In this unmerged, yet undivided union of matter and light, both preserve their nature, yet neither are visible in their separateness. What is visible is pure light-bearing matter and incarnated light: enlightened coal and petrified rainbow.
-- Vladimir Solov'ev on Spiritual Nationhood, Russia and the Jews, by Judith Deutsch Kornblatt

***

The crystal is the formed thought that reflects what is to come in what has gone before.
-- The Red Book: Liber Novus, by C.G. Jung

The ROSE was anciently sacred to Aurora and the Sun. It is a symbol of Dawn, of the resurrection of Light and the renewal of life, and therefore of the dawn of the first day, and more particularly of the resurrection.
-- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, by Albert Pike

***

"See how the roses burn!
Bring wine to quench the fire!
Alas! the flames come up with us, --
We perish with desire."
-- Hafiz, Letters and Social Aims, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

***

"A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose."
-- Gertrude Stein, by Wikipedia

***

"The rose is beautiful and has a sweet odour as long as it remains in the form; but to manifest its medicinal qualities in the constitution of man, its form must be destroyed and its spirit enter the body of man. Only that which enters into regeneration is useful; the rest is useless. In this regeneration enters the true Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt."
-- The Life of Philippus Theophrastus Bombast of Hohenheim Known by the Name of Paracelsus and the Substance of his Teachings, by Franz Hartmann, M.D.

***

The Hermetic Rose....As that Rose out of a rude mountain, so issues from the inchoate nature of the man of earth the many-petalled flower of spiritual being: so gradually and slowly unfold our potencies -- like petals -- from within.
-- The Ancient and Primitive Rite  of Memphis and Misraim, Excerpts from "A New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry," by Arthur Edward Waite

***

Shaikh Sar-razi, God's mercy be upon him, was seated one day amongst his disciples. One of the disciples had a longing for some roasted sheep's head. The Shaikh signalled, saying, 'You must bring him some roasted sheep's head.'
'How did you know that he wanted some roasted sheep's head?' the disciples asked.
'Because it is now thirty years that no desire has remained in me,' the Shaikh answered. 'I have cleansed and purified myself of all desires and have become clear as an unscratched mirror. When the thought of roasted sheep's head entered my mind and whetted my appetite and became a desire, I knew that that belonged to our friend yonder. For the mirror is without any image of itself; if an image shows in the mirror, it is the image of another.'
-- Discourses of Rumi, translated by A. J. Arberry

***

"While we are on this earth we ought to keep our mirror in God, so as to be in every respect as a child is like its father.
-- The Life of Philippus Theophrastus Bombast of Hohenheim Known by the Name of Paracelsus and the Substance of his Teachings, by Franz Hartmann, M.D.

***

There is a transcendental set of causes put in motion in the occurrence of these phenomena, which, not being in relation to our narrow range of cognition, can only be traced to their source and their nature, and understood by the Spiritual faculties of the Adept. They are, as Asclepios puts it to the King, “incorporeal corporealities” such as “appear in the mirror."
-- The Secret Doctrine -- The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy, by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

***

But perhaps it was in the sphere of contemplation that Suhrawardi's life proved the most revealing, for here he shook to their core all our preconceived ideas about knowledge.  In the first stage, in meditation, we think we are a consciousness concentrating upon an object, something tangible, objective, unaware that we are being duped by an anthropocentric mirage:  For what we think we know is only a reflection of reality; this is speculative knowledge, knowledge of the mirror (speculum.) Secondly you realize that everything in the universe is to be found within you in yourself, reflected as in a mirror so that you discover that what you are contemplating is the reflection of the universe in yourself and that you are the mirror.  Thirdly you realize that it is not your consciousness that is aware, but that it is only a channel of the divine consciousness and that you are only a witness of this phenomenon.  Finally you understand that there is no room for another presence or subject than the one and only being; and you realize that he is the only knower.  This analysis reminds one very much of Bastami.

"For thirty years God most high was my mirror, now I am my own mirror and that which I was I am no more, for "I and God" represent polytheism, a denial of his unity.  Since I am no more, God most high is his own mirror.  Behold now I say that God is the mirror of myself, for with my tongue he speaks and I have passed away."

-- Toward the One, by Pir Vilayat Khan

***

R. Eleazar once asked R. Simeon his father, in the presence of R. Abba: 'Why is it said here "I appeared", instead of "I spoke to Abraham, etc."?' R. Simeon replied: 'My son, this contains a deep mystery. Observe now. There are colours disclosed and undisclosed, this being a part of the mystery of Faith, but men neither know nor reflect on these matters. Observe now. There are colours disclosed and undisclosed, this being a part of the mystery of Faith, but men neither know nor reflect on these matters. The visible colours were not perceived by any human being before the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Therefore it says "and I appeared". And what are these visible colours? Those of El Shaddai, the reflection of higher colours. But these latter are hidden, and Moses alone perceived them. The Patriarchs, however, were not entirely ignorant of them; since they apprehended those undisclosed ones through the visible ones which they already knew. It is written: "And the wise shall be resplendent as the splendour of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness shall be like the stars for ever and ever." The "wise" is he who by the power of his own contemplation attains to the perception of profound mysteries which cannot be expressed in words. The "firmament" is the "firmament of Moses" (his grade of Divine knowledge), which is set at the centre and whose splendour is veiled. This firmament is above that other which is non-resplendent and the colours of which are visible and not so bright as the invisible. There are four lights (i.e. Emanations), three of which are recondite and one disclosed. There is one which sheds light abroad (Hesed); one which shines for itself only (Geburah), being like the heavens in purity; one of purple hue which gathers light into itself (Tifereth); and one which is of itself lightless (Malkuth), but which looks up to the others and reflects them as a lamp reflects the sun. The first three are recondite and brood over the one which is disclosed. (Of all this the eye is the symbol. In the eye three colours are visible, but none of these shines, because they are non-luminous. They are the parallel of those lights which are revealed; and it was by means of these visible colours that the Patriarchs were enabled to discern the colours which are luminous but invisible -- that is, those colours of which Moses alone had cognizance, which were concealed from all others but revealed to him in that firmament to which he had attained, and which are above the visible colours.) To understand this mystery, close thine eye and press thine eyeball, and thou wilt discern radiating and luminous colours which can only be seen with closed eyes.  For this reason we say that Moses was possessed of the "luminous mirror", which is above the "nonluminous", which alone is vouchsafed to others. The Patriarchs, however, were able by means of the revealed colours to conceive of those that were concealed. This is the meaning of the words, "I appeared unto Abraham, etc", namely, in those visible colours, "but by My Name YHVH was I not known to them", namely, in the supernal hidden luminous colours, which only Moses was privileged to behold. The closed eye sees the mirror of light: the open eye sees the mirror which is not luminous. Therefore in regard to the lightless mirror, the term "see" is used, because it is discernible, but in regard to the luminous mirror the term "know" is used, because it is in concealment.'
-- The Zohar, translated by Harry  Sperling and Maurice Simon

The hart expresses the union of man's soul and body, while the unbound soul which is free, is regarded as a more bird-like creature, because in nature the birds are much less bound to the earth and can remain suspended in the air. The erect stag represents a stage between two situations, which is also indicated by the symbol of the chicken. The chicken is a bird but it is unable to fly, as the soul can in the supersensible realm when it is free from its body.
-- The Pictorial Language of Hieronymus Bosch, by Clement A. Wertheim Aymes

***

Man lives within the invisible world comparable to the yolk in an egg. The chicken grows from the white of the egg, which constitutes its chaos, and man is nourished by his chaos. Within man are the sun and moon, the planets and all the rest of the stars, and also the chaos.
-- The Life of Philippus Theophrastus Bombast of Hohenheim Known by the Name of Paracelsus and the Substance of his Teachings, by Franz Hartmann, M.D.

Outside this world of which we are speaking there is another world for us to seek. This world and its delights cater to the animality of man; these all feed his animality, whilst the root principle, man, goes into a decline. After all, they say, 'Man is a rational animal.' So man consists of two things. That which feeds his animality in this material world is these lusts and desires. But as for that which is his true essence, its food is knowledge and wisdom and the sight of God. The animality in man flees away from God, whilst his humanity flees away from this world.
-- Discourses of Rumi, translated by A. J. Arberry

***

All religions teach the sevenfold constitution of the body. Precise knowledge can best be obtained on this by studying the Rosicrucian lessons of Heindel.

The last quadrad is called "the animal in us" by Paracelsus. The Science of the Key gives us the way to conquer this animal in us and to ascend to the causal plane...."Cut off the neck of the beast," says an old text.

-- The Practice of the Ancient Turkish Freemasons: The Key to the Understanding of Alchemy, by Baron Rudolf von Sebottendorf

***

"The nature of the universe delights not in anything so much as to alter all things, and present them under another form. This is her conceit to play one game and begin another. Matter is placed before her like a piece of wax and she shapes it to all forms and figures. Now she makes a bird, then out of the bird a beast — now a flower, then a frog, and she is pleased with her own magical performances as men are with their own fancies."

Before any of our modern teachers thought of evolution, the ancients taught us, through Hermes, that nothing can be abrupt in nature; that she never proceeds by jumps and starts, that everything in her works is slow harmony, and that there is nothing sudden, not even violent death.

The slow development from preexisting forms was a doctrine with the Rosicrucian Illuminati.

-- Isis Unveiled, by Helena P. Blavatsky

Alone the Initiate, rich with the lore acquired by numberless generations of his predecessors, directs the “Eye of Dangma” toward the essence of things in which no Maya can have any influence. It is here that the teachings of esoteric philosophy in relation to the Nidanas and the Four Truths become of the greatest importance; but they are secret.
-- The Secret Doctrine -- The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy, by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

***

[T]he eye is the window of the soul.
-- The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, by Max Heindel

"The spark hangs from the flame by the finest thread of Fohat." The “thread of Fohat” is the thread of being which animates man and passes through all his personalities, or rebirths on this Earth, the thread on which moreover all his “Spirits” are strung, is spun from the essence of the “threefold,” the “fourfold” and the “fivefold”. What is that “Spark” which “hangs from the flame?” It is Jiva, the monad in conjunction with manas, or rather its aroma, that which remains from each personality, when worthy, and hangs from Atma-Buddhi, the Flame, by the thread of life.
-- The Secret Doctrine -- The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy, by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

***

The Minotaur reigned within the Labyrinth; he was a mighty bull to whom seven youths and seven maidens had to be sacrificed every year. Theseus, the hero, plans to slay this Minotaur with his club. He is saved from losing himself in the Labyrinth by the king's daughter Ariadne, who gives him a thread by means of which he finds his way back out of the darkness.
-- The Pictorial Language of Hieronymus Bosch, by Clement A. Wertheim Aymes

***

If having dismissed the supports of consciousness -- perception and representation -- one is able to maintain a continuity of flow between the levels of consciousness without losing the Ariadnian thread that fosters the sense of individuality, yet projecting beyond it where it fuses with all the Ariadnean threads that cross-cross in weaving the meshes of the universe, one reaches a point where consciousness is no longer the consciousness of a single individual.
-- Toward the One, by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan

***

Forget not the end of the thread: constantly deny your carnal soul its desires, till you have attained your eternal desire and find deliverance out of the prison of darkness....Well, I am a whoremonger; since I was little, this has been my trade. I know that this removes hindrances, this consumes veils; this is the root of all acts of obedience, the rest are mere branches. If you do not cut the throat of a sheep, of what use is it to blow on its trotter? Fasting leads to annihilation, where is the last of all pleasures. Whatever shop is in the bazaar, or any potion, or merchandise, or trade, the end of the thread of each one of these is the need of the human soul, and that end of the thread is hidden; until the need for those things arises, the end of the thread does not stir or become visible. Similarly with every religion, every faith, every grace, every miracle, all the states of the prophets -- the end of the thread of every one of these is in the human spirit; until the need arises, that end of the thread does not stir or become visible.
-- Discourses of Rumi, translated by A. J. Arberry

***

Wherever we pick up the thread of twentieth-century Western occultism and ritual magic, we can follow it back along a trail that leads to [Franz] Hartmann.
-- Unholy Alliance: A History of Nazi Involvement with the Occult, by Peter Levenda

***

"In the eighth year from the conception of a Brahman, in the eleventh from that of a Kshatriya, and in the twelfth from that of a Vaisya, let the father invest the child with the mark of his class." (Mann, ii. 36.)

ONE of the many peculiarities that strike a stranger in India is that many Hindus have a cord or skein of thread over the left shoulder, hanging down under the right arm. It is worn as a sash would be. Probably few, except the Hindus themselves, could tell why this cord is worn; why certain persons have it whilst others have it not; or even how or of what it is made.

This article of dress or adornment forms, however, a very important factor in the Hindu cult. The yajno pavitam, as it is called, or the sacred thread of the Hindu, is the outward and visible mark that the wearer is a Dvija, or twice-born. It is a very much prized and a very sacred badge and commands respect and even adoration.

If we enquire who are privileged to assume this distinction, we find the matter very clearly defined by the ancient Hindu law-giver. In the quotation at the head of this chapter, it is clear that the Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas must be thus invested. In another place it is distinctly stated that none but the three twice-born classes are entitled to the distinction.

"The three twice-born classes are the sacerdotal, the military, and the commercial; but the fourth, or servile, is once-born, that is, has no second birth from the gayatri, and wears no thread." (Manu, x. 4.)

This is the law; but others besides these three privileged classes assume the distinction. It is not safe, therefore, to conclude that every wearer of the sacred thread must necessarily be a Brahmin or one of the other two highest castes. The goldsmiths, the weavers, certain classes of fishermen and others wear it. The explanation is that the goldsmith caste, many of whom are carpenters and workers in brass and copper, are themselves a class of Brahmins; at least they assume the distinction. They have their own prescribed share in the Vedas and their own ritual. They have an upanayanam or second-birth ceremony, and are considered dvijas, or twice-born; hence this privilege in the matter of the thread, as well as in many others that are peculiar to Brahmins. The goldsmith caste are said to be the descendants of Brahmin women and Kshatriya men; and this fact, together with the rights above mentioned, appears to be acknowledged by the Brahmins themselves; yet, they do not appear to command much respect as a caste. This may be on account of their mixed origin. Until recent years, for instance, they were not allowed to celebrate their marriages with public processions, to use a palanquin, or to ride a horse. It is said that about thirty years ago there was much disturbance in Masulipatam when, in India through the freedom resulting from the British rule this caste first began to have marriage processions and, in other ways, to assert themselves. Now it is quite an acknowledged thing, for it has become what is known as ma‘mul (custom) and so no one interferes. They are not, as a rule, even now, allowed to enter temples. When they are permitted to do so, it is only to that part in which Sudras are allowed. A case recently came before the law courts in Masulipatam arising out of the attempt of a goldsmith to enter a Siva temple for worship. I believe it was eventually decided that a member of this caste could not enter a temple, except by the permission of the Brabmin priest in charge. The question of the social and religious status of the goldsmith caste is a most vexed one which gives rise to much controversy. It shows that not all wearers of the thread or cord are considered of equal rank....

[O]thers such as weavers and fishermen appear unlawfully to assume the privilege of wearing the sacred thread; but, although their custom is not interfered with, no value is set upon it by orthodox Hindus. They cannot, for example, read the Vedas or even hear them read. Authority to do this, in the case of lawful thread-wearers, is conveyed by the ceremony of upanayanam, or second spiritual birth, of which the thread is the outward symbol. In these modern days, some other classes of Sudras have also adopted the yajnopavitam merely to add to their own importance; but, in all such cases, it is of no true religious value. I have heard of a case in the Orissa country where a certain Raja of the Sudra caste made himself important by assuming authority to invest people of his own caste with the thread. Some of, them, to please him, appear to have submitted to the investiture, and adopted the thread -- thus adding to the number of the unlawful wearers of this coveted mark of distinction. It is said that one unlucky wight who, on a visit to that country, was presented with this badge of honour, was, on his return home, deprived of the same and well beaten for his presumption by his indignant neighbours.

Having thus seen who are entitled to wear the sacred thread, I now pass on to mention some particulars of the thread itself and also of the mode of investiture. Originally there appears to have been some difference in the kind of thread worn, according to the class of the wearer. Thus: "The sacrificial thread of a Brahmin must be made of cotton, so as to be put on over his head in three strings; that of a Kshatriya of sana thread only; that of a Vaisya of woollen thread." (Maim, ii. 44.)

This is the law and probably in ancient times the material of which the thread was made did thus differ, according to the caste of the wearer; but in the present day no such difference is seen. The cord is universally made of cotton. A peculiar kind of very fine cotton is what ought to be employed, but ordinarily the common cotton is used. The threads are supposed to be prepared by Brahmins. Perhaps other than the Brahmins and Vaisyas are not so particular as to the manufacture, but these two castes are very careful in this respect. The threads can generally be obtained in any ordinary bazaar, but the very orthodox, in order to ensure their purity, will frequently procure their supply from the house of the Brahmins who may happen to be engaged in the manufacture.

The yajnopavitam consists of several skeins of cotton thread. Each thread consists of three strands, each skein has three threads, and a married man's cord must consist of not less than three skeins. The number three enters very largely into the structure of the cord itself, and the ceremony of investiture. This is said to represent the three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva; the three sacrificial fires; three divisions of time —morn, noon and night; and the three worlds—heaven, earth and hell. Each skein is tied with a peculiar knot called Brahma's knot. It is made by making three turns with the threads and by so tying the knot that the ends do not appear on the outside. In making each knot the following incantation is repeated by the maker: "Pronouncing the word Om, the Brahma Sutram must be tied, and afterwards worn. (The wearer) will receive purity in all his rites, It being the personification of all the gods."

A youth, if a bachelor, when first invested with the cord, receives only a single skein, and he cannot wear more than a single skein until he is married, when he must wear, at least, three skeins. The Brahmin youth must be invested with his cord when he is about seven or eight years of age. He cannot be married until thus invested, but he may, and in fact often does, marry a day or two after the ceremony. Amongst some of the Banians or Vaisyas, it is customary to defer the upanayanam until immediately before marriage.

The ceremony of investiture is as follows. On the appointed day a fire is lighted, round which the relatives and friends of the novice are seated. This fire is a very important feature of the upanayanam. The whole ceremony is called the agni karyam or fire worship. It is kept alight during the whole four days during which the ceremony lasts, and it is the proper thing to feed it, as far as possible, with the twigs of certain kinds of trees, principally those of the Indian fig tribe. At the repeating of the various mantrams which form part of the ritual, ghee is poured on to the fire as an offering. The father of the youth to be invested takes a thread of nine strands and puts it upon his son. This is not the true yajnopavitam, nor has it the Brahma knot, neither are mantrams said over it. After some time, during which various rites are performed, and the ears of the boy are bored for earrings and then adorned with thin rings of gold, the true cord is produced—a single skein of three threads. To this is attached a bit of the skin of a male deer, or, if procurable, a long strip of this skin is worn as a sash together with the cord. Deer skin is considered to be very pure, and also to be capable of imparting purity. For this reason untanned deer skin is much employed for covering the boxes and other receptacles, in which the household gods, and things pertaining thereto are kept. It is also much used. as a mat to sit upon when performing the daily rites. Mention is made in the Smritis (the teaching of the Sages) of the purity acquired by wearing deer skin, and there are several injunctions on the matter in the laws of Manu. For example: "Let the students in theology wear for their mantles the hides of black antelopes, of common deer or of goats, with lower vests of woven sana of cshuma and of wool, in the direct order of their classes." (Mann, ii. 41.)

The piece of deer skin is worn with the thread for several months when it is taken off with some short ceremony at a temple. When the father puts on the true cord, he repeats the yajnopavitam mantram, the novice saying it after him. This mantram is as follows:

"This most hallowed yajnopavitam,
In former times with Brahma born,
Author of longevity; wear it, it is pure,
May this yajnopavitam become my strength and glory."

As the new and true cord is put on, the imitation one which was first used is taken off. This completes the investiture, and the father at once proceeds to teach the novice the gayatri prayer. This is done with great care and secrecy. A cloth is thrown over the heads of both father and son, and, the sacred words are whispered into the ears, in as low a whisper as possible, so that the holy words may not fall upon the ears of any uninitiated person. The upanayanam is now complete, and the lad is now a true dvija, duly entitled to read the Vedas, and to perform any of the religious rites of his caste.

Immediately following this investiture the youth proceeds to ask alms of those present, beginning with his mother and then his father and afterwards the other relatives or friends. This act is supposed to intimate a readiness on the part of the supplicant to provide for himself and his religious preceptor. All this takes place on the first day, but for three more days the festival is kept up during which the novice is instructed in the morning, midday and evening prayers and in other ceremonial observances. There is always much feasting and rejoicing upon these occasions. Musicians are hired to enliven the company, and friends and relatives are entertained according to the ability of the host.

A new cord must be put on every year on the occasion of a certain festival. This festival is called sravanalapaurnavami -- the full moon in the month of Sravana (July-August). Should the cord be broken during the year, a new one must at once be put on. If a man has a cord of five skeins, a broken thread or two does not matter; but a bachelor must have his one skein perfect, without even a single thread being broken, and a married person must have at least three perfect skeins, every thread of which must be perfect. There are also certain kinds of defilement, as for instance touching a Pariah, that necessitate the putting on a new thread and the casting away the old one. In these days, the orthodox are not always so very particular as this, but this is the rule. Should the cord become broken, or any defilement contracted, no food can be taken until the old is replaced by a new one.

If a strict orthodox Brahmin, in passing through the bazaar, accidentally comes into contact with a Pariah, or in any other way becomes ceremonially defiled, he must get a new cord which he cannot touch until he has bathed and thus purified himself from the defilement. After bathing he takes the new cord and, dipping it into water, spreads it out on two brass or copper vessels. He then touches it with some of the pigment he uses for putting the sacred mark on his forehead. After that he walks round the vessels three times, from right to left, repeating the gayatri prayer. Then he takes the cord, skein by skein, and puts it on saying the mantram, or consecration prayer, used at the first investiture, repeating the same for each skein.

When he has thus put on the whole of the skeins, he takes off the old cord, repeating a mantram which says: "May this old yajnopavitam become my strength and glory."

The old thread is disposed of by throwing it into a river or some other water, if there should be any at hand. The ancient lawgiver says: "His girdle, his leather mantle, his staff, his sacrificial cord, and his ewe; he must throw into the water, when they are worn out or broken, and receive others hallowed by mystical texts." (Mann, ii. 64.)

Should no river, or other suitable water be conveniently near, the old thread is rolled up and thrown on to the top of the house. This is to prevent its being trodden under foot, or in any other such way defiled. This completes the re-investiture. The defiled one is now ceremonially pure, and he can proceed to perform the daily rites which must be gone through before he can partake of food.

The sacred thread is usually worn over the left shoulder, hanging down across the body under the right arm, and, as the orthodox Hindu is not encumbered with much by way of covering for the upper part of his person, it forms a very noticeable object. On certain occasions, however, the position of the thread is changed. At the time of performing the annual ceremony for deceased ancestors, the position is exactly reversed. It is then placed over the right shoulder and hangs down on the left side. On certain other occasions, it is worn as a garland round the neck: whilst at others it is placed up over the ears to prevent its being defiled. Usually when saying the gayatri prayer, the thread is taken hold of by the thumb; and on reciting various mantrams it is used somewhat as a rosary -- the worshipper winding it round the fingers to keep count of the number of times the mantram is repeated. The ancient law-giver Manu makes various allusions to the sacred thread other than those quoted above. He speaks of the sinfulness of omitting the sacred investiture (xi. 63); and he lays down the rule that no one must use a sacerdotal string that has been before used by another (iv. 66).

The yajnopavitam is to the Hindu an all important thing, being the sign of the second or spiritual birth. Without his cord the Brahmin is not a Brahmin. He is nothing better than an outcaste, he cannot perform any ceremony or partake of any food, nay, he must not even swallow his own spittle. He may breathe, and that is about all he can do until the lost or defiled cord is duly replaced with all proper ceremony.

A Sanyasi does not wear this cord, for he has entered the fourth or last stage of the Brahmin's life.

-- "Hindu Sacred Thread, 1908," oldandsold.com

The Rosicrucian theory, that the whole universe is a musical instrument, is the Pythagorean doctrine of the music of the spheres.
-- The Secret Doctrine -- The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy, by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

***

That the harmony of the spheres is sounding here is shown by the presence of musicians and the instruments which they play (a trumpet and a drum, the two instruments which are often used to depict that a communication of a spiritual nature is taking place).
-- The Pictorial Language of Hieronymus Bosch, by Clement A. Wertheim Aymes

If spiritualists are anxious to keep strictly dogmatic in their notions of the "spirit-world," they must not set scientists to investigate their phenomena in the true experimental spirit. The attempt would most surely result in a partial re-discovery of the magic of old — that of Moses and Paracelsus. Under the deceptive beauty of some of their apparitions, they might find some day the sylphs and fair Undines of the Rosicrucians playing in the currents of psychic and odic force.
-- Isis Unveiled, by Helena P. Blavatsky

***

And she began: "Thou shouldst know, my beloved, that there exist in the elements beings not very unlike you men, and who yet seldom let themselves be seen by you. The wondrous salamanders glisten and sport in the flames; the rough, malicious gnomes dwell deep in the earth; the woods are haunted by spirits which are of the air; while the far-spread race of water-spirits live in lakes, and streams, and brooks; they dwell too in resounding crystal vaults, through which heaven with its sun and stars shines in; lofty coral plants with blue and red fruits shine in their gardens; they wander over bright sands, and over gay, many-coloured muscles, and all that the old world possessed of beautiful which the present world is no longer worthy to enjoy, and which the waves conceal with their mysterious veil of silver; below still glitter noble ruins high and stately, and gently washed by loving waters which allure forth from them delicate mosses and wreathing bulrushes. Those who dwell there are pure and lovely to look upon, fairer than even mankind. Many a fisherman has had the good fortune to espy a mermaid as she rose up from the waters, and sang: then would he tell to many of her beauty; and such wondrous women have been called by men Undines. Thou seest before thee an Undine, dearest."
-- Undine: A Romance, by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque

***

The Creator being both male and female, the emanations of his creative spirit, operating upon universal matter, produced subordinate ministers of both sexes, and gave, as companions to the fauns and satyrs, the nymphs of the waters, the mountains and the woods, signifying the passive productive powers of each, subdivided and diffused.
-- A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus: And Its Connection with the Mystic Theology of the Ancients, by Richard Payne Knight

That the Fall of man into generation occurred during the earliest portion of what science calls the Mesozoic times, or the age of the reptiles, is evidenced by the Bible phraseology concerning the serpent, the nature of which is explained in the Zohar. The question is not whether Eve’s incident with the tempting reptile is allegorical or textual, for no one can doubt that it is the former, but to show the antiquity of the symbolism on the very face of it, and that it was not only a Jewish but an universal idea. Now we find in the Zohar a very strange assertion, one that is calculated to provoke the reader to merry laughter by its ludicrous absurdity. It tells us that the serpent, which was used by Shamael (the supposed Satan), to seduce Eve, was a kind of flying camel. A “flying camel” is indeed too much for the most liberal-minded F.R.S. Nevertheless, the Zohar, which can hardly be expected to use the language of a Cuvier, was right in its description: for we find it called in the old Zoroastrian MSS. Aschmogh, which in the Avesta is represented as having lost after the Fall “its nature and its name,” and is described as a huge serpent with a camel’s neck.
-- The Secret Doctrine -- The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy, by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Until now much too much mythology and much too little religious study, much too much grammar and much too little linguistic study has been undertaken to be able to recognize that the impenetrable crystal bowl around which some people uselessly circle without ever being able to open it up, will practically open itself for anyone who understands how to use as a magical key the well-known, and yet so little understood, sentence: "In the beginning was the word.''

But the apparently mystical aspects of this statement immediately disappear, and we are transported into a full state of clarity, when it is realized that, without exception, all mythological names and other kinds of mythological terms were in no way mere empty words, but rather they signified quite specific concepts, and in these very meaningful terms the key to the knowledge and understanding of the religion of our ancient ancestors is offered. Additionally, remnants of customs, sayings, tales, etc., have maintained their meaning and value only through such recognition of the force of language contained in the mythical names and terms, so that linguistic and mythic research, in a complementary way, yield a sense of the sacrality of the word in a complete vindication of the phrase: "In the beginning was the word."

-- The Religion of the Aryo-Germanic Folk: Esoteric and Exoteric, by Guido von List

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Plato and John said, "God is Light," and if we go to one of the great observatories, and with the best telescope made, look into space, we see that there is no boundary to light. It is everywhere, and with the symbol of light there expressed there comes the idea of omnipresence and magnitude of the God we worship. John, in the first five verses of his Gospel, says: "In the beginning was the Word," and therein we have a marvelous solution of the problem, for when we go back to the beginning, we are in the realm of Truth.

  At the present time we have sunk into matter, and are incapable of coming into contact with that truth directly, but when we go back in thought to the beginning of things, then we are in thought with God and more capable of recognizing the Truth. Plato spoke of a time when "there was darkness." The Old Testament tells about darkness, that state of primordial matter, or "Arche," given form by God, the Grand Architect, the primordial Builder of the universe.

  When we think of the One who built things in the beginning, we come into contact with Him, with God, in that "arche" in the first sentence of the five verses we take for meditation. In the next few words we come to the second proposition: the Word. The term "Word" is mistranslated in our present Bible, for it is not only "Word," but it is also the thought, the Greek word "Logos" used in that verse meaning both the word and the logical thought back of it. Before there can be a word, there must be a logical thought back of it. Before the word could come into existence, there had to be a thinker; therefore John used the words "in arche" and "Logos." They express what we wish to understand, that in the beginning there was a homogeneous mass of matter, and in that homogeneous matter was God; and God became the "Word," the rhythmic sound that goes out in the universe, and that shapes all things.

-- The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, by Max Heindel

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When our Soul creates or evokes a thought, the representative sign of that thought is self-engraved upon the astral fluid, which is the receptacle and, so to say, the mirror of all the manifestations of being. The sign expresses the thing: the thing is the virtue of the sign. To pronounce a word is to evoke a thought, and make it present: the magnetic potency of the human speech is the commencement of every manifestation in the Occult World. To utter a Name is not only to define a Being, but to place it under and condemn it through the emission of the Word, to the influence of one or more Occult potencies. Things are, for every one of us, that which it makes them while naming them. The Word or the speech of every man is, quite unconsciously to himself, a blessing or a curse; this is why our present ignorance about the properties or attributes of the idea as well as about the attributes and properties of matter, is often fatal to us.
-- The Secret Doctrine -- The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy, by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

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The Phœnician Cosmogony, like all others in Asia, was the Word of God, written in astral characters. ... "When God resolved to create the human race," said Arius, "He made a Being that He called The WORD, to the end that this Being might give existence to men." ... "In the beginning," says the extract from some older work, with which John commences his Gospel, "was the Word, and the Word was near to God, and the Word was God ... To Philo the Jew, the Supreme Being was the Primitive Light, whence the rays emanate that illuminate Souls. His Image is the WORD, a form more brilliant than fire. ...

The Degree of Rose is devoted to and symbolizes the final triumph of truth over falsehood, of liberty over slavery, of light over darkness, of life over death, and of good over evil. The great truth it inculcates is, that notwithstanding the existence of Evil, God is infinitely wise, just, and good: that though the affairs of the world proceed by no rule of right and wrong known to us in the narrowness of our views, yet all is right, for it is the work of God; and all evils, all miseries, all misfortunes, are but as drops in the vast current that is sweeping onward, guided by Him, to a great and magnificent result: that, at the appointed time, He will redeem and regenerate the world, and the Principle, the Power, and the existence of Evil will then cease; that this will be brought about by such means and instruments as He chooses to employ; whether by the merits of a Redeemer that has already appeared, or a Messiah that is yet waited for, by an incarnation of Himself, or by an inspired prophet, it does not belong to us as Masons to decide. Let each judge and believe for himself.

In the meantime, we labor to hasten the coming of that day. The morals of antiquity, of the law of Moses and of Christianity, are ours. We recognize every teacher of Morality, every Reformer, as a brother in this great work. The Eagle is to us the symbol of Liberty, the Compasses of Equality, the Pelican of Humanity, and our order of Fraternity. Laboring for these, with Faith, Hope, and Charity as our armor, we will wait with patience for the final triumph of Good and the complete manifestation of the Word of God.

-- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, by Albert Pike

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All that hast unlearned been by thee
Hath left a void, wherein shall rush
In thy delight, purest word,
A Name that doth the all contain! ...

Thy word ... and will of mine was banished, and my will ... thy word
Be it of holocaust or hecatombs.
Or monstrous miracles with blood of goats and blood of bulls;
-- The Fire Regained, by Sidney M. Hirsch

If one takes a book on alchemy, and sees in it the speculations on gold and light by the brothers of the Rosie Cross, he will find himself certainly startled, for the simple reason that he will not understand them at all. "The Hermetic gold," he may read, "is the outflow of the sunbeam, or of light suffused invisibly and magically into the body of the world. Light is sublimated gold, rescued magically by invisible stellar attraction, out of material depths. Gold is thus the deposit of light, which of itself generates. Light in the celestial world is subtile, vaporous, magically exalted gold, or 'spirit of flame.' Gold draws inferior natures in the metals, and intensifying and multiplying, converts into itself."
-- Isis Unveiled, by Helena P. Blavatsky

It is the writer's opinion that neither the heights of Contemplation, nor the final step of Adoration can be attained without the aid of a teacher. The aspirant need never fear, however, that for want of a teacher he will be delayed in taking these steps; nor need he be concerned about looking for a teacher. All that is necessary for him to do is start to improve himself, and to earnestly and persistently continue therein. In that way he will purify his vehicles. They will commence to shine in the inner Worlds, and cannot fail to attract the attention of the teachers, who are always watching for just such cases and are more than eager and glad to help those who, because of their earnest efforts to purify themselves, have won the right to receive help. Humanity is sorely in need of helpers who are able to work from the inner Worlds, therefore "seek and ye shall find," but let us not imagine that by going about from one professed teacher to another, we are seeking. "Seeking," in that sense of the word, will avail nothing in this dark world. We ourselves must kindle the light -- the light which invariably radiates from the vehicles of the earnest aspirant. That is the star which will lead us to the teacher, or rather the teacher to us.
-- The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, by Max Heindel

There is something like a fire within ourselves which continually consumes our form, and if we were to add nothing to our body to supply the waste caused by that combustion, our form would soon die. We continually eat our own selves; we eat our fingers, our heart, our brain, &c.; but in each morsel of food which we eat, there is contained the material required to replace that which has been consumed by that internal fire.
-- The Life of Philippus Theophrastus Bombast of Hohenheim Known by the Name of Paracelsus and the Substance of his Teachings, by Franz Hartmann, M.D.

10. Non secretarius publicus, sed Harpocrates existens, Deoque immortali, pro bonis ac donis tantis ac tam paternis, quieto et gaudio et silentio (ne sibi ipsi periculum accersat, aliisque maleficii ansam praebeat, et propterea ira yhvh misere consumatur) gratias immortales agens. [Google translate: Secretary not the public, but existing Harpocrates, Deoque, immortal, for so great and so good and the gifts of his father's, and in silence at rest, and joy (that they had not summon the midst of danger, and other give rise to crime, and therefore is consumed with anger yhvh miserably) thanks to the immortal agent.]
-- Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae, by Heinrich Khunrath

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