Page 61 (part 8)

"From the possession of the double principle in one, that is the Androgyne condition, the separation of the dual principle was made, presenting two opposites, whose destiny it was, for ever after, to seek reunion into the original one condition. The curse was this, viz.: that nature, impelling the search, evaded the desired result by the production of a new being, distinct from that reunion or oneness desired, by which the natural longing to recover a lost state was and is for ever being cheated. It is by this tantalizing process of a continued curse that Nature lives."** ( Vide " Cross and Circle, " Part II.) The allegory of Adam being driven away from the "Tree of Life" means, esoterically, that the newly separated Race abused and dragged the mystery of Life down into the region of animalism and bestiality. For, as the Zohar shows, that Matronethah (Shekinah, the wife of Metatron symbolically) "is the way to the great Tree of Life, the Mighty Tree," and Shekinah is divine grace. As explained: This Tree reaches the heavenly vale and is hidden between three mountains (the upper triad of principles, in man). From these three mountains, the Tree ascends above (the adept's knowledge aspires heavenward) and then redescends below (into the adept's Ego on Earth). This Tree is revealed in the day time and is hidden during the night, i.e ., revealed to an enlightened mind and hidden to Ignorance, which is night. (See Zohar I., 172, a and b .) "The Tree of the Knowledge of the Good and the Evil grows from the roots of the Tree of Life." (Comm.) But then also: "In the Kabala it is plainly to be found that "the ' Tree of Life ' was [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- [[Footnote continued from previous page]] of Ain-Soph), representing the Logos, is that very Tree of Knowledge ; while Shamael -- the dark aspect of the Logos -- occupies only the rind of that tree, and has the knowledge of EVIL alone. As Lacour, who saw in the scene of the Fall ( chap. iii., Genesis ) an incident pertaining to Egyptian Initiation, says: -- "The Tree of the Divination, or of the Knowledge of Good and Evil . . . . is the science of Tzyphon, the genius of doubt, Tzy to teach, and phon , doubt. Tzyphon is one of the Aleim; we shall see him presently under the name of Nach, the tempter" ( Les OEloim, Vol. II., p. 218). He is now known to the symbologists under the name J EHOVAH. * This is the view taken and adopted by all the Church Fathers, but it is not the real esoteric teaching. The curse did not begin with the formation of either man or woman, for their separation was a natural sequence of evolution, but for breaking the law ( See supra ). ** "By which (human) nature lives," not even the animal -- but the misguided, sensual and vicious nature, which men, not nature, created. [[Vol. 2, Page]] 217 "MYTHICAL" MONSTERS A REALITY. the ansated cross in its sexual aspect, and that the ' Tree of Knowledge ' was the separation and the coming together again to fulfil the fatal condition. To display this in numbers the values of the letters composing the word Otz ( ), tree, are 7 and 9, the seven being the holy feminine number and the nine the number of the phallic or male energy. This ansated cross is the symbol of the Egyptian female-male, Isis-Osiris, the germinal principle in all forms, based on the primal manifestation applicable in all directions and in all senses."* This is the Kabalistic view of the Western Occultists, and it differs from the more philosophical Eastern or Aryan views upon this subject.** The separation of the sexes was in the programme of nature and of natural evolution; and the creative faculty in male and female was a gift of Divine wisdom. In the truth of such traditions the whole of antiquity, from the patrician philosopher to the humblest spiritually inclined plebeian, has believed. And as we proceed, we may successfully show that the relative truth of such legends, if not their absolute exactness -- vouched for by such giants of intellect as were Solon, Pythagoras, Plato, and others -- begins to dawn upon more than one modern scientist. He is perplexed; he stands startled and confused before proofs that are being daily accumulated before him; he feels that there is no way of solving the many historical problems that stare him in the face, unless he begins by accepting ancient traditions. Therefore, in saying that we believe absolutely in ancient records and universal legends, we need hardly plead guilty before the impartial observer, for other and far more learned writers, among those who belong to the modern scientific school, evidently believe in much that the Occultists do: e.g., in "Dragons," not only symbolically, but also in their actual existence at one time. "It would have indeed been a bold step for anyone, some thirty years ago, to have thought of treating the public to a collection of stories ordinarily reputed fabulous, and of claiming for them the consideration due to genuine realities, or to have advocated tales, believed to be time-honoured fictions, as actual facts; and those of the nursery as being, in many instances, legends, more or less distorted, descriptive of real beings or events. Nowadays it is a less hazardous proceeding . . . . . " Thus opens the introduction to a recent (1886) and most interesting work by Mr. Charles Gould, called "Mythical Monsters." He boldly states his belief in most of these monsters. He submits that: -- "Many of the so-called mythical animals, which, throughout long ages and in all nations, have been the fertile subjects of fiction and fable, come [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * "The Source of Measures." ** Vide infra, "The Septenary," in Part II . [[Vol. 2, Page]] 218 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. legitimately within the scope of plain matter-of-fact natural history; and that they may be considered, not as the outcome of exuberant fancy, but as creatures which really once existed, and of which, unfortunately, only imperfect and inaccurate descriptions have filtered down to us, probably very much refracted, through the mists of time. . . . Traditions of creatures once co-existing with man, some of which are so weird and terrible as to appear at first sight to be impossible. For me the major part of those creatures are not chimeras but objects of rational study. The dragon, in place of being a creature evolved out of the imagination of an Aryan man by the contemplation of lightning flashing through the caverns which he tenanted, as is held by some mythologists, is an animal which once lived and dragged its ponderous coils and perhaps flew. . . . .