Page 81 (part 6)

In the Zend Avesta, Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), surrounding himself with fire (the "Flames" -- vide supra ) seeks to conquer the Heavens,* when Ahura Mazda, descending from the solid Heaven he inhabits, to the help of the Heavens that revolve (in time and space, the manifested worlds of cycles including those of incarnation), and the Amshaspends, "the seven bright Sravah," accompanied by their stars, fight Ahriman, and the vanquished Devas fall to the Earth along with him. ( Acad. des Inscrip., Vol. xxxix., p. 690; see Vendidad, Farg. xix., iii.) In the Vendidad the Daevas are called "evil-doing," and shown to rush away "into the depths of the world of hell," or matter. (47.) This is an allegory showing the Devas compelled to incarnate, once that they have separated themselves from their parent essence, or, in other words, after the unit had become a multiple, after differentiation and manifestation. Typhon the Egyptian, Python, the Titans, the Suras and the Asuras, all belong to the same legend of Spirits peopling the Earth. They are not " demons commissioned to create and organize this visible universe," but fashioners (the "architects") of the worlds, and the progenitors of man. They are the Fallen angels, metaphorically -- "the true mirrors of the Eternal Wisdom." What is the absolute and complete truth as well as the esoteric meaning about this universal myth? The whole essence of truth cannot be transmitted from mouth to ear. Nor can any pen describe it, not even that of the recording Angel, unless man finds the answer in the sanctuary of his own heart, in the innermost depths of his divine intuitions. It is the great SEVENTH MYSTERY of Creation, the first and the last; and those who read St. John's Apocalypse may find its shadow lurking under the seventh seal . . . . It can be represented only in its apparent, objective form, like the eternal riddle of the Sphinx. If the latter threw herself into the sea and perished, it is not because OEdipus had unriddled the secret of the ages, but because, by anthropomorphizing the ever-spiritual and the subjective, he had [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * So does every Yogi and even Christian: one must take the Kingdom of heaven by violence -- we are taught. Why should such a desire make of any one a devil? [[Vol. 2, Page]] 517 BARESMA, THE DIVINE TWIG. dishonoured the great truth for ever. Therefore, we can give it only from its philosophical and intellectual planes, unlocked with three keys respectively -- for the last four keys of the seven that throw wide open the portals to the mysteries of Nature are in the hands of the highest Initiates, and cannot be divulged to the masses at large -- not in this, our century, at any rate. The dead letter is everywhere the same. The dualism in the Mazdean religion, was born from exoteric interpretation. The holy "Airyaman," "the bestower of weal," invoked in the prayer called Airyama-ishyo, is the divine aspect of Ahriman, "the deadly, the Dae of the Daevas" (Farg. xx., 43), and Angra Mainyu is the dark material aspect of the former. "Keep us from the Hater, O Mazda and Armaita Spenta" (Vendidad Sadah), has, as a prayer and invocation, an identical meaning with "Lead us not into temptation," and is addressed by man to the terrible Spirit of duality in man himself. For (Ahura) Mazda is the spiritual, divine, and purified man, and Armaita Spenta, the Spirit of the Earth or materiality, is the same as Ahriman or Angra Mainyu in one sense. The whole of the Magian or Mazdean literature -- or what remains of it -- is magical, occult, hence allegorical and symbolical -- even its "mystery of the law" (see the Gatha in Yasna XLIV. ). Now the Mobed and the Parsi keep their eye on the Baresma during the sacrifice, the divine twig off Ormazd's "tree" having been transformed into a bunch of metallic rods; and wonder why neither the Amesha-Spentas, nor "the high and beautiful golden Haomas, nor even their Vohu-Mano (good thoughts), nor their Rata (sacrificial offering)," help them much. Let them meditate on the "tree of Wisdom," and study, assimilating one by one, the fruits thereof. The way to the tree of eternal life, the white Homa, the Gaokerena, is through one end of the earth to the other; and Haoma is in heaven as it is on earth. But to become once more a priest of it, and a healer , man must heal himself before he can heal others. This proves once more that the so-called "myths," in order to be at least approximately dealt with in any degree of justice, have to be closely examined from all their aspects. In truth, every one of the seven Keys has to be used in its right place, and never mixed with the others, if we would unveil the entire cycle of mysteries. In our day of dreary soul-killing materialism, the ancient priest Initiates have become, in the opinion of our learned generations, the synonyms of clever impostors, kindling the fires of superstition in order to obtain an easier sway over the minds of men. This is an unfounded calumny, generated by scepticism and uncharitable thoughts. No one believed more in Gods -- or, we may call them, the Spiritual and now invisible Powers, or Spirits, [[Vol. 2, Page]] 518 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. the noumena of the phenomena -- than they did; and they believed just because they knew. If, initiated into the Mysteries of Nature, they were forced to withhold their knowledge from the profane, who would have surely abused it, such secrecy was undeniably less dangerous than the policy of their usurpers and successors. The former taught only that which they well knew. The latter, teaching what they do not know, have invented, as a secure haven for their ignorance, a jealous and cruel Deity, who forbids man to pry into his mysteries under the penalty of damnation. As well they may, for his mysteries can at best be only hinted at in polite ears, never described. Turn to King's Gnostics, "Description of the Plates" (Plate H), and see for yourself what was the primitive Ark of the Covenant, according to the author, who says: "There is a Rabbinical tradition that the cherubin placed over it were represented as male and female, in the act of copulation, in order to express the grand doctrine of the Essence of Form and Matter, the two principles of all things.