Filename: RC3001.TXT
Source: "The Bible: Wonder Book of the Ages" by Corinne Heline

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               INITATORY HIGHLIGHTS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

                                 FOREWARD:

   The Bible is the wonder book of the ages. Within its pages is found a 
message for every seeking soul, regardless of where he may be on the path of 
spiritual attainment. There is hope, counsel and inspiration for the narrowest 
and most conservative of minds; while at the same time there are glorious 
words of light for the liberal and questing intellect. There is comfort and 
instruction for the simplest, and exalted cosmic doctrine for the highest 
Initiate this earth planet is able to produce.

   It is an error to say that the Bible is nothing more than an antiquated 
book belonging to a time two thousand years in the past. The Bible is a 
mystery book, a wisdom book of tremendous power, a continuous running cipher 
created by great Initiates and their helpers through millenia of effort. It 
belongs equally to the Past, the Present, and to the Future.

   So carefully have its secrets been inscribed 9in the Bible text, coil 
within coil, that the more spiritual man becomes the profounder are the 
meanings which this book reveals to him.

   As it is written in the Zohar, "Woe to the man who sees in the Thorah (the 
Law) only simple recitals and ordinary words!...Each word of the Thorah 
contains an elevated meaning and a sublime mystery...The simple take notice of 
the garments and recitals of the Thorah alone...The more instructed do not pay 
attention to the vestment, but to the body which it envelopes."

   The Bible will accompany man to the very gates of the New Age, where he 
will discover that its pages reveal an entirely new concept of the mysteries 
of spiritual life; for this marvelous book is the true Book of Life upon which 
will be based the soul sciences of the New Aquarian Age.

   When the Bible story is read in the light of New Age interpretations, which 
relate all characters and events to the individual human being as qualities 
and attributes to be either cultivated or eradicated, the Scriptures become a 
LIVING WORD indeed, immediately applicable to personal problems in daily life, 
in the present moment of time. The historical aspects then recede into the 
background. The Bible ceases to be a book of a dead and different past and 
becomes a guide to the living, pulsating present.

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                                 ABRAHAM: 

          THE COSMIC PATTERN FOR THE MAN OF THE FIFTH ROOT RACE: 

   Abraham, whose name means "father of multitudes" was the first of the 
Initiate teachers sent to the new Fifth Root Race which inhabited the earth 
after the destruction of the Atlantean continent by the Flood. He came from 
Ur, the city of "light", and settled in Haran, "a high place." Sarah and Lot 
traveled with him. Sarah, meaning "princess," signifies the feminine or love 
principle, and Lot, identified chiefly with Sodom, represents the lower 
nature. Thus, Abraham journeys into the new land accompanied by both the 
higher and the lower elements within his nature.

   As a pioneer, Abraham represents, astrologically, Saturn, who presides over 
beginnings of manifestation, and whose forces mold form out of the substance 
emerging from Chaos.

   To the spiritually enlightened it has always been held that every place 
mentioned in the Bible is here and now, and that every person mentioned is 
you, yourself. Thus, for example, Abraham's two wives, Sarah and Hagar typify 
man's higher and lower natures, respectively, and the two sons which they bore 
represent the attributes and deeds which result from the activities of these 
two opposing natures in man. Hagar and her son Ishmael, typify the lower self, 
Sarah and her son Isaac, typify the higher. The name Isaac means joy, the joy 
that comes with living true to the higher self.

   Abraham was first known as Abram and his wife Sarah as Sarai. With 
Abraham's First Initiation the letter H was added to their names. H, a 
feminine letter, when added to the names Abram and Sarai, indicates that in 
their initiatory experiences they had awakened within them the feminine or 
intuitive principle. The quickening of this principle gives birth to Isaac 
which, in the present context signifies the joy the soul experiences when it 
establishes right and harmonious relations with the Over-Soul.

   
   Abraham embodied what may be called the archetype of the Fifth Root Race. 
Hence the principal events which occurred in his life as recorded in the Bible 
are to be emulated in their essential significance by each and every 

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individual belonging to the present Aryan Root Race.

   Abraham reached that high place in spiritual attainment which permitted him 
to commune face to face with the very Lord of Hosts. But the higher the soul 
ascends, the more subtle the temptations, and the more severe the ests and 
trials to be met and overcome. This being so, "many turned back, and walked 
with the Christ no more."

   In his spiritual progression Abraham eventually encountered one of the 
greatest of all tests on the initiatory path, the one known as the Great 
Renunciation. Thus it reads in Genesis 22:7-12:

   "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My Father: and he said, 
Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the 
lamb for a burnt-offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself 
a lamb for a burnt-offering: so they went both of them together. And they came 
to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and 
laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar 
upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to 
slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and 
said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine 
hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou 
fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." 

   This passage reveals Abraham's complete surrender of self. He had the will, 
the courage and the fortitude to meet the test successfully. In so doing he 
opened the door to an influx of power and illumination little dreamed by those 
who have not been so tried and proven. He had unquestioned faith to obey the 
command of the Lord (law), whatsoever the cost. Such is the course that 
qualifies one for carrying out some major part in God's great plan for man. 
Christ's assertion that "He that findeth his life, shall lose it; and he that 
loseth his life for my sake, shall find it," is a Temple teaching belonging to 
the ages.

   Again we read in Genesis 22:13:

   "Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught 
in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him 
up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son." 

   The ram is the symbol of Aries. This sign was called "the lamb bearing one" 

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by the ancients. In its highest aspects, the keywords for Aries are purity, 
service and sacrifice. It is a sign of the resurrection. Pisces, the last sign 
in the Zodiac, is the place of sorrow, the garden of tears, the Gethsemane on 
the Path. Its gate closes, but only to open on the first zodiacal sign, Aries, 
heralding the arrival of one new-born. Abraham had now arrived at this place 
in his initiatory development.

   One of the supreme spiritual experiences in the life of Abraham was his 
meeting with Melchizadek, who was one of the world's highest initiatory 
teachers. He was one of the Chief High Priests of Atlantis and Teacher of the 
remnant which survived the destruction of Atlantis by the Flood. Noah and his 
family are generic terms for that remnant.

   Melchizadek gave to Abraham the profound spiritual mystery teachings which 
later became known in the Christian world as the Christ-mass, and which 
orthodox Christianity speaks of as the Holy Communion. A higher version of 
this same spiritual mystery was the last and most sublime teaching which the 
Lord Christ gave to his most advanced disciples during his three year ministry 
upon Earth. A still higher revelation of this sacred mystery will become 
central to the teaching and the ritualism of the New Aquarian Age religion.

   "After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, Fear 
not, Abram: I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, 
Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing that I go childless, and the steward 
of my house is this Eliezar of Damascus?" --Genesis 15:12

   It was after Abraham's meeting with Melchizadek that the Lord came to him 
in a vision. The question he then asked of the Lord: "What wilt thou give me 
seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezar of 
Damascus?"

   This question holds the key to an understanding of one of the most occult 
chapters in the Bible. To interpret briefly: The name Eliezar means "help of 
God." It signifies the awakened powers of divinity within. Eliezar is the 
pious and faithful steward of Abraham's household, which here signifies the 
body. He is of Damascus, a city which in biblical symbology signifies a center 
of illumination and a place where flowers are in perpetual bloom. Hitherto 
barren of progeny, what Abraham now asks the Lord is, in effect, what is he to 

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bring forth, seeing that the God within is now functioning in a center of 
light, and that the spirit is in command of his personal attributes and 
faculties.

   That this was an experience in the inner realms is indicated in the 
statement that his meeting with the Lord was in a VISION. The spiritual aspect 
of the entire experience is, moreover, indicated by the Lord's promise to 
Abraham that the heir he sought would come forth out of his own "bowels," or 
interior being. His spiritual offspring was to be without number, as the very 
stars in heaven. Abraham believed, for the "mortal mind," the physical senses, 
the unbelieveing part of man, gave way to the soul's clear perception of truth 
on the plane of consciousness to which he had now ascended.

   The Lord also promised Abraham that unto his seed would be given the land 
that stretches "from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river 
Euphates." Abraham then asked whereby he would know that such was to be his 
inheritance. The Lord replied enigmatically: "Take me an heifer of three years 
old and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a 
turtle-dove, and a young pigeon." (Genesis 15:9)

   He did so. But it was not a bloody sacrifice that he was called upon to 
perform. The entire experience recorded in this chapter occurred on a 
superphysical level, and the words describing it must be considered in terms 
of symbols if their inner menaings are to be apprehended in even the slightest 
degree. It must always be remembered that the deepest spiritual truths are 
never committed to writing but conveyed by word of mouth from Teacher to 
disciple in accordance with the latter's worthiness and understanding. Insofar 
as they are or can be transcribed in writing, symbols and ciphers of various 
kinds must convey as best they can what words alone cannot do.

   Since this is so, such written references as are made to the highest 
experiences of the soul are by their very nature obscure and enigmatic to all 
except those who have attained a state of consaciousness that penetrates into 
the soul of things and makes first-hand observation and corroboration 
possible. The ceremonialism of the exoteric religionist is but a mutilated 
fragment of the glorious ritualism to be found in thye Bible when this is read 
in the light of its esoteric content.

   Returning to the question of animal sacrifice, such was not the offering of 
Abraham at this time. The "wing which the soul fashions for high ascent" are 
not built of the agony and death of any living thing, but by sympathy, 

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compassion, and an all-embracing, unifying love which includes all God's 
creatures from the highest to the lowest. The inner soul qualities requisite 
for the high attainment reached by an Initiate like Abraham can be formed in 
no other way.

   Let us apply the astrological key to the sacrifices required of Abraham. 
The heifer is a symbol of Taurus, and its sacrifice means renunciation of all 
base desires and selfish love. The goat is the symbol of Capricorn; it 
signifies the sacrifice of wordly power and ambition. The sheep is the symbol 
of Aries and represents the resurrection of the life powers through chastity 
and transmutation. The turtle-dove and pigeons are symbols of Libra, the 
Balance, and refer to the subtle experiences that test judgment at this stage 
of attainment.

   It is also to be noted that Abraham's sacrifices was made in Mamre, meaning 
strength, and near Hebron, meaning unity.

   "And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; an lo, an 
horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a 
surely that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and 
shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years." --Genesis 
15:12, 13

   Here is an outline of all that can be given publicly concerning the process 
of a certain Initiation. It tells of the ecstasy of spirit which accompanies 
the "great darkness." When Abraham lost consciousness on the physical plane he 
was awake in the inner or etheric realms. In God's Book of Remembrance he then 
reads in cosmic pictures the future events connected with the Aryan peoples 
whom he is being prepared to lead. Abraham's seed, the fruits of the spirit, 
are not in their home world when on Earth. They are strangers, passing through 
and serving matter, and subject to its limitations until the lower quartenary 
of form (400 years) has been transcended by the triune powers of spirit.

   "And it came to pass, when the sun went dosn, it was dark, behold a smoking 
furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces."--Genesis 15:17

   Heat, smoke and fire are inseparable from the refining processes that lead 
to Illumination. That Abraham passed through the "furnace" successfully and 
qualified himself for higher service is clear from the covenant which the Lord 
made with him "in the same day" saying, "Unto thy seed have I given this land, 
from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates."

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                             JACOB AND MOSES:

                    INITIATE SONS OF THE ANCIENT WISDOM:

   The hidden power of the fruit of the vine was realized by the early 
Fathers, as the following passages from Justin Martyr indicates: "The word 
blood of the grape was used purposely to express, that Christ has blood, not 
from the seed of man, but from the power of God. For in the same manner that 
man does not produce the blood of the vine, but God; so also this passage 
foretold, that the blood of Christ was not to be of human origin, but from the 
power of God and this prophecy shows that Christ is not a man, begotten of men 
according to the common law of men."

   Eusebius, a fourth century ecclesiastical historian, makes this comment on 
the foregoing passage; "...Men are redeemed by the blood of the grape which 
has God dwelling in it, and is spiritual."

   From statements such as these it is clear that what is referred to as "the 
blood of the grape" has a deep significance. It refers to the purification and 
transmutation of the blood. Christ told His disciples: "I am the vine, ye are 
the branches." A faithful aspirant places himself into a closer and more 
perfect attunement with Christ by means of the bread and the wine, and is 
thereby able to develop and manifest greater Christed powers within himself.

   Both Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria assert that it was Christ who 
appeared to Jacob in the dream in which he beheld a ladder reaching from earth 
to heaven, with Angels of God ascending and escending upon it. Above it stood 
the Lord, who said, "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of 
Isaac" (Gen. 28:13). Cyprian, quoting from Genesis 35:1 writes: "...Believing 
as all the Fathers did that the God there spoken of who appeared to Jacob when 
he fled from Esau was Christ."

   As mentioned in the third volume of our NEW AGE BIBLE INTERPRETATION, 
illumined Masters down through the ages have taught their disciples that the 
work of Mystery Schools and the various forms of their Initiation were but 
preparatory steps for the coming of the supreme World Teacher, the Lord 

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Christ. This statement holds true regarding seer-teachers of the Old Testament 
Dispensation. They were preparing themselves and their followers to later 
serve the Christ. In his Dreams Jacob was being taught to read in the Memory 
of Nature. There he saw the involutionary-evolutionary ladder which extends 
from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven, with multitudes of spirits 
descending into incarnation and reascending into heaven after earth's lessons 
have been learned.

   The Path of Discipleship has been similar in all ages. Aspeirants must meet 
the same tests and make the same over-comings. Only particulars change in the 
course of succeeding epochs. This initiatory Path is outlined with exceptional 
fidelity in the life of Jacob. It is recorded in Genesis 32:24 that when Jacob 
was left alone "there wrestled with him a man until the breaking of day." At 
the conclusion of this incident it was made clear that the One who prevailed 
over Jacob the new name of Israel, meaning one who preserves. "For," said He, 
"as a prince hast thou power with God and with men." The experience here 
related is a most meaningful one. That the Lord Christ was herein the Teacher 
and Guardian of Jacob is noted by Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria and 
Irenaeus.

   Jacob's experience of wrestling all night with the Angel and refusing to 
let it go until he received a blessing is a familiar one upon the Path of 
Discipleship. Spiritual powers latent within each aspirant thereby become 
sufficientlyaroused for him to manifest them within his life. "Let the Christ 
be formed in you," was St. Paul's admonition to his disciples. This was a 
necessary attainment before one could become a pioneer of the Christ 
Dispensation.

   In the life of Jacob this was accomlished. He parted from Esau (the lower 
nature) for all time. In conformity with the inner change that then occurred 
he was no longer called Jacob, but Israel, a name which also means "one who 
sees God." Jacob was now an heroic conqueror and a dedicated server. He was 
qualified to become a worker in the vineyard of the Lord Christ, who declared: 
"Whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be the servant of all".

   Referring again to the verse in Genesis which says that "Jacob was left 
alone and there wrestled a man with him," Origen writes: "Who else could it be 
that is called at once man and God, who wrestled and contended with Jacob, 
that he who spake at sundry times and in divers manners unto the Father (Heb. 
1:1) the holy Word of God who is called Lord and God, who also blessed Jacob 

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and called him Israel, saying to him 'Thou hast prevailed with God.' It was 
thus that the men of those days beheld the Word of God, like our Lord's 
apostles did, who said, 'That which was from the beginning, which we have seen 
with our own eyes, and looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of 
Life (Jno. 1:1) which Word of Life Jacob also saw and added 'I have seen God 
face to face.'"

   After his wrestling experience, which ended in victory for him, Jacob 
ascended into Bethel, there to build an altar and dedicate his life to God. 
Many who pass through this exalting experience are conscious of the presence 
of the Christ, and of the out-pouring of His tender blessing upon their 
endeavors. Bethel means "the house of God," and there it is that a victorious 
candidate makes a complete dedication.

   Hyppolytus, an ecclesiastical writer of the third century, and a pupil of 
Trenaeus, made the following statement with reference to Christ as described 
in Jacob's prophecy (Gen. 49:9) and also in Revelation (5:5) "Now since the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who is God, on account of his kingly and glorious state, 
was spoken of before as a lion."

                                  MOSES: 

   Four of the most distinguished Church Fathers--Justin Martyr, Clemment of 
Alexandria, Irenaeus and Tertullian, assert that it was none other than the 
Christ who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. This phenomena was a 
reflection of the Cosmic Christ as He drew closer and closer to the earth 
prior to His human incarnation. Christ is the Lord of the Sun and Chief among 
the Fire Spirits, the Archangels. The Christian Dispensation is intimately 
guided by the Hierarchy of Leo, the Lords of Flame. Hence, the Fire Initiation 
is directly connected with the Christ Mysteries. This Fire is not a flame that 
burns but a light that purifies and transmutes. The bush that "burned" became 
ablaze with light but it was not consumed. This experience of Moses is a 
veiled account of the exaltation accompanying the Fire Initiation.

   For the disciple the preparation for the Initiation by Fire deals largely 
with the processes of Purification and Transmutation. All of the high 
initiatory processes are accompanied by celestial music. Richard Wagner, truly 

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a musical Initiate, brought to earth something of the magnificence and 
splendor which accompanies the Initiation by Fire in the glory of his Fire 
Music which he gave to the world in his music-dramas, THE VALKYRIE and 
SIEGFRIED. The sublimity of these celestial strains, and also those of the 
final chords of THE GOTTERDAMMERUNG, sound like echoes and re-echoes from the 
tonal realms in the high heavens.

   In agreement with many Church Fathers, Justin Martyr believed that it was 
Christ who talked with Moses out of the bush, and he took issue with those who 
confounded God the Father with His Son. "Those who think that it was always 
God the Father who spoke to Moses, whereas He who spoke to him was the Son of 
God, who is also called an Angel (and an Apostle), are justly convinced both 
by the prophetical spirit, and by Christ himself, for knowing neither the 
Father nor the Son. For they who say that the Son is the Father, are convinced 
of neither knowing the Father nor of understanding that the God of the 
Universe has a Son, who, being the first-born Word of God, is also God. And 
formerly He appeared to Moses and to the prophets in the form of fire as an 
incorporeal image."

   Clement of Alexandria is another authority for the claim that it was Christ 
who said to Moses: "I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the 
land of Egypt." It is this Christ power which always delivers an aspirant out 
of Egypt, the symbolical land of bondage to the senses and to the darkness of 
mortal mind.

   Moses was permitted to view the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk 
and honey (the Christ Dispensation of the Aquarian-Leo cycle). The saintly 
Origen tells us that it was the Christ who gave Moses on the holy mountain the 
Tables of the Law, when Moses was being taught to read the Akashic Records. He 
saw that the civilization of the Fifth Root Race was to have its foundation in 
the laws that became known as the Ten Commandments. He saw further that the 
Christ Himself would bring an extension of these laws, which He did by the 
precepts enunciated in the Sermon on the Mount. Humanity of the Fifth Root 
Race is still far from the development scheduled for it in the divine plan. 
Only a few of its members have reached the evolutionary status where they live 
in full accord with the Ten Commandments, and fewer still have any conception 
of the spiritual import of the Sermon on the Mount.

   As stated throughout the NEW AGE INTERPRETATION series, polarity is the key 

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word of mystic Christianity. The two columns of polarity are formed by the Ten 
Commandments (the masculine column) and the Sermon on the Mount (the feminine 
column). For the Christed man of the coming Aquarian-Leo Race, the Ten 
Commandments will be the foundation on which he establishes his daily life, 
while the Sermon on the Mount will be its superstructure as he rises into 
higher dimensions of unfoldment.

   Elijah's ascent into heaven in a chariot of fire is the description of 
another illumined spirit who was being prepared through the Fire Initiation to 
work on both inner and outer planes in preparation for the coming Christ. This 
was likewise the Initiation of the three holy men who were cast into a fiery 
furnace and yet remained unharmed as recorded in the Book of Daniel. In its 
entirety this Book contains much information relative to Initiation by Fire.

   The Book of Daniel is closely related to the work of the Hierarchy of the 
Fire Sign Leo. It was the Initiation by Fire, as it guards the Threshold of 
the Christ Mysteries that the Supreme Teacher referred to when he told 
Nicodemus "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit [Fire], he cannot 
enter the kingdom of God," the new Christed order.

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                              DAVID AND SOLOMON: 

                 INCREASING REVELATIONS OF TRUTH AND WISDOM: 

   We have frequently referred to the Bible as the "Wonder Book of the Ages." 
This is evinced by the fact that the further one advances spiritually, the 
more the Scriptures reveal their marvelous hidden secrets. Also, as previously 
stated, as man enters into the enlightenment of the Aquarian Age he will 
realize that the Bible is not only the supreme textbook of Light, but that it 
opens to his unfolding consciousness deeper mysteries and more profound truths 
than he can imagine at the present time.

   Many timeless truths are concealed in the biblical record of David and 
Solomon, both of whom possessed initiatory powers of a high degree. To prevent 
spiritual truths which they gave to the world from being misused or desecrated 
by persons not yet able to grasp and apply them rightly, they were couched in 
unattractive symbols or embodied in stories that were in keeping with the 
primitive and sensual development then prevalent.

   An ancient teaching declares: "If you would know the doctrine, you must 
live the life." This being true, one must conclude that David and Solomon--two 
illumined souls qualified for assuming spiritual leadership of their people--
were not guilty of such reprehensible conduct as a literal interpretation of 
some biblical stories attributes to them. For example, the women in the life 
of David really indicate definite stages of his spiritual development rather 
than various polygamous matings as would appear from a literal reading. Now 
Solomon is said to have had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. 
Numerically 7 and 3 add to 10, the number of spiritual attainment. Such is the 
significance of this number as used throughout the entire Old Testament.

   Solomon is referred to as the highest initiate of the Old Testament 
Dispensation. The great love he appeared to have for women must not be 
interpreted as personal infatuation, but as a means of conveying the spiritual 
fact that he experienced the ecstasy that comes from having attained to union 

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with the exalted Feminine Principle, a state requisite for the high initiatory 
degree ascribed to him. On the other hand, the several women in the life of 
David esoterically represent various steps in the progress of an aspirant. 
Thus, Michal stands for Mars' martial powers, given to be a snare to David: 
Eglah, the intimate personal love of Venus; Chimham, expansiveness of the 
Jupiterian consciousness. Hagith, the law and order of a well developed 
Saturnian nature; Abital, the enhanced attributes of faith and wisdom 
generally associated with Mercury. David's marriage to Abigail symbolizes a 
high state of spiritual consciousness (I Samuel 25:2-42).

   Abigail pleads for Nabal, the fool, who represents man's lower nature. The 
foods Nabal refused to share with David signify certain spiritual qualities 
about which a foolish mortal has no comprehension. After having sent David's 
men away and then partaken of a drunken orgy, he lived only ten days. The 
death of Nabal (lower nature) was followed by the union of Abigail (joy of 
God) and David (the Beloved). This again signifies a union with the "eternal 
feminine, that draws us ever upward and on"--in this instance to the crowning 
of David in Hebron (unity) as King of Judah (love and praise). It was not 
until after this MYSTIC MARRIAGE that David began the really great work of his 
career.

   During a seven-year period as King of Judah. David was being prepared for a 
still higher position as King of Jerusalem, the City of Peace. He was taught 
to read the Akashic Records (the Memory of Nature) and to study therein the 
pattern for the world's most glorious Mystery Temple, later externalized by 
his son Solomon.

   Just as there are certain spiritual centers in the body of man so are there 
corresponding centers of spiritual energy within the planet earth. For untold 
thousands of years the locations of these earthly centers have been the sites 
of Mystery Temples. From each one advanced spiritual truths have been 
disseminated to the peoples within its area of radiation. Jerusalem, the City 
of Peace, was the site of such a power release.

   Esoterically, Jerusalem is at the very heart of the earth. According to the 
testimony of extended vision, at the very dawn of civilization it was chosen 
and consecrated by Wise Ones under the guidance of angelic leaders. Here 
Melchizedek, the Mystery Priest and one of the most exalted members of the 
White Brotherhood, worked and taught. He brought over into Aryana the sacred 
wisdom from Atlantis before its final inundation--recorded biblically in the 

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story of the Flood. It was in this sacred area--called by him Salem, City of 
Peace--that he initiated Abraham, the first of the Mystery observances which 
culminated in the Lord's Supper, the Feast of Bread and Wine. Later this same 
eminence became the site for Solomon's Temple, and thereon Abraham passed the 
supreme test in the Rite of Detachment when he was commanded to sacrifice his 
son Isaac.

   When this holy city had passed into the hands of the Jesuits, they renamed 
it JEBU and established therein a Temple devoted to the cult of Astarte. About 
1000 B.C., after his becoming King of both Judah and Israel, David was 
inspired to make the city his capital, and he renamed it the CITY OF DAVID. 
From Jerusalem, located at an elevation that overlooked a wide surrounding 
territory, there has ever been a mighty inflow and outflow of spiritual 
energies. And besides being the heart-center of the whole earth and the home 
of Judah, he of the royal sign Leo, it appropriately became the CITY OF THE 
KING.

   What is more, Jerusalem was the focal center of the early Christian 
Mysteries--for which the work of David and the services held in the Temple of 
Solomon were a preparation. And it is destined to become the center of the 
Christian Mysteries in preparation for the second coming of the Christ as it 
was for His previous appearance. In fact, this holy place was the MECCA of the 
Initiates of both the Old and the New Testament Dispensations. It was the 
scene of activity for all of the Old Testament prophets excepting Amos and 
Hosae. Within its environs the Books of the Old Testament were conceived if 
not actually written. Both Joseph and the Holy Mother were Acolytes of the 
Jerusalem Temple.

   Jerusalem was also the scene of the major part of the Master's work and 
that of His immediate disciples and followers, many of the latter having their 
training in communitites located in nearby areas of high spiritual radiation--
as, for instance, the Mount of Olives where David passed one of his tests of 
regeneration and where Christ Jesus made His final and complete renunication 
in accordance with the will of the Father. And it was in this highly charged 
city that the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ Jesus took place.

                      SOLOMON'S MISSION TO THE WORLD: 

   Legend states that the birth of Solomon was attended by Hosts of Angels 
singing triumphant chorals just as they did at the birth of Jesus. It is also 

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said that the Archangel Gabriel, guardian of mothers and children, was present 
to bestow his blessing upon the infant.

   Nathan, a prophet of God who guided David in ways of Truth, was appointed 
teacher and guardian of the youthful Solomon. So the child grew and devloped 
in an environment of righteousness and wisdom, thus qualifying him to perform 
his great work for the upliftment of mankind.

   One day, when Solomon was about thirteen years of age, the Court was 
assembled in the majestic Hall of Cedars when an Angel appeared and placed a 
golden leaf in the hands of King David. Upon this leaf was inscribed questions 
in mystic characters. David announced, "Whoso answers these questions shall 
become king of Israel after me." Then he read: "What is everything? what is 
nothing." Breaking the silence that followed, Solomon only made reply: "God is 
everything, the world is nothing." David continued reading: "What is of most 
account, and what is of least?" Once more it was Solomon who made reply: 
"Peace is of most account, and fear is of least."

   Solomon's foremost work was to build the great Mystery Temple. Teachings 
emanating therefrom were to serve the entire present Fifth Root Race 
throughout its evolutionary span. Mt. Moriah, like the Mt. of Olives 
previously referred to, was an area of great spiritual power. On it Solomon 
was instructed to erect a magnificent Temple and dedicate it in service to the 
divine purpose of bringing about the redemption of mankind. It was ordained 
that the Lord Christ should be received into this Temple, and that the 
wondrous meaning and mission of His coming to us should be relayed to the 
world therefrom. Mankind, however, did not live up to the divine precepts of 
Solomon; and later Temple servers did not recognize the expected Messiah when 
He did come. Hence, the day of the Crucifixion inaugurated the doom of the 
Temple. It was only a matter of time before its complete destruction.

   Jesus, foreseeing the fate of Jerusalem and the Temple, wept over the 
tragedy that was to overtake botrh. He knew that the city's inhabitants had 
failed to achieve the high destiny which had been prepared for them. As He 
beheld the long centuries lying ahead, He saw a future filled with strife and 
ravaging wars, with their aftermath of sorrow, pain and death, before the day 
of their redemption. David and Solomon, both high Initiates, came to earth to 

[PAGE 16]

work for the regeneration of the human race in anticipation of the glorious 
coming of the Blessed Lord. It was not they who failed. Rather, it was the 
entire Firth Root Race.

   Solomon, by means of his initate powers, was able to control denizens of 
both the upper and nether realms. The foty-nine paths of wisdom were open to 
him, so mystic legends state. (4 plus 9 gives 13, the initiatory number 
belonging to the then approaching Christian Dispensation.) He even transmuted 
the vicious powers of demons into those serving the good of man. He controlled 
Nature Spirits and, at will, could send them to the furthermost confines of 
the world. He delivered many persons from bondage to the evil of obsession.

   The macrocosm is a reflection of the microcosm. Man's physical body, his 
temple, is a reflection of the solar Temple of the universe. The Master taught 
that it was this human temple which might be destroyed and then, through 
Initiation, be raised up again in three days. In mystic Masonry it is the 
temple built by two kings and a widow's son. The latter, Hiram or Khurum by 
name, becomes the Master-Builder--his name meaning HIGH, WHITE, LIFTED UP. 
King Solomon represents the heart. King Hiram of Tyre the head. Hiram, the 
master workman and a widow's son, symbolizes an aspirant who is working to 
unite the love power of the heart with the intellect of the head.

   Every masonic candidate is admonished to keep his working tools in the 
column of Jachin, the head. Boaz, the feminine heart column, is the fallen 
pillar which cannot be raised until the power of love balances that of reason. 
Only when love is truly "the fulfilling of the law" will the column of Boaz 
resume its upright position. These are the two columns that guard the entrance 
to all initiatory Temples, and every neophyte must pass between them on his 
quest for Light.

   Many are the legends connected with the Molen Sea. This sea, in the form of 
a flower, was (and is) supported by twelve oxen. As a "widow's son" (neophyte) 
becomes a "master-builder" by the alchemy of transmutation within himself, his 
"molten sea" becomes a crystal wherein the outlines of past, present and 
future are indelibly impressed. This ability enables him to transform his 
physical vehicle into the "flower body" of an Initiate--a work done under the 
guidance and instruction of the twelve zodiacal Hierarchies. It was such 
attainment that placed Solomon among the the Wise Men of all ages. And the 
"lake" upon which he stood to welcome the Queen of Sheba symbolizes his own 

[PAGE 17]

personal "molten sea."

   Solomon's throne was fashioned of the fine gold of Ophir inlaid with marble 
and incrusted with rare jewels. On each of the six steps to it were two golden 
lions and two golden eagles standing face to face, indicative of the Leo-
Aquarian Age and its pioneers who have learned to builds the glorious light 
body typified by Solomon's Temple. No workman was ill during the seven years 
that the Temple was under construction, nor was the perfect condition of their 
tools impaired. "When completed, the Temple shone like a golden hill set upon 
a silver mountain. The altar of bronze increased so that it might embrace the 
EARTH. The molten sea encompassed the spirit of all WATERS. The curtains 
caught and held the shimmering shadows of blue AIR; and the candlestick, the 
glory of celestial FIRE." Surrounding the Temple was a grove of golden trees 
bearing perpetual fruits that fell only when approached by an enemy. Within 
the sanctuary was an ivory wand, the touch of which gave injury to the unclean 
but proved harmless to the pure. A transparent wall within the interior of the 
sanctuary remained crystal clear on the approach of the righteous but darkened 
when the unworthy came near.

   At the dedication of the Temple, these words were spoken by the Lord, the 
manifestation of spiritual law: "I have hallowed this house, which thou hast 
built, to put my name there forever; and mine yes and mine heart shall be 
there perpetually"--1 Kings IX:3. Legends state that Solomon placed a golden 
key in the door of the Holy of Holies to the rhythms of heavenly music and 
chanting: "Open wide the doorway of the Holy of Holies, that the King of Glory 
may go unto his rest."

                        SOLOMON'S SUPREME INITIATION: 

   "And when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the 
name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. 

   "And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare 
spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she came to Solomon, 
she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

   "And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hid from 
the king, which he told her not." I Kings X:1-3

   The coming of this beautifulk queen of wisdom is the triumphal crowning of 
Solomon's life. The wisdom, of which he sings as being above the price of 

[PAGE 18]

rubies, was at last his own possession. Before its attainment he never could 
have penned the matchless SONG OF SONGS, the Song of the Mystic marriage--
described as "a love song set to lilies." It proclaims the final blending of 
the lower nature with the higher, the sublimation of the material into the 
spiritual. This is the highest achievement of divine alchemy. It must take 
place within the consciousness and life of a disciple, for it brings him into 
communion with those celestial planes whereon the glory of the song becomes 
his own personal experience.

   The name Sheba means SEVEN with its sevenfold interpretation: "the 
Beautiful, the Old, the One, the Giver, the Dangerous, the First, the Last." 
She was the queen of all Arabian flowers; Balkirs, her name, means 
BENEDICTION. Solomon spent three years in preparation for her coming. He built 
two mighty walls that began at the frontier of Israel and ended at the gates 
of Jerusalem. One was of silver and the other of gold, and between them was a 
crystal lake in which the entire world was mirrored. It was thereon that he 
awaited her arrival. Sheba came arrayed in seven robes as subtle as woven air, 
and she approached Solomon as he was standing on this crystal "lake" as though 
he were in water. Her gifts to the king were priceless pearls while his to her 
were eight green rose trees of mystic Damascus, all starry with blossoms, and 
jars containing the waters of eternal life from the well of Siloam--the last 
being a phrase from an old Egyptian Mystery Temple.

   "And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house 
that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, 
and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, 
and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no 
more spirit in her.

   "And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own 
land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I 
came, and mine yes had seen it; and behold, the half was not told to me: thy 
wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame of which I heard.

   "Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, whcih stand cotinually 
before thee, and that hear thy wisdom." I KIngs X:4-8

   In the great tent of the king, guests who were assembled for the reception 
of the gifts were overshadowed by invisible hosts of the angelic choir. 
Solomon saluted the fair queen with the words: "You are holy as the Ark of 
God; your body is His house." At these words the king's salutation, many of 

[PAGE 19]

the guests wavered and departed; but Balkris, Queen of Sheba, swayed and stood 
upright and alone in the middle of the royal tent.

   "Many are called but few are chosen."

   Others also wavered and turned away, unable to walk longer in the Master's 
way--the straight and narrow path of Initiation which leads to the portals of 
the mystic Temple where gifts are bestowed upon a successful aspirant who is 
wedded to wisdom and has learned the glory of the house not made with hands, 
but eternal in the heavens. It is as the completion of this "house" that he 
earns the wages of the Master and acquires ability to travel in foreign 
countries, the supreme attainment for pioneers of the human race.

   From Jerusalem, Solomon reigned over all Israel the cabalistic period of 
forty years. At the time of his transition his eyes beheld a vision of the 
future: the destruction of the earthly tabernacle because it was impermanent, 
transitory. Said another great Christian Initiate: "Things seen are temporal; 
things unseen, eternal." Solomon, King of peace, rasining aloft the sacred 
ring bearing the ineffable name, admonished: Build ye the Temple invisible and 
eternal."

[PAGE 20]

                            SONGS OF INITIATION: 
                 
                                 THE PSALMS: 

   Both the Psalms and the Proverbs of the Old Testament were used in a number 
of ways in the magnificent Temple ceremonials. However, they were neither read 
nor spoken, but were sung or chanted, and were usually accompanied by the 
graceful rhythms of the sacred dance. The aspirants were taught that sound, or 
intonation, was the emanation or blessing from God, the Father; that harmony 
was the emanation or blessing of the Cosmic Christ; and that rhythm and 
rhythmic motion were the emanation or blessing of the Holy Spirit. Thus it was 
that the threefold power of the Holy Trinity was expressed in all Temple 
ceremonials.

   The Psalms express various degrees of spiritual attainment. The Ninety-
first Psalm is a song of protection. By its use the disciple was taught how to 
flood his body with pure white light of such power that no harm could touch 
it, by repeating again and again the powerful affirmation of protective 
security: "A thousand shall fall at thy right side and ten thousand at thy 
right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee."

   The Twenty-third Psalm is one of promise. "Thou preparest a table before me 
in the presence of mine enemies." These enemies are not merely personal 
enemies who wish us ill; they are also the more dangerous enemies that exist 
within oneself--wrong thinking, false appetities, and uncontrolled emotions, 
especially the destructive emotions of fear, hatred, malice and the coarser 
desires of the unregenerated personality.

   "Thou anointest my head with oil" (the awakening of the spiritual organs in 
the head). "My cup runneth over." "Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me 
all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord (spiritual 
Law) forever."

   Psalm XXIV is a Song of Jubilation. "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and 
the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory?" The answer to the 
question is that the Lord is the King of Glory; but the aspirant understands 

[PAGE 21]

that this also refers to the "Christ Within," for every man is spiritually 
made in the image and likeness of God.

   In our writings we have referred many times to the glorious processionals 
which take place within the inner realms and which are led by the Christ 
Himself. Those who are worthy are permitted to witness these processionals and 
sometimes to take part in them. This, however, can never be until the Christ 
is awakened within the aspirant's own nature. And so it is that this psalm of 
jubilation carries two meanings: the joy that is known when the Christ Spirit 
has entered into the heart of the disciple, and the recognition that by this 
event he has become worthy to stand in the Presence of our supreme Lord Christ 
Himself, while he hears the jubilant chorusing of Angels: "Lift up your heads, 
O ye gates, and the King of Glory shall come in."

                          PROVERBS AND ECCLESIASTES:

   The Proverbs, as used in the anceint Temple, were powerful healing 
mantrams. The occult scientist understands that the human body is composed of 
certain groups known as feminine, or negative. The former are under the 
rulership of the brain and cerebro-spinal nervous system. The latter are under 
the rulership of the heart and the sympathetic nervous system. It is the 
inharmonious interaction of these two systems that causes most disease. As the 
disciple progresses spiritually these two systems are brought into ever closer 
harmony. Aperfect relationship between the two systems is known as the 
attainment of Balance, or Polarity in the spiritual sense, and with it the 
body becomes impervious to disease. This is the secret of the perfect bodies 
possessed by the Masters of Wisdom and high Initiates who have risen in 
spiritual stature above and beyond disease and death.

   Proverbs say truly, "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her 
seven pillars." And for the ready and eager disciple the injunction is 
given: "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine that I have mingled."

   It is because Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are especially the textbooks of 
illumination that Wisdom, personified as a feminine principle of God, while 
Understanding, as used in Proverbs, is the masculine. Wisdom is the inflow of 
cosmic revelation, but Understanding is achieved through reason and initiatory 

[PAGE 22]

work. Therefore Proverbs opens with the command: "Get wisdom and understand-
ing." This is really the keynote of the entire work. Solomon repeatedly 
declares that Wisdom is the principal object of the quest.

   It is significant that the esoteric Temple music was both masculine and 
feminine, and was played upon instruments attuned to their respective rhythms. 
For the Temple aspirant, the cantillation used in Proverbs was designed to 
play directly upon the two chief currents which flow within the etheric body. 
Thus the musical theme of both Proverbs and Ecclesiastes may be termed 
polarity and equilibrium.

   The perfect Balance between the two poles of the human spirit can never be 
effected, however, until the lower feminine has been lifted up through pure 
and aspirational living. This term, "lower feminine," refers to the emotional 
nature as still held in subjection by the sense life, and in bondage to 
selfish aims and purposes. In most ancient writings the human "soul" or 
"spirit" (ego) was called feminine, and thus the lower aspect of the soul 
nature was termed the "fallen feminine" which must be lifted up and redeemed.

   In the early Church the cantillations of Proverbs were used principally on 
Sundays between the Winter Solstice (Christmas) and the Spirng Equinox 
(Easter), this being the most favorable transmutation time of the year and the 
most holy of seasons.

   The rhythmic dualism of Proverbs which plays upon the dual currents of the 
soul body and two nerve systems is clearly discerning in many of its verses; 
for example:

Proverbs 14:1; 15:20; 19:26; 6:20, 21.

   "Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with 
      her hands. 
    A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother. 
    He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that 
      causeth shame, and bringeth reproach. 
    My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake no the law of thy 
      mother; 
    Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck."

               THE SONG OF SOLOMON--A MYSTIC MARRIAGE CHANT: 

   The word Sheba means seven, and Sheba's coming to Solomon constitutes the 
preparation for the soul delights of the Mystic Marriage, which is the 

[PAGE 23]

spiritual motif of the Song of Songs.

   For those whose eyes are open to the true meaning of the Quest, this 
ancient legend legend of Sheba and Solomon contains many hints as to its 
purpose and the preparation necessary to its successful conclusion. Solomon, 
the Wisdom-Seer, had found the Way and had learned to walk therein, preparing 
for the future embodiment of that One who was to come as a more complete and 
perfect demonstration of "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." This sublime 
"Song of Songs" attributed to Solomon sings in its inspired measures of the 
preparation and the Way. 

   In this song the alchemist-author has expressed in allegory the formula for 
making the Philosopher's Stone. The story itself is quite simple. It tells of 
King Solomon who, upon visiting his vineyard on Mt. Lebanon, comes by surprise 
upon a fair Shulamite maiden. She flees from him. Later he visits her 
disguised as a shepherd, and wins her love, after which he comes in state to 
claim her for his queen. The poem opens with a recital of their marriage in 
the royal palace.

   The Song of Solomon has two principal characters, one masculine, the other 
feminine. The first bears the name Shelomah (peaceable), the second Shulamith 
(perfect). It is significant that both names are variations of the same root 
word, the terminology varying to indicate the gender. Shulamith is the 
feminine form of Solomon. In the English translations the two characters 
cannot be differentiated as they are in the Hebrew.

   The two poles of spiritual being were recognized in all ancient Temple 
teachings, and they were symbolized in the two columns or pillars which stood 
before the Mystery Temples. At the entrance of Solomon's Temple stood the two 
pillars Jachin and Boaz, together symbolizing Strength and Stability, and also 
Beauty; they are also known as the two Columns of Victory. Always the 
candidate must pass between these two pillars in his search for Light, the 
Light which is in the East.

   Solomon's mystic Song is a poetic and allegorical delineation of the steps 
or degrees which which lead to the development of Cosmic Consciousness, partly 
evidenced in seership. These degrees, sometimes termed "veils" in the early 
Mystery Schools, are seven in number and are enumerated thus: 

   First Degree: The Quest 
   Second Degree: The Awakening of Love (the Mystic)

[PAGE 24]

   Third Degree: The Attainment of Knowledge (the Occult)
   Fourth Degree: Detachment
   Fifth Degree: Unification
   Sixth Degree: Annihilation
   Seventh Degree: Consummation

   The exultant note which is sounded in King Solomon's Song takes form in the 
lovely words repeated so often throughout: "My beloved is mine and I am His," 
while the phrase which completes the chant, "and he feedeth among the lilies," 
is descriptive of the Path which culminates in the divine Consummation.

   This ultimate cosmic blending of the two poles of Spirit which constitutes 
the Mystic Marriage is represented in the verses with which St. John opens his 
Gospel: "The Word was with God"; and its music accompanies every verse of 
Solomon's beautiful marriage song. Veiled, for him who is not ready to essay 
the Quest, under the likeness of a tenderly human love song, the Song of Songs 
is to the illumined a revelation from the very Holy of Holies, wherein he 
stands in the Light Eternal, now no longer seen "as through a glass, darkly," 
but with transcendant clearness, "Face to Face."

                             THE BOOK OF JOB:

   The Book of Job is unique in the Old Testament in that it is, more than any 
other book, adapted to the needs and requirements of the disciple in the 
modern world, just as it stands. The disciple can accept this book as a manual 
of instruction, a textbook for meditation, and as an example of holiness and 
spiritual strength for emulation day by day.

   There are two supreme laws which govern the earth planet. One is the Law of 
Spirit; the other the Law of Materiality. Every man possesses free will and 
the ability to choose which law he will live under, whether the causation of 
materiality or the freedom from all bondage in Spirit. The fruitage of his 
life will give evidence of his choice.

   In that illuminating mystic picture book of life, the Tarot system, these 
two paths are shown. A youth stands between two maids, each of whom is 
endeavoring to persuade him to follow her. One is crowned with the fruit of 
the vine, the other is crowned with stars. The latter sings: "Every man must 
make his choice, the way his soul shall go."
         
   In the Book of Job the two paths are represented by Elihu--the Way of 
Spirit, and by Job's Three Friends--the Way of Materiality. The three friends 
are familiar to all of us, for they represent the lure of the sense life as 
expressed through the physical body, the desires (or desire body), and the 
material or "mortal mind."

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