Page 86 (part 2)

To study it on the exoteric lines one has to read Ragon's Cours Interpretatif des Initiations; on the esoteric -- the Hindu symbolism of numerals; as the combinations which were applied to it are numberless. It is on the occult properties of the three equal lines or sides of the Triangle that Ragon based his studies and founded the famous masonic society of the Trinosophists (those who study three sciences; an improvement upon the ordinary three masonic degrees, given to those who study nothing except eating and drinking at the meetings of their lodges). "The first line of the triangle offered to the apprentice for study," writes the founder, -- "is the mineral kingdom, symbolized by Tubalc . . . (Tubal-cain). The second side on which the ' companion ' has to meditate, is the vegetable kingdom, symbolized by Schibb (Schibboleth). In this kingdom begins the generation of the bodies. This is why the letter G is presented radiant before the eyes of the adept (? !). The third side is left to the master mason, who has to complete his education by the study of the animal kingdom. It is symbolized by Maoben (Sun of putrefaction)" etc., etc. The first solid figure is the Quaternary, symbol of immortality. It is the pyramid: for the pyramid stands on a triangular, square, or polygonal base, and terminates with a point at the top, thus yielding the triad and the quaternary or the 3 and 4. It is the Pythagoreans who taught the connection and relation between the gods and the numbers -- in a Science called arithmomancy. The Soul is a number, they said, which moves of itself and contains the number 4; and spiritual and physical man is number 3, as the ternary represented for them not only the surface but also the principle of the formation of the physical body. Thus animals were ternaries only, man alone being a septenary, when virtuous; a quinary when bad, for: -- Number 5 was composed of a binary and a ternary, which binary threw everything in the perfect form into disorder and confusion. The [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * The reason for it is simple, and was given in " Isis Unveiled. " In geometry, one line fails to represent a perfect body or figure, nor can two lines constitute a demonstratively perfect figure. The triangle alone is the first perfect figure. [[Vol. 2, Page]] 576 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. perfect man, they said, was a quaternary and a ternary, or four material and three immaterial elements; which three spirits or elements we likewise find in 5, when it represents the microcosm. The latter is a compound of a binary directly relating to gross matter, and of three Spirits: "since 5 is the ingenious union of two Greek accents placed over vowels which have or have not to be aspirated. The first sign is called 'Strong Spirit' or superior Spirit, the spirit of God aspired ( spiratus ) and breathed by man. The second sign the lower, is the Spirit of Love, representing the secondary Spirit; the third embraces the whole man. It is the universal Quintessence, the vital fluid or Life." ( Ragon. ) The more mystic meaning of 5 is given in an excellent article by Mr. Subba Row, in "Five Years of Theosophy" (pp. 110, et seq. ) -- "The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac," in which he gives some rules that may help the inquirer to ferret out "the deep significance of ancient Sanskrit nomenclature in the old Aryan myths and allegories." Meanwhile, let us see what has been hitherto stated about the constellation Capricornus in theosophical publications, and what is known of it generally. Every one knows that is the tenth sign of the Zodiac into which the Sun enters at the winter solstice, about December 21st. But very few are those who know -- even in India, unless they are initiated -- the real mystic connection which seems to exist, as we are told, between the names Makara and Kumara. The first means some amphibious animal called flippantly 'crocodile,' as some Orientalists think, and the second is the title of the great patrons of Yogins (See " Saiva Puranas, ") the Sons of, and even one with, Rudra (Siva); a Kumara himself. It is through their connection with Man that the Kumaras are likewise connected with the Zodiac. Let us try to find out what the word Makara means. The word Makara, says the author of " The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, " "contains within itself the clue to its correct interpretation. The letter Ma is equivalent to No. 5, and Kara means hand. Now in Sanskrit Thribhujam means a triangle, bhujam or Karam (both synonyms) being understood to mean a side. So Makaram or Panchakaram means a Pentagon" -- the five-pointed star or pentagon representing the five limbs of man.* Under the old system, we are told, Makara was the eighth instead of the tenth sign.** It is "intended to represent the faces of the Universe, and indicates that the Universe is bounded by Pentagons, " as the Sanskrit writers "speak also of [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * What is the meaning and the reason of this figure? Because, Manas is the fifth principle, and because the pentagon is the symbol of Man -- not only of the five-limbed, but rather of the thinking, conscious MAN . ** The reason for it becomes apparent when Egyptian symbology is studied. See further on. [[Vol. 2, Page]] 577 POSEION'S FIVE MINISTERS. Ashtadisa or eight faces bounding Space," referring thus to the loka-palas, the eight points of the compass (the four cardinal and the four intermediate points) . . . "From an objective point of view the Microcosm is represented by the human body. Makaram may be taken to represent simultaneously both the microcosm and the macrocosm, as external objects of perception." ( pp. 113, 115) . But the true esoteric sense of the word "Makara," does not mean "crocodile," in truth, at all, even when it is compared with the animal depicted on the Hindu Zodiac. For it has the head and the fore-legs of an antelope and the body and tail of a fish. Hence the tenth sign of the Zodiac has been taken variously to mean a shark, a dolphin, etc.; as it is the vahan of Varuna, the Ocean God, and is often called, for this reason, Jala-rupa or "water-form." The dolphin was the vehicle of Poseidon-Neptune with the Greeks, and one with him, esoterically; and this "dolphin" is the "sea-dragon" as much as the Crocodile of the Sacred Nile is the vehicle of Horus, and Horus himself.