produce correct growth and development if not
disturbed by foreign and outside influences. Making a further analogy to man, the
suggestion naturally presents that possibly less bending, in other words, attempts at
direction, might result in benefit to the subject-matter, which is the child.
Taking into consideration the law of cause and effect and the necessary op-

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portunity for its due and full operation, it seems that cause must ever have its due effect
and that every effect can properly be ascribable to its adequate cause. A certain
confirmation of the existence of such law appears in the scriptural statement that
"whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall also reap," and reason must add confirmation of
its converse, that "whatsoever a man reapeth, that he must also have surely sown;" for
nature's laws are universal and know no exceptions, the latter weakness being ascribable
only to laws of human origin. It therefore appears that commencing with very birth we each
and all are respectively posing as centres for the reaction of impulses engendered at some
prior time or times; and if we are chargeable with bearing the consequences, justice
demands that we also be responsible for the initial causes, else is right endeavor and
purpose useless, for any other consideration must make of man nothing but the puppet of
a superior power, with whose purposes he has nothing to do, against whose dictates it is
folly to contend. If then we are responsible beings - and no one can or would believe
otherwise - it follows that every individual is what he has made himself, therefore that his
characteristics and disposition generally are his own, and that so far as his plane, degree
and character of development are concerned he is singular; therefore again, that for the
best further development no general formulation of rules is adequate or suitable, for each
individual necessarily must grow and evolve in his own way and, so to speak, on lines of
least resistance.
Such seems to be the problem with which finite man is confronted in assuming to
teach the young idea how to shoot. Did man possess the full development of all his
potentialities, it would be comparatively easy to direct a child and minister to its needs; yet
it is a fortunate plan of nature's which hinder some from doing another's duty, else could
there be neither true development nor credit for the same on the part of the one assisted.
There are those, however, who do not recognize this truth and the result of their
efforts is often lamentable. Owing to the fact that each individual develops in his own way,
it happens that our own point of view naturally appeals to us as the one most to be
preferred; in other words, as a close approximation toward the truth. Acting on this innate
tendency, the would-be teacher is apt to presume that the needs of the child are similar to
his own, and attempts to supply the same with materials acceptable to his own inclinations.
The result is often apparent in the spoiling of a good farmer or mechanic and the production
of a very poor lawyer or physician, though perhaps short-sighted parental ambition may be
partially responsible for the undesirable accomplishment. Illustration after illustration of the
sad results of this forcing process, readily afforded in every-day life, show how greatly the
needs of children are both unapprehended and disregarded.
Then too, a more disastrous error is manifest in the so-called orthodox teachings,
which are forced into the juvenile mind at the impressionable age in similar manner as our
ancestors of a few generations back administered sulphur and molasses without regard to
actual needs, evidently believing it might be a good thing, therefore everybody required it.
Orthodoxy, if it be orthodoxy, is indeed a thing to be esteemed; but when a code of
ethics, dogma and belief is formulated by fallible man, actuated by motives varying from
sincerity to ambition, is then embraced under a blanket-cloak of theology which is claimed
to be orthodox and of divine revelation, is labeled "Christianity" and then forced into the
human brain when its condition is so plastic that impressions are well-nigh

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indelible; it is barely possible that the future may reveal a certain narrowness, prejudice
and actual weakness in the victims as the products of this nolens, volens, arbitrary policy.
Looking back over our own childhood and early days we readily recall the esteem
and confidence with which the parent was regarded. His words were not considered
infallible, they were infallible to us; and later on, when maturer reason brought greater
discernment, with what a shock did we first realize that the father and mother might at times
possibly be mistaken. "My mother said so," is to the child an always unanswerable
argument, and when the father or mother teaches the child of a personal God, Who can be
swayed by human action to either mercy or wrath, or Who is of such finite foresight that
mortal prayers may turn Him from a predetermined course of conduct; when a parent
teaches of a gold-paved Heaven, or a seething Hell; of an atoning Saviour or an insatiable
personal Devil; in fact, of the thousand and more weird ideas which go to make up the
present-day ethics called revealed religion, embracing a theory of irresponsibility and a
possible avoidance of the righteous reward of unrighteous conduct; when the parent
teaches the child such ideas, instilling them into the mind in early days, and ofttimes at the
closing hours of day, when youthful fancy can without effort people the darkening corners
with strange and horrid goblins and other creations of vivid imagination, and with faculties
thus morbidly quickened retain with deeper effect the impressions received, it is hardly
strange that in after years the early thoughts and impressions should retain their full virility,
and difficulty be experienced in learning the truth and recognizing the real.
In reading history we are often surprised and horrified at its numerous records of
fanaticism and actual crime resulting from so-called religious zeal; but are we not today
paving the way for its repetition? Are we not actually imposing on the confidence not only
of our children, but of our children's children to many future generations? That the sins of
the fathers bring disaster to their descendants does not apply to the material and physical
only, but of necessity must include every plane upon which the original sin operated.
The foregoing treatment of the subject may be criticized not alone by those who
advocate the present system of theology, but also by the would-be practical, who evidently
deem the objective, or field of results, as the most deserving of attention, presumably
disregardful of the fact that true correction should begin at the fountain source, which in the
present instance is the domain of the real man. Copious waters however sweet can never
purify an already brackish stream. Therefore does it seem particularly advisable to lay
stress on ethical teachings. Through experience and that alone do we gain our knowledge,
which in due season may blossom into wisdom. Therefore do we do well to examine
religious history for the purpose of ascertaining and discarding the false as well as
discovering and retaining the true, and in doing it for ourselves are we doing it for all.
In thus realizing the responsibility of our relations with the young and the necessity
thereby created for proper ministration to their needs, man 's finite limits and mortal
weakness seem to enervate our purpose and cloud our hopes for success, and the
question arises "How can man perform this duty when so sadly embarrassed by his own
imperfections?" The recognition, however, of the importance and difficulty of the duty is the
first step towards its accomplishment and, even as a child cannot be expected to perform
a man's work, even so the man may be pardoned if his efforts are not without
imperfections. An analysis of human effort to reach a particular goal, whatever the field of
action, reveals one

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curious and almost invariable fact: the repeated adoption of wrong methods until
experience suggests the right. One seldom, if ever, reaps success with the initial effort and
the lesson becomes plain that wisdom is a matter in the gift of no one and is reduced to
possession only through constant and unremitting effort. So then does it appear that our
obligations will and can only be completely discharged and the task of human existence
fully accomplished by the avoiding of methods which experience proves to have been futile
or weak and the substitution and resubstitution of other methods as the same present
themselves and appear desirable. Nor in such course can one particularly be charged with
experimenting, for all life is nothing but one grand experiment, an ever-seeking after an
unknown something which is deemed desirable, through countless experiences or
experiments, which are adopted because for the time being they seem propitious means
for the main accomplishment.
Let us then apply in our conduct toward children a little of the commonsense we
employ in everyday life. The sun, for instance, is a most excellent benefactor and has
rightly been called the giver of life; yet a good horticulturist does not for that reason insist
on placing all his plants at all times in the full glare of this mighty orb, for while some might
thrive, many would be irretrievably scorched and withered. Then again, an intelligent
physician does not arbitrarily prescribe the same treatment for every patient even when
suffering from the same disease, for a treatment efficacious in one instance might be too
severe or even too mild in another; but he studies the needs of the individual and humors
the latter's cravings in his prescriptions. In every-day business matters we ever seek for
the lines of least resistance and, when discovered, try to work with and not against nature.
The merchant, in buying his stock, considers what his patrons need or may desire. The
civil engineer, in his surveys for a prospective canal ever has in view the nature of water
and never does his completed work show an up-hill grade. In other words, we ever try to
find the manner in which development can most easily and efficiently be had.
With such criteria would we not he justified in adopting similar means in the rearing
of our children? Would we not be best fulfilling our duty both to them and to ourselves in
first studying the subject matter, the individual child, learning its tendencies and proclivities,
and on these lines of least resistance apply, not a lever, but food and material best adapted
to its needs; offering the same for acceptance and assimilation, but not injecting the same
with, so to speak, hydraulic pressure?
Above and beyond all, however, is there one essential which has been almost
entirely disregarded, and the making of this criticism will undoubtedly meet with staunch
denial; nevertheless is it a deplorable fact that not only children but also the large majority
of adults do not know how to think, and the fault lies largely in the manner of early
education. The method almost exclusively in vogue is to tell that which is believed to be
the WHAT, but seldom is it attempted to show the WHY. Learning by rote is very well for
a parrot, but by man, the noblest work in nature in that he is endowed with reason, that only
should be accepted which is voluntarily received and that too because to the individual it
bears the trademark, so to speak, of truth. It may be claimed that the child is incompetent
to exercise such judgment, and yet we have evidence of the child's willingness to become
competent, and that evidence lies in its constant query "Why?" The short-sighted parent
may answer "Because I say so " but is the child satisfied? Not for a single moment. It is
only silenced, and we in our blindness, may I add laziness,

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fail to see in the child the budding of that faculty which outrivals in its accuracy the most
delicate balance in determining between the true and the false; and by our treatment of its
query do we permanently or seriously impair the ability to recognize the truth, at least do
we fail to assist in its development.
Thus becoming accustomed to accepting another's authority, it is but natural that
hearsay evidence should find acceptance; that mere belief should masquerade as
knowledge; that reasoning man should deteriorate to a human phonograph; and that
dogmatism and fanaticism should find exponents of seeming strength, but in reality of
puerile weakness.
The child's "Why?" should be answered to the very best of our ability, and
furthermore would it indeed be more advisable to stimulate a desire for further and more
frequent "Whys?" than to ruthlessly destroy or injure this craving for truth, which our own
ignorance on the subject perchance disqualifies us to satisfy.
The very fact that the child so highly regards a parent's dicta is but added reason for
encouraging inquiry as to the reason for any injunction given; and while it may be flattering
to the parent that its word is law and above question in the mind of its recipient,
nevertheless is it a fact that the acceptance of an idea, even though it be the absolute truth,
on someone else's authority, whether it be by a child or mature person, is always
weakening. It is such methods which result in credulity and weakness, not merely
destroying the ability to distinguish with any degree of certainty between the true and the
false but even dwarfing almost to a nullity the power to recognize truth when unmistakably
presented unless authenticated by that which is considered authority.
Such are a few of the paths indicated by even brief inspection of man's relation to
man and to his children. Unity and the necessity as well as the right of duty point plainly
in a single direction, which must be traversed by young feet, as well as old, and reason
dictates that the journey cannot be too speedily begun. In attempting to assume our
responsibilities many changes in our methods of teaching and in our conduct generally
toward the young will be necessitated; but the present purpose is to indicate, not in detail
but in general, that which concerns the real man and the permanent rather than the mere
temporal environment and immediate future. A comprehensive view would not require that
particular attention be given the materialistic side which must and ever will shape itself to
conform with the ever-changing and shifting objective theatre of action; but it does demand
that the more enduring, which lies back of and occasions all else, shall receive more certain
regard. The ship of life may swing this way and that in the turmoils of earth's stormy
existence, yet its changeful course cannot and will not be left to chance; but the compass,
which is the true individual and purpose, must ever point steadfastly to the positive pole of
human potentiality which marks the haven of complete development; and woe must be his
who either intentionally or through neglect causes that needle to swerve and lose its
infallibility.

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THEOSOPHY AND UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.

by Zoryan

(Concluded)

AND what if a man lives on earth u again?

Above the surging waves of life a sweet note arises, which all the waves catch,
echo, and repeat, - and thus the never ending song of Brotherhood Eternal proclaims of
that one dominant voice, which in all is heard.
Inside the deepest laws of nature the same great breath divine, the fiery spirit of
man's soul and its changeless self shines as mover, keynote, and the starry germ of life,
passing through many re-embodiments of matter.
Throughout the vistas of the time and their harmonious change it darts and flits as
some swift daring bird, achieving hope and carrying the glorious message of the endless
ages, whose sufferings are to be consoled and labors vindicated in the great harmony of
Karma, that sweetest Law of Justice, which with the tenderest motion surely leads the
aspirants to the Divine through many a dark passage of man's own dreaming.
For the enraptured eye of him, who knew the blessed visions beyond the curtain of
death, life's great veil of the phenomena of matter is scintillating with the joy of Heaven.
As the early riser in the morning greets the sunlight and knows it to be the same,
though it appears azure and gold and red in the skies, blue on the waters, purple on the
mountains and sparkling emerald on the dew fresh grass, so the returning heaven-dweller
perceives the divine thrill of pearly opalescence running through all the tints of the
awakening human fire-gleams of the mind and telling the great message that all Life is One.
It is this that gives the sameness to the thoughts and feelings of me and thee and
him and catches the mental essence of the passing dreams of color on to the white screen
of ideality, where death and loss and parting are unknown and where to think is to possess.
It is this that makes out of every tear of sorrow a mirror wherein the soul's treasure
is again reflected, so that the soul stops weeping and smiles gloriously in silent admiration,
seeing an image of the reality which is above all woe.
It is this that shines in darkness, takes power and satisfaction from itself, and counts
for nought all personal gain or loss, and heeds neither blame nor praise from those who
cannot know. It loves the tragedies and carries its banners into the thick of the fray. As
says a poet: "Then I saw a terrible mystery, that all souls gather where there is battle,
where hearts and helmets are being broken, and shun the places where the spirit has its
bed of sleep." Here the soul learns that the most frightful shadows are those projected
from its own lower nature, through which the heart fails to shine, and which the soul fights
then to the end.
It is this that makes it possible for man's life to become a poem and a song. All
beauties of his thought which have been won in battle gather around him, bright and fairy-
like, yet potent and real. An army it is indeed, and work for an artist to instill them with
greater glow and splendor. But there are poems of the sacrifice, and then the fairy
messengers of thought and their harmonious array acquire a soft and cheering voice, a
simple garb, a quiet loving

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posture, and all their enticing power is substituted by the white childlike simplicity of those
who found the one home of all humanity and in their joy of ministration forgot the smaller
matters. The Great White Spirit of the Sun shines on such a poem from beginning.
It is this that urges men to dare the Promethean lot of those who are brave enough
to find reality in the ideal, even though it makes them see their bodies bound in the dark
and stormy valley of Caucasus, their feet washed by the tears of the ocean-daughters, who
cannot help now any more, their livers torn by vultures of their own awakening mental
skies, which are destined to be made clear and bright and illuminated by a promised child-
redeemer; a new born mystery of the soul.
It is this light of love given, which drowns the shadow of love taken, for how can love
be taken, when it is within already. At evening's twilight it makes the meditating soul all
blissful with the love it sends to all the world through its clear mental skies, and when it is
so, no dear friend and companion is absent. There is no loneliness, no doubt, no fear for
those who dare to seem to others all in darkness and in shadow and in nothingness the
mourners of the past which is not past for them, the Utopians of the future which they carry
with them; lost and wandering birds in others' sight, but in truth the messengers of the
great golden ever-present cycle, which is the ark of man's salvation.
It is this that makes the heart worship and love one mystery, one treasure and one
fire in all the fires of the world. By the oneness of this fire the heart grows one itself and
spreads its vision throughout the world. The black lilies that grow on the ruins and the
graves, where heroes fought and died, though unfortunate but true, - those are the dearest
for the heart, for they are besprinkled with the immortal dew of the great unknowable
mystery above this life, its evil and its sadness. And though of the black lily the heart has
in itself a golden counterpart, the vision of the black flower and the sparkling dew enchants
it into the primeval purity divine. Evil and suffering of the past turn to be films, which are
gone, containing treasures which will never go, and the flower of time is bursting into the
air of the eternal light.
The Seven Fires burn in man. The Mind - the fifth - is a link. It sees them all, it
recognizes all. It changes passing dreams into imperishable ideas. It divides the wheat
from the chaff, dissolves the shadows, saves the truth. It links the gems of thought with the
conscious unity and scorns the material base. It came into this world to be a victor and a
lord, not the servant of selfishness and passion, and of those forms of matter into which
they harden. It came from the changeless kingdom and is not frightened when its
embodied song is dying. It repeats it in new lives again and again. The songs grow into
poems, the poems grow into the great drama of the whole human kind. Then the song
never stops till the cycle runs its course, for the song and cycle become one and fly on the
wings of the same bird. All is provided, the bird is waiting, oh! let us hasten, brothers, to
go out with our thoughts and hearts towards the sweet spacious fields of all this humanity
of ours! The bitterness of life is frightening? O, no! It is not the bitterness of life, but of
life's illusion projected on the screen of the separateness. Life is sweet; the joy of life is
pure and boundless; earth, water, air and fire are vibrating with it, and only our shells of
selfishness are pain stricken. Since we know it well after so many sufferings of the dark
ages, that have just passed, now is the time for each strong soul to leave below its
chrysalis and prison and to enter the fresh and balmy air, where there is neither me nor
thee, but the one great light of the human race. That

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which looks as a far distant Utopian dream below, will be a potent thought above, - and
what is the difference between thought and deed on those clear heights? Reared in their
fresh air, clear-headed, free from desires, unmindful of the lot of our own personal shells
below, here shall we get that strength and daring, before which the mists shall vanish,
scattered by their light and warmth.
And let not any pride mar the work! For, after all, we are only useless servants, -
very imperfect channels of the returning cycle, and all our glories and ideals and utopias,
which we make true, are simply fore-flashes of that which must come from the forgotten
past, gliding through us into the future. No poet, no philosopher ever speaks of dreams
and fancies, but either of reminiscences of that which was or prophecies of that which is
to be. All he can do is to abridge, to mix, and to distort, but even that he cannot do so
freely as he thinks, - if he is earnest and sincere. Let us then forsake pride. Our best
thought of freedom belongs, perhaps, to a mountain shepherd of some unknown country
of the ancient times; our best expression of the sense of justice came, perhaps, to us from
some modest devoted mother keeping order among her children. The deepest thoughts
may have come to us from the humblest channels, called out by sympathy, by the heart
attracted. Let us send them also from the heart, relinquishing all sense of our importance,*
for then only that which we send out, will be fresh and sweet and healing and will not strike
with terrifying force into the minds of others, but will softly fall like some flower-flakes or a
golden rain, and it will give rest, hope and trust and be as a mother's care for the new born
of the new cycle.

-------------
* All importance which we have, belongs to our heart, - and we know that our heart
is not ours, but belongs to all we love. The personal question may just as well collapse.
-------------

Thus we transmit our peace, our fears, our doubts, our hopes into the future. We
are the threads on the great woof of life and we are the weavers. The beauty of the future
is the radiance of our threads and their harmonious interblending. It is for us to choose
whether our threads will roll around themselves in selfish lumps and fill the space with
meaningless color-blotches, or whether they will spread out and weave together the shining
rope of life. It is for us to decide whether we will greet every human being: "Come, dear
brother; oh! how we have missed your tint and shade of color in the great pattern of our
work!" or whether we dropping him thus undo ourselves. Shall we look on every foreign
nation as so many curios good only for a museum, or shall we say to the nations of the
seven islands: "From each island a sweet song is wafted on the morning breezes. It
seems to come from the great Angels of the rising Sun. What grand shapes are on the
smooth and glistening sea? Are they their shadows, or are they simply dawn-colored mists,
purple, gold and blue? Are they the fairies or the angels of the islands? Each is more fair
than others, each shall we love the best."
Who can then blame the sweet Law which penetrates the world? No jewel more
precious can be found than understanding of the depth of mercy therein contained. The
Law invites us to take a full hand in making future patterns of our life. Who could see more
freedom in any religious conception? Therefore it is called Karma in the East, the web of
our own weaving, our own deed and doing, that of the past, returning into the present, so
that nothing might be lost, that of the present sent ahead into the future to prepare our way
according to our secret wish. And though we serve the Law imperfectly, how perfectly it
serves us, preserving our smallest thought, word or deed, including even our own identity
and its lining. And

--- 320

who would like to exchange his own identity for that of another? Therefore the Blessed
Law complies with our own secret wish, perfectly keeping away from us that confusion,
which would be for us above all dooms and terrors. It is so merciful, that when we have
done a wrong and are distressed, and our light is dim, and our skies are dark, and all joys
are void and pale and annoying to our inner nature, it is so merciful then to shut those joys
away from us, that the pain and cry of our heart might not be insulted, it is so sympathetic
as to cry with us: "Come back, dark deed, that I might undo thee," and lo! by the great
mercy of the Law the dark deed comes back in all its breadth and length and depth, that
the spirit of a man might undo it by its fiery look and better chance and will, so that nothing
remains, only the mercy of Karma, which becomes a mercy of a human heart.
Invisible and unassuming, yet it is an anchor of our hopes and trust, and the invisible
light of its eternal mercy, surety and fitness of all things, when we find refuge in it and work
with it, burns like a pillar of a radiance above our own identity. Thus we open way to our
own Divine Fathers, who are the servants of the Law, in their great planetary life. Then,
if we choose, we become ourselves the conscious channels between them and the peoples
of our humble earth and all its creatures. Then shall we nearer approach in our liberality
and mercy to the Great Law, - and as the Sun sends its light on the deserts and the
meadows, and as the rain falls on the just and the unjust, so will our heart shed its light and
love of equal brilliancy to all our brothers, - and not for us, but for them, it will be left to
decide how much light they must take and how soon they must proceed. There is no
screen for the light of the heart on its own transparent sunny plane, and all especial
attentions on the earth are simply acknowledgments in the bodies of that which souls
already have spoken and accepted.
The Karmic Law may be likened to a wheel of gems. The centre of it is motionless,
eternal, sure, divine. Its rays like fiery spokes illuminate, cheer, and liberate all the
revolving gems of meaning, love and life in all the cyclic changes of the world. It separates
the gems of the spiritual essence in all things from the chaff and husks; the husks it drives
away, the gems it attracts along its rays towards its radiant centre. This motion produces
other smaller wheels inside the greater wheel, and so on and on, so that the Law grinds by
day and night and grinds exceeding fine. As the wheel turns, our chances come and go.
At the next turn we get what we left in the same arc before: so much illusions or so much
bright helping deed and thought; so much of clear central light or so much darkness, pain
and sadness of our outer crusty, unrejected shell.
Then the aspirant will hear the voice not only of Theosophy but of the silent speech
of the Great Law itself calling to him through every star and dewdrop, man and angel and
all that lives: "Arise, dear child, awake, and join thy numberless companions throughout
all nature in our progressive pilgrimage towards the Unity of Life through our labors in the
Unity of Truth and Love."

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THE EVANGEL ACCORDING TO IOANNES

EXCERPTS FROM A NEW TRANSLATION OF "THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
JOHN."
by James M. Pryse

[1. 1-9]
IN a First-principle [1] was the Mind, [2] and the Mind was in

------------
[1] Gr. arche, first cause, inherent principle of evolution as opposed to the primary
elements (stoicheia), which are the first differentiations of the root-substance. It is the
divine spirit of Life pulsating through Chaos, or Space. Considered as the kosmic matrix,
or womb of the world, it was symbolized by the crescent moon (typical of female generative
power), and by the ark, or ship of life, floating on the "Great Deep," or watery abyss of
Space, and preserving the germs of all living things during the intervals between the
periods of kosmic objectivity.
[2] Gr. logos, the external expression of the interior thought, and the thought itself;
a saying, oracle, divine revelation; a "word" as the embodiment of an idea, but never in the
grammatical sense as the mere name of a thing. The Vulgate mistranslates it Verbum,
"Word"; but the Beza has Sermo, "Speech"; and Tertullian (Apol. c. xxi) gives Sermo
atque Ratio "Speech and Reason." To render it in English as "Thought" would be
misleading and in conflict with the context; for if The God (ho theos) be taken as
synonymous with absolute mind (nous), then it could hardly be said that "the Thought was
a God" (theos). The Logos must therefore be taken as the Receptive Mind which mirrors
the ideas of the Absolute Mind. It is the Archetypal World, containing the Ideas or Souls
of all things. The Logos and the Absolute Principle (arche) are the two aspects of the One.
-----------
relation to The God, [1] and the Mind was a God. [2] This [God] it was who in a First-
principle was

-----------
[1] Gr. ho theos, probably from the older form Zeus - the Father of the Gods and of
men; but still not Absolute Deity, the Unmanifested, which was called Sige, the Silence,
and Buthos, the Abyss. The God is a collective term for all in the purely spiritual worlds.
[2] Gr. theos, without the definite article, in contrast with ho theos, The God. The
distinction is clearly indicated also in the preceding phrase (which is emphatically
repeated), "in relation to The God" pros ton theon, where the preposition pros - though
commonly translated "with," out of deference to theological notions and in defiance of
Greek - has somewhat of an adversative force; in fact, it would be good Greek for "in spite
of The God," while the rendering "with God" is wholly unwarrantable. The conception in the
text is unmistakably identical with that of Philo Judaeus, who speaks of the Logos as "the
Second God" (De Somn., I, 655) and makes him the synthesis of all the spiritual powers
acting upon the Kosmos. Hermes Trismegistos also (quoted approvingly by Lactantius,
Divin Instil., iv. 6) calls the Logos "the Second God"; he moreover makes the same
distinction between theos and ho theos, calling the Logos "a God," to distinguish him from
The God. Justin Martyr held the same view, using the term "Second God."
-------------
--- 322

in relation to The God. All [things] [1] came into being [2] through him, and apart from him
not one single [thing] came into being. That which has come into being was Life [3] in him,
and the Life was the Light of the Men; [4]

-------------
[1] Gr. panta, all things; here used absolutely, all, the whole Kosmos.
[2] Gr. ginesthai, to become, to come into objective existence, to come out of the
Eternal into Time, as contrasted with einai, to be. The God is boundless Duration, which
neither is nor is not; the Logos is Time in the abstract, which eternally is; the Kosmos, in
manifested Time, is ever becoming. Nothing is "created" or "made," but all things emanate
from the Eternal Substance (ousia), and pass through the sphere of Transition (genesis)
into the Differentiated World (kosmos).
[3] Gr. zoe, life, as opposed to death. Life is also the Breath (pneuma). In kosmic
manifestation it is the Solar Energy, which visually is Light. The punctuation of the text as
above is incontestably the correct one, having the support of a majority of the orthodox
church fathers as well as of all the so-called "heretics." The punctuation which severs the
words "that which became" (ho gegonen) from the sentence to which they belong, and joins
them in a meaningless way to the preceding sentence, is a futile attempt to conceal the fact
that Life (the Breath) is one of the Emanations that came into being in the Logos. Not only
do all ancient authorities prove that the stop should be placed before ho gegonen but also
the whole sense of the passage imperatively demands it.
[4] The Men are the twelve zodiacal signs - in the astronomical rendering - the
twelve "Patriarchs" of the Old Testament; the twelve months of the year, whether a year
of mortals, or the sidereal year of about 25,000 years, or a year of the Gods, the whole life-
time of the Kosmos. The zodiacal signs are alternately diurnal and nocturnal, making six
periods of activity as days and nights.
------------

and the Light illuminates in the Darkness [1] and the Darkness did not overtake it.
There came into being a Man sent forth from a God; his name [was] Ioannes. This
[forerunner] came for a witness, [2] that he might bear witness about the Light, that all
might gain intuition [3] through him. He was not

------------
[1] The principle of duality, of good and evil. Darkness is the chaotic element, that
blind turbulent energy in matter which is the source of all "evil." The imagery in this
passage is solar, referring to the ancient mythos of the dragon of darkness pursuing the
sun to devour it, but never able to overtake it. The verb used, katalambanein, means to
catch, to come upon, to overtake; in the middle voice it is used in the Epistles in the sense
of apprehending mentally, but in the active voice, as here, it can not have that meaning.
The word is used also in the passage, "Walk while you have the Light, so that Darkness
may not overtake you." (ch. v. 35)
[2] One who can retain in his physical consciousness the memory of things in the
psychic and spiritual worlds is said to "bear witness" when he declares them to men who
cannot so remember, to help revive their dormant psychic faculties.
[3] Gr. pisteuein, to trust in, to rely on, to have conviction; from pistis, assurance,
good-faith, credit (in business affairs), a pledge, an argument, a proof; in a philosophic
sense, certain knowledge based upon intuitive perception gained by correlating the physical
body with the psychic. Those who had the faculty of pistis were called the psychics
(psuchikoi), as distinguished from the spiritually-regenerated men (pneumatikoi) on the one
hand, and the carnal or earthy men (sarkikoi, choikoi) on the other. While pistis is psychic
knowledge rather than spiritual, it is by no means blind faith or unreasoning opinion. For
lack of an English verb to convey its exact force, pisteuein is here translated "to gain
intuition."
-------------
--- 323

the Light, but [he was sent] that he might bear witness about the Light. That True [1] Light,
which lights every Man, was coming into the Kosmos. [2]

[III. 1 - 21]
Now, there was a man of the Pharisaians - Nikodemos [was] his name, - a leader
[3] of the Ioudaians. This [man] came to him by night and said:

------------
[1] Gr. alethinos, the real, as opposed to the apparent. At the beginning of each of
the Life-Cycles there is an outshining of the Light, and a Messias (one anointed by the
Breath) appears as the spiritual Teacher of mankind for that particular cycle. The cycle of
Ioannes-Iesous (for the two are really one, the psycho-spiritual man) was that of the Sun
in the sign Pisces, the Fishes. Microcosmically, Ioannes is the psychic or magnetic light
which precedes, and prepares the way for, the True Light, the noetic or spiritual
illumination.
[2] This word is left untranslated, as it has not even an approximate equivalent in
English. Its primary meaning is "good order," and it is applied to anything having definite
form or arrangement, from an ornament, or a fashion in dress, to the whole manifested
universe. Chaos, or rather the primary matter it contains (hule, unwrought material)
becomes, through the formative power of the Logos, the Kosmos or objective universe,
each department of which is also a Kosmos or world in itself; hence the word applies to
the suns and planets in space, to this earth, to humanity in general, and to individual man.
[3] Gr. archon, chief, captain; king; magistrate.
------------

"Rabbi, we know that you have come from a God as a Teacher; for no one can do
these Signs which you do unless The God is with him."
Iesous answered and said to him:
"Amen, Amen, I say to you, if any one be not born from above [1] he can not see the
Realm [2] of The God."
Nikodemos says to him:
"How can a man be born when he is old? Into the womb of his mother can he enter
a second time and be born?"
Iesous answered:
"Amen, Amen, I say to you , if any one be not born of Water and of Breath, he can
not enter into the Realm of The God. That which has been born from the flesh is flesh, and
that which has been born from the Breath is Breath. Do not wonder because I said to you,
You have to be born from above. The Breath breathes where it wills, and you hear

------------
[1] Gr. anothen, from above; from the first, over again (but very rarely used in this
sense ). The sidereal body is said to be "born from above," that is, from the brain-centres;
the physical body being "born from below." The Immortals are hoi ano, and, "those above,"
as distinguished from the mortals, who are hoi kato, "those below," and hoi nekroi, "the
dead ones," meaning those incarnated in the dead forms (physical bodies), and also those
in the nether-world or region of "ghosts" - men in the psychic body, whether the physical
body is dead or only in the sleeping state. Nikodemos, however, takes the word anothen
in the sense "over again," thus betraying his ignorance. Such word-plays are common in
this Evangel; and Iesous is usually represented as speaking in a mystical way, while his
listeners are made to appear very materialistic, understanding his words only in a crudely
literal sense.
[2] Gr. basileia, royal power, dominion, rule; a kingdom, dominion, realm.
-----------
--- 324

its voice; [1] but you do not know whence it comes and where it goes. So is every one
who has been born from the Breath." [2]
Nikodemos answered and said to him:
"How can these [things] be brought about?"
 Iesous answered and said to him:
"Are you the Teacher of Israel and do not know these [things]? Amen, Amen, I say
to you, That what we know, we speak, and what we have seen, we bear witness to; and
our witness you do not receive. If I told you the [things] of the Earth, [3] and you did not
gain intuition, how, if I tell you the [things] of the Sky, will you gain intuition? And no one
has gone up

------------
[1] Gr. phone, a tone, articulate sound; a vowel sound (as opposed to that of
consonants); voice, speech. The Breath has seven sounds (the "seven vowels" of the
Gnostics) corresponding mystically to the seven planes of the sidereal world. These
sounds are heard in succession by the mystic as the Breath awakens the seven brain-
centres. They are also called "trumpet-calls'' (salpinges) in the New Testament, the
seventh heralding the new-birth or "resuscitation of the dead ones." (I Cor., xv. 52; Rev.,
xi. I5-xii, 1-2)
[2] Alluding to the mysterious coming and going of the Initiate in his Fire-body or
"mayavi-rupa."
[3] Earth (gaia) is the lowest of the four subtle elements, and is the material aspect
of the World-Soul; Sky (ouranos, the expanse of air) being the spiritual aspect. Gaia is
therefore represented as the bride of Ouranos, the two standing for the psychic and
spiritual worlds respectively. Fire (pneuma, the vital Breath ) is an active principle; Water
(hudor) is passive; Air (ouranos) is active, and Earth (gaia) passive. The "things of the
Earth '' (ta epigaia) are psychic; the "things of the Sky" (la epourania), sidereal.
-------------

into the Sky, unless he who came down out of the Sky - the Son of the Man, he who is [1]
in the Sky. And as Moses raised on high the Snake in the desert, so shall the Son of the
Man have to be raised on high, [2] that every one who gains intuition into him may not die,
but have on-going Life. For The God so loved the Kosmos that he gave his son, the Singly-
generated, that every one who gains intuition into him may not die, but have on-going Life.
For The God did not send his Son into the Kosmos that he might separate [4] the Kosmos,

-------------
[1] That is, whose real being is always in the higher realm, even when manifesting
in the lower worlds. Even when incarnate, the "Son of the God" - the true Self of man - still
exists independently, as before, in the infinitudes of Space.
[2] The snake on the cross symbolizes the spiral action of the Breath coiling about
the cross in the brain.
[3] "Gr. aion, a period of time; a manifestation of life in time, period of evolution;
lifetime (from the Sanskrit root I, "to go," the concept of time being inseparable from that
of motion, and time being measured by the motion of the heavenly bodies in space). The
God alone is Eternal or Boundless Duration; everything manifested has limits in time and
space. The highest aion is the lifetime of the manifested Universe, considered as a
conscious divine being; and each evolutionary cycle - as the lifetime of the planetary
system, of the earth, of a human race - is also an aion and collectively a being. The
sidereal body (soma pnematikon) of man endures throughout the life-cycle of the Kosmos,
and so after the mystic birth "from above" his consciousness is continuous throughout all
the lesser cycles of reincarnations, racial periods, etc., which constitute the great on-going
or day of the Gods.
[4] Gr. krinein, to separate, put asunder; to pick out, choose, distinguish; to decide,
determine, judge.
------------
--- 325

but that through him the Kosmos might be saved. [1] He who gains intuition into him is not
separated; but he who does not gain intuition into him is separated already, in that he has
not gained intuition into the Name of the Singly-generated Son of The God. And this
separating is because the Light has come into the Kosmos, and the Men loved rather the
Darkness than the Light, for their works [2] were useless. [3] For every one who practices
worthless [4] [things]

------------
[1] Gr. sozesthai, to be kept alive, preserved, saved; to escape, get well; frequently
used in the New Testament in the sense of "making whole," "healing."
[2] Gr. ergon, deed, work, action; employment; mental effort. In New Testament
terminology, works (erga) are the labors of purification, by which the soul regains its
freedom.
[3] Gr. poneros, unlucky, sorry, good-for-nothing; bad, knavish.
[4] Gr. phaulos, paltry, mean, trifling; shabby, ugly; easy. The useless and
worthless works are those that are performed from ignoble motives or for selfish ends, and
do not make for spiritual progress. The many (hoi polloi) who lead thoughtless lives,
absorbed in the objects of the senses, and having no definite purpose, no knowledge of the
realities of the inner life, are called "the useless ones" (hoi poneroi), "the worthless ones"
(hoi phauloi), and even "the dead ones" (hoi nekroi), as contrasted with "the wise" (hoi
sophoi) and "the perfect" (hoi teleloi), the purified men and the Initiates, who take conscious
control of the forces of evolution and become co-workers with the divine principle in nature.
The "useless ones" are simply the immature souls, of few incarnations and little experience;
and the sense of positive "evil" does not attach to the term, nor is it one of reproach.
-----------

hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, that his works may not be brought to proof.
But he who does the Truth comes to the Light, that his works may shine forth, for they have
been accomplished in a God." [1]

-----------
[1] That is, they are in harmony with the energies of the World-Soul, or God of this
planet.
--------------
--- 326

THE NEW MOVEMENT

by Annie M. Sands
 THE title refers to the Theosophical Society's broadened appellation, THE
UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. However, the adjective "new" should, I believe, be
supplemented by the words "impulse to," making it read "The New Impulse to the
Movement," or, it might he spoken of as the New Era - referring, of course, to what we have
known for twenty-three years as the Theosophical Movement, through its external channel,
the Theosophical Society. We must always distinguish between the two - the impulse or
force, and the vehicle or external expression. The failure to do this has caught many
unwary ones, who have learned to babble very sweetly of the insignificance of a name or
a form - "a rose by any other name," you know - if only the principle were kept in mind, and
yet, upon application of the crucial test, went down like wheat before the sickle, because
they could not give up the bauble they had treasured so long - a name, a set of forms, or
what not.
If we are to understand thoroughly the significance of the action of the American
Theosophists on February 18th, in broadening its lines of operation under a name better
suited to cover all the phases of the work laid out, we must keep in mind the foundations
of which this action is the logical outcome; we must depart from the narrow confines of but
one branch of the Movement - even though it be its chief instrument at this time - and
observe the mark which the system of thought given to the West through the Theosophical
literature has left upon the present century, and will stamp upon the one about to be born,
through some other means than merely one organization; the literature of the day is
saturated with Theosophical ideas, - whether as honest conviction after thorough
investigation, or unblushing plagiarism, simply to be "up to date," matters not - it is there;
most people who do anything with their heads at all beyond devising means for feeding
their stomachs or clothing themselves, know, or think they know, something about
"Theosophy," as they term it; even many ministers frankly acknowledge that they must
brush up a little bit, and find out what this new teaching is, anyway. What bearing this has
upon the recent action, if not now apparent, will be explained later on.
By "movement," we understand a motion, passing, progression, flowing, excitement,
or agitation; or, in music, a single strain, having the same measure of time. In our
universe, the structure taken as a whole represents the working out of one definite idea,
plan, or movement - a passing or procession towards a certain end, yet we must remember
that within the general plan are concealed the details, each to be brought out at the proper
time, necessary to the production of the whole; in the ocean of life, there is the grand swell,
and then the lesser vibrations, perceptible only within certain confines, yet each essential
to the entirety. Underlying all manifestation and running through it is one theme which most
of us have not heard at all - it is Unity, oneness in essence, the truth that each living
creature is indissolubly linked to every other - when we reach the world of Man we call it
Brotherhood.
The world which you and I know is Man's; all that it holds is for the use of man; he
is its lord, and responsible for the manner in which he wields his power. By "Man" we mean
the thinking being who has become conscious that he is

--- 327

himself and not another; who has the gift of reason, who can analyze and compare and
draw conclusions from the process in the problems of life - but who has, in the aggregate,
forgotten that he is a paradox, that while he is an individual in every sense, yet that his
destiny is closely interwoven with that of every person and everything which he contacts;
that interdependence, not independence, is the law.
Time was, we have been told, in the golden youth of the race, when men were ruled
over by wise men, Priest-Kings, who taught them spiritual truths; but time wore on and
men lost their spiritual purity, becoming so lost in the means that they well-nigh forgot the
end - a self-conscious godhood. Then came what we call man's downfall, but, withal, the
means to his greatest glory. Matter about him became more dense, his body a prison
house; the problem for solution, to relate himself to his spiritual origin. At intervals in the
drama, helpers have come to him, to remind him of his birthright, that he is not a thing of
clay; that infinite possibilities are before him, if he will but learn to know himself. The
results of such efforts have depended upon conditions existing at the times when they were
made; at times a teacher has laid the foundation for what has become a new religion;
again, attempt has been made to rejuvenate, as it were, an already established system;
or, a philosopher has builded a school of reason. Not always has, or does, the message
of higher things come in the line of religion or philosophy, but it may be sometimes in
science, or political reform. The work is always done where improvement is most needed.
Society is no higher nor better than its lowest stratum, and no system of philosophy,
religion or reform of any kind can long exist in its purity until the entire mass has become
so far developed as to absorb a part of it. Of many of the ancient systems only traditions
remain; messages on stone and in the earth have been left to remind those who come
after of one more effort of the past to strengthen the weak places. The true philosophy of
life does not embrace one phase only; all things must be attuned to voice and clothe true
Wisdom.
These friends of man, we are further told, come from the ranks of those further on
in the scale of evolution than we; who are, as compared with us, "perfected men"; who
have attained that true wisdom which gives birth to love for those below who know less
than they, and prompts to constant effort for the uplifting of humanity. In them
"Compassion speaks, and says: 'Can there be bliss when all that lives must suffer? Shalt
thou be saved and hear the whole world cry?'" It is from these that come the volunteers
who seek the freedom of the race from the shackles created by ignorance and
carelessness.
It can never be told at what moment such a movement of this kind is given birth; we
may only trace it to its organization according to the annals of its history. We may follow
the Universal Brotherhood or Theosophical Movement in this century back to November,
1875, when "The Theosophical Society and Universal Brotherhood" was formed in New
York - and yet, remember the long years of study and training of its illustrious founder,
Mme. H. P. Blavatsky; think of the preparation of the field for the action - and who can say
that it began at any certain date. There had, however, in 1875, been crystallized a body
through which the work might be begun. Men and women wearied with the existing
religions of the West, and realizing the inadequacy of the nostrums offered as palliatives,
took advantage of the privilege offered them, and began to read and study the, to them,
novel system of philosophy being given to the West, many enjoying personal contact with
the Teacher.
During the first years the work was
--- 328

purely constructive. The literature known as Theosophical, had to be built up, and a road
built for it through the bigotry and prejudices of the people; the philosophy and the Society
had to be defended from various attacks, and pupils instructed and prepared to take up the
work which the Teacher laid out. In short, during this period, broad outlines only, of the
great Brotherhood or Theosophical work were drawn, and the foundation laid for the
superstructure. It was, we may well say, entirely educational, for the thought of the people
required remolding through those whose minds and inclinations were suited to this
preliminary.
With the years, the Society which had made such a small beginning, waxed strong,
numbering in its ranks many good and wise men and women, who were willing to give the
best they had to the cause of Theosophy and Universal Brotherhood. This was most
gratifying, but, we must remember that law rules the universe, and the laws of nature rule
in the most August bodies as in the humblest cell. The Theosophical Society proved no
exception. A large body of people had become united in one common cause - people of
all shades and degrees of previous beliefs and trend of thought; to make the matter
apparently worse, a very large number had enjoyed the privilege of being born and reared
in this greatest of all countries, and had imbibed to repletion the notions of entire
independence which go with the atmosphere we breathe; finally, some of the integral parts
of the organization did not agree with the others, and after a time nothing more natural than
that little whirlwinds should arise in the ranks. Many lost sight of the real object of the
society; differences arose as to methods of government; some thought they were
especially constituted to manage things themselves, in which opinion the majority did not
share; in short, we enjoyed all the frictions which beset any organization of considerable
size, and especially one which, by its very nature, must be made up of exceptionally strong
people. When such conditions began to arise, then the task lay in preserving the integrity
of the ideals of the Society, that it should not have its past work, or possibilities for
usefulness in the future destroyed by either the misdirected zeal or personal ambitions and
idiosyncracies of its own members, which culminated, in 1891, in a reorganization, affording
better means for the work, under the name of the Theosophical Society in America,
supplemented immediately afterwards by reorganization of the Societies all over the world,
along similar lines.
Then came the death of William Q. Judge, who had acted as the preserver of the
true intent of the Founder of the Society, and the advent of a new head of the Movement,
in the person of Katherine A. Tingley. It at once became apparent that changes in the
methods of the work were in order, and they were soon put in operation. These new
departures were strongly hinted at before their inauguration, but, notwithstanding, came
somewhat as a surprise to many who had become accustomed and attached to the old
ways. The first thing into which we were summarily whirled was the Theosophical Crusade
around the world two years ago, entailing what, for such a small organization, was an
enormous expense, but which was easily met by contributions of the members and which
was successful almost beyond belief in arousing a feeling of kinship and Brotherhood
among the different peoples whom they visited, attended by the formation of interested and
earnest groups for study and spreading of the good work already begun. At home was
inaugurated the International Brotherhood League, with its efforts directed to the practical
side of the Brotherhood question, viz.:
"To help men and women to realize

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the nobility of their calling, and their true position in life; to educate children of all nations
on the broadest lines of Universal Brotherhood, and to prepare destitute and homeless
children to become workers for humanity; to ameliorate the condition of unfortunate
women and to assist them to a higher life; to assist those who are, or have been, in prisons
to establish themselves in honorable positions in life; to endeavor to abolish capital
punishment; to bring about a better understanding between so-called savage and civilized
races, by promoting a closer and more sympathetic relation between them; to relieve
human suffering, resulting from flood, famine, war and other calamities, and, generally, to
extend aid, help and comfort to suffering humanity throughout the world.''
Finally, at the Convention of the American Theosophists in Chicago, on February
18th of this year, came the step of which these activities referred to were the forerunners:
reorganization under specific plans for realization of the original plans and ideals on which
the Theosophical Society of 1875 was founded, under the second half of its original name
UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD, with the following declaration and purposes:
"First: We, the undersigned, in order to form a Universal Brotherhood, do accept
and establish this constitution for the benefit of the people of the earth and all creatures.
"Second: This organization declares that brotherhood is a fact in nature.
"Third: The principal purpose of tins organization is to teach Brotherhood,
demonstrate that it is a fact in nature, and make it a living power in the life of humanity.
"Fourth: The subsidiary purpose of this organization is to study ancient and modern
religion, science, philosophy and art; to investigate the laws of nature and the divine
powers in man."
The old objects, you are perhaps all familiar with: "1. To establish the nucleus of a
Universal Brotherhood of humanity, without any distinctions of race, creed, sex, caste or
color; 2. To study Aryan and other Eastern religions, philosophies and sciences, and to
demonstrate the importance of such study; 3. To investigate the hidden forces in nature
and the psychic powers latent in man."
The work under the old Society was largely devoted to the second object. It was
necessary that we be educated before we could undertake the practical side of
Brotherhood work; that we become convinced that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature; and
that all the great religions and philosophies of the past have had the same fundamental
principles, and the same source, thus breaking down the prejudices engrafted on our
minds. The new Constitution contemplates putting into operation what knowledge we have
acquired, carrying the message of "light and liberation to discouraged humanity." This
cannot be done by delivering to the people learned lectures, but in the simplest way, so that
the philosophy of the teachings will fasten upon their minds and hearts without great
intellectual effort. If we would make better conditions for humanity, so as to furnish
avenues for a higher development, we have to begin at the foundation, and work in all
directions. Work must be done among the poor, who are oppressed by false industrial
systems, augmented by their own ignorance, first, to gain their confidence that fraternal
motives actuate our efforts; then to point out to them some of the truths which will put a
new light upon life and their troubles, and give them fresh courage; we must work among
the children, who will become the educators, the fathers and mothers after us; we must
remind the so-called "outcasts" of society that theirs is not a binding degradation, but that
all things are possible to them. The new plan embraces

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The Theosophical Society in America as a department of the work, whose functions shall
be, "to publish and disseminate literature relating to Theosophy, Brotherhood, ancient and
modern religions, philosophies, sciences and arts"; second, "to establish and build up a
great library, in which shall be gathered ancient and modern literature of value to the great
cause of Universal Brotherhood."
A few have objected to the new era of activity, and the broadening-out process,
crying out that it was the destruction of the Theosophical Society in America, departing
from original lines, etc. These people are deluded by their attachment to a name, and a
rut. It is against dogma and crystallization that we shall always contend; when such
tentacles are permitted to fasten upon the organ of this great movement, then its death-cry
will be heard.

"The old order changeth yielding place to new,

And God fulfills himself in many ways
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world."

The original name, Theosophical Society and Universal Brotherhood, and the
objects were in themselves sufficiently prophetic of the outcome.
I quote from Madame Blavatsky, last chapter of "Key to Theosophy," written in 1889:
"Its future [of the Theosophical Society] will depend almost entirely upon the degree
of selflessness, earnestness, devotion and last, but not least, on the amount of knowledge
and wisdom possessed by those members on whom it will fall to carry on the work and to
direct the Society after the death of its Founders.
"I do not refer to technical knowledge of the esoteric doctrine, though that is most
important; I spoke rather of the great need which our successors will have of unbiased and
clear judgment. Every such attempt as the Theosophical Society has hitherto ended in
failure, because sooner or later it has degenerated into a sect, set up hard and fast dogmas
of its own, and so lost by imperceptible degrees that vitality which living truth alone can
impart. You must remember that all our members have been bred and born in some creed
or religion, that all are more or less of their generation both mentally and physically, and
consequently that their judgment is but too likely to be warped and unconsciously biased
by some or all of these influences. If, then, they cannot be freed from such inherent bias,
or at least taught to recognize it instantly and so avoid being led away by it, the result can
only be that the Society will drift off on some sandbank of thought or another, and there
remain a stranded carcass to molder and die.
"But if this danger be averted, then the Society will live on into and through the
twentieth century. It will gradually leaven and permeate the great mass of thinking and
intelligent people with its large-minded and noble ideas of Religion, Duty and Philanthropy.
Slowly but surely it will burst asunder the iron fetters of creeds and dogmas, of social and
caste prejudices; it will break down racial and national antipathies and barriers and will
open the way to the practical realization of the Brotherhood of all men. . . .
"If the present attempt . . . . succeeds better than its predecessors have done, then
it will be in existence as an organized, living, healthy body when the time comes for the
effort of the twentieth century. The general condition of men's minds and hearts will have
been improved and purified by the spread of its teachings, and, as I have said, their
prejudices and dogmatic illusions will have been, to some extent at least, removed. Not
only so, but besides a large and accessible literature ready to men's hands, the next
impulse

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will find a numerous and united body of people ready to welcome the new torchbearer of
Truth. He will find the minds of men prepared for his message, a language ready for him
in which to clothe the new truth he brings, an organization, which will remove the merely
mechanical, material obstacles and difficulties from his path."
This work is now organized as it has never been before; it has at its head a leader
whose greatness and ability and devotion we may rely upon; it offers a field of action for
all true lovers of humanity, and invites to its ranks all such. Having outlined to you its
history and recited its objects, you may judge for yourselves the probable results in the
future. However grand the picture such a consideration gives rise to, it will be no more than
is possible if each person who hears the message will lend his or her aid to the Movement.

------------

FRAGMENTS
by Adhiratha

STRENGTH.
WHO of us can say: I am strong, I am ready? We sometimes think we have
strength and are ready for more power. Then all at once we find ourselves down, and have
but to be thankful for not having been given more power, because surely we should abuse
it and work mischief. How easy it would be to be strong if some messenger would come
and tell us: Now be careful and hold fast, your trial is to begin, and if you stand it you will
be accepted. But lo! That would be like an examination of a university student, who, after
passing his examination, soon forgets most of what he has learned. Such a forgetting is
not admissible in real development, and therefore we are never told to prepare for a trial,
but must prove continually ready. Trials come when we are least aware of them, and only
when they are over do we begin to see their meaning. Then only we conceive of the wise
ruling hand that held back powers which would have been our ruin.
Strength means capacity of resistance. The stronger a bridge the more it can carry;
we are that much stronger the more misery we can bear.
The molecules of steam are stronger according as they are more or less squeezed
together or expanded by heat. The strength of our globe is its power of keeping together
under the action of accumulated force whereby it whirls about in space. If at a single
moment our globe could not resist, it would be shattered to pieces. With us exactly the
same; we must be so strong as to resist at every moment and not at some moments,
continually and not at some examination time prepared beforehand. We need not trouble
ourselves about trials and impose such or such little torments on us like an Indian fakir, but
we must be ready to resist whenever trials come to us. They are sure to come in their
regular order without ourselves conjuring them up - our Karma will take care of that.
The beast is always ready to be beastly, and so long as we identify ourselves with
the beast, we are it. It is only when we take a higher standpoint, above the beast, and tell
him: No, I will not

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let you! that we have strength. But it is of no use to be the beast and try not to be beastly;
this is unnatural. Thus it all depends where we place ourselves, and thus it depends
entirely on ourselves and on no other power in the universe.
We have only to go there where strength is and take it and use it, and not try to gain
it where there is none. We need strength on the physical, the moral and the intellectual
planes before we can attain to spiritual power. Strength on the physical plane means
endurance of physical pain and resistance to the senses, when they are stirred up by
Kama.* Strength on the moral plane means to be able to support apparent injustice,
uncongenial surroundings and direct kamic attacks before the senses are reached. By
strength on the intellectual plane is meant the doing of one's own thinking and the turning
off of uncongenial thought waves from without. The strength to do all this resides, as I said
before, on the spiritual plane, whereto we must strive if we want to become our own master
physically, morally and intellectually. This tendency alone will give us strength and will lead
ultimately to spiritual power, which may

-------------
* Kama, the passional nature.
-------------

then manifest itself on the three planes mentioned. Thus becomes evident the utter
foolishness of some people who wish for power before they have strength, as the former
without the latter is an impossibility and can neither be gained nor conferred.
Some people think that having done all that seems to them necessary, why do they
not make more progress. This lack of progress is a sure sign that they are not strong
enough and may fail at some new trial. Thus they had better be on their guard and keep
ready for whatever may come to them. Think of even such a high being as Gautama, the
Buddha, and of the severe trials he had to pass, before he became the channel through
which the highest truths flowed for the benefit of millions of men.
Our strength depends on our will, and the time to gain it depends on our past Karma,
of which more or less is drawn upon us in a given time, as we will it. The will cannot modify
our Karma, but it can call up the effects of past deeds, and thoughts to work on us in less
time. The path is surely one of sorrow, but by patiently enduring, our strength increases,
and at no time have we to carry more then we can bear.
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BROTHERHOOD: - THE HOPE OF THE WORLD

by Cyrus Field Willard

BROTHERHOOD is the recognition of the unity of the race, the solidarity of

humanity. It is not only a sentiment; it is a recognition of a fact existent in nature.
The physical constituents of our animal bodies are drawn from the common
storehouse of our great mother, the earth, and to it they return. Our minds are likewise of
common origin, the intangible Ether, called in ancient Hindu terminology, Akasa. Man's
spiritual intelligence is likewise of common origin, called by Emerson the Over-Soul, or
more simply, the One Life.
These three elements in man correspond to the three hypostases or attributes of the
atom, recently postulated by modern science as necessary to and inherent in the atom.
These attributes are substance, consciousness and will, corresponding to body, mind and
spirit. They are all of common origin and demonstrate that the men of today are made of
the same elements in which they have no proprietary interest and of which they only enjoy
the use, in obedience to universal law. This establishes the fact of brotherhood upon an
immovable basis and teaches the essential unity of all mankind.
The fact of the unity of mankind must likewise be considered in the light of the theory
of Reincarnation in obedience to the law of cause and effect. Reincarnation presents the
idea of the human spirit's occupying bodies in stations of high and low degree, now high,
now low; gathering experience that shall strengthen the will and widen the area of
consciousness. If we look on poverty and its attendant low station (as now falsely
considered) we see that it provides the opportunity of strengthening the will and increasing
the powers of endurance. In the same way those who are rich and occupy so-called high
positions have the opportunity to add to their experiences in other ways by travel, education
and interchange of ideas with their fellow men and thus are in a position to widen their area
of consciousness if they will. If such a view be taken, we cease to regard poverty and
riches as indicative of men's worth and come to look on the exhibition of moral qualities as
the true test. The best criterion for the valuation of men is their devotion to brotherhood.
Brotherhood recognizes the truth uttered by Burns, "A man's a man for a' that.''
The truths of brotherhood underlie all religions although largely covered and
encumbered by ceremonialism and priestcraft. The religions of Confucius, Zoroaster,
Gautama Buddha, Mohammed and Christ all teach the brotherhood of man. Their defects
lie in their later interpretations which require that all men shall believe according to their
standards of belief in order to be regarded as brothers. Each of them has set up a line of
division between those who believe and those who do not believe. Thus they have cleft
humanity into many parts and destroyed the recognition of its unity; - as though it made any
difference what a man believed as truth so long as he treated his brother as a man and a
brother. He might believe in the moon's being made of green cheese or that Mohammed's
turban worked miracles or in the immaculate conception, but in any case if he treated his
brothers as such, the law of cause and effect would bring him his just reward. He might
disbelieve in the binomial theory and yet if he wiped away one burning tear from his
brother's eye and endeavored to teach that brother to live so as to pre-
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vent further sorrow, the good law would bring him its compensating effect of reward and
happiness, despite his ignorance or disbelief.
It is man's individual duty to help his brother through compassion, the higher law.
Greater than individual duty is national and racial duty. The nation and the race should so
live as to carry out the ideas of brotherhood upon a broader, grander scale. Those
individuals who have broadened sufficiently in their area of consciousness to grasp this
great concept, must be willing to devote their lives to efforts to induce the nation and the
race to live up to the ideals of brotherhood and remove the causes which bring their
harvests of sorrow, crime, poverty and despair to millions of the human family.
"The sin of the world is my sin." Each and every one of us is to some extent
responsible for the sin that exists today, if not in this life, in some past life. We are all drops
in that mighty river of life that streamed forth from the dark bosom of Eternity at the dawn
of manifestation, and in obedience to the universal law of periodicity we are now turning
back and returning to our source and home. This recognition of our identity as drops in that
great stream must necessarily bring about a sense of oneness with all our fellow men. The
interaction and play of one upon another is also a necessary corollary. It can be for good
as well as for evil and the race and nation can be affected. If each individual drop in the
stream resolves for good, then the nation and race reaches up quicker to loftier heights of
brotherhood.
This nation is engaged today in a war with Spain which has for its object to teach
that country that it cannot today forget the laws of brotherhood in its treatment of Cubans,
its own sons, as it did with the old Aztec tribes of Mexico and Peru two and three hundred
years ago. This is the great underlying object of the American people. There may be other
and baser motives involved, but the one thing that has touched the hearts of the great
mass of the American people is the desire to see Cuba free.
In days gone by we have seen nations going to war to enslave other people. Today
we see a great nation going to war to free a people. Thus is brotherhood beginning to
manifest itself. But when nations get a clearer idea of the truths of brotherhood, and that
they are all brothers, there will be no further need of wars. Wars originate from selfishness,
selfishness produces competitive strife between nations and individuals. Generous
emulation will tend to assist and thus wipe out this selfishness in the joy and happiness of
helping brothers.
Then shall we see the universal desire realized when "swords shall be beaten into
ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks,'' and man shall cease to war against man.
Stately cities shall be reared with beautiful and healthy homes for all, and the forces of
disease shall be swept away while the channels of the older civilization will be refilled by
the love of the new. The slum will be unknown and all will work with cheerful song and
laughter. Then will brotherhood demonstrate its mighty power as the hope of the world and
be realized by all men in its fullness.

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CYCLES OF INSPIRATION.
 by Rev. W.E. Copeland

(Concluded)

IV.
IN the sixteenth century the forces of light and of darkness join battle for a
tremendous contest. The yeast has begun to work and Europe is once more alive. On the
one side Spain, on the other England, Luther, Zwingle, Melanethon, Calvin, wrestle with
the popes and the Jesuits. In England we have the Elizabethan period, noted in all English
history, when lived Bacon, Shakespeare, Spenser, Jonson, Raleigh; when English ships
swept the ocean; when Philip the Second and Queen Elizabeth tested the strength of the
Spanish and English; when powers beyond man's control destroyed the Invincible Armada.
In this age flourished Galileo, Copernicus, Michael Angelo, Titian, Raphael, Rabelais and
Cervantes. The light of mental freedom burned with a steadier light, never again to be
extinguished. The powers of conservatism put forth their utmost strength in vain.
In this century occurred one of the most noted contests in the history of Europe,
seemingly from the beginning hopeless, the contest between Spain, the mightiest power
in Europe, and the United Netherlands. Under the leadership of William the Silent, the
Hollanders conquered, but not until with an unequaled heroism they sacrificed all they had
and let in the ocean over fertile farms reclaimed from that ocean at vast expense of time
and money. Before the inrushing waters the Spaniard was compelled to flee, and Holland
was forever free. In this century lived Giordano Bruno, the Mystic, burned by the Roman
church, honored in the nineteenth century by the Roman people with a statue; then, too,
lived Jacob Boehme and Nostradamus. The German Cobbler, Boehme, has given us a
true Theosophy, whose teachings are as fresh and valuable as when written four hundred
years ago.
In the seventeenth century the light burns brighter. In England, destined to be the
leader of Europe in freedom, the people rose up against the Stuart kings, and made Oliver
Cromwell Lord Protector; great advances towards self-government were made, and
intelligence became more widely diffused. In France, under the Grand Monarch, we have
the Golden Age of Literature. Racine and Moliere made the French stage a teacher of fine
manners and advanced thought. Descartes brought metaphysics into prominence and
propounded a philosophy which has influenced all succeeding ages. Leibnitz propounded
his mystical theory, which gave to the world many ideas and names still used by students
of the Occult. George Fox preached in England the doctrine of the Inner Light and founded
the sect of Quakers or Friends, who were wont to spend many hours in silent contemplation
and have had a profound effect on the world in the interests of Brotherhood and the higher
life. Molinos, another Mystic, though in the Roman Church, wrote The Spiritual Guide,
which can be read and studied with profit in these days. New nations appear; Russia,
under Peter the Great emerges from barbarism, and on the North American continent are
begun those settlements finally to give us the United States of America.
In this century are formed the first

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Lodges of Free Masons after the present fashion of Free Masonry. All through the ages
from prehistoric times, there had been Mystic Fraternities, which by symbols imparted
esoteric instruction and gave to the initiated something of the Ancient Wisdom. These
Masonic Lodges, first brought to public notice in the 17th Century, were destined to do
great things for free thought and in the interests of civil and religious freedom and to make
great changes in society.
In the 18th century the note of Freedom and Fraternity was again sounded with
greater strength and deeper tone than for many previous centuries. The American and
French Revolutions change society and open new chapters in the Universal Brotherhood
of Humanity. Never since the time of the early Christian Ecclesiae in many respects so
closely resembling Masonic Lodges of today were there so many collections of men closely
knit together and intensely interested in the welfare of the human race. A paper might be
very profitably written showing the sources of that movement, which so profoundly stirred
society and which indeed entirely altered the social condition of the European peoples;
enough to say there is very plain evidence that it was a working out from within; an internal
fire kindled in a few receptive souls making its heat and light evident all through society.
Interest is awakened in a study of Nature's finer forces. Jung Stilling in Germany and
Mesmer in France begin to investigate what we now call Psychic Phenomena.
Immense social changes have taken place in the 19th Century, whose close is so
near at hand. Commerce has united all nations, and with the aid of inventions never before
so numerous, has made possible the union of all races. The telegraph by its rapid
interchange of thought annihilates distance and makes neighbors of those separated by
half the circumference of the earth. This century has witnessed a friendly gathering of all
the religions of the world; not for the purpose of mutual warfare, but in the interests of
universal peace.
At the beginning of the last quarter of this century, in 1875, was founded the
Theosophical Society in New York by H. P. Blavatsky, assisted by William Q. Judge and
H. S. Olcott. Spiritualism had already sounded the death-knell of materialism but had no
philosophy to offer and no explanation of the phenomena to give to curious and enquiring
minds. Then came Madame Blavatsky, and she it was who has again given to the world
a complete philosophy of life, not a new philosophy, but the philosophy of the Ages. Her
first work was Isis Unveiled, followed by the Key to Theosophy, The Secret Doctrine, Voice
of the Silence, and innumerable articles. Following her as the great exponent of
Theosophy in America was William Q. Judge; then came the present Leader of the
Theosophical Movement throughout the world, who in 1897 founded the International
Brotherhood League, and in January, 1898, founded the Universal Brotherhood or the
Brotherhood of Humanity for the benefit of the people of the earth and all creatures.
It would seem that the effort put forth at the close of each century to weld together
those who love in the service of those who suffer, until the loving ones offer themselves as
a living sacrifice for the redemption of all creatures, was at last to succeed, and that the
Golden Age was already dawning when all men will be united in one grand fraternity.

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STUDENTS' COLUMN
Conducted by J.H. Fussell
 "How far is it right to stimulate children and men and women to right action by fear
of punishment or hope of reward?"
Ethics cannot he taught to any one without impressing upon the mind the good or
evil results which must flow from human conduct. If all persons were persuaded that their
thoughts and actions would have no effect upon their future, either one way or another,
they would become quite indifferent as to their thoughts and actions. The belief that we are
molding our future, that the sum of each present life to the end of bodily existence is the
cause of our future and contains within itself the necessary consequences, must have a
salutary impression upon us.
If ignorance is primarily the cause of all our suffering, and pain is to be avoided so
long as it remains pain to us, - then men, women and children should be taught the actual
nature of the human ego; how its consciousness may be expanded without any break, to
become one with the divine ego. If we assume that all souls desire a higher state of
consciousness, then it becomes evident that the duty of pointing out the way is incumbent
on the teacher. The law of Karma must be taught. "Who thwarts it loses, and who serves
it gains." If ignorance should be supplanted by knowledge, it is because of the result - a
recompense. The soul can be saved by spiritual knowledge. The soul may be lost by the
want of it or the abuse of it. Incentives should be held up all along the road. Men, women
and children should be instructed in a manner suitable to their capacity. The teacher
cannot impart knowledge in the same way to all. And as the student advances the method
of teaching changes. If the child or adult cannot comprehend a truth from one illustration,
then some other must be resorted to. If the child or adult cannot be induced to act from a
high motive, from lack of comprehension, then the teacher should have recourse to one not
so exalted - one that the person can grasp. It cannot be, judging from experience, that
there are a large number of persons in the world who are uninfluenced by the hope of
reward or the fear of punishment. However, the ideal should be high and pure. And,
although it is difficult, an effort should be constantly made to have the mind centred on the
ideal, so that it may be drawn or expanded to it. The main idea should be kept prominent,
that the reward is not to be enjoyed by one alone, but should be shared in by all others
capable of receiving the benefits.
I conclude then, that sorrow for sin from a sense of shame or fear of punishment
must be acceptable, and if the teacher is unable to turn the pupil from an evil course, or
induce him to do right for love of the truth only, he should urge him, without limitation, to do
right to avoid the pain which must follow. If one will continue to do right from fear of
punishment for some length of time, he will ultimately grow to a condition that will enable
him to do right for the sake of the truth. - E. O'Rourke.

To make use of the fear of punishment or the hope of reward as a stimulus to right
action is to appeal to the lower nature of man instead of the higher. As we help to call forth
that to which we appeal, we should recognize the higher nature, the true self, in presenting
motives for action. Though the fear of punishment and the hope of reward might bring
about right action for a

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time, yet they strengthen that part of the nature which tends to wrong action, and hinder
spiritual enlightenment. Motive is of first importance, for it has to do with the real being.
It is of greater consequence what one is than what one does, and right motive with
knowledge will bring about right action.
Neither the fear of punishment nor the hope of reward should be used to stimulate
men, women or children to right action unless the teaching of the law of justice, - that
"Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap," may be considered as so doing. This
law with re-birth, which is essential to the carrying out of the law of justice, should be taught
together with their bearing on the purpose of the soul's journey through material existence.
And with this should go the teaching that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature, that all are
one in the Supreme Spirit, which is the Self seated in the hearts of all beings, and that
whatever is done to any one is done to the Self in all. Jesus taught this when he said,
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it
unto me." To lead people to see this unity and to recognize the Self in all, is to furnish a
sound basis for right action. - Bandusia Wakefield
------

"What is the theosophical idea of the continuation of the life of a child who dies?
Does it reincarnate as a child-soul in another life?"
The continuation of the life of any human being is in the after-death states of kama-
loka and devachan. In the first of these two states a separation takes place between that
which was earthly and that which was divine in the man who has ceased to live on earth.
Then the divine part enters the state called devachan or paradise. This separation in
kama-loka is easy or hard to accomplish according as the person's tendencies, while living
on earth, were towards satisfying the passions and desires or towards the higher and
nobler aspects of life. Now in a child the thinking principle, which alone makes one
responsible, is generally very little developed, and if there be any slight struggle in kama-
loka for the "child-soul" to free itself, this struggle is so feeble than it can hardly be felt by
the "child-soul." It is further taught that it is the spiritual aspirations and the intensity of the
efforts for good of the personality, while on earth, which become impressed upon the soul
and determine the state in paradise. A child may in this respect be more advanced than
a man whose whole life has been almost entirely concentrated on purely intellectual things.
We all have to unlearn a great many things before we can perceive the truth and become
like unto a little child.
The second part of the question may be answered by pointing out what it is really
that reincarnates. The personality never reincarnates, and what is called the child-soul is
but a child personality, an expression in a child-form of a very old entity, which is the child's
real soul and reincarnates from time to time on this earth. This reincarnating entity has
taken up many human forms, as we know them now, since man became man, and
therefore can hardly be called a child.
H. P. Blavatsky in the "Key to Theosophy" explains these matters fully. - M. A. O.

-------------
--- 339

YOUNG FOLKS' DEPARTMENT

THE DREAM OF A "LITTLE MOTHER"
by Soeur de La C.

"HUSH-A-BYE baby, bye-a-bye," Ellen was softly singing. She held the small
brother carefully, and her happy face grew brighter when she saw that the wakeful eyes
had at last closed and that baby was fast asleep.
The day seemed very long. In the early morning she had made all neat in the two
small rooms in the big tenement she called home. Mother was away at the shop where she
sewed every day and so there was only Ellen to mind the baby and be housekeeper. And
thus the child lived the life of a "little mother" with a heart filled with gladness and love.
It was wonderful how full of work and joy Ellen's days were. There was baby Willie
to wash and dress and feed and keep happy; there were the rooms to keep in order, and
the washing to do. Lots of work for a child of twelve, yet she accomplished it all, and it
seemed to her that the more she did the happier she grew. It was just as though there was
a tiny bird in her heart that kept singing, singing all the time.
That part of New York in which Ellen lived was very crowded. It was filled with tall
tenements, many of which contained twenty families.
In the hot summer time the streets were like a blazing furnace, for the high buildings
kept out all the fresh air. Ellen found it hard work to keep baby comfortable, but she gave
him plenty of baths and soothed and loved him so sweetly that he flourished in spite of all
the trials his little life knew.
The father had died when Willie was only a few weeks old. He had been killed in an
accident, and since that time Ellen's mother had worked harder than ever. She had always
helped to provide for the family, for her husband had never been able to earn much. And
now the two children as well as the mother, often knew what it was to have scarcely
enough to eat, and, considering everything, you might have supposed it impossible that the
family should be happy, but they were, and it was chiefly due to Ellen.
It was she who always had a loving word and a merry smile to greet her mother
when she came home tired at night; and it was she who performed many a kind act to help
a neighbor, or give some other little girl happiness. There are many, many ways in which
even a child can make the world she lives in brighter and better, and no one is too poor or
lowly to be without influence.
Ellen was sitting in a shady corner of the stone steps of the tenement. Baby had
been very restless, for he was suffering from the effects of the intense July heat, but now,
for a little while, his troubles were forgotten. His sister kissed the warm little forehead and
hoped that he would stay asleep until mother came home. The hot air made her drowsy
and soon her head drooped over her baby's. The two children were fast asleep.
* * *
"Heart of gold, heart of gold,
Love shall know till the sun grows cold."

"Heart of gold!" Ellen waked with a start. Why! this was the song she had so long
tried to remember. Now it all came back! What lovely grassy country was this she was
now in! How soft and fragrant was the air. And baby! Could that be he dancing ahead of
her
--- 340

and stretching out his little hands to the beautiful, fantastic sprites who flitted about him on
airy butterfly wings of gold? Some of them hovered over him, others bent down and
whispered in his ear, and the baby face grew rosy as he shrieked with joy and tried to catch
at them. They filled the air about him with colors of rose and green and purple and all the
cloud-tints ever dreamed of; they breathed delightful sounds, different from any Ellen had
ever heard before.
Thus baby danced on, following the airy beings, while Ellen walked behind more
slowly. She was thinking of the words she had heard, "Heart of gold." There was a
beautiful song about it, and sometime, somewhere she had heard it all. Now she
remembered more. "Anima, Anima," she whispered.
A soft voice beside her answered, "Little one, I am here." And there, white and
radiant, near her walked a beautiful woman. Again the music sounded louder and louder:
"Heart of gold, heart of gold, Love shall know till the sun grows cold." Anima pressed a cool
hand to Ellen's head. "Remember, little one," she said. A burst of dazzling light and gone
were the pleasant fields, vanished her baby, and Ellen remembered.
------

A sunny country, with great snow capped mountains in the distance; groves of palm
trees, and a luxuriance of flowers of many colors. The air is spicy and filled with the music
of birds and the hum of a great Eastern city.
In the large hall of a magnificent palace a young girl is lying on a soft couch. All
about her are beautiful objects, gorgeous rugs and soft draperies. But the princess looks
very sad. She has sent her attendants away and her face looks as though she was
thinking very deeply.
"Oh, that I could go to the wretched poor in this my father's city," she says to herself.
"If I could only dwell among them I might show them that sorrow and suffering last only for
a short time. The poor babies, how I long to help them! To think that many children might
be saved from death every year by the cost of even one of the pearls with which my silken
robe is covered."
The princess might never leave the palace except under the escort of her servants.
Her father loved her very dearly, but he allowed her no liberty, according to the strict
custom of his country. She was not supposed to know that there were such things as
starvation and distress. Yet she knew all about them; she knew the want which dwelt
among the poor of the city. For she had questioned her servants many times. And often
had she sent food and money to the suffering. Yet she longed to do more. She wanted
to dwell among them, to understand their needs, to share their sorrows, and show them
that love will make the hardest lot sweeter.
As she lay back among her pillows, thinking of these things, she heard:

"Heart of gold, heart of gold,

Love shall know till the sun grows cold."

Who was singing? She looked up and there stood - Anima!

"Oh, I remember you, beautiful one," she cried. "Tell me, you who know all things,
shall I ever be able to help these poor brothers for whom my heart aches?"
Anima answered:

"Heart of gold, heart of gold,

Love shall know till the sun grows cold;
Love that knows will find the way
And live as a child, her next Birth Day
Where sorrow and hunger and distress,
Heart of gold will share and bless."

Anima stooped down and laid her

--- 341

hand on the princess's forehead. The princess fell fast asleep.

"Wake up, wake up, my daughter!" There stood her mother, who had gently taken
the baby while Ellen was still asleep.
"Let us go into the house, dear. How soundly you and Willie have slept."
Ellen slowly rose, still dazed from her heavy sleep. They went upstairs to the close
rooms. Ellen held the baby while her mother prepared supper. "Mother," said she
suddenly, "I'm so very glad I chose to come to live with you and baby. I'd rather be with
you than be a princess in a palace."
"Why, you queer child! I'm glad, too, that you're my own dear daughter. Mother
does not know what she would do without the help and comfort her little girl gives her."
It was a very happy family that went to sleep that night. There was some lovely
thing in the room; something they could not see, but that mother and daughter breathed
and felt, even as one feels sunlight, warm and cheering. "Good night, dear mother," said
Ellen, as she held her face up for a kiss.
"Good night, my Heart of Gold," replied her mother.
"Heart of gold!" how strange that mother should have called her that! Had she, too,
dreamed the beautiful dream!

-------------

REVIEWS

We have received a little poem, The Song of Universal Brotherhood, by Nellie E.

Dashiell.* It is one of the most tastefully got up booklets that we have seen for a long time.
Liberally illustrated with admirable full and half page engravings, with wide margins, on
excellent paper and with a most attractive symbolic design on the cover, the little book
certainly courts attention very effectively. The poetry is pleasing,

-----------
* For sale by Theosophical Publishing Co., 44 Madison Avenue, New York. Price 30
cents.
-----------

flowing smoothly and rhythmically, and is well adapted for use with music. The authoress
is evidently very responsive to the beauty of natural scenery, and pleasingly renders her
feelings in verse. But her real theme is the Brotherhood of man, a theme to which her
patriotism lends added force. We wish the little poem and its authoress every success in
their work for Brotherhood, for both are fully alive with the spirit of this new age. - H. C.

---------------
--- 342

CORRESPONDENCE

New York, July 21, 1898.

To the Editor of the Crusader:

It is possible that the workers in England and elsewhere would like to know
something of the work here, as it presents itself to a new comer, and the way in which the
methods of the Leader appear to one who has not previously worked in her neighborhood.
She is anxious that all over the world the real workers, those who have their work
fully at heart, should place themselves ever nearer and nearer in thought and feeling to the
forces and activities of the centre. Thus new channels for the outgoing waves of energy
will be constantly created, the old ones constantly deepened, and every worker who thus
develops himself will feel the whole life of the movement energizing his own individual life
and making his efforts a hundredfold more fruitful. Since February 18th of this year there
can be no one in our ranks who fails to perceive the possibilities that await the taking up
of this inner attitude, the daily maintenance of this sense of touch.
The Leader has no sort of desire to play the part of autocrat, to dictate lines of work,
to interfere with the special activities that the Lodges have found to work well in their
several districts. We know something of what she is, and what is therefore likely to be the
value of any suggestions emanating from her; we know the importance of uniform work
and lines of thought in our Lodges throughout the world; we know that obedience to a
general is the condition of victory. Our voluntary service is therefore easy, pleasant, and
fruitful. The value of the power which we have placed in the hands of the Leader is
manifest. She is enabled, should occasion arise, to protect the work from interference from
within or without, to refuse admittance to those whose aims are known to be selfish or
whose influence disruptive, and to remove those whose power is devoted to the service of
their ambition. The protection of, the fostering and energizing of, not the domineering over,
the work, is the Leader's sole aim, and we have give her a power which, partly because it
exists, may never need to be exercised. Before the decisive Convention of February 18,
countless letters had been received here, urging the adoption of some such course as that
which was taken. What if the move had not been made, power not gathered up into the
Leader's hands? We know that she is the distributing station of the highest energy with
which our ranks are charged, the Heart of the movement. There might at any time have
arisen a real danger in the non-recognition of that fact on the part of some greater or less
number led away from their real rallying-ground and therefore from their real headstream
of energy by the open or covert suggestion and proffered leadership of some ambitious one
or few. Such groups would then have remained at best as dead limbs on a living body,
limbs disconnected from the general bloodstream.
Now there is a general vigor, enthusiasm, and unity, which is very refreshing. The
workers have caught hold of the truth that their best work is done together. Many get hold
of excellent ideas and plans of work, excellent in themselves, but at the moment
inopportune during the period of solidification. These they are generally willing to drop till
the appropriate moment, and to put their whole energy in the general work of their Lodge
and its officers, or of the movement as a whole and its Leader. Great things are
forthcoming, and if we could look forward five and ten years

--- 343

we should see results, events, developments, of which we do not now dare to suspect the
possibility. I think that some of the old leaders of humanity are with us now, both in Europe
and America, waiting for their hour to strike, and many more must now from year to year
be drawn into a new incarnation. In this connection the School for the Revival of the Lost
Mysteries of Antiquity, now ripening on interior and exterior lines at Point Lorna, and of
whose rapidly approaching future the Leader has much to say in private conversation, will
have much to do. The Brotherhood Congress, to be held next year at Point Loma, will
mark an epoch in the history of humanity; partly by reason of the location, for it is a spot
dowered with the force of a special and unique history; partly for the connection with a
great past that we shall make there; partly because of the force that such a congress
under such conditions will develop and whose electric waves will spread out over all
humanity, giving new life to every unselfish worker in every field. The School will do a great
work for India. Of the noble qualities of this people the Leader speaks much. Quick to
penetrate a crust of flattery and insincerity, they readily detect their real friends. The need
of India is help on native lines; the attempt to westernize the Hindoos, to educate them
exactly after our ways, to baptize them in materialistic science and philosophy, when not
fruitless, is mischievous. Their teachers must be in and of themselves; modern machinery,
modern methods of work, modern time-saving appliances, these they need; but beyond
all this they need the revival of the ancient wisdom in such terms and ways as their poorest
can understand. They must be taught by teachers of their own people the forgotten sacred
science of life and the soul. And these teachers will themselves be trained at the School
at Point Loma. The difficulties of caste will be carefully studied and solved, not trampled
on, and the laws of caste will be perfectly respected, so that each can return to his native
country unhindered in the immediate assumption of his noble work for his people.
There are three places, to each of which, early in September, the Leader would like
to go. They are India, Sweden, and Point Loma. Point Loma will probably have to be the
selected spot, but she would much like to visit Sweden. She has a strong feeling of love
for the Swedish people, and much admiration for their stand in the cause of Brotherhood,
a stand that will forever after make the work easier in and beyond that country. The recent
action of our brothers there has already had far-reaching results.
Here in New York much gratitude is expressed for the strong, steady, absolutely
loyal work done by Herbert Crooke. His return is sincerely hoped for. The musical and
other work done both here and on the west coast by Mrs. Cleather and Basil Crump is also
fully appreciated, and has left a very definite mark. To many it was the beginning of a
special kind of education, an education that may reach a culmination in due time at the
School on Point Loma.
There are one or two points on which some mistaken ideas exist. First as to the
Leader's health. Staying as her guest for many days and closely observing her as a
physician, I can only corroborate what she says herself, namely, that her health is
absolutely established and that there is no reason why she should not live to eighty.
Certain threatening symptoms have totally and finally disappeared.
Secondly, it is said that the legal actions brought by two or three people against
various parts of our work are not yet decided. This is mistaken. The set of decisions in our
favor are the final close of the matter. Incidentally they have done considerable good in the
way

--- 344

of clearing up certain previously doubtful points in American law relating to voluntary

organizations.
With regard to the Publishing Co. the facts are as follows: founded by W. Q. Judge
and left by him to two trustees, it was recently thought desirable by one of these that it
should be wound up. Action was accordingly taken on these lines, the affair was placed
in the hands of a receiver, a new concern was at once organized, and a complete
reincarnation has in fact satisfactorily taken place. Money was furnished by various people,
and in any event there now exist perfectly worked out arrangements by which the business
will remain under perfectly trustworthy control. It should receive the utmost support that our
workers can give, and they may rest assured that no official receives anything for his
services, and that purchase of one or more of the ten-dollar five percent interest-bearing
shares will be a real service to the advancement of our work.
It has been a great pleasure to me to meet the old "Judge staff" at Headquarters and
around the Leader, people whose names are as well known in England and elsewhere as
here. Mrs. Mayer, a Headquarters resident, is known everywhere for her work in the U. B.,
and especially her Lotus work.
F. M. Pierce we all know for his great work on the Crusade, and probably every
member in the world has come within the range of his kindly presence.
H. T. Patterson is Superintendent of the I. B. L., and exhibits the same untiring
energy, kindliness, and devotion to the work that have made him everywhere beloved.
At present every effort is being made to render the "War Relief Corps" and its work
a triumphant success, and to train nurses, male and female, to send to the front with all
possible necessaries for the relief of the suffering resultant on the present war. The aid will
be rendered to the armies of America, Spain, and Cuba.
So the field is clear. The work and the degree of success are in our hands. First,
let us concentrate forces; drop fads and hobbies; give our full energy to the general work
of our Lodges; found no more periodical publications at present, remembering that a few
good ones, well supported, are better than many feebly-fed ones, scantily supported.
Let us publicly and privately live such lives as will not belie the teaching we have
received and try to distribute.
Lastly, let us hold daily and continually in heart and thought on to that Centre where
the life of Wm. Q. Judge was spent and may yet be felt, and which the present Leader, his
successor and the successor of H. P. B., has filled with her Light and energy.- Herbert
Coryn

---------------
--- 345

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD LEAGUE.

(UNSECTARIAN.)
FOUNDED APRIL 29TH, 1897.

WAR RELIEF CALL

Issued by the War Relief Corps of the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD LEAGUE
(Unsectarian).
---------
This League was founded April 29th, 1897, by
KATHERINE A. TINGLEY
---------
OFFICERS OF THE LEAGUE.
KATHERINE A. TINGLEY, President.
E. A. NERESHEIMER, Vice-President and Treasurer.
H. T. PATTERSON, Genl. Supt. and Asst. Treasurer.
ELIZABETH C. MAYER, Genl. supt. Children's Work.
HERBERT CORYN, Secretary.
------
BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
E.A. NERESHEIMER, H. T. PATTERSON, F. M. PIERCE, J. H. FUSSELL, HENRY
HARNEY, I. L. HARRIS.
--------
FINANCE COMMITTEE.
E. A. NERESHEIMER, F. M. PIERCE, H. T. PATTERSON, HENRY HARNEY, WM,
LINDSAY.
---------

OBJECTS
1. - To help men and women to realize the nobility of their calling and their true
position in life.
2. - To educate children of all nations on the broadest lines of Universal Brotherhood
and to prepare destitute and homeless children to become workers for humanity.
3. - To ameliorate the condition of unfortunate women and assist them to a higher
life.
4. - To assist those who are, or have been in prison, to establish themselves in
honorable positions in life.
 5. - To endeavor to abolish capital punishment.
6. - To bring about a better understanding between so-called savage and civilized
races, by promoting a closer and more sympathetic relationship between them.
7. - To relieve human suffering resulting from flood, famine, war and other
calamities; and generally to extend aid, help and comfort to suffering humanity throughout
the world.
--------
This organization, existing in many lands, has, in the United States alone, some
hundreds of established Centres, and during its career has, among other things, rendered
vital aid to thousands of the famine stricken natives of India; cared for large numbers of
needy children in many of the cities of the United States, Europe and Australasia; helped
to throw sunshine into the lives of those in prison; and uplifted outcast and unfortunate
men and women.
It now proposes to bring its whole strength to bear in relieving the suffering incident
to the present war. Already the members have enthusiastically entered into this work of
relief and have been constituted by the President a

WAR RELIEF CORPS.

The League now confidently extends its appeal throughout the American Nation,
aiming to afford one more practical channel for that universal compassion, which, Not
limited to the suffering of our own soldiers, embraces the call of all, of whatsoever country,
who must suffer under the horrors of this war. This work is just as much a part of the

--- 346

humanitarian work of the American People as is the determined and successful prosecution
of the war itself.
To Masons an especial appeal is made. Many members of this League belong to
the Craft, and they have found in it a prepared channel for carrying out the Brotherhood
principle on which their Order is based.
The Range of Requirements is as follows:
A - Medical and surgical necessaries.
B - A staff of trained nurses and their accouterments.
C - Supplies and provisions for the sick, wounded and destitute.
These may be detailed as follows:
Sheets, rubber draw-sheets, blankets, pillows and pillow-cases, mattresses, surgical
dressings, absorbent cotton, lint, sponges, bandages (triangular, roller and abdominal), old
linen, chloroform, mosquito netting, Listerine, Sanitas, carbolic and boracic acids, soap,
candles, combs, water pillows and cushions of all kinds, splints, eye-cups, meat extracts,
fruit juices, jellies, chocolate, cocoa, tea, coffee; tropical clothing, shoes and stockings for
men, women and children, handkerchiefs, spectacles of all grades, night shirts, pajamas,
wash-rags, towels, duck trousers, slippers, tents (for hospital with double flies), small
tables, stretchers, cots, campstools, oil stoves for cooking, kerosene, enameled iron and
tin cooking, eating and drinking vessels, knives, forks and spoons, water pails, wash bowls
and boards, kettles, hammocks, haversacks, canteens, needles and thread, pins and safety
pins, twine, bed-cord, nails, screws, hammers, hatchets, saws, spades.
At 144 Madison Avenue, New York City, the Headquarters of the League, the
following lines of practical work are in full activity:
1. Dr. Herbert Coryn, late of London, is giving a course of instruction in the handling
and care of the sick and wounded. From this class a number will be selected to proceed
to the seat of war in charge of a competent surgeon. This class meets on Mondays and
Thursdays at 8 P.M.
2. The working committee meets daily from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. for making up material
into garments, and attending to other details.
To every reader of this, we therefore make an urgent and confident appeal for aid.
We require large supplies of all the articles enumerated.

WHAT TO DO.
A. Send all the money you can, both what you can spare yourself and what you can
induce your friends to give.
B. Run your eye over the enumerated list of articles and see how many of them you
can send us and how many of them you can induce your tradesmen, friends and
acquaintances to send.
N. B.: Attention is called to the fact that no others than those named below and the
six signing members of the Committee are authorized to receive subscriptions on behalf
of the War Relief Corps; also that no official in connection with this work receives any
salary or remuneration.

NEW ENGLAND:
Clark Thurston, Box 239, Providence, R. I.
Robert Crosbie, 24 Mount Vernon St., Boston, Mass.

EASTERN NEW YORK:

E. Aug. Neresheimer, 35 Nassau St., New York City.

WESTERN NEW YORK:

W. A. Stevens, 500 Lafayette Ave., Buffalo, N. Y.
Mrs. R. V. Pierce, 653 Main St., Buffalo, N. Y.

CANADA:
S. L. Beckett, 522 Ontario St., Toronto, Ont.

OHIO:
Albion E. Lang, Pres. Traction Co., Toledo, O.

--- 347

INDIANA:
Judge E. O'Rourke, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Sam'l B. Sweet, Traffic Manager, Lake Erie and Western R. R., Indianapolis, Ind.
PENNSYLVANIA:
Wm. C. Temple, Commercial Bank B'ld'g, Pittsburgh, Pa.

ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN:

Alpheus M. Smith, 100 Title and Trust B'ld'g, Chicago, Ill.
Col. Leroy T. Steward, 3400 Forest Ave., Chicago, Ill.

MINNESOTA:
J. C. Slafter, 265 Syndicate Arcade, Minneapolis, Minn,
Mrs. H. G. Stephens, 251 Endicott B'ld'g, St. Paul, Minn.

SOUTHERN STATES:
Walter T. Hanson, Bibb Mfg. Co., Macon, Ga.
C. B. Galloway, Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tenn.
W. Ross White, Macon, Ga.

MISSOURI:
Dr. J. P. Knoche, Masonic B'ld'g, Kansas, City, Mo.

NEBRASKA:
Lucien B. Copeland, New York Life B'ld'g, Omaha, Neb.

COLORADO:
Wm. S. Wing, Colo. Midland R. R., Denver, Colo.

UTAH:
Wm. Turton, 259 3d East St., Salt Lake City, Utah.

CALIFORNIA:
Dr. Jerome A. Anderson, 1170 Market St., San Francisco, Calif.

NORTHERN PACIFIC:
Frank I. Blodgett, People's Savings Bank, Seattle, Wash.

HOW AND WHEN TO SEND.

All goods and material should be delivered free of charge at 144 Madison Avenue,
New York City, marked "War Relief Committee, International Brotherhood League."
The name and address of the donor should be put on each box, parcel, and
package. A list of contents of each box, parcel and package should be sent to the War
Relief Committee when the goods are forwarded.
As the first shipment will be made about September 1st, as much as possible should
be sent in long enough in advance of that date to be included therein.
All supplies should be properly boxed for ocean shipment. A list of donations and
disbursements will be published.
Many an heroic life has been lost for lack of such timely relief as you can now send.
Signed: [General Committee]
 E. Aug. Neresheimer, 35 Nassau St., Treasurer, American Carbide Co.
F. M. Pierce, 26 Cortlandt St., Pres 't of Frank M. Pierce E'ng'n. Co.
H. T. Patterson, 146-150 Centre St., President of Patterson, Gottfried & Hunter
(Ltd.).
Clark Thurston, Box 239, Providence, R. I., Vice-President of American Screw Co.,
President, Canada Screw Co., Director of British Screw Co.
Herbert Coryn, Member Royal College of Surgeons, etc. (Eng.)
Mrs. E. C. Mayer, 144 Madison Avenue, Superintendent of Children's Work of
International Brotherhood League.

(This circular was prepared by the General Committee for wide distribution to the
public. Every Local Committee should have a large supply on hand, and this circular,
having been prepared with

--- 348

great care under the Leader's supervision, is the only one authorized by her. No other
should therefore be issued anywhere; it may be locally reprinted in its exact terms, with no
additions whatever except that the names of the Local Committee, under that heading, may
be appended; or any quantity may be ordered from the Headquarters Centre. - Ed.)
-------

WAR RELIEF CORPS OF I. B. L.

Directions for Workers.
(These directions are for the use of I. B. L. Committees and Lodges, to guide them
in their own work. Being for Lodge use only, it differs in some particulars from the public
"War Relief Call," also printed in this issue. These points of difference should be noted,
and both circulars read by every member for that purpose. - Ed.)
To some, the seventh object of the I. B. L., when first formulated, seemed visionary.
But, lo! in India it almost immediately found its application, and many lives were saved the
scourge of famine by the help sent there. Now, already the time has come again when this
object has a field of operation. Today it is in connection with war.
It is unnecessary to harrow the mind by calling up the dire miseries, not only of the
fighters, our own and those against us, but also of the refugees and those whose homes
and properties have been destroyed and means of livelihood taken away for the time being.
Think what it means to have buildings, homes, commerce and business utterly destroyed.
Work is at a standstill, and there is no means of providing food and clothing for the well;
shelter, medicine and attendance for the sick.
By the latter part of August a member or members of the International Brotherhood
League will be sent to one or more of the places of distress to carry help and comfort to
those who most need it.
Dr. Herbert Coryn, recently of London, who has now joined us and is cooperating
heartily, has arranged to give a course of lectures to the Sisters of Compassion and others,
that they may be better prepared for the present emergency, and is ready to go himself,
when the time comes, to the field of action.
The work is, however, not one of individuals, but of the whole International
Brotherhood League organization. Every member should at once take part. Our efforts will
be energized by the intensity of our will to help humanity, and by faith in our power to do
so. On this basis let us act and think. If faith is weak our work will be proportionately
feeble.
In the new era, where is there a limit to the possibility of what may be accomplished?
Each International Brotherhood League Committee should, without a moment's
hesitation, throw itself with a mighty impetus, into this line of activity. It should begin
collecting material for the sick, wounded and destitute, and proceed to make it up in the
most useful forms. Scarcely anything can come amiss. Ransack old bureau drawers; look
in closets and cupboards; call on your friends; go to your neighbors; importune the store
keepers with whom you deal - the dry goods merchant, the druggist, the manufacturer, the
wholesaler, the retailer. Send on half-worn garments, old handkerchiefs, bed linen,
anything and everything you can conceive of. Each of us can do his part, and every
thought of compassion, leading to an act, will do something to lift this new burden, suddenly
laid on the shoulders of suffering humanity. Every Committee should do its utmost to
obtain the sympathy and cooperation of every U. B. member within reach. But it should be
remembered that their monetary resources have been heavily drained in humanitarian work
of late, and they should not be further impor-

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tuned in this direction. The Leader calls special attention to this point. It does not, of
course, apply to the public.
Even the little "Lotus Buds" can do their share.
As to the kinds of articles; as said before, scarcely anything can come amiss, and
attention is called to the list of articles and material in the circular of this issue, headed "War
Relief Call."
It should be noted that flannel is especially needed.
Books are not needed. If wanted plenty can be obtained at the Centre.
Mrs. Tingley is already busy with her band of lady workers, who are meeting daily,
sewing and making up material already sent in to Headquarters. The names of this working
committee are given below. One evening a week the gentlemen assemble. This plan
should be pursued in every Lodge. Each Lodge can send, not only its own contribution of
material, but can make appeals, individually and collectively, to the general public, under
the supervision of its local I. B. L. Committee.
Especial attention should he paid in this respect to the newspapers. They can and
should give their aid gratuitously, and will do it if approached in the right way.
Members at large, and people separated from branches, can send contributions to
the New York War Relief Corps Centre, 144 Madison Avenue, to be made up; and this will
be done at once.
In the different towns committees could collect from stores, after a general appeal
had been made through the papers and otherwise.
In the different Lodges the ladies should work at mending, sewing, repairing and
making up, before sending on to New York.
All work is under the general direction of Mrs. Katherine A. Tingley, President of the
International Brotherhood League.
 The members of the General Committee are Mr. E. Aug. Neresheimer, Mr. F. M.
Pierce, Hr. Herbert Coryn. Mrs. E. C. Mayer, Mr. H. T. Patterson, Mr. Clark Thurston; all
correspondence in relation to the general work should be addressed either to the President
or Mr. Patterson, and should be very brief and concise.
The members of the Committee assisting Mrs. Tingley are Mrs. Shuler-Shutz, Miss
E. C. Whitney, Mrs, Freeman, Mrs. S. W. Cape, Mrs. Dunbar Hunt, Miss Sara Churchill, Mr.
J. H. Fussell, Mr. Burcham Harding, Mr. Elliott Page, Mr. R. Prater, Mrs. Waldheimer, Miss
M. Lloyd, Madame de Santos, Mrs. A. A. Deen Hunt, and others to be named later.
All boxes, packages and bundles should be plainly addressed
"WAR RELIEF CORPS OF INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD LEAGUE, 144
Madison Avenue, New York,"
and marked with the name of the sender.
All freight and express charges should be prepaid, as otherwise the goods cannot
be received.
All boxes must contain a list of their contents, signed by the donor, and the packing
and boxing must be thorough, in order to stand long transportation.
An urgent appeal should be made to railroads, freight agents and express
companies, for free transportation.
Everything possible should reach New York not later than the 25th of August, to
make the first shipment as large as practicable.
We claim that a new era has begun; that we are in truth and deed members of a
universal brotherhood. We claim that we are carrying help to a discouraged humanity. Let
us strongly seize this opportunity for real work. New York, Boston, Buffalo, Bridgeport and
Providence are already hard at work.
At the Hall of the Aryan Branch, which is large and commodious, and on the first
floor, a number of ladies will be on hand every day from 9 to 5.
- H. T. Patterson
(For the General Committee).

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[[photo: Willans]]

NOTES *
Brother Willans' manifesto contains, it seems to us, an excellent answer to those
students of the Theosophical philosophy who appear to have grown more interested in
"autonomy" than was wont to be the case in the glad old days under H. P. B., when it was
"cheerfully to serve and promptly to obey." Truth to say, most of us, then as now, were
more eager for "orders" than favored with an undue multiplicity thereof. Of suggestions and
aids there were and are many; far more than any one of us could either assimilate or carry
out; but "orders"? Proud and happy were they who received them; but they were, and
are, few.
Really this craze for independence makes one laugh. When we become truly,
consistently and continuously filled with boundless compassion for all that lives and
breathes; teachers, exponents and living exemplars thereof in all we say and do and think:
we shall then know something of real independence.

-----------
* Reprinted from the International Theosophist
-----------

Are we not the veriest children in such matters? Mere babes, surely. On the other hand
we have filled our brains with the writings of all ages, more or less, down to the Secret
Doctrine, and we know - so much! We are quite important, and can now get along finely
without extraneous human or superhuman guidance.
But it is all nonsense. Such knowledge is not life. We ought to know that by this
time. Nay more, such knowledge is hardly yet for most of us. Much was written not for us,
but for the future. Written for men and women yet unborn who will be ON FIRE with
brotherhood, and will thus have the swift intuition to understand and apply the knowledge
in the right way to uplift and help souls. Not to flatter intellects.
In the recent work of building up this great movement from an overshadowing to a
living organism, each cell with its own life, there were intermediate stages - territorial
branches and smaller branches, consolidating, dividing, extruding, and all the time
threatened with extinction for want of the life of real brotherly feeling. And it was
occasionally necessary to speak of autonomy in connection with these stages. Now we
have the living organism with the germs of real freedom, real unity and real independence.
The independence of united souls engaged in a universal great work.
The Brotherhood Bazaar, to be held in London in the autumn, for aiding the funds
of the U. B. and the Home Crusade, will, it is hoped, have as one of its features an Irish
stall. The Dublin committee for this consists of Miss Susan Varian, or Talbot Street, and
Mrs. Annie Dick, 163 Rathgar Road. Those of Irish nationality - or who have Irish hearts! -
and who reside in other parts, will please forward their contributions to Mr. K. M. Lundberg,
3 Vernon Place, London, W.C.
------------
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TO THE LODGES AND MEMBERS OF THE U.B.

Misunderstandings and complications sometimes arise in Lodges in connection with
lecturers outside of our organization being encouraged to lecture at Lodge meetings.
Experience taught Mr. Judge and members here at the Centre that it was wisest not to
incite any one to lecture who was not a member of our Society, except in some special
cases and when endorsed by the Central Office.
Several Lodges in the past have, however, done this with awkward results, placing
them in undesirable positions.
Surely there is nothing to prevent members going to hear any lecturers in any place,
but when any one lectures at the Lodge who is not a member of the Organization, the
Lodge in a sense endorses him. He can then go to another Lodge where perhaps the
members are not very familiar with the methods of work of the Organization and
representing himself as being endorsed by the first Lodge, gain entrance there also. In this
way members may be swerved off the line of their study and endeavor. I must say I cannot
approve of this.
 There are many lecturers connected with other organizations who copy some of our
principal ideas but whose methods are quite contrary to ours, going about the country and
seeking to use our Lodges and members for their advancement, working up classes from
our membership and often disintegrating our work. For the next few years great precaution
should be taken in reference to outside lecturers.
Then again in our own ranks there are many good Theosophists who are fair
speakers, but who have not had a wide experience and are not well versed in the
philosophy. By no means would I encourage such to give public lectures until they have
gained more experience and have made themselves thoroughly familiar with the
philosophy. The study classes and closed Lodge meetings should be for all members and
opportunity should be given to all to take part in them.
Here at the Centre it is of course possible to see more clearly the progress of the
work and to realize the many dangers that menace it, but I am sure that all members will
realize the importance of the above suggestions and help to carry them out.
- Katherine A. Tingley
------------

IMPORTANT NOTICE
Universal Brotherhood Lodges needing lecturers should not apply to other Lodges
or to the members direct, but should send in their request to the Central Office.
Brother Cannon of Milwaukee who is doing local work in his own part of the country,
is the only authorized lecturer in the field for this month.
- K. A. Tingley

The following letter read at the anniversary meeting of the Crusade has been
received from Mr. Dunlop, with the request that it he published in UNIVERSAL
BROTHERHOOD.

Universal Brotherhood Lodge No. 10 and H.P.B. Branch Theosophical Society in America,
142 West 125th Street, N.Y.

June 13th, 1898

To Our Beloved Leader Katherine A. Tingley,

Greeting,
On this the second anniversary of the starting of the Crusade around the world we
desire to renew our expressions of loyalty and devotion to you, and the cause you so nobly
serve. We have learned to love your great heart, and from that love arises a full trust,
inspiring us with fresh hope and courage to go on with the work to which we have set our
hands.
The work you have accomplished in two years and three months presents quite a
phenomenal record, so that we

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can only briefly refer to the most important events:

 FIRST. The Crusade around the world carrying the message of "TRUTH, LIGHT
AND LIBERATION TO DISCOURAGED HUMANITY" was the greatest theosophical
achievement of the century, the importance and significance of which will become more
apparent as the years go by, until at last all nations are united in the bonds of fraternity,
peace and good will.
SECOND. The selecting of the ground for the school for the Revival of the Lost
Mysteries of Antiquity at Point Loma, California, and laying the foundation stone with
appropriate Ceremonial - thus making possible in the near future the realization of the hope
of many centuries, the establishment of a visible temple of spiritual light and truth on the
earth.
THIRD. The founding of the International Brotherhood League, acknowledged to
be the first organization to synthesize all departments of humanitarian effort - thus providing
opportunities for putting into service the true philosophy of life on the broadest lines.
FOURTH. The organization of theosophical work among children, on a more
practical basis than before, which has already brought about great results and opened the
way for even more wonderful developments in the future.
FIFTH. The founding and editing of a weekly illustrated paper, The New Century,
on the broadest lines of Universal Brotherhood, which is in itself a weekly crusade around
the world.
SIXTH. The founding and organizing of the Universal Brotherhood Organization,
placing the theosophical movement on the lines originally suggested by the Founders, and
inclusive of every department of work. This is to have done something marvelously great
in view of the many difficulties which had to be overcome. It is the natural outcome of the
Crusade, world-wide, all-embracing, unfettered by past limitations, providing ways and
means to reach every human heart irrespective of any distinctions, who are seeking light
and hope in every part of the world. You have by this act laid the foundations for the future
religion of humanity, and year by year the full meaning and purport of the Universal
Brotherhood Organization will be recognized more and more until at last its final purpose
is achieved.
By your wide, large and magnanimous grasp of the work you have turned our eyes
to the future so that we may learn to judge of events by the ebb and flow of tides that are
universal.
You are one with the great we name H. P. Blavatsky and W. Q. Judge. Where
limitations to the future work exist, we are those limitations but we have interpreted a little
of the spirit of your message and know that you have succeeded in giving Theosophy a
more human habitation, and a new name whereby it shall be known and recognized by all
men. What is all philosophy if we go not with you, and the great ones of all time, to the aid
of the sad ones of earth who seek to return once again to the ancient enchantment of the
life divine. This task you have undertaken with heart o'erflowing with compassion, and our
hearts have responded to this supreme lesson.
Lead on, beloved Leader, and we will try to follow you all the way.
On behalf of the Lodge.
- D. N. Dunlop, President.
----------

We regret to announce the death of one of our devoted members, Victor Farnung,
of Fairhaven, Washington, on June 10th, 1898. He is much missed in the work by his
fellow Lodge members.
Work goes steadily forward in the great North West and the Lodges are doing
excellent work. It is a vast territory but here and there the beacon lights shine out and send
forth their rays of truth, touching the hearts of many.

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