THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMID
There comes a time in the development of the occult student when he
understands one of the great secrets of the Initiates, and that is that
every sacred thing outside of himself stands for some organ or function
within himself. This is, of course, true in the case of the Great
Pyramid, except that this particular pile of stone said by many to be
the oldest building on the surface of the earth, is the great symbol of
composite man. In other words it stands for man as a unit.
Let us first consider it simply from the exterior standpoint. When we
first look at it in the distance it seems to be one great stone, but as
we come closer we see that it is made of thousands of smaller stones,
each one carefully fitted into place. Here we see the first likeness
between the pyramid and man. We consider man to be a unit, but when we
examine more closely, we find that he is a great number of small units,
each working in harmony with the others. It is the same with everything.
We take a successful life and we think of it as an entirety, but when
we examine it, we find that it is a number of small achievements joined
together.
[Illustration: Cross Section of the Great Pyramid of Gizah.]
As thousands of workmen were used in the building of the pyramid, so
there are unnumbered workmen at work in the building of our bodies, which
are symbolical of the same building.
There are many pyramids all over the world. We find them in South America
and in Mexico; we find mounds which were made to represent them among
the American Indians, and in Europe and Britain we find remnants of the
same things. But there is only one real pyramid in all the world. Even
the others in Egypt are but copies of the Great Pyramid, and were used
as tombs for the Pharaohs, but nobody was ever found in Cheops, nor were
there ever any signs that it had been so used.
Now let us continue our analogy between the pyramid and man. If you
will look at the accompanying illustration, you will see the pyramid
laid flat, and you will notice it is made of four triangles laid around
the base square. The four-sided base of the pyramid represents the
four elements of which man’s bodies are composed. These are hydrogen,
nitrogen, oxygen and carbon, or earth, water, fire, and air. These are
called the base of all things, and upon this base the four bodies of man
are raised, each from its own element. Thus the physical body is raised
from the earth. The vital body is raised from the water, the emotional
body from the fire, and the mental body from the air.
[Illustration: The Pyramid:
Here we see the pyramid laid out so that the four triangles and the
square are clearly seen. This represents man once again, and the ancient
Pyramid is man offering his higher being upon the altar of the Great Fire
Spirit.]
There are twelve lines used in the drawing of the four triangles, which
stand for the twelvefold constitution of man when it is complete: the
threefold body, the threefold mind, the threefold soul, and the threefold
spirit. It also gives us the twelve signs of the zodiac, divided into
their respective groups.
[Illustration]
Out on the desert stands the Sphinx, the Guardian of the Threshold
mentioned by Bulwer Lytton. It stands for the bodies of man, and is that
strange being which must be passed before the student can go on in his
development. The four fixed signs of which the Sphinx is a symbol are
Taurus the Bull, Leo the Lion, Scorpio the Eagle, and Aquarius the Man,
or the human head.
[Illustration: The Sphinx:
This is that mysterious being suspended ’twixt heaven and earth, which
has the head of a human being and the body of an animal. In other words
the Sphinx symbolizes man.]
I have already given you some work on the sacrum bone, and I told you
that it was the grave digger’s spade. Here is a picture of the head of
the Sphinx, and the inverted sacrum bone when it has been turned upward.
We see the Sphinx in the inverted sacrum and also in it the inverted
Masonic keystone. All this is very interesting, but unless we realize the
inner meaning of it, its true value is lost. But it is not chance that
these things should be so.
You have most of you heard of the Dweller on the Threshold, that creature
built by our own actions and mistakes. Well out on Egypt’s desert it
stands and bars the way to the pyramid, the temple of the higher man. And
the message that it gives to the world is:
=“I am the bodies. If you would go on to the temple you must master me,
for I am within you.”=
The Sphinx again symbolizes man, with the mind and spirit of the human
rising out of the animal desires and emotions. It is the riddle of the
ages, and man is once more the answer.
It is said that in ancient times the Sphinx was the gateway of the
pyramid, and that there was an underground passage which led from the
Sphinx to Cheops. This would make the symbolism even more perfect, for
the gateway to the spirit is through the bodies according to the ancients.
Let us now enter the pyramid and passing through the corridors come
to the King’s Chamber as it is called. There are three great rooms in
the pyramid which are of great interest to the student. The highest is
the King’s Chamber, then below that is the Queen’s Chamber, and down
below the surface of the earth is the Pit. Here we again find the great
correlation between the pyramid and man. The three rooms are the three
great divisions in man which are the seats of the threefold spirit. The
lower room is the generative system under the control of Jehovah. The
center room or Queen’s Chamber is the heart, under the control of the
Christ; and the upper room or the King’s Chamber is the brain, which is
under the control of the Father. In this upper room is the coffer made
of stone, the meaning of which has never been explained, but which the
student recognizes as the third ventricle in the brain.
It is quite certain also that this coffer was used as a tomb during
initiation, when as is the case in the Masonic initiations of today,
(which are the remnants of the ancient mysteries) the candidate was
buried in the earth and resurrected, a symbol of the death of the lower
man and the liberation of the higher.
It is said that Moses was initiated in the Great Pyramid, and some also
say that Jesus was instructed there also. Be that as it may, we know that
for thousands of years since the time it was built by the Atlanteans it
has been the greatest temple of Initiation in the world. It seems also
that its work is not yet done, for mutely it is teaching those who will
see the mysteries of creation.
It is said by many that it is the original Solomon’s Temple, but this we
know is not true, for while it may be the first and original material
temple, the true temple of Solomon is the universe, the Solarman’s
temple, which is slowly being rebuilt in man as the temple of the Soul of
Man.
There is probably no point that is as important in connection with the
pyramid as that of the corner stone. On the very top of the great pyramid
is a comparatively flat place about thirty feet square. In other words
the TRUE STONE WHICH IS THE HEAD OF ALL THE CORNERS IS MISSING. If we
look at the reverse side of the United States seal, we find again the
pyramid from which the top is separated. Omar Khayyam, the Persian Poet,
gives us the secret of the keystone when he says:
“From my base metal shall be filed a =key=,
Which shall unlock the door he howls without.”
The value of the stone is better understood when you understand that it
completes all of the triangles at once, and without it none of them are
complete.
[Illustration: The Key and the Cross:
Upon the cross of matter that forms our bodies, hangs the key to all the
mysteries of creation. It is our duty to take this key and with it unlock
the door that conceals from us the unknown. This key is the spirit.
Release it.]
This stone is the spirit in man, which fell from its high position, and
has been lost beneath the rubbish of the lower man. This is the true cap
stone that is now hidden in the pit of man’s temple, and which he must
exhume and place again as the true crown of his spiritual pyramid.
He can only do this when he calls the thousands of workmen within himself
together and binds them to the service of the higher man. There must
be no traitors to murder the builder this time. And Lucifer, the one
rejected by man as the devil, is the one who must through the planet
Mars send man the dynamic energy which man himself must transmute from
the fire of passion to the flame of spirit. He then must take the tools
of the craft and cut and polish his own being into the cap stone of the
Universal Temple.
It is interesting to note how the casing stones that once made the
pyramid so beautiful and true were carried away to build the cities
nearby, and in connection with that it is interesting to note how the
soul and body of man, the casing stones of his spiritual temple, have
been sacrificed in order that he might have material things.
As we look at pictures of the ancient pyramid and Sphinx which have stood
on Egypt’s sands for ages, let us see in them our own mystery temple,
made without the sound of hammer or the voice of workman. And as we sadly
think of this mighty ruin, broken by ages of neglect, let us remember
our temple, and that its corner stone is missing also and our walls are
falling with neglect. Let us learn the lesson which it teaches, hasten
to perfect our pyramid, cap it with the stone of spirit, offer upon its
altars our sacrifice to the Great Sun Spirit, and bury our lower nature
in its ancient coffer. Then for us will its mysteries be revealed, and
the sealed lips of the Sphinx give up their secret.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO.]
THE WHITE GRAIL
[Illustration]
_Choose now your path_
[Illustration]
Service.
Self-Sacrifice.
Purification.
Love.
Study.
THE BLACK GRAIL
[Illustration]
_Choose now your path_
[Illustration]
Prosperity at others expense.
Selfishness.
Short-cuts.
Mastered by appetite.
Comfort.
FINIS
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End of Project Gutenberg's The Initiates of the Flame, by Manly Palmer Hall