Chapter I (part 3)

Understanding none of the truths which it possessed, it carefully abstained from altering them in an way, and treated the least attack made upon them as sacrilege. Thus the Jews have transmitted intact to us the letters which form the Sepher of Moses. But Moses had not solved the problem so authoritatively as the Thibetans. It was a great thing to give the people a book which it could adore respectfully, and always guard intact; but to give it a book which would enable it to live, was yet better. The people intrusted with the transmission of occult doctrines from the earliest ages was the Bohemian or Gypsy race. THE GYPSIES. The Gypsies possess a Bible, which has proved their means of gaining a livelihood, for it enables them to tell fortunes; at the same time it has been a perpetual source of amusement, for it enables them to gamble. Yes; the game of cards called the Tarot, which the Gypsies possess, is the Bible of Bibles. It is the book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, the book of Adam, the book of the primitive Revelation of ancient civilizations. Thus whilst the Freemason, an intelligent and virtuous man, has lost the tradition; whilst the priest, also intelligent and virtuous, has lost his esoterism; the Gypsy, although both ignorant and vicious, has given us the key which enables us to explain all the symbolism of the ages. We must admire the wisdom of the Initiates, who utilized vice and made it produce more beneficial results than virtue. The Gypsy pack of cards is a wonderful book according to Court de Gébelin and Vaillant. This pack, under the name of TAROT, THORA, ROTA, has formed the basis of the synthetic teachings of all the ancient nations successively. In it, where a man of the people only sees a means of amusement, the thinker will find the key to an obscure tradition. Raymond Lulle has based his Ars Magna upon the Tarot; Jerome Cardan has written a treatise upon subtility from the keys of the Tarot; Guillaume Postel has found in it the key to the ancient mysteries; whilst Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, the unknown philosopher, finds written in it the mysterious links which unite God, the Universe, and Man! Through the Tarot we are now able to discover and develop the synthetic law, concealed in all these symbolisms. The hour is approaching when the Missing word will be refound. Masters, Rosicrucian and Kadosh, you who form the sacred triangle of Masonic initiation, do you remember! Remember, MASTER, that illustrious man, killed through the most cowardly of conspiracies; remember Hiram , whose resurrection, promised by the Branch of Acacia, thou art looking for in faith! Remember, ROSICRUCIAN, the mysterious word which thou hast sought for so long, of which the meaning still escapes thee! Remember, KADOSH, the magnificent symbol which radiated from the centre of the luminous triangle, when the real meaning of the letter G was revealed to thee! HIRAM--INRI--YOD--HE--VAU--HE! indicate the same mystery under different aspects. He who understands one of these words possesses the key which opens the tomb of Hiram , the symbol of the synthetic science of the Ancients; he can open the tomb and fearlessly grasp the heart of the revered Master, the symbol of esoteric teaching. The whole Tarot is based upon this word, ROTA, arranged as a wheel. INRI! is the word which indicates the Unity of your origin, Freemasons and Catholics! Igne Natura Renovatur Integra .