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Introductory, ................................. 33: Extracts the 36 To ........................ 40 The Mighty Giants of the Past, ... .. . 33 I I-lashes, of J, Mediumsh1p, 37 Advertisements, ............................. 40 St. Paul an Jnitiatc.-Pan JI, ........... 35 / The Veil Isis-Part IV., ................ 38 .

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We &Te grateful for the many letters of sympathy and encouragement which have come to us from all quarters of the world. If our little Monthly ha.a done one 9uarter of the good expreased in these congratulatory epistles, we have already cause to be thankful At present our columns are full of interesting reading, which will com· pare in quality with any that b pnbli8hed; nevertheless, "'e are compelled- to hold over ·much valuable matter, owing to limited apace .. If our. Subecribere would only aid us a_little by extending our circulation, we ehould be at once in a position tic>_ Issue a do.wk num'ber now and •gain. . i \.,- : - ' . · 1- . .

JustaaWe.aregoiDgto.Preset- we·observe in the!iges of our PM-Oaophi6t {for ay) -a very nncourt.eoua, uncalled for, and malicious a "cleJ by aome initated and anon.ymous writer •. Be is becoloinft alarmed ·at the increased -eneraiet of u Sham SocieAiea devoted to the study of Oocuftiam, afl&rl: from the that all tbeBG 11 l!lham aocieti.e11 " are (acoordins to his Own 1tatemente) in India. Not 1atiafied with giving a J'Wle quotation qf the notioeof our Noble Order, be lmmedi&iely treat. hll readen toan ennct frOm Bermeo, bot U h<mu!v

\ ',

u"an indispensable condition in occult truth, then verily we must indeed "lool: warily to 8V.Ch J:ind of pwpk." We know nothing of the Oriental individual who requires the ' 4 eight men and women, etc.," nor of ''the amount of pay be would require. 11 But let our Eastern friends remelriber that other pwple as capable and honourable aa they themselves are, r.nd who are as much interested in the welfare of the human family aa they can be, aye, and it may be, who a.re doing as much in this respect for the Western race as they are for the Eastern, but with much less pretension and ostentation. We however. reply more distinctly in our next issue, to this iu·natued attack upon_ us. · '

THE MIGHTY GIANTS OF THE PAST. PART I. I

BY MEJNOUR. . 'Stand for the right l though fWehood .;.;i,

And proud lips coldly ancer, · A poisoned anow cannot wound

A conscience pure and clear. Stand for the right I and with clean hands

Exalt tlu Truth on high, 1

Thou'Jt find warm, l)'mpathising hearts, Among the passers by.

. MoDERN quarrelling hypothesists arraign as vastly ignorant and superstitious those mighty intellectual giants of the past, Sages who eclipsed our modern thinkers as much as the Himalayas overtop the Alps. There is no modem discovery scarcely which we cannot find the prototype of in ancient history, be it .force-correlations, natural selection, atomic polarity, or evolution. Let us turn to the Book of Manu, written thousands of years ago, and we find :-

" The first germ of life was developed by water and heat. .• ·• Water ascends towards the sky in

. vapours;- fron1 the sky it descends in rain; from the rain are born .the plants, and from the plants animals .••. Each being acquires the qualities of the one which immediately precedes it, in such a manner that the farther a being gets away from the primal atom of its series, the more he is possessed of qualities and perfections. • • •. . Man will traverse the Universe, gradually ascending, and

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passing through the rocks, the plants, the worms, ; think the Sun is it. is Mt so; they insects, fish, serpents, tortoises, wild animals, cattle :

1 are mistaken. For after: havtng amved at the end

and higher animals. Such is the inferior degree. \of the day, it produces t'wo opposite effects, making . . . These are the transformations declared, \night to what is below,13.nd day to what is on the from the plant up to Brahma, which have to lake other side. When they ·(1he people) believe it place in this world" (Manu, Books rand 3). in the morning, the Sun· only does . thus :

As Jacolliot truthfully observes: "Pheidias and having reached the end of the night, it makes itself Praxiteles have studied in Asia the chefs d' <XUvr• produce two opposite .eff'l<Ot•, making day to what of Daonthia, Raman a, and Aryavosta. Plato dis- is below, and night. to, wllat is on lhe other· side. appears before lJgeminy and Vedas Vyasa, whom In fact the Sun never Sets, nor does it· set for him ht /J'lera/ly copies. Aristotle is thrown into the who has such a knowledge• (BookIIJ. C. v. 14). shade by the P011rva-Afimansa and the Ou/fara- ·In the Rig-Vtda (v. Ch. II. //'. 2.J) we find:-" In Mima11sa, in which one rinds all the systems of the beginning, the earth (iyam) is described. as philosophy. which we are now occupied in re-editing, having one head (round) '!ithout hair (bald), 'viz., from the Spiritualism of Socrates and his school, vegetation," afterwards it ''obtained a the scepticism of Pyrrho, ltfontaigne, and Kant, appearance; she became_ variegated, and abl_e to rl01111' /q the Positivism of Littr6." produce any form _she might like, 'ha11pizg one form

Ptolemy, the Egyptian King-astronomer, pos· into anotlur.'' '.Thus we have a description of the sessed at Babylon recorrl of Eclipses, going back earth as being'"°""" and bait/, that it was.a gda-7 47 years before our era, and as Professor Draper linous. 111ass 'at first,' and becan1e hard only by obs.erves: "The Babylonians had fixed the length "being breathed upon by the god Vayu," the lord of a tropical year within 25 seconds of th_e truth.;· . qf theiair. We may well say,-'-" Is there anything their estimate of the sidereal year was barely two .·whereof it may be said, See, l/iis is M101 it hath minutes in excess. They had detected the pre- · been .already· of old time, which was before us " cession of the equi9oxes, they knew the caµses of (Eccles. i. 10). The knowledge of the eclipses; and by the aid of their c;llled Saros, of heal and moisture, by means of ascendmg and could' preqict them. i . . . They made a descendin,i: currents, between the equator and the catalogue qf the stars, had divided the Zodiac into poles, is ;of recent origin, but Jet us turn to· au twelve ·signs; they had parted the dayc into 12 · apcient book, and we find that thousands of years

, hours, the night into 12. ; • • • They also' had ago, this philosophy was recognisod by our ancient correct views of the Solar System, and knew the sages :-"The wind goeth toward the South, and order of the emplacement of the planets." lurntllz about unto the North; it whirltt/z about . A.t the.time of Sosigenes, the Chaldean Astro0o- continually, and the wind returneth again accord-

mer; the Roman civil year was so erron'eous that ing to his circuits. . . All the rivers run into the summer months-had run into the autumn, and , sea, yet the sea is not full; unto t_he place from the autumn into winter, but he unravels-the con· whence the rivers cOme,lhitkrthiyrdum again" fusion by putting back the 25th of March ninety (Eccles. i. 6, 7). · \ , · , days, making it agree with the vernal equinox; and - F.ven our Free Masons to thank our ancient the fact is, that to him -are we indebted for the forefathers, for they perpetuate the memory of the lengths of the months, as they now exist. In the : old obligations, in . the penalties of throat-cutting,

, year 1519 we. find Europeans landing· in- Mexico, dismembetment, and disembowelling, which is who were nearly eleven days in advance of the · threatened to the candidate. As. the Master's exact time according to the Indian Calendar, and Word is whispered at low breath, so do we find it by comparison we fiM from the Montezuma arnir in the Chaldean Book of Numbers, and the Jewish

. in America, that the Calendar of the Aztecs gave Mtrtaba. When Initiated, the Neophyte was taken an equal number of days and weeks to each month, by an Ancimt to a retirerl place, where the latter and yet the accuracy of their .astronomical calcula- whispered in his ear the great secret (See the tions is such, that no e\Tor has been by subsequent Kabala of Franck). The Mason swears, under verifications proved in their reckoning. The ancient horrible oaths and penalties, that he wiJI not divulge Aryans fixed the Calendar, invented lhe Zodiac, the secrets of any degree to a brother of an in-calCufated the ·Precession of the Equinoxes, dis- degree, and in the ancient IQdian Agroushada covered the general laws of the heavenly bodies, .Pan"kshai, we observe :-"Any Initiate of the third and predicted the eclipses. _ . degree, who reveals before the prescribed time, to

; If we tU'rn to the ancient Vedas of India, we will ·the Initiates of the second degree, the superior find p,ositive proof that 2000 years e.c. the Hindu truths, must be put to death." A• the Mason sages ·wer¢ familiar with the HeliOcentric System, Apprentice to his tongue torn and the rotundity of the earth. rn order to leave out by the roots, if he reveals anything to a pro-no doubt upon the niatter with our readers, let fane, so in the same ancient volume we have them pertise the Aitareya Brahma11am, where the alluded to, we find that any Initiate of the Jowest, Heliocentric System will be found, and described- or first degree, who betrays the secrets of his thus :-11 1.'he Agnishtoma is that o. ne (that god) Initiation to people of other castes, must have his who burns.· The Sun never sefs.11or risei. When tongue c111·out, -and suffer other dismembermerits. ' .

'j)u; Ebers M · · 1flat Hair-In1 .)fta-pqwders, '\M.S,; is a .. of'no J

, from. a. '''1 ''73;byEbei_s; ,.,,c., an<11s

as men1 '}lllrgei'y the "' ' 61 they operate

iii in the ope• 'bes with· sci1

· cases ? . ' tes appropn< · \Sousruta and · iito the Hind

• l>eing the teacl ']ti the preparal

· enl forefathe ee. When t

· ate oL Egyp " i:Jerishable, for' · years,dhQy b ··. ellous . eove1

so· artisti · " nal bandagr

· cellency. Dr. .-t.a- single ban< hi ch far 6ttltr

·--"tJie swathing 'ps of linen:µ:

,_ · ending to 0111 ·- · ctlire in the h1

• ·eat priestly 'most

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' fy date: Ti cl)vered wtth a .Tarchon, who· Ii -In. order to pr •planted a hedge. climbing plant '

. averting thunde1 ,fib. iii. v. 285, 34 ··in the secret of descend upon 1

·.• to be the first v ·guest," Titu

1n CODSE , ·secret sacrifice c

lightning a1 -.:··Servius informs _:;:-earth never can '. prayers they

Prometheus du r of bringing dow

-.:.

THE OCCULT M,AGAZINE.

In the Ebers M.S., Chapter• 65, 66, 79, and 89, sho\v that Hair-Invigorators, Pain-killers, and flea-powders, desiderata 3400 _years ! This M.S. is a beautiful .roll of yellow-brown

SAINT PAUL AN INITIATE.-Part II.

35

papyrus of 110 pages, which was purchased in. "For he that soweth to Aitjluk, shall of the jlrsli reap tor· from a "well-to-do Arab from Luxor," in ruption; but be that sowetb to tlu Spiril, shall of tlze Spirit

1872-73, by Ebers, the archreologist. It was written reap life everlasting. "-GAL. vi. 8. · 1552 e.c, anct is one of the Hermetic Books on Wx again resume by remarking that the Apostle Medicine, as mentioned by Clement of.Alexandria. Paul belonged to the Order of Initiates, for at Cen- · In surgery the ancient Indians were very remark- chrea he had his head shorn, by reason of his able, _they operated for the stone, highly sue- "having a vow"; and this was also the place Where cessfu) in the operation for cataract, and Tcharaka Apuleius was The Nazars wore. their describes with scientific accuracy very unusual_ and hair long, but always cut it at Initiation. The JCct dangerous cases of the extraction of the fretus. Hip- of the Nazarenes existed n1any years before Chrl.St; pocrates appropriated his system of medicine from and lived on the banks of the Jordan, and on. the the Sousruta and Tcharaka. Averroes constantly eastern shore of the Dc:ad Sea. (Se_e !'li11y · refers to the Hindu physicians, and speaks of them /osepl1us.) If we carefully trace·the Nf,1'ar as being the teachers of the Greeks and Arabs. and Nauzrtt, throughout the best of our

In the preparation of Mummies, the skill of our ancient authors, we will find them in connection ancient forefathers is manifested in the liighest with" Pagan" as well as Jewish Adepts; ·and Poly-degree. When. those remains are left in dry histor observes· of Pythagoras, that he was •a dis-climate of :Egypt, they appear to be practically ciple of the Assyrian Nazard. The Nazarite who imperishable, _for after_an epoch of several thousan<,is separated himself unto the Lord, allowed _"no razor of years, they \>etray no, signs of change. Tbe to come upon his head." "He shall- be holy, and marvellous eoyering thaf shrou«;is embalmed shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow," body is _so artistically that _mo!1ern· says Nut11bers (vi. 5). Samson was a_Nazarite, that fessional bandager& are lost 10 admtrauon at its is, he vowed hi-mself to the service of God, and in excellency. Dr. Grandville observes:--:" There is his tiair was his strength. "No razor come not a single· known to modtrn surgery, of upon his head; the <:bild shall be a Nazarite with whichfar /Jetter and devuu.examflts God fforn the womb." Uudgts xiii. 5.) It was not, in the swathings of Egyptian Mummies. - T-be then, because Jesus was an inhabitapt 'of. Nazaret.h, · strips of linen are formed without one single joint, -:-for they never wore their long-.:.that he was extending \o one t/wusf!nd yards in length. No ealled a Nazarene, hut simply from the .fact of his fracture in the human frame exists but what those having belonged to the sect called }'Va'zaria. ·.The ancient priestly physicians could rep;iir with unknown Editor of Ads knew but v;ery utmost success, and Rossellini gives .obvious testi- the Apostle Paul, 6e makes hi_m say,: ''Doth many to th'e-'extraordinarf--variety and with not nature teach yoµ, that if a man hair, which those bandages have been apphed it is a shame unto him?" (1 Cor. xi: J4}--for cer-interlaced.''- / _ · ta.inly· faul could l)ever have made ,such .-a

Franklin's pointed metallic lightning-rod is only· ment, thus shaming his Lord and Master. For the a rt-di.covery, Cor iC we i.efer to ancient we best of reasons we give far more credence to the will find that the prinCiple was known fat a very genuineness of certain Epistles of the Apostles, early date. The temple of J u_no. had its roof now dismissed as apocryphal, than to many sus-covered with a quantity of pointed· sword-blades. picious portions of the Acts. Jn the Epistle ef Paul ·rarchon, who lived antc::rior to·,the·siege !'Jf to ,Seruca, we .find another of the numerous pas. in order to preserve bts house from l1ghtn1ng, sagCs .which proclaim Paul as .an Initiate. In this planted a hedge of white Bryony around it. This message, Paul styles Seneca" n1y ·respected Mas-climbing plant is averred .to hav.e the pro_Perty of ter;" whiJe Seneca terms Paul simply "Brother." averting thunderbolts. By refemng to.O!'td(Fast. But it would be superfluous to point out the many itO. iii. 285, 346), we find that Numa ts instructed passages in the writings of this apostle, which so in the secret of forcing Jupiter, the Thunderer, to plainly demonstrate the mystic doctrine, "If any descend upon earth, and Tullos Hostilius appears man is in ChriSt, he is a nm.1 trtafurt/' he observes, to be the first victim Of the dangerous heavenJy that is, he is r1bor11, as after Initiation, fot tht Lord is guest," for Titus, J:.ivy, and . Pliny this the Spin'l of man. "The first man is of the earth Prince in cotiseqQ,eDce of making A.mistake in the earthy; the man t"s fro-'" lzeave11 • ••••. Be-secret offered to Jupiter Elicius,.is struck hold Ishow·you a mystery.'' (1 Cor. xv. 47, etc.) Jn by lightning .and consumed in bis own pAlace. the Mysteries, the portion of the venerated Servius informs -us that the first inhabitants of-the rites Was termed Epopltia-revelation, or reception . earth never -carried fire to altars, but by 1eir into the secrets, or divine clairvoyan<=e. Theoo of pray.ers they brough. t down ·1he heavenly fire,. nd Smyrna divides the mystic rites into ·five parts:-. Prometheus discovers a.nd to man the art " The first is the previous purification; for 11eilher of bringiDj! down :lightning. . ,, · · . · . are tlu .Mysll!l'ies <0111mu11kakd lo all who are willing

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to receive them; ... ·, there are certain personi from Matter, but from an Essence which is 1ncor-who are prevented by the voice of the cryer. • • • . poreal as itself. All that which is Born is neces-The third part is denominated epopttia, or recept sarily the product of Something. All those thing•, tion. And the fourth, which is the end and · the Generation ofwhich is followed by Dissolution, of the revelation, is the binding of the head and are necessarily attended by two Motions-that of of the <mun • •••• But the fifth, which is pro the Soul, which causeth them to Act,· and that of duced from all these, is frie11dship and interio the Body, which incieaseth, dimioisheth, and dis-<0mmunion wit/J God.'' ( Mat!temafit:011.) This is solveth them, at the same{ time decomposing itself. the last and most awful of all the Mysteries. Pytha- , Thus do I d.Une thl> Motion of those Bodies that goras, when describing his feelings after Initiation, are Corruptible. But Soul is always Active, tells us that he was crowned by the gods, in whose ever Moving, and prod\Jdng Motion. . Every Soul presence he had drunk "the 1ualers ef Life." ·As is therefore Immortal aDd1:always Active, its Motion Taylor correctly observes, the "most sublime part being· its own Activity. 'The Souls are of three of the epopteia, •• •.consisted in beholding the kinds-Divine, Human, and Irrational. TheDivine gods themselves, invested with a resplendent Jight,'' Soul belongs to a Divine Body, wherein it hath its or the highest Planetary Spirits. Proclus, writing energy, moveth, and is moved. When it separates upon this subject, observes thus:-" In all the Ini- from those beings that are mortal,· it casteth off tiations and Mysteries, the gods exhibit many forms those parts which are Irrational and entereth_into of themselves, and appear in a variety ef shapes, the Divine Body, and, being ever active, it is car-and sometimes indeed a.formless light of themselves ried into Universal Motion. The Human Soul hath is held forth to the view; sometimes this light is also somethipg which is Divine, but it is attached according to a human form, and sometimes it pro- to Elements which are Irrational, Desire and ceeds into a different shape." ( Ckero on the Re- Passion. These Elements are Immortal, for they Ju41i< of Plato, p. 380.) Thus the Mystre are are: Energies, but they are the Energies of Bodies brought into close union with those whom Proclus which are Mortal; they are also remote ·from, that ca11s '1 mystiCal natures," "resplendent gods," be-· part of the. Soul is Divine, and which exists cause, as Plato say• (Pha:drus, p. 64):-" We were m the Divine Body. When the latter entereth a ourselves pure and immaculate, beinglioerafedfrorri Mortal Body, and meeteth those Elements thatare this suN'Ounding which we denominate Irrational, by their presence it becoJneth a body, at\d to which we are now bdund like the- Soul. 1Passion and Desire constitute the Soul of oyster tel its shell" - animals, wherefore they are -called brutes, their

The word Epoptda is compounded from· Souls' being deprived of Reason. The fourth kind upon, and btrroptM, to Iook,-an inspector, overseer, of Souls is that of inanimate l>eings, pla'ced or master-builder. The Masonic title of Master- outside of the bodies which they energise. It Mason is derived from this, in the really Mystical Moveth and is Moved in. the Divine Body,, sense. This expression-of Master-Builder is used but ona in the Bible, and signifies a whole revela- VIII. tion. Paul says, "According to the grace of God The Soul, therefore, is an Essence that is Eternal which is given unto me, as a wise mas/er-builder, I and Intelligent, the Irlea of which is its own Mind. have laid the foundation." (1 Cor. iii.10.) Thus It associates itself with the Idea of Harmony. Paul uses a word pre-eminently Kabalistic, Theurgic Severed from the Physical Body, it stands by itself, and Masonic, and one which no one of the othen and is independent' in the Ideal World. It ruleth Apostles uses. He thus plainly and unequivocally its own mind, and bringeth to each Being that declares himself an Adept, having by rights the claim enters into Life a Motion analagous to its own to Initiaft others. In the next issue, we shall tum Idea, and which we call Life; for the natural dis-our attention to the Thrones, Prind/alities, and position of the Soul is to assimilate all other things Powers, etc. · to its-Nature. There are two kinds of vital Motion,

( 1b buonfinued.) the one according to the Essence of the Soul, the

EXTRACTS FROM THE HERMETIC WRITINGS OF THE ANCIENT SAGES.

FRAGMENTS FROM THE BOOKS OF HERMES TO AMMON.

CHAP. VII.-ON THE GENERAL EcoNOMY. THE Soul is Immortal and always in Motion. For we have said that Motion proceedeth either from the Energies or from the Bodies. We, have also said that the Soul, being incorporeal, cometh not

other according to the Nature of the Body. The first is General, the seconrl Particular; the one is independent, the other subject to Necessity. For all that is Movable is subject to the necessary Law of the Mover. But primary Motion is united by Love with the Intelligent Essence. The Soul therefore must be incorporeal, its Essence being foreign to the Physical Body; if it had a Body, it could have neither Mind nor Idea. All Bodies are Unintelligent, but having received the Essence they become animals, having the Breath of Life. The Breath is of the Body, the Mind contempl•tes the beauty of the Essence. The Breath that is sensible discerneth appearances. It is divided

:Fl

Yhich is Born is neces-11 those things_,. Jy 1tions-that o( :t, and that 0£ beth, and dis .. :t nposing itself.· ;e Bodies thaf. always

Every Soul ve, its Motion· .. are of three_

I. The Divine'. !in it hath its n it separates_·.., it casteth off: entereth into· ive, it is car;_ Jan Soul hath: it is atl;lched

Desire an rtal, for they es of Bodiei 1te that .. which .'C.xis'is. r entereth'-•. ents that are" th a Huri1an. the Soul of

1rutes, _theii_ foiJrih. kin'

:c1ris plac .. iergise. ., >dy.

THE OCCULT MAGAZINE. 37

into organic sensations, and Spiritual Vision is a part of itself; likewise the sense of hearing, of smelling, of tasting, and of feeling. This Breath, attracted by the Idea,. discemeth all sensations, otherwise it createth only shadows, for it is of the Body, and is receptive of all things. The Mind of the Essence is J udgmenL The Knowledge of that

is honourable relates to the Mind, Opinion relates to the Breath. The latter hath its energy from the circumambient World, the Mind hath it from Itself.

(To be followed by tlu Hernulic work, entitled, AscLEPJUS; OR, -THE MYSTICAL DISCOURSE UPON

INITIATION.)

FLASHES OF LIGHT.

BY EOS. PART

"BEING 1 uncreated, etemaI, alone I It is impossible to ascend the measureleSs he!ght of the conception, impossible to compass the illitimable breadth, impossible to fathom the unfathomable. GOD, .the uncreated, is MENTAL BEING, There mDSt be an original fountain, from which all the inteUigence diffused throughout the Universe has issued •••• Tlte lhinldng-lxings that people all wt>rltls, with their marvellous and manifold endowments, tJ1Ue were not. The Supreme willed, and they rayeCI forth-gleams of Light-:fro11.1 the un· created Sun.0 -TH& CBEATORAND THE CREATION, by John Young-, LL.D.

"Goo, who is the living fountain from "''hence proceed all thitigs, in the moment appointed by his Divine Wisdom, gave the first being to the Three distinct orders of Natures he formed, the one purely Spiritual, thepther purezy Material, and between both, one Mixed, which unites the extremes in itself. --This is MAN-the-abridgement of the Universe; .allied to the Angels.in his Soul, and to Material things in bis .body, and eapabk_ ef t!u Aappim11 ef botA."-Dr. Baks. \· ' REACHING throughout the·. vast infinitude pf our Universe,' the Spiritual and .the Material ilre so interblended, and ·their relations 3.re so intimate, that to attempt to classify and separate them, or to account for phenomena on the l_imple basis of each alone, -would ' be like erecting edifice without a foundation, _or building upon a ground-work, whose stability is as infirm as the sinking quicksands. Modem science commences with Matter, and strictly confines its researches within the domain of material forms and forces; it tenni-nates at lhe very wheri -its path impinges upon the borders of the imponderable-the "un-knowable," whereas real starting-point of all true science is in the alone. From this state its vast ()rbit -sweepsl downwards throughout the whole universe of l.fatter, recogriising but different attributes and manifestations .of the one Divine Force, in every-form of creation, its decisions: again ultimating ·in the realm of Spirit Divinity is\ U11ily, and the two great attributes of the Divine . Soul coalesce as Matter arid SPIRIT-in the universe I or manifested being." Matter is visible, solidified·. spirit, that is, the passive, or mgative /rimifo, in a

condensed, concrde, or material form. SPIRIT is the invisible, ever·acfive positive pri11ciple, in 111otio11, and between these two opposite states there ramifies every grade of being. Matter ranges and trans .. forms itself from the lower and denser state-that of the mineral-upwards to the rerial and invisible gases, terminating in the "Universal Ether." In this refined condition, the active and passive princi-ples of DiviDity are united, and becoine creative force. This energy is known to the Occultist as the Akasa, and the Astral Light, and it must herein be apparent lo the contemplative student that this "Universal Ether" of science contains within itself everything that was, that is, or, in fact, that ever can be, in the true Occult sense of the term.

The Universe, then, is one mighty, inconceivable Medium, and Deity the controlling Spirit Love becomes the medium of the passive is the medium of the active state, 'conSequently Matter must be, and is, the impotent m_edium of Mind. The passive nature of the Divine Soul is the only means whereby the-active Spirit of the Divinity can manifest itself, and upon this basis rest all the Mysteries of the Cosmos, hence ihe imperial Will of Man alone the centre of true Magical power, for the -1aws controlling Matter are Subservient to the Human Will But it is only at the period when this Will can ascend beyond the attractions of Matter, and penetrate its own Divine sphere, that it is able to direct at pleasure the mighty currents of the Astral LighL In this state man becomes , the Adept, or in other words, he is "a 11ild ef Got!, and an heir lo the Kingdom ef Heaven.'

It is absolutely necessary for us to i . press those fundamental verities upon the minds of our readers, in order that they may be better prepared to understand the actual principles which underlie the reality of Mediumship, a subject which modern Spiritualism bas now brought so prominenlly into r:iotice. ,"Spirit Mediumship" is an expression which is applied to that state or which has been developed in certain persons, whereby they are enabled to come "' rapport with spiritual intelligences, and other farm, both physical and mental. They have reached a degree compatible to their becoming a medium of communication for. such forces, as, for example, between spiritual beings and the material world. The term is a

· well-chosen one, however, and conveys precisely the idea expressed in the phenomena. A Medium is, properly speaking, a person in whom the capacity of acting as a ''-or an intervening instrument between the two states-is so intensified as to become of practical value in eliciting pheno-mena. That all ·human beings in their natural state are mediumistic-some in excess of others-must, after what has been stated, appear perfectly plain, especially when we comprehend the relationship of Humanity to Deity. In a similar manner all material substances are "mediumistic" in this sense of the term, viz., in the degree in which they are capable of transmitting force. Occult Science

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teaches, in .reference to. the-· interaction of the two planes of existence, ·.that· active Spirit inheres in every grade or matter ·as the , instigator of life ; being an attendant upon the ethereal. forces. that permeate all worlds, and every atom of space, for in proportion to the refinement of substance: is the sphere .vitalised by In the brain and nervous system of the hitmao being, the climax of Vitalisation is reachecj. Here Spint blends with Matter in' such requisite force and grades as. are sufficient in conStitutipg. the magnetic link of connectio,n between the two worlds of Matter and SpiriL · Intelligence is ever vitalised from the Deific fountain ·of Wisdom; sympathy and affection are derived from the same Divine Soul of Love, no matter what the grade may be, whethet that or Seraph basking in the very sunlight of Divinity, of man in his lowest estate, or that of the brute, raised but one degree above the plane of inanimate nature. . That spark which vivifies the brute, and that radiant glory, whic.h lights up the brain or the highly spiritual human being, are alike lighted from the same eternal Flame, for it is the prerogative of each grade of being, differing in degree of evolution,· to transmit what is first derived from Deity itself to the state immediately below it. From the glorious pulsat!ng Soul or the Central Sun, de· scendtng through every sphere of creation, deep down in the bowels of matter, midst strata or cold and hard\ granite rock, to mineral lodes of dense metal, eternal and harmonious chain of Spirit Mediun1ship prevails, each plane depending upon the ascending one, .and each in its grandly sequent rotation transmitting the grosser portions to the planes below. •

(To CqntlnU.fi.) .

THE VEIL OF 1818,.;._Part IV. ' . Bv ZANONI.

The FIRST CAUSE ef 4// t(Jinp is communicated t• those who approach the TEMl'J.K. QF Isis with Prudence and Sane·! tit:y. 11-Pf#lan:!i,

1 "They worship the Suj>reme Being under the name of Esusi: oi Huus, and the symbol o( the oak.''-Edin/Jurgh

: DruU.. · • -BEFORE we close our remarks upon the Naros, we would draw the student•' attention to th'e following rather remarkable facts, as in some degree -trating the progress or the Naronic cycles. Gau-tama Buddha was born about 600 years e.c., then after the expiration or the cycle came the Jewish Reformer, which begins our era A.D. 1; some 6oo years later Mahomet, and his 0 Ism,' .. appear upon the page of history. Naros, and the Re-formation .begins in Europe, and the Crusades commence· to. punish the infidel. This was the corrimencenlent of the Eastern Q111stlon, and now in the beginning or the fifth Naronic cycle, from the birth of Gautama Buddha, the nations are expecting a new Dispensation; the great prophetic year, 1881, is passed, and for the present, although

unnoticed by the masses; still the new· religion is making rapid progress. · LtGHT is fast, dawning upon the national mind, and great events will shortly convulse 1wt only t!te East, but Ille w!tok of Europe. We shall again recur to this interesting subject of Cycles duri1· this series or papers; but for the preseqt we mus leave it, and take another bye-way amidst the hi deli, treasures of the past,. \for the Mysteries of N ature,I con_cealed beneath the: :Veil of Isis, do not by any· means consist solely of Astrological' Secrets.. The whole Arcana of Astral Science constitutes bot aspect, or department of the Safrtd Wisdom, is chiefly embr;tted

what are termecl thQ Mysteries"; the "Greater Mysteries." are imparted only to those Neophytes, who, having successfully passed their Pro-bation,_ cease to be such, and gain admission to the solemn rites of the Higher Initiation. These Mys-teries cannot be communicated to any who have not deserved them, and only to the meritorious during the performance of the Sacred· Rites. , Our readers may rest assured that the knQwledge thwi reserved is retained . for the best and wisest of purposes. Knowledge is not always omefkial, but upon the contlary it is ojtm '"lrtme!J dan$1rous. It is chiefly 'owing to this latter reason that the Mystics of all ages have assumed such an allegorical style or writing, that thell: real meaning, though perfectly clear . to · the is for others ·completely hidden, and consequently their WO!ks a.re than useless in this. respect, foi: they ·only mislead them. / " The profane," says a well-known mystic; writer, "take as literal, that which is allegorica(, and by the same rules of contraries, assign to the realms or allegory, that which is1 truly literal." As the student wiU begin to perceive, the Arca11e.doc1 trine taught by the Priests of the Temple, embraced an elaborate system of Occult Philosophy, for Spiritualism and Magi& was with. them a· complete Science. Th.ey taught .the Mysteries or Creation, and revealed to their devoted pupils the Grand Secrets of the CosrqoJL , ·

Our. learned forefathers, the ancient .Druids, formed one section of the same mighty Priesthood, who .had, penetrated the· Veil of Nature. Pliny, the htStonao, devotes many a chapter to the "Wi"" dom" or the leaders of the Celts; and Pomponius ascribes to them "the Knowledge of the Highest Sciences." They, like their Oriental Brethren, the Brahmans or India, and the Hierophants or Egypt, taught the same doctrines : the worship or the one true God, and, above all, the Immortality of the Soul.

Into their sacred groves-natural academies, built by the hand or the invisible Architect-the Initiates ass.embled at the still hour or midnight, to learn about what man once was, and what he will be.1

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They needed no artificial ilh1mioatioo, nor li£e-drawing gas, . to light , up their· Temples; for the chaste Go!ldess of Night beamed her most silvery rays on the oak-crowned heads or her white-robed Sacred Bards. But the descending arc in the

• Cresar, 111. '"'

new · religion is fast dawning

at events will ut the wlwle of bis interesting >f papers ; but · I take another ·s of the past, •d beneath the onsist sole! y of cana of Astral Jr department •fly r Mysteries''; I ·only to those 1ssed their Pro-mission.to the, . !fhese Mys-. ·who have :oiious during '.

Our readers··,• tlius .rCserved·, of· purposes. {

JUI upon the : It is chiefly

\l:Ystics of .all. ical style of1 ugh perfectly ' s -eompleteiyJ ks are -only mislead.;. ;nown s allegorical,'. assign to th!\ .literal." ·As: Arcane doc,:

•le, embraced losophy, fo' 1 a complei. of Creation{_ s the Gra ·

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THE OCCULT MAGAZINE. 89

great cycle of our mental -evolution has removed both them and their sacred oracles from our midst. On the dead soil of the long bygone past, stand their sacred oaks, now dried up, and stripped of their spiritual meaning, by the venomous breath of Materialism. But for the student of Occult truth, their vegetation is still as verdant and luxuriant, and full of deep sacred truths, as at that hour when the great Arch-Druid performed his magical cures, or waving the branch of Mistletoe, severed with his golde11 slckle the green bough from its mother oak-tree, and crowned the triumphant Acolyte, who had safely passed the dreaded ordeal. t These, the venerated Priests Of our early forefathers, are looked upon by the learned of to-day as ignorant dreamers. Christian historians and Royal Societies are alone contented in pointing out the fact, that the Druid Priesthood were superstitious to the last degree, and countenanced, they ,did not _institute, those cruel -and bloody rites, which have stained the re-cords of a11 "Pagan" history. We allude to the horrible practice of offering- up human sacrifices, upon extraordinarr-0ccasions, during their religious ceremonies; but. this .charge, so far_ as the real .Druids are concerned, is a monstrous falsehood. It was_ at a period when .Drui'rliSm was praflifa/ly ·exti'nct, that a corrupted an<J degenerate priesthood sanctioned such abominations, for the sake of tem-poral power- . We might as well charge the beautiful and lovely teachiqgs of the ideal Jesus "and his humble disciples-who spent their lives'in teaching others-as being instrumental in instituting all the horrors of the iniquitous In9uisition,and the cruel and religious persecution disgraced'the medireval ages. These Christian of" Holy Wrath" far out-weigh-in1fe.rocity the actiOQS o( a savage pric;sthoOd, who ·unjtistly claimed the name of Druids -\a name they were no more entitled. to, than was the bloody Queen Mary to the epithet of Cliristian. History repeats itself as .o_ne cycle revolVes into another. When the fires of Paganism had expended their living foice, decay and corruption were the natural result, and the "Light" (?) of Christianity rose in its place, dominant, and enjoyed its season of religious pomp and power; but this at last has passed its unitlz, and has begun to wane, for the usual dogmatic and corrupted priest-hood-are only too 11pparent; while, on the other hand, . Psychology, Spiritualism, and Magic-the old religious Mysteries of the Divine Isis-are again rising '!POD the Ascendant of the Mental Horoscope. · ·- ! ·, · · \

To the student truth .. seeker, those unm\s-takable ".signs of the times," are too significant escape notice, and even the most superficial server of Human Progress cannot fail to be irri-pressed such "strange coincidences." our wish is that every reader would deeply cogitate upon those mystic laws which control the mental

of the hum!Jn race. Herein the secret is already more than half-revealed; a key is placed

t See Pliny1 atso, _u Isis Unveiled," vol. I, p. 18. ·--·--

in the reade.r's possession, which, if only turned with a wise hand, will assuredly unlock the portal to the "Lesser MysterieS" in the Temple of Truth, and en3:b1e him unerringly to trace each mundane effect to its stellar The "sweet singer" o( Israel, responding to the inspiration of his poetic soul, exclaimed:-" The Heavens dtdare lht Glory of God, and tilt Firn1a111t11I shewdh His handiwork'' (Psalms xix. 1 ). This paragraph, properly trans-lated, and correctly. rendered, should read: '' Tht P/a11ds (or Stars) declare the power of God, anti Heavm dispmsdh the work ef His ha11ds." The· student will readily perceive this, for in Genesis i. 8, _we find that "G(Jdfalltd the Fir111ame11I Heaven," and of course the bn1y Heavens whiCh can exist are the Htavtt)!y .B'odits-viz,, the Stars, PJanets, and

lhe real meaning is only too apparent, .viz., tbat .the Sun, Moon, and Planets declare the power of God ·(Natureraad Heaven, or. the Firmament--:Which is space-studded with its glittering constellations, showeth, or disj>msdh the work of His hands (His ha11diwork). This passage is purely Astrological, and, by "the Firmament,'' showing God's handiwork, is indicated-that every portion of our earth is under the dominion of, or in

with, some sign or constellation, which inevitably shows, or points out to the Initiate,, the precise place where this power will become ·manifest. 1

To the. dull, secular,· unsl?iritual mi.nd, the fore-going will seem but the natural outCOflle of an .ex--cited imagination, and deServing of no more' serious consideration than. the chimerical "castles in .the • ' air/> but to the spiritually-educated soulJ and calm, contemplative thinker, this firmament of stars and planets has a more profound interesL Everything around us-with this sole exception-is in a con· stant ·state of transition. Apart from t.he fleeting changes Which accompany the return of the seasons, the landscape around us is varying in its aspect, for alr is mutation,_ saVe those stellar blos-soms of night's expanse, unsullied in brightness, and unchanged in grandeur, marching on with un· tiring pace and unvarying precision, in their diurnal, annual, a·nd greater cycles, jewelled upon the brow of heaven then, preclsely as we see it now-gemmed with the same planets and stars·, upon which the fi_rst parents of our race gazed With wonder each night as in theit nomadic wanderings. . Those identical constellations, galaxied in the blue of heaven-viz., Arcturus,. and the PJeiades (Job. ix. 9).,-had "sung together when the founda-tions of our earth ·were laid," -and they coursed in their solemn grandeur throu{!h the fabled ·darkness over Calvary, whe1_1 loving and gentle Nazarene breathed forth in mariyrdom his Spirit to its Source; they are truly. the only objects in the Universe which all nations have witnessed, and which all people admired; they preside atthe Horuscope ef our . .Birth, and they will diffuse their pale radiauce·over the gret11 gras.sy'+nounds, underneath y.·hich we are ·ultimately destined lo repose.

(To h (()n/inud.)

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/' .. THE OCCULT. ,?4AGAZfNE.

'QJ:a QJ:ontsponbents. R&V. J. L. G., LoNDON.-No, the SouU or the ho .. btv

vicious, or utterly depraved, are by no means im rial. Even in that mixed-up medley-the "Bible-you will find many allusions to this. " The Soul that sin eth, it 1Aall die;" "What will it avail a man to gain the whole world, if M /Qse Ah {)'Wll soul I 11 etc., etc. ey are /411 1011/s, for they have lost their Divine Guide-

__ SPIRIT-and those souls can last no longer than \he very e111nt1 of Ike tkmmlr, which compose their AstW bodies,, can Lotd together ; from "elements they came, and to elements they must return." Soul has to gain its Immortality by ascending towards the Unity-SPllUT-witJJ, which, if successful, it is finally linked, and into which it is absorbed, so to say; and it is only by observiDg the law of harmony tJiat future individual life can be obtained. This soul, or 1piritua/-tlealAi as it is often termed, results from disobedience to the laws of 1pin"tt1al life, which is followed by the same penalty as by the disobedience of the laws of natural life.

DR. F., AUSTRIA.. ENERGY.-\Ve see the flower slowly developing in all its beauty from a bud, and the bud from its seed. But whence the latttr, with its pre· determined physical transformations and its invisible, therefore rpiriluai forces, which ripen into co1our, form, and· odour? The structure of lower animals is repro· duced, with modifications in higher animals and in Man; the fine fibres o( the leaf ramify like the branches of the tree, and the microscope follows such ramifications repeatedly beyond the reach of the naked eye. u Aa

,above, so below," says the Hermetic axiom, and grandly true it ii: for, like the pulsating heart of Man; we have the great Central Heart-the Sun-whose dark spots are the ,immediate sources of the Solar light and· beat,. the ·of Solar vita/1 energy-the vilq/ etb:tricity that nourishes the whole system, in whfoh it li-fes, breathes, and bas its being.· It generates its vital fluid itself, ever receiving as much as it gives out.

LADY AFFILIATE, U.S.A.-See our preceding reply to J. L. G. We may herein add that Nature is trium, for there ii a visible objective nature-an invisible, in· dwelling, animating nature, the precise mould of the

. other, and its life-principle; and superior to these two• is SPIRIT, the source of all forces, eternal and imperish· able. Man is in like manner trium, the objective body

. ·.,. of flesh and .blood, the animating astral soul, or body-the true man-and brooding over and illuminating him is the third-:--the Immortal Spirit-and it is only when the nal man-or Soul-merges itself with the Spirit;

· that he becomes an Immortal entity. OccULTISM is the Knowledge 6f those Principles, and of the manner whereby the omniscience and omnipotence of the Spirit, with its control over the forces of Nature, may 06 learnt and atquind whilst the individual 1till liwr upon earlA w a man. The possession such a knowledge, and the capabilit!es of its application in practice, is the attribute of Ifie Adtpt. . ,

MODERN AFFILIATB, SAN FRANCISCO, U.S.-As to ·your query-" Are any of our young Men,Oer1 capable of

their Astral Double?"-we reply1 Yes, un-. doubtedly so. Amidst a mass of correspondence upon

this subject, we quote the following extract from a letter we have just received from a Continental Lady Member;......:.

.. , . , I ldoked and saw through the shell that covered me, the light or my lamp shining, whilst I also saw the shadow or a moving ronn. . . , I ftlt free from my 6g_tfy, and was flying through the rooms. , • • 'rbis was

' the fint time I was able to soar with ease and comfort, and by degrees it became a pleasure. . , •. I went on until I came to an arched window, and looking through it, the atmosphere became intensely clear. . • . At last I returned to my UMaried 6ody. • • • I well know this i.$ the result of my mirnJr·lraining," etc.

Another recent Member of our Order, in England, bas developed this faculty, lately".

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To MEMBERS AND. NEOPHYTES o•.THE H.B.L. } Magnificent EMBLE'M of thiS-·ancleot. noble, and venerated,OccULT FRATERNITY, weU adii.pted for FRAHJ'NO' •. Price 21.:6d., post free. Address-Editor of Oc· cull MagatiM, at 's, J8 Stockwell

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TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, St1,1.dentt in the Occult Sciences, earnest searchers thirsting

for Truth, and Theosofhists who may have been disappointed in their expectations o Sublime \Visdom bein!J: freely granted by the HINDU are cordially invited to transmit their rinmes to the Edi/or of this: Magazine, on receipt of which, applications will be forwarded to them for signature, etc. If found suitable after a short probationary period, they will be admitted as Members of an Occult Brotherhood, who do not boast of their· knowledge, but teach freely and without reserve, all they find worthy to recelve... - - .

All communications to be addressed to-The Editor of Otcull Magazim, c/0 H. NISBET & Co;,

38 Stockwell Street, Glasgow.

GLASGOW: Printed and Published by HAY NISBET & Co., ' 38 Stockwell StreeL

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