num_pages: 382
description: The remarkable essays in this volume were written for the expressed purpose of helping both the newcomer to spiritual thinking as well as the skilled practitioner to see the everyday objects – from the wind and ships to deserts and lakes – and subjects – from dogs and ravens to dolphins and whales – surrounding us as concrete embodiments and living symbols of the fundamental spiritual Essence from which everything has evolved. These universal symbols are not just accidental mental constructs but are living realities that not only point to spiritual dimensions far beyond themselves but profoundly embody those spiritual realities. Learning to see the world around us afresh in the light of its spiritual dimension re-orients us to taking up again the age-old task of treading the Path and aids us in activating our higher spiritual capacities which, when awakened, shed the pristine light of universal Theosophy on the path of spiritual self-regeneration in the service of humanity. The Theosophical philosophy is predicated on the ageless truth that Divine Wisdom exists, and that wise beings exist who dynamically embody it in world history; that sages and seers still grace the globe and continually oversee the spiritual, mental and physical evolution of man and nature. The secret Society of Sages that guides human progress has existed since — nay, even before — the emergence of self-conscious Humanity; they were "those Kings and Instructors of the Third Race in arts and sciences, compared with which our little modern science stands less chance than elementary arithmetic with geometry". As H.P. Blavatsky said of them, "Alone a handful of primitive men — in whom the spark of Divine Wisdom burnt bright, and only strengthened in its intensity as it got dimmer and dimmer with every age in those who turned it to bad purposes — remained the elect custodians of the Mysteries revealed to mankind by the divine Teachers." The primary mode of that teaching was the ancient language of the Mysteries, the universal language of symbols.The 28 wide-ranging articles in this volume span a wide spectrum of human thought: from the Tetraktys to the Cross, from the Altar to the Mirror, from the Pentagram to the Dodecahedron, from the Dog to the Dwarf, from the Heart to the Fool; indeed, from Shamballa to Paradise. These essays reveal the fundamental religious, philosophical, and scientific aspects to the most mundane and most refined realities of our common, everyday world. Both the serious reflection upon and casual reading of these essays is a joyous expedition through the all-too-common truncated perceptions we have of our world to a higher level of awareness of the myriad ways in which the life of the universal Spirit is made manifest.Professor Helen Valborg taught anthropology in California for 30 years at Ventura College and Feather River College, and has been especially engaged in long-term cultural studies in Greece and India. Professor Valborg's interest in cultural symbolism has recently been focused on petroglyph studies in The Great Basin. Her articles have been published in University of Nevada, Reno publications and HERMES.
language: English
title: Symbols of the Eternal Doctrine
publisher: Theosophy Trust Books