Return to Kabbala - The True Science of Light
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harmony. Within the present century, the Germans have given the subject, or constellation of subjects, much thoughtful investigation, but as yet have not shown a clear perception of the magnitude and grandeur of the Kabbalistic Theosophy. The Rosicrucians are the last and most advanced of these investigators, and the present writer gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to them, and to their careful and intelligent researches, for many of the Kabbalistic ideas of Light and Heat herein to be stated, as well as for a clearer insight into the religious and scientific system of the Kabbala.
The Kabbalists claim that the source from which their knowledge is derived is Divine; that God reveals it to the pure in heart alone, and that the fountain of the true Light of knowledge is itself known to those only who are illuminated by that Light within their souls. The philosophy of the Kabbala was expressed in symbols, some of which are in use among the Masonic and other secret fraternities of our day, though much of their olden force and beauty, which depended very largely, and in some cases entirely, upon their occult meanings, is lost by erroneous interpretations. The symbols of Masonry are Kabbalistic, and were known to Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Apollonius, Raymond Lulli, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Gaffaral, Cornelius Agrippa, Fludd, Behmen and others. Solomon's Temple, with its marvels of beauty and grandeur, its strikingly distinct and different parts, its still more striking diversities of material and style - all blending in one superb, gorgeous and absolutely harmonious whole - was the grand panoramic symbol, a complete
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epitome and miniature, of the universe as portrayed in the Kabbala. The history of its builder, Hiram, is a curious, strangely fascinating history, but it is foreign to our present subject, and we must pass it by with the single remark that he was a Kabbalist of the clearest type. He who exactly understands Solomon's Temple, in its details and in its entirety, is a true Mason and a true Kabbalist - therefore, an initiant of the highest order.
There is a key to Kabbalistic symbolism that will unlock the secrets of the Kabbala, open the sanctuaries of the East where the knowledge of its full significance is still hidden, and expose to the understanding eye the mysteries of occult philosophy. This key - we shall use in giving the Kabbalistic ideas of Light and Heat, and the information we are enabled to impart will be found to differ materially from what has hitherto been published. We must here state that we belong to no modern secret order, and violate no obligation in speaking so freely upon the subject as we shall.
As we have intimated, the Kabbala treats of two distinct subjects: Religion and Philosophy. Though distinct, the two are in perfect accord as found in the Kabbala, and show the sublime harmony that must ever characterize the relations of true Religion and true Science - both from the one Divine source and having the one central theme, they cannot be antagonistic or even really diverge.
Light is the foundation upon which rests the superstructure of the Kabbalistic Theosophy - Light the source and centre of the entire harmonious system.
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Light was the first-born of God - His first manifestation of Himself in the universe. No man can know God except as He manifests Himself in Light - not visible or sensible light, seen by man's carnal eye, but intellectual and spiritual Light, apparent only to the inner vision of those illuminated by that Light. This is the Light of which John spake when he said: "The Light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not," and elsewhere in the same chapter. Christ, too, spake of that Light, as distinguished from the visible, ordinary light, when He declared: "Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than Light," etc.; "If a man walk in the night, he stumbleth because there is no Light in him;" "While ye have Light, believe in the Light, that ye may be the children of Light;" He calls it "the Light of Life:" "I am the Light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life." Indeed, the Bible, in both the Jewish and Christian parts, abounds in the Kabbalistic distinction between the outward or objective, and the inward or subjective, Light. The outward light is a manifestation of Himself by the same Supreme Being, but inferior in degree and in its influences, though glorious notwithstanding.
The "Wisdom of Solomon" has been said to have been written in Alexandria in the time of Jerome, and is attributed to Philo; but he could not have been its author, as his known views were clearly opposed to much that is found therein. The "wisdom" it enunciates is claimed to be that taught to Moses in Egypt. It describes God as Illuminated Time; no origin can be
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assigned Him; He is engulphed in his own glory, "dwelling in the Light which no man can approach onto." Creation is stated to have consisted in emanations from Him, which dispelled darkness, the antagonizing element to Light, as Evil is to Good - the one fleeing as the other makes its presence felt. The "Wisdom of Solomon" is of much value to those who would learn the marvels of Kabbalistic Wisdom, but the great Kabbalistic works are "The Sohar, or the Book of Light," and "The Sepher Jetzera, or the Book of the Creation." The former was first printed in 1558 at Mantua, and repeatedly reprinted; its writer was Simeon ben Jochai. "The Sepher Jetzera," according to Dr. Zurns, was written in the eighth century, or possibly at the beginning of the ninth; but this is a mistake, as though its origin is really unknown, yet internal evidence would justify the claim that it was written very much earlier, if not as early as a century before the commencement of the Christian era. In the Talmud, there is distinct mention of this remarkable work, and Shabthai ben Abraham eminent commentator of the tenth century, gives it as his carefully formed opinion that it is the oldest book of human literature; admitting this to be an exaggeration, we deem its languageand style conclusive proof that it belongs to a period anterior to the first Mishnaists; it is not impossible that those writers are correct who regard it as a collection, made it may be in the eighth or ninth century, of fragments of very much earlier times. We have been so fortunate as to secure a good copy of each of the three editions of the Sepher Jetzera; 1. The Latin edition of Rittangel
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(Amsterdam, 1660); 2. The Latin and German edition of John Friedrich von Meyer (Leipsic, 1830); and 3. An edition bearing neither name nor date. The opinion prevalent among Kabbalists is that the Sepher Jetzera is a monologue of the patriarch Abraham, and they believe that the contemplations recorded herein induced the patriarch of patriarchs to abandon the worship of the heavenly bodies and become the servant of the true God; the Rabbi Jahuda ha Levi, who flourished and wrote in the eleventh century, says: "The Book of the Creation, which belongs to our Father Abraham, demonstrates the existence of the Deity and the Divine Unity, by things that are, on the one hand, manifold and multifarious, whilst, on the other hand, they converge and harmonize; and this harmony can only proceed from One who originates it." The design of this work is to declare a system whereby the universe may be viewed in connection with the truths found in the Bible, in such a way as to show, by tracing the gradual and orderly process of creation and the harmony which characterizes its details and its perfection, that one God produces all and is over all. The order and harmony of creation is deduced from the analogy subsisting hetween the visible things and the signs of thought. The Sepher Jetzera is regarded as the basis of, and key to, the teachings of the Sohar, though the arrangement and plan of the two works differ somewhat. In the Sohar, the Sephiroth, of which we shall speak fully directly, are unfolded with care and in detaiL "The Sohar, or the Book of Light," dwells with great emphasis upon the Kahbalistic doctrinal teachings on
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Light. The Kabbala declares that Light is the primordial essence of the Universe, and that all life and motion proceed from it - it is the vital dynamic force of Nature. It also declares that it is by the study of Light that we are enabled to acquire a knowledge of the unknowable or causal world. Light is Jacob's Ladder by which we ascend to Celestial knowledge, the upper rundle being in the fourth Sephira, represented by the Pentagram.
In considering the Kabbala and the Kabbalists, we must never lose sight of its intimate connection with the Bible; it is really an enlightened "Commentary" on the Sacred Scriptures - these have, running all through their inspired lines and words, a two-fold meaning: an outward meaning which may be perceived by any candid reader, and an inward or hidden meaning which "the carnal mind cannot receive, because it is foolishness to him;" being spiritual, it can only be "spiritually discerned"- it is the province of the Kabbala to shed the Light of Truth upon this second meaning.
Solomon ibn Gabirol, an Arabian philosopher, wrote, under the pseudonym of Avicebron, about the middle of the eleventh century, two works of value to those interested in occult philosophy; they were "Liber de Causis," or "The Book of Causes," and "Fons Vitae," or "The Source of Life." He speaks of the unity of Light as it arises from the throne of the Most High, which subjectively becomes divided into nine categories. This united Light he calls "the substance of the intellect," on account of its having been the receptacle of the Divine Will when God
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said "Let there be Light." In his "Liber de Causis," in speaking of God, Gabirol states that He is wise, and from His Wisdom He has seen fit to make His Will manifest in Light, and all existences and substances in creation are created and sustained by God through Light. His Will, His Divinity, His Unity, His Eternity, and His very existence, are profound mysteries, and we can know Him only through His manifestations of Himself in Light. Gabirol speaks of the absurdity of a finite mind's attempting to define God - could it be done, it would make Him a finite being.
Plate I. shows the ten Sephiroth of the Kabbala, which illustrate in symbol the Kabbalistic conception of the universe as it came from the incomprehensible Supreme Will of the Most High. "The Crown" is called the En Soph ("the Endless, the Ineffable"), because, in it and by it God manifested the power of His Will in creation; as Light is His creative agent, so this En Soph is the source from which Light flows, the Fons Lucis. The En Soph was not created by God, but emanated from Him to manifest Him. In "the Crown," Light is pure white, utterly undiscernible by the physical eye, and in it reside the life and dynamic power of the universe. The ten Sephiroth comprise this En Soph, the Unity, and nine categories, or spheres, making ten in the complete figure, whence the number ten is called a "perfect number" and symbolized thus (!), representing the unity and synthesis of creation. Pythagoras in his Tetractys gives, besides the Sephiroth, a representation of the creation composed of the four letters of the Ineffable
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Name of God, the four-letter Name as it has been called, arranged and numbered as shown in Plate II., which we shall describe later in this chapter; this Name Pythagoras correctly pronounces the key to the mysteries of the Kabbala. Pythagoras employed numbers in representing his ideas of creation, while the Egyptian Kabbalists used letters, words and numbers.
The Kabbalists represent the properties of Light as dual, calling the parts the two hands of Deity. Although it possesses duality, it rnaintains its unity and harmony until it becomes focalized in Astral Suns which we have illustrated by the sephiretic "Tree" in Plate I. We have said, the En Soph, or Crown, is the fountain or source of Light, Which manifests itself in the two Sephiroth, Binah and Chocmah, "Intelligence" and "Wisdom," with masculine and feminine, or active and passive, functions - functions strikingly manifested in the light of our Sun, which must be understandingly distinguished before we can determine its various and diverse action and influence upon the human organism. En Soph, Binah and Chocmah form the first triad of the Sephiroth, and lines connecting them bound the World of Briah, the Super-Celestial World, or the World of Spirit.
Light is then focalized, forming the fourth Sephira, which is the Celestial Sun, called Tipheroth, "Resplendence," "Magnificence," because of the resplendent, magnificent whiteness of its Light, while its immensity is recognized in the farther designation "Greatness." This is the Central Sun of the entire universe, visible only to the spiritual or subjective sight, never to the natural or objective vision. It is
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to the Astral Suns precisely \vhat they are to the re- Rpective planets 'vhich they control, illume and sus- tain, and \vhich revolve around then1; it controls, illumes and sustains the ..\stral Suns, and around it they revolve-\vithout it they could no n1ore nlain- tain their equilibriun1 in space than eould the plan- ets hold their positions \\'ithout their respective
Suns.
This great Celestial Luminary possesses the dual properties of Light and Fire, but in absolute equili- bration and perfect harmony. This perfect harn1ony en1braces the rays of the I.Jight, and chen1ics of the ~~ire; it is this hartnony in the blending of the rays that produces the resplendent, tuagnificent 'vhite of ""hich \Ve have spoken as the characteristic of the Celestial Sun, and \Vhich justly gains it the appellation 'l"ipherofh-the objective .Yision cannot conceive, as it eould not endure, the \Vhite splendor of this glorious orb of orbs. 'Vhen ~Io~es desired to see the glory of God, this Celestial Light, God kindly replied: "I 'vill n1ake all n1y goodness pass before thee. . . . Thou canst not see 1uy face: for there shall no n1an see n1e, and live." The near approach of the glory made the face of ~lose~ so ln~trou~ that, upon his re- turn to the people, they cuuld not endure the sight, and he \\·as eotnpelled to put a veil over his face "~hile he talked 'vith then1. ..A.nd \\·hen Saul and his eonl- panions "·ere riding, upon their journey fi·c.nn Jeru- Balem to Dalna8cus, Buddeuly there shone about then1 u beatn fro1u the Celestial Snu ; so intense \Va~ its Light
that they all fell to the ground, and Saul's eyes were temporarily hJinfloo ano pPrnlanent]y affPctPO by tha
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J~ight, \vhi('h Ju.) dfls(•rihf--s al-4: '~a I Ji!•.ht frotn hr•a\·Pu, above the hrightne."s of the Sun.''
\\r~ have uh"Pacly alJnrlPd to the faet that the onP attributt) \\·hieh pre-cnlinentl.'· distingui~hes the I~ahhali~ tie s\·:-;tPnt i~ its <·otnplett• and ahso1ute haJ"lllonv! J~ut n1ore rnay bt~ elainu~d: 'l'his harn1ony is not only the strongest evidence, but it i~ an all-suffic-ient and eonclusive proof of the Divine origin of the l{abbala; f(n .. in God's universe, in it~ e\·ery departn1ent, ~eparatp} y and eolleetivelv, har1uon\'" i~ the one l)o~iti\·e .. oJ el ht\\' \\·hieh is never di~obeyed \Vithout inunediate ancl int~vitablc evil consequenee:-; t•xactly proportioned to dlC extent and nature of that d isoht~dieuee. X o nH·rC'h· lntnlau ~ystctn of aetion or ethie..;, of living or belicvJug, ha~ eYer been or t'au e\·er be devised \Vhtrein this Diviuc hartnony i~ not eviJently \\·anting; the n1o~t skillfully and eunuingly planned and puteti~ed eountcrfeit hear:-; thi~ evidenee upon it~ taee of the ab~enee of the Di,·ine hand in it~ eun~tru~tion. It has been \\·ell said: "J{arnton\· is (.;,,d's unique la"··" So, \vhen "·e find in thP J_'-\,)Jihh· t po~itive unity, in their ue]atlO"' '"n eaeh othPr tHl to tltt~ .. "':n,····se a po~itive accord, and in tiH~ ~y~ten1 throughout, of \\·hieh the~e are the :-;ytnhnlic de~laration, a like onene~s ari~ing fi·on1 lll:tr\·elous harn1ony and :--ublitne concord, \Ve ea11 believe that (}od, the ( io(l of harn1ony ancl euneord, l1aH inspired the J{ahha la, and ean bel it~ve no less antl naught el1-1P 11ntil \\"P di!-i<'uvPr ~otne knu\\"n-to-heh un1an ~y:;tenl *~qua 11 y perfect i u t hi~ partieu Jar.
But let. us pauoc very briefly to note the operations of God's la\\~ of harn1onv around Uti: In the move- "' lllPnt~ of the hPaven lv borlies, as WP arP. l\'ont to call o/
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the planets and their suns and moons and satellites, none question or can question the in1portance of this Ja,v. With the slightest defect in this respect, not only \\"Onld their respective order and tnovements be disarranged and confusion ensue, but the very existence of sotne of the \\~eaker ones 'vould be dest.royed by contact 'vith their stronger neighbors, \vhile the stronger ones "ould necessarily suffer imn1easurably. In fact, set aside the ht\V of I mony in the planetary system, and haos \vould soon F vail. ,.fhe same la'v is vital, too, in each indi vid 1 mem her of the universe; take our Sun for an ill t ation: place discord instead of harrnony in its strnct e, and beauty \vould give plaee to distressing ugl ess, utility to horrible destructi vc ess ; its orderly n1ovements 'vould become \vandering th gh p t tl e peril of our earth iU5elf. An 1 so \vith any one of the Suns or their planets, th I sP f harmony \vould inevitably destroy its beauty d f1 lness in the universe ..
As God one, so is this law uniform in all His works-in hat we are \Vont to call the la,vs of Nature, H '' II seen in tl 1 rescnce and influence of this same la\v of harn1ony: every positive has a negative, every active a passive; every destroying elenlent is opposed or corrected by a restoring principle -just in proportion as the opposing principles or forces are in exact equipoise do \Ve see Nature move in beauteous and regular order; for example, let the forces of attraction becon1e 'veak or iinpaired, will not the repellent forces work de8truction? and the converse is no less sure; let the centrifugal force in any instance fall below the centripetal, or the latter yield
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to the former, and the consequence will soon be ap• parent; let the polarizing ray in light loRe its influence, and decay and death come speedily to tell the story of the absence of hartnony to the most ignorant and the most unobservant. It is this harmony that gives us all of beauty and beneficence we see in Nature; harmony an1idst its constituents gives us beauty in Light, sweetness in sound, and all else that \Ve enjoy in life is equally dependent on this la\v of God.
In the Moral World, the same God exacts obedience to the same Ia,v of harmony as the price of order and propriety, and disregard of its stringent requirements, even in \vhat 've are prone to call "trivial matters," is as sure I y and as swift] y followed by a proportionate penalty as in the Planetary and Natural Worlds. Even in the Inatter of Divinely-ordered penalties, do 've not see this Ia '" ever exen1plified?
And of the 'V orld of Eternal Peace and Blessedness, we cannot doubt the assurance that " order is Heaven's first la\v." ,.fhe la\V of harn1ony findA there its most complete fruition, because there it is never disregarded, and that fruition is joy and happiness unspeakable, glory ineffable, and perfect life forever and forever-\\9 ell may we believe that there is no sorrow or sighing, no pain ur sickness, no decay or death, in that happy land where God's unique la\v of harmony is perfectly and absolutely and always obeyed.
The Rouach Eloltim which brooded over or " moved upon the face of the waters" 'vas held by the Alchemists to have been Light fron1 the Cele:;tial Sun shi-
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ning thereon. John, in hi£ narrative of the life and ministry of Christ, tells us : There is at Jerusalem by the sheep-rnarket, a pool \Vhich is called in the .Hebre\V tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, \Vithered, \Vaiting tor the ntoving of the \Vater. Ji,or an ungel \rent do\vn at a certain season into the pool, anrl troubled the \ruter: \vhosoever th£ln first after the troubling of the \VatPr stepped in \vas tnade \\'hole of \\"hatsoever disease he had." :No,v, as Christ did not deny or question the popular notion us to t.he curative property imparted to the \Vater of this pool, but tacitlv ackno\vledged its correctness, and as the \Vord rendered "angel" stgnifies liter·ully (( rnpssenger," and the "messenger" \vas cer-tainly invisible to the objective sight of those vi~iting the pool, 1nav \Ve not believe that this " tnessenger" \Vas a healing ru v frorn :J.Vpheroth of the Kabbala'! commentators have offered various explanations of this " miracle of Bethesda, bnt they ~peak \Vith a dPgree of uneertainty \vhich indicate~ that they are not quite satisfied \\'ith _ their O\Vn explanations; nutnv of thetn are dispo~ed to get rid of thP difficulty by rf\jceting the story as "au interpolation ; \Ye see no necessity for rejeeting the pa~sage, and caunot :-5ec that to believe that the sanati\Te principle \VHH in1parted by a ray "sent fron1 the Celestial Suu of the uui verse, doeH auy violcnee to the most orthodox faith, as God's benevol~nt and o1nnipotent ,.Viii is us truly recognized 111 such a belief a~ in auy "miraculous" theory \re have ever seen or heard ndvauced. The satne John, in his book of Revelatiuu~, t~t.au. ". 1S thut th~r~ \\'ere HeYen Hugel~ to \vhoru
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and unannounced, but \vhen he wished to retire found an obstacle:
MepiL.- . ..... ~light I be pernlitted this tirue to depart? F'aust.-1 see not why yon ask ...... Ilere is the window, here the door; there is also a chilnney for yon. ltleph.-To confess the truth, a. small obstacle prevents 1ne froru walking out-the wizard-foot upon your threshold. Faust.-The Pentagr~un erubarnsses you? Tell n1e then, thou child of hell, if that repels thee, how earnest thou in? How was such a spirit entrapped'! .lJfeph.-1\Iark it well; it is not well drawn; one angle, the outward one, is, as thou seest, a little open.
The Apocalypse is full of passages \vhich can be read \vith ease by the help of the Kabbala.; indeed there are pa:;sages \vhich indicate that John \Vas a" Kabbalist of a high ortler. ..A.tnong thc~e \Ve must cite one; he tells us of a tnost ren1arkable vision : '' .. A.. nd there appeared a great \vonder in heaven, a \VOman clothed \Vith the sun, and the n1oon under her feet, and upon her head a. cro,vn of t\vel ve stars," et.c. The Rosicrucians call the Light of the Celestial Sun the Divine Sophia, "\Visdon1," because of its purity and its passivity in tuatter. The Egyptian Kabbalists called this light Isis, and represented Isis as a pure \Votuan; as the Light of the Celestial Sun is invisible to rnere mortals, seen only by the subjective sight of the illuminated, they clothed Isis 'vith an objective Sun; as the Celestial Sun is "greatness " and n1ajest.y, they placed under the feet of Isis the Crescent, beneath 'vhich, but outside the sacred circle, "'llS a vanquished ~,iery Serpent ; then, as a token of the supremacy of Tipherolh in the universe, they surrounded the head of Isis with a halo of t\vel ve Stars. ~ee t.he FrontisANCIEN'.
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piece. Doubtless, our reader readily t;ees Sophia of the Rosicrucians and Isis of the Egyptian Kabbalists in John's vision of the \vondrous \vomau, and if he read John's narrative of that vision a little farther he 'viii find the vanquished Serpenf beneath Isis's feet in the Apocalyptic "great red dragon." 1"he figure of Isis clothed \Vith the Sun is one of the 1nost interesting of the symbolic pictures of the Kabbala; 'vhen a person by se}f:.denial, n1editation and devotion has attained to the high privilege of subjective vision, he sees Isis or the Light of the subjective Sun-this is " lifting the Veil of Isis."
The Celestial Sun, \Ve have seen, is the tou.rth Sepltira; the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, called respectively Chesed, "Strength," Geburalt, "Beauty," Ne:tsah, " ]firmness," and Hod, "Splendor," represent four of the component colors of Light: Red, Yell ow, Green and Blue; the Kabbalists fully understood the colors, their influence in Light and in Nature, their distinctive properties and their action together and separately; this is indicated in a singularly forcible 1nanner in placing the Red and Yellow in the masculine or active colun1n and the Green and Blue in the fetninine or passive column-recognizing the active, polarizing quality of the heat colors and the passive, decomposing quality of the chemical colors. The nonrecognition of the Orange, Indigo and Violet does not indicate that the Kabbalists knew not of them, for we kno'v from other sources that they \Vere thoroughly a'vare of the seven colors of the chromatic scale, and of the proportion, position and character of each color; but Orange i:s ouly a eornbinatiou of the Red and
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Yellow and Indigo and \ 7 iolet. are close akin to Blue. The ('elestial Sun having thus given forth the colors, they come together again, or are focalized, in Astral. Suns, \Vhich appear as the ninth ceplti1·a, designated Jfsod, "Foundation," bet:anse thev ure the centres of their system~, the life-producPrs, -propagators and -sustainers f(Jr the "orl<ls that depend upon them. Tiplterotlt, (1lesed and Gfbu raiL forrn the second 'friad, and Jesod, 1\,.ct,~ah and Ilod the third; these t\YO Triads eoru bined c-onstitute the Hexad_, \\' hich iB the Soul of the \\·orld, nncl of it are derived the soul~ of all ind ividualized existences. rrhe second 1'riad depending upon the (,elestial Sun is subjective, thP third 8UStained bv the .. A.stral Sun~ is objective; thr lfexad cornpost)d of the t\VO eontains both the Rubjective an(l objeeti\·e principle~, and :'ou]s consequently are likc\\ ·ise dual in their character, properties and inlpulsesthe ot~eetive part receives tuaterial impressions, and through it \YC obtain our kno\vledge of the material universe, the "·orld of effeet~ not causes, "·hile the f-\U bjeeti ve part receives spiritual impress ions, called intuitive perceptions, and it urges us to earne:·-t ~erking after illurnination and Divine 1"1sdom. Our retulPr \\·ill recollect that the l{osicrueians eall the r~ight of the Celestial Sun 
ophia, "the Tisdum of God," and the su hjeeti ve part of n1an's soul partakes of this esspn(·p of Deity, \\~hile the objective part partakes in like tnanner of the antagoni~tic evil principle, and this evil part is in the ordinary n1an rno8t active. Each part. of the tiOUl hus its O\YD facnltie~ to be cultivated and nourished, or neglected. The unfolding of the oblectiYe faeultie~ n1ake:; a tuau '· caruul-1uinded," Hensual,
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and he comes to be satisfied \vith the follies and vices of this \vorld, oblivious to the true intere"ll~ of hh~ soul; in proportion ns th~se £'lculties develope and strengthen, man becon1es blind and dead, spiritually, and 'vhen onc-e under the don1ination of the object.i ve part of his soul h~ is in such a state of spiritual death that he n1.ust be " born again " und becon1e a " ne\v creature," ere he can even "Ree the kingdom of God." Could a man cultivate and develope both his subjective and objeetive faculties equally he \Vould be an inhabitant of both \vorlds at one tin1e; but this is scarcely possible, for the unfolding of the subjective faculties opens to the soul visions of 8uch glory and bliss in the Celestial ' orld that the 1"'errestrial r orld ceases to interest him.
We have \vi thin a fe\v months \\·itnessed a tnost note\vorthy case of this triun1ph of the subjective over the objective faculties \Vithin the soul: .t\ lady of superior intellect and culture, of exceptionally kind and affect1onate disposition, genial and ever cordial in her bearing to all, dearly loving and devotedly belo\·ed by her husband and children, esteemed bv all 'vho carne \vithin the influence of • her goodness-a]! her associations \vere such as to strengthen earthly ties, yet fully t\vo \Veeks before het· death these tics \vere con1pletely sundered and all interest in this \vorld evidcnt1y ceased, except only that her love for her f~t.ithful husband was undimrned-she 'vas permitted subjectively to behold her (;elestial Hotne and to realize the happiness and glory there laid up for her, and immediately her earthly home, \Vith u,ll its huppy und enticing a8sociatious7 lost 1ts
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hold upon l1cr-the sole retnaining tie \vas not sut: ficiently strong to lessen her intense longing for her Home in Heaven; \Vith the vie\v of that Home, she \vas en lightened us to the tirne of her departure, and ~he foretold the exact hour. She \Vas a Kabbalist, 'vith her subjective faeultics in healthful exercise for vears before her sickne:;~, aud her experience \Vas \vhat js called illum-ination. So in every case, if the subjective faculties of our soul be unfo!ded, \Ve shall have our "conversation in IIcaven," "lay up our treasures" there, and 'vhile still " in the 'vorld," \VC 8hall not be "of it." 'Vith our prize ever in vie,v, \ve shall never "\Veary in \veil-doing," but "press on,'' calmly and uncon1plainingly "bearing the cross" assured that \Ve shall " \vear the cro\vn "-" the sufferings of this present time are not \vorthy to Lc con1pared \vith the glory \vhich shall be revealed in us." The "children of I.~ight" are not exempt fi~fHU the trials and sufferings of the earthly pilgrimage, but they do not "\Valk in the darkness" of despair or uncertainty. May the ., God of Light" ill un1ine our dark n1ind~ 'vith hean1s fron1 His Celestial Glory, and fit us to enjoy a foretaste of Heavenly blessedness even in this world of darkness, and thus the more truly to enjoy the ineffau] e perfections of our Eternal Home.
The Kabbalists maintain that the \Vant of harn1ony \vithin the soul, caused by the activity of the evil faculties and the passivity of the good faculties, i!S sin or its direct cause, and results in placing him in bondage in darkness and error. The mission of Christ, they clain1, was to fleliver man from this bondage and make hirn '' fi·ee indeed," by restoring the e(luilibrium or hal'..,
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ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand; I have fought a good fight, I have finished n1y eourse, I have krpt th~~ faith." But a greater than Paul or ,J an1es, their ~lastPr uiid ours, even Christ, eounsels us : '" ,\t~ ateh and p r·ay, that ye euter not into tetuptation: the ~pirit indeed is \villing, but the flesh is 'veak. 1'he jleHh cannot si~rnify the body, becausP that cannot. take part in h·~Hling· ns into, or keeping n~ out of teu1ptation; the objeeti\·t.· part. of the soul, "the carnal n1ind," \rhieh is "enruity against God," and "\vho:--e Uod i~..; the hfllly," is appropriately .denonlinuted "the fie~h "-"the flesh lustetl1 against the r-pirit, and the spirit against the tlesh, and these ar·e contrary the one to the othrr. 'V r need not Peter's testirnony to the fact that "fll•shly lnst~ \var against the soul." 'fhe story of the '• ,,·ar in heaven," \Vhen ":\Ii<·hael and his angels fought against the dr·agon, and the dragon f(>nght and his angels;'' is a beautiful alh_lgorieal picture of the nnePasing \Yarfure in the world, and in each Hottl of man, bctw·een Jjght and darknPs~, rfruth and Pl'l'Ul'.
As \Ye have learned, pure \Vhite I.Jight is the characteri~ tic of E'n -~soph anrl its Triad, of the SuperCe1estial \Vorld, and of '11iphetofh and its portion of the llexad-this I..Jight, too pure and dazzling for n1ortal viHion, \Ye kno\Y is seen alone by the subjeeti ve VISion. Coining do\vn to the objective portion of the lfexad, \Ve find that Light lo~es i~ pure intense lustre and hecon1es visible to the hutnan organ of sight and thi~ is because the }~ire principle bet~ornes ascendent. rrhus in the subjective portion of the soul Light ruleH, aud in the objccti ve portion .b~ire is doxniuant-if the
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one prevails, "the fruits of the Spirit" testify to its benign influence, but if the other prevails, "the \Vorks of thf! flesh " bear \Vitness to its evil po\ver. '"fhe Kahbalists aptly cull the soul \\·herein the Celestial F~ophia reigns, a IJight Soul, \vhi1e they us aptly style the soul wherein thP subjective is ~ubdntld bv the objective a dark Soul. The forruer, the "C'hild of Light, the Illuruinatus, eaunot "hide his I.Jight unuer a bushel," It \rill shine forth in his \vorks and rnake him a "Light of the 'Vo1·ld ., So long us the Fire principlP predo1ninates, the l{abbalists tell us, the soul cannot soar n bove the earth's atrnosphere, in 'vhieh the Divine Light is ne\'·er n1anifested, but it ren1ains in bondage in darknes.-:; hovering aronnd this \Vorld of darkness-but of this \\·e ~hall speak hereafter. }!ean\vhile, \Ve note that Fire appears as nn evil principle, aceordiug to the J(abbala, but the reader n1ust not. irnngine that it is neee~sarilv, in itself, evil-it becon1es an e\·il \vhen the I a \V of harrnonv no rl longer restrains its po,ver, \vhen it beeon1es 1nast(\r instPad of servant. In Ti]Jheroth and in the C~elestial ; orld, there is }"ire a~ \\·ell as Light, but per teet. har1uouy keeps it in its place, so to spPak, and it perfornts itR assigned \Vork in obedience to the ht\\r of harmuu y.
What ''"e have said of the duality of the soul, suggests a fe\V \Vords concerning the Kabbalistic doctrine of probation : the Kabbala teache~ that the n1unrlane life is one of probation for the developrnent of the spirit and purification of the Soul, us the fc.etnl and embryotic life is a probation for the developn1ent of .the phyHicnl forn1. .J u~t UH during the t.~rubryotic
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life, the development of the body may be retarded or stopped by an evil influence or po\ver, so in the mundane life, evil \Vithin or \Vithout often hinders or. stops the development of body, soul or spirit,-there is this irnpgrtant diflerence in the t\\ro probations to be kept in n1ind: the footus can do nothing to\vards promoting or checking the developn1ent of its parts, but this n1ust be subject entirely to good or evil influences outside of itself and beyond its control; the being, once born into the n1undane existence, on the other hand, has it in his power materially to promote, or fatally to prevent, his progress towards the higher life; n1an is endo,ved 'vith a. 'vill, and contains within his sou I the germs of good and evil, the principles of Light and Fire, of good and evil, and it rests \vith him, in no sn1all degree, to determine whether the good or the evil shall unfold and fill hin1 \vith Light or darkness, \vith Life or death. Christ, "the Sun of Righteousness, \vith healing in His \vings" beams, has come to "bring Life and ltnmortalit.y to light," and if man \vill but let His beams shine in his soul, the germs of good \vill unfold, the principle of good \Vill be victorious, and he will be fi lied 'vith "the Light of Life.''
Lines connecting the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth Sephi1·oth, the 1-Iexad, bound Jezirah, the Celestial or Soul 'Vorld. It is composed of the four Celestial elements, the universal Hyle (the Ether of modern science), the first Matter, the Abyss and the "Water above the ~"'irruan1ent" (the "fiery water" of the Alchemists); these elements are represented by the fifth, sixt.h, seventh and eighth Sephiroth, and correspond to the four elements of the material \vorld,
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air, earth, fire and water. The &uach Elohim broods over "the waters above the firmament," and the angels, laving themselves in their pure depths and quaffing Celestial nectar from their sweet fountains, preserve their pel'fect health and ever refresh and renew their strength, vigor and vitality.
The ninth Sephira, Jesod, " Foundation," so named because it is the lifi->-source and sustainer of the life of and upon the Terrestrial Worlds, represent ~he Astral Suns, or the Suns of the material worlds. 'fhesc are emanations from the Celestial Sun, and receive their Light and all their powers from that Central Orb; the Light of the Central Sun being too pure for mortal eyes, it is modified in the Astral Suns by permitting the Fire principle to prevail sufficiently to adapt it to human sight-the law of harmony is thus made less stringent in the Astral Snns not only to make them objectively visible, but to render their elements capable of separation and decomposition, and thus suit them, as we shall see, to the necessities of the material worMs. This relaxing of the law of harmony enables us to use the two elemento;;, I..~ight and Fire, in a measure separately, and farther enables us to analyze or separate the constituents of Light and Fire and apply them to multifarious and important uses; later we shall uotiee some of the immense advantages that the world derives and may derive from the relaxing of the law of harmony and the consequent privilege we enjoy of utilizing the constituent elementary powers of Light and Heat. Meanwhile, it is for us to notice that, though God thus relaxes .His ,la.w of harmony, it il:! only for the good of His
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creaturer.; He dut:' ... ; tiu, uud IJe \Viselv ruaiutaius the la\\T sufficientlv iu fur('e to hold the ~uns in their places and keep theru to the \vor·k lie r~uires of theu1 iu II is uuivt_-rsul t·eollulllV; thoup~h lie permits thern to :"f·nd t(•t th de~ttn<'tivP t·len1ents, lfe ronlpel~ tlaf'rn to st>nd like\vi~P t•lt)rut~nts \\·hieh, intelligent] y u p:pl it:d, eouuterbu I nut·(~ and antidotr their po\\·t'r fur cv i I, or eon1 pc·n~atP and rernedy c\· i I \rrought. ~nch i~ the ttlat~hing of tht· l~abbala, and that it is borne out by ~<·if'ntifie tt·~t~ and pruetienl expertcnee \viii be ~ho\vn Iuter in thi.., \\'urk.
The .. Astral Suns are truly, tft•,ug·h iu It·:-,~ or inferior degrt:'r·, rnanife~tations of the l)iviue \Viii, and \\'C should not overlook tlte ()vidl·nee of 1-I is Good ness in that God adapts llis tnanit(l~tations of Hirnself to the neePssities nud eapac:itiP-' of tho-3P tu \vhom they are vonehsat{ld. .1\~ '~no n1an l'all see lliru and live," lie \\'ill not ~ItO\\" e\Ten ~Io~tl~ all l-1 is glory, though I-Ic nlaniit'~ts hin1self in a ~pe<·ial tnannPr to hitn, and iu an entire I v din ('l'('llt :uu l ! .. l PSS 'g I orinu s In an net" to the Israe]itt~s as a peoplP. ~o JlO\\. to tho~e \vho can ocho1d it und liv(~ l-Ie tuaniiP~t~ hinl!-l('lf in the C1 ele~tial Mun, and tu tho:"t~ spiritually blirHl and incapable of rPeei ving ot· Pnjoying- ~o glcn·ions a man ife~tation, lie appear:-; in the ~~~s glorious :\siral ~un:-;. lie has often eho~Pn the ele1nent of l~"'it·e as llis tnediurn; tor t~xurnpll·, ut llis fir~t appearing to ~~o~es in the Burning Jlnsh, und upon ~Iount Sinai to tht.~ ehildren of ll'-n·ael, \vhen "th<· sight of the glory of Jehovah \Va~ like <hlvuuring fire on the top of thP n1ount in t.he eves of the children of r~rael;" iu nunlberless in~ hHl<.'~!:l, ". hl~U H i:i prl·~cuee \\·a~ ~pl·ciall y rt!ttuired, llli.
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t•nule in fire to consume sucritices upon altars, as \Vheu the prophet 'vished to attest His true n1ajesty and prove the Baal counterfeit. It \va..q, no doubt, in con- 8e<JUenct! of God's frequent manifestation of IIin1self in and hy Fire that the Persians and other people ]earned to revurd Fire a~ the special syn1bol of God's presence, and \\·orshipped Fire, ur, as ~otne uffirrn, \rorshipped Ciod in Fir~.
Zoroaster rrgardPd the u~tral Suns as t·nl blerus of the Sun of 'I'ruth, or the 'frne Sun, the great Central Orb of the nuiverse-a Rhado\V of the first f-'uurce of all Bplendor. For this reaRon, the ",,~ise ~fen" of the olden tin1e saluted the rising of the Sun in the East and the da,,·ning in the re~t, and for doing this thcv have been accused b.v, barbarians as Sun-\vorshipper~.''
the \\'orld of darkness, becau~r the J)i vine or (\·lt·st ial Light is not viHible ·therein. ~ei(lnce traehes ns that ''-rhite is the har1nonious blending of all the colors of I.~ight, nnd that Blaek is the ubsPnee of all the colors, aud 'rhere all thP eolorH are absent, l~ight is certainly absrnt. Utter darkness is positive J3laekness; heneP, darkness is the absence of I..Jight. 'fhtt Kabbala tells us that \Vhen ntull disobeyed His ( 1 rt•at~n~ ol in atten1pting to steal forbidden kno\vledgc, (jod puui~ hed hint justly hy \Yithdra\ving fron1 hiru the CelPstia] Light in 'vhieh he had hitherto basked, and enforeed the pron1ised pPnalty of disobedience by depriving hin1 of the Light of Lif(~, and thus of real IJife it~e1f-for spiritual Life is the real I..~•fe anrl it i~ dept•lu.ieut nh::."(Jlutely upun (.,'cl~stial Light. 1\Iau,
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having now fallen from the condition of harmony \vith God, and thus lost the capacity to enjoy close communion with Him, he 'vas "cast out of the garden" of Divine association and fello\vship; the "flaming S\vord" which inhibited his approach to the "Tree of Life" was the prevalence in and about hin1 of the Fire principle, \vbich excluded him from farther partaking of the Divine Sophia, that teaches the law of harmony and thus in1parts the ability to "live forever." l\{an, having lost spiritual sight and life, could not beq neath these to his posterity, and all his race are consequently " born blind." But the All-Wise did not 'viii that man should be perpetually blind and dead spiritually, and while His Justice \Vas punishing, His Mercy announced a plan of again bringing "Life and Immor- · tality to light" by a ne\v manifestation of Himself. He declared that though Satan, the evil principle, should still have the po,ver to bruise the woman's seed as to the heel (checking his aspirations after a better life), the \VOinan's seed should have the greater po,ver of bruising hin1 (Satan) as to the hearl (fatally' in destroying his will-power or the po,ver of freely exercising his will). This announcement has generally been understood to refer to the coming of Christ, "the Word made. flesh," 'vho 'vas to be put to death physically, by the influence of Satan, but was to inflict far greater injury upon Satan by restoring the Celestial Light to the 'vorld of darkness; but \Yhile Christ was pre-eminently the promised Seed, the pron1ise of God has had innumerable lesser fulfilments; in all ages there have been striking exceptions to the general rule of darkness; there have been individuals, and
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in hermeti~ally ~al~d glaHs, and it iH sin1plv ndaruic earth. 'r e have sne(·e~sfully confirrned tlH~ experiJnen t by repetition. \\ .. e n1n:-;t 110\V fu)fil our protuise to d~scribe the 'fet1·actys" of 11ythagora8: l)ythagoras <'orrectly regardf~d the Ineilable ~arne of God, the 'retragrarninaton, or Four-letter NanlP, as it has been eallcd, as the key to the n1y~teries of the universe and of its creation and preser\?ation, the 1nysterie~ of God 'vho~e Natne it i!:i. This is "the \Yor<.l" "·hieh so n1any have ~ought, that they 111ight unlock the 1nystie seerets of ~Iagiauisrn, discover the treasures of Sy1nbolisrn, and fathon1 the depths of Orienta] I.Jearning and risaon1; S\vecleuborg deelarcd "the \\~ord" to have Leen lost, but he erred-it. 'va~; onlv its pronuneiation, and unfortunately its iinport, that 'vere lost or had becotne obscured. · " .. And (-iod spake unto ~Ioses, and said unto him, I an1 the IJoRD: and I appeared unto 1\brahan1, unto Isaac, and unto ,Jacob, by the nan1e of God Aln1ighty, but Ly n1y Xatne JEJf()\1 All 'va1; I not kno\VIl to thenl." rfhis Kanle iu the Jiebre'v has bnt. four letters i1,i,.., the eonsonants alone being lcttet·~ i 1i the H ebre"~ tongue; the four letters are renderecl in .F~nglish by J (or Inore correctly ) ... ), II, \i... . , and II; the vo\\~els did not appear in the t.,arlier \Vritten language, and in this Narne the lo~~ of the pronuneiation "'aS due to the ~nperstition~ reverence thE:'. Hebre\\'·s entertained to,vards the \Vord itself, which induced then1 \\rhenever it occurred to substitute an entirely different \\"ord, ADONAI, for it. in the reading; and from thh~ drPad of thP. 'vorci, Hnrl HvoirlaneP of it., in
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time its a\ve-inspiring signification \vas ]ost; unenlightened conuncntators have n1ade repeated attempts to di~eover this lost n1eaning, but until they sho\v that they beliel'e they have Hllceeeded "e need not gi ,~e the definitions the.v, have offered. The Kabba]a has s.v 1nbolized this a\vful Xatue of the ...-\hnighty, Incomprehensible One. \V. e are bv no tneans satisfied that the • 0' 'fetragratnmaton has been correctly vocalized JEHOVAH; the Narne oceurd in one of Dav·id's grand Psalrns in the abbreviated fo1~n1 n·, vocalized n·:, in English J .A. II or 1uore exactly· YAH, and \Ve suspect that the full narnc should be vocalized n~.;;'l:, English YAHVEH, rather than il1~" English tTEI-10\r .t\H, as 'e have it. The }:nglish translat.or~ appear to have had the olrl Je,Yi~h superstitious dread of the \Vord, fin· they ahnost a],\·ays tranHlate it into "The LoRn,'' the unly exceptions being in Exodus 6: 3, Psa.ln1 8:3 : 18, Isaiah 1 2 : 2, and Isaiah 26 : -t. Plate JJ.-TETRACTY!-3 01' .. PYTIIAGORAf-1.
INSERT IMAGE
But, to turn to the Diagram ·of PythagoraH : this great,and singularly learned man took the four letters
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of the name i1H1" and, arranging the1n as a pyratnid or cone within a double circle, derived the ten nutnbers of creation fron1 the1n. 1'hese ten nu n1 bers represent the airtat or princtples of all things; these principles are unequal and equal, at4ive and passive, masculine and fetuinine, expressed by the tertns Unity and Duality; numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 express Unity, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 (separately considered), express Duality; the unequal numbers are lin1itcd and eon1plete, equal numbers un1in1ited and incornplete; t.he absolute principle of all perfection is Unity, \vhile Duality is imperfection; it is by the latter that. forces are produced by which diflcrentiation is perfeeted in the number 10, \vhich, as the sequel or sequence of the entire system, is regarded as a perfect nurnber and represents man, the synthesis of all created energy. The letter Jod (") represents the :Afonad or Unity, the fountain of all things-the En Soph of the Sephiroth; the two letters (" and n) fbrn1 the Dyad, the cause of increase and division, the t\VO properties of Light, active and passive, the Bina.h, "Intelligenee," and Ohocmah, " Wisdom," of the SefJhiroth ; the three letters (", n and,), containing the J1lonad and Dyad, form the 'l"riad, and being thus a n1anifestation of En Soph, constitute the Tiphe:roth of the SejJhiroth, the Central Sun of the Universe; the four letters ( ", n,, and n) separately represent the Ch~ed, Geburah, Neisah and Hod, which are polarized into JcBod, the Astral Suns; the product of the Monad, Dyad, Triad anJ 'l"'elrad, is the Decad; as the sutn of the four primary numbers it takes t.he name TetractyB, and as the complen1ent of creation becomes the p&rfect number 10, 'vhieh, as we
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have seen, represents man as the Synthesis ; it comprehends, too, all musical and arithmetical proportions, and illustrates or denotes the system of the \vorld. Pythagoras defines God to be absolute Verity, or T1·uth clothed 'vith Light, and THE WORD embodied in the Light is the po,ver that manifests forms; or to state it differently: THE WoRD is the Divine Executive, and at the san1e time the Revealer of the mysteries of the Divine Will, the "hidden things of God." "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, 'vhich is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared ~~1)Y1Jllaro = %22sho,vn out%22 or %22 manifested %22 him."
Pythagoras was one of the tnost remarkable men of his day; not only was he learned in the ordinary sense beyond his time, but he was a Kabbalist of the highest order. He is said to have been initiated into the Divine secrets of Nature by Daniel and Ezekiel; he "Tas subsequently, after much opposition, admitted to the Egyptian mysteries upon the personal recommendation of King An1osis. His "Tetractys" is a fair illustration of his thorough acquaintance with Theosophic Science, as 'veil as of his independence of thought. But the tnost notable fact we know of him \Vas his kno\Y ledge of the truth in relation to the tnovementB of the heavenly bodies which science did not n1ake known for centuries after his death, and, if he was mistaken in reference to some of the details, his substantial correctness was none the less \Vonderful. He was the founder of the renowned School of CrotQna, upon the south-eastern coast of Italy, about 500 B. c. He held that the Sun IS the centre of the
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system around 'vhich all the pi a nets revolve; that the stars are Suns like ours, each the eentre of a system; that the earth revolves yearly around the Sun and daily on its axis; that the planets are inhabited, and that they and the earth are ever revolving in regular order, ''keeping up a loud and grand celestial concert, inaudible to man, but, as the nluRic of the spheres, nudible to God." He was not permitted to declare publicly what he kne\V and be] icved, bnt taught his immediate pupils all the \vonders of his philosophy, under the most binding obligation of secrecy. Pythagoras was especially forbidden to divulge this knowledge because it would reveal the law of attraction and repulsion, \vhich constituted one of the great secrets of the sanctuary; Newton \vas led to the discovery of these forces by his studies of the Kabbala. Speaking of Pythagoras calls to our mind the following singular Kabbalistic enigma written by Plato and sent to Dionysius: "All things surround our King God. He is the cause of all good things : Seconds for seconds and thirds for thirds." This expresses the complete philosophy of the Sephiroth. Plato \Vas an earnest and most intelligent Kabbal1st. In concluding upon this portion of our subject, we cannot forbear offering a few thoughtti upon the ten Sephiroth as a single entity. The group of categories or spheres, as seen in Plate I., has been styled the "Tree of Life," because it exhibit~ the true source of life and the rncans for the preservation and prolongation of life indefinitely into immortality: the Source is the Aln1ighty Will of God as manifested · in Light, and the n1eans for the preservation and
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prolongation of life is the Divine SojJhia Jeelaring itself in the beautiful law of harmony as applied to the creation and sustaining of the universe. The Sephiroth, though ten in appearanee are but one in fact-a manifestation of the 01nnipotent \V'ill in ten aspects; just as the flame and sparks of a fire appear as several objects to the eye and yet manifest but one fire, so the ten Sephiroth are apparently plural and are actually one with the En So]Jh, the Endless, Ineffable, Incomprehensible emanation from the God of IJight and Life.
Turning again to the plate, we observe that the spheres range in three columns or pillars: t.he central one, comprising the " Cro\\·n," and the Celestial and Astral Suns, has been called the Pillar of Hercules, and n1ore aptly the Life Pillar. At. the right of this central one, is the Active Pillar, consisting of Binah, Chesed and 1-le~ah, "Intelligence," "Strength" and '' Firn1ness," representing the Fire principle, the masculine or active forces in creation and provirlence. At the left is the Passive Pillar, representing the Light principle, the fen1ininc or passive properties in creation and providence, as expressed in Ohocrnah, Geburah and Hod, " '\risdotn," "Beauty," and "Splendor." The t\\'O side pillars being in exact equilibration, the active and passive qualities equally perfornli ng their fuActions, the universe came perfect from the Creator and moves in Rublirne beauty and complete utility, in undeviating accord 'vith the 'Vill that called it into being by the 'V ord, anrl just as long and as far as the two principles are in absolute equipoise everything must continue "very goC?d" in God's sight.
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'l~his equiJibriurn is exactly maintained until we reach the Astral Suns, \vhen we find it rlisturbed, but it still is upheld and respected in part-\vhen, however, \YP puss to the n1aterial \\·orld \Ve find the blackness of darkness, because God's la\V of hurmony has hecn broken by man, and inharmony has brought disease, decay and death upon every species of life-nay, even upon the earth the seal of doom is set, change, dissolution are seen on all hands, and ultimately it shall pass a'vay.
We have seen that, though God's Justice rnust be visited upon the \vorld, and sickness and suffering, disease, decay, and death must follow the breach of the law of harn1ony, yet His Mercy and Goodnes~ came to the rescue of the offender and his race by providing a remedy for spiritual blindness and death ; nor did His Infinite Kindness stop here: He has also furnished suitable remedies for the physical ills resulting from man's fall; some ot these remedial agents 'vere long since discovered and have been successfully applied for many years, some even for many centuries, others have but recently been found out by science, and doubtless there are many the health-giving properties of 'vhich man has never yet discovered. Among those natural remedies 'vhich are only now in course of discovery are the color-rays of the objective light. of our world, \vhich \Ve believe are destined, at no very distant day, to 'vork a sensible change in the therapeutic practice not only of our country but of the world ; so-cal1ed scientists 1nay oppose their use in this important field, and may scoff at the startling facts that experience is reporting of their virtues, as their
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