THE PROMULGATION AND RECOGNITION.
As will readily be imagined, the interest was intense with which we
watched the progress of our work, in order to see whether the crucial
event of its promulgation would coincide with the date prophesied for
the turning point between the outgoing and the incoming dispensations.
The predictions covered a period of six years, namely from 1876 to 1881
inclusive. In this period was to be laid the foundation of a universal
kingdom of justice and knowledge, which should constitute the reign of
Michael, and spring from a new illumination, one feature of which was to
be the "return of the Gods" in 1876. It was in the autumn of this year
that they first came to us, and the intimation was given us that the
reign of Michael was then actually commencing; we having no knowledge
either of the meaning or of the fact of such predictions. For, while the
Bible references to Michael were altogether unintelligible to us, we had
not learnt to refer the event to any assignable period. The fulfilment
of this prediction disposed us to attach value to those which pointed to
the year 1881 as that in which our work--supposing our estimate of its
significance to be correct--ought to see the light. For our illuminators
observed silence respecting times and seasons, contenting themselves
with bringing under our notice the books containing the predictions,
the application being left to our own perspicacity. We were powerless to
influence events, even had we desired to do so. We could but work
steadily on, as we did, "without haste, without rest," until my
colleague had finished her university course and obtained her diploma.
This she accomplished in the summer of 1880, soon after which we
returned to England; and in the summer of 1881 we delivered in London,
to a private audience, the lectures which constituted the first
promulgation of our work. These were published in the following winter
under the title of "The Perfect Way, or the Finding of Christ," our
excellent friend at Paris faithfully fulfilling the mission she had
accepted in relation to us and our work[81]. Thus were fulfilled exactly
all the predictions respecting the dates, the character, and the manner
of our work.
There were many other coincidences of a kind so remarkable as to make us
feel that to ascribe them to accident would require a larger measure of
credulity than to ascribe them to design. Among the most striking were
those which concerned "Mary's" names, and which were in this wise.
When first the significance of the Apocalyptic utterance concerning the
river Euphrates and the kings of the East was flashed on my mind, I
asked her if she knew that she was mentioned, even to her very name, in
the book of Revelation. To which she replied, smiling, that she had
known it for some time, but which of her names did I mean? I said that I
meant her married surname, which fitted exactly a way made for kings
across a river, by the drying up of its waters, namely a _king's ford_;
the "Kings of the East," meaning those principles in man whereby he has
knowledge of divine things--the East being the mystical expression for
the place of the dawn of spiritual light, such as that of which she was
the revealer. While the Euphrates means, in the Apocalypse as in
Genesis, the highest principle in the fourfold kosmos of man, the Spirit
or Will[82]. Only when this principle in man is "dried up," or
sublimated by being made one with the divine Will, is man accessible to
the divine knowledges brought by the "Kings of the East." As the channel
by which these knowledges were being restored to the world, she was the
_kings' ford_ implied. She then told me, what I had not yet observed,
that her baptismal and maiden names were equally appropriate, as the
Latin for the "acceptable year of the Lord," or _good time_, announced
as to follow the restoration of the knowledges brought by the Kings of
the East, is--allowing for difference of gender--_Annus Bonus_. The
coincidence of names did not end here, for we shortly afterwards, in the
course of our researches, came upon an old prophecy declaring that the
initials of the "Messenger" of the new Avatar, due at this time, would
be A.K.!
She further identified the "Kings of the East" as functions of the three
principles in man, the Spirit, the Soul, and the Mind; being
respectively, right aspiration, which is of the Spirit; right
perception, which is of the Soul; and right judgment, which is of the
Mind; the combination of which is the necessary and sufficient condition
of divine knowledge.
Had we been sanguine of a favourable reception of our book by the press
at large--which we were not--our disappointment would have been great.
But we were by no means prepared either for the gross misrepresentation
and even vulgar ribaldry with which it was treated by the few organs in
the literary press which noticed it at all, or for the complete neglect
of it by that portion of the press which especially concerns itself with
religious exegesis. In no instance was any attempt made to exhibit its
plan, purpose, and real nature, or any recognition accorded to its
luminous solutions of the profound problems dealt with. The very claim
to have experiential knowledge of things spiritual was accounted an
offence; and it seemed as if the word had gone forth to adopt towards it
an attitude which should effectually restrain the public from making its
acquaintance, even though it met absolutely the need recognised on all
hands as the world's supreme need, and vindicated its claim thereto by
the presentation of teachings avowedly of divine derivation and
demonstrating their divinity by their intrinsic character to all who are
in the smallest degree spiritually percipient. To this day that attitude
has never been abandoned or relaxed; and notwithstanding the assiduous
endeavours made to counteract its influence, the whole mass of our
people, saving only a few select circles, have yet to learn that the
longed-for New Gospel of Interpretation has actually been vouchsafed,
having been for years in their midst waiting but to be recognised of
them,--a "light shining in darkness and the darkness comprehending it
not"[83].
In compliance with the injunctions of our illuminators, we had withheld
our names from our first edition, in order to secure for it a judgment
unbiased by any personal element. But though we ourselves thus escaped
the opprobrium attaching to our book, "Mary" was at first inclined to
repent of having exposed her pearls to such profanation; and was only
reassured by the suggestion that it showed how desperate was the need
for precisely the change our work was designed to accomplish, and how
exactly was fulfilled the prophecy which foretold the wrath of the
dragon and his angels at the advent of the "Woman" Intuition, their
destined destroyer, and the consequent shortness of their own time. We
knew of course better than to regard such criticism as being in any
sense a measure of our work. For us it was, like criticism in general, a
measure not of the thing criticised but of the critics themselves. And
these, in our case, but truly represented the condition of the age, and
knew not what they were doing.
Such is the reason why so many will hear for the first time from this
book that a New Gospel of Interpretation has been received. To turn to
the other and compensating side. With those who were specially qualified
to judge, it was far otherwise. And among the most notable of the
recognitions received from this quarter was the weighty utterance which
appears in the preface to the second and succeeding editions, coming
from that veteran student of the "Divine Science," the friend, disciple,
and literary heir of the renowned Kabalist and magian, the late Abbe
Constant ("Eliphas Levi"), namely, Baron Spedalieri of Marseilles, who
though then an entire stranger to us, wrote to us as follows--for I
think it may with advantage be reproduced here:--
"As with the corresponding Scriptures of the past, the appeal on
behalf of your book is, really, to miracles, but with the
difference that in your case they are intellectual ones, and
incapable of simulation, being miracles of interpretation. And they
have the further distinction of doing no violence to common sense
by infringing the possibilities of Nature; while they are in
complete accord with all mystical traditions, and especially with
the great Mother of these, the Kabala. That miracles such as I am
describing are to be found in _The Perfect Way_, in kind and number
unexampled, they who are the best qualified to judge will be the
most ready to affirm.
"And here, _apropos_ of these renowned Scriptures, permit me to
offer you some remarks on the Kabala as we have it. It is my
opinion--
"(1) That this tradition is far from being genuine, and such as it
was on its original emergence from the sanctuaries.
"(2) That when Guillaume Postel--of excellent memory--and his
brother Hermetists of the later middle age--the Abbot Trithemius
and others--predicted that these sacred books of the Hebrews should
become known and understood at the end of the era, and specified
the present time for that event, they did not mean that such
knowledge should be limited to the mere divulgement of these
particular Scriptures, but that it would have for its base a new
illumination, which should eliminate from
them all that has been ignorantly or wilfully introduced, and
should re-unite that great tradition with its source by restoring
it in all its purity.
"(3) That this illumination has just been accomplished, and has
been manifested in _The Perfect Way_. For in this book we find all
that there is of truth in the Kabala, supplemented by new
intuitions, such as present a body of doctrine at once complete,
homogeneous, logical and inexpungnable.
"Since the whole tradition thus finds itself recovered or restored
to its original purity, the prophecies of Postel and his
fellow-Hermetists are accomplished; and I consider that from
henceforth the study of the Kabala will be but an object of
curiosity and erudition, like that of Hebrew antiquities.
"Humanity has always and everywhere asked itself these three
supreme questions: Whence come we? What are we? Whither go we? Now,
these questions at length find an answer, complete, satisfactory,
and consolatory, in _The Perfect Way_"[84].
He subsequently wrote:--
"If the Scriptures of the future are to be, as I firmly believe
they will be, those which best interpret the Scriptures of the
past, these writings will assuredly hold the foremost place among
them"[85].
For those who are unacquainted with the Kabala, its origin, nature, and
intent, it will be well to state that it represents the transcendental
and esoteric doctrine of the Hebrews, as handed down from the remotest
times. In recognition of its divine origin, the Rabbins describe it as
having been communicated by God, first, to "Adam in Paradise," and,
next, to "Moses on Sinai." By which expressions they implied that its
doctrine was due to the highest possible illumination.
It was also in recognition of this element in our book that Mr.
MacGregor Mathers dedicated his learned work, "The Kabala Unveiled," to
us, saying--
"I have much pleasure in dedicating this work to the authors of
_The Perfect Way_, as they have in that excellent and wonderful
book touched so much on the doctrines of the Kabala, and laid such
value on its teachings. _The Perfect Way_ is one of the most deeply
occult works that has been written for centuries."
As the foregoing testimonies represent the _consensus_ of the Kabalists,
Hermetists, and other great ancient schools of spiritual science in the
West, so the following represents the _consensus_ of the corresponding
schools of the East. As will be seen, it involves a coincidence so
notable as to point to a source transcending the human and terrestrial,
as that of the great spiritual revival which our age is witnessing. That
coincidence is in this wise:--
Within two years of the commencement of our collaboration in the work
which proved to be that of the restoration of the _Gnosis_ of the
West--the divine doctrine of which, as we had come to learn, Christ was
the personal demonstration, and the religion called after Him ought to
have been the expression; a collaboration was commenced which had for
its end the like exposition in regard to the religious systems of the
East. This is the collaboration, also of a woman and a man, which had
its issue in the Theosophical Society. The two pairs of collaborators
worked simultaneously through the succeeding years in entire ignorance
of each other and their work, until the commencement of the publication
of our results in 1881, at which time the Theosophical Society was still
so far from having completed the system of its doctrine, that neither of
its two now fundamental tenets had yet been recognised by it, the
tenets, namely, of Reincarnation and Karma--its chief text-book, the
"Isis Unveiled" of its foundress, not containing them. We, on the
contrary, had both of these doctrines, having derived them, as already
stated herein, directly from celestial sources and wholly independently
of human authority and tradition, of spiritualism, and of our own
prepossessions.
It was clear, both by this fact and by the avowals of the parties
concerned, that up to this time the chiefs of the Theosophical Society
had been unable to obtain from those whom they claimed as their masters
more than a very meagre instalment of their doctrine. But after the
arrival of our book in India this state of things was changed. It was
then declared on behalf of the "masters" that we had obtained, from
original and independent sources, a system of doctrine substantially
identical with that of which they had for ages been, as they supposed,
in exclusive possession, but had never been permitted to divulge, as it
had always been reserved for initiates. The revelation of it through us,
we were further informed, had "forced the hands of the masters," by
showing them that the time had come when secrecy was no longer possible,
and compelling them, if only in vindication of their own claims, to
relax their rule of silence in regard to their mysteries.
The coincidence between their doctrine and ours comprised sundry
particulars the most recondite, including--besides the two great tenets
already named--the multiplicity of principles in the human system, and
their separation and respective conditions after death,--a subject lying
outside the cognisance of "Spiritualism." Among other points of
agreement was that of their recognition of the great antiquity of the
soul of "Mary," whom they pronounced to be "the greatest natural mystic
of the present day, and countless ages ahead of the great majority of
mankind, the foremost of whom--the most civilised--belong to the last
race of the fourth round, while she belongs to the first race of the
fifth round."
In presence of these and other proofs of the possession by the Eastern
occultists, of knowledges which we had obtained directly at first hand
from celestial sources, we could not but pay respectful heed to the
claims of the representatives of the Theosophical Society, and welcome
any token which might indicate it as a destined fellow-agent in the
great spiritual revival of the age. So might it constitute, with
"Spiritualism" and the work represented by us, a threefold power for
accomplishing the promotion predicted for this era, of the consciousness
of the race to a level which should transcend any yet reached by it as a
race. With Spiritualism to represent the phenomenal and personal,
Theosophy the philosophical and occult, and our own work the mystical
and divine, every region of man's higher nature would find its due
recognition and unfoldment. Meanwhile, the organ of the Society in India
thus expressed itself respecting "The Perfect Way":--
"A grand book, keen of insight and eloquent in exposition; an
upheaval of true spirituality.... We regard its authors as having
produced one of the most--perhaps the most--important and
spirit-stirring of appeals to the highest instincts of mankind
which modern European literature has evolved"[86].
We had a yet further warrant, derived from Scripture itself, for looking
to the Theosophical Society as possibly a divinely appointed factor in
the spiritual evolution of the time. The unsealing of the World's Bibles
was upon us, and not of that of Christendom only. And we saw in the
following saying of Jesus an obvious allusion to the present epoch, "In
those days many shall come from the East, and the West, and the North,
and the South, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the
kingdom of heaven." Not that the terms East, West, North, and South,
denoted for us the quarters of the physical globe. We had learnt to
understand them in their mystical sense, wherein they denote the various
human temperaments, the intuitional, the traditional, the intellectual,
and the emotional, all of which would find satisfaction in the doctrine
then to be recovered. It was in the terms Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
that the significance of the utterance lay for us; these being in one
aspect the Hebrew equivalents for Brahma, Isis, and Iacchos, and
denoting the mysteries respectively of India, Egypt, and Greece, of the
Spirit, the Soul, and the Body, and therein of the whole Man. For these
mysteries together comprised the perfect doctrine of Existence, called
also in Scripture the "Word of God," the "Law and the Prophets," and the
"_Theou Sophia_," "Wisdom of God," and "hidden Wisdom," of which the
Christ, as the typical Man regenerate, is the fulfilment and personal
demonstration. This is to say, they constituted that Gnosis, or
Knowledge, with the taking away and withholdment of the key of which
Jesus so bitterly reproached, in the Ecclesiasticism of His time, that
of all time, and, therefore, that knowledge to the restoration of which,
in our day, through the faculty by means of which it was originally
obtained and can alone be discerned, the prophecies one and all pointed,
as to mark and to make the "time of the end" of the "adulterous,"
because idolatrous, "generation," hitherto in possession in the Church,
and to introduce the "kingdom of God with power."
Having warrant so high for anticipating the restoration at this time of
the faculties and knowledges represented by the various movements in
question, and knowing also, if only by the example of ourselves, that
the divinity of a mission is not invalidated by the limitations, real or
supposed, of its instruments, but that these must be educated by
experience, and in such sense "perfected through suffering" to be fitted
for their appointed tasks;--we had no doubt as to the attitude it was
our duty to maintain towards all candidates for a share in that which we
recognised as the greatest of all the endeavours yet made by the human
soul to regain her long-lost rightful dominion over the minds and hearts
of men, leaving it to time to determine that which was of divine
appointment, and that which was not.
It will have been observed that I have used the terms "mystical" and
"occult" in such wise as to imply a distinction between them. It is
important to the purpose of this book to define and emphasise that
distinction. The instructions received by us from our illuminators were
explicit and positive on this point.
This is because they refer to two different domains of man's system.
Occultism deals with transcendental physics, and is of the intellectual,
belonging to science. Mysticism deals with transcendental metaphysics,
and is of the spiritual, belonging to religion. Occultism, therefore,
has for its domain the region which, lying between the body and the
soul, is interior to the body but exterior to the soul; while Mysticism
has for its domain the region which, comprising the soul and the spirit,
is interior to the soul, and belongs to the divine. Of course, the terms
themselves, which are respectively the Latin and the Greek for the same
thing, and mean hidden from the outer senses and also from
non-initiates, do not imply such distinction, but they have come by
usage to be thus referable.
The following citations are from the teachings received by us in this
connection. They account for the scientific part of the training imposed
on us.
"The science of the Mysteries can be understood only by one who has
studied the physical sciences, because it is the climax and crown
of all these, and must be learned last and not first. Unless thou
understand the physical
sciences, thou canst not comprehend the doctrine of _Vehicles_,
which is the basic doctrine of occult science. 'If thou understood
not earthly things, how shall I make thee understand heavenly
things?' Wherefore, get knowledge, and be greedy of knowledge, ever
more and more. It is idle for thee to seek the inner chamber, until
thou hast passed through the outer. This, also, is another reason
why occult science cannot be unveiled to the horde. To the
unlearned no truth can be demonstrated. Theosophy is the royal
science[87]; if thou would reach the king's presence chamber, there
is no way save through the outer rooms and galleries of the
palace[88].
"The adept or occultist is, at best, a religious scientist; he is
not a 'saint.' If occultism were all, and held the key of heaven,
there would be no need of 'Christ.' But occultism, although it
holds the 'power,' holds neither the 'kingdom' nor the 'glory,' for
these are of Christ. The adept knows not the kingdom of heaven, and
'the least in this kingdom are greater than he.'
"'Desire _first_ the kingdom of God and God's righteousness; and
all these things shall be added unto you.' As Jesus said of
Prometheus[89], 'Take no thought for to-morrow. Behold the lilies
of the field and the birds of the air, and trust God as these,' For
the saint has faith; the adept has knowledge. If the adepts in
occultism or in physical science could suffice to man, I would have
committed no message to you. But the two are not in opposition.
All things are yours, even the kingdom and the power, but the glory
is to God. Do not be ignorant of their teaching, for I would have
you know all. Take, therefore, every means to know. This knowledge
is of man, and cometh from the mind. Go, therefore, to man to learn
it. 'If you will be perfect, learn also of these.' 'Yet the wisdom
which is from above, is above all.' For one man may begin from
within, that is, with wisdom, and wisdom is one with love. Blessed
is the man who chooseth wisdom, for she leaveneth all things. And
another man may begin from without, and that which is without is
power. To such there shall be a thorn in the flesh[90]. For it is
hard in such case to attain to the within. But if a man be first
wise inwardly, he shall the more easily have this also added unto
him. For he is born again and is free. Whereas at a great price
must the adept buy freedom. Nevertheless, I bid you seek;--and in
this also you shall find. But I have shown you a more excellent way
than theirs. Yet both Ishmael and Isaac are sons of one father, and
of all her children is Wisdom justified. So neither are they wrong,
nor are you led astray. The goal is the same; but their way is
harder than yours. They take the kingdom by violence, if they take
it, and by much toil and agony of the flesh. But from the time of
Christ within you, the kingdom is open to the sons of God. Receive
what you can receive; I would have you know all things. And if you
have served seven years for wisdom, count it not loss to serve
seven years for power also. For if Rachel bear the best beloved,
Leah hath many sons, and is exceeding fruitful. But her eye is not
single; she looketh two ways, and seeketh not that which is above
only. But to you Rachel is given first, and perchance her beauty
may suffice. I say not, let it suffice; it is better to know all
things, for if you know not all, how can you judge all? For as a
man heareth, so must he judge. Will you therefore be regenerate in
the without, as well as in the within? For they are renewed in the
body, but you in the soul. It is well to be baptised into John's
baptism, if a man receive also the Holy Ghost. But some know not so
much as that there is any Holy Ghost. Yet Jesus also, being Himself
regenerate in the spirit, sought unto the Baptism of John, for thus
it became Him to fulfil Himself in all things. And having
fulfilled, behold, the 'Dove' descended on Him. If then you will be
perfect, seek both that which is within and that which is without;
and the circle of being, which is the 'wheel of life,' shall be
complete in you."
The Scriptural allusions in this teaching, which was received by "Mary"
under illumination occurring in sleep, proved to be on the lines of the
Kabala.
There were sundry other tokens of recognition which are entitled to
reproduction here, as showing to how wide a range of educated and
intelligent opinion within the pale of Christianity our work appeals.
Their value is due to their representing a class of minds which, while
possessed of the ordinary ecclesiastical training, are not restricted to
the knowledge thereby acquired. For, seeing that such training means
little, if anything, more than the mechanical learning of what other men
have said who, themselves, had no real knowledge, the opinions,
expressed on the strength of it, are neither educated nor intelligent,
but adoptive only and perfunctory, and represent learning without
insight. And as such precisely are the opinions which constitute
ecclesiastical orthodoxy, the judgment of the representatives of that
orthodoxy on our work possesses no more real value than did that of
Caiaphas and his coadjutors on Jesus and His work[91]. Denouncing Him
as a blasphemer, they were themselves blasphemers. And inasmuch as they
were types of the votaries of ecclesiastical orthodoxy of all time, it
is obvious that the only new revelation--if any--which would find
acceptance at their hands, would be one that confirmed and reinforced
their errors, instead of exposing and correcting them. Proceeding, as
was declared by Jesus, from their "father, the devil," a
priest-constructed system ever prefers Barabbas to Christ;--prefers,
that is, a system which defrauds--hence the force of the term "robber"
as applied to Barabbas--man of the divine potentialities which Christ
came to reveal to him by demonstrating them in His own person, together
with the manner of their realisation.
Not that all who bear the title of Ecclesiastics come under this
condemnation. In every age of the Church there have been those who,
while holding office in it, have not consented to the "Scarlet Woman" of
Sacerdotalism. And never was there a time when the proportion of these
was larger, or when their sense of the need of a New Gospel of
Interpretation was more keen and urgent than now: so intolerable to
multitudes of the clergy of all sections of the Church has become the
antagonism recognised by them as subsisting between the traditional and
official presentation of religion and their own clear perceptions of
goodness and truth[92].
The testimonies which remain to be added are valuable as coming from men
who, while possessed of ecclesiastical training, have been taught also
of the Spirit, and, adding to tradition intuition, and to learning
insight, have in themselves the witness to that which they utter.
A distinguished French ecclesiastic, the Abbe Roca, writing in
_L'Aurore_, says of our books--
"These books seem to me to be the chosen organs of the Divine
Feminine" (_i.e._ the interpretative) "Principle, in view of the
new revelation of Revelation."
By which it will be seen that he shared Cardinal Newman's expectation
referred to in the introduction; and accepted as realised the forecast
of Joseph de Maistre when he said "Religion and Science, in virtue of
their natural affinity, will meet in the brain of some man of
genius--perhaps of more than one--and the world will get what it needs
and cries for, _not a new religion, but the revelation of Revelation_."
As the event shows, for "the brain of some man," he should have said
"the mind and soul of a woman."
The Rev. Dr. John Pulsford, author of "The Supremacy of Man," "Quiet
Hours," "Morgenrothe," and other works distinguished for the depth of
their piety and insight, thus wrote to me on the publication of "Clothed
with the Sun"--
"I cannot tell you with what thankfulness and pleasure I have read
_Clothed with the Sun_. It is impossible for a spiritually
intelligent reader to doubt that these teachings were received from
_within_ the astral veil. They are full of the concentrated and
compact wisdom of the Holy Heavens and of God. If Christians knew
their own religion, they would find in these priceless records our
Lord Christ and His vital process abundantly illustrated and
confirmed. The regret is that so few, comparatively, who read the
book, will be aware of the tithe of its pearls. But that such
communications are possible, and are permitted to be given to the
world, is a sign, and a most promising sign of our age.
"It is no little joy to me to feel that I am so much more in
sympathy with God's daughter, the Seeress, than I supposed. The
testimony is so clearly above, and distinct from, aught that is
derived from the occult powers of the universe, rather than from
the Supreme Spirit and Father-Mother of our Spirits."
Another notable student of spiritual science, a Priest, writing in
_Light_ of 21st October, 1882, after describing _The Perfect Way_ as
"that most wonderful of all books which has appeared since the beginning
of the Christian Era," said:--"It is a book that no student can be
without if he will know _the truth_ on these matters. It furnishes us
with a master-key to the phenomena which so perplex the minds of
enquirers, and gives a system, the like of which has not been seen for
eighteen centuries." The late Rev. John Manners, a man venerable of
years and mature of spirit, and deeply versed in the sciences of both
worlds, declared of these illuminations, "the Great I Am speaks in
every line of them. Only the Logos Himself could be their source." Lady
Caithness, already referred to, upon receiving a copy of _The Perfect
Way_, wrote: "I have got another Bible, the _most complete_ Revelation,
_certainly_, that has yet been given to man on this planet"[93]. And a
Parsee scholar, a native of India, wrote: "_The Perfect Way_ has made me
a much nobler man--a man of tranquility and calmness, due to the
knowledge of the philosophy of Being imbibed by me from it, and for
which my mind was fortunately prepared"[94].
* * * * *
As stated in the preface, this present book is intended but as an
epitome and instalment of the far larger book in course of preparation.
For, as with the old Gospel of Manifestation, so with the New Gospel of
Interpretation, the excusable hyperbole is no less appropriate to
it,--"I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books
which might be written."
For the human soul is a theme as inexhaustible as it is paramount. And,
as never in the world's history have the need and the desire for the
knowledge of it been so urgent as they now are, so never in the world's
history has there been a revelation of it comparable with that which has
been vouchsafed in our day, and is contained in the narrative, the
completion of which, and this alone, will enable me to "depart in
peace," having no apprehension of after disquietude on the score of
having left unaccomplished a portion so important of the task committed
to me.
THE END.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[81] The French edition, subsequently issued at Paris, is also due to
her zeal and generosity. See p. 137, ante.
[82] For the meaning of the "Four Rivers of Eden" see P. W., vi. par. 6.
See note on p. 172, ante as to meaning of river Hiddekel.
[83] This indictment is as true to-day as it was twelve years ago, when
the above passage was written. S.H.H.
[84] Cited from the preface to the second and succeeding editions of
"The P. W."
[85] Cited from "The Life of A.K." Vol. II. p. 155.
[86] The Theosophist, May, 1882.
[87] The term Theosophy is here used in its Pauline and ancient sense of
the science of the realisation of man's potential divinity;--the
process, that is, of the Christ.--1 Cor. ii. 7. E.M.
[88] From an address given on the 17th July, 1883, by A.K. to the
Theosophical Society, a full report of which is given in "The Life of
A.K." Vol. II. pp. 124-128.
[89] A term which signifies forethought. The remonstrance is against
undue anxiety and alarm on the soul's behalf while in the path of duty,
as implying distrust of the divine sufficiency. E.M.
[90] Meaning that in such case the flesh itself is the impediment.
[91] In a letter on "The Church and the Bible," in the "Agnostic
Journal" of 5th January, 1895, E.M. says:--
"Among the fallacies to be discarded is the fallacy which consists in
believing that the Church, so vehemently denounced in its own sacred
books for its manifold, grievous, and fatal perversions of the truth
contained in those books, and so ignorant as to be unaware either of the
source or of the meaning of its own dogmas, must understand its
doctrines better than I understand them, whose high privilege it is to
have been one of the two recipients of the New Gospel of Interpretation,
which has been vouchsafed expressly to correct those perversions, and
who not only have that gospel by heart, but who know absolutely by my
own soul's experience--as also did my colleague--the truth of every word
of it." (A long extract from this letter, including the above, is
printed in the appendix to B.O.A.I. p. 83.) S.H.H.
[92] See also E.M.'s remarks to the same effect in the "Statement
E.C.U." pp. 10-11.
[93] See Life A.K. Vol. II. pp. 52-53.
[94] See Life A.K. Vol. II. p. 241.
"SCRIPTURES OF THE FUTURE."
Books rapidly coming into use in the Roman, Greek and Anglican
communions as the text-books which represent the prophesied restoration
of the Ancient Esoteric doctrine which, by interpreting the mysteries of
religion, should reconcile faith and reason, religion and science, and
accomplish the downfall of that sacerdotal system, which--"making the
word of God of none effect by its traditions"--has hitherto usurped the
name and perverted the truth of Christianity. Their standpoint is that
Christian doctrines, when rightly understood, are necessary and
self-evident truths, recognisable as founded in and representing the
actual nature of existence, incapable of being conceived of as
otherwise, and constituting a system of thought at once scientific,
philosophic and religious, absolutely inexpugnable, and satisfactory to
man's highest aspirations, intellectual, moral and spiritual.
=The Perfect Way;= or The Finding of Christ. By Anna Kingsford and
Edward Maitland. Third English Edition, Price 6s. net.
=The Life of Anna Kingsford=; by Edward Maitland. A new edition in
preparation.
=The New Gospel of Interpretation;= being an Abstract of the doctrine
and Statement of the objects of The Esoteric Christian Union, founded by
Edward Maitland, Nov., 1891.
=The Story of Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland, and of The New Gospel
of Interpretation=; by Edward Maitland. Third and enlarged Edition, 228
pp., edited by Samuel Hopgood Hart, Cloth Gilt, Back and Side; Price 3s.
6d. net; Post Free 3s. 10d. The Ruskin Press, Stafford Street,
Birmingham.
=The Bible's Own Account of Itself=; by Edward Maitland. Second Edition,
edited by Saml. Hopgood Hart, complete, with Appendix. Crown 8vo. 96
pp., Stiff Paper Covers, Price 6d.; Post Free 7d,; or in Cloth Covers,
Gilt, 1s. 6d. net; Post Free 1s. 8d. The Ruskin Press, Birmingham.
All the above Works may be obtained from
=_THE RUSKIN PRESS, STAFFORD STREET, BIRMINGHAM._=
(_Postages in addition to the above Prices._)
=_Some Testimonies of notable profiolents in religious science._=
"If the Scriptures of the future are to be, as I firmly believe
they will be, those which best interpret the Scriptures of the
past, these writings will assuredly hold the foremost place among
them.... They present a body of doctrine at once complete,
homogeneous, logical and inexpugnable, in which the three supreme
questions, Whence come we? What are we? Whither go we? at length
find an answer, complete, satisfactory, and consolatory."--BARON
SPEDALIERI (_The Kabalist_).
"It is impossible for a spiritually intelligent reader to doubt
that these teachings were received from within the astral veil.
They are full of the concentrated and compact wisdom of the Holy
Heavens and of God. If Christians knew their own religion, they
would find in these priceless records our Lord Christ and His vital
process abundantly illustrated and confirmed. That such
communications are possible, and are permitted to be given to the
world, in a sign, and a most promising sign, of our age."--REV. DR.
JOHN PULSFORD.
THE BIBLE'S OWN ACCOUNT OF ITSELF.
By EDWARD MAITLAND (_B.A., Cantab_)
Author of "The Keys of the Creeds," "The Story of the New Gospel of
Interpretation," "The Life of Anna Kingsford," etc.; and Joint Writer
with Dr. Anna Kingsford of "The Perfect Way," etc.
EDITED BY SAMUEL HOPGOOD HART.
=Second Edition, (Complete) with Appendix, PRICE SIXPENCE.=
Or in Cloth Covers, gilt, One Shilling and Sixpence.
"Now there come out of the darkness and the storm which shall arise upon
the earth, two dragons. And they fight and tear each other, until there
arises a star, a fountain of light, a queen, who is Esther."--The Vision
of Mordecai, as interpreted in "Clothed with the Sun," I., IX.
BIRMINGHAM: The Ruskin Press, Stafford St., and all Booksellers.
SOME PRESS OPINIONS
OF
_The Story of Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland and of The New Gospel
of Interpretation._
_Literary World_--"A strangely interesting book--very curious--few who
have any sympathy with mental phenomena of the 'occult' kind will fail
to read it with sustained interest."
_Light_--"A psychic history of umblemished veracity and astounding
facts--supremely interesting--'full of beauty and perfect simplicity of
purpose'--and showing that the 'fig-tree of the inward understanding is
no longer barren, but has budded and blossomed and borne fruit.'"
_Church Bells, 27th April, 1894_--"Mr. Maitland has written a
fascinating book."
_The Gentleman's Journal, March, 1894_--"Nothing Mr. Maitland writes
would I like to miss--I never study his searching and striking pages
without profit."
_Agnostic Journal_--"A fascinating volume--the history of a work
calculated to effect a fundamental revolution in religion--told in
language which leaves nothing to be desired."
_The Illustrated Church News, 31st March, 1894_--"This work is to
Christians of real interest; for it enables them to study Gnosticism
alive and vigorous in the nineteenth century."
_Brighouse Gazette_--"One of those really great books associated with
the names of Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland."
_The Unknown World_--"There is no man now known to be living in England
who has had such an abundant transcendental experience."
RELIGION AND MENTAL PHENOMENA.
_From the "Christian Union."_
Whatever may be said in favour or disfavour of Mr. Edward Maitland's
"Story of the New Gospel of Interpretation," it is one of the most
remarkable and most fascinating books on mental-visional perceptions of
Divine Revelation that has appeared at any time. It is a book that
carries the reader away from the materialistic to the mystical and
spiritual. The author claims to bring to the old revelation a new
interpretation, or more correctly, to restore the original and spiritual
interpretation which has been lost through literalism. According to the
narrative, the two persons concerned were for some years in reception of
revelations which convinced them that they had been enabled "to tap a
boundless reservoir of wisdom and knowledge" before the method and
source were declared to them.... At length it was made clear to them
that the knowledges they had acquired were due to intuitional
recollection occuring under Divine illumination. "Inborn knowledge and
the perception of things--these are the sources of Revelation. The soul
of the man instructeth him, having already learned by experience.
Intuition is inborn experience, that which the soul knoweth of old and
of former lives." The ordinary mind will doubtless be ready to pronounce
it to be strange mental phenomena, and nothing more. But surely mental
phenomena of an extraordinary character must have an extraordinary use
and purpose. And so few persons know enough of the psyhic powers latent
in man, to be able to believe in the reality of these manifestations....
The nature of the results is such as to negative all materialistic
explanations. For the knowledges recovered are real, solving problems in
the profoundest domains of theology, hitherto given up as mysteries
hopeless of solution. And they are being thus recognised far and wide by
the profoundest students of spiritual science.... Judge the story of the
New Gospel of Interpretation in what light we may, it has in it all the
evidences of a marvellous work in its mental and spiritual conception,
exposition, interpretation, illustration, and Divine communication. It
stands out conspicuously as a fuller development of Biblical truth, such
as Cardinal Newman must have anticipated when he said that he saw no
hope for religion, save in a new Revelation.
THE RUSKIN PRESS.
STAFFORD STREET, BIRMINGHAM,
PRINTERS.
* * * * *
Transcribers notes:
Maintained original spelling and punctuation.
Silently corrected obvious typesetting errors.