BETIERO’S
ORIENTAL MYSTERIES
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE: O F ORIENTAL M YSTERIES
Vol. L OCTOBER, 1903. No. 5
THE HIGHER. KNOWLEDGE
The mysteries of the Temple may be reduced to the study of the universal force in its divers manifesta tions.
The aspirant for initiation first studies the phenomena of nature and their effects, thus becoming acquainted with the physical and natural sciences.
When it has been proven that all effects depend upon die same series of causes, when we have reduced the multiplicity of facts to the unity* of law, we shall have opened to our contemplation the world of causes. W hen one would comprehend the study of X atura naturans he must also understand the law of eternal life, which is the same in its diverse manifestations. Knowledge of die lives of the world and of the universe gives the key to astrology. Knowledge of terrestrial life gives the key to alchemy.
As the student proceeds he finds in man the re union of two natures and as he proceeds in the upward path of investigation he encounters a unique force, of which man’s two natures represent the two poles. Very few men attain the practice and knowledge of the superior sciences which confer on man powers al most divine.
Between the sciences which treat of the divine essence and its action in nature when allied to the developed man, we find Thurgy, Magic, Sacred Therapeutics and Alchemy, which the aspirant must understand be fore he can hope for the second degree of initiation. The student can only progress in the natural order when investigating the science of antiquity.
The neophyte will first realize in the cycle of civili zation the unity of the human race with the universe; the unity of the universe with God, and the unity of God with Himself.
When one first begins to understand the truth, he is impressed with ideas alone. As an idea is invisible to all save the possessor, a means must be found for its , manifestation.
The elements for the impression of ideas are the voice, gestures and the tracing of characters.
The Egyptian priests used these latter to express and record the knowledge received by initiation.
And what more beautiful subject for research than the origin of the languages of men ?
It is curious to observe that two great investigators, Claude de St. Martin and Fabre. d’Olivett, arrived by routes entirely different to almost the identical con clusion in regard to this.
Both rebelled against the methods of the sensualists and the positivists who affirm that language is the ar bitrary result of human caprice. Both were conducted to their conclusions by their profound knowledge of the Hebrew tongue.
One who has a speaking knowledge of one or even two of our modern languages, without having consid ered their origin, can have no conception of the pro found system upon which not alone languages but the Origin of the’human race itself is based.
The three great mother tongues are the Chinese, the Sanscrit and the Hebrew.
The words which compose a language in general and the hebraique in particular are not nor could they have ever been the result of an explosion of an arbitrary caprice, as is so often proclaimed. On the contrary, the words composing a language are the result of profound reason.
In each language will be found fixed elements of an immutable nature.
These elements which we are about to examine here constitute that part which we have designated as the sign. This embraces the voice, gestures and traced characters.
To. proceed we might even seek the origin of the signs, and find as a means for their employment the movement and the light, all of which is dominated by the human will.
When the voice is articulated or the gesture is used for affirmation or negation they can be but the expres sion of the will.
If the will, of all men were the same we would find all of their diverse affections the same, but we find that the will of man is in itself subservient to his higher self. This latter always strives for the good, and for the elevation of mankind in all things. But few, however, permit themselves to be guided by this divine preceptor. Thus we have almost as many different natures ds we find individuals.
The savage begins his written language by drawing , such crude forms as will express his thoughts or de sires. This is gradually improved upon until they have in general use a form of hieroglyphics.
When one is in possession of signs capable of express ing his ideas, he must take cognizance of .still another consideration. He must consider the one for whom it is intended.
The sages of Egypt, however, wrote in a peculiar manner, so that those for whom their hieroglyphics were intended could alone read them. As one must be fa miliar with the virtue, propriety and nature of the sub jects considered. The theoretical idea pervading all of their writings was the Three Worlds. They desired to make much of their writings unintelligible to human ity at large. It was their hope that none but initiates would be able to read their inscriptions. As we may recall, the triangle of the three worlds is facts, laws and principles, so the initiate had also three means of ex pressing an idea, by the sense positive, sense compara tive and the sense superlative.
The initiate could use the same words for different ideas by simply changing the value of the words follow ing the class of .intelligence he desired to impart. A simple example will serve to make this plain : “A child desires a father and mother.” If he desired that all should read and understand, he would simply express himself as above.
If he desired to write the same sentence so that only those having material intelligence would understand, the Egyptian sage would w rite:
“The neuter desires a positive and negative.” | Or, “The Equilibrium desires an active and a pass ive.”
Thus those versed in study of the laws of nature, those whom we generally designate in the present epoch as sages, would readily comprehend the above, whereas the ordinary individual would fail to discover the idea. Yet if he desired to hide his meaning from this class and make it known only to theologians of high degree, he would enter the domain of symbolism, or the world of principles and say, “The crown desires wisdom and intelligence.”
Note.—To the reader to whom this lesson may seem somewhat uninteresting, we will say the correct inter pretation of some of the most important of ancient hieroglyphics depends upon a knowledge of these prin ciples. Many of the secrets of antiquity have been thus preserved, so they could be understood only by those who already possessed knowledge of the subject. The sages of the past were thus able to Confuse those for whom the communication was not intended.
THE MAGI
The Magi were the wise men of the past upon whose knowledge kings and princes depended for centuries. When Pharaoh was confronted by Moses who as a sign converted his staff into a serpent, he at once sent for his wise men or magians, who were able to demon strate in a similar manner.
The magians possessed certain physical powers ac quired, by various degrees of initiation.
The ancients having proved the universal existence , of life, also remarked the universal influence of the will. They thus learned that the development of the will is the first and most important object of the one who as pires to control the forces of nature.
The material world is penetrated at all points by an other world of which the so-called material senses can not take cognizance. It can be detected only by the purely spiritual parts of our nature. The visible world has thus a double in the invisible world.
This latter world is inhabited by spiritual beings of many different classes.
Some of these are insensible to either good or evil, but may be made the instruments of either the good or the wicked. The beings are known by the name of elementals. Among others we find the emanations of imperfectly developed men, also from those of perverse wills, as well as suicides. These latter are known as larvae. Thev are directed by one thing only, that is insatiable desire. And, finally, this invisible world is peopled with the ideas of humanity, which appear there as real beings. Every human thought passes at-once to ‘the spiritual world, as soon as it is developed. In the interior world it finds an active entity as its associate.
We may say it unites with an elemental, or, in other words, it fuses with one of those semi-intelligent forces of nature. It continues to exist for a longer or shorter time, according to the original intensity of the cerebral action which gave it bifth.
HE UNDERSTANDS
When I have failed to do as He would have me do
And all day long have struggled with the pain
That tugging ait my heart obscures the view,
And makes my soul send forth a sad refrain,
I know He reaches out to me His guiding hands.
He reads my heart—-forgives and UNDERSTANDS.
—Nellie Hawks.
NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS
Mr. B . M. A n g le is no lo n g er con n ected w ith T h e O r ie n t a l M y s t e r ie s , and is not authorized to receive any m oney for advertising in its colum ns.
NOTICE TO READERS
Som eone has stolen a list of my correspondents. And I u n d erstan d a sch em e n ow in operation to address them pretending to sell the Higher Know ledge or som e course just as good. N o one has The H igher K now ledge for sale other than Dr. Betiero. Do not be deceived.
THE GREAT MYSTERY
As we stand before you this evening there is a feel ing of unalloyed pleasure in the thought that all, or nearly all, here this evening are seeking light. You are anxious to know more of that divine spark implanted in humanityi known as the soul. You seek to know more of the laws by which we can communicate with our friends of the invisible realm. And above all you seek that development which will place you in harmony with God, man and the universe.
Although no subject has been announced, you doubt less expect something along the lines of oriental mysti cism. But I have decided to talk to you this evening of the Great Mysteries of the Scripture instead of the Vedas.
The occult scientists accept as truth the inspired books of the Bible. And it may be here remarked that no greater book exists. To understand the scriptures one must read by the light of the Spirit.
A practical man of strictly material tastes might walk through a beautiful country on an ideal day in spring time without any special manifestation of joy. Yet were he of a poetical nature with a spirit in har mony with such surroundings he might record his sen timents in such lines that future generations would often take that same walk with him, as many of the present time walk with Lord Byron along the beach as bis eloquent apostrophe to the ocean is read. The preacher, priest or theologian who does not read the Bible from a spiritual standpoint and with the as sistance of his higher self makes but sad w ork of it. And instead of a grand book of imm ortal truths, he shows us simply a dry com bination of stories and con tradictions.
The trend of the times leads us to believe that a great change is at hand. Some sects and many alleged prophets have predicted the end of the w orld. But in regard to this,, we have the inspired w ords which say, “Generation after generations of men shall pass away, blit the earth endureth forever.,, So according to these words we need not expect the destruction of the people upon the earth. T he great doctrines of the Bible refer to the tree of life, gathering together of the tribes of Israel, the resurrection, the A tonem ent and the establishment of the New Jerusalem . M any of the prophecies have been fulfilled and all things point to the- fact that we are living in the last days of the dispensation.
Remember, friends, that I do not come before you as a prophet, but merely to consider and interpret, <if pos sible, the prophecies already made.
Neither do we claim originality as the ancient philos opher once truly said, “T here is nothing new under the sun.” In Revelations we find, “A nd I saw another angel come down from heaven, clothed in a cloud— and he had in his hand a little book open, and when he cried seven thunders uttered their voices. I was about to write and I heard a voice saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered and write them not. A nd he said unto me, Thou m ust prophesy again I O o r ie n t a l m y st e r ie s before many people, nations, tongues and kings” This shows us in unmistakable terms that a time would come when prophecies should be given to the world.
These would be strong words to show those skeptics who do not believe in fortune telling, clairvoyance, as trology or other methods of foretelling, yet claim to be Christians and followers of the sacred word. The Bible is a great book and contains the wisdom of ages, but it can only be read, as we again repeat, by the light of the Spirit.
To understand the second coming of Christ, we must not confuse the words Jesus and Christ. Jesus was the name of the Nazarene, the carpenter’s son, bom of Mary in Bethlehem. Christ means the spirit of God and was first applied to Jesus when he received the baptism from John in the River Jordan. There we find the words “This is my beloved son Jesus Christ, in whom I am well pleased.” Christ or Christos means the spirit of God, the master principle of the developed man. In ancient days there were many individuals who attained a very high state of development. And history shows that some nations were in this harmonious con dition. But the people of the earth degenerated; that is, they accepted the shadow for the substance, aud turned their backs upon things spiritual for those of the purely material. And we are even now in the present day suffering from the deplorable fall of mankind from the exalted state where they talked face to face with God. Yet the eternal words of hope are in the Bible and not alone that, but the knowledge is there of the great m ysteries. E lsew h ere w e find, “ W h en the lion and the lamb shall lie dow n togeth er tim e shall be no more.,,
In order to understand this statem ent w e m ust con sider for a m om ent the hum an brain from an anatom ical standpoint. It is the h igh est type o f liv in g tissue, and in form is the m ost perfect representation o f a tree that exists. A nd by its form and function w e ’are led to believe that it is the tree o f life so often referred to in the divine book.
Although but few of its secrets have yielded to the untiring investigation of m an, it is know n that each im portant faculty has its place in the brain. E xperim ents for that purpose have sh ow n that by excitation of cer* tain areas the various passions o f love, hate, anger, re ligion or veneration m ay be called forth with mathemat ical precision.
The higher faculties of observation, love, veneration and religion are located in the front and top of the brain, w hile hate, anger and the destructive faculties are situated in the back and lower part of the brain.
In prophetic w riting, as well as in ordinary language, the power of the low er and back brain are symbolized by the beast, the dragon, the w olf, the lion, the ser pent and other low er animals in which such faculties are the ruling elem ents.
The gentle qualities of the lamb, the horse and the dove led to the adoption of these as a symbol of the higher parts of m an’s nature.
From the earliest ages of the world, even up to tine present time, the back brain or the lion forces in man have overshadowed or devoured the lamb or higher forces.
When there is peace between them will come the mil lennium.
Hatred, envy and jealousies will then cease. Wars will then be an impossibility, as man will be ruled en tirely by his higher nature or lamb forces.
During this time the earth will be given to the elect and will bloom for a thousand years, bringing forth seven-fold.
Now who are the elect ? And to whom will the earth be given for a thousand years ? And when will this time come ? That is the mystery to be considered this even ing. In Romans 11-25 we read, “For I would not, brethren, that, ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blind ness in part has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles should be come in.”
So you see, friends, according to Paul, there, is, in deed, a great mystery referred to in his epistles to the Romans.
Before attempting an explanation, which but fevfr have dared to consider, we will quote from Luke 9-27, “But I tell you of a truth there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they.see the kingdom of Qod.”
The mystery is, friends, that God has promised more than one form of salvation. There is salvation of the soul and there is salvation of the body. Some will be saved body, soul and spirit. O f them it is said their years shall be as a tree. It is to these the kingdoms of the earth shall be given. And in number they shall be one hundred and forty and four thousand.
The mystery has not been heretofore understood, for the time had not yet come.
In the last days you may read in Revelations of terri ble earthquakes, plagues and pestilence, and it further ‘states there shall be wars and rumors of wars.
We all remember the terrible earthquake which com pletely obliterated the city of St. Pierre. Thirty thou sand men, women and children were swept into eternity in the twinkling of an eye. A few days later a town in Central America was destroyed and in a short time four thousand perished by earthquake in Russia.
The devastation w rought by floods and tornadoes in the past year has been appalling. Beginning at Galves ton, the angel of wrath swept over the land, counting its victims by thousands.
Hardly a day passes without some additional horror, as that of the underground railway in Paris. And the daily papers tell of a strange disease which is rapidly depopulating the province of Santiago in Cuba.
It is more rapid and equally as fatal as the bubonic plague. I am not before you this evening to simply re count horrors, which are only too fresh in your minds, but to sow in your minds the seeds of reflection which will show you that the fullness of the gentiles is almost complete.
We are now awaiting that last great event which is . : prophesied to come.
The great international war wherein brother’s hand shall be raised against brother and the hosts of Arma geddon will go forth into battle.
Now what is being done to bring about this culminat ing event ?
Each of the leading nations of the world is armed to the teeth; even so, they are feverishly turning out warships, torpedo boats, destroyers and submarine mon sters without number.
Having created instruments and machines for the de struction Of life on land and sea, all nations are now looking forward to the invention which will permit them to carry death through the air by aid of the flying machine. a As we see, facts coincide with prophecy. And ac cording to prophecies we are approaching the millen nium. Jesus said there are twelve hours in a day. And Peter said one day was a thousand years with our Lord. According to this a simple mathematical calcu lation will show that we are in the eleventh hour.
Some will be entirely destroyed, others will receive the salvation of the soul, and still others, according to holy writ, will be saved, body, soul and spirit. This is the great mystery.
To attain this latter one must have a perfect body and a perfect soul, and when you have these you will also possess a sense which is higher in itself than the five ordinary senses. That sense will give you the power of clairvoyance and clairaudicnce, second sig h t a tellings.
When you have attained this pow er, instead of bci abnormal or u n n atu ral, you w ill h av e sim ply realized the perfection of m an as G o d in ten d ed .
Man in his present state is a fallen being, blind to the grandeur and glory of spiritual g ifts. H e seeks only the m aterial m oney, a n d th e p h y sic a l c o m fo rts it w ill purchase.
Such men have “ traded th eir b irth rig h t for a m ess o f pottage.” W ith all the w ealth o f the m u lti-m illio n aires, ” a man can b u t eat, d rin k a n d b e m e rry . M h is last te rm does not by an y m ean s im p ly h a p p in e s s, t’h e w e a lth o f the w orld can n o t p u rc h a se o n e h o u r ’s tru e h a p p in e s s. For the soul of m an is ever rebelling ag ain st m aterial pleasures alone. T h is is one reason w h y a t all b an quets of the rich they u su a lly serve an a b u n d an ce o f wine, so th a t th ey m a y q u ie t th e still v o ice w ith in a n d further deceive them selves into th in k in g they are h av ing a jolly good tim e.
W hen, how ever, you have becom e attu n ed to the u n i versal spirit, w hen you can g et glim pses o f life in th e other w orlds and hig h er cycles, w hen you have con formed to the law s of physical, and have a perfect healthy body, m ind and soul, you w ill find it a pleasure to walk, to talk, o r to think.
For you will be in harm ony. A nd to you C hrist will have come a second tim e. Y our loved ones w ho have passed over can then ap pear to you at will. T hey w ill advise and com fort you. Each one will then be his or her ow n m edium .
The elixir of life can be ‘found by every one who learns the right method of living.
Right thought, right speech, proper diet and breath ing will bring mankind to the highest perfection. The law of the spirit of life shall set you free from the law of sin and death. (Rom. 8-2.)
.It can be plainly seen that if man will preserve the law in its completeness there is no need for physical death. Elijah was taken up to heaven in his chariot of fire. Jesus arose on the third day, and no matt knoweth the burial place of Moses. Each of you here this evening can attain the highest. But the task is not an easy one.
Yet we must work hard for anything worth having in this world, and you need not be surprised if you find many obstacles in the true path.
To begin with evil elementals are not unlike evil hu man beings—so they in their jealousy will seek to dis courage you. When we refer to elementals there is no reference whatever to our departed friends. We refer to those lower forms of spirit life which may be com pared to the worms and insects of the material plane. Some may ask by what authority we make such positive statements. In reply we will say, Much more than we could tell you of this evening has been given to our adepts, who have in turn given it to the members of our society. And the speaker has had for many, years a familiar who has ever stood ready to give light on mat ters pertaining to the future life.
Occult science first contemplates a serene and har- monious mind. One must drive out all earthly ambi tion, desire for sensation and all unselfishness.
The ten stages through which one m ust pass to at tain the illumination are as follows :
First. After practicing the exercises from one to two weeks the student experiences a vapory chilliness, all the hairs stand on ends.
Second. There is an apathy of thought and a numb ness of limbs.
Third. Casting away of everything, lassitude and exhaustion of the animal body and members. Fourth. Quickening, fascinating rapture, and a flut tering in the head like intoxication.
Fifth. A sense of water of life flowing back from the brain.
Sixth. There appears to be a vitalized life force, like vapor or water which overshadows and descends into his being and nourishes with renewed life.
Seventh and Eighth. H e becomes master of a new vision of the subjective world and astral body. H e sees into men’s hearts and hears the most silent voices, even thoughts.
Ninth. He finds himself so subtile, rare and ethereal that he can transport himself at will, distance being as nothing. H e can pass and not be seen or poise and be visible at will..
Tenth. He becomes attuned with the universal and absolute, being a part of the invisible voice, absolute love and sun spirit. This is the ripening of the soul to the’Egyptian and Yogi. The great mystery of Krishna.
IMPATIENTLY
“ Shall I be able to look back upon this time one year hence, and smile with complacency and fortitude over the ‘FEA R S’1 that beset me to-day ?”
How oftentimes in the past, dear hearts, have I been known to give expression to these very words, ‘and more often than spoken, have I wondered about it. Have you ? Impatient of the present knowledge, long ing to peer into the future, and forgetting that in the present only can I hope to live (except it be in the past). And THERE I will NOT live. A much needed and valuable lesson has been taught me there, after years of suffering needles sly),, time and opportunities have been wasted, and the needed test of strength of character and courage has once more become a practically lost one.
Do you believe in “tests ?” Do you believe that for a purpose, all are put into the crucible again and again, until, purified and refined by much mental or physical agony, or a plenty of BOTH, the dross has given large ly way to the long struggling SPIRITUAL that has la bored for recognition? For, no matter whether you (W E) believe, or do not believe, Nature’s laws and God’s “ways” remain intact, unalterable, and sure. And the PENALTY we MUST pay for every infringement, for every EVADING and for every weakly stood “test” . put upon us. Impatiently we may seek to ward away the anxieties and uncertainties surrounding, and that are a prominent part in the making up of most of lives, but until we have “stood the test,” bravely and with rea- son, they will continue to appear with remarkable exact ness as to time and condition, until we have eventually won out, and have learned to say submissively, “Thy will, not mine.”
Even then there is little release. As children we have come to expect the world to be literally a play-ground for our delectation and pleasure, whereas, stopping to consider it all in the light of intelligence, THIS world is but a preparatory school, and to be just so much a school of rigid, or unexacting discipline as we shall help . to make it.
. And in the face of just such truths, on we go fretting of results when dark clouds and places have seemed to assail us on sides many or few, and when all the hope and strength of one’s nature was in need of husbanding for the more crucial tests that are sure to come into the lives of all.
HOW easy it is to PREACH, and how different a thing it is to meet troubles philosophically when they come. We can tell our friends so readily and glibly what “I would do were I you.” But when it comes home—ah, then! It is all a different proposition. But, I wonder today, after all my talk of tests and strength, etc., IF, one year from now, or if in even six short-long months from now, I shall be able to say, “Not for all the world would I exchange experiences with any one, because of the. great good and strength that has accrued to me through those experiences.” And one of my O. M. friends said that very thing to me a few days ago, and that, too, after having suffered mentally, and with heart-sick agony, those things that we hope compara tively few are called upon TO endure.
Yes, I am wondering if time will prove to me that with greater patience and more cheerfulness and hope fulness, the past-present might have been made a sea son of every-day hopefulness, rather than filled with anxieties and fears. Looking backwards upon some past experiences that all but rent body and soul asunder, I find it so easy today to SMILE, and to send out and up ward thanksgivings for every one of them. Is it not so with you, also, dear hearts ?
Will we ever learn to live justa day at a time, we wonder, and to take but a step at a time, whether step ping literally or allegorically ?
Just a day at a time! Yet, ’tis passingly strange, That we often try hard to live two at a time. How vastly more wise, if then, for a change, We would live but just one, .and save for a chime Of beautiful thoughts—our hours of unrest For the things that in life are reckoned as “best.” And be not forever and aye found in quest Of frets! But accept the sublime.
For the world IS a sublime old place after all. We bring into it, consciously or unconsciously, all the frets and cares and fears that we sometimes are wont to de clare to come swooping down upon us, and unde servedly so.
Impatiently, too, we look upon the seeming follies and foibles of our friends and acquaintances, forgetting that the world is unjust in its criticisms and oftentimes supposed witticisms and fault findings, and taking the say-so of another as F IN A L when relating to those whom we have perhaps expected much from, even be yond the superhuman, we sit in judgment,and condemn ing. Until we have by precept and example, or through bitterness and humiliation, learned to apply, always and ever, the Golden Rule, we shall go on bear ing “tests” that are crushing and heart-blasting, and even to the LAST, M O RE tests will be ours, to meet, overcome and be handed forth towards the attainment of world betterment.
Every day in its coming and going may be made a blessing, a happiness and a joy, if, in patience we live just a day at a time. We- have even more than that to do, however, for each day is made up of hours, mo ments *and seconds. W hen we have been fully con vinced, and will believe and R EM EM B ER hourly that, in all this world, there is N O T H IN G to fear BUT fear —and true it is that *TIS true—and that in every step there is the willing, guiding hand—God, mind, intelli gence and GOOD—then will the journey grow pleasant to resume, and power for the meeting of tests be OURS.
I never once dreamed when I sat down to the type writer this afternoon that I should go dipping into sermonettes. But I needed them myself, I guess, and pos sibly they may not fail in the mission that is NO W in tended as I am sending them out, now that they are written—that of helping other worrisome, care-taking natures to waken up, and fall to thinking of the pit- . falls that seem .to engulf us round when we allow our-, I selves to so far forget our powers and opportunities as to W ONDER if the trials of today and yesterday, and the whole week, perhaps of the past, will ever so have adjusted themselves as to make it possible for us to look back “one year from now” with smiles, and ready to say “Not for worlds would I have missed my tests and my experiences.”.
The sun is not shining out over beautiful old Lake Michigan, or over the city, as I sit here writing. Clouds and mists and rain.drops predominate. But there’s not a raindrop in my eyes; neither a mistiness. Clouds have all lifted, and down deep in my heart the SUN is actually shining, and I’m Q U IT E SU R E that one year from today all will be well, just’ as it is at present EXCEPT that it may be BETTER . And not only for me and mine, but for Y O U and Y O U R S. N el l ie H awks.
DEPARTMENT OF THE ORIENTAL MYSTICS
To the Oriental Mystics in All Parts of the Earth, Greeting:
Beloved Brethren, We desire to inform you that our work is at last meeting with great success. Inquiries are coming in from all countries. Applications are be ing received in every mail. We are more than proud of our work, and when we have enough members to war rant the erection of our Temple, the practical and per sonal initiation will be given, which consists of seven degrees. And we can state with pride that although the I writer is now a member of the leading organizations i the world, there.is nothing that can be compared with n. [ as a means of development and instruction in the great it science which is dear to our hearts.
| Our exercise for the coming month will be as follows : jPAs you retire at night, turn your light in the bedroom lifow. Lie bn your right side and look steadily at it L until you are about to fall asleep, then say, “O Grand L•’ Adonay, I call upon you to send me a spiritual instructor f that I may know and do thy will.”
Fraternally,
Dr. T.7 . Bktiero, Sec’y O. M.
THE GREAT MYSTERY
Attention is called to the lecture of Dr. Betiero which appears elsewhere in this number. It contains one of the great mysteries of the Bible and its explanation, ij-/ Such knowledge is usually reserved for our students alone. All of the O. M. will do well to read and reflect.
FOR CONCENTRATION
Our brother Mystics are requested to extend esoetric aid to Bro. Thos. A. Wilhelm of Sierre Leone, Africa, and Herman Munger of Australia.
SUCCESS DEPARTMENT OF THE ORIENTAL MYSTICS
Dear Friends’* We again thank you for the gratifying number of new subscribers.
Our success list is rapidly growing and many letters attest the help from concentrated thought currents of our adepts. ORIENTAL MYSTERIES / • / This month and until further notice we have decided to make you an offer which we think is liberal. To every one sending us five new subscribers for the Oriental Mysteries we will send prepaid Betiero’s Prac tical Occultism, which sells for regular price of $5.00. Don’t forget to send us five new subscribers and re ceive in return prepaid, absolutely free, Betiero’s Prac tical Occultism.
WHAT H. J. BARTON SAYS
Dear Doctor: If your Practical Occultism could be placed in the hands of every one, the world would be come much better and the great knowledge it contains woiild uplift humanity. Fraternally, H. J. Barton, ‘ Union City, Mich.
THEORY OF WILL POWER By ELIPHAS LEVI
Nothing can resist the will of man when he knows what is true and wills what is good.
I To will evil is to will death. A perverse will is the beginning of suicide.
. To will what is good with violence is to will evil, for violence produces disorder and disorder produces evil. We can and should accept evil as the means to good, but we must never will it.
Otherwise we should demolish with one hand what
we erect with the other. A good intention never justi fies bad means; when it submits to them it corrects them, and condemns them while it makes use of them. To earn the right to possess permanently w«- tnus will long and patiently.
To pass one’s life in willing what it is impossible to retain forever is to abdicate life and accept the ctemit> of death.
The more numerous the obstacles which are sur mounted by.the will, the stronger the will becomes. It is for this reason that Christ has exalted poverty and suffering.
When the will is devoted to what is absurd it is rep rimanded by eternal reason.
The will of the just man is the will of God Himself and is the law of nature.
The understanding perceives through the medium of the will.
If the will be healthy the sight is accurate. God said, “Let there be light,” and the light was.
The will says, “Let the world be such as I wish to behold it,” and the intelligence perceives it as the will has determined. This is the meaning of the word Amen, which confirms the acts of faith. Where we produce phantoms we give birt h to vam pires, and must nourish these children of nightmare with our own intelligence and reason, and still we shall never satiate them.
To affirm and will what ought to be is to create; to affirm and will what should not be is to destroy.
Light is an electric fire placed by man at the dis position of the will > It illuminates those who know how to make use of it, and burns those who abuse it.
The empire of the world is the empire of light. Great minds with wills badly equilibrated are like I comets, which are abortivesuns.
To do nothing is as fatal as to commit evil, and it is I more cowardly.
Sloth is the most unpardonable of the. deadly sins.
RAISING HELL
Y E S ! That is what I mean. Perhaps, though, you I never saw Hell raised in exactly the way I am rais- I ing it.
Hell is a condition of mind, and not a PLACE. Hell I is a condition that every man and woman must pass I through before they can reach Heaven. We have been I taught and brought up to believe that Hell is down be- I low—a deep, bottomless pit into which God puts bad people. That is what the Church teaches, or did teach, | until Science compelled it to show a little more respect for the Creator. And the people try to ‘believe it. BHit it is a LIE. The Psalmist said, “If I make my bed in hell, thou art there.”
The rich man in hell said to Abraham, “I am tor mented in His flames”—Luke 16-24. “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire.”—Matt. 3-10 and Luke 3-9. “They shall be cast into everlasting fire, into hell fire where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.”— Mark 9-43, 48. In these and in several other passages, by FIRE is meant the lust which arises out of self-loVe, and the love of the world; and by the smoke thence is- suing is meant falsity, originating from evil.
’^Hell is to be raised to the very topmost pinnacle of the Temple of Truth, providing that God is there, so that all the people will fall down and worship. None but those who have passed through hell can ever see and know God.
The fire of hell becomes in turn intense cold when the fire, or warmth of heaven, flows in upon it, and the in habitants, of the infernal region shiver as if stricken with the fever of a cold contracted. For they are utterly opposed to Divine Love. The heat of heaven is Divine ; lyOve, and it quenches the heat of hell, which is Self Love, and Self Love must be, eventually, quenched through that love that is divine.
. At such time the inhabitants of the infernal are im mersed in utter darkness, whence they experience infat uation and darkness of mind.
I rejoice, always, when I have heard that a good man or woman is passing through a severe trial, knowing it to be an evidence that the Spirit has kindled the fire that will reveal the Father or the God within, and result in the at-o.ne-ment W IT H God. “These are they which have come up out of great tribulation.”
All power in the Spiritual world belongs to truth, and originated in GOOD, and no power whatever is pos sessed by falsity, or has ever originated in evil. All power is of the Divine, and divinity is all good, and ALWAYS good.
. The hell of the libertine is the hell that is most gall ing of all. Therein we see the smoke of deception, the coals of passion, and the flames of lust. How shall we raise THIS hell? For the victims have left behind all I that is pure and good, and are nearing the time when I the conscience no longer lashes. There is but one way out of the depths of such a hell as this—it is- to listen to the voice of the Most High, who says “Come up’ higher.”
But if having been defeated you shall say, “The next time I will conquer,” and the same thing over again and again, be, sure that in the end you will be brought to so sorry and feeble a state that in time you will not so much as KNOW that you are sinning and will con firm the words of Herod to be true when he said, With ills unending strives the putting off.”
Your sex is your life. Courage! COURAGE!
These, petty annoyances, appetites and passions can be self dominated. You have the power within you to succeed. Those thoughts and habits that are gnawing at your, vitals are corroding your heart and poisoning your mind. The mind requires encouragement. Culti vate perseverance and will power. The reward of virtue is VIRTUE!! “He that uses his own will power to establish his moral strength will soon find a Divine guidance.”
Man makes his own hell. Heaven and hell are REALITIES. They are with us always, and every where, and they follow us through all our experiences now, and every day of our lives must we choose be tween them. We can accept either, scorn either. • Hell is the neglecting of opportunity, and descending among the slothful and vile; descending so low that opportuni- ties cease almost to exist for us. Then does hope die and intelligence is lost.
We may raise hell by improving opportunities, and in ascending to the heights of the wise and good. W e see and realize heaven in bodies strong, sound and clean; in organs that resist disease; in eyes that can drink in beauty; in minds that can reason and understand, ap preciative of noble thoughts and sentiment, eager for wisdom, hospitable to the truth, scornful of lies; gen erous, loving and just.
“Sons of earth, where’er ye dwell,
Break temptation’s magic spell.
Truth is Heaven, falsehood is Hell,
Lawless lust a Demon fell.
, Sons of Earth, where’er ye dwell,
In this heav’n or in this hell,
When ye hear the solemn swell
Of Creation’s mighty bell,
Sounding forth Time’s funeral knell,
Ye shall meet me where I dwell!
Until TH EN —Farewell; FA R E W E L L !”
Prof . S. W. Axt el l ,
Carleton Place, Ont.
A MYSTICS CALL TO ARMS
Soldier of Truth, a new dawn is breaking, Take up thy sword and gird thine armour on. Hast thou not sworn eternal, service to the cause of Truth?
And is Jehovah not thy King of Kings?
The Martial Music calls aloud for marching feet
With hearts most willing for the battle’s fray.
Art thou for Truth, and dost thou know
That all who follow in her service grow
Stronger in Spirit day by day,
As foes ever fall by their way?
Not like our BLESSED truth to rise again, And though the Planets have their birth and death, Truth NEVER dies, but lives in all, and calls in every I state of Man For Soldiers of her faith.
’Tis Truth alone that frees the mind from chains of ig- I norance; There is no other zvay to make men free. In this GREAT CAUSE of right and wrong’ Take up the sword, and stay not thv hand until the bat tle is won. And until Births and Deaths shall cease for thee Fight on! Fight on. (Written expressly for the Oriental Mystics by Agnes Bacon, Reno, Nevada.)
TO BE A PHILOSOPHER
Oh to be a philosopher—in thought; word and in deed—and to have lived the principle taught, when it needed to be lived, instead of rising to the occasion when the occasion no longer really exists, and to say serenely, “I might have known it would come out right.”
It is easy to be brave when the need of bravery is a thing of the past. And it is easy to declare against fu ture panics and fears when the sun shines prosperously and undimmed upon one’s particular horizon. But how dangerous the declaration one seldom realizes until once more the clouds have descended and have mercilessly put to the test all one’s vaunted courage and supposedly heart strength.
When the heart has ached with its fears of things that never came, and when one has crossed bridges seemingly interminable in their leadings, the emerg ing into the light of day again is perhaps more than doubly sweet. But what about the hours and days, and perchance the weeks, of almost intolerable gloom that, had one been a real philosopher, pure and simple, might readily have been passed instead, in hopefulness and at least a degree of happiness?
Children are usually philosophers until they have been educated out of their happy hopes and believings by the pessimistic older ones who* have grown so through having, in turn, been educated into a state of ’ forebodings and fears. And the only way that is open for a returning to past happinesses is to become in heart . literally “a child again,” with a child’s trust that “all is . well,” and that “whatever IS, is best.”
But how soon we forget all good resolutions when again the storm clouds descend, even if they be but small clouds and few in number. We have grown ac customed to being weak, rather than having accustomed ourselves with each recurring test and trial, to a greater strength of character, in the bearing of disappointment and seemingly impending dangers. And thus I say, Oh to be a philosopher | a real, true, and a very thor ough philosopher, capable of looking to the God within just when the looking and depending is most in need. Instead of getting out of life all that we can possibly extract of joy and soul-sunshine every day, it becomes a habit to complain about the todays, with the sad wonderings of what the tomorrows will bring forth. Yes, it is SELF that the writer is taking to task as surely as was ever taken to task another for forebodings and fears. It is unwomanly and unmanly to be cow ardly and shrinking, yet in degree we are ALL cowards. Will we be else ? is the question, and not only asked of YOU, but of SELF, day after day. For if we gain no self appointed ground herein, small Use are we making of the lessons that “New Thought,” Occultism and the other Scientific and soul-growth giving ISM S have given out and are giving out to us.
Through tears of regret we are wont to look back upon days wasted in fears and tears and misgivings, and wishing we had proven a philosopher when our greatest strength was needed, and not afterwards. But even here we are failing to live up to the science taught that brooks NO regret, .but demands that the past BE past, and in no wise closely connected with the present or future. Regrets are MORE than simply useless. They are disastrous; they are soul-binding, and spirit travailing. We have but to forget the past; take up the today and live it well and gloriously and lovingly—and the future will take care of itself. When we have learned to say, and in saying it to believe, as has a writer friend of “ours,” whom Oriental Mysteries read ers have known, arid KNOW, “With the abandon of a happy year-old child, I retire nights knowing that every thing that is best, for me will surely take place”—then shall we have become philosophers, and ready in reality to live the life that brings PEACE. Then we shall have outgrown the “bridges,” and we will cease to sit and think and grow broody and moody where action and courage are required.
Sometimes when all the world is still, I sit and think! Just sit and think! With every throbbing nerve a-thrill, Mine steps swift nearing to the brink Past mem’ries better buried deep, Erom bygone days fast ’round me sweep For griefs, tho’ past, but make me weep When I sit and think! Just sit and think! It were better far to dwell with smiles, Than sit and think! Just sit and think! And bid restless mind to wander far In quest of happier thoughts to link— With the gold and azure of Life’s sky, That, dwelt upon, will, by and by, Bring joy and light to tear-dimmed eye. I will not think! Just sit and think!
N e l l ie Hawks .
