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used as
food for animal and man. These substances become sentient flesh by
the al-
chemy of assimilation. When we note the changes in the structure of
the hu-
man body evidenced by comparison of the Bushmen, Chinese, Hindus,
Latins,
Celts, and Anglo-Saxons, it is plainly apparent that the flesh of
man is
even now undergoing a refining process which is eradicating the
coarser,
[PAGE 98] ANCIENT AND MODERN
INITIATION
grosser substances. In time by evolution this process of
spiritualization
will render our flesh transparent and radiant with the Light that
shines
within, radiant as the face of Moses, the body of Buddha, and the
Christ at
the Transfiguration.
At present the effulgence of the indwelling Spirit is effectually
dark-
ened by our dense body, but we may draw hop even from the science of
chemis-
try. There is nothing on earth so rare and precious as radium, the
luminous
extract of the dense black mineral called pitchblende; and there is
nothing
so rare as that precious extract of the human body, the radiant
Christ. At
present we are lavoring to form the Christ within, but when the inner
Christ
has grown to full stature, He will shine through the transparent body
as the
LIGHT OF THE WORLD.
It is an anatomical fact of common knowledge that the spinal cord
is di-
vided into three sections, from which the motor, sensory, and
sympathetic
nerves are controlled. Astrologically these are ruled by the moon,
Mars,
and Mercury, which are divine Hierarchies tht have played a great
role in
human evolution through the nervous systems indicated. Among the
ancient
alchemists these were designated by the three alchemical elements,
salt,
sulphur, and mercury. Between them and upon them played the spinal
Spirit
Fire of Neptune. It rose in a serpentine column through the spinal
cord to
the ventricles of the brain. In the great majority of mankind the
Spirit
Fire is still exceedingly weak. But whenever a spiritual awakening
occurs
[PAGE 99] THE
TRANSFIGURATION
in anyone such as that which takes place in a genuine conversion, or
better
still at the Baptism of the Christian Mystic, the the downpouring
of the
Spirit, which is an actual fact, augments the spinal Spirit Fire to
an al-
most unbelievable extent, and forthwith a process of regeneration
begins
whereby the gross substances of the threefold body of many are
gradually
thrown out, rendering the vehicles more permeable and quickly
responsive to
spiritual impulses. The further the process if carried, the more
efficient
servants they become in the vineyard of the Master.
The spiritual awakening which starts this process of regeneration
in the
Christian Mystic who purifies himself by prayer and service, comes
also of
course to those who are seeking God by way of knowledge and service,
but it
acts in a different way, which is noted by the spiritual
investigator. In
the Christian Mystic the regenerative spinal Spirit Fire is
concentrated
principally upon the lunar segment of the spinal cord, which
governs the
sympathetic nerves under the rulership of Jehovah. Therefore his
spiritual
growth is accomplished by faith as simple, childlike, and
unquestioning as
it was in the days of early Atlantis when men were mindless. He
therefore
draws down the great white Light of Deity reflected through
Jehovah, the
Holy Spirit, and attains to the whole wisdom of the world without the
neces-
sity of laboring for it intellectually. This gradually transmutes
his body
into THE WHITE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, THE DIAMOND SOUL.
[PAGE 100] ANCIENT AND MODERN
INITIATION
In those, on the other hand, whose minds are strong and
insistent on
knowing the reason why and the wherefore of every dictum and dogma,
the Spi-
nal Fire of regeneration plays upon the segments of the red Mars
and the
colorless Mercury, endeavoring to infuse desire with reason, to
purify the
former of the primal passion that it may become chaste as the rose,
and thus
transmute the body into the RUBY SOUL, THE RED PHILOSOPHER'S STONE,
TRIED BY
FIRE, PURIFIED, A CREATIVE BUDDING INDIVIDUALITY.
All who are upon the Path, whether the path of occultism or of
mysticism,
are weaving the "golden wedding garment" by this work from within
and from
without. In some the gold is exceedingly pale, and in others it is
deeply
red. But eventually when the process of Transfiguration has been
completed,
or rather when it is nearing completion, the extremes will blend,
and the
transfigured bodies will become balanced in color, for the
occultist must
learn the lesson of deep devotion, and the Christian Mystic must
learn how
to acquire knowledge by his own efforts without drawing upon the
universal
source of all wisdom.
This view gives us a deeper insight into the Transfiguration
reported in
the Gospels. We should remember distinctly that IT WAS THE
VEHICLES OF
JESUS WHICH WERE TRANSFIGURED temporarily by the indwelling Christ
Spirit.
But even while allowing for the enormous potency of the Christ Spirit
in ef-
fecting the Transfiguration it is evident that Jesus must be a
sublime char-
acter without a peer. The Transfiguration as seen in the Memory of
Nature
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