"CONCERNING GOD AND RELIGION"

Part Eight: The Immediate Objective of the Craft  (conclusion).

THE FIRST ACT: THE OPENING OF THE SEALS.

The imagery here employed is that of a "book" written "inside" and
"sealed at the back", which no one is worthy to open save the Lamb. 
In the larger sense this is the Book of Life, the Universe itself
as the Temple of Initiation, in which the secrets of existence are
hidden, being written within.  Reality must therefore be sought
for, by penetrating beneath the surface of things, even as man's
power of spiritual response, too, lies below the level of normal
awareness, and is awakened only by turning within:-

Truth is within ourselves.  It takes no rise 
From outward things, whate'er you may believe,
There is an inmost centre in ourselves 
Where truth abides in fullness; and to know 
Rather consists in finding out a way 
Whence the imprisoned splendour may escape 
Than by effecting entrance for a light
Supposed to be without."
("Paracelsus" by ROBERT BROWNING.)

The book, then, also refers to man's own nature, which he must
learn to know by sinking into himself and by studying the
inwardness of his being.  Again, applying the physiological key to
the allegory, it will be seen that the book alludes to the human
body, the spinal column "at the back" being the channel for a
spiritual force at present "sealed" or dormant.  In the worship of
Osiris a frequent symbol and object of veneration was the
TET-pillar, or tree-trunk, called "the backbone of Osiris." This
holy pillar symbolised the sustaining power within the Universe,
the word TET meaning "firmness," "stability", or "preservation."
The following passage from the "Book of the Dead" relates to the
awakening of the "sealed" spiritual force in the neophyte:-

"Rise up thou, O Osiris ! Thou boast thy backbone,
O Still Heart ... Thou hast the fastenings of thy neck and
back, O Still Heart."
("Book of the Dead", chapter 155.)

In the scene which is enacted, the Lamb is hailed as "the Lion of
the tribe of Juda" and the "root of David." As the Lion (Leo) he
represents the Sun, symbolic of man's highest principle; as the
"root of David" he signifies Divine Love, the source of all being,
for the name David means "beloved", and the Biblical David is the
type of the love element in man.  According to the Kabalistic
tradition the word ADAM, the collective name of humanity, is said
to stand for Abraham,  David and the Messiah, marking three stages
in human spiritual evolution.  Abraham typifies the first turning
of the soul to God, the awakening desire for truth; David is the
further progression, the sage of intermittent illumination, which
is marked by alternating sin and repentance; the Messiah marks the
stage of full illumination and final perfection, and as the Messiah
traditionally appears according to prophecy from "the line of
David," and is born in the "city of David", so does the Divine
Power in man emerge as the result of the unfoldment of Divine Love
within himself. Furthermore, the Lamb is here described as having
the appearance of one that "had been slain" - (Revelation 5, verse 
6), a reference again to a higher faculty in man which is dormant
or "dead" until an inner awakening takes place.  The seven horns
and seven eyes symbolise spiritual powers and perceptions now
active. Taking the "book" (i.e., acquiring control of the organism
which is to be energised), the Lamb is acclaimed by the assembled
beings, all representing different aspects and attributes of the
aspirant's own nature, the ten thousand times ten thousand, and
thousands of thousands" signifying the inexhaustible stream of
worship and aspiration which is generated within himself.

The opening of the "seals" which follows proceeds in a certain
significant sequence, and a further vivi piece of imagery is
presented in the Horsemen that make their appearance with the
opening of the seals.  This unsealing of the "book" indicates the
release of forces until now inhibited, forces of different quality
symbolised by these figures, which on examination will be found to
be simply the equivalents of the several animal symbols already
mentioned.  Swift and strong, intelligent and docile, the horse
when mastered and kept under control becomes a faithful servant of
man; hence from very ancient times it has been used as a symbol of
the mind acting as vehicle of the spirit.  In the Brahmanas it is
written: "Whoever shall seek thee in the form of a white horse,
shall find thee." It was as a horseman that the Buddha escaped to
make the Great Renunciation, and his steed was said to have
afterwards become a divinity.  A white horse is an object of
reverence in Chinese Buddhism, the tradition being that Buddhism
was first brought to China by a white horse bearing the sacred
books.  Ever the conqueror goes forth upon a horse.  Siegfried is
given a horse by Brunhilde, and in the Greek myth the hero
Bellerophon has the winged Pegasus bestowed on him by Athene. 
Elijah was taken up to heaven by fiery-horses.

The horsemen of the Apocalypse represent various forces inherent in
the neophyte's own nature, stimulated to intenser activity by the
energising power of the Spirit (the Lamb), who "opens the seals",
i.e., awakens the centres and so liberates energy at every level. 
The first to appear is the White Horseman symbol of the Higher
Mind; but as the highest is reflected in the lowest, and spiritual
creative power in physical procreation, the White Horseman is here
made to appear in association with the lowest centre of force.  In
his first entry he is identified with Sagittarius, the archer; his
bow denotes destruction aimed at the element to be overcome; his
crown is supremacy foretold, for he who is now beginning his work
ultimately re-appears as the Conqueror of all. Next the Red
Horseman appears.  Red (passion) indicates the lower levels of the
emotional life, and this is further illustrated by the rider's
sword, the emblem of Mars, the god of war.  As Mars governs
Scorpio, so this horseman is associated with the solar plexus, and
is therefore the equivalent of the red dragon, corresponding to the
element of water.  The forces liberated at this level cause evil
tendency and desire to be outward turned, that it may be met and
overcome, and at this stage power is given to "take peace from the
earth" (Revelation 6, verse 4), for the conflict must be waged and
ended during incarnation.  The Black Horseman follows.  He
symbolises the lower mind, and is the equivalent of the Beast.  His
pair of scales identify him with Libra, the balance, associated
with the region of the heart.  The words, "A measure of wheat for
a penny, and three measures of barley" (Revelation 6, verse 6), are
a cryptic allusion to the poverty of the lower mind when
unillumined by the Spirit, while the injunction to "hurt not the
oil and the wine" is a further veiled reference to the lack of love
(oil) and spiritual wisdom (wine) which distinguish the natural
man.  These qualities are gained through suffering and endeavour,
and are the gradual fruitage of incarnation; hence the constant
reference in Scripture to the oil-press and the wine-vat, symbols
of the process of extracting from earth experiences the spiritual
essence of Love-Wisdom.  The last in order to appear is the Dun
Horseman.  This horseman is symbolic of the lowest division of
man's nature; its twin riders are Death and Hell (the destructive
elements of the physical and psychic planes), but they are shown to
have the power to injure the outer sense-nature only which is "the
fourth part an angle of ninety degrees, or the fourth part") of the
complete "circle" of man's being.

With the opening of the fifth seal the allegory changes, and the
seer declares: "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain"; these represent the brain centres, until now inert and
dormant.  Of them it is stated that they "should rest yet for a
little season" (remain in a state of suspended activity) until
"their brethren" (the centres within the body) are also awakened,
although the symbolism of the giving of "white robes" denotes that
light is already beginning to pulsate in the aura of the brain
centres.

At the opening of the sixth seal evidence is directly given of the
manifestation of spiritual force in operation, and this is
appropriately described as a "great earthquake" which blots out all
light of normal perception and paralyses thought and action on the
lower planes. In the first verse of Chapter 7 a vision is recorded
of four angels. As the guardians of the  "four corners of the
earth" these angels watch over the whole expanse of human life, as
it manifests on the planes of phenomena.  They are here represented
as holding back the destroying element from the physical and
emotional principles (earth and sea), and also preserving the
results of mental activity (trees) until the "sealing" or
initiation is completed.  There rises then (verse 2) from the East,
the place of Light, a fifth and dominating angel, who confers the
seal of the Divine approval and acceptance upon the aspirant.  The
imprint of a mystic mark "in their foreheads" (verse 3) signifies
the imparting of a sign or token (see also Ezekiel chapter 9, verse
4).  This incident is related, by the doctrine of correspondences,
to the "tribes of the children of Israel" (verse 4), and the
"number of them which were sealed" is given as 144,000.  Here the
original twelve of Genesis is squared, symbolic of a raising to a
higher plane of consciousness, the added cyphers serving to
emphasise an advanced stage of unfoldment resulting in vastly
expanded powers.  It will be noted that one "tribe" of the original
twelve, DAN, is omitted.  This is because the prediction: "Dan
shall be a serpent by the way" (Genesis 49, verse 17) is now
fulfilled. The "serpent" is Scorpio, symbol of the creative force
energising on the lowest plane; in the perfecting work the element
represented by Scorpio (sex function) has to be entirely
transmuted, and a transfer is therefore made to "the tribe of
Joseph" (verse 8). This is also the reason, here and in all systems
of Initiation, for the appearance of the extra-Zodiacal sign AQUILA
(the Eagle), symbol of aspiration and spiritual power, in place of
Scorpio.  In this place, as in an earlier vision, there is a
presentation of the Spiritual Self within, with its outward-turned
faculties and powers on the three planes of manifestation.  The
white robes and palms are symbolic of purity attained.

Finally, the last of the seals, the seventh, is opened, after which
there is "silence in heaven", for this centre is the pineal gland,
where the senses merge and where all the nervous forces are
focused.  Hence here is found the equilibrium, and here is
experienced that mystic silence which succeeds to the turmoil of
life centred in the outer consciousness.

THE SECOND ACT: THE SOUNDING OF THE TRUMPETS.

The high state of meditation indicated by the "silence in heaven"
having been attained, the action of the drama proceeds with the
energising of the seven centres within the brain.  This awakening
of the brain-centres is represented in the allegory as the sounding
of successive trumpets.  The trumpet, most powerful of wind
instruments, has figured from very ancient times in religious
ceremonial, and in the Bible it is frequently mentioned in
connection with ritualistic practice.  It had also a definite
significance in the language of the Mystery-schools, To quote from
the late W.Bro. W. L. Wilmshurst :-

It must be explained that the 'trumpet' and 'last trumpet' are
technical terms among Initiates for the spiral, trumpet-shaped,
whorls or vortices occurring in subtle matter under stresses,
audible to those in whom the change occurs. The reference to the
'sound of the last trumpet' stands for a physiological experience
as the last fine physical strands of the old nature are, as it
were, snapped and the nervous system re-electrified.  In the East
this experience is called the 'end of the world', since for the
Initiate it means the termination of his old worldly consciousness
and its replacement by one of a much more vivid and intense
quality."

The Masonic Initiation by W. L. WILMSHURST,
footnote to page 76.)
In the scene which follows (Revelation, chapter 8), the aspiration
of the neophyte (symbolised by clouds of incense) brings a response
down into the physical vehicle ("the earth"), and this is
experienced as an inward shock ("earthquake").  The imagery
employed is intended to show that at each trumpet call the lower
levels of the successive planes are transcended.  With the third
call there is also the "falling" of the star "called Wormwood"
(verses 10 and 11) - "the gall of heaven"; the fourth call brings
"darkness" (a sense of oppression) the fifth opens up the
"bottomless pit" (symbol of the sub-conscious), revivifying evil
desires and thoughts ("locusts").  The first to the fifth calls
indicate the pain and affliction which must be endured by the
emotional nature under discipline as the spiritual nature is
unfolded.  At the sixth call is heard the sound of a voice from
"the golden altar"; this is the Higher Mind that speaks from its
holy place, commanding the release of powers up to now inhibited. 
The army of "two hundred thousand thousand" represents the
unlimited powers of the Spirit, while the lion-headed horses,
accompanied with fire and smoke, indicate the solar energy
available.  Next is revealed the presence of the hithtor (chapter
11 verses 1 and 2), who bears in his hand "a little book open";
this is the Gnosis or secret wisdom to be imparted.  The neophyte
is instructed that "those things" are never to be written, but
sealed up within the heart.  He is further commanded to "take the
little book" and "eat it up" (to receive and assimilate the
wisdom), and is then raised to the prophetic office.  Students are
recommended to compare this episode with the passage in Ezekiel
chapter 3, verses 1 to 4, in which the prophet is commanded to
"eat" the scroll containing the words of the Lord.  Before the
seventh trumpet is sounded certain other trials await the aspirant,
and the description of these is preceded by the cryptic command,
"Rise, and measure the temple of God" (Revelation, chapter 11,
verse 1).

It will be necessary to digress in order to explain the meaning of
this allusion, and students are therefore reminded that the
Biblical temple, like that of Freemasonry, is symbolic of man
himself.  The temple is an edifice modelled upon the "ground plan"
of an earlier " tabernacle", which was itself erected after Divine
instruction, "according to the pattern of things seen in the
mount." In other words, the terms "tabernacle" and "temple" are
used to denote stages in soul progression. The tabernacle being
borne from place to place by Israel (collective humanity) in the
"wilderness" symbolises the soul not yet having come into
possession of its spiritual heritage, although being directed
thereto by a divinely ordered discipline.  At a later stage, when
the Promised Land of further spiritual unfoldment is gained, a
period of steadfastness and security during individualisation is
entered upon.  Thereafter, the founding of a kingdom under David
and Solomon (Love and Wisdom) indicates the recognition by the soul
of an Inner Ruler Divine, and the unified effort of the whole
nature resulting from that supreme influence.

It is at this stage that the "temple" is built, signifying the
establishment within the consciousness of the individual of an
abiding sense of Divine guidance and protection.  At yet a further
stage, when the final perfecting of the individual is achieved, the
temple itself is superseded ; with the mystic marriage of soul and
spirit the Divine Indwelling is completely realised and At-onement
attained, a consummation symbolised by the Holy City. In its
various divisions the temple depicts the four-fold nature of man,
as follows:-

1. THE OUTER COURT or COURT OF THE GENTILES: An open place of
traffic in which certain preliminaries only to worship are
transacted. This corresponds to the body, the outward-turned sense
consciousness and the visible world.

2. THE INNER COURT: In which offerings are received, sacrifices
made and purificatory rites undergone.  This corresponds to the
lower psychic and mental realms.

3. THE HOLY OF HOLIES: The "sacred shrine" into which the High
Priest alone, and he only once a year, on the solemn Day of
Atonement, is permitted entrance.  This corresponds to the Higher
Mind, the seat of the Spiritual Self in man, in which the office of
High Priest is performed by the exalted consciousness, through
which direct contact is set up between the outer and the inner.
Thereby the hitherto impassable is bridged, the higher linked to
the lower and a way of communication established.  This is only
possible in that "day" (light) of At-one-ment or conscious
unification of soul with spirit.

4. THE ARK OF THE COVENANT: The mysterious prototype corresponding
to man's highest principle-Pure Spirit (Atma).

The divisions of the Temple therefore symbolise the whole range of
man's being - spiritual, intellectual, moral and physical - on all
levels of consciousness.  Of these four divisions, the outermost
which is "given unto the Gentiles" (signifying sense dominion and
materialism), must be entirely transcended in the process of
perfecting. It is here declared (verse 2) that sense domination
shall "tread the holy city underfoot for forty and two months"; the
same length of time is also indicated in the following verse, for
"a thousand two hundred and threescore days" (1,260) divided by
thirty gives exactly forty-two months.  This mystical period (given
in other passages as three and a half years) alludes to the first
half of the cycle of Initiation, which is represented as extending
over seven stages.

During the period of conflict against the domination of the sense
nature there are "two witnesses" that prophesy "clothed in
sackcloth" (verse 3).  These, elsewhere spoken of as the "two olive
trees" and the "two candlesticks", refer to the positive and
negative (Ida and Pingala) channels of the spiritual force of
regeneration.  The expression "clothed in sackcloth" is intended to
convey the idea of the passage of impeded force.  Just as men
running a sack race are hampered, and can progress only with great
difficulty, so is the spiritual force impeded during the first half
of the period of initiation. Nevertheless, verse 5 makes it clear
that if the force conveyed through these channels is wrongfully
used it will work destructively; while verse 6 warns aspirants that
if the force is prematurely aroused in the unpurified nature it may
"smite the earth with all plagues" (bring manifold injuries upon
the physical body), "have power over waters to turn them to blood"
(arise in the emotional nature with passional excesses), and "shut
heaven, that it rain not" (prevent the infiltration of truth from
the higher mind).  Those in whom the spiritual force remains
dormant, are described as "dead bodies" (verse 8) "in the street of
the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt." From
the spiritual aspect the human body is "Sodom and Egypt"
(corruption and oppression) to the Spirit (Lord), and the cryptic
phrase" where also our Lord was crucified" (verse 8) is an allusion
to what is known as the first crucifixion of spirit by descent into
matter, the body becoming the cross.  The second crucifixion (that
portrayed in the Gospels) is, however, on the cross of initiation,
and is on Calvary (from "Kranion"-a skull), signifying that the
forces brought to bear in the higher stages of initiation are
directly operative upon the brain centres.  Prior to the sounding
of the seventh trumpet the mystic trance is re-entered upon and a
vision is obtained, with the sounding, of "the temple of God"
(verse 19).

To understand this vision we must revert to the symbolism of the
Temple.  In the Biblical description the Ark of the Covenant, set
within the Holy of Holies, is screened from view by the veil which
hangs before the sanctuary.  As at the crucifixion on Calvary
(representing a high stage of initiation), this veil is rent from
top to bottom, signifying the breaking-down within the
consciousness of all sense of separateness, the merging of the
individual life with the Universal, so now, too, at this point in
the initiatory process, the temple is "opened" (all veils are
withdrawn) and it is permitted to the neophyte to gaze upon the
inmost and most sacred elements of his own being.  What he is
allowed to contemplate at this stage is nothing less than the most
holy mystery of a Divine Conception taking place within himself, by
which the God-man that he is to become is called into being.  The
spiritual forces now uniting in this creative work are presented to
him by those symbols named in Scripture as "the pot of manna" and
"Aaron's rod that budded." These have a dual meaning; as "line" and
"circle" that symbolise the twin aspects of Deity in manifestation,
energy and substance, the Father-Mother elements inherent in all
life; at a higher level they are the elements of spirit and soul
which combine in the process of regeneration. The "ark of his
testament" is, then, the womb within the brain, where, by the
action of its androgynous organs, a spiritual conception takes
place and the Virgin Birth or "birth from above" is accomplished.
This episode thus presents the mystic calling into being of a
God-man, namely that "child of the woman" (the illumined soul)
appearing in the following scene of the drama. The vision is
accompanied by "lightnings, and voices, and thunderings" (solar
forces manifesting as inner voices and spiritual illumination),
while "an earthquake, and great hail" alludes to the immensely
accelerated vibration of the aura set up thereby.

THE THIRD ACT: THE WAR IN HEAVEN.

The third act presents the battle of the sky, which symbolises the
casting out from the mind of all impure thoughts and unholy desire. 
The soul, having conceived within itself through the power of the
Spirit and brought forth the Divine Child from the holiest recesses
of its own being, is now presented as the "woman clothed with the
sun" (chapter 12, verse I ).

In the Gospel story the birth of the Christ Child is followed by
the persecution of Herod and the flight into Egypt, symbolising the
treating of the new spiritual power in the outer world while
allowing it to remain "hidden" that is, to work secretly and from
within.  Similarly, this Apocalyptic birth of the "child" (the
God-consciousness) is followed by the appearance of the persecutor
in the shape of "a great red dragon" (verse 3), threatening to
devour and annihilate it.  The battle in heaven that ensues is the
war within the mind, by which fierce striving of the higher
elements against the lower, the thought realm is purified.  Michael
is the great Guardian of the Underworld.  His is the power which in
normal humanly acts as the censor of the mind, the ever-vigilant
psychic guardian that keeps destructive or harmful thought below
the level of awareness, confining it within the depths of the
sub-consciousness or mental underworld.  At this stage, however,
when all deep-lying evil has to be aroused and combatted, Michael
appears as the warrior, a purifying power, in the strength of which
the neophyte may face and overcome all the hitherto hidden and
unrecognised elements of selfishness and impurity slumbering within
him. The triumphant voice of the higher consciousness proclaims the
victory attained (verse 10), and declares war upon "the inhabiters
of the earth and of the sea" (verse 12), while to the "woman" are
given "two wings of a great eagle" (aspiration and power of
spiritual ascent).

Finally, there is pronounced the mysterious number of the Beast,
666, which has aroused such endless speculation.  By geometric
transcription this number may be shown to correspond to the Greek
term HE PHREN, signifying the lower mind. The number 666 is one of
a sequence, and for a fuller exposition of the subject students are
referred to works on Greek number symbolism.


THE FOURTH ACT: THE HARVESTING.

This act opens with a vision of a Lamb exalted.  Aries, the ram or
lamb, is associated with the crown of the head, the seat of the
Higher Mind ("mount Sion" - chapter 14, verse 1).  With the lamb
are the 144,000, symbolising the faculties and attributes (twelve
squared) of the neophyte raised to their highest powers of
expression. Then follows a three-fold angelic song.  The first
strain of this celestial song proclaims the omnipotence of God the
second brings the realisation within the self that the lower nature
is now conquered ("Babylon is fallen") while the third embodies the
repudiation of that lower nature in its aspect of the desire-mind
("the beast") with the conviction that its power is also
overthrown.

Following this necessary introduction, the scene is changed to the
harvesting of the earth and the vine.  Corn (or Bread) and Wine
enter into all the Mysteries.  To quote again from the writings of
the late W.Bro. W.L. Wilmshurst:-

"In their higher symbolism Corn (or Bread) and Wine relate to those
of the Altar, and were Eucharistic elements in the Mysteries long
before the Christian Master in a certain 'upper room' (or higher
level of application) took over and gave a new application to the
wheat of Ceres and the wine of Bacchus-Dionysos; while Oil, the
crushed out and refined product of the olive, refers to that Wisdom
which is the ultimate essence of experience and knowledge, and
which has been associated, in the different Mystery teachings, with
Minerva, with Solomon, and with the Mount of Olives.

"The spiritual Craftsman not only earns his own wages
proportionately to his work; his own labours automatically supply
them.  God, as his employer, has already lodged them with him in
advance; he has only to appropriate them as he becomes justly
entitled to them by his own labours, as the sons of Jacob found
their money restored to them in their corn-sacks.

"The Mason himself is likened to an ear of corn, nourished by a
fall of the Water of Life.  In virtue of the animal element in his
nature he is himself 'the ox that treadeth out the corn',
separating his own golden grain from the stalk that bore it.  He is
himself the 'threshing floor of Araunah', winnowing his own chaff
from his own wheat.  He treads his own wine-press alone; in
singleness of effort and in the solitude of his own thought
distilling his own vintage, until the cup of his mind runs over
with the wine of a new order of intelligence.  He is his own
oil-press, and out of his own experience and self-realisation
extracts wisdom - that oil which anoints him with a joy and an
ability above his fellows, and that runs down to the 'skirts of his
clothing', manifesting itself in his personality and in all his
activities."

The Masonic Initiation", by W. L. WILMSHURST.)


Similarly the Apocalyptic harvesting denotes the separating by the
aspirant of the life-essence from his mortal existence, and its
offering up for the life of immortality.  First comes the reaping
of the "earth", the ingarnering of the fruit of physical plane
life, in which sense-perception and consciousness outward-turned in
action, have participated; that process being followed by the
reaping of the "vine", fruitage of thought and feeling, the result
of the psycho-spiritual life of endeavour.  This harvest is drawn
upon for the formation of the solar body, rightly described in the
allegory as appearing "without the city" (verse 20), for it is now
displayed as a wondrous aura surrounding the physical body and
extending far beyond it.  The number "a thousand and six hundred"
given here may be rendered "SOMA HELIAKON", meaning "the body and
the sun", while the "horse bridles," to which this measurement is
extended (verse 20), are the centres through which the solar energy
is directed.

The wine-press, the spiritual force by which this work is effected,
is represented as the agent of the "wrath" of God.  The word
"wrath", however, might better be translated as the fire or energy
or ardour of God, for it indicates a spiritual regenerative energy,
re-creating while seeming to destroy.

THE FIFTH ACT: THE OUTPOURED VIALS.

At the commencement of this act the neophyte is once more sunk in
mystic meditation, his consciousness centred in the higher realms
of the mind.  The song of Moses here alluded to is that which
followed upon the crossing by the Israelites of the Red Sea
(Exodus, chapter 15, verses 1-19) in Biblical language this
"crossing" is the symbol of regeneration.  A comparison of the
story of the Exodus "crossing-over" will reveal the same processes
described in the Apocalyptic allegory, depicted with a different
set of symbols.  Moses, as Aries the ram (intellectual leader), is
the victorious "lamb." The people that he leads out of bondage are
the inhibited powers of the spirit gradually liberated.  Babylon,
in the same manner as the Egyptians, typifies the once dominating
sense-nature, and the Red Sea and the Euphrates symbolise the realm
of generation.  Hence the river Euphrates, like the Red Sea, is
"dried up" to permit the crossing over to a new order of being,
while "the horse and his rider" drowned therein represent the
sensuous energies and desires of physical plane existence.

Following upon the opening chorus seven successive woes or plagues
are poured out, descriptive of a cleansing stream directed through
the force-centres, that the aspirant may be purged of the last
remaining vestiges of impurity.  The first vial is poured upon the
"earth", the lowest centre, and the seat of the pseudo-lamb or
"false seer." The "sore" or "ulcer" appearing indicates the gradual
eradication of sensuous thoughts impressed by the desire-mind ("the
beast"); as the physical organism throws off disease and cleanses
the system of poisonous matter by such method of eruption, so this
psychic inflammation is meant to denote an analogous process of
elimination of impure matter in the subtler body.  The second vial
is poured upon the "sea" (passional nature and seat of the dragon),
eliminating from thence the last seeds of instinctual desire. The
third vial is poured upon the "rivers and fountains of water"
(emotions), with reaction upon the astral body.  The fourth vial is
poured out "upon the sun"; this is the life centre, located in the
heart, and the "fire" (solar energy) here realised quickens the
spiritual nature and inhibits all the forces which are not centred
in that spiritual life. The God-consciousness now reigns supreme,
and all that which partakes of the lesser life is represented as
rebellious and unrepentant.  The fifth vial is poured upon "the
seat of the beast" (the solar plexus), which controls the
sympathetic system, and is thereby linked with the desire-mind. 
The sixth vial is poured upon the river Euphrates (the spinal
column, marking the central channel through which the vital
currents flow). In the language of Scripture a river watering the
land is ever symbolic of the Divine life flowing through humanity.
The Jordan, "the river of God," always has this significance, and
it will be recalled that other ancient religions have held certain
rivers sacred, for example, the Nile, the Ganges, and the Indus. 
The seventh vial is poured into the "air" (the brain centres), and
at this vital point the aspirant is made aware of his attainment.

It will be noted that the seventh outpouring is succeeded by storm
and earthquake; this is a figure of speech used here to describe
the intense sensation of shock which is set up by the increased
vibratory action of the brain centres.  At this stage Babylon is
represented as vanquished and utterly overthrown.

THE SIXTH ACT: THE LAST JUDGEMENT.

Heralding the final victory of the neophyte is the seventh and last
chorus, with which this act is preceded.  In this chorus the
mystical "marriage" or Divine Union is foreshadowed, for the
perfected soul is itself the "wife of the Lamb" now being "made
ready." The scene therefore opens with the re-emergence of the
White Horseman as Warrior, signifying that the full spiritual power
of the aspirant is now directed towards the completion of the
regenerative work.  There follows upon his entry the Judgement
episode.  In all the religious traditions of the world, the
Judgement of souls has occupied a foremost place, and the teachings
concerning it range from the most crude conceptions to ideas of a
deeply mystical and spiritual nature.  The "books" opened here
allude to the ineffaceable records imprinted in the memory, while
the "other book", called "the book of life", is the Divine Wisdom,
in the light of which all is seen and understood aright.

THE SEVENTH ACT: THE MYSTICAL MARRIAGE.

In all the ancient Mystery systems a symbolic marriage is figured,
signifying the union of soul with spirit, which is the sole purpose
and goal of spiritual endeavour. Towards this consummation the
whole process of human evolution is slowly progressing.  The great
saints and mystical exponents who have reached the highest stages
of religious ecstasy speak of this experience also as Spiritual
Marriage, an interior state of mystic contemplation in which a
foretaste of Divine Union is granted, and in which the highest
bliss possible to man, while yet in the body is entered upon.

Man, however, is the pilgrim of the ages, and for the complete
understanding of the closing chapters of the Book of Revelation it
is necessary to turn back to the first chapters of the Book of
Genesis; the first and last Books of the Volume of the Sacred Law
presenting in symbolic fashion the beginning and the end of the
cycle of human evolution.  In other words, as the myth of the Fall
in Genesis is the story of Paradise Lost, so the Greater Initiation
portrayed in Revelation is the symbolical figure of Paradise
Regained.  Throughout the myths and tradition generally, there
recurs the concept of a Celestial and Immaculate Woman, who is
often represented as the beloved and Bride of the aspirant. Among
the many versions of this Celestial Woman are the Egyptian Isis,
the Babylonian Ishtar, the Hebrew Shechinah, the Gnostic Sophia,
and the Greek Aphrodite Ourania.  In allusion to the remote and
seemingly inaccessible perfection which she personifies, she is
usually depicted as being heavily veiled, as in the case of Isis;
and, like Isis and the Queen of Sheba, she is often held to be
black of face, although comely beyond compare and utterly without
defect.  It is to this Immaculate Woman, as a personification both
of Wisdom and of his own faculty of intuitive understanding, that
the aspirant is fully and finally united in the last stage of his
ascent; and in this union consists the "mystical marriage." In the
Book of Revelation the Holy City is the sublimated form (now a
spiritual body), the perfect expression of the purified soul, the
"wedding garment" with which the Bride has been "made ready" for
the mystic marriage.

The name ADAM has the numerical value of one hundred and
forty-four, and this, the "measure of a man", is also the
measurement of the city.  The form, therefore, which in the
beginning is the mortal sheath of human consciousness becomes at
the final stage the Augoeides, the shining garment of immortality. 
The life ensouling the continuously changing form is the Woman; as
Eve, she represents at the beginning, the soul caught in the
enchantment of the phenomenal worlds; at the end she becomes the
Celestial Woman, "clothed with the sun," received back in a
glorified state to conscious union with the Spirit. There is
further the re-appearance in the Apocalypse of the river of
Genesis.  The river of Eden which parted into four heads signifies
the dispersal of energy to different levels of activity, and man as
manifesting on the phenomenal planes as a four-fold being, whereas
in the one river that flows through the Holy City there is
signified, in contrast, the re-integrated consciousness of
perfected man.  He is in-drawn, made whole, unified, and for this
reason in the Egyptian ritual the aspirant declares: "I have
gathered myself together from the four quarters." The four cardinal
points are mystically the four planes of consciousness: North-body,
West-mind, South-soul, and East-spirit.  Of the four rivers which
went out of Eden it is the fourth, the Euphrates, its course turned
"towards the east", which symbolises the spiritual element in man,
and this is the river which alone is named in the Apocalypse. 
Moreover, in the centre of the Garden of Eden were two trees (the
Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil); in
the Holy City one tree remains, the duality of mortal existence
(good and evil) having been unified in the higher consciousness.

The twelve manner of fruits, one for each month of the year, are
the matured powers and faculties of the Initiate, while the leaves
"for the healing of the nations" symbolise the manifold
outspreading of the spiritual life in beauty and service. 
Corresponding to the twelve fruits and bearing the same
significance are the twelve gates of the City, associated with the
tribes of Israel. At every gate there is a pearl.  The pearl is
found by diving into the sea, and is therefore the appropriate
symbol of treasure earned, and qualities unfolded by the soul's
immersion in the "water below." When the Master compared the
Kingdom of Heaven to a pearl of great price, He indicated the
nature and tribulations of the quest, and this is the reason why,
in popular belief, pearls bring tears or sorrowful experience. The
precious stones of which the City is built signify the rainbow
colouring and brilliantly flashing fire of the aura.  Subjectively,
the Ring of Fire (symbolised by the Rainbow) is the plane of
spiritual ecstasy, of the "mystical swoon" which is ritually
represented in the third degree of Initiation by a simulated death,
and which involves a complete oblivion of all the things of this
world.

With this resplendent vision the drama is brought to its close. 
The Seer testifies that he has both heard and witnessed, and the
command is given him. not to "seal" or withhold that which had been
revealed, for it is to be preserved for all those who will hear
with the voice of the Spirit, and who "doing the commandments" will
themselves enter upon the way of Initiation.  It is written: "A
wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of
understanding shall attain unto wise counsels", and this Proverb
may well be commended to all Masonic students today. The immediate
objective of the Craft is understanding and practising the Masonic
system. In the attainment of this objective the members of this
Study Circle can render valuable assistance.

SO MOTE IT BE.