Theosophy - Thelyphthoria or Exploitation of Women - by Harj [Likely J.D.Buck]
THELYPHTHORIA
or Exploitation of Women
by Harij
[Likely J.D.Buck]
reprinted
from “Theosophical Siftings” Volume 1 -
[Page
11] THE
real meaning of sex, the relations of the sexes in the
past and at the present time, and the influences that these
relations have on the present condition of mankind, are
questions that transcend all others in importance, and
that have more to do in determining the present condition
of humanity than all other questions combined. No more
certainly does the race arise by generation than it falls
by abuse of the generative powers and functions. So likewise
with regeneration, which means literally a new birth. It
means not only that the individual shall be born again,
but it means that the generative functions, individually
and collectively, must be re-formed. There is no human
attribute in which man approaches so near to deity as in
the power to generate human beings. Here he is a creator.
There is no power in man capable, when perverted, of dragging
him so deep into hell, and through which he can degrade so
hopelessly so many other human beings as through the sexual
life. Neither England nor the "civilized
world" have had time to forget the "Pall Mall Gazette's
Secret Commission", through which a single glimpse
was obtained of the ruined lives and horrible depravity caused
by perversion and degradation of the generative power of
man. It was as though the door of the bottomless pit had
opened for an instant, so that the world could get a single
glance and be stifled with one puff of the vapours of the
inferno. All that Dante ever painted was as a pleasant
dream to this. The inferno is no myth, nor is it in
the bowels of the earth, it exists in the body of society,
and is eating out the heart of humanity. The present writer
has neither the purpose nor the power to paint this realm,
this leprosy of society. It would be appalling to even name
its departments. The seduction, desertion, and prostitution
of young girls ending in suicide; the most loathsome and
demoralizing diseases, scarcely second to leprosy, if not
the real cause of that terrible disease; infanticide, only
another name for murder; rape with its lynchings, and murder
in every form; the pouring out on humanity and in the pure
air of heaven daily and hourly of a fathomless, conscienceless,
heartless ocean of lust. It is as though there had been poured
into the pure stream of life the very dregs of the bottomless
pit, [Page
12] and
then, as though to prevent a single effort at purifying the
stream, the Prince of Darkness has tabooed the whole subject,
and attempts to cover with odium everyone who utters more
than a mild regret, or who dares to long for the pure waters
of life. Ask any old physician, who has had opportunity to
know the under-current of society, if the above category
is overdrawn, and he will tell you that it is incomplete.
Here at the very fountain of all, life is the root of all
evil. We are now writing for theosophists, some of whom have
expressed a desire for practical instruction, and here are
a few hints only. If the whole stream of life is corrupt,
it can be purified only by commencing at the fountain-head.
There is but one way in which any man can help to purify
or benefit the world, and that is by purifying himself. The
whole of humanity is sexually diseased. Only the grosser
crimes have as yet been named in this connection. Legalized
prostitution and perversion of the highest attributes under
the sacred name and in the habiliments of Love have not yet
been mentioned. The theosophic life and the highest human
achievement has been often declared to involve absolute chastity — purity
in thought, word, and deed; and with this condition, love
has been declared to be the absorbing element, the crowning
glory. Over against this statement stands the record of celibacy
in the clergy, and to it may be added the results as ordinarily
witnessed of male and female continence both in private life
and in various societies, whether as a matter of choice or
necessity. The results desired have seldom flowed from these
conditions, and hence the earnest student is often bewildered
and left in doubt as to the real meaning and possible results
of chastity. Beyond this there are young people greatly interested
in studies called theosophic, beside many married persons
seeking to know theosophic truths, and striving to lead theosophic
lives. To these last-named individuals the present essay
is particularly addressed. The reform of the world from the
horrible abuses named is not herein attempted. The attempt
is made only to throw a little light on this all-important
subject, so that those who are really in earnest, and who
desire the truth in order to use it and serve it, may receive
assistance. Let those who talk of England and America as "Christian
Countries", count up the number of prostitutes in the
large cities alone; let them add to this the number of cases
of seduction, rape, bastardy, suicide, and murder, including
abortions, the latter largely among the upper classes, and
when they have gone thus far with their statistics, let them
pause and read the " Sermon on the Mount"; then
if they are still ready to abuse and ostracise those who
hesitate about attaching the sacred name of Christ to "modern
civilization", we shall have nothing further to say
in that direction. If the wailing of the slaughtered innocents,
the homeless waifs cast out on society, the despair and degradation
of the poor prostitutes, and the shriek of the suicide as
she rushes [Page 13] into the
unseen world, do not blanch his face with horror and force
him to cry, How long, O Lord! how long! argument would be
wasted and words worse than useless. There are others again
who do revere both the Sermon on the Mount and the author
of it, and who hold the Bible and real Christianity in reverence,
and who feel deeply the awful sarcasm of calling this or
any present nation of the world, Christian. If these care
to know the real bible doctrine on the subject under consideration,
let them consult an old work bearing the title of this essay
and printed in London in 1780. The following "memorandum" appears
in the second of the three octavo volumes.
"The grand
question to be tried is, — Whether
a SYSTEM filled with obligations and responsibility of
MEN to WOMEN, and of WOMEN to MEN, even to death itself,
and this established by INFINITE WISDOM, is not better calculated
to prevent the ruin of the female sex, with
all it horrid consequences, both to the public and individuals,
than a SYSTEM of human contrivance, where neither obligation nor
responsibility are to be found, either of MEN to WOMEN
or of WOMEN TO MEN, in instances of the most important concern
to BOTH, but more especially to the weaker sex? " I
have quoted the above as italicized in the original. The
author shows the Bible doctrine to be beyond all controversy,
that whether a man be married or single, he is "joined
by God" to the woman with whom he is carnally intimate,
and that "he shall not put her away all the days of
his life", and as this necessarily involves polygamy
and precludes divorce, the author faces the problem squarely,
and shows, not by argument, but by Bible, that is "the
law and the gospel". The present writer does not argue
nor advocate this point either pro or con, but refers to
it for the benefit of those interested in the subject from
the Bible stand-point. The book can be found in many libraries,
and can be occasionally picked up at old news-stands. One
thing is very certain, and that is that the laws and practices
of Christendom are widely at variance with the "law
of God" as set forth in the Bible, and compiled and
annotated in "Thelyphthoria, or a Treatise on Female
Ruin".
Every careful
student of religions, of occultism, or of theosophy, is
aware that the symbols and the god-words of all-religions
have a very close relation to sex. Not only Payne Knight,
and Inman, but hosts of other writers, have pointed out
and abundantly illustrated this fact. The deity to whom
was offered divine honours in the various religions, was
sometimes male, sometimes female. The God of Christendom
today is undeniably male, notwithstanding the fact that
the original name in Hebrew is both male and female, and
that to a specific degree. The Catholic Church, wise
as a serpent, in this as in all other generations, recognises
this androgynous God, and god-name, and has elevated a woman
to the God-head. If our present civilization be claimed still
as [Page 14] Christian, it cannot
be called catholic in its treatment of woman, in its practice
of abortion or infanticide, whatever may be said of other
crimes in this direction. It would surprise most persons
to learn to what extent the fast and feast days, and " all
the ordinances of the Lord's house", conform to and
are derived from the periods of time which are related to
parturition, viability, and the like. Suffice it to say that
the mysteries of religion, like the mystery of life, are
all involved in the mystery of sex. This fact no one having
the least knowledge of the subject can deny, for the evidence
is overwhelming. Furthermore, the degradation of religion
and the degradation of life has everywhere, and at all times,
gone hand-in-hand with the degradation of the sexual instinct,
and has sprung directly from the sexual degradation of woman
and the bestialization of man. On the other hand, pure religion,
pure life, and pure men and women go together. In the degradation
of the world, man has always taken the lead, and woman been
the victim. Every student of history knows that no more correct
measure of any age, or any people, can be made than that
which is based on the position and estimate in which women
were found at that time. The new age that is just dawning
for the human race is called " the Woman's Age".
For many centuries, at least, woman has not occupied the
position which is open to her today, and it is doubtful if,
since written history began, her opportunities have been
anything like that which she may now enjoy. True, this opportunity
falls to the lot only of a favoured few. The great majority
are still in darkness and bondage, the victims of man's laws
and passions. The responsibility and the god-given opportunities
of the favoured few are seldom appreciated. These favoured
few, who, from larger intelligence or fortunate circumstances,
are free to live pure and noble lives, seldom rise to the
full stature of conscious liberty. We hear a good deal of
the Brotherhood of man, but there is more pressing need of
the Sisterhood of women. True the leaven of humanity is beginning
to work. Yet, how many of these free and really noble women
will pass a poor prostitute in the street without, almost
unconsciously, gathering in her skirts for fear of contamination?
How many will meet a girl in society over whose fair name
has passed a cloud of suspicion, whether true or false, and
not shrink into herself ? And yet where are they who are
so much in need of love and sympathy as these poor victims
? To house these outcasts in asylums, feed them, clothe them,
pray over them, thus marking them more indelibly as outcasts
than even man has done, has seldom permanently reformed one.
Ask your woman's soul, my noble sister, how it would regard
these things were you to change places, and do not call yourself
Christian till you have learned how Christ spake to these,
and how he LOVED THEM. You can reform them but by love, and
not by cold charity and self-righteousness.
Many of the students
of the Higher Life are in every way unprepared for real
chelaship, but they can place themselves in training if
they so desire, but to begin by abandoning wife and children
will be to train in the opposite direction. The very fact
that they find themselves so situated is evidence of a
needed development through these things, not away
from them. Karma has placed them just here to learn, to
consider, to overcome. If either man or woman imagines,
when so situated, that he or she can draw away from companions
and children, from friends and associates, leaving them
to take their chances, and so develop the higher life,
the first principle of theosophy has yet to be learned.
The nearness of your relation to these gives you the opportunity
for helpfulness that no one else in all the world enjoys.
There lies your work, you can make home a very paradise
by learning the difference between lust and love. Love
seeketh not its own but another's good. Love endures all,
and bears all, and at last triumphs over all. As even animal
lust may create a human body, so divine love can regenerate
a human soul. What we need in the world today is not celibacy,
but happy homes in which love reigns, and love pure and
simple will make these homes a tabernacle for angels. Husband
and wife may so live together as to be a source of joy,
of perpetual delight, nay, even of health and physical
strength and continual inspiration to each other. They
may learn thus the very secret of love itself, and enter
together the higher life, clad in raiments of purity and
light, and they may help to uplift their children, and such
children as the world sorely needs. The fountain of life
and the fountain of love flow from the same divine source.
Both life and love are sexual, but in a sense that the world
never even dreams of, and never will, till it learns to put
aside the animal attribute egoism, and really exercise and
base their whole lives on the principle of divine altruism.
How many men imagine they love the pure girl they "marry" ?
And how many of these have really down deep in their souls
one thought beyond self? Ask the divorce courts of America
and the unhappy homes of England. Reform the family, regenerate
the homes, and from these will go out an influence that in
time will reform the street, the brothel, and prevent at
least the participation in these crimes and all the loathsome
diseases and penalties of your own children.
If there is a
young man or woman who is free from obligations, free to
work for humanity, one who appreciates the opportunity,
and values it above home or any personal advantage, or possible
gain, the time for such an one has come. Their souls
will be filled direct from the pure fountains of love, and
they may be the blessed medium through whom the Divine Love
is to reach the poor, the outcast, the unloved. Would any
of these feel honoured and grateful to take orders direct
from a Mahatma ? to be the chosen medium between such an
one and a society of theosophists ? [Page
16] The
door is wide open. "Enter
ye who will". Act as the messenger of love, of charity,
of self-forgetfulness, of helpfulness to every ready soul,
to the sinful, the degraded, no matter how low a criminal
he or she may be, for by so much the more is help needed.
Do this modestly, patiently, persistently, and a new joy
will come into your soul, and all mahatmas in all worlds will
delight to do you honour, and whenever you need their
help or their presence be sure it will not be wanting. The
writer, an humble layman, has tried this even in a slight
degree, being trammelled on every hand; he has needed help,
needed instruction many times, and it has never failed
to come. It has come in its own way, often as though
it came not. Yet there it was ! The first sentence in a book
taken at random when thinking of something else, would perhaps
answer a question that I deeply felt the need of knowing.
Be not anxious, be not disappointed, only be, faithful,
silent, sincere, and patient. Do the duty that
lies nearest at hand in the best way you can. Do it as though
for love of the dearest one in all the earth; or, better,
do it for the sake of Love. So the love-nature will expand
and grow. The more you give out the more you will receive.
Love delights to flood the soul of the one who delights to
pass it on. Love fills us full at all times; but what little
dwarfed and deformed vessels do we present to the Goddess:
she fills them full, and is poorer for this gift, for she
is entitled to larger vessels and better measure, and less
dross than we mix with the pure waters of love. Love bargains
not for return, receives nothing back, begs only the privilege
of giving. Full-freighted soul! hurry on thy gifts, love
waits without to renew thy store. Disappoint her not. Thy
store of love will be like Egypt's bondsmen's quails and
manna, not alone ere the morrow, but in a moment, if thou
restrain thy love. Dost thou desire the mysteries of love,
to know how she creates, preserves, renews ? Fill thy soul
full of
her, and thou wilt be love, the mystery thine.
Shall not he who has the power of love have also the
mystery ? are these not one ? Where use reigns, mystery
disappears. Love is the great revealer. Her neophytes walk
in her presence as in a blaze of glory; ask what thou wilt
in the name of love and it is done. Knowest thou the hierarchic
name of love ? the unwritten name, low-breathed from ear
to ear ? I'll give thee then a substitute till in some other
fair degree the true Master's Word shall echo in thy soul.
'Tis self-forgetfulness, consideration for others, preferring
to be burdened with nought else, that thou mayest be full
of love, and only love. Do this, and every zephyr of every
wind that blows shall whisper in thy ear the name by which
the fair goddess is known in realms elysian. Give all thou
hast away but love, and then be quick to give love away:
squeeze thy soul dry of love, and then with quick rebound
thy love shall span all space, and sitting on thy throne
shall be the fair goddess thyself, thy other self, now two
in one, and One with all.