The Washington herald., 1914-07-12


depository Of their sacred learning thu
mysteries Of the early churcn. Yet we
have st. Paul providing for the transmits
sion OF the unwritten teaching. himself
initiating st. Timothy and instructlng St
Timothy to initiate others In his turn,
who should again hand IL on to yet
others. As soon as we began TO study the
writings Of the early church. We are met
by the facts that there are allusions
which are only Ineligible by the exist
ence Of the mysteries. and then state
ments that the mysteries are existing.
The first witnesses are those called the
apostolic fathers, the disciples OF the
apostles.
st. Clement, of Alexandria, and Origen.
the two writers OF the second and third
centuries, tell US most about the mys-
teries in the early church. Though the
general atmosphere is fun Of mystic allu-
sions. these two are clear and categori-
cal in their statements that the mysteries
were a recognized institution.
The Stromata, or MisceIlanies. of St
Clement are a source of information
about the mysteries in his time. He
writes. The mysteries are delivered
mystically, that what is spoken may be
in the mouth Of the speaker: rather not
in his voice, but in his understanding
The writing of these memoranda
Of mine, l well know, is weak when COM
pared with that spirit, full of grace. which
was priviiedged to hear. But it will be
an image to recall the archetype to him
who was struck with the Thyrsus." The
Thyrsus, we may here interject, was the
wand borne by Initiates, and candidates
were touched with it during the ceremony
Of initiation. 1t had a mystic significance,
symbolizing the spinal cord and the
pineal gland in the lesser mysteries. and
a rod. known to Occultists, in the greater.
To say, therefore, ito him who was
struck with the Thyrsus." was exactly
the same as to say. Ito him who was
initiated in the mysteries"
Origen declares that the secret teach
ings of Jesus were preserved in the
church. and refers specifically to the
explanations that He gave to His dis
ciples of His parallels.
And he refers guardedly to the noun
tain" which Jesus ascended. from which
He came down again to help those who
were unable to follow Him whittier His
disciples went" The allusion is to the
Mountain of Initiation" a well-known
mystical phrase, as Moses also made the
after the pattern showed thee
in the Mount"
impure Of this knowledge, but said:
w
Element. but from what are regarded as
lesser transgressions. let him be boldly
in the mysteries of Jesus, which
are made known only TO the
holy and the pure" Such only might
learn the realities OF the unseen worlds.
and might enter into the sacred pre-
cincts where, as Of old. angels were the
teachers. and where knowledge was given
by sight and not only by words.
Reasons for Withdrawal.
Although the social and political
that accompanied its dying
began to torture the vast frame of the
Roman Empire. and even the Christians
were caught up in the whirlpool of sell
fish warning interests, still find scat
tered references 10 special knowledge
impaired to the leaders and teachers
OF the Church, knowledge of the heaven
ly hierarchies. instructions given by
angels. and so on. But the lack OF
suitable pupils caused the mysteries to
be withdrawn. as an institution public
ly known to exist, and teaching was
given more and more secretly to those
rarer and rarer souls, who by learn
ing. purity, and devotion showed them
selves capable of receiving 1t.
Two streams may nevertheless be
traced through Christendom, streams
which had as their source the vanished
One was the stream of mys-
tic learning, flowing from the Wis
dom, the Gnosis, impaired in the Mys-
teries: the other was the stream of mys-
tic contemplation. equally part of the
Gnosis. leading to ecstasy. to spiritual
vision. To deny the possibility of such
experiences would be to strike at the
very root Of that which has been
most surely believed" in all religions.
and is known to all Occutists-the inter-
between Spirits veiled /
in flesh and those clad in subtler ves-
lures. the touching of mind with mind
across the barriers OF matter, the un- |
folding of the Divinity in man, the |
sure knowledge of a life beyond the !
gates of death.
There was no time in which Chris !
tendon was left wholly devoid of mys- |
cries.
The sixteenth century saw the birth |
Of Jacob Bohme "a. D. l575-162D. the |
inspired cobbler.' an Initiate in obscu- !
alton truly sorely prosecuted by unen- |
ightened men. Then too came st. Teresa, |
he much-opposed and suffering Spanish |
mystic, and st. John of the Cross, a |
burning flame of intense devotion: and
ST. Francois de Sales.
In the seventeenth century across the
SChOOl or HIaIOnlStS IN Cambridge Vi /
whom Henry More may serve as a salient
Example; also Thomas Vaughan. and
Robert FIudd, the Rosicrucian.
We should not omit Christian Rosen-
yreutz whose mystic Society OF the Rosy
Cross. appearing in 1914. held true
and whose spirit was reborn
n the "Comte de S. Germain," the mys-
erious figure that appears and disap-
,ears through the gloom, lit by lurid
lashes, of the closing eighteenth CEN
ury.
Alphonse Louis Constant, better known
lnder his pseudonym, Eliphas Levi, has
'ut rather well the loss of the Mysteries,
md the need for their redistribution. A
,reat misfortune befen Christianity. The
betrayal of the Mysteries by the false
the Gnostics, that is, those
Who know, were the intimates Of primi-
i've Christianity-caused the Gnosis to
,e rejected, and alienated the church
rom the supreme truths OF the Kabbala,
which contain all the secrets Of tran
cendental theology"
Will the churches OF today again take
p the mystic teaching. the Lesser Mys-
cries. and so prepare their children for
he re-establishment Of the Greater Mys-
cries. again drawing down the Angels
IS teachers, and having as Hierophant
he Divine Master, Jesus? On the answer
o that question depends the future of
The time seems ripe, who
will be the messenger?
nTAr AnCT1HT HIrAn nrrr1