Chapter XII
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Our intention was not that this should be a long treatise, but rather to give the gist of our discoveries to the world, thus allowing the inexhaustible treasures of this System to be minded and used by any who desire to grasp the opportunity.
But this work would not be complete unless we had a few words to say upon the possibilities of using this Plan as a basis upon which to build a new and more glorious Temple than has been conceived in the past, by the mind of Man.
My first appeal is therefore made to all architects, and it is made in the Name of the Great Architect of the Universe, the Designs of Whose Trestle-Board, we cannot but feel, have been transmitted to us in such a marvelous manner.
The author feels that this represents the revelation of the “Formative Plane” of the Holy Qabalah, which contains the Influence of the “Archetypal” and “Creative” Worlds, and through which the Material Universe came into manifestation.
The discoveries in regard to the marvelous properties of the “Vesica Piscis” and the “Trinity in Unity” so much influenced the minds of Men in the Middle Ages, that a vast number of beautiful Gothic Cathedrals were planned and built with every detail lovingly worked out so as to symbolize the highest religious truths then open to the minds of men, in a material form. These Gothic structures are certainly admitted to be the most beautiful in design, but to some extent the secret of their proportions has been lost. The Spirit behind such buildings has been overlooked, and modern Architects have not had the same urge and impulse towards planning such perfect work. But even in Gothic Churches, the symbolism of the Ground Plans was comparatively narrow in conception, and pricipally based on the Christian ideas of the Cross, although of course the Cross has a wonderful Natural symbolism which is far older than what we term Christianity.
But never before, perhaps, in the History of Mankind, has it been so necessary that a Universal Temple be built; never before, perhaps, have the plans been available.
When we realize that the “Tree of Life” not only partakes of all the properties of the “Vesica Piscis” but in addition to symbolizing the Mysteries of the Trinity, is capable of forming a Symbolic Basis for every Idea in the Universe, Natural, Human, and Divine (as a slight study of the Qabalistic System will prove to any intelligent person); what a wonderful Ground Plan does it make for a Universal Temple, when we consider the possibilities of its indefinite Multiplication as a Sixfold Star, its Prismatic Proportions, etc. This should be sufficient to fire the minds of the World’s Greatest Architects with enthusiasm to work out Designs for the First Great Temple built directly upon the Nature Formative Plans of the Grand Architect of the Universe. In such a Temple all Nations and Peoples might well meet to give praise to the One Whose Absolute Wisdom and Supreme Intelligence has built this Universe, and made it possible for created Man to comprehend its hidden Designs and to become a conscious co-operator in the Divine Plan.
My next appeal is to those in temporal charge of the Spiritual welfare of Mankind; the Heads of the various Religions of the World, those who claim to hold the Divine Authority for the instruction of Humanity and have charge of the welfare of the souls. A Universal Teaching is needed, based upon simple and intelligible lines. A teaching that at once conforms with true Science and with the Universal experience of Humanity. Hitherto, the Great Teachers and founders of Religions have come to certain nations, or countries, and have taught a suitable doctrine for the particular climate and people to which their Mission led them. No public universal teaching has hitherto been possible on account of the lack of proper means of communication. Today we have the means of flashing the truth to every part of the globe in a few minutes. There is no longer any reason why a Universal Teaching should not be obtained and given to all humanity. Such an ideal condition cannot be brought about while there is contention and schism and conflicting basic ideas within the Churches themselves. I do not say that all humanity should be taught exactly alike, but I do say that there is but One Truth, and that One Truth is back of every exterior organization, however differently it may be interpreted.
Symbolically, at least, our present plan proves itself to be the basis of the Catholic Mysteries; it is undoubtedly the basis of the lost Jewish Tradition, which itself came from Egypt. It is the basis of Pythagorean Philosophy, of Geometry; it is the basis of the Rosicrucian Mysteries, as well as of Masonry, and will prove itself to be the Key to the Mysteries of the Secret Schools.
There is no reason why a Temple build on such perfect symbolism should not be equally sacred to Jewish, Catholic, Masonic, and other Religious and Philosophical divisions of Humanity, wherein each could behold the Mysteries of their Tradition and realize that they are of the same Divine Origin. Scientifically, since every drop of water naturally crystallizes in this way, and Crystals are build up on similar lines, even the Materialist must recognize the Work of the Creator, as symbolized in such a structure.
My next appeal is to those in whose charge is the Civil destiny of the Nations. How can any peace of a lasting nature be brought about unless some Universal Plan is adopted in which every Nation will be seen to have its definite function, and have a well defined destiny? An understanding of the fundamental working principles of the Universe, and of the Working Plans of the Great Architect, is essential to a clear vision of what is needed to overcome the present difficulties with which mankind is confronted on every side. Things must be looked at from the point of view of the Whole, rather than that of the Part, if a proper Order and Arrangement is to be brought about. Man has been given free-will, which includes the possibility of making mistakes. Man is responsible for the welfare of this Planet, and those in authority have the responsibility on their shoulders of making this Earth a Heaven or Hell for their brothers and sisters. Those in such positions cannot shirk this responsibility, and they cannot expect to be long in power if they wilfully neglect to train themselves to hold their office rightly and for the good of those in their charge.
Let them remember that the essence of Order consists in the perfect adjustment of all the parts in subservience to the Whole; and that, conversely, it is fatal folly to try to make the Whole conform to the design of some distorted part.
Civilization has been a failure, with all its apparent improvements and facilities, through failure to understand this general principle. It is absolutely essential that each part should discover its true function in relation to every other part, and to the Whole, and then fulfillits destiny without making any attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the other parts of the Great Machine.
Equilibrium is the basis of the work. Every apparent pair of opposites can be reconciled in a third idea from which they both spring, and which contains the essence of both.
My next appeal is to all Thinking people. Many of you are slaves to your own thought. You are limited by your own narrow conceptions, which must always be narrow compared to the Infinite. Most of you know a lot of things that are not so in reality. To you I make this appeal. Clean out your minds, learn to control thought. Arrange you ideas in proper balanced order, and make your viewpoint one of equilibrium. Base your mental structure on the “Tree of Life” and since every idea placed thereon is capable of infinite progress, your minds will expand to the comprehension of all that is within Time and Space, for the Spirit of God in Man is capable of extending the Substance of every Mind which does not exert all its efforts to narrow the limits of consciousness to conform to a few personal prejudices and petty ideas. Why accept less than is your due; restriction is the only sin.
Lastly, I greet the Crowned Children of the New Aeon, those who, having sworn to overcome all things, shall obtain the reward promised to everyone that overcometh. And I say unto you, as One did of old: “In my Father’s House are many Mansions, and if it were not so I would have told you.” But also I add: There is a place prepared for every one of you, Here and Now. There is a place for everything, when all things shall be put in place. Take up your places in the Kingdom of the Ever-Coming Son, fulfill yourselves, in the fulfillment of the Will of God within you, and show those who are still in darkness without, that there is room for all who are prepared to keep their place, and cease from trying to usurp that of others. For:
Love is the law, love under will, and through Love alone may ye come to the knowledge of the One Substance, capable of Infinite Multiplication and Projection, whereby ye become actual communicants in the Body of God.
In the Name of the One, by the Grace of God Triune, and by the Favor of the Ever-Coming Son, AUMN
This method was pointed out to me some years ago by Frater Nubem Eripiam, who claimed to have just discovered it. The method of construction as given in Liber 777, although producing a correctly proportioned Tree, does not show the generating circles, and is not nearly so simple in use.
The neatest formula indicating the exact proportions of the Vesica is as One is to the Square Root of Three. This also is very symbolic for it shows the Unity in its relation to a certain aspect of the Trinity, while since the numbers represented are 1 and 3, it is strongly suggestive of 13 = AChD = Unity.
The above is actually more accurate mathematically than 15:26, for the proportion 1 to the square root of 3 = 1.732, while 15:26 = 1.733. But there is always likely to be some slight difference between mathematical accuracy and a general Magical formula, as witness the word
ALHIM which suggests Pi as 3.1415 whereas 3.1416 is more correct. I hardly know of a magickal formula in fractions unless it be 6/50 = 0.12, for which see Liber Legis and Comment. “Architecture is frozen music” is the saying of Frederich Schlegel. And if this saying is anywhere significant surely it is so in relation to the polyphonic music and Gothic architecture.
In each there is the progressive playing of part against part, the building up of member against member, each structure completed only to point to a still incomplete superstructure, joining in the endless aspirational upward sweep of the whole. Arch rests upon arch, flying butress upon butress, pinnacle rises above pinnacle, -- everywhere there is a balance not quite attained, a symmetry not quite perfected, -- and by and by we realize that no Gothic church can ever be completed; its beauty is its eternal promise, its endless upward flight. Is not this the very image of a contrapuntal music, and of its supreme expression in the fugue?”—Hartley Burr Alexander, Nature and Human Nature.
Since writing the above, a new literal translation of the Sepher Yetzirah, by Mr. Knut Stenring, has appeared. I quote a part of his rendering of the above verse, since it includes a reference of great importance to the theory in hand: “Three—Water from Air: He wrote and formed therein twenty-two letters, from the formless and void—mire and clay; He designed them as a platband, He hewed them as a wall, He covered them as a building, He poured snow over them and it became earth, even as it is written: ‘He saith to the snow: Be thou the earth’ (Job xxxvii, 6).”
This reference to snow is quite startling in light of what follows in the present treatise.
Chaos or Matter is potentially a prism which refracts the great Light-Source, splitting up the Supernal Light into stars, or the Supreme Consciousness into Ideas. As matter or substance becomes organized and develops mind, its power as a prism grows. As we clarify our minds they become as living, organic prisms which act with increasing precision and detail. The more definite and authentic our ideas, the more accurate and mathematical, the more will they focus Light from the Supreme, till ‘sleeping stars’ slip on their livery of light. The more exact the form, the closer the correspondence between the Son (or Form, Prism, Expression, Becoming) and the Father (or Light, Life, Live, Understanding).—J.S. Forrester-Brown, “The Two Creation Stories.”
Here, of course, the “Mystic Rose” is referred to, but since writing the above an interesting passage from Dr. Oken’s work “Abriss der Naturphilosophye” Gottingen 1805, has been brought to my attention. He writes, page 65, “—on the whole all plants are only metamorphoses of the Syngenesis. Here is united, what in others is only blossoming disconnectedly. The importance of the number five, so unchangeably sacred to plants, will yet have to find its solution in the Mathesis; without any doubt it lies hidden under the Dodecahedron consisting of Pentagrams, as the crystallized sphere.” This startling confirmation of what followed upon my own researches. Achad.
See the preceding footnote.
Another confirmation comes from Dr. Karl von Eckharshausen, Aufschlusse zur Magie, Munich 1791, Vol. 4., Page 333. “As God contains All in the Spiritual, so does the Materia Prima, as typus, contain all in the Corporeal. The little parts of the Material are pyramidical, triangular, tetera, dodecahedra—always the image of the intellectual.” Another reference from The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II. Page 39, may be of interest here.
After mentioning the form of the Tree of Life, given in the Sacred Mysteries of the Mayas and Quiches, Madame Blavatsky continues: “This represents the same idea as the Sphirothal Tree, ten in all, yet when separated from the upper triad, leaving seven. These are the celestial fruit, the ten or one, ten born of two invisible male and female seeds, making up 12, or the Dodecahedron of the Universe.” This indicates that Madame Blavatsky has an idea that the Dodecahedron had some connection with the Qabalah, but evidently no comprehension of the solid prismatic sections, necessary for the building of this most perfect many-sided figure. She also remarks, Vol. II, Page 485, “The Dodecahedron lies concealed in the perfect cube,” say the Kabalists. I wish she had said which Kabalists; but the cube was always taken as the true symbol of Matter and this obscure reference seems to indicate that if one understood matter, he would discover its structure to be that of the Dodecahedron. Achad.
Our multiplied and progressed “Tree” may well be considered as the “Garden of Eden,” but perfected in man’s conception since all the “trees” are reflections of the One Tree of Life, the IDEA of which is concealed in the midst of the Garden.
These matters will be dealt with in “The Alpha and Omega of Initiation” to be published later.
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