Astron Argon

On the Origin of Lineage


Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

 

The first problem in claiming a lineal descent within the A.·.A.·. arises with the vast scope of misinformation that is inevitable with a spiritual order in a mundane world. Consequently, one can become quite bewildered when confronted with the problem of discovering an authentic contact that holds the necessary documentation; proving lineal contact with the Master Therion. All of the significant documents are unavailable to the Aspirant at the Student Grade and the Probationer Grade. Therefore, one is forced to rely on a more intuitive perception in the hopes that this is truly in accord with a more Neschamic plane within the psyche.

This Aspirant who claims to be a legitimate representative of the lineal heritage of the Order, has had an arduous task in making his connection. At first, he thought he was getting close when he connected with it’s alleged outer order; known to many as the Caliphate O.T.O. Having made contact with several of the superiors of that outer order, he worked arduously to demonstrate the sincerity and authenticity of his Aspiration; while also inquiring arduously about making contact with the A.·.A.·. itself. All this to no avail as those contacts repeatedly insisted at that time (1986ev-1991ev), that the A.·.A.·. did not exist.

Yet so stubbornly and tenaciously did he persevere in his efforts, that alas he made contact with one Frater Sphinx. However, immediately upon making contact with this seemingly renegade ruffian, was his confusion and displeasure exacerbated in regards to his search for an authentic claimant of a lineal representative of the order. This alleged contact immediately demanded that this Aspirant photo-copy a rather large volume (around 2,000 pages) entitled:  Gems from the Equinox and send it to him. Confused by this, he sought council with the superiors of the Caliphate O.T.O. When confronting those superiors with his contact and sharing then the demanding letter, their faces whitened and they gravely warned of this gentlemen’s insanity; begging this Aspirant to break contact with him.

Trusting at that time, the persistent claims of authenticity of the outer order, it seemed quite prudent to follow this request. The intuition of this Aspirant was further supported by the possession of this ludicrous letter; still in his archives. A short time would pass and this Aspirant would discover a great doubt in the spiritual connection of this mundane outer order and consequently make contact with another claimant of legitimate lineal heritage. This Frater 939, he would eventually discover also used openly the most secret and holy word of the O.T.O. in his monographs. This, he thought somehow verifying not only his connection with the A.·.A.·., but his claim that the outer O.T.O. had seemingly lost any substantive connection with the spiritual order that was supposed to be its authoritative resource.

Over a period of several years, his loyalty for this representative grew and he fortified his connection with hard work and strong success in the lowest grades of the Order. Simultaneously, he built strong contact with one Frater 60, who was recognized by Frater 939 as a Zelator  in the ranks of the A.·.A.·.; and as one who also had forged an independent link with the order. From these both, he learned many things and found a full curriculum through both that neither seemed to possess singly. And further, he learned the directive of the Master Therion that all who claim to be A.·.A.·. are A.·.A.·.; with the Master Therion only requesting that those who do make this claim, keep and uphold the traditions of the Order.

Now, Frater 939 was a Disciple of Marcelo Motta; whom was a Disciple of Karl Germer; whom was a Disciple of Aleister Crowley. In this regard, let it be known that Frater 939’s claim of loyalty to his master—despite that master’s abandonment of him; immediately upon signing his Oath of Zelator—seems quite sincere and authentic. And while this Aspirant does not agree with several of Motta’s modifications to the general instruction of the Order, he also finds many of those modifications quite profound.  The conundrum here is this.  Upon losing contact with Motta, 939 without having any Student under him, would privately lay claim to a high grade (Magister Templi) in the order.  This is completely heterdox in relation to the tradition of Our Order, which requires one to find another to fill his or her seat before one may advance to the next highest Grade.

Rather, 939 has composed a myth of wandering into a desert and returning with such an exalted Grade.  Coupled with the cultic mania of the circle of dupes that surround him, this seems more likely that 939 rests in Netzach with the illusion of Binah for his self-aggrandizement.  And we are saddened to learn that now, 939 is claiming that his Holy Guardian Angel is Aiwass and that he now gives public demonstrations of his conversing with his Angel to his Students; and yet, without any new Gnosis flowing therefrom.

He therefore said: "Let me declare this Work under this title: ‘The obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel’", because the theory implied in these words is so patently absurd that only simpletons would waste much time in analysing it. It would be accepted as a convention, and no one would incur the grave danger of building a philosophical system upon it."  –Aleister Crowley:  Magick in Theory and Practice.

But the old story continues…The real split came when it was learned by this Aspirant that Frater 939 being his Master insisted on also being his actual Guardian Angel, and that coupled with certain overt abuses of power which sought to modify and delimit the authentic and now fortified intuition or psychic body of this Disciple (he used phrases like:  "My angel spoke with your angel and told me that you have to do such and such."), it became apparent after arduous circumspection, that it would be necessary for his spiritual growth, to sever contact with his master at the Grade of Zelator.  This was not done lightly, nor joyously.  And a price has been paid for this as the connection at this level is very strong.  This was certainly necessary and the Ordeal that this brought on has proven and continues to prove productive.  For no tie this strong is ever truly broken, and 939 serves yet as sand in the oyster of this Aspirant's consciousness.

Part of this Aspirant's circumspection involved lengthy and repeated consultations with his strong friend and benefactor; the previously mentioned Frater 60. And this Independent Disciple of the Order provided much information and insight that led to such a difficult decision; without making a single move towards influencing that decision. And for the most part, this Disciple of the A.·.A.·. has received those significant documents that verify the authenticity of lineage from his benefactor and openly recognizes a great debt to this virtuous and sincere Disciple of the A.·.A.·..  But alas, even this seeming true compatriot would abandon this Aspirant for temporal gratification.  He would even betray his own two daughters in the process; two daughters very much loved by this Aspirant at one time.  The lure of ambition for the want to publish a tawdry book was just too great for this ultimately weak-minded individual.  Indeed, H.O.O.R. (the outer expression of their lineage) is now making a strong attempt to become a publishing house and take on a business egregore.

Further, this Disciple recognizes neither Frater 60 nor Frater 939; nor any other to whom he has had the pleasure of contact, as an Adept within the ranks of the A.·.A.·.. In all cases and with all other contacts making this claim, this Disciple has collected evidence that apparently contradicts any claims that can be made in regards to this. The road to Adepthood is difficult and not easily traversed.  But its charm has produced several false heralds.  Indeed, despite the tradition of Silence in laying this claim, there are all too many that want to shout their false illumination from the rooftops.  Even there are several that publish accounts of crossing the Abyss, though that revelation is only supposed to be offered to one other within the lineal design of Our Order.  It seems that most of the time, those who claim to be Thelemites really become but clerics of their own egotism, Thelemics, if you will.

Further, this Aspirant clings to the necessity of keeping students of an inferior grade to his own with the hopes that he will aid in the initiation of such an one whom can take his grade allowing him the opportunity to make his own small advancement and will not lay any claim until that condition is well met.  But note that a lineage is being forged with other unique individuals who are ruthless in their approach to the work as that is the only thing that truly matters.  This is in accord with the instructions set by the Master Therion and apparently sanctioned by the Secret Chiefs of whom this Aspirant can claim to but only dimly hear the voices of in the wailing Western winds. Indeed,  Isis manifests to him in a lower form as Iris; appearing only in those winds that whistle beyond the power of this humble Aspirant to contain and benefit thereby.

But to an end, this pretender unto the Order of Thelema divined a plan for Alchemical research as has been hidden so carefully in the work of the Master Therion.  And the Secret Chiefs bid him a contact with one Spagyria (John Reid III).  A laboratory was built beside the temple and the three basic principles of Occult Science were studied with great assiduity.  Hence, the lineage of Frater Albertus is extended and the rite of the "Indian Letter" is brought to Us.  However, it is again unfortunate that even here, a false claim to adeptship is made; Spagyria preferring to profit financially on his work with the added feeling that the Universe owes him for his effort.  He has not learned to serve, but demands to be served.  Only Puffers want money; not Alchemists; indeed, it seems the entire Alchemical community is becoming a New Age business and betraying the spiritual lineage of the Western Mystery Tradition as set up by the ancient Adepts.

To quote Swami Vivekananda in his book, Bhakti Yoga:  The teacher must not teach with any ulterior selfish motive–for money, name, or fame; his work must be simply out of love, out of pure love for mankind at large.  The only medium through which spiritual force can be transmitted is love.  Any selfish motive, such as the desire for gain or for name, will immediately destroy this conveying medium.  God is love, and only he who has known God as love, can be a teacher of godliness and God to man.

Indeed, this is the problem of all so-called masters in the corrupt spiritual community that exists in our time.  All these so-called and self-proclaimed masters demand service from their students and fail to serve either their students or the Universe.  Rather, they seek either to build businesses and/or to house students whom they can command according to their own whims.  The Western Mystery Tradition is in a horrible space and would probably be better off going back underground.  Once one cowers to the egregore of business, one compromises one's integrity for the sake of profit.  The A.'.A.'. has always had a strong admonition against this.  Note: the master is no master when he commands or demands anything at all from another.  The only master is one who serves the Universe; this is his primary concern.

Finally, let it be known that this Disciple of the A.·.A.·. remains faithful to the promises of Nuit, in service to her as he is steadfast in persevering to that end that must eventually be attained!  We have obtained by way of our benefactor, having completed our tutelage with Zoel Dana Kaim/Chaim, a thorough impression of the nature of the Ruach.  One can only pray  now, that success will ultimately come…unto Adonai, yeah, unto Adonai.  But certainly this Greatly Honored Frater is proving intimate contact with the Secret Chiefs and through a series of Divine Interviews is proactively channeling new Gnosis to humanity.  And in contrast with Mr. Eales above, his description of the Adeptus Minor (Within and Without) experience seems far more appropriate:

Zephyros:  "This brings up a question; I've been relating the two phases of Tiphareth (Adeptus Minor Without & Within) in that the 'without' represents the HGA and the 'within' represents 'Asar Un Nefer'.  Would you concur?  Otherwise, what are these two phases?"

Runar:  "The Asar Un Nefer comes first, its the state of Samadhi and illumination.  When transgressing this, the candidate's consciousness rises above and starts seeing the Samadhi from the outside as the HGA.  Here is the turning point, and I saw it!!!  It's impossible to describe.  It's like a hole in reality.  It's the main point.  It's IT."

A friend from another lineage of the A.'.A.'., Slobodon Skrbic, has responded to Runar's teaching from his own experience in a way that lends both credence to what Runar says and portrays his own unique experience:

Slobodon:  Tiphareth does not mean Samadhi, but Dhyana. The Sun truly seen as Light of ALL. It is not AsarUn Nefer – cause after that experience remains a "relation" of two "sides" in Love – "Lovers". I can agree with explanation of "hole in reality" – "I" perceived it through Lam – whole new "dimension" that led me "behind" the Light. Silly explanation of unexplainable experience.

AsarUnNefer is Re-Ligious "object" – Re-ligere is Re-Uniting of parts of the "body" – and Samadi destroys the differences – IT brings Unity. Onneness with Light – there is no more "Lovers" but Onneness of Hermit – "He" is alone.

Aside from the fact that the experience of these two gentlemen gets around the superstitious tendency to alienate the H.G.A. experience by positing it as an external contact, common in the Christist conditioning, which by the way, shows how the psyche of most Thelemites still resonates with the old-aeonic consciousness.  We therefore, have an over-riding affirmation that we also need to think beyond the more popular notion of discovering 'one's true will.'  This has led to the most egregious error as it is most commonly mistaken as an excuse to fulfill one's desires (not necessarily a part of the nature of ones orbit; the Pure Will) and has led so many to the veiling of their vices in virtuous words.

But this Adept is not acculturated within the A.'.A.'. tradition, and so no proper master is found and the condition of fitting an inferior to take one's place prior to advancement is upheld.  For this is a lineage yet to be forged and only in the process of being birthed.  But still there is that that may yet be discussed on the nature of Adeptship and the connection with praeter-human intelligence:
Reading from Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine, we find the following:

This Doctrine teaches that the whole Universe is ruled by intelligent and semi-intelligent Forces and Powers, as stated from the very beginning.  Christian theology admits and even enforces belief in such, but makes an arbitrary division and refers to them as "Angels" and "Devils." …yet on the whole the characteristics of the Genii and Gods are those of Eastern teachings, although concerning other things there are passages which differ widely from our doctrines.  As to the Genii, the Hermetic philosophers called Theoi (Gods), Geniie and Daimones, thos Entities whom we call Devas (Gods), Dhyan Chohans, and Chitkala (the Kwan-Yin, of the Buddhists), and various other names.  The Daimones are–in the Socratic sense, and even in the Oriental and Latin theological sense–the guardian spirits of the human race; "those who dwell in the neighborhood of the immortals, and thence watch over human affairs," as Hermes has it.  In Esoteric parlance, they are called Chitkala, some of which are those who have furnished man with his fourth and fifth Principles form their own essence, and others the so-called Pitris.  This will be explained when we come to the production of the complete man. The root of the name is Chit, "that by which the consequences of acts and species of knowledge are selected for the use of the soul," or conscience, the inner voice in man.

These Watchers then are what I have always associated with the Nephilim; the Guardian Spirits alluded to in the Star Ruby and referred to in translation as the Holy Guardian Angel.  And as such, we are also developing an approach to them through their various internal emissaries as delineated in Liber CCXXXI.  In developing this effort, we approach the very goal of the A.'.A.'. and of any true and valid spiritual path; that of becoming fully human.

Chit is consciousness and Kala is time.  ChitKala is then our being, moving through time; the four-dimensional universe.  And in this universe, we must take our place in the hierarchy of beings; both evolving upwards and involving inwards to our full sense of divinity.  The Star Ruby then connects itself uniquely with Liber CCXXXI and offers us much more than any traditional Golden Dawn banishing ritual of the Pentagram, as it explains the nature of our existence and the nature of the Great Work.

It also emphasizes the virtue of making our own contact with the Secret Chiefs or Hidden Mahatmas.  This is why it must be the goal of any Magickal Lodge to make such contact.  All else is mere vanity or even worse.

The Knowledge & Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel then begins with an evocatory practice that takes an inordinate amount of work to prepare for.  It is much more than a mere Gnostic Dialogue.  When the amount of energy necessary to project enough astral effluvium to formulate the Angel is obtained, and after one is fully and successfully trained in the work (becoming 'asar un nefer'), then enough Magickal energy must be invested in order that this being could sustain itself to house the heart of the Angel.  And only then, could any dialogue begin.

Crowley of course, discusses the H.G.A. as the Augoeides and in reading from Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled, we find: These philosophers held, with the Hindus, that God had infused into matter a portion of his own Divine Spirit, which animates and moves every particle.  They taught that men have two souls, of separate and quite different natures: the one perishable–the Astral Soul, or the inner, fluidic body–the other incorruptible and immortal–the Augoeides, or portion of the Divine Spirit; that the moral or Astral Soul perishes at each gradual change at the threshold of every new sphere, Becoming with every transmigration more purified  the astral man, intangible and invisible as he might be to our mortal, earthly senses, is still constituted of matter, though sublimated. That force of course; the force that "moves every particle," I've postulated as light, which in itself is something from a fifth dimension in:

http://www.astronargon.us/Testing%20the%20Night%20of%20Pan.html.  

Light itself would then be the physical substance of God manifested on the material plane.  And as such, the particle itself is infinite and is composed of all the orders and legions of angels and spirits that are associated with the divine hierarchy.  As HPB says, the Universe is a hierarchy of beings. The H.G.A. experience may then said to be a uniting of the soul with the spirit, which means of course, a soul that needs to be purified as much as the veils the cover the spirit need to be removed.  But I'm not sure if I'm a subscriber of transmigration as HPB is discussing in the quote I provided.  This marriage is as much a surrendering of the one to other as the other is to that one; the 'crucifixion'.  The marriage with the light is the 'transfiguration,' that Dr. Maurice Bucke discusses quite aptly in his book: Cosmic Consciousness. For anything to have an effect on the psyche, it must also have an effect on the body as the body (Moon) is the source of the emotions.  That is why healing and medicine are such an important part of the Western Mystery Tradition.  It is the beginning of the work.  This is balanced, by of course, a fortified intellect.  So the H.G.A. experience must then also have a physical component involving light (en-light-enment) as Dr. Bucke (a Transcendentalist and friend of Walt Whitman) describes in detail in his book; and with several well-known examples outside the obvious biblical reference.Hermes Trismegistus writes:

This creation of life by the sun is as continuous as his light; nothing arrests or limits it.  Around him, like an army of satellites, are innumerable choirs of Genii.  These dwell in the neighborhood of the Immortals, and thence watch over human things.  They fulfill the will of the Gods [Karma} by means of storms, tempests, transitions of fire and earthquakes; likewise by famines and wares, for the punishment of impiety.

Blavatsky comments on this:

The "Lipika," from the word lipi, "writing," means literally the "Scribes" (These are the four "Immortals," which are mentioned in the Atharva Veda as the "Watchers" or Guardians of the four quarters of the sky).  Mystically, these Divine Beings are connected with Karma, the Law of Retribution, for they are the Recorders, or Annalists, who impress on the (to us) invisible tablets of the Astral Light, "the great picture-gallery of eternity"--a faithful record of every act, and even thought, of man; of all that was, is, or ever will be, in the phenomenal Universe.  As said in Isis Unveiled, this divine and unseen canvas in the BOOK OF LIFE.  as it is the Lipika who project into objectivity from the passive Universal Mind the ideal plan of the universe, upon which the "Builders" reconstruct the Kosmos after every Pralaya, it is they who stand parallel to the Seven Angels of the Presence, whom the Christians recognize in Seven "planetary Spirits," or the "Spirits of the Stars;" and thus it is they who are the direct amanuenses of the Eternal Ideation--or, as Plato calls it, the "Divine Thought."

Connected as the Lipika are with the destiny of every man, and the birth of every child, whose life is already traced in the Astral Light--not fatalistically, but only because the Future, like the Past, is ever alive in the Present--they may also be said to exercise an influence on the science of horoscopy.
The questions will surely be asked: Do the Occultists believe in all these "Builders," "Lipika," and "Sons of Light," as Entities, or are they merely imagery?  To this the answer is given as plainly: After due allowance for the imagery of personified Powers, we must admit the existence of these Entities, if we would not reject the existence of Spiritual Humanity within physical mankind.  For the hosts of these Sons of Light, the Mind-born Sons of the first manifested Ray of the Unknown All, are the very root of Spiritual Man.

We are then, actuated beings evolving upwards from matter, which itself originates from the ONE and also housing deity, which is involving downwards and planting itself in the human heart.  We are then the unity of spirit and matter with the impress of the spiritual hierarchy being magnetically constrained to formulate the human soul that itself becomes immortal when fully manifested.  This is the true secret of the prophetic tradition; that each their own must weave a personal mythos that exercises this soul into dynamic experience, utilizing the formula of attraction that is 'Love under will.'

The Doctrine teaches that, in order to becomes a divine, fully conscious God--aye, even the highest--the Spiritual Primeval INTELLIGENCES must pass through the human stage.  And when we say human, this does not apply merely to our terrestrial humanity, but to the mortals that inhabit any world, between matter and spirit...Each Entity must have won for itself the right of becoming divine, through self-experience.  Hegel the great German thinker, must have known or sense intuitionally this truth, when he said that the Unconscious evolved the Universe only "in the hope of attaining clear self-consciousness," in other words, of becoming MAN; for this is also the secret meaning of the oft recurring Puranic phrase, of Brahma being constantly "moved by the desire to create."  This explains also the stone, a plant; the plant, an animal; the animal, a man; the man, a spirit; and the spirit, a god."  The Mind-born Sons, the Rishis, the Builders, etc., were all men--of whatever forms and shapes--in other worlds and in preceding Manvataras.

Hermes Trismegistus writes:

It is the sun who preserves and nourishes all creatures; and, even as the Ideal World, which environs the sensible worlds, fills this last with the plentitude and universal variety of forms, so also the sun, enfolding all in his light, accomplishes everywhere the birth and development of creatures.  Under his orders is the choir of the genii, or rather the choirs, for there are many and diverse, and their number corresponds to that of the stars.  Every star has it genii, good and evil by nature, or rather by their operation, for operation is the essence of the genii.  All these genii preside over mundane affairs; (HPB: And "Gods" or Dhyanis, too, not only the Genii or "guided Forces."), they shake and overthrow the constitution of the States and of individuals; they imprint their likeness on our souls, they are present in our nerves, our marrow, our veins, our arteries, and our very brain-substance.  At the moment when each of us receives life and being, he is taken in charge by the genii [Elementals] who preside over births (HPB: The meaning of this is that as man is composed of all the Great Elements–Fire, Air, Water, Earth and Ether–the ELEMENTALS which respectively belong to these Elements feel attracted to man by reason of the co-essence.  That Element which predominates in a certain constitution will be the ruling Element, the Gnomes will lead him towards assimilating metals–money and wealth, and so on.  "Animal man is the son of the animal elements out of which his Soul [life] was born, and animals are the mirrors of man," says Paracelsus.  (De Fundamentao Sapientiae)  Paracelsus was cautious, and wanted the Bible to agree with what he said, and therefore did not say all.), and who are classed beneath the astral powers [superhuman astral Spirits].  Perpetually they change, not always identically, but revolving in circles.  The permeate by the body two parts of the soul, that it may receive from each the impress of his own energy.  But the reasonable part of the soul is not subject to the genii; it is designed for the reception of [the] God who enlightens it with a sunny ray.  Those who are thus illuminated are few in number, and from them the genii abstain: for neither genii nor gods have any  power in the presence of a  single ray of God.  But all other men, both soul and body, are directed by genii, to whom they cleave, and whose operations they affect.  The genii, then have the control of mundane things and our bodies serve them as instruments.

Blavatsky comments on this and inadvertently explains Crowley's point, which we here repeat before her commentary:

"Let me declare this Work under this title: ‘The obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel’", because the theory implied in these words is so patently absurd that only simpletons would waste much time in analyzing it. It would be accepted as a convention, and no one would incur the grave danger of building a philosophical system upon it."

For whether one calls the Genii of Hermes and his "gods," "Powers of Darkness" and "Angels," as in the Greek and Latin Chruches; or "Spirits of the Dead," as in Spiritualism; or, again, Bhuts and Devas, Shaitan or Djin, as they are still called in India and Mussalman countries–they are all one and the same thing–ILLUSION.  Let not this, however, be misunderstood in the sense into which the great philosophical doctrine of the Vedantists has been lately perverted by Western schools.

All that which is, emanates form the ABSOLUTE, which, by reason of this qualification alone, stands as the One and Only Reality–hence, everything extraneous to this Absolute, the generative and causative Elements, must be an Illusion, most undeniably.  But this is only so from the purely metaphysical view.  A man who regards himself as mentally sane, and is so regarded by his neighbors, calls the visions of an insane brother–hallucinations which make the victim either happy or supremely wretched, as the case may be–likewise illusion and fancies.  But, where is that madman for whom the hideous shadows in his deranged mind, his illusions, are not, for the time being, as actual and as real as the things which his physician or keeper may see?  Everything is relative in this Universe, everything is an Illusion. But the experience on any plane is an actuality for the percipient being, whose consciousness is on that plane, though the said experience, regarded from the purely metaphysical standpoint, may be conceived to have no objective reality. But it is not against metaphysicians, but against physicists and Materialists that Esoteric teaching has to fight; and for these latter Vital Force, Light, Sound, Electricity, even to the objectively pulling force of Magnetism, how no objective being, are said to exist merely as "modes of motion," Sensations and affections of matter."

From: http://www.katinkahesselink.net/secrecy.htm 

"The holy Triad emanates from the One, and it the Tetraktys; the gods, daimons, and souls are an emanation of the Triad. Heroes and men repeat the hierarchy in themselves."Thus said Metrodus of Chios, the Pythagorean, the latter part of the sentence meaning that man has within himself the seven pale reflections of the seven divine Hierarchies; his Higher Self is, therefore, in itself but the refracted beam of the direct Ray. He who regards the latter as an Entity, in the usual sense of the term, is one of the "infidels and atheists," spoken of by Epicurus, for he fastens on that God "the opinions of the multitude" – an anthropomorphism of the grossest kind. The Adept and the Occultist know that "what are styled Gods are only the first principles." None the less are they intelligent, conscious, and living "Principles," the Primary Seven Lights manifested from Light unmanifested – which to us is Darkness. They are the Seven – exoterically four – Kumaras or "Mind-Born Sons" of Brahma. And it is they again, the Dhyani-Chohans, who are the prototypes in the aeonic eternity of lower Gods and hierarchies of divine Beings, at the lowest end of which ladder of beings are we – men.

Thus perchance Polytheism, when philosophically understood, may be a degree higher than even the Monotheism of the Protestant, say, who limits and conditions the Deity in whom he persists in seeing the Infinite, but whose supposed actions make of that "Absolute and Infinite" the most absurd paradox in Philosophy. From this standpoint Roman Catholicism itself is immeasurably higher and more logical than Protestantism, though the Roman Church has been pleased to adopt the exotericism of the heathen "multitude" and to reject the Philosophy of pure Esotericism.

Thus every mortal has his immortal counterpart, or rather his Archetype, in heaven. This means that the former is indissolubly united to the latter, in each of his incarnations, and for the duration of the cycle of births; only it is by the spiritual and intellectual Principle in him, entirely distinct from the lower self, never through earthly personality. Some of these are even liable to break the union altogether, in case of absence in the moral individual of binding, viz., of spiritual ties. Truly, as Paracelsus puts it in his quaint, tortured phraseology, man with his three (compound) Spirits is suspended like a foetus by all three to the matrix of the Macrocosm; the thread which holds him united being the "Thread-Soul," Sutratman, and Taijasa (the "Shining") of the Vedantins. And it is through this spiritual and intellectual Principle in man, through Taijasa – the Shining, "because it has the luminous internal organ as its associate" – that man is thus united to his heavenly prototype, never through his lower inner self or Astral Body, for which there remains in most cases nothing but to fade out.

Occultism, or Theurgy, teaches the means of producing such union. But it is the actions of man – his personal merit alone that can produce it on earth, or determine its duration. This lasts from a few seconds – a flash – to several hours, during which time the Theurgist or Theophanist is that overshadowing "God" himself; hence he becomes endowed for the time being with relative omniscience and omnipotence. With such perfect (divine) Adepts as Buddha and others such a hypostatical state or avataric condition may last during the whole life; whereas in the case of full initiates, who have not yet reached the perfect state of Jivanmukta,  Theopneusty, when in full sway, results for the high Adept in a full recollection or everything seen, heard or sensed.

" Taijasa . . . . has fruition of the supersensible."For one less perfect it will end only in a partial, indistinct remembrance; while the beginner has to face in the first period of his psychic experiences a mere confusion, followed by a rapid and finally complete oblivion of the mysteries seen during this super-hypnotic condition. The degree of recollection, when one returns to his waking state and physical senses, depends on his spiritual and psychic purification, the greatest enemy of spiritual memory being man's physical brain, the organ of his sensuous nature.

The above states are described for a clearer comprehension of used in this work. There are so many and such various conditions and states that even a Seer is liable to confound one with the other. To repeat: the Greek, rarely-used word, "Theophania," meant more with the Neo-Platonists than it does with the modern maker of dictionaries. The compound word, Theo-phania (from theos, "God" and Phainesthai, "to appear,") does not simply mean "a manifestation of God to man by actual appearance" – an absurdity, by the way – but the actual presence of a God in man, a divine incarnation. When Simon the Magician claimed to be "God the Father," what he wanted to convey was just that which has been explained, namely, that he was a divine incarnation of his own Father, whether we see in the latter an Angel, a God, or a Spirit; therefore he was called "that power of God which is called great," or that power which causes the Divine Self to enshrine itself in its lower self – man.

This is one of the several mysteries of being and incarnation. Another is that when an Adept reaches during his lifetime that state of holiness and purity that makes him "equal to the Angels," then at death his apparitional or astral body becomes as solid and tangible as was the late body, and is transformed into the real man. The old physical body, falling off like the cast-off serpent's skin, the body of the "new" man remains either visible or, at the option of the Adept, disappears from view, surrounded as it is by the Akasic shell that screens it. In the latter case there are three ways open to the Adept:

1) He may remain in the earth's sphere (Vayu or Kama-loka), in that ethereal locality concealed from human sight save during flashes of clairvoyance. In this case his astral body, owing to its great purity and spirituality, having lost the conditions required for Akasic light (the nether or terrestrial ether) to absorb its semi-material particles, the Adept will have to remain in the company of disintegrating shells – doing no good or useful work. This, of course, cannot be.

2) He can by a supreme effort of will merge entirely into, and get united with, his Monad. By doing so, however, he would (a) deprive his Higher Self of posthumous Samadhi – a bliss which is not real Nirvana – the astral, however pure, being too earthly for such a state; and (b) he would thereby open himself to Karmic law; the action being, in fact, the outcome of personal selfishness – of reaping the fruits produced by and for oneself – alone.

3) The Adept has the option of renouncing conscious Nirvana and rest, to work on earth for the good of mankind. This he can do in a twofold way: either, as above said, by consolidating his astral body into physical appearance, he can re-assume the self-same personality; or he can avail himself of an entirely new physical body, whether that of a newly-born infant or – as Samkaracharya is reported to have done with the body of a dead Raja – by "entering a deserted sheath," and living in it as long as he chooses. This is what is called "continuous existence." The Section entitled "The Mystery about Buddha" will throw additional light on this theory, to the profane incomprehensible, or to the generality simply absurd. Such is the doctrine taught, everyone having the choice of either fathoming it still deeper, or leaving it unnoticed.

Love is the law, love under will.