VI. SYMBOLISM

Books: Light of Egypt

At this point of our study it is necessary to make a halt; and,

before proceeding further, to attempt to formulate and realize

that, which, so far, we have been pursuing.



First, then, we have passed in review the Zodiac, and then the

constellations. From this we mentally surveyed both

Astro-Theology and Astro-Mythology; and now, it is our first duty

to realize these in their real significance, and this co sists in

a clear comprehension of the Grand Law of Correspondences.



What is this law? It is the law of symbolism, and symbolism,

rightly understood, is the one Divine language of Mother Nature,

a language wherein all can read, a language that defies the

united efforts of both time and space to obliterate it, for

symbolism will be the language of Nature as long as spirit

expresses itself to the Divine soul of man.



No matter where we turn nor where we look, there is spread out to

our view a vast panorama of symbolic forms for us to read. In

whatever form, angle, or color they present themselves, the true

student of Nature can interpret and understand their symbolic

language aright. It has been by the personification of Nature's

symbols, that man has become ignorant of their language. There is

no form, sound, nor color but what has its laws of expression;

and only a perfect knowledge of symbolism will enable man to know

the law, power, and meaning, lying behind such manifestations.

The law of expression is exact, and as unalterable as Deity

Himself. The physical senses cannot vibrate to these interior

forces, and through them, comprehend their law. The physical

senses vibrate to the spirit's expression, not to the powers,

forces, and laws, which brought them into objective existence.



Countless numbers of mystics, if such they deserve to be called,

among present-day students, speak and write very learnedly upon

the "Law of Correspondence," and few, if any, of them really

understand or know anything at all of that law. The intellect

alone cannot solve the problems of this law. It cannot grasp the

true, interior and spiritual meaning, except in just so far as

intellect is capable of externalizing them. The inmost spiritual

truths, that cannot be demonstrated to the outward senses, never

have, nor never will, appeal to any one who has not the interior

ability to comprehend them.



There was a time when men ruled by pure intellect, without its

accompanying other half, intuition: they were looked upon as

monstrosities. This state of purely intellectual development has

been brought about by the positive, masculine principle, reason,

absorbing its counterpart, the intuition, the feminine portion;

and the result, by correspondence, is as fatal as upon the

interior plane, where the positive, masculine soul denies the

existence of his mate; thus setting upon his throne, only a

portion of himself as his idol, and then, reasons himself into

the belief that he is complete. Love has been cast out, ignored

and forgotten until at last she departs, leaving a vacancy, that

eternity cannot fill.



This is somewhat similar to their illusive Devachan, an ideal, a

mere mystical sentiment to gush over, but a something they do not

in reality comprehend. Therefore, we shall do our utmost to

explain this universal law, and to point out wherein its first

principles are manifest. Once these are mastered, the Golden Rule

will explain all the rest: "As it is below, so it is above; as on

the earth, so in the sky."



Here, then, is our first lesson on the subject of REALITY, which

constitutes the Hermetic science of Correspondences.



First, realize that a line or an angle, for instance, is

something more than its mere mathematical outline. It corresponds

to some power, force, or principle within the great Anima-Mundi

of the mysteries, that are trying to find expression, in their

evolutionary journey, in forms. Let us illustrate our meaning. A

point or dot is what? Well, externally it is the alpha of all

mathematics. It is the first finite manifestation of the

spiritual force. Within that dot lies concealed, in embryo, all

the future possibilities of the manifesting principle.



This dot or point is a something to begin with, a form

externalized, from which all future forms may spring forth, and

they may be infinite, both in number and variety. First a

primary, simple idea, from which all ideas and thoughts,

intricate and complex, have their being.



A point extended is a straight line, scientifically expressed

(whereas in real truth there is no such thing as a straight

line); that is to say, it is a form increased or multiplied by

itself, and therefore, is an extension in space that can be

measured, and each extension means a new form, an additional

symbol. It has taken on new aspects, new relations, hence

contains the second principle of mathematics, so to say; but,

besides being points, THEY ARE SYMBOLS. They are principles in

Nature as clearly related to each other as the leaf and the stem

of plant life.



Each monad, or point in the universe, is the beginning of

something; equally so, it is also the termination of its own

forces in that particular action, and will remain inert until it

becomes acted upon by something else.



A point, then, is a primary, simple idea, a straight line. An

angle is the same idea, rendered greater and more complex, and

refers to the same forces upon a different plane, and the more we

multiply the angles the more complex and far-reaching becomes the

symbol and the more numerous and diverse become its planes of

action. Here we will introduce an example. A trine represents

three forces or angles, and, when united, form a trinity, hence

harmony. Its apex (when above) is celestial, therefore represents

the male forces of spirit.



A trine reversed also represents the same forces, with its apex

in matter, hence it is negative. In these two complex ideas,

clearly represented by these symbols, we have ALL matter and

spirit; and yet they are but extensions of our point in space,

rendered far-reaching and complex, by the position and the number

of angles presented.



Let us turn the key once again, and we find that, both spirit and

matter possess the same outline in their primal concept, except

reversed (polarized).



Let us unite these two trines, and we have a still more potent

form; a symbol almost infinitely complex. We have spirit and

matter united, or, rather, three rays of force, positive, meeting

three rays of force, negative, at a given point. Thus we have six

points, also six sides, the ultimate of which is a cube. All are

now equal. It is the first force of a crystallization (creation)

of matter.



Once again let us turn the key, and we have our two conceptions

in a metaphysical sense; the trine with its apex above is as the

trine with its apex below, both the same in form, yet vibrating

to very different planes, and a very different language is

required to read and interpret their meaning aright. The

spiritual, or the trine with its apex above, draws its influence

from the celestial, and as it condenses and takes on form in the

trine of matter, it transmits this same Divine force through its

apex, which points below, to matter. The double trine is found

upon every plane, obeying the Divine Law of Correspondences.



It is, in this sense, called "Solomon's Seal," because it is the

grand hieroglyphic of the Hermetic law: "As it is above, so it is

below; as on the Earth, so in the sky."



To continue this line of reasoning, or speculation, let us say,

would lead us beyond the firm basis of human reason; it would

escape the grasp of intellect, to which I am compelling this

course of instruction to bend, but it would never take us beyond

the real limits of the universe; yet, not to extend our

investigations, we would ever remain in the lower trine, in the

realms of effects, and lose sight entirely of the trine of

spirit, from whence originated the force and potency in the form

of matter.



Therefore it is, that the science of Symbolism has been evolved

and formulated. The symbols, the manifestations, are ever

present, and the study of effects will, to a developed soul,

suggest the cause, the nature of the principle back of it, as

well as the law which would produce such effects. Such is the

science of symbolism; and it bounds and binds back into a

religio-philosophical system, each class of symbols and each

plane of manifestation; as securely as modern savants have

defined the province of chemistry, magnetism, and mathematics;

and, so far, these bounds are useful. But it is only a question

of time and space, after all, because, when resolved back, or,

let us say, evolved up into their abstract principles; chemistry,

magnetism, and mathematics, are purely arbitrary terms to express

special features of the same one eternal thing or science--which

is EXISTENCE; and it, in turn, is CONSCIOUSNESS; not that

external consciousness of existence, not that knowledge and love

of living, but that interior, conscious knowledge, which tells us

why and how we exist, by what force and power we are sustained

and permitted to obey and carry out the law of mediumship,

reception and transmission, attraction and repulsion, spiritual

and material, that ultimately blend and become as one, the double

trine, and, united with the Divine Ego of its being, becomes

complete; seven, the perfected number of form.



The sum total, then, of all, and the value it may possess to the

individual, is measured by his ability to perceive; for there is

nothing external that is not in some sense mental, and there is

nothing mental that is not in some sense spiritual. The sides of

the triangle, physical, mental, and spiritual, and the apex where

meet the mental and spiritual, forms the center of contact to

higher trines in realms above.



Where mind is not, there are no symbols, no ideas, no

manifestations. The spirit has not yet reached that point in its

evolutionary journey where it can yet crystallize its projected

force, power, or ideas, into forms; for everything that is, is

the outcome of Divine thought, and expresses within itself the

symbol of its being. This is the arcana of the Law of

Correspondences.



Remember the above teaching, because upon its full comprehension

rests the ability to read symbols aright. It will aid the soul to

fully realize that, the vast universe is but the mental image of

the Creator; that there is no such thing as manifested existence

apart from mind; and consequently, the infinite worlds that float

securely in space, blushing and scintillating with light of life

and love of the Father, revealing to mortal minds some faint

conception of the awful resources and recesses within Nature's

star-making laboratory, are but the scintillating reflection of

life, the reactions of mental phenomena. So, too, with the mental

creative powers of the mind of man, for, not a vibration that

proceeds from his every thought but what creates its

correspondence in the creative realm of spirit. Hence, symbolism

continues giving to the soul of man, throughout eternity, food

for thought and contemplation.



All symbols, then, are objectified ideas, whether human or

Divine; and as such possess a real meaning; and this meaning is

altered, extended and rendered more complex with every additional

thing or influence by which we find it surrounded, or with which,

we find it correlated. For instance, $1.00 means one dollar; add

six ciphers to the left 0000001., and it is still the same $1.00,

and no more, because their position is previous, or before, the

1. But add the same number of ciphers to the right, $1,000000,

and lo! we find a wondrous change of force, power, and

consequence. We see all the mighty power of our million of money,

and the possibilities and responsibilities with which, in these

days, it becomes associated.



So it is with everything else in Nature. Man pays the penalty by

increased responsibility, for every step in knowledge that be

takes, as well as every dollar in gold be procures. Dollars, as

well as talents, have to be accounted for, and their usefulness

increased tenfold. The dollars must not be buried nor hoarded any

more than our talents, but each, unfolded and doubled, so that we

may be instrumental in helping our coworkers in their upward

path, in the Cycle of Necessity. Knowledge is the basic

foundation in reading Nature's language. Purity of thought, truth

in motive, and unselfish benevolence, will lift the veil that now

lies between the two trines, cause and effect, spirit and matter.



We have given the key and explained the alphabet of this wondrous

law; therefore we close. Each must, by the same rules, work out

the special links in the chain for him or herself. The angle from

which each take their view determines the reading and

interpretation of the symbols presented, whether that be from the

apex, the sides or the base, for every symbol has its trinity in

principles and form. Cause and effect are but the action and

reaction; the result is the symbol which reveals the

correspondence of both.