certain measure of courage and fearlessness. He must absolutely go out
of his way to find opportunities for developing these virtues. In the
occult schools they are cultivated quite systematically; but life in
this respect is itself an excellent school of occultism, nay, possibly
the best. To face danger calmly, to try to overcome difficulties
unswervingly, this is what the student must learn to do; for instance,
in the presence of some peril, he must rise at once to the conception
that fears are altogether useless, and ought not to be entertained for
one moment, but that the mind ought simply to be concentrated on what
is to be done. He must reach a point where it has become impossible
for him ever again to feel afraid or to lose his courage. By
self-discipline in this direction he will develop within himself
distinct qualities which he needs if he is to be initiated into the
higher mysteries. Just as man in his physical being requires nervous
force in order to use his physical senses, so also, in his psychic
nature, he requires the force which is only produced in the courageous
and the fearless. For in penetrating to the higher mysteries he will
see things not yet revealed to the physical eyesight nor to any other
of the human senses. The latter, by hiding from our gaze, the higher
verities (things which we could not bear to behold) are in reality our
benefactors, since they prevent us from perceiving that which, if
realized without due preparation, would throw us into unutterable
consternation. The disciple must be prepared to endure this sight,
although he has lost certain supports in the outer world by a
realization of the very illusions that encompassed him. It is truly
and literally as if his attention were suddenly drawn to a certain
danger by which for some time he had been unconsciously threatened. He
was not afraid hitherto, but now that he sees his peril, he is
overcome by terror, even though the danger has not been rendered any
greater by his knowledge thereof.
The forces at work in the world are both destructive and creative. The
destiny of manifested beings is birth and death. The Initiate is to
behold this march of destiny. The veil, which in the ordinary course of
life clouds the spiritual eyes, is to be uplifted, and the man is to
see himself as one interwoven with these forces, with this destiny. His
own nature contains destructive and creative powers. As undisguisedly
as the other objects of his vision are revealed to the eye of the seer,
his own soul is bared to his gaze. In the face of this self-knowledge,
the disciple must not suffer himself to droop, and in this he will
succeed only if he has brought with him an excess of the necessary
strength. In order that this may be the case he must learn to maintain
inner calm and confidence in the most difficult circumstances; he must
nourish within himself a firm faith in the beneficent forces of
existence. He must be prepared to find that many motives which have
actuated him hitherto will actuate him no longer. He must needs
perceive that he has hitherto often thought or acted in a certain
manner, because he was still in the toils of ignorance. Reasons which
formerly influenced him will now disappear. He has done many things out
of personal vanity; he will now perceive how utterly futile all such
vanity is in the eyes of the Initiate. He has done much from motives of
avarice; he will now be aware of the destructive effect of all
avariciousness. He will have to develop entirely new springs for his
thought and action, and it is for this that courage and fearlessness
are required.
It is especially a matter of cultivating this courage and this
fearlessness in the inmost depths of the mental life. The disciple must
learn never to despair. He must always be equal to the thought: "I will
forget that I have again failed in this matter. I will try once more,
as though nothing at all had happened." Thus he will fight his way on
to the firm conviction that the universe contains inexhaustible
fountains of strength from which he may drink. He must aspire again and
again to the Divine which will uplift and support him, however feeble
and impotent the mortal part of his being may prove. He must be capable
of pressing on towards the future, undismayed by any experiences of the
past. Every teacher of Occultism will carefully ascertain how far the
disciple, aspiring to Initiation into the higher mysteries, has
advanced on the road of spiritual preparation. If he fulfil these
conditions to a certain degree, he is then worthy to hear uttered those
Names of things which form the key that unlocks the higher knowledge.
For Initiation consists in this very act of learning to know the things
of the universe by those Names which they bear in the spirit of their
Divine Author. And the mystery of things lies in these Names. Therefore
it is that the Initiate speaks another language than that of the
uninitiate, for he knows the Names by which things were called into
existence.
VI
INITIATION
The highest degree in Occultism, of which it is possible to speak in a
book for general readers, is Initiation. One cannot give public
information concerning all that lies beyond, though the way to it can
always be found by one who has previously pressed forward and
penetrated the lower secrets and mysteries.
The knowledge and power which are conferred upon a man through
Initiation could not be obtained in any other manner except in some far
distant future, after many incarnations, on quite another road and in
quite another form. He who is initiated to-day experiences something
which he would otherwise have to experience at a much later period and
under quite different circumstances.
It is right that a person should learn only so much of the secrets of
nature as correspond to his own degree of development, and for this
reason alone do obstacles bar his way to complete knowledge and power.
People should not be trusted with the use of fire-arms until they have
had enough experience to make it certain that they will not use them
mischievously or without care. If a person, without the necessary
preparation, were initiated to-day, he would still lack those
experiences which, in the normal course of his development, would come
to him in the future during other incarnations and would then bring
with them the corresponding secrets. At the door of Initiation these
experiences must, therefore, be supplied in some other way, and in
their place the candidate has to undergo the preliminary teaching.
These are so-called "trials" which have to be passed. These trials are
now being discussed in various books and magazines, but, owing to the
very nature of such discussion, it is not surprising that quite false
impressions are received concerning them. For those who have not
already gone through the periods of Probation and Enlightenment know
nothing of these trials, and consequently cannot appropriately describe
them.
Certain matters or subjects connected with the higher worlds are
produced before the candidate, but he is able to see and hear these
only when he can perceive clearly the figures, tones, and colors, for
which he has been prepared by the teachings on Probation and
Enlightenment.
The first trial consists in obtaining a clearer comprehension of the
corporeal attributes of what seem to be lifeless things, then of
plants, of animals, of human beings (in the way that the average person
possesses them). This does not mean what is commonly called "scientific
knowledge"; with that it has no connection, but it has to do with
intuition. What usually occurs is that the Initiate discloses to the
candidate how the objects of nature and the essence of living things
reveal themselves to the spiritual and mental hearing and sight. In a
certain way these things then lie revealed--naked--before the beholder.
Attributes and qualities which are concealed from physical eyes and
ears can then be seen and heard. Heretofore they have been enwrapped as
in a veil, and the falling away of this veil for the candidate, occurs
at what is called the Process of Purification by Fire. The first trial
is therefore known as the "Fire-Trial," which will briefly be explained
thus:
For some people the every day ordinary life is a more or less
unconscious process of initiation by means of the Fire-Trial. These
persons are those who have passed through a wealth of developing
experiences, and who find that their self-confidence, courage, and
fortitude have been greatly augmented in a normal way--who have learned
to bear sorrow and disappointment, from the failure of their
undertakings, with greatness of mind, and especially with quiet and
unbroken strength. Those who have gone through such experiences are
often initiates, without knowing it, and it needs but little to open
for them the spiritual hearing and sight--to make them clairvoyant. For
it must be noted that a genuine Fire-Trial is not merely intended to
satisfy the curiosity of the candidate. He would learn, undoubtedly,
many unusual things, of which others, devoid of such experiences, can
have no idea; but yet this knowledge is not the end nor aim, but merely
the path to the end. The real aim and object is this--that the
candidate shall acquire for himself, through this knowledge of the
higher worlds, a greater and truer self-confidence, a higher and nobler
courage, and a perseverance, an attitude of mind, altogether different
from what he could have obtained in the lower world.
After the Fire-Trial a candidate may turn from the school; but because
he has gone thus far he will accomplish his ordinary life work, greatly
strengthened in all his spiritual and physical relations, and in his
next incarnation he will continue to seek further initiation and
advancement. In his present life, at all events, he will prove himself
a more useful member of society, will be of greater service to humanity
than he was before, and in whatever position he may find himself, his
firmness, prudence, and favorable influence over his fellows will have
greatly increased.
After coming out of the Fire-Trial, if he should wish to continue in
the occult school, he then has to be instructed in a certain
writing-system which is used by those in the school. Occult teachings
are written in this occult writing-system, because what is really
occult can neither be perfectly spoken of in words of our ordinary
speech, nor set forth in the ordinary ways of writing. Those who have
learned much from the Initiates can but partially translate the
teachings of Occultism into terms of ordinary speech.
The symbols or signs of the secret script are not arbitrarily invented
or imagined, but correspond to powers which are active and efficacious
in nature. It is through these symbols or signs that one learns the
language of such matters. The candidate immediately sees for himself
that these symbols correspond to the figures, tones and colors which he
has learned to perceive during the periods of Probation and
Enlightenment. He now understands that all which went before was like
learning how to spell, and that only now does he begin to read in the
higher worlds. All that appeared to him before as separate figures,
tones and colors, is now revealed to him as a perfect unity, a coherent
harmony, and here, for the first time, he attains a real certainty in
observing and following the higher knowledge. Hitherto it was not
possible for him to be sure that what he saw had been clearly or
correctly perceived. Now, at last, it is possible that a correct
understanding between the candidate and the Initiate begin to arise
concerning the spheres of the higher worlds. For no matter how close
the connection between the two may be, no matter what form their
intercourse may take in ordinary life, the Initiate can only
communicate to the candidate, on these planes, in the direct form or
figures of the secret alphabet.
Through this occult speech the student also learns certain rules of
conduct for life, certain duties and obligations, of which, previously,
he knew nothing whatever. When he learns to know these rules, he is
able to perform actions which have a significance and a meaning such as
the actions of another who is not initiated can never possess. The only
point of view from which he is now able to look upon things; the only
plane from which he can now make manifest his deeds, is that of the
higher worlds and the instructions concerning such deeds can only be
read, or understood, in the secret script.
Yet it must be clearly understood and emphasized that there are persons
who, _unconsciously_, have the ability or faculty of performing these
actions, notwithstanding they have never been in an occult school. Such
"helpers of humanity and the world" proceed blessedly and beneficently
through life. There are certain fundamental reasons, which cannot be
here discussed, why they are in possession of seemingly supernatural
gifts. The only difference between these persons and the pupils of an
occult school is that the former act unconsciously, while the latter
work with a full knowledge, insight, judgment, and understanding of the
entire matter in hand. Often the candidate has to win by training that
which has been bestowed by a Higher Power upon his fellow, for the good
of humanity. One should freely and openly honor these favored ones of
God; but he should not, on their account, consider the work of the
occult schools unnecessary or superfluous.
Now that the student has learned the "Mystery language," there awaits
him yet another trial. By this he must prove whether he can move with
freedom and certainty in the higher worlds. In ordinary life a man will
be impelled to actions by outward motives and conditions. He works at
this or that because certain duties are imposed upon him by outward
circumstances. It need hardly be mentioned that the occult student must
in no way neglect any of the duties connected with his ordinary life
because he is a student in an occult school and in the higher worlds.
None of his duties there can constrain him to treat with inattention or
carelessness any one of his duties in the lower world. The father will
remain just as good a father to his family, the mother just as good a
mother; and neither the officer nor the soldier, nor anyone else, will
be detained from their necessary duties because they are students in
Occultism. On the contrary, all the qualities which make capable men
are increased to a degree of which the uninitiated can form no idea.
That this may not always appear to be the case is due merely to the
fact that they have not always the ability to correctly judge or
criticize the Initiate. The deeds of the latter are not always entirely
intelligible to the former. But, as we have said before, this only
happens in certain cases.
For him who has arrived at the so-called "Steps of Initiation," there
are new duties to be performed to which no outer stimulus is given. He
will be moved to do these things by no external pressure, but by those
rules of conduct which have been communicated to him in the
mystery-language. In this second trial he must prove that, led by such
rules of conduct, he can act from inner promptings just as firmly as an
officer performs his obligatory duties. For this purpose the teacher
will set before the pupil certain definite tasks. The latter now has to
perform some deed in consequence of observations made from the total of
what he learned during Probation and Enlightenment. He has to find the
way to what he is now to perform, by means of the mystery-language,
which by this time is familiar to him. If he discerns his duty and
executes it correctly, he has endured the trial, and he recognizes the
success, which attends the fulfilment of the task, by the changed
manner with which the spiritual eyes and ears now apprehend the
figures, tones and colors. The occult teacher tells him distinctly how
these must appear after the consummation of the trial, and the
candidate must know how he can effect this change. This trial is known
as the "Water-Trial," because, in consequence of its performance taking
place on the higher planes, that support, which would otherwise have
been received from outward conditions, is now taken away. One's
movements are like those which are made in water by someone learning to
swim, and his feelings are those of one having no support except his
own efforts. This practice must be often repeated until the candidate
attains absolute poise and assurance.
These trials are also dependent upon a quality which is produced by his
experiences in the higher worlds. The candidate cultivates this quality
to an extent which he could not possibly reach in so short a time while
developing in the ordinary way, but could attain only after many
incarnations. In order to bring about the change here mentioned, the
following condition is necessary: The candidate must be guided
altogether by what has been proven to him by the cultivation of his
higher faculties, by the results of his reading in the secret symbols.
Should he, during these experiences, attempt to introduce any of his
own opinions or desires, or should he diverge for one moment from the
laws and rules which he has proved to be right, something quite other
than that which is expected will occur. In such cases the candidate
loses sight of the goal for which these matters are undertaken, and the
result is confusion. He has, therefore, manifold opportunities, during
these trials, for the development of self-control, and this, indeed, is
the principal quality needed. These trials are, therefore, much more
easily endured by those who, before initiation, have gone through a
life which has enabled them to acquire command of themselves. Those who
have developed the characteristic of following their higher principles
and ideals without thought of personal honor or desire, who always
discern the duty to be fulfilled, even though the inclinations and
sympathies are too often ready to lead them another way, are already
unconscious initiates in the midst of every day life. They need but
little to enable them to succeed in the prescribed trials. Indeed, one
may say that a certain measure of initiation, thus unconsciously
acquired in life, will be absolutely necessary before entering upon the
second trial. For even as many who during youth have not learned to
write or spell, find much difficulty in learning to do so in later
years, so is it also difficult to develop, merely from a knowledge of
the higher worlds, the necessary degree of self-control, if one has not
already acquired a certain measure of it in the course of ordinary
life.
The things of the physical world do not alter by merely desiring them
to do so, but in the higher worlds our wishes, inclinations and desires
are causes that produce effects. If we wish to bring about particular
changes in these worlds, we must hold ourselves in absolute control, we
must follow the right principle, must entirely subdue the personal
will.
There is an attribute which at this stage of initiation has to be
especially considered,--a really healthy and sure faculty of judgment.
Attention must be directed to the education of this faculty during all
the previous stages, and in the course of them it must be proven
whether the candidate has developed this quality sufficiently to make
him fit to tread the path of true knowledge, for, further progress is
now possible only if he is able to distinguish illusion, superstition,
unsubstantial fancies, and all manner of such things, from the true
realities. At first, this is much more difficult to accomplish upon the
higher stages of existence than upon the lower. Every prejudice, every
cherished opinion regarding these matters, in whatever connection, must
be banished. Truth alone must guide. There must be perfect readiness to
surrender at once any existing opinion, idea, or inclination, when the
logical idea demands it. Absolute certainty in the higher worlds can be
obtained only when one does not obtrude his own opinions.
People whose mode of thought inclines them to phantasy, prejudice and
so forth, can make no progress on the occult way. Yet be not
dismayed--there is, in truth, a glorious treasure that the persistent
occult student shall attain. All doubt as to the higher worlds will be
taken away from him. In all their law they will reveal themselves to
his gaze, but so long as he is blindfolded he cannot see these heights
and compensations. It is, indeed, unfortunate for him if illusions and
fallacies ran away with his intellect and reason. Dreamers and people
inclined to phantasies, are as unfit for the occult path as are
superstitious people; for in dreams, illusions and superstitions lurk
the most dangerous enemies on the road to knowledge. Because the
candidate has already seen upon the portals that opened to him the
first trial, the words, "Without a normal common-sense all your efforts
are in vain;" and upon the gateway, which leads to the second trial,
"All prejudices must fall away," it is not necessary to think that the
capacity for inspiration and enthusiasm, and all the poetry of life, is
lost to the student of Occultism.
If he be now sufficiently advanced, a third trial awaits the candidate.
No aim, no boundary lines, are here set for him. All is left entirely
in his own hands. He finds himself in a condition where nothing
external impels or induces him to act. He must find the way of his own
accord and from within himself. Conditions or people who might have
stimulated him to action are no longer there. Nothing and nobody but he
himself alone can give the strength which he now needs. If he should
not find this strength within he will very soon be standing where he
was before; but it should be stated that very few of those who have
endured the previous trials will fail at this point in finding the
necessary strength. If they have come so far they will endure at this
point also. The only thing necessary is the ability to make a
resolution quickly. For here, in the truest meaning of the phrase, one
must find oneself. In all matters one must instantly resolve to hear
the suggestions, the inspirations of the spirit. One has no time for
doubt or delay. Every moment of hesitation would add to the proof that
one was not yet ready. All that hinders one from hearing the voice of
the spirit must be boldly conquered. It is entirely a matter of proving
one's presence of mind, and it is this attribute to which attention
must be paid during all the foregoing stages of development. All
temptations to act, or even to think, which hitherto assailed a man,
must here cease; but in order that he may not slip into inaction, he
must not lose his hold upon himself. For only in himself can he find
that one sure centre-point on which he can depend. No one should feel
an antipathy to this principle of self-rejection. For him who has
endured the trials already described, it indicates the most perfect
felicity.
In this, as in the other stages before mentioned, every day life itself
can, for many people, be an occult school. Those who have reached the
point of being able to act without delay or personal consideration and
can make prompt resolutions when suddenly confronted with some task or
problem demanding immediate action, have, indeed, undergone their
occult schooling in daily life. The situation which one wishes to
suggest is one in which a successful action is impossible unless the
person concerned grasps the whole matter and acts at once. He is quick
to act when misfortune is in sight, while a moment's hesitation might
lead to a catastrophe; and he who possesses the qualities which can be
developed into a permanent attribute of such a kind, has already
evolved, unknown to himself, the degree of ripeness necessary for the
third trial. For, as already remarked, at this stage all depends upon
the development of presence of mind.
In the occult schools this trial is known as the "Air-Trial," because
while undergoing it, the candidate cannot support himself either upon
the firm ground, or any external cause, or that which he has learned in
Probation and Enlightenment--from the figures and tones and colors, but
solely upon himself.