Topics:

36	Prelude
37	Signposts on Life's Highway
38	Faith Without Action Is Fruitless
39	The Conflict Between the Carnal Self and Spiritual Aspiration
40	"Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God"
41	Love, the Key to Initiation
42	Occult Laws Have Been Beacon Lights Throughout the Ages
43	A Gradual Revealment of the Mysteries
44	Master Teachers Are Soul Builders
45	None So Blind as Those Who Refuse to See
46	Soul Development Is the Path to Spiritual Enlightenment
47	The Real Measure of a Man
48	The Candidate for Wisdom Must Be Worthy
49	Man Becomes That Which He Seeks and Makes Effort to Know
50	The Incentive to Do - to Become
51	Solving the Riddle of Life
52	Initiation Is Slow Growth by Development and Regeneration
53	Awakening to the Power Within
54	Contacting God Within
55	Every Sacrifice Brings Its Reward
56	Man Must Work Out His Own Salvation
57	The Regenerate Selfish Self Assures Soul Enlightenment
58	Breaking the Bonds That Bind the Soul to the Selfish Self
59	Will Power, a First Step to Dominate Bodily Passions and Appetites
60	Transmuting the Carnal Nature Necessary to Attain Soul Consciousness
61	Love, the Affections, Underlies All Occult Power
62	Contacting the Spiritual Hierarchies
63	Fire Is the Great Purifier - the Basis for All Life
64	Love Is God's Expression Through Man
65	The Path to Freedom and Power
66	The Quest for Light - and More Light
67	Man Receives Spiritual Enlightenment Through the Medium of Light
68	The Voice of God Spoke to Moses
69	The Fire in The Burning Bush Was The Light of God
70	Life Is a Constant Becoming
71	Transmutation Is by Means of the Fire
72	Burnt Offerings and Sacrifices Are the Truest Form of Prayer
73	The Spiritual Becomes Visible to Man as Light or Flame
74	The Spirit of Fire Will Light the Flame That Immortalizes Man
75	All Nature Is Built on a Foundation of Fire
76	Consider the Lotus and the Lily
77	Love - the Immortalizing Elixir
78	Initial Steps in the Study of Arcane or Occult Laws
79	Man Must Become Master of the Beasts in His Own Field
80	Man, Know Thyself
81	Man Must Pass Through the Shadows of Darkness to Reach the Light
82	The Mastery of Thought
83	The Baptism by Water
84	A New Life and a New World
85	Visions Are the Basis of All Creation
86	The World Within
87	Knowledge and Understanding Come by Means of Soul Development
88	Soul Consciousness and Individualization
89	Transmuting the Serpents of Passion into Spiritual, Creative Power
90	In the Sacred Portal Is the Throne of the Soul
91	Few Men Know the Power of the Supreme Temptress
92	The Law of Action and Reaction
93	Divine Alchemy

  Part of the Great Work is to recognize the Weak and Undesirable Within, select a worthy Motive or Ideal, then choose a Master Teacher as Guide during the process of Substitution or Transmutation of the Undesirable and work under his direction until such time as we ourselves become an Occult Initiate - a Master.

The Initiate recognizes two diverse methods for gaining Wisdom.

On the one hand is the intellectual attainment, the study of the methods and experiences of others, accepting as truth the conclusions reached, memorizing them and applying them to the affairs and activities of life; accepting more or less without questioning the old axiom that "what was good enough for my father is good enough for me."

This is superficial to a high degree, because it depends entirely upon belief and imitating others. What has been taught can be turned into actual knowledge through analysis and experience; discarding the unverified. But the vast majority of mankind fail to proceed that far, and are only too willing to take for granted as truth that which the mass and delegated authority have concluded to be the truth, or accepted as the truth.

The other method is not only to accept the teachings and experiences of others, but also to develop the inner or spiritual faculties - latent in almost all mankind - thereby awakening the receptive and intuitive powers. Both the methods and the conclusions may be put to the test and Wisdom gained, often instantaneously, either through feeling or sensing or by an actual visualization and living. This, Arcanely, is called the Way.

The adherents of the material school rely entirely on the physical senses and on a mental retention of the things heard and seen, discarding all other means of gaining knowledge, generally failing even to be guided by their own experiences. While the Occultist accepts as possible these same conclusions, he also connects with the source of all things and there obtains a verification or refutation of the information desired through what might be termed "absorption," or the coming into communion with the source or universal record of all that has existed and still exists.

Heretofore it has been the belief of the mass that the work of the Secret Schools of Initiates was impractical, dealing ONLY with Spiritual subjects, such as purification of the heart so as to throb with love for all mankind and, through the awakening of intuitive faculties, gain the key to Nature's Laws, thereby enabling the Initiate to accomplish his desires, becoming conscious of and satisfied with this attainment.

This is but one part of the Great Work. These Schools have always had in mind, aside from the perfection of the individual, the improvement of physical humanity and the freedom of man from all the forces that tend to enslave him, inculcating an Ideal Code of Ethics for the establishment of an Ideal - but practical - Democracy wherein every man is a King. This is not to be accomplished through revolution and the destruction of life and property, but through the evolution of the individual, making him truly capable of self-government, a master of his own emotions and passions, a free man, free from himself and the tyranny of his weaknesses as well as from the slavery imposed upon him by other men, who are stronger and often more ruthless.
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The organism of man resembles a kingdom: its capital is the mind, its ruler should be the Spiritual self, its body is the temple. In that mind and temple will be found many false prophets. There are the Pharisees of sophistry and false logic, credulity and skepticism; the Scribes with prejudices and erroneous opinions engrafted upon the memory.

If you would comprehend the truth, do not heed what these false prophets "say," but listen to the voice of Wisdom that speaks within your heart after you have opened it to the truth. It is written that the temple built of speculations which the Scribes have erected will be destroyed, and none of the dogmas and theories of which it has been constructed will remain when the day of judgment comes.

Open your mind to the truth so that it may be reflected from within your own heart (feelings); and feeling, you may know. The mind listens to false logic and is lost. On the one hand is the apostle of materialism who boastfully proclaims his thesis that to accept material science is to become enlightened. On the other hand, the religious enthusiast begs you to believe in his theories so that you will be saved. Both pretensions are illogical and lead to delusions. To believe is not sufficient, nor is it wise to blindly follow these leaders.

To become enlightened, it is not sufficient to merely believe and to follow; it is necessary to awaken to truth, to live, to become one with it and to manifest it from within oneself. Science is of value only as it verifies reality. Religion, i.e., Spiritual and philosophical verities, is desirable only as we make it part of life. The one object of both science and religion - these are combined in Initiation - is to ennoble man and to awaken in him a realization of the Divinity of the Soul within. If there is no such Divinity, then life is a delusion, and neither science nor religion is of any value. If there IS such a Divinity, the whole object and purpose of life is to manifest that Divinity in life and action.
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Occult Initiation combines science and esoteric or living religion - the practical Spiritual philosophy. Acceptance by faith alone is not enough but through its inculcations and practices it ennobles man and awakens in him a realization of the Divinity of the Spiritual self which dwells within. Initiation such as this, in its practical aspects, brings about a real knowledge of the relation which exists between man and the Elysian sphere, from which the Soul emanated in the beginning. It does not end there; it leads to a conscious union of man with God, or call it the source of all things; a union impossible by mere belief or faith, or by blindly following the enthusiasts of sects or isms. It can be attained only through desire, Will and obedience, not to man but to the Divine Law.

There is no real knowledge to be gained by merely memorizing a theory and knowing how to apply it! There can be no Wisdom unless the theory is confirmed by experience, in other words, unless one actually lives according to the philosophy he believes. Initiation demands the application of the Laws taught until they materialize in manifestations of a combined Spiritual-practical nature, and man becomes that which he believes and practices.
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Wisdom is acquired neither by study of mysticism or philosophy nor by moralizing, although these prepare the foundation. Wisdom is not dependent on theoretical concepts dealing with terrestrial or celestial things, nor can Spiritual (Soulual) REgeneration be attained by leading a virtuous life for rear of consequences that are likely to follow if we indulge in evil thoughts and acts. It is attainable only through the actual realization of the realities stored in the Subconscious, and that are accumulated through numerous incarnations.

The process of REgeneration or Initiation involves, as it were, a continual battle between the Spiritual aspirations and carnal desires, in which the Soul must gain the ultimate victory over selfishness or finally lose its identity as an individual entity. It is equally true that nothing of real worth, even though earthly in nature, is to be destroyed in the process.
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The philosophy of the Secret Schools inculcates a strict morality, it is true; a life which brings no guilt upon the Soul. It likewise demands obedience to the Laws governing health, strength and virility; not because these things are held to as a creed, but because obedience is essential if success is to be gained and Consciousness of Soul attained.

Those who seek to become Initiates, who are to be known as the Brethren of the Rosy Cross, Initiates of Light, must enter the Path for no other reason than this: that they have love for the Light which is hidden within. If the heart is unselfish, then in truth may the "kingdom" be found, and all else will be included. To become one with the Light is to be an Initiate, and this is to find the Fire, which is God in manifestation. For this reason Fire, in one form or another, has always symbolized the Conscious Soul, the Initiate.
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The Occult Law requires more than curiosity and secrecy on the part of the Neophyte. These alone can never be the password to the adytum of true Initiation. It necessitates something more than selfish interest to enter the gate of the Path leading to Soul Consciousness. It requires a heart able to throb for the welfare of humanity and a love of justice. He who seeks Initiation because it offers him an opportunity to become all that the Divine Plan had intended him to be and, in addition, the possibility to be of service to others, will - by effort - reach the goal of attainment.

No one has ever sought the Path to Initiation who has not found the Door into the Secret Portals and, proven faithful, was brought face to face with the Sublime Mysteries, the knowledge that love leads to God and accomplishment; that both love and God, like the Soul itself, are symbolized by the Sacred, ever-burning Fire; that same Fire or Light which is symbolized throughout the ages in every form of Initiation.
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The traditions of the Occult Law, the Philosophy of Fire, the practices which lead to Soul Consciousness and all the self-development and self-improvement this implies do not derive their value and application from historical data, but from the universe and eternal truths embodied, and the fact that all the teachings and symbolism of the Secret Schools are founded on the Divine Philosophy of the human Soul. The individual Spiritual self, your Soul, is a smaller edition of the Oversoul; therefore, this Soul may manifest through the universal Fire in the form of Love to the greatest good of the self and to all others; and unveil all the Wisdom which is hidden from the profane - that is the unenlightened.

Were the historical episodes only legends, the world in its cyclic revolutions would long since have swept over them and buried them in eternal oblivion. They are facts imparted by Master to Neophyte in the Secret Schools and thus, forever beacon lights to generation after generation, always held out as the goal to humanity. These beacon lights are reached by a few in every age, and these few hold them before the mass as an incentive to urge them to go forward.

The Divine Laws which combine within themselves the Wisdom which can lead man from his carnal self to Divinity become obscured and almost lost in one age due to the selfishness and cruelty of men, only to rise, Phoenix-like rejuvenated, in the next age. These Laws have never been lost, merely suppressed and held in the secret archives of the Secret Schools to be promulgated again when the time is opportune. These Laws are immortal truths, universally applicable, knowing neither decay nor elimination by time from the eternal records. In all ages there are those who have remained faithful to their obligations and who stand ready to lead those to the Light who seek for more than immediate carnal satisfaction.
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Occult Initiation is not to be confused with ordinary ceremonial initiation, however beautifully illustrative it may be. Occult Initiation is the gradual revelation of the Mysteries to the Soul as it gains interior Consciousness of its Divinity or Immortality. Such an Initiation is possible only to those who willingly obey the Arcane and Divine Laws and are ready to live the Arcanum, a highly practical life of a sincere Novitiate and thereby frow into the knowledge and Wisdom resulting from such conscious living. To experience is to know. To be taught and accept as fact is merely to believe. It is not knowledge, and can not be knowledge until applied and found practical; then it is Wisdom. The Divine Law, Occult because it is hidden, is the one supreme Law in the Universe. It alone teaches men to accept, to practice, to live, to feel, to experience and, therefore to know and become. Hence, the value of the training given by the Secret Schools is to teach these Laws and guide the Neophyte to attainment.
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Occult Laws are immortal truths and as such know no decay, nor can they be lost. They are like Divine Images concealed in blocks of stone, which many artisans may assail with mallet and chisel, square and compass, only , perchance, to release a distorted form. It is only the "Master Workman" the Initiate Master, who can so chip away the stone as to reveal in all its grandeur and beauty the Divine Ideal and, having released it endow it with the breath of life.

Such are the builders of the Soul. It demands a Master Artisan to take a man in his crude, materialistic, carnal state and so instruct, guide and counsel him to become Soul Consciousness, an Initiate and the master of his destiny; master not alone in things Spiritual but also in life's everyday affairs.
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If Occult Laws - real knowledge of the nature of the Soul and of the destiny both physical and Spiritual of man - had never existed, our present status would indeed, be pitiable in the extreme. But when we demonstrate that this knowledge has existed for ages uncounted, at times only in the secret archives of the Secret Schools, but always at the command of those who sincerely sought, then, there is no longer any excuse for any man to be other than at his best, despite circumstances and environments which tend to enslave and hold in bondage the weak and inert.

Two conditions at the present moment stand squarely in the way of the advancement of all but the few who have seen the Light. First, anarchy and confusion, a defiance of law, a disbelief in God or in the Divine Law and order, the result of selfishness in social relations among all classes. This plight can be overcome in but one way, viz., the recognition of the unqualified equal rights - NOT their equality as they are, but may BECOME - of all men to seek knowledge and Wisdom in their own way, not as a theory, a religious duty or a mere matter of sentiment, but as a necessity in nature, a universal and Divine command. The penalty for the refusal is precisely the conditions under which humanity now struggles and suffers.

The second condition, which gives rise to the "confusion among the workmen" in the building of the social structure and the individual habitation of man, is brought about by the false ideals, inefficient methods of education and a non-classification of the laborers, making of men cogs in a huge machine with the destruction of incentive. Add to this the almost total ignorance concerning the finer forces, potentialities and innate Wisdom possessed by man, and the absence of all efforts to bring these latent forces into manifestation until these Divine inheritances are well-nigh starved to death, and only the physical and intellectual part of man survives. What must be the result? Barely one individual in a million has the hardihood to call his Soul his own, to possess an opinion different from the mass, or the desire and willingness to make the effort to seize opportunity toward real advancement in the evolution of the higher forces and powers innately possessed, and become the man Nature and the Divine Law intended him to be.

Once the struggle for bare existence involved the need for the greater part of the energy, time and opportunity at man's command; but this is no longer true. The struggle is more bitter than ever, but this is due in part to class friction and partly to misunderstanding and the desire for luxuries which in themselves have little or no intrinsic value, and are mostly nonbeneficial, but often detrimental and leave the combatant weaker but not wiser.

As long as man is thus blind to his own interests, he will never discover the real meaning of life nor the actual purpose of human existence; much less does he realize the power he might have manifested of the good he might have accomplished, and thereby he misses the happiness he might have obtained. This much may be discerned from physical evolution alone and from the study of the human brain, wherein there is a continually increasing portion of gray substance set free from the functions incidental to the preservation of the physical structure, primarily designed to be appropriated to a separate and higher purpose. Mere intellectual activities alone, connected with the physical plane, with the maintenance and enjoyment of life, will not explain the slow but certain cerebral development in awakening man.

It is only when man divides his time properly - giving a part to necessary labor; another part to rest and recreation, pleasant and beneficial; and devoting the third part to self-improvement and the awakening of his Higher Self and his latent forces in accordance with the Divine Law - that he may become the balanced being the Creator intended him to be, no longer the pawn in the hands of egomaniacs or the forces of fate. This is the rational and natural philosophy taught by the Initiates and Master Teachers of the Secret Schools.
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It is an axiom of the Occult that there is but one real source of knowledge - i.e., Wisdom, gained by experience - and of power; namely, self-awakening, interior and exterior development, Spiritual enlightenment through unfoldment of the faculties and forces latent within every human being. If these concepts were accepted and actually acted upon, there would result time, opportunity and the ability to comprehend the deeper and higher problems of the origin, nature, ability and destiny of man. Man generally has not reached this plane as yet, and will not until he seeks and finds his Spiritual, or eternal, self - his Soul, that living Fire which allies him with the creating force. This creating force we know as God and may be called the functioning, directing and sustaining activity of the Law.

What man may become or what he might accomplish under favorable conditions and by awakening and making use of all his forces is seldom dreamed of by humanity, and is only visualized for us by the lives of the few great Masters who have lived, suffered, sacrificed, achieved, enjoyed and conferred great gifts upon unappreciative mankind.
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The Ancient Wisdom embraces a knowledge of the requirements of the physical man and his possibilities as well as an understanding of the Soul, its origin, nature, potentialities and the Laws that govern its evolution and development. This is precisely where modern materialistic science in its self-sufficiency has failed the human race, but what the Secret Schools have always taught in the Mysteries. It is for this reason these Schools have continues to exist, even throughout the dark ages when human life was "expendable" as it is again becoming.

All preliminary study and training in these Secret Schools lead up to this: "the real measure of a man." Just as all life should be a constant evolution, so must all real (basic) Knowledge or philosophical study be an Initiation, proceeding in a natural order, advancing by specific "degrees" or stages of growth and unfoldment.
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In all true Arcane Initiation, that of gradual Growth and becoming, the Neophyte must be "worthy, well-qualified, duly and truly prepared." He must intuitively perceive that such an Arcane knowledge exists; he must wholeheartedly desire to come into possession of it by being willing to make every necessary effort and whatever immediate personal sacrifice is necessary for its acquisition. He must recognize that personal selfishness dare not enter, yet he must be aware that the return for every effort made, every sacrifice undergone, will ultimately be tenfold. He must pass beyond the stage of blind belief or superstition, admit the possibility of everything, yet accept nothing as truth and fact until he has tested and experienced it.

This is the meaning of being "duly and truly prepared." He must prove his fitness in these directions no less than prove the absence in himself of that subtler form of intellectual egotism which comes from the possession of what usually passes as intellectual attainment, as also, from the desire for dominion over others less highly endowed for selfish purposes of his own. The motives, therefore, of the Neophyte will alone determine whether or not he is "worthy and well-qualified."(1)
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(1) Difficult! Not at all, Simply restore manhood, morality, honesty, the acceptance of full personal responsibility.
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It is unquestionably true that on every plane of activity in life, during the process by which knowledge is acquired through experienc, man becomes that which he seeks to know. This is to say, Wisdom, such as the Neophyte seeks is a progressive becoming through feeling and experience,, it being understood that nothing can actually be known unless it has been felt. There results, therefore, a continuous transformation or transmutation of the motives, ideals and perceptions of the individual as he travels the Occult Path, and proceeds to pass through an experience of life during the natural process of his own evolution.

This is the philosophical and scientific meaning of true Initiation as taught and illustrated by the Secret Schools and is, in fact, The Alchemical Process or transforming or transmuting the lesser into the greater - the dross into fine gold - the end of which is freedom through experience and self-development.
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Mind with desire, in one sense, is the constant struggle of the faculty of understanding in assimilating experience and tabulating it for future use. It is the effort of the individual to adjust precept with practice, practice with results. It may be said to be that living, active something which is the incentive to do, to become what appears to be most desirable, without the payment of a penalty, thus helping the growth of the Soul and increasing man's capability to apprehend truth and apply it to everyday affairs of life, if he also lives accordingly, he is actually growing or transmuting the undesirable from the standpoint of his own benefit, and the process may be well advanced before he is aware of the growth attained.
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Through the Ancient Mysteries life presented itself to the Neophyte as a problem to be solved, and not merely as certain propositions to be memorized and then possibly forgotten, as is the rule in modern institutions of learning. The solution of the problem through feeling and experience, constituted Wisdom and was an initiation at every step or "degree." Therefore, the command: "Man, know thyself." written above the door of every Temple, was not an idle precept, but a profound command; and it was necessary for each Neophyte to actually learn to know - become acquainted with HIMSELF, his passions, emotions and weaknesses, as well as his strength and potentialities, before he could attain to the status of an Initiate.

As the vision of the Neophyte became enlarged in relation to the meaning and duties of life, his power of comprehension and assimilation of knowledge increases proportionately. This is a process of actual or intellectual evolution. The lower degrees or stages of growth, also termed initiation, and known as the "Lesser" Mysteries, concerned his physical being and the ordinary affairs of life, i.e., a knowledge of the laws and process of external nature; his relation to these conditions of his physical body, as well as his duties on the physical plane because of his animal senses and social instincts to his family and his fellow men.

These things having been learned through experience not by merely memorizing, the Neophyte passed on to the next stage or degree. Here he learned the nature of the Soul, of his real self and the process of its development, and began the unfoldment of those finer senses which have been so frequently referred to on works dealing with Initiation.

If he was of fair intelligence and possessed of normal moral strength, he would be capable of understanding these sensitivities and would presently discover that there is an evolution within him of senses and faculties pertaining to the Soul plane, yet connected with the affairs of life and his fellow men.

If he were found negligent of the ordinary duties of life - duties to his family, his neighbor or his country - his progress would be instantly arrested and his teachers would refuse him all further instructions, proving the highly practicability of the Occult Initiation. All duties that man owes to others must be discharged before he can stand upon the threshold of Mastership; to become an unselfish servant of humanity as a whole he must compulsively do his duty to the Law.
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Occult Science in its higher phase - the Arcanum - recognizes that the ultimate aim of genuine Initiation consists in the orderly unfoldment of the natural forces and powers of the Neophyte so that he will ultimately BECOME what he desires to attain. All genuine Initiation is both evolution and REgeneration from within the self. Devoid of such an inner mystery, all Occult training would be without meaning and lacking an aim. In seeking "magic," man becomes the Magus.

The present-day Occult Initiate seldom uses the term "magic" because of the disrepute into which the science has fallen through the abuse and degradation by those who obtained a smattering of knowledge, broke their vows, proved false to the instructions they had received and in general became Judas-like to all that Initiates hold most sacred. Despite these, there are Magi who have purified the heart so that it throbs with love for humanity and, through the awakening of feelings and intuition and the unfolding and the consciousness of the Soul, hold the keys to many of Nature's Laws wherewith they are enabled to accomplish their mission in life.
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Occult Science maintains that it is a cardinal Law that every Soul must work out its own salvation. This does not alienate the Neophyte from God or the operating Law. On the contrary, it opens every door leading to opportunity and in nowise restricts the possibilities of attainment. When man accepts the challenge and proceeds to apply the Laws of development, it will be but a short time before he begins to realize the awakening of a power, a force, a potential energy within himself wholly unknown to him before. This becomes his incentive to greater effort toward accomplishing his mission on earth.
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While seeking perfection, the Occult Initiate gradually acquires the knowledge of unity which is wholly impossible for man as long as he merely lives in faith and the hope that he will be saved by some power outside of himself. To attain the Wisdom of unity, i.e., At-One-Ment, one must rise above the personal self toward the Divinity. This Divinity or, more correctly speaking, part of this Divinity is within each one of us. That which we know as God, because we have been unable to find or invent a more satisfactory term, dwells within each man to the degree of that man's Spiritual unfoldment or consciousness. Few, exceptionally few, have found Him, It or this state of Spiritual Consciousness, because they have been unwilling to either make the necessary effort or exchange the tinsel in their possession for the pure "gold" that might be theirs. Nevertheless, this is the only Path to "salvation," the only method whereby to attain Mastership.
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A Master has well said:

"Once thou hast perceived the perfect Being, or the perfection of being, that is above the world and yet within thyself, do thou decide to abandon the enemy in thy household which bears the form of carnal desire. Control thy passions; better yet, transmute them into power. The joys afforded by the senses are wombs of future sufferings. Remember this, yet joys and pleasures are not denied thee, be their origin in the heart and pure. Not alone do good, but, above all, feel this generosity in thine heart from which kind acts spring. Let the motive be in the action; the fruits will bring their own blessings.

"He who turns or directs his desires and labors toward the knowledge, whence proceeds the beginning of all things, ultimately attains to perfection in exchange. In this SPIRIT, that is, in his Soul's desire, the Neophyte acquires a Spiritual Wisdom which is far beyond the worship of offerings and experiences a felicity of inward peace which is Divine. For know ye that he who within himself finds his happiness, his joy, his peace and Light is one with God, with that unrevealed allness which embraces all and is all, yet remains hidden to all but the Initiates who are the sons of the Light - Brethen of the Light."
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Real Occult Initiation is an internal, not an external, ceremonial or formal process. An outer form may be useful in so far as it symbolizes and illustrates, and thereby it makes clear the inward changes taking place. To be truly initiated is to be fully transformed; to be transformed is to have become REgenerated; and this is possible only by trials, by self-efforts, self-conquests, often through sorrow, disappointments, possible failure and a daily renewal of battling the conflict.

It is, thus, that in a religious sense, man must "work out his own salvation," but it is equally true that in this manner man must take himself, an uncut marble, and by the Ideal in his Soul and by his own efforts, release the holy image therein and emerge the Master. The consummation of Initiation is Mastership according to the "degree" one has been willing and able to overcome the finite, and has found the Christos, for these are one and the same. This is the goal, the perfect consummation of human evolution through conscious development on all planes.
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By constant struggle and daily conflict the Initiate has conquered self, and no man can know how weak, yet tenacious, that self is until he undertakes to subjugate it. Life after life, man has gained experience. Truly, he has been a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He has been assailed by many problems, studied all science, exhausted all litanies, apprehended all philosophies, practiced all arts. Then he awakens: he glimpses a ray of the Light; at last he comprehends his mission, at every step he learns to sense and feel more deeply, to help humanity more and more, and seeks his own mundane benefits less.

Grown thus familiar with planes and phases of life through sore trial, by bitter conflict, frequent defeats, hopes many times deferred, almost despairing, yet ever refusing to give up, when he has at last mastered the selfish self, removed the debris, and desiring nothing other than reality, then, everything comes to him. Such is the story of life - and Initiation.
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Through natural evolution and an infinite amount of conflict and suffering, man is continually climbing to higher levels, although often nations are destroyed in the process. Evolution, fortified or assisted by a process of conscious development such as the Occult Law offers, helps man to reach the goal centuries or eons before unoriented evolution could possibly bring this about.

Through oriented development, man's five senses become adjusted to observations and experiences on the physical plane, and he gains Spiritual knowledge. The senses are narrow and circumscribed, yet capable of refinement. His tastes gradually alter; his tendencies ascend. He begins to reach outward as his sympathies expand, and upward as his ideals become elevated. There is revealed to him a whole world of experience in which the lower senses are refused a part, a world of aspiration in which the selfish self is no longer in control.

The thongs that held his physical self in bondage begin to loosen, expand and disappear. Heretofore he may have been conscious of flashes of intuition, of comprehending things he had seemingly never learned. He begins to feel inner meanings, and senses subtler powers; he begins to have experiences beyond the bounds of the senses; he begins to comprehend the forces of centralized thought. By conquering the clamor of the lower self, his Will becomes strengthened; by subduing or refining passions, his mind becomes creative. At last man has broken the mortal bonds of self and begins to function on higher planes of being, although he will be nonetheless practical in the world of mortal activity.
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The problem of genuine Initiation consists in placing the activities of the body under the dominion of the Will until the Spiritual self is brought into consciousness and begins to function, freeing the ego - the Subconscious - from the dominion of the appetites, passions and man's lower nature.

The idea is not to despise, weaken or destroy the body, but to strengthen, purify and exalt it; not to destroy the appetites, but to control and refine them. This mastery of the lower nature does not change the keynote to the physical nature as such, but subordinates it to the higher plane of activity. Without this subordination, the clamorous lower nature drowns out the Spiritual "voice" and lowers the vibrations, just as if, in an orchestra, the bass violas and drums only could be heard; and inharmony, rather than harmony, results.

One of the initial steps to be taken by the Neophyte, entering the Path toward Initiation or Spiritual Consciousness, is to gain control of his thoughts and desires, accepting only those which will promote his material welfare and Spiritual advancement. He must learn also how to guard against all suggestions and influences of outside sources. In making this effort he will gradually gain mastery over his own mind, free the Will from domineering inferior thoughts and desires; and gradually he will be governed by his own awakening Spiritual nature.
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Every effort made by the Neophyte has for its intent and purpose the subjugation or refinement, elevation or transmutation of the lower or carnal nature; in no sense the destruction of the human nature, but that the mind, free from debased carnality, may harmonize with the Spiritual self which has been permitted, aye forced, to be dormant and buried, lo, these many ages, by the debris of these ages.

The Soul itself can be only as a Light or in the form of a Fire. Therefore, the source of Spiritual Light and for this reason the Initiates of all ages have subscribed to and taught a Philosophy of Fire, which is the foundation of all Occult Law and initiatory process.
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"We assert that no power ever comes to man through the intellect; that goodness(1) alone is power and that goodness pertains to the heart only. Hence power comes to the Soul only through its capacity to comprehend love, the underlying, primal Fire-life, subtending the base of Being - the formative flowing floor of the world - the true sensing of which is the beginning of the road to individual power. Love must lie at the foundation; it is the synonym of life, strength and steadfastness.
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(1) Used in the sense that goodness is not a form of inane inertia, physical weakness and Spiritual laziness, but a combination of kindness, generosity, affection, the desire to help others, yet with the strength to help establish justice, and justly punish wickedness and destructiveness.
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"Holding, as we do, that Deity, the creative energy, dwells within the Shadow - only the Shadow, darkness, can manifest Light - behind the everlasting flame or Fire-form, the amazing glories of which minds have confounded with the very God, we declare all things, especially the human Soul, to be a form of Fire; yet man is not the only intelligence in the universe. The aerial spaces abound with multiform intelligences, having their conscious origin in the Æth or Flame Sphere, as man has his intelligence in matter, and there are grades of these, towering away in infinite series of Hierarchies, human and ultra human, all of whom are ready and willing to help and protect the Neophyte on the Path if he is sincere and single of heart and purpose.

"We inculcate the doctrine that the Soul is a polar world of white Fire within the human body; that its negative pole resides within the brain as a general dwelling because the mind is the constructive agent; that in dreamless sleep or physical unconsciousness it may go the solar plexus or abdominal brain to impart stores of Life or Vital-fire to the entire body via the nervous system.

"True manhood accepts personal responsibility and is more or less en rapport with one or more of the upper Hierarchies of Intelligent Potentialities. There are means whereby we may become associated with and receive protection and even guidance from the Hierarchies; they may and do at times cross the chasmal steeps to save, succor and assist the worthy, the sincere, though weary Neophyte on the Path just as a good brother on earth flies to the relief of anyone who gives the grand hailing sign of distress.

"God, the Oversoul or Soul of the Universe, is positive heat, celestial Fire; the aura of Deity is Love, the prime element of all power, an eternal Fire; both are the informing and formative energy of all matter, the incentive to all activity. The induction is crystalline, for it follows that who so hath most love, even though its expression be coarse for fine, cultured or crude, has also most of God or the Divine essence of power in him or her, the element of time being essential to the perfection of all refining influences over this emotion.."
________ P.B. Randolph, AFFECTIONAL ALCHEMY.
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"Occult is fantastic and impractical in the opinion of the materialists of these ultra practical days concerning all that relates to these higher precepts; utterly forgetting that the revelations of contemporaneous science are all based on the dreams of the old thinkers. Out of natural philosophy, the Brethren of the Light sought the Spirit of the Rosy Cross philosophy. To this inner heaven of being, so unlike ordinary life through purification of the self, through physical refinement called development, through Mantra, and changing the desires of the mind and needs of the body for purely carnal satisfaction, they have placed themselves en rapport with the dwellers of the Æth or Aerial spaces, the Biblical Hierarchies or Principalities thereof, and have gained knowledge and understanding otherwise impossible. This has freed them of false pride, enabling them to see things as they are. They are no longer drunk with power or boastful of their prowesses, knowing that the one force which levels all men is surrounding them, ready to call the roll."
__________ P.B. Randolph, Rosicrucia.
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The symbol of Fire is apropos. Fire is at once the great purifier and separator of the elements. It is the "hell" or disintegrator of evil and all that is evil, but to the pure in Spirit it works no injury, for the Soul is likewise a Fire, and the Occult Initiate is aware that sooner or later the whole world must be, and will be purified by fire - so clearly indicated in Revelation. Only an intense love for the New Dispensation or New Age can promise any protection. The Initiate likewise recalls that Fire is heat, both physical and Spiritual warmth, therefore, the basis of life.
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Like all things, he touches, the undeveloped, that is , the normally healthy, carnal man, constantly draws down to his own plane of being everything belonging to the higher conception of the life of that Spiritual something which he cannot comprehend; therefore, he denies and defies that which to the Initiate is the Light. He finds manifestation in the lower levels of creative ability, degrading it. In either instance he does not know or he forgets that it is a direct emanation of the Divine Creative thought.

All the greatest lessons, of living and acting, are embraced in the unperfected and unrefined creative activity. The Law of Love(1), that God-expression in man, holds its basis of manifestation on the healthy activity of the creative function, the basis wherein dwells the furnace of physical fire. It is, uncontradictably, the beginning and end of life. The moment of conclusion is the beginning of a new life. It is also the moment of death, the point at which the whole organism enters into the realm of dissolution; but the great creative energy of the Spiritual self is fortified with a forward and compelling force into the beyond, so there shall be no retention with the House of Death.
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(1) The Love between man and woman, the affection between parents and children, among friends, among children, where ever found on the human plane, is but the outer expression of this Law of Love, the God-expression in man. The more advanced and refined man becomes, the greater his impersonal love for all God's creatures.
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It is the House of the Fire of Life wherein is manifested the completion of the Divine Plan, first of the individual, then of the mass of men. It is here the was becomes IS, and the Is-is passes into the shall-be. It is through this differentiation that the great trinity manifests itself unto itself. Verily, the Kingdom of Heaven, the power of God for all good, lies within us , waiting to be awakened and wisely directed. This is the Path and work of Occult Initiation.
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Through two baptismals the Neophyte must pass, both the baptisms of water and of Fire. The mysterious meaning of the baptism by water has long been lost to the mass. It is symbolic of the awakening of the human mind to the feeling first and, then, the assurance that there lies something beyond the cruel, cold, matter-of-fact world we live in, and which is but for a day. Thence, if the longings of the mind are not denied, the baptism of the Fire must follow. This leads to freedom and power, the inspiring Light, the God-Flame which the Magi knew and understood. This is, indeed, the mystic meaning of the little-understood Biblical text of John wherein he declared: "I, indeed, baptize you with water unto repentance [understanding and a new life], but he that comes after me [that which follows] is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, [that is to say, the understanding and revealing Light], and with fire."
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We are all well aware that in this age of professed atheism and gross materialism it is considered the smart thing to sneer at any belief in God and the teachings of the Bible. Despite this, every Initiate is aware of two things: first, that in the heart of practically all but the most debased men and egomaniacs there is a longing for something which cannot be satisfied by material power or possessions. Secondly that the Bible, whether or not we consider it an inspired book, does contain both the teachings and the key toward the consummation of man's innermost sacred longings. Moreover, this key is to be found in the Bible's constant reference to Light and Fire.

It became all the more apparent when we bear in mind that the purpose of initiation in almost all fraternities is the search avowedly for more Light, even when the ceremony is only a form of initiation.

Our quest frankly being Initiation - the consummation of the Arcane Law it behooves us to give serious consideration to the inculcations we find in the Book which millions have professed to hold sacred but which only a few have actually accepted as a Book of Law, much less obeyed its precepts.
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It was a fundamental Law in most of the Secret Schools and their Initiation that man may so live as to make it possible that the mysteries of life and the Law would be revealed to him and that it was possible for God, Himself, naturally in secondary form, to appear unto him and instruct him. This was professedly through the medium of Fire or the Light. If any man attempted to come into the presence of God or draw unto himself the Sacred Fire before he had fully prepared himself, the penalty would be grave.(1) In not one particle has the Occult Law or the Practice of the Secret Schools changed in all these years; it is the Law and therefore, it is eternal.
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(1) Lord Bulwer Lytten in his book, Zanoni, gives consideration to this (Biblically) trying to take the "kingdom of heaven" by storm.
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In Deuteronomy God instructed that Moses, who had become an Initiate, should teach the children what was to have been a New Dispensation, a New Age so that they might remain a great people; and that it would be wise for those seeking the solution of the riddle of life, who desire to attain Initiation for themselves and for all people to heed these same instructions, obey them and profit mightily thereby:

"For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for?

"And what nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

"Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons.

"Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, Then the Lord said unto me, Gather me thy people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

"And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

"And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the Fire; ye heard the Voice of the words, but saw no similitude: only ye heard a voice." ____ DEUTERONOMY 4:7-12(1)
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(1) Some have foolishly argued that this concerned only the Jews and not the rest of mankind. They do not know, or they forget, that Moses was only partly Jew, and that he was educated by the Egyptians and trained in the Egyptian Initiatory Halls.
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It matters little whether we interpret this to mean that the Fire-Light within Moses, which we call the Spiritual self, or that God Himself spoke to Moses. In the one instance it would mean that the voice of God spoke to the awakened, enlightened Soul of Moses, While otherwise it would mean that God spoke directly to Moses. In either instance, it indicates that Moses had so obeyed the Law that he had attained Soul Consciousness; that the Immortal Light within him had become awakened through his own efforts, enabling him to recognize and commune with the Divine Entity; and that the medium of communication was the Light which may be aroused within all men through obedience to the Divine Law. These are the teachings of the Initiatory Schools.
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"Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

"And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a Flame of Fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with Fire, and the bush ws not consumed." _____ Exodus 3:1,2

Mortal, physical man cannot see or recognize the Divine Light, but there is that within man, known to Occult Initiates as a Spark of Divinity, which may by a process of transmutation - a means within the reach of all men - so change the body that the gross, carnal, undesirable and degrading material within man will give sustenance to the Divine Spark, bring it into manifestation, a counterpart of the Divine Light; and is capable of communion with the Oversoul which we call God. The Fire is the Illuminated Soul in the midst of the bush - the transformed body.

"And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

"And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

"And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." ____ Exodus 3:3-5

How may it be that the bush should have been on fire and yet remain unconsumed? Because the bush here is symbolic of the body, the physical being of Moses, while the Fire within the bush represents the Soul of Moses which had become awakened - Illuminated, i.e., filled with Light - and capable of communicating with God or the Father - the Flame.

The Voice which Moses heard was that of the enlightened Soul known as Intuition, the Still Small Voice so frequently mentioned in sacred literature and known to so few because the Divine Spark has been permitted to be covered by eons of carnal desires, worldly ambitions and destructive passions.

The "allegory" of Moses and the burning bush is the ancient legend of Arcane Initiation, becoming Soul Conscious and a co-worker with God; or, if you are too modern to accept God, then acknowledge the Operating Law, work in harmony with it and attain the goal to which man is destined.
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The appearance of the angel of God's presence, or the Divine person representing God, likewise of the presence which is symbolic of God, or the fiat which is to be - the Shekinah - is always surrounded with glory, a Light or Fire, and for this reason the earliest Initiates accepted Light or Fire as the sphere wherein God dwells and functions.

Was it not a Fire from the Lord which recognized and consumed the burnt offerings of the altar erected by Aaron?

"And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people.

"And there came a Fire out from before the Lord and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces." ____ Leviticus 9:23,24

God, or the Law, whichever you choose, has not changed nor can God or the Law be Changed. That which truly is, is eternal and nonchangeable. Life is a becoming; to receive demands that we give; nevertheless, the lesser may be changed into the greater, and herein is the universal Law of advancement.

If we offer of the flesh or of material things, then by the exchange of the process of transmutation they will return as Spiritual verities as higher attributes. Moses and Aaron were willing, aye, anxious to offer to the Lord that which was the lesser, the mortal, the carnal within themselves. The Lord, of Law, accepted it; it became the soul's offering transmuted into Light, and through it they came to know God. It is the eternal story of sacrifice or of being ready and willing to give up - exchange - the lesser, in order to attain the higher. In no other way can man advance and finally come into his Divine or destined estate.
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In Judges, we find another illustration:

"And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.

"And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

"Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up Fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight."
________Judges 6:19-21

The consuming of the flesh and cakes is symbolic of the process of the transmutation of carnal desires, material weaknesses and unholy passions through the elevation of our ideals. There can be no consuming, either of the material or of the carnal, except by Fire, and as these lesser possessions are transmuted or changed, Light will result because the Spirit is elevated, the vibrations raised.

All these are illustrative instances of becoming; of mortal man gradually throwing off his mortality by transmuting the mortal into immortality, by the process of giving up a cherished possession for something greater; of a weakness being transformed into strength; of failure gradually climbing toward success. All, however, is accomplished by means of the willingness to deny oneself one thing in order that another and a better may replace it in exchange. A willing, unregretted exchange is the eternal Law; a renouncing of a selfish desire that a greater, more inclusive desire may be given birth and take its place. Hermetically, it is like tearing down an old house and replacing it with a new house; Biblically, replacing the old "bottle" with a new one.
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"Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the Fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.

"And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house."
______ II Chronicles 7:1,2

The prayers - devotions - of the righteous availeth much. Prayer, as comprehended by the Occult Law, is not a form of meaningless or selfish supplication. Prayer is a keen, personal desire, not for personal benefit, aggrandizement or purely worldly advancement, but for the attainment of a status which is not achievable by physical means. True prayer is a desire, plus a willingness to give up something already possessed, in order that something greater may be attained. It is, therefore, a sacrifice, an offering; and the desire and feeling is the Fire which consumes the less worthy and changes it into that which is sought after; the Fire or Flame resulting - the glory of the unselfish sacrifice or offering - fills the whole house, temple or being of the one so offering.

"And when the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement and worshiped, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever."
____IIChronicles 7:3

The advancement of the race must come through the efforts and sacrifices of the individual. As the individual obeys the Law and elevates himself to true manhood and Spiritual enlightenment, he becomes a shining example of unselfishness, and attains as a result of such unselfishness. The mass will come to recognize the operation of the Law and "bow down and worship"; that is, they will ultimately follow the example of those who have achieved, and the race will advance, not by faith alone, but by faith and by works, i.e., effort.
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Manoah desired to speak with the angel, and at his request God allowed the angel to appear before him, although Manoah thought it to be a man:

"So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord: and the angel did wonderously; and Manoak and his wife looked on.

"For it came to pass, When the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the FLAME of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. ____Judges 13:19,20

According to both Sacred and Arcane teachings, the first appearance of God was in glory, i.e., in Light or the form of Fire. It could not be otherwise; the Spirit, which Biblically is God, and the Conscious Soul of man, ARE the Ineffable Light, the basis which cannot be other than a Spiritual Fire.

Even though we denied the authenticity of the Biblical allegories and acclaimed them to be the fairy tales of an early people, it would not change the ever-active Divine Law one iota. It still remains a fact that even in our earthly, material and everyday life, it is necessary for us to exchange one thing for another. If we desire light or heat for comfort and convenience, power and energy to run our machinery, fire for the preparation of our food, then we must be ready and willing to make an exchange, something immediately less necessary than that into which we convert it. All this we readily understand because we can see the process of conversion as also the results of the change.

This change or exchange is precisely what we must do if we seek health, strength, success, enlightenment and Wisdom. We must be willing to give up, even - seemingly - sacrifice something we feel is of lesser value in order to obtain something of value or benefit to us.

Esoterically or in the spiritual realm, that which we receive may not become visibly manifested; the evidence may first become obvious to us by a change of concept and feeling, a sense of well-being and of peace.

While the process of changing the lesser into the greater is taking place, we are not conscious of where the "altar upon which the sacrifice is made" is located until it is manifested by the LIGHT or FLAME following the completion of the WORK.
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Occult Initiates maintain that all knowable things, both material and what are generally termed Spiritual, are evolved out of Fire, and finally resolvable into it; Fire or its resultant Light is the last, highest, and only-to-be manifestation of God.

Watching the leaping flame, the triangle plainly manifests itself. The base below, the apex pointing up, from the beginning of time was accepted as symbolic of the Unseen, the Unknown, God - the Spiritual in man. There is nothing in all the world that holds so completely within itself all the attributes of the Supreme Intelligence. The point reaching upward is always the sign of superior energy, the creator of life and sensation. Hence, the apex of the Fiery Triangle must be the Absolute; for the real potency of this Fire appears at the moment of contact.

The Spirit of fire we recognize as life, aye, more, a REgenerative force within man leading to eternity and Allness. Wherever God is, there is life; wherever fire rests, there manifestation will be. If fire is life, and we hold it to be so, then it must hold within itself the Divine Intelligence, hence, the Flame. The essential essence of the flame is life - God. If Fire is God and God is Love, essential Fire must be Love; thus, we can only find the FLAME through Love, and God through the Light emanating from the Flame. The manifested fire can sweep away all man's possessions and destroy his body; but the ESSENCE, passing into the secret place of the Most High, the maelstrom or vehicle which holds within itself the Unseen element of all existence, will light the Flame that Immortalizes man.

Wherever man wholeheartedly worships, in the Biblical "closet" as commanded or elsewhere, there Lights will burn upon the altar, symbolical of the Divine Essence or Energy of the double Divine Creative attributes, generation and REgeneration, both of which are the divine inheritance of man, thus, clearly indicating that man may become a coworker with God, the Law or Divine Intelligence - call it what you will.
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When primitive man first witnessed fire struck out from the cold unyielding flint, he concluded that the coldest, hardest stone must have a "heart" of fire. All nature has its existence in this fire foundation; otherwise there could be no resultant vibration; all things would have continued inert; hence, God's command: "LET THERE BE LIGHT: AND THERE WAS LIGHT." And life began.

Nature waited for the great Central Sun to Drop a ray of fiery essence into the bosom of Mother Earth. It thereby creates sufficient impulse to cause it to stream forth, unwind its starry limbs and burst forth into manifestation. This fire, descending upon the altar of Mother Earth from the eternal sun, holds concealed as its ultimate the secret of life; and to man, also, the secret of all forces in Nature.
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We repeat time and again in order to emphasize the Law of Transmutation that the lily and the lotus bulbs contain the same activating fire necessary in all forms of transmutation. They inherit, as do all creations, the creative energy to rise from the lowest to the highest and offer a potent example to man. The lotus and the lily unveil an entire lesson teaching the Law of Transmutation into the highest type, symbolizing purity and beauty; the lotus and the lily, therefore, are symbolic of the Soul of man.

By its own function and growth, the law of creative energy acts; the gross becomes the supernal. The supreme atom of the lily and all else that it has kindled at the base of this Altar of the Waters, the eternal essence of life, is fire or the resultant heat. When it reaches the surface in manifesting beauty there burns within its "bosom" the White Chalice of the Gods, the Heart of Fire, the Tongue of Flame of the Holy Grail, the Illuminated Soul, just as this same process may be repeated within man with but one difference - Conscious Immortalization results.

Having descended into matter for the purpose of taking hold of the material, it converts, changes or transmutes the opaque into the brilliant purity of the highest Intelligence. The Holy Spirit or Flame of Life does not really descend, but only places itself in touch with that which is lower and which is to be raised up. What an example in transmutation and "bringing forth" the beautiful lily offers us! The secret is so simply unveiled that all with eyes to see, may see.
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The fire springing out of the Etheric Auric vibrations is born of the spontaneous action of the positive and negative forces. We gaze with awe upon its multiform shapes, its trails of sparks, its flame wreaths, scintillating, wavering arches and vortexes, starting up out of the matrix of apparent solidity and then reducing its source to its own ultimate insensibility.

Fire is significant of both rebirth and Resurrection: of the Spiritual born out of the material. It is a symbol and substance at once of the Immortality of the ego or man's individuality. Hence, the "angel" of Fire and Light has dominion. Above all is the glowing supernatural flower of love concealed in the inanimate womb of matter. The great "love"of the physical world, the warmth and ardor which transmuted the material and perceptible form, is symbolized by the unwrapping flame freed from its prison of limitation and thus formless, it gives rebirth to the Spirit in both the seen and the unseen worlds.

"The Fire Symbol, the beautiful, the resplendent, concieved in the Matrix of Silence, born out of the Womb of Mystery - thou art the Shadow of the Shadowless! Thou art the Causeless Cause, the existent God! We bow our knees, NOT to the Fire, but to that which is represented by the Fire - Love, the Immortalizing Elixir of Man." ---Jennings.

There is no power other than Love - the unalloyed Love, the Godly manifestation - strong enough to hold through all the complex problems of earthlife. It is love the greets us as we cross the threshold of the narrow gate. It is Love that looks into our eyes as we close them in the last earthly sleep. It is Love that meets us when the Gates of the Beyond swing inward for our reception to a new life after our long or short pilgrimage in the mortal realm. Love is the ONLY thing which abides and is as eternal as God. This is the one incentive which is capable of taking mortal man and transforming him into Immortality; making of him one of the gods, having learned to know good from evil - transmuting evil into good by the Fire of Love, the unalloyed Love.

Love, the Law, in its fulfilling, must hold for itself both an inflowing and outflowing current. The ebb and flow of the life blood is symbolic of the give and take of Love in activity. He who loves lives in the highest realm of the all-life. He who loves counts all things but loss if he may but win and hold that to which his affection is bound, whether this is to a person or an Ideal. Love tune the Harp of Life to the perfect vibrations of the At-One-Ment, that state which all human creatures must attain before their earth's pilgrimages can end ar they return to complete their destiny.
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An initial step on entering the Path is to thoroughly search the self and become fully conscious of THE PRIMARY REASON WHY SUCH KNOWLEDGE AND ATTAINMENT IS DESIRED. To repeat, this is in obedience to the ancient command: MAN, KNOW THYSELF.

In many instances, the desire is unquestionably based on a more or less selfish motive. When this is true, the Path becomes a dangerous one - like a child playing with fire. Better would it be for the one imbued with selfishness to forego the quest, avoiding the penalty that must be paid by anyone who would activate and direct the Divine forces for ulterior purposes.

The sincere Neophyte whose heart's desire is solely to advance himself on all three planes of life, mental, physical and Spiritual, will not permit any ulterior motive to govern his efforts. His quest is only for knowledge and Wisdom and understanding; these follow in ratio of application and resultant experiences.
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Man seemingly is a unit, a single being; in fact, he is fearfully and wonderfully made, a composite of all that exist. within him dwell all things that are in existence separate of himself. He is actually the microcosm of the macrocosm, the small duplicate of the larger world. While he lives the wholly material life, constructive and operative forces are mostly dormant, and are held in bondage, but when he finally begins to awaken and arouse the sleeping giant within, he also becomes conscious of his undesirable inheritances.

As he overcomes the "beasts in his field" or transforms these undesirable qualities of his nature, he becomes conscious of a new power, a deeper understanding, capable of applying this new knowledge; and when he finally masters the denizens of the world that are within, he will find himself possessed of former unrecognized potentialities. Thus it is written that "man shall become master of the beast in the fields.
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Once the mastery of the creatures, i.e., all undesirable passions, weaknesses, emotions and desires within, is well under way, another important step is taken - that of the search for the "gold" buried within the self. Within man are all the powers, forces and energy which are a part of the universe; just as in reverse there is also all the evil. For this reason - to repeat again - the ancients inscribed above their temples: "Man, Know Thyself," knowing full well that once man accomplished this search and subjugation, or better still, transmuted the undesirable successfully, he would possess the knowledge to become the Master.
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This quest naturally opens up unknown worlds and brings forth darkening shadows, not the least of which is the gradual comprehension that he who is awakening perceives that he is now far different from those still asleep in the flesh; this comprehension may give birth within to a great feeling of loneliness - actually a degrading self-pity. But this will pass away as his comprehension of the Divine Law and its power increases. This was well understood by the Ancient Initiates, as clearly indicated by their axiom that man must "pass through the shadows of darkness in order to reach the realm of Light."

The knowledge that the searcher for the revelation of the mysteries, both within and without, must pass through the chambers of darkness - as he had to overcome the nonconstructive passions, emotions and desires - should not by any means prevent him from proceeding, for let it be known to him that before Soul Consciousness or self-mastery can be attained every human being possessing a Soul must ultimately follow the same Path.
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Apparently there is nothing more terrible than isolation and solitude to those who know no other life than that of external experiences and who are not yet able to create their own thought-world, especially if there is no change in their surroundings to hold their attention and stimulate them to think. Thinking, like planning, is an art, and few Actually think for themselves or hold on to a thought. Once they advance so they are able to do so, they create their own world, and find peace in solitude and silence.

Men generally do not think(1); they accept thoughts that come fleeting into their minds without any particular volition of their own, or at the behest of their physical appetite as a result of desire. Welcome and unwelcome thoughts enter, guests who do not harmonize but defy all the rules and regulations. This is diffusion, it is weakness, the reason why man is ill, unhappy and discontented, a failure. The Occult Path leads to the mastery of thought, concentration on constructive ideas, imagination and ideals, all of which lead to health, strength and final mastery
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(1) The great Tolstoy was aware of this mental lack and confusion and in his great work commanded: "Man, bethink yourself."
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In the beginning of the search for Wisdom and attainment beyond the ordinary, there is confusion which appears to be endless. The mind, awakening from its centuries of sleep and inertia, attempts, like a mother with a large family of unruly children, to bring order out of chaos, and finds the din and confusion so much greater because she has become Conscious of the disorder; but gradually, almost imperceptibly, separation of the desirable and the nonconstructive begins to take place. Every emotion, passion and desire is slowly, perhaps painstakingly, placed in its own niche, and when all are catalogued and the mind has succeeded in establishing a system, new thoughts, new ideas, new plans and new ideals will form. Life and its purpose will take on a new and higher aspect. This is the baptism by water, the forerunner of the baptism by Fire. |Top|

When the mind has become aroused and partly awakened, a new existence begins; man is really commencing to live, his capabilities are awakened to picture a new world with new creatures, all of whom will begin to work in harmony with each other. The Neophyte will start to look within, a new sphere opens; his image-forming faculties develop, and visions - the foreshadowing of what may be - now present themselves to his inner or Spiritual eye and become objective. He begins to realize that he can bring them into manifestation and that real success is within his grasp, including the mastery of environments and circumstances.
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Visions of things formerly known, of which memory has lost knowledge, but are safely stored in the Subconscious, begin to appear, vivid and real with all the details. Desires entering the heart immediately take on objective forms in the mind; the Neophyte becomes a creator, helpful to others in need and sufficient unto himself.
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Gradually, as man finds himself - as he passes through the second birth, that of the SPIRIT - he visions within his inner self yet another world, with spaces as infinite as that of the outer world which alone he has known, and with legions of opportunities for knowledge and advancement. He begins to draw life for his Will, and nourishment from his thoughts in the sense that the awakening man receives ideas and power from the Infinite, and becomes capable of making application of them in everyday life in all the affairs of men.
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Wisdom does not come as a result of the acceptance of theories and postulates. The instructor's and guide's words must be accepted, but the Neophyte cannot actually know or attain Wisdom unless and until the inner perceptions of his very Soul are awakened, and he fells and senses the truth. By personal experience from the inner being, the Spiritual self, alone come the knowledge and understanding. To feel is to know. To suffer is to understand. To create is to be wise. To merely believe and see may be a delusion.

No vision is possible, nor will the Spiritual sight of the neophyte be opened, unless he has first learned through the effort of concentration and conquest to silence the senses and passions of the carnal self. Once having opened the vision of the inner self, the true being, the Neophyte is well on the Path to Wisdom and the capability to attain mastery.
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The neophyte on the Path must firmly close all doors to external senses and prejudices; he must exclude the profane, the sophist and the scoffer. He must open the door to his Spiritual perceptions, beware of passions and evil desires, avoid erroneous conclusions and intellectual opinions not based on facts. He must keep the mind continually directed toward the Divine source of all existence, strive after a continual realization of the real and, above all, desire to walk in the Path leading to Spiritual Consciousness and individualization. To this must be added the necessity to be practical and rational from a worldly viewpoint.
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No man can actually know his own weaknesses, nor yet know his own strength who has never been forced to descend into the nethermost depths of his own Soul which may be infested with "serpents and venomous reptiles," the symbol of the brood of passion and spirits of evil desires, which, when defeated or changed, become the power, forces and energies to attain material and Spiritual success.
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The enemies of the Soul can easily be kept from the Sacred Portal if the aspirants have centered their aims upon something higher than the gratification of sensual appetites. The beauty of any corporeal form, however pleasing or desirable to the eye, cannot enslave him who has learned to know the beauty of the real and lasting, and who quickly retires to the "Throne of the Soul" whenever temptation appears.
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Neither court nor flee temptation. Temptation will FOLLOW you; meet and overcome it. He who has not been tempted cannot know the power of temptation, nor is he able to comprehend the mysteries of the Spiritual self who has not descended into the lower caves where the supreme temptress dwells. Let not the Neophyte take pride in his strength until he has been thoroughly tested, and let him not condemn one who may have fallen, for neither may he know the strength of the tempter nor the weakness of the one tempted. Let each one search himself for his own weaknesses and beware of a secret entrance left open within himself by which a favorite passion may enter.
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Whatever man does or desires will always produce a corresponding reaction both upon himself and all things with which he is allied or connected. He who benefits others in dire need is actually helping himself, while he who works injury to another, though ever so slightly, is decreeing his one punishment. The acts of men are the external manifestation of their own interior existence, and every thought and act has a natural tendency to repeat itself. Thoughts become entities which struggle for life and manifestation according to the potency given them by the thinker, and seek to become embodied in acts.
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Finally, the Neophyte must come to a clear comprehension that there is no good without relative evil. No man is free from the carnal within his nature. Were this not so, there would be no chance for development and advancement, for the reason that the Soul, the Divine Alchemist, draws its nourishment and strength in the conversion of the undesirable passions, desires and emotions, just as the purest and whitest lily draws its sustenance from the slime and filth in the bed of the lake. Not to destroy, but to use wisely the elements of evil, by means of transmutation, is the purpose of the exemplification of the Occult Law.
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