Initiates of the Flame (1922) by Manly P. Hall

Initiates of the Flame By Manly P. Hall Read by Adam Hanin Originally published in 1922 by The Philosophical Research Society. I will be reading the updated 3rd edition, released in 1934. As a general disclaimer, the views and opinions expressed in this book belong to the author and may not always reflect those of Master Key Society or its affiliates. This recording is a production of Master Key Society for the purpose of research, study, and discussion. PREFACE THE INITIATES OF THE FLAME was my first literary effort and it is indeed gratifying that through the years it has

been out of print, a demand sufficient to justify its republication should have persisted. It is therefore again presented to the public entirely re-illustrated and with considerable editorial revision. Twelve years have passed since the first publication of this little work on mystical symbolism. During this interim I have considerably extended the scope of my researches into the subject matter of which the work treats. However in reviewing the book today I do not feel moved to make any change in the basic viewpoints set forth. The Initiates of the Flame is a little essay on the mystery of fire.

To all ancient peoples fire was a symbol of the divine One dwelling in the innermost parts of all things. Robert Fludd, a Rosicrucian mystic, writing in the seventeenth century, declared that the fire of the philosophers was divided into three parts: first, a visible fire which is the source of physical light and heat; second, an invisible, or astral fire, which enlightens and warms the soul; third, a spiritual, or divine fire which in the universe is known as God and in man as spirit. The Initiates who took their oaths in the presence of the Flame renounced the

lesser concerns of ordinary life and, freed from the attachments of this material sphere, these purified souls became custodians of that symbolic Flame of wisdom which is the true Light of the world. This Light is a manifestation of the one Universal Life, that active agent whose impulses are the cause of all sidereal phenomena. Where in antiquity this flame of light, this spirit-fire, was the object of a universal adoration and was worshipped as the very presence of God Himself, it now lies buried beneath the ruins of man's fallen temple. Obscured by the paramount interests of the flesh,

it emits but the faintest gleam in this non-philosophic age. - Manly Hall The Initiates of the Flame Few realize that at the present stage of civilization there are illumined souls who walk the earth, like the priests of the ancient temples, watching and guarding the sacred fires that burn upon the altar of humanity. They are the Purified Ones who have renounced the life of this sphere in order to guard and protect the Flame—that spiritual principle in man now hidden beneath the ruins of his fallen temple. The mysteries of antiquity have seemingly perished; the faith, however, of

the golden age— the first religion of man—can never wholly die. As we think of the nations that are gone, of Greece and Rome, and the grandeur that was Egypt’s, we sigh as we recall the story of their fall and we watch the nations of today, wondering which will be the next to draw its shroud about itself and join that great ghostly file of peoples that are dead. But everywhere, even in the rise and fall of nations, we see through the haze of materiality the figure of justice; everywhere we see the principle of fulfillment—the altar of

the Everlasting One is lifted up in the midst of the world. A great hand reaches out from the unseen and regulates the affairs of man. It reaches out from that great Spiritual Flame which nourishes all created things—the never dying fire that burns on the sacred altar of cosmos, that great fire which is the Spirit of God. If we turn again to the races now dead, we shall discover the cause of their destruction. The light had gone out. When the flame within the body is withdrawn, the body dies. When the light was taken from the altar,

the temple no longer was the dwelling-place of a living God. Degeneracy, lust and greed, hates and fears, crept into the souls of ancient Greece and Rome, and black magic overshadowed Egypt; the light upon the altar grew weaker and weaker. The priests lost the Word, the name of the Flame. Little by little the Flame flickered out, and as the last spark grew cold a once mighty nation was extinguished, buried beneath the dead ashes of its own spiritual fire. But the Flame did not die. Like Spirit, of which it is the essence, it cannot die because it

is life, and life cannot cease to be. In some wilderness of land or sea it rested once more, and there again arose a mighty nation around that Flame. So history goes on down through the ages: As long as people are true to the Flame, it remains, but when they cease to nourish it with their lives it passes on to other lands and other worlds. The worshippers of this Flame are now called heathens. Little do we realize that we ourselves are heathens until we are baptized of the Holy Spirit, which is Fire, for Fire is Light

and the children of the Flame are Sons of Light, even as God is Light. There are those who for ages have labored with man to help him kindle within himself this spark which is his divine birthright. These are the Ones who by their lives of self-sacrifice and service have awakened and tended this Fire, who through ages of study have learned the mystery it contains, and whom we now call “The Initiates of the Flame.’’ For ages they have labored with mankind to help him uncover the light within himself, and on the pages of history they have

left their seal—the seal of Fire. Unhonored and unsung, they have labored with humanity, and now the stories of their lives are used as fairy tales to amuse children. The time will come, however, when the world will know the work they did and realize that our present civilization is raised upon the shoulders of the mighty demigods of the past. Like Faust, we stand, with all our lore, fools no wiser than before, because we reject the truths they taught and the evidence of their experiences. Let us honor these Sons of the Flame, not by words but by

living so that their sacrifice shall not be in vain. They have shown us the way, they have led man to the gateway of the Unknown, and then in their robes of glory passed behind the veil. Their lives were the keys to their wisdom, as they must ever be. Though long ago they passed beyond, they still live in history, beacons on the path of human progress. Let us watch these mighty ones as silently they pass by: First, Orpheus playing upon the seven stringed lyre of his own being the music of the spheres. Then Hermes, the Thrice-Greatest,

with his Emerald Tablet of divine revelation. Through the shades of the past we dimly see Krishna, the Illuminated, who on the battlefield of life taught man the mysteries of his own soul. Next we see the sublime Buddha, his yellow robe not half so glorious as the heart it covers; and our own dear Master, the man Jesus, his head surrounded with a halo of Golden Flame and his brow serene with the calm of mastery. Then Mohammed, Zoroaster, Confucius, Odin, Moses, and others no less worthy pass before the inner eye of the student. They were the Sons

of the Flame. From the Flame they came and to the Flame they have returned. To us they beckon, bidding us join them in the service of the Flame they love. They were without creed or clan; they served but the one great ideal. From a common source they came; to a common place they have returned. No superiority was theirs, but hand in hand they labored for humanity. Each loves the other, for the power that has made them Masters has also shown them the Brotherhood of all life. In the pages that follow we shall try to show

this great thread, the spiritual thread of living Fire, that winds in and out through all religions and binds them together with mutual ideals and mutual needs. In the story of the Holy Grail and the legends of King Arthur we find that thread wound around the Table of the King and the Temple of Mount Salvart. This same thread of Fire that passes through the roses of the Rosicrucians is entwined about the petals of the Lotus and around the temple pillars of Luxor. THERE IS BUT ONE RELIGION IN ALL THE WORLD and that is the worship of

God, the Spiritual Flame of the universe. Under many names He is known in all lands, but whether as Ishwar, or Ammon, or God, He is ever the same— the Creator of the universe—and Fire is His universal symbol. We are the Flame-born Sons of God, thrown off as sparks from the wheels of the Infinite. Around this Flame we have built forms which have hidden our light, but as students we are increasing this light by love and service, until it shall again proclaim us Sons of the Eternal. Within us burns that Flame and before its altar the

lower man must bow, a faithful servant of the higher. When man serves the Flame, he grows, and the light also grows, until finally he takes his place with the true Initiates of the universe, those who have given all to the Infinite in the name of the Flame within. Let us, therefore, seek this Flame and also serve it, realizing that it is in all created things; that all are one because all are parts of that Eternal Flame —the Fire of Spirit, the Life and Power of the universe. Upon the altar of this Flame the writer offers

this book and dedicates it to that one Fire which blazes forth from God and which is now hidden within each living thing. FOREWORD THE GREATEST OF MYSTERY SCHOOLS The world is the schoolroom of God— Our being in school does not make us learn, but within it is the opportunity for all learning. This school has its grades and its classes, its sciences and its arts, and admission to it is the birthright of man. Its graduates are its teachers and its pupils are all created things. Its examples are found in Nature and its rules are God’s laws.

Those who would be matriculated into the higher colleges and universities must first, day by day and year by year, work through the common school of life and present to their new teachers the diplomas they have won. Upon this diploma is written the name that none may read save those who have received it. The hours may seem long and the teachers cruel, but each of us must walk the Fath and the only ones qualified to go onward are those who have passed through the gateway of Experience— GOD'S GREAT SCHOOL FOR MAN. The Fire upon the Alter

As far back as our history goes we find that fire has played the most important role in the religious ceremonials of the human race. In practically every religion we find the sacred altar fires, which were guarded by the priests and Vestals with greater care than their own lives. In the Bible we find many references made to the sacred fires used as one form of devotion by the ancient Israelites. The Altar of Burnt Offerings is as old as the human race and dates from the time when primordial man, lifting himself out of the mists of ancient

Lemuria, first saw the sun, the great Fire Spirit of the universe. Among the followers of Zoroaster, the Persian Initiate, fire has been used for centuries in honor of the great Fire God—Ormuzd—who is said by them to have created the universe. There are two parts, or divisions, of humanity whose history is closely related to that of the Wisdom Teachings. They embody the doctrines of fire and water, the two opposites of nature. Those who follow the path of faith (or the heart) use water and are known as the Sons of Seth, while those who follow the path

of the mind and action are the Sons of Cain, who was the son of Samael, the Spirit of Fire. Today we find the latter among the alchemists, the Hermetic philosophers, the Rosicrucians, and the Freemasons. It is well to understand that we, ourselves, are the cube altar upon which and in which burns the altar fire. For many centuries the Initiate of fire has been nourishing and guarding the Spiritual Flame within himself, as day and night the ancient priests tended the altar fires of Vesta’s Temple. Know that the Flame that burns within you and lights your way

is the ever-burning lamp of the ancients. As their lamps were fed by the purest of oil, so your spiritual Flame must be fed by a life of purity and altruism. The ever-burning lamp of the alchemist, which burned for thousands of years without fuel in the catacombs of Rome, is but a symbol of this same Spiritual Fire within himself which was carried by the Initiate in his wandering. It represents the spinal column of man, at the top of which is flickering a little blue and red flame. As the lamp of the ancients was fed and kept

burning by the purest of olive oil, so man is transmuting within himself and cleansing in the Laver of Purification the life essences, which (when turned upward) provide fuel for the ever-burning lamp within himself. Upon the altars of the ancients were offered sacrifices to their gods. The ancient hierophant offered up sacrifices of spices and incense. The Masonic brother of today still has among his symbols the incense burner or censer, but few of the brothers recognize themselves in this symbol. Under such symbols as this the ancients set forth the development of the individual. As the tiny spark

burning among the incense cubes slowly consumes all, so the Spiritual Flame within man is slowly burning away and transmuting the base metals and properties within himself, offering up the essence thereof as the smoke upon the Altar of Divinity. It is said that King Solomon, when he completed his Temple, offered bulls as a sacrifice to the Lord by burning them upon the Temple Altar. Those who believe in a harmless life wonder why so many references are made in the Bible to animal sacrifice. The student will realize that the animal sacrifices referred to are those of the

celestial zodiac and that when the Ram or the Bull was offered upon the altar, it represented the qualities in man which come through Aries (the celestial Ram) and Taurus (the celestial Bull). In other words, the Initiate, passing through his tests and purification, is offering upon the altar of his own higher being the lower animal instincts and desires within himself. Among the Masonic brothers we find also what is called the Symbol of Mortality. It consists of a spade, a coffin, and an open grave, while upon the coffin has been laid a sprig of acacia, or evergreen.

In the picture we see the spade of the grave-digger, which has been considered the symbol of death for centuries. Let us take the spade that now digs our graves through the passions and emotions of life and use it to unearth the secret room far below the rubbish of the fallen temple of the human soul. In the Book of Thoth, that strange document which has descended to man at his present stage of evolution as a deck of ordinary playing cards, we find a very wonderful symbolism. Of all the suits of cards the spade is the only

one in which all the court cards face away from the pip. On all the other kings and queens the faces are looking at the little marker in the corner of the card, but in the spade suit they look away from it. It is said that the spade has been taken from the acorn, but the occult student has a different idea. He sees in the spade, which has for ages been the symbol of death, a certain part of his own anatomy. If you will turn again to the picture of the spade you will note, if you

have ever studied anatomy, that the grave-digger’s spade is the spinal column and the spade shaped piece used on the deck of cards is nothing more or less than the sacrum bone. This bone forms the base of the spinal column, and is also the head of the spear of the Passion. Through it and the foramina which pierce it pass the roots of the spinal nerve, which are indeed the roots of the Tree of Life. This is the center through which are nourished and fed the lower vertebrae of the spine —the sacral and coccygeal bones that dig

the graves for all created things. This point has been beautifully symbolized by the grave-digger’s spade, which has been used by the brothers of many mystic organizations. The currents and forces working through these lower spinal nerves must be transmuted and lifted upward to feed the altar fire at the positive, or upper end of the spine. The focussing of thought or emotion upon higher or lower things, as the case may be, determines where this life energy will be expended. If the lower emotions predominate, the flame upon the altar burns low and flickers out, because the forces which

feed it have been concentrated upon the lower centers. But when altruism predominates, the lower forces are raised upward and pass through the purification which makes possible their use as fuel for the ever-burning lamp. Thus, we see why it was a great sin to let the lamp go out, for the Pillar of Flame, purified and prepared after the directions of the Most High, which hovered over the Tabernacle, is the Spiritual Flame which, hovering above man, lights his way wherever he may go. This is the light that has gone out. It is the candle that is hidden

under the bushel. This is the true light that forever dispels the darkness of ignorance and uncertainty. Let the light shine forth through a purified body and a balanced mind, for this light is the life of our brother man. The sun of our solar system, that is the spiritual sun behind the physical globe, is one of these Flames. Its beginning was no greater than that of the flame in the human soul, but through the power of attraction and the transmutation of its ever-increasing energies it has reached its present proportions. This Flame in man is the “light

that shineth in darkness.” It lights his way as no exterior light could do. This radiation from himself brings into view, one by one, the hidden things of Cosmos, and his ignorance is dispelled in the exact proportion as his light is spread, for the darkness of the unknown can only be displaced by light, and the greater the light the farther back the darkness is driven. This Flame is the lamp of the philosopher, which he carries through the dark passageways of life and by whose light he walks among the stones and along the edge of the narrow

cliff without fear. But though he gains all other things and has not this light within himself, he cannot know where he goes, he cannot watch his footsteps, and he cannot dispel his ignorance with the light of truth. Therefore, let each man tend the fire that burns upon his altar. Let him make that altar (his body) as beautiful and harmonious as possible, and let him also offer upon that altar the frankincense and myrrh (his thoughts and his deeds). As in the Tabernacle he offers all upon the altar of Divinity, so let him day by day, through

the mastery of the lower emotions within himself, dispel the symbols of mortality—the coffin and the open grave. Let him realize that, no matter how crystallized or dead his life may be, the fact that he exists at all proves that the sprig of acacia—the promise of life and immortality—is present somewhere within himself; that even though the flame of life may appear faint or cold, if he will supply the fuel by his daily actions he will kindle within himself once more the Altar Flame; and this, shining forth, will help his brother also to kindle a flame and

make it a living sacrifice to the living God. The Sacred City Of Shamballa In every mythology and legendary religion of the world there is one spot that is sacred above all others to the great ideal of that religion. To the Norsemen it was Valhalla, the City of the Slain, built of the spears of heroes, where feasting and warfare were the order of the day. Here the heroes fought all day and reveled by night. Each day they killed the wild boar and feasted on it and the next day it came to life again. In the Northland

they tell us that Valhalla was high up on the top of the mountains and connected to the earth below by Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge. Up and down this bridge the gods passed, and Odin—the All-Father—came down from Asgard, the City of the Gods, to work and labor with mankind. Among the Greeks, Mount Olympus was held sacred and here the gods are said to have lived high up on the top of a mountain. The Knights of the Holy Grail are said to have had their castle among the crags and peaks of Mount Salvart in northern Spain. In

every religion of the world there is a holy place. The Oriental Meru, Mount Moriah and Mount Sinai, upon which the Tablets of the Law were given to man, are all symbols of one universal ideal. As each of these religions claimed a castle and a home among the clouds, so it is said that all the religions of the world have their headquarters in Shamballa, the Sacred City in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, the high place upon the polar mountain of the world. Among the Oriental peoples there are wonderful legends of this Sacred City, where it is

said the Great White Lodge, or Brotherhood, meets to carry on the government of world affairs. Editor's Note - In other texts, this Great White Brotherhood may also be referred to as The Great Brotherhood of light, the Council of Light, the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, or the Ascended Masters. The belief is that there is a spiritual organization of ascended masters or mystics, men and women from all cultures, robed in glowing white light, that have risen from the Earth into immortality and help guide the spiritual development of humanity in their forward evolution. As the Aesir of

Scandinavia were twelve in number and Mount Olympus had twelve deities, so the Great White Brotherhood is said to have twelve members who meet in Shamballa to direct the affairs of men. It is said that this center of universal religion descended upon the earth when the polar cap, which was the first part of the earth’s surface to crystallize, became solid enough to support life. Science now knows that not only does the earth have two motions — that of rotation upon its axis and revolution around the sun—but that it also has nine other motions, according to Flammarion,

the French astronomer. One of these motions is that of the alternation of the poles; in other words, some day that part of the earth’s surface which is now the North Pole will become the South Pole. It is, therefore, said that the Sacred City has left its central position and, after much wandering, is now located in Mongolia. Those acquainted with the Mohammedan religion will see something of great interest in the annual pilgrimage to the Kabba at Mecca, where thousands go to honor the stone of Abraham, the great aerolite upon which Mohammed is said to have rested

his foot. Old and young alike, some even carried, wind through desert sands and endure untold hardships, many coming from great distances, to visit the place they cherish and love. In India we find many sacred places to which pilgrims go, even as the Templars in our Christian religion went to the sepulchre of Christ. Few see in this anything more than an outward symbol, but the mystic recognizes the great esoteric truth contained therin. The spiritual consciousness in man is a pilgrim on the way to Mecca. As this consciousness passes upward through the centers and nerves of the

body, it is like the pilgrim climbing the heights of Mount Sinai or the Knight of the Holy Grail returning to Mount Salvart. When the spinal fire of man starts on its upward journey, it stops at many shrines and visits many holy places, for, like the Masonic brother and his Jacob’s Ladder, the way that leads to heaven is upward and inward. The spinal fire passes through the centers, or seed ground, of many great principles and worships at the shrines of many divine essences within itself. It is eternally going upward, however, and finally it reaches the great

desert; but only after pain and suffering and long labor does it cross that waste of sand. This is the Gethsemane of the higher man. But finally the pilgrim crosses the Sacred Desert and before him in the heart of the Lotus rises the Golden City—Shamballa. In the spreading of the bone between the eyes, called the frontal sinus, is the seat of the intellectual divinity in man. There, in a peculiar gaseous material, floats (or rather exists, or is) the fine essence which we know as the mental spirit. This is the Lost City in the Sacred Desert, connected

to the lower world by the Rainbow Bridge, or the Silver Cord, and it is to this point in himself that the aspirant is striving to rise. This is the sacred pilgrimage of the Soul, in which the individual, leaving the lower man and the world below, climbs upward into the Higher Man, or Higher World— the brain. This is the great pilgrimage to Shamballa, and as that great city is the center for the direction of our earth, so the corresponding great city in man is the center for his governmental system. When any other principle governs man he

is not attuned to his own Higher Self, and it is only when the gods, representing this higher principle, come down the Rainbow Bridge and labor with him, teaching him the arts and sciences, that he is truly receiving his divine birthright. In the Orient the disciple looks forward with eager longing to the time when he will be allowed to worship before the gates of the Sacred City; when he shall see the Initiates in silent conclave around the circular table of the zodiac; when the Veil of Isis shall be torn away and the cover lifted from the

Grail Cup. Let the seeker remember that all these things must first happen within himself before he can find them in the universe without. The twelve Elder Brothers within himself must first be reached and understood before those of the universe can be comprehended. If he would find the great Initiates without, he must first find them within; if he would see that Sacred City in the Lotus Blossom, he must first open that Lotus within himself which he does petal by petal when he purifies and attunes himself to the higher principles within. The Lotus is the spinal column

with its roots deep in materiality and its blossom in the brain. Only when he sends nourishment and power upward can that Lotus blossom within himself and its many petals give out their spiritual fragrance. May your consciousness be lifted upward through the Tree of Life within yourself until in the brain it blossoms forth as the Lotus, which rises from the darkness of the lower world and lifts its flower to catch the rays of the Sun. You will sometimes see strange little Chinese gods or Oriental Buddhas sitting on the blossom of a Lotus. In fact, if you

look carefully you will find nearly all the Oriental gods are so depicted. This means that they have opened within themselves that Spiritual Consciousness which they call the Kundalini. The little hats worn by the Hindu gods also are made to represent an inverted flower, and here once more, like the rod of Aaron that budded, we see reference made to the unfolding of the Spiritual Consciousness within. When the Lotus Blossom has reached maturity it drops its seed and from this seed new plants are produced. Similarly, within the Spiritual Consciousness, when the soul plant is finished its principles

are released as seed, and drop back into the sea of spirit. The buds on the rod of Aaron are the seven centers within yourself, which when you develop their spiritual powers shine out as centers of fire within your own being. The ancients have used flowers to symbolize these spinal centers, which when they shine out show that the dead stick, cut from the Tree of Life, has budded or that the disciple has vivified the vortices of creative energy — the chakras along the spine. In the Western World the Lotus has been changed to the Rose. The

Roses of the Rosicrucian, the Roses of the Masonic degrees, and also those of the Order of the Garter in England all stand for the same thing: the awakening of spiritual consciousness and unfolding into full bloom the soul qualities of man. When man opens this bud within himself, he finds, like the golden pollen in the flower, this wonderful spiritual city, Shamballa, in the heart of the thousand-petalled Lotus of the brain. When this pilgrimage of his Spiritual Fire is accomplished, man is liberated from the top of the mountain as in the Ascension of Christ. It is then

that the spiritual man, freed by his pilgrimage from the Wheel of Bondage, rises upward from the midst of his disciples—the convolutions of the brain—with that great cry of the Initiate which for ages has sounded through the Mystery Schools when the purified adept goes onward and upward to become a pillar in the Temple of his God. With that last cry the true mystery of Shamballa, the Sacred City, is understood. The new master joins the ranks of those who, in white robes of purity—their own soul-bodies —have sounded the eternal tocsin: “Consummatum Est,” it is finished. The Mystery

of the Alchemist THERE are few occult students today who have not heard of the alchemist, but there are very few who know anything about the strange men who lived during the Middle Ages and concealed under chemical symbolism the story of the soul. At a time when to express a heretical religious thought was to court annihilation at the stake or wheel, the alchemists labored silently in underground caves and cellars to learn the mysteries of nature which the religious opinions of their day denied them the privilege of explaining. Let us picture the alchemist of old, deep in

the study of natural lore. We find him among the test tubes and retorts of his hidden laboratory; around him are massive tomes and manuscripts by ancient writers. He is a student of nature’s mysteries and has devoted years, perhaps lives, to the work he loves. His hair has long since grayed with age. By the light of his little lamp he reads slowly and with difficulty the strange symbols on the pages before him. His mind is concentrated upon one thing, and that is the finding of the Philosopher’s Stone. With all the chemicals at his command and their

various combinations thoroughly understood, he is laboring with his furnace and his burners to make out of the base metals the Philosopher’s Gold. At last he finds the key and gives to the world the secret of Gilead’s Balm and the Immortal Stone. Salt, sulphur, and mercury are the answer to his quest. From them he makes the Philosopher’s Stone, from them he extracts the Elixir of Life, with their power he transmutes the base metals into gold. The world laughs at him but he goes on in silence, actually doing the very things the world believes impossible. After many

years of labor he takes his little lamp and silently slips away into the great Unknown. No one knows what he has done or the discoveries that he has made, but he, with his little lamp, still explores the mysteries of the universe. As the close of the fifteenth century enshrouded him with mystery, so the dawn of the twentieth is crowning him with the glory of his just reward, for the world is beginning to realize the truths the alchemist knew and to marvel at the understanding which his years of labor had earned for him. Man has been

an alchemist from the time when first he raised himself and with his long latent powers pronounced himself as human. Experiences are the chemicals of life with which the philosopher experiments. Nature is the great book whose secrets he seeks to understand through her own wondrous symbolism. His own Spiritual Flame is the lamp by which he reads and without which the printed pages mean nothing to him; his own body is the furnace in which he prepares the Philosopher’s Stone; his senses and organs are the test tubes; and incentive is the flame from the burner. Salt, sulphur and

mercury are the chemicals of his craft. According to the ancient philosophers, salt was of the earth - earthy, sulphur was a fire which was spiritual, while mercury was only a messenger, like the winged Hermes of the Greeks, whose color is purple, which is the blending of the red and the blue—the blue of the spirit and the red of the body. The mystic realizes that he himself is the Philosopher’s Stone, and that this stone is made diamond-like when the salt and the sulphur (the spirit and the body) are united through mercury (the link of mind). Man

is the incarnated principle of mind as the animal is the incarnated principle of emotion. Man stands with one foot on the heavens and the other on the earth. His higher being is lifted to the celestial spheres, but the lower ties him to terrestrial matter. The philosopher builds his Sacred Stone by harmonizing his spirit and his body. The hard knocks of life chip the stone away and facet it until it reflects light from a million different angles. The ultimate achievement is the Philosopher’s Stone. The Elixir of Life is likewise the Spirit Fire (rather, the fuel which

nourishes that fire) and the changing of the base metals into gold is accomplished when he transmutes the base elements of the lower man into spiritual gold. This he does by study and love. Thus he is building within himself the lost panacea for the world’s woe. The changing of base metals into gold can be called a literal fact, for the same chemical combination which produces spiritual gold will also produce physical gold. It is known that many of the ancient alchemists really did create the precious metal out of lead, alloy, etc. This was upon the principle that

all things contain some part of everything else. In other words, every grain of sand or drop of water contains, in some proportion, every other element of the universe. Therefore, the alchemist did not try to make something from nothing but rather to extract and build that which already was, knowing this to be the only reasonable course of procedure. Man can create nothing from nothing. He does, however, contain within himself, in potential energy, all things and, like the alchemist with his metals, he is simply working with that which he already has. The living Philosopher's Stone is a

very beautiful thing. Indeed, like the fire opal, it shines with a million different hues, ever changing with the mood of the wearer. The transmuting process whereby the spiritual essences, passing through the furnace of purification, radiate from the physical form as the soul-body of gold and blue is indeed a beautiful one. The Masons have among their symbols a five- pointed star with two clasped hands within it, and in that we have the mystery of the Philosopher’s Stone. The clasped hands represent the united man in which the higher and the lower are working for their mutual betterment

by a cooperative rather than a competitive system. The five-pointed star is the soul-body, born of this cooperation; it is the living Philosopher’s Stone, more precious than all the jewels on earth. From it pour the rivers of life spoken of in the Bible; it is the Star of the Morning that heralds the dawn of Mastery and the reward of those who follow in the footsteps of the ancient alchemist. We read from the ancient symbols that the alchemy of life produces in natural sequence all the states of progression explained in the writings of the alchemist, until finally

the sun and the moon are united as described in the Hermetic Marriage, which is, in truth, the marriage of the body and the spirit for their mutual development. This takes place in man when the heart and mind are joined in eternal union. It occurs when the positive and negative poles within are united, and from that union is made the Philosopher’s Stone. We are the alchemists who centuries ago carried on in secret our studies of the soul. We still have the same opportunity that we had then, and even more, for now we can state our opinions

with little danger of personal injury. The modern alchemist thus has an opportunity that his ancient brother never had. In the contacts of daily life he sees nature’s experiments carried on; he sees the fusing of metals, and from the every-day book of life, through the process of analogy, he may study divinity. By the flame of life’s experience the steel of his spirit is tempered. As the moon in the zodiac touches off like a fuse the happenings of life, so his own desires and wishes touch off the powers of his soul, and these experiences may be transmuted

into soul qualities when he has developed the eye which enables him to read the simplest of all books—everyday life. The alchemist of today does not study alone, hidden in caves and cellars, but as he pursues his work it is seen that walls are built around him, for while (like the master of old) he is in the world, he is not of it. As he progresses further in his work, the light of other people’s advice and outside help grows weaker and weaker, until finally he stands alone in darkness. Then comes the time that he must use

his own lamp and the various experiments which he has theretofore carried on must be his only guide. He must take the Elixir of Life which he has developed and with it fill the lamp of his spiritual consciousness. Holding that above his head, he must walk into the Unknown where, if he has been a good and faithful servant, he will learn of the alchemy of divinity. Where now test tubes and bottles are his implements, then he will study worlds and globes and as a silent watcher learn from that Divine One—the Great Alchemist of all the universe—the

greatest alchemy of all: the creation of life, the maintenance of form, and the building of worlds. The Egyptian Initiate Many ages have now elapsed since the Egyptain Priest-King passed through the pillars of Thebes. Ages before the sinking of Atlantis and many ages before the Christian era, Egypt was a land of great truths. The hand of the Great White Brotherhood was out stretched to the Empire of the Nile and the passages of the ancient pyramid resounded with the chants of the Initiates. Then it was that the Pharaoh called half man, half divine, reigned over Egypt. The

later Pharaohs were degenerate and of little importance. It is only the early Pharaohs we now list among the Priest-Kings. Try to picture the great Hall of Luxor with its inscriptive columns holding up domes of solid granite, each column having carved thereon the histories of the gods. At the upper end of the chamber sat the Pharaoh of the Nile in his robes of state; around him were his counselors, chief among them the priest of the temple. An imposing spectacle it was: the gigantic frame of the later Atlantean, robed in gold and priceless jewels, on his head

the crown of the North and South, the double empire of the ancients. On his forehead was coiled the serpent of the Initiate—the serpent that was raised in the wilderness that all who looked thereon might live. This uraeus represented the sleeping serpent power in man which, coiled head downward around the Tree of Life, drove him from the Garden of the Lord, but which raised upon the cross, became the symbol of the Christ. The encircled serpent is the crown of the ancient gods. It shows that the two paths or parts of the spirit fire have been united.

This crown is the symbol of mastery and the union takes place within the student when the life forces are lifted to the brain. The Pharaoh was an Initiate of Scorpio, and the serpent is the transmuted Scorpio energy which, working upward in the regenerated individual, is called the Kundalini. This serpent was the sign of Initiation. It meant that within the Initiate the serpent had been raised, for the true Pharaoh was a priest of God as well as a master of men. He sat upon the cube altar throne, indicating his mastery over the four elements of his

physical body—a judge of the living and of the dead. In spite of all his power and glory and the grandeur of the world’s greatest empire, still he bowed in humble supplication to the will of the gods. In his hand he carried the triple sceptre of the Nile—the Flail or Whip, the Shepherd’s Crook, and the Anubis-headed Staff. These were the symbols of his work. They represented the powers which he had mastered. With the Whip he had subjugated his physical body; with the Shepherd’s Crook he was the guardian and keeper of his emotional body; with the Anubis-headed

Staff he was master of his mind and worthy to wield the powers of government over others because, first of all, he obeyed the laws himself. With all his robes of state, the scarab upon his breast, and the All-seeing Eye above his throne, there was still nothing so precious or sacred to the ancient Egyptian Priest-King as the triangular girdle or apron, the symbol of his initiation. The apron of the ancient Egyptian carried with it the same symbolism as the Masonic apron of today. It symbolized the purification of the bodies when the seat of the lower emotions,

Scorpio, was covered by the white sheepskin of purification. This plain insignia, the symbol of his purification, though worn by many others inferior to him in rank and dignity but equal to him in spiritual achievement, was the most treasured possession of the Egyptian Priest-King. There he sat enthroned, adorned with the symbols of his purification and mastery, a wise king over a wise people. It was through these Priest-Kings that Divinity worked, for they were of the Order of Melchizedek. Through them was formulated that doctrine which degeneracy has been unable entirely to obliterate and which we know as

the divine right of kings—divine because by reason of their spirituality and growth God was able to manifest through them. Conscious instruments were they, in the hands of a superior power, willing and proud to do the work of those Superior Beings with whom they had attuned themselves through knowledge and truth. But, as with every nation, the time came when selfishness and egotism entered the hearts of king and people alike. Slowly the hand of the Great White Brotherhood that had fed ancient Egypt was withdrawn; slowly the powers of darkness transformed its former magnificence into crumbling ruins, and

the names of once mighty kings were buried beneath the oblivion of degeneracy. Mighty cataclysms shook the world and out of the land of darkness the Great White Brotherhood led the faithful few into the promised land. Egypt, once the land of hope and glory, disintegrated into dust. The great temples of the Pharaohs are naught but ruins, the temples of Isis broken heaps of sandstone. But what of the Priest-Kings who labored there in the days of its glory? They are still with us, for those who were leaders before are leaders now if they have continued to walk

in the path. Though his secptre be gone and his priestly vestments moulded away, still the Priest-King walks the earth with the dignity, the power, and the childlike simplicity that formerly made him great. Though he no longer wears the robes of his Order and though he be without credentials, yet is he now as much a Priest-King as then, for he still bears the insignia of his true rank. Knowledge and love have replaced the coiled serpent of the past; the hand that bestowed gifts of riches then does little acts of kindness now. Though he no longer carries

the triple secptre of self-mastery, still he manifests that mastery in his daily life. Though the altar fires within the Temple at Karnak have long since been dead, the true fire still burns within himself and still he bows before it as in the days of Egypt’s splendor. Though the priest be no longer his counselor and the wise ones of his country no longer aid him in problems of state, yet is he never alone, for the priests in white and the counselors in blue still march by his side, whispering words of strength and courage when he needs

them. Have you not seen people whom, somehow, you instinctively liked? Have you not seen charming people whom, in spite of their charms you disliked ? Have you not seen apparently learned people who were really ignorant, and again, other people who, though unschooled, you felt to be wise? Truth and love are the insignia of rank which the loss of title or position cannot destroy. With or without crowns, they were kings. Still they are kings and so will remain to the end of time, and still they manifest their rank, not by their arrogance but by the soul

qualities radiating from them. The purity of life and motive still radiates from those of old who wore the apron of the Initiate, for while that triangular apron with the serpent drawn upon it has long since rotted away, the spiritual counterpart of that symbol is still seen in the radiance of their daily lives, thus proving beyond all dispute that as they were Priest-Kings then, so are they today. In every walk of life we find them—in the high places and in the low. But wherever found they are still the mouthpieces of the gods and through them comes

the promise to all who strive. Kings they are, not of earth but of heaven, and in the life of our own Master Jesus we find one who joined himself to those who served, and who was a true King even when his only crown was a wreath of thorns. Still in the invisible ether about the Pyramid of Gizeh the initiations continue; still the Initiate there receives the insignia of his rank. Before that Fire within himself he makes his vows and upon the burning altar of his own higher being he lays his crown and his sceptre, his

robes and his jewels, his hates and his fears, sanctifying his life as a Priest- King and swearing to serve none but the god within his own higher Self. The Jewish Covenant One of the most interesting symbols which has come down to us from the ancients is that of the Ark, or the box that was said to contain the sacred relics. Many people believe that this belongs particularly to the Jewish nation, but this is a great mistake because the Ark has been the birthright of every country. Like the Jewish people, all races lost much of their

power and glory when they lost the sacred Ark. In ancient Chaldea and Phoenicia the Ark was well known. India celebrates it as the Lotus. The ancient Egyptians tell how the moon-god Osiris was imprisoned in an ark. In all the Mystery Religions of the world, individually and cosmically, the ark represents the fountain-head of wisdom. Over it the Shekinah’s glory hovers as a column of flame by night and a pillar of smoke by day. When the Priest-Kings and Initiates, surrounded by those faithful to the truth, take the sacred Ark away from an old civilization, they carry it

into other lands and to other peoples, where its presence becomes the foundation of a great order of spiritual enlightenment. In every creed and every religion crystallization goes on. We find small groups of people separating themselves from their fellowmen; clinging to the old, they refuse to advance with the new. Whenever we find this crystallization we also find the spirit of truth carried away to another people and embodied in other doctrines. The staves by which the ancient Ark of the Israelites was carried or transported, were never removed until it was finally placed in Solomon’s Temple. Likewise, never

does the spirit-fire in man come to rest until finally it is enthroned in the Holy Place of his Solar Temple. Ever towards the rising sun its bearers carry this vessel of the sacred truth. Nations are born among those who love the truth, and nations are buried when they forget it. The time has come again when its silent bearers have taken the sacred Ark and the Shekinah’s glory and, moving across the waters in solemn file, have brought it to the new world. Throughout the universe the call has sounded and those who are true to their own

higher principles have surrounded the sacred chest. Those who have sworn such allegiance to their own higher natures are following the priests with their sacred burden and a magnificent Mystery Temple is being built in this glorious land of ours, loved and guarded by all those who are laboring for humanity. The staves still remain in the Ark, however, and only when real good can be accomplished will they be removed and the sacred Ark find a new resting-place. This opportunity is now confronting the Western World. The knowledge of the ancients, the accumulated wisdom of the ages, is knocking

at the door and seeking those who will follow' it. The bearers of the Ark have tarried and are gathering a nucleus of spiritual souls to carry on their work, but whether or not the Word will remain with a nation is dependent upon national life and ideals, for the actions of a nation are but the collective actions of its individuals. If the Ark of the Covenant, therefore, finds nothing here attuned to itself, if it finds only a few who will answer its call of service and brotherhood, then will its priests lift again the staves and carry

it on into other lands. A nation thus deprived of its spiritual life will, like the ancient city of the Golden Gate, be swallowed up in oblivion. The call is now sounding and those who love the Truth and revere the Light must join that band of devoted servers who for centuries have dedicated themselves to the preservation of Truth. These have given their lives a thousand times for the cause of Truth; their personal happiness has always been second to their duty. They are the custodians of the sacred Word, and the law of attraction draws to them all

who love and live the Truth. A great influx of spiritual light comes to those who have learned the doctrine and who live the life, and, regardless of clan or country, they have joined the silent file of watchers and workers around the sacred Ark of the Covenant. By his daily actions every individual is expressing far more plainly than words his ideals, his desires, and also his attitude toward this Great Work. The composite attitude of a certain number of people either shuts out or lets in the light. Therefore, every individual has a sacred duty, a great work

to do, and to which the true student must dedicate his life. Then wherever he may go, whatever he may do, he is being guided and the Shekinah’s glory directs his footsteps. In the brain of man between the wings of the kneeling Cherubim is the Mercy-seat, and there man speaks with his God as the holy priest of the Tabernacle spoke to the Spirit of the Lord hovering between the wings of the Cherubim. Thus, man represents the Ark and within him are the three principles—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the Tablets of the Law, the Pot

of Manna, and the Rod that budded. In these three things contained within the Ark we see the threefold spirit contained within the ark of man’s bodies. But, as in the case of the ancient Israelites when they became crystallized, the Pot of Manna and the Rod that budded were removed from the Ark and all that was left were the Tablets, or the Letters of the Law. So, when the individual crystallizes and closes his mind to differing viewpoints, he excludes the life force which was flowing into him. In shutting out strangers, he pauperizes his own life, leaving

only the Tablets of the Law—the material reasons from which the spiritual life has departed. Solomon’s Temple—the perfected temple of the human body, the perfected temple of the soul and the perfected temple of the universe—finally forms the perfect shrine for the living Ark. There at the head of a great cross it is placed and there in man it becomes permanently fixed. The staves of polarity upon which it has been carried are then removed and it becomes a living thing—a permanent place where man converses with his God. There, man, the purified priest, arrayed in the robes of

his order —the garments of his soul—holds communion with the Spirit hovering over the Mercy-Seat. Though this Ark within is ever present, man can only reach it after he has passed through the outer court of the Tabernacle, through all the degrees of initiation, after he has taken the Third Degree and becomes a Grand Master. Then, and then only, can he enter into the presence of his Lord and there in the darkened chamber, lighted by the jewels of his own breastplate, converse with the Most High, the true spiritual essence within himself. We are all working towards this

end and the time will come when each person will know for himself the mystery of the Ark, when the student through purification will be led through the door of the Holy of Holies and there be enveloped by the Light of Truth. This was his birthright which he sold for a mess of pottage. “To this end came He into the world that He might bear witness to this truth, that through this light all men might be saved.” The Ark of the Covenant—that great spiritual principle—surrounded by its faithful servants, is calling all to follow it. When through

materialism or degeneracy a great people are destroyed or a continent sinks beneath the ocean, then those who are true are called around the Ark and are led out of the land of darkness into the new world and a promised paradise. All great teachings set forth the same idea. When the truth seeker allies himself with the powers of light and becomes a channel for its expression, when he radiates this light from himself to all who need— then indeed will the Flame protect him and he will become a “Sun” of God. Knights of the Holy Grail Before

taking up the study of the Grail legends it would be well for all who are interested to read those tales now listed under the heading of children’s fairy stories. For example, the story of good King Arthur and his Round Table is a cosmic myth and, while there is little doubt that he as a man actually lived, the real mystery (as in the story of the Christ) is not the literal tale, but the great mystic or occult truth concealed under allegory and parable. The same is true with the story of Parsifal, which can never be really

understood and appreciated until the reader sees in the Knight (and later King of the Sacred Cup) his own spiritual development and the temptations he must also master if he would become a King of the Grail. In Lohengrin the same truth is again shown to the world. It is the path of initiation along which each must pass on his road to self-mastery. To every nation and in every tongue sacred legends have been given to teach man the path he must follow. The blind Homer of the Greeks who told of the wanderings of Ulysses gave the same

great truths to the world. The Scalds of ancient Norway and Sweden and the Prophets of the Jews used the same means. Everywhere, from the sacred books of the East to the legends of the American Indians we find one great connected truth told to many different peoples in ways best suited for their development. Such a truth is the legend of the Round Table, given to King Arthur as a wedding gift. All true mystics know what that wedding was: not of earth, but the wedding of the Spiritual to the Intellectual within the Initiate himself when the spirit

and the body are united eternally, each swearing to honor and protect the other. Such a marriage was the union of Arthur and Guinevere in the legend of the King. Let us, first of all, consider the coming of Arthur the King. We read in the legend regarding Merlin the Magician, the wise man, who had charge of the coming King during his youth. Merlin represents the hand of the Elder Brothers who. realizing that a great ego had come into the world, consecrated themselves to the task of preparing him for his mission. It was under the direction of

Merlin, the master-mind, that the anvil and stone with the sword thrust into it were raised in the city square when it became necessary for a new king to be selected. It was he also who called all the brave knights of the land together and told them that the one who could draw forth the sword would be king. And of all the knights assembled, Arthur, the half-grown boy, was the only one who could release the sword. There is a very wonderful mystery of the soul contained within that divine allegory. Let us read the letters that were

engraved upon the sword: “WHOSO PULLETH OUT THIS SWORD OF THIS STONE AND ANVIL IS RIGHT-WISE KING BORN OF ENGLAND.” The cube stone is the body. It has been so symbolized for centuries, and today among the Masons the Ashler is the symbol of Man. Experience is the anvil and it is upon this anvil that the sword is tempered. The sword is spirit, and he who would be King in the true spiritual sense of the word must first show his divine power by freeing the sword of spirit from the casings of the lower man and the world.

It is the same symbol as that later used by Sir Galahad, the guileless knight, the personification of the purified man, who comes without a sword but who later arms himself with the sword of spirit which he draws from the cube block floating down the river (of life) past Camelot. Sir Galahad had the strength of ten because his heart was pure, and the Knight of today must follow in his footsteps. If you have read the story of King Arthur you will remember how he was given Excalibur, the enchanted sword, and how it came up out of

the water held by a hand draped in white. Excalibur represents Light and Truth, which are the weapons of the true Initiate. In England there still hangs on a wall the Round Table of King Arthur. In the very center of the Table is a beautiful rose painted in natural colors. This symbol is that of the Rosicrucians, the ancient alchemists, and there is a direct connection between the legend of the British King and the ancient philosophers of Fire. Let us turn our attention for a moment to the history of the Holy Grail, or the Cup from which

Christ drank at the Last Supper, and which was said to have caught his blood when he hung dying upon the cross. Ancient legends tell us that this cup was made from a sacred stone which had been the crown jewel of Lucifer, the dynamic energy of the universe. It was said that the green stone had been struck from the crown of Lucifer by the Archangel Michael during the famous battle in heaven. After the death of the Christos, Joseph of Arimathea took the sacred cup and the spear of the Passion and carried them into a distant land.

With his sacred relics he wandered through Europe and is said to have finally died. Those who followed him, after many centuries of tribulation, carried the sacred relics to Mount Salvart in northern Spain, where they remained until Parsifal finally took the Grail and Spear back to the East, where they are now preserved. It is around this Cup and Spear that the legends of Parsifal and King Arthur have been written, and it is through a study of this fact that we are able to better understand the mystery of the Great White Lodge of which the Round Table

of King Arthur and the circular temple of the Knights of the Grail are symbols. Although we no longer have the Cup as a physical symbol, it is not gone from among us. As in the days of old the brave Knights of the Round Table went out to fight for right, so those knights who belong to the Great White Brotherhood go out into the world today in the name of Truth, and labor with mankind, seeking to right the wrongs of the world. It is said that the Knights of King Arthur’s court always fought on the side

of virtue and purity, as also did those who rode out of Mount Salvart. The Grail Cup is the symbol of the creative force of nature; it is also the symbol of the human race which is slowly learning the mysteries of creation. Within the Cup is the blood of Christ, that force which is slowly or rapidly transmuting the body into soul, as we give it lesser or greater opportunity. In the sacred Spear we find symbolized again the creative force which in the hands of Klingsor, the Evil One, wounds and causes suffering but which, when held by

the pure Parsifal, heals the very wound that it caused. A great lesson is being taught to man through these allegories, but the average person is unwilling to stop and consider them. Many do not realize that they themselves are the ones whom the Elder Brothers of humanity must use in the fight against the forces of evil. They do not realize that the dragons and ogres of legend are their own lower natures which they must overcome. They do not see in the hand to hand combat of the knights of old for a lady’s favor the higher man

and the lower man fighting for the soul within. The knight of today does not realize that the white armor he wears is his own purified body which is proof against all the attacks of vice and passion; nevertheless this is the meaning of the legend. His shield is truth, which is a perfect protection to the inner man. His strong right arm is the knowledge and spiritual power he has developed within; the sword he wields is the spiritual light —the pure Flame of the spirit-fire—which dispels the darkness of ignorance and the demons of lust. The sacred Spear

and the Cup which he serves are the two poles of the creative life force within, the development of which he gains as he daily serves his fellow men. The Holy Grail is our body within which is the life blood of the Sun Spirit of the Universe. Each day that we live we perpetuate the Last Supper, and in all that we do we drink again the blood of Christ, the life power of the Cosmos. Far from the uninitiated, the twelve Elder Brothers of mankind, sitting around the circular table of the universe, watch the knights in their

battle of life. In due course of time, the student, having finished his work here, is liberated at the foot of the Grail. There the candidate stands robed from head to foot in the armor of spirit and in the pure white of a body that has been cleansed. Then the cloth is lifted from the sacred Cup and he is illuminated by the light which would otherwise have killed him had he seen it without purification. Then taking his place among the Knights of the Round Table, he joins those who give up all to labor for humanity. When

in sickness and in suffering we beseech the great Unknown to send us help, then indeed our knight comes to us as Lohengrin came to Elsa. When our loved ones pass into the Unknown, there stands the Brother of the Grail, the Invisible Helper, who through lives of labor has earned the right to become a member of that great band of servers gathered around the Table of the King, and who while the body is wrapped in sleep still labors in his search for Light and Truth and prays for the day when he will also become a King

of the Holy Grail. The Mystery of the Pyramid In the development of the occult student there comes a time when he understands one of the great secrets of the Initiates, namely, that every sacred thing outside of himself stands for some organ or function within himself. This is likewise true in the case of the Great Pyramid, except that this particular pile of stone (said by man to be the oldest building on the surface of the earth) is the great symbol of composite man. In other words, it stands for man as a unit. Let us first consider

the pyramid simply from the exterior standpoint. When we first look, it seems to be one great stone, but as we examine more closely we see that it is made up of thousands of smaller stones, each one carefully fitted into place. Here is the first likeness between the pyramid and man. We ordinarily consider man to be a unit, but when we examine him more closely we find that he is an aggregation of infinitely smaller units, each working in harmony with the others. The analogy prevails everywhere. We take a successful life and think of it as an

entirety, but when we analyze it we find it composed of a vast number of lesser achievements, each contributing its mite to the masterpiece. As thousands of workmen were used in the building of the pyramid, so unnumbered workmen are engaged in the building of our bodies, which are symbolic of the same building. There are many pyramids all over the world. We find them in South America and Mexico; we find mounds also which were made to represent them among the American Indians, and in Europe and Britain we find remnants of the same things. However, there is but

one real pyramid among them all. Even the others in Egypt are but copies of the Great Pyramid and were used as tombs for the Pharaohs, but no body was ever found in Cheops nor were there ever any signs that it had been so used. Let us continue our analogy between the pyramid and man. In the accompanying illustration you will see the pyramid laid flat and that it is made of four triangles laid around the base square. The four-sided base of the pyramid represents the four primary elements of which man’s bodies are composed. These are hydrogen,

nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon, or earth, water, fire, and air. These are called the base of all things and upon this base the four bodies of man are raised, each from its own element. Thus, the physical body is raised from the element earth, the vital body from water, the emotional body from fire, and the mental body from air. There are also twelve lines used in the drawing of the four triangles, which stand for the twelvefold constitution of man when it is complete: the threefold body, the threefold mind, the threefold soul, and the threefold spirit. It also

gives us the twelve signs of the zodiac, divided into their respective groups. Out on the desert stands the Sphinx, the Guardian of the Threshold mentioned by Bulwer-Lytton. It represents the bodies of man and is that strange being which must be passed before the disciple can go on in his development. The four fixed signs, of which the Sphinx is a symbol, are: Taurus, the Bull; Leo, the Lion; Scorpio, the Eagle; Aquarius, the Man, or the human head. We have considered the sacral bone which is symbolized by the grave-digger’s spade. Here is a picture of the head

of the Sphinx and also the inverted sacral bone when it has been turned upward. In the inverted sacrum we see the Sphinx and in it also the inverted Masonic keystone. All this is very interesting, but unless the inner meaning is realized its true value is lost. It is not by chance, however, that these things should be so. Most students have heard of the Dweller on the Threshold, that creature built by our own wrong actions and mistakes. Out on Egypt’s desert it stands and bars the way to the pyramid, the temple of the higher man. And

the message that it gives to the world is: I am the bodies. If you would go on to the temple you must master me, for I am your animal nature. Again, the Sphinx symbolizes man, with the mind and spirit of the human rising out of the animal desires and emotions. It is the riddle of the ages, and once more, man is the answer. It is said that in ancient times the Sphinx was the gateway of the pyramid and that there was an underground passage which led from the Sphinx to Cheops. This would make the symbolism

even more complete, for the gateway to the spirit is through the bodies, according to the ancients. Let us now enter the pyramid and, passing through the corridors, come to the King’s Chamber as it is called. There are three great rooms in the pyramid which are of deep interest to the student. The highest is the King’s Chamber, below that is the Queen’s Chamber, and down below the surface of the earth is the Pit. Here we again find the great correlation between the pyramid and man. The three rooms are the three major divisions in man which are

the seats of the threefold spirit. The lower room, or Pit, is the generative system, which is under the control of Jehovah. The center room, or Queen’s Chamber, is the heart, which is under the control of the Christ; and the upper room, or King’s Chamber, is the brain, which is under the control of the Father. In this upper room is the coffer made of stone, the meaning of which has never been satisfactorily explained but which the student recognizes as the third ventricle in the brain. It is quite certain also that this coffer was used as a

tomb during initiations when, as in the Masonic initiations of today (the remnants of the ancient Mysteries) the candidate was buried in the earth and resurrected—a symbol of the death of the lower man and the liberation of the higher. It is said that Moses was initiated in the Great Pyramid and some also claim that Jesus was instructed there. Be that as it may, we know that for thousands of years since the time it was built by the Atlanteans it has been the greatest temple of initiation in the world. It also seems that its work is not

yet finished, for it is still a mute teacher of the mysteries of creation. It is said by many to be the original Solomon’s Temple. This, however, we know is not true, for while it may be the first and original material temple, the true Temple of Solomon is the universe— the Solar Man’s Temple—which is slowly being rebuilt in man as the temple of the Soul of Man. Probably no point is as important in connection with the Pyramid as that of the cornerstone. On the very top of the Great Pyramid is a comparatively flat space about thirty

feet square. In other words THE TRUE STONE WHICH IS THE HEAD OF ALL THE CORNERS IS MISSING. On the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States of America, is again the pyramid from which the top has been separated. This stone is the spirit in man which fell from its high estate and has been lost beneath the rubbish of the lower man. This is the true capstone which is now hidden in the pit of man’s temple and which he must exhume and raise aloft again as the true crown of his spiritual pyramid. Omar

Khayyam, the Persian poet, gives the secret of the keystone when he says: “From my base metal shall be filed a key, Which shall unlock the door he howls without.” Upon the cross of matter that forms our bodies, hangs the key to all the mysteries of creation. It is our duty to take this key and with it unlock the door that conceals from us the unknown. This key is the spirit. The importance of the capstone is better understood when we see that it completes all the triangles at once and without it not one of them is

complete. Man can raise this capstone of his spiritual temple only when he summons together the thousands of workmen within himself and binds each and every one of them to the service of the higher man. There must be no traitors to murder the Builder. And Lucifer—the one rejected by man as the Devil — is the one who must through the planet Mars supply the dynamic energy, which man must transmute from the fire of passion into the Flame of Spirit. Then taking the tools of his craft, he must cut and polish his own being into the capstone

of the Universal Temple. It is interesting to note how the casing stones that once made the Great Pyramid so beautiful and true were carried away to build cities near by, even as the soul body of man—the casing stones of his spiritual pyramid—have been sacrificed in order that he might have material things. The ancient pyramid and Sphinx which have stood on Egypt’s sands for ages, symbolize our own Mystery Temple made without sound of hammer or the voice of workmen. As we sadly meditate upon these mighty ruins, broken by ages of neglect, let us remember our own

temple with its missing cornerstone and its walls falling through neglect. Let us, finally, strive to learn the lesson which they teach, hasten to perfect our pyramid, cap it with the stone of spirit, offer upon its altars our sacrifice to the Great Sun Spirit, and bury our lower nature in its ancient coffer. Then, and not until then, will its mysteries be revealed to us and the sealed lips of the Sphinx yield their secret. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this presentation. Please remember to subscribe to receive notifications of upcoming recordings. This recording is a production of the

Master Key Society. Copyright 2022, Master Key Society.