PART II
Here beginneth Chapter I of the Second Part of the Book which is
called "The Tablets of Æth,'' wherein is transcribed the First
Trinity of the Planetary Rulers.
——
"The human heart is the true temple of God; enter ye into
your temples and illumine them with good thoughts. The
sacred vessels, they are your hands and your eyes. Do I say
that which is agreeable to God—doing good to your neighbors?
But, first embellish wherein dwells He, who gave you life.''
——
"How small soever your lamp be, never give away the oil
which feeds it, but only the light and flame, which crown it.''
TABLET THE FIRST
The Sun
REFLECTION
TABLET THE FIRST
The symbol of all created life, spiritual and material; of all goodness,
human or Divine; the center of all thought, from brutal instinct
to Deific wisdom; of all creations, from starry systems to man, and
from man back again to invisible gas; of all action, from the imperceptible
vibrations of nerve energy to the awful destruction of worlds.
All creative potency lies within a Sun sphere. Light is life. The planets
are but the offspring of light and life. So in this symbol, we read
the source of the human Ego, of our own life. We are, as it were,
the planets of the spiritual Sun. Our souls are the attributes of the
Sun, of the spiritual Ego. Only from the Ego can we receive life
eternal and make immortality a fact. Obeying this spiritual life-force,
the human monad is but an attribute, a reflection, of the Divine Ego,
and if it fails to awake to a consciousness of this union, it withers
and dies like a flower plucked from the parent tree of life.
O child of Adam, in reverence and awe do thou meditate upon this Tablet,
for it is a thing of beauty, a being of light, life and love, manifesting its
creative
mission. It is the Vicegerent of God, flaming forth His splendors in the sky.
TABLET THE SECOND
Mercury
REFLECTION
TABLET THE SECOND
A vision revealing the earthly drama of the microcosm. The
elephant represents the highest expression of intelligence, minus the
spirit; kneeling between the square columns of matter, i.e., guarded
by them. The external mind is sleeping, or, at most, dreaming of the
things of the spirit. Above sleeping mind sit the two birds, who
represent spirit and matter, each waiting for the slowly preparing
feast. The boy, the soul with its weapons, has a choice. Shall it be
the sensuality of the flesh that he shall destroy, or the possibilities
of the spiritual life on earth. The problem awaits solution. The
eagle sits ready to bear aloft the spirit of the sleeper. The vulture
hopes for sleep to end in death, that he may live upon the carrion
thereof. The flowers of the external mind have for their roots the
snakes; and, in a larger sense, the flowers of immortality have the
serpent of wisdom for their roots. And the poppy winks. It knows
its own power of illusion, and the double significance of the snake;
the necessity of evil in the evolution of good. It is the Tablet of
Wisdom.
O child of Adam! "Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as
doves.''
TABLET THE THIRD
Venus
REFLECTION
TABLET THE THIRD
There is but one altar, but one blood of the sacrament in two
cups, but one flesh of the Christ—the Ego—in two hearts, two experiences
in love, ecstacy, and pain; two results of experience, the serpent
and the dagger, symbolizing wisdom and affliction. Above the altar
the divine woman holds the wreath encircling the angel. The angel
of immortal life rises from the altar of sacrifice. Some of the wine is
spilled as offering. The cup that is filled is raised to "Ra.'' To serve
at the altar of love is the soul-mission of all, even as Christ served
his disciples. Each soul must find its own service, and then the
pilgrims of the Sun return to the mansions of the blessed. The great
mother-god, Venus, Urania, quivers and thrills as she holds forth
her offspring—the angel, the young Eros of life eternal.
O child of Adam, this is the Tablet of Love. Meditate thereon, as the
last of
the triune God. In this Tablet lies the secret of suffering and pleasure. He
who
vibrates in pain will quiver in ecstacy. Only those who have agonized in Hell
can
thrill in Heaven.
[Blank Leaf]
