THEOSOPHICAL SYMBOLOGY
SOME HINTS TOWARDS INTERPRETATION OF
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE SEAL OF THE SOCIETY
by G.R.S.Mead, F.T.S.
"A combination and a form, indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance
of a MAN."
As the question is often asked, What is the meaning of the Seal of the Society, it may not be unprofitable
to attempt a rough outline of some of the infinite interpretations that can be discovered therein. When, however,
we consider that the whole of our philosophical literature is but a small contribution to the unriddling of
this collective enigma of the sphinx of all sciences, religions and philosophies, it will be seen that no more
than the barest outlines can be sketched in a short paper.
In the first place, we are told that to every symbol,
glyph and emblem there are seven keys, or rather, that the key may be turned seven times, corresponding to
all the septenaries in nature and in man.
We might even suppose, by using the law of analogy, that each of the seven keys might be turned seven times.
So that if we were to suggest that these keys may be named the physiological, astronomical, cosmic, psychic,
intellectual and spiritual, of which divine interpretation is the master-key, we should still be on our guard
lest we may have confounded some of the turnings with the keys themselves.
If it can be demonstrated that these symbols are the
formulae of the laws, forces, and powers of nature and man, we shall have established a rational basis for
their use, and shall restore to their ancient dignity these monarchs who have been dethroned by superstition
and cant into the dungeons of an artistic aestheticism.
In our attempt, let us follow the time-honoured and
spiritual method of proceeding from universals to particulars. Let us take the primitive type of the serpent
with its tail in its mouth. This we find in all symbology to be the circle, the most mysterious and universal
of all symbols. Taking it in its [Page
4] highest interpretation, it stands for the absolute, or Absoluteness, of which we can predicate nothing.
Yet as the mind of man, in order to preserve its reason and growth, continually fights against the paralyzing
inanity of a blank negation, it is ever striving to advance the circumference of its knowledge, unconscious
that at the same time the circumference of its ignorance is proportionally increasing. Till at last, tired
with this endless quest for the external and that which is not, in despair it turns upon itself to know the
knower and the subject of that object which it thinks not self.
Thus, by analyzing self-reflection, an ultimate is
reached — pure thought.
Yet there is one factor which cannot be destroyed. From thought the idea of Space can never be eliminated.
Therefore, as in all deductions we slant from pure thought, and as that thought is the Self, and yet cannot
eliminate from itself the idea of Space, Space is taken as the first aspect of the Absolute, as far as Self is concerned. Still, as the Self is essentially of the nature of the Absolute, it leaves open the path of progress
to ITSELF by retaining the idea of that which is neither space nor self, but Space and Self as a unity. This
from the standpoint of Self, or pure thought, is ABSTRACT SPACE.
This, then, is the highest interpretation of the circle, whose centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere.
And its centre, which is equally itself, is the first potentiality of all that may be evolved in Space and
Time, and which may be represented by the symbols which the serpent surrounds in our Seal. Thus, then, the
Circle represents the type of abstract Space, and this primordial type is assumed by the serpent which swallows
its own tail. The Serpent is not the Circle, but assumes the form of the Circle.
This is, of course, from the highest and most metaphysical
standpoint, when the circle is taken to typify the Absolute. Nor must we be misled by the term "space" as
meaning anything of a material nature, for we might equally endeavour to explain it by the graphic symbol
of the "Great Breath",
or Absolute Motion, meaning thereby Absolute Consciousness, in that Consciousness cannot be conceived by us
without the idea of change, and change is motion; or, again, we might (to coin a word) call it "Beness".
or that which underlies and comprehends both being and non-being.
We must further remember that this Absolute Circle
includes every idea of Space and Time, that it is Abstract Space and Time, or Duration. Hence we see that
the perfect type of space is a sphere or globe, as it was also the type of perfect man. Thus we have the
same figure for the Macrocosm, or Great World or Universe, as for the Microcosm, Little World or Man. The
heavenly bodies are spheroidal, as are also their paths, and the perfect, or heavenly Man, is typified by
a globe, as Plato has said and the Egyptians have everywhere testified in their hieroglyphics.
Moreover, seeing that the Circle has no end and no beginning, it is a fit symbol of eternity,
eternal Time, or Duration, the ever-present type of Time as we know it. Hence, also the circles, or cycles
of Time which play so [Page 5] important a part in all ancient systems and in all
astronomical calculations, are but manifestations of this one eternal type. Further, the terms "wheels",
planetary chains, rings, rounds, etc., are all synthesized by this comprehensive symbol. Truly, as Plato says,
the Deity geometrizes.
Again, from a mathematical point of view, zero becomes a number only when preceded by one of the nine figures
to manifest its potency. Zero by itself is no number.
To put it mathematically :
The Deity = O.
As Oken says, " There is only one essence in all
things, the O, the supreme identity, but there is an infinite number of forms. The ideal nought is absolute,
or monadic unity, not a singularity, like an individual thing or number 1, but an indivisibility, or absence
of number, in which can be discovered neither the 1 nor the 2, neither line nor circle — a pure identity.
The mathematical O is the eternal. It is not subjected to any definition of time or space, it is neither
finite nor infinite, neither great nor small, neither at rest nor in motion, but it is and is not all these.
The eternal is the nothing of nature."
Mathematical readers might do well also to reflect on the formula
x° = 1.
Here x may stand for any unity or collection of unities, in fact, for all differentiation. Therefore, all
things in their essence are a unity, for the formula is true for all values of x.
We will now consider more particularly the meaning
of the serpent. In its highest aspect it is the symbol of Wisdom. "Be ye therefore wise as serpents",
says one of the Masters. Do we not find throughout the Greek and Roman classics that the serpent was
regarded with the greatest reverence, and frequently guarded within the sacred Adytum of the Sanctuary ?
Everywhere the same legends and traditions in Egypt and Chaldea, among the Druids and Norsemen, with the
ancient Mexicans and Peruvians. In India the folklore teems with legends of the cobra. These sacred reptiles
almost invariably guard hidden treasure, for is it not the Initiates who guard the occult secrets
of nature ?
Throughout the whole of antiquity the Serpent was sacred to the Gods of Wisdom, and we find that Isis has
the asp in her head-dress.
What matters though the sacred genii of the Temples and the quiet dwellers in the fanes of Aesculapius
appear as hissing vipers in the hands of the Pythoness and Sibyl, or in the locks of Medusa, or of the Eumenides
and the frenzied Bacchanals! They were all typical of one and the same force of Inspiration.
Then, also, the Initiates in all ages were called Serpents
or Dragons, of which, indeed, the reason may appear in the sequel.
In the first place, as the serpent is oviparous, it was regarded by the[Page
6] ancients as
a symbol of the Divinity which issues from the egg of Space, as, for instance, the Ophio-Christos of the Alexandrine
Mystics.
As the Secret Doctrine tells us: "The Spirit
of God moving on Chaos was symbolized by every nation in the shape of a fiery serpent breathing fire and
light upon the primordial waters, until it made it assume the annular shape of a serpent with its tail in
its mouth."
Moreover, as the serpent sloughs its skin, it was taken
as the type of rejuvenation and immortality. In other words, it symbolized the immortal individuality, or
Ego, of man, or the Christ-principle which is the silent Watcher of each of us — our conscience. This
it is which is the sun whose ray forms this or that personality, and as the snake sheds its skin, so does
the spiritual individuality shed its various personalities in its pilgrimage, or cycle, of reincarnation.
In Indian symbology the serpent is seven-headed, even
as the Gnostic Dragon has seven "Vowels" above
its crest. These vowels typify the seven planes of Cosmos, the seven principles in man, and all the septenates
in nature.
Moreover, in symbolism, the serpent and dragon are
interchangeable, so that in the Chinese Theogony we find Kwan-shi-yin, the "Logos", "the Son
identical with his Father",
called the Dragon of Wisdom.[See Secret Doctrine, i. 472 ]
In the Greek, the word δράκων (Dracon)
means "watcher" or "Seer",
thus giving a key to the symbol as applied to the Initiates, or Epoptae, of the Greater Mysteries.
Still following out the higher meaning of the symbol,
we find it typifying the " Fallen Angels";
the Serpent, or Dragons of Wisdom, who fell into generation, or hell; or, in plainer words, our spiritual Egos
incarnating into the prison of the body, the marriage of the Heavenly Man with the Virgin of the World or Nature.
It would take too long to enter into the astronomical interpretation of the constellation of the dragon, one
out of the seven keys to this protean symbol, with which, indeed, the solar mythologists are so content that
they deny all others. Neither can more than a glance be given at the variants of the Serpent symbol as, for
instance, the tenth zodiacal sign, which, in India, is represented by Markara, the Crocodile, and in its correspondence
with the human principles is the most mysterious of all signs.
The comprehensiveness, again, of the symbol may be seen by the fact that the Milky Way, the Ecliptic, Tropics,
and the Cycle of the Great or Sidereal Years were called Serpents by the Astrologers and Adepts.
But as everything has its opposite, so the " Divine
Serpent" has
its contrary, the Serpent of Evil, even as the Ophites had their Agatho-daemon, or Good Spirit, and their
Kako-daemon, or Evil Spirit. If there is a Universal Medium, or [Page 7] Primordial
Substance which pervades, comprehends, or surrounds all things, and which we may conceive of more correctly
by considering it as a Universal Force, then we may look upon this comprehending something, as fitly
symbolized by a serpent which bites its own tail. As such it is neither good nor evil. But seeing that all
things are differentiated, and that the law of their differentiation is septenary, as we shall see in the
symbolism of the interlaced triangles, it follows that this one substance can only in its higher essence
be considered as pure and good.
This plastic medium, which the Hindus call Akash, impinges
upon the earth in its most differentiated form, and is, moreover, stained and discoloured by the evil thought-emanations
of the earth's inhabitants. This it is which Occultists call the "Astral Light".
Thus the Norse mythology allegorizes a great truth
when it tells us that the Midgard Snake encircles the earth, coiled at the bottom of the seas, for the seas
are the planes of this primordial force, or matter, and the Midgard Snake is the Astral Light. This, then,
is the lower serpent without man corresponding to the serpent within, and typifying the lower nature of each
man, his personality, which has to be slain, even as St. George and St. Michael slew the dragon, Bellerophon
the Chimsera, and Oedipus the Sphinx — the dragon
of Self must be slain by every Initiate, or son of God. And, indeed, in battling with this serpent of the lower
nature, no quarter is asked or given by him who would become a Dragon of Wisdom, and change this corrupt body
for an incorruptible. So also those who are developing the psychic senses, if they get ensnared within the
coils of the Serpent of the Astral Light, will have no quarter given them, but will either fall willing victims
to the subtle draughts of this mayavic nectar, or lose their senses before the awful visions that their own
impurity attracts. For the psyche is of a truth "earthy, sensual, devilish".
To have true vision, this Guardian of the Threshold
must be passed — true vision lies beyond. Thus we
can plainly see that of a truth Demon est Deus inversus, and thus also why the first Matter of the Magnum
opus of the Alchemists was to be pure, even as their Mercury.
In Egyptian hieroglyphics, the God Nahbkhoon is represented
as a snake erect on human legs. The name signifies the "uniter", and denotes this medium which
unites the human to the divine monad.[See " The
Secret Doctrine", Volume 1, Page 472]
We see, then, that the serpent typified both the Upper
and Lower Lights, and accordingly that it is on the one hand the "healer" and on the other the "destroyer".
To take a very familiar instance, the allegory of the
brazen serpent in the Books of Moses shows the existence of that ever great struggle between the Initiates
and the orthodox Jewish priesthood, typified by Moses holding up the [Page 8] Serpent
in the wilderness, and so saving the people from the bites of the fiery serpents, or Levitical caste, who
were tempting Israel to sin; and with a larger interpretation, it typifies the true teacher, who, by his
power, can heal the wretched victims of the fiery serpent, or the passions of their lower natures. Moreover,
the skin of the serpent is covered with scales, which may fitly suggest by their forms the facets of diamonds,
and thus typify the various religions, philosophies, and sciences of the world, which are but facets of the
one immutable truth. Or, again, they may represent individuals who make up the whole of humanity or the microcosms
which compose the macrocosm, each reflecting but so much of the rest, and, therefore, capable of appreciating
and reflecting but a portion of the wisdom of the whole.
It is also to be observed that the serpent bites or
swallows its own tail, typifying thereby the descent of spirit into matter, and the ascent of matter into
spirit, as also the incarnation of the Manasaputras, or mind-born sons of the great intellectual Soul of
the Universe, into the Amanasa, or mindless men-animals, the production of nature. For, if "nature, unaided, fails",
it must be that Divine Intelligence should aid her in her work. And yet both are from one source, the head
and tail of the serpent are both essential parts of the reptile.
Evolution and involution are correlations. The Great Breath is out-breathed and in-breathed; and its in-breathing
makes every point and atom of its out-breathing conscious as each re-enters into itself.
Thus, at this point of balance, is self-consciousness;
and the ancient wisdom which bade its disciples "know
thyself", knew that Mind could know Mind and the Knower, Knowing and Known become one in that Trinity,
which is essentially a unity. These symbolical serpents are also connected with trees, and interchangeable
with them. Thus we have the Tree of Life, or Spirit, in the midst of the Garden of human Principles, and also
the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, the tree of Matter. For had not the Serpent of Matter tempted the Divine
Androgynes Adam and Eve to fall into generation and disobey the law of Sameness, they could never have gained
that knowledge of Self-Consciousness which was required by the law of progress. For the descent of spirit
into matter is followed by the ascent of matter into spirit, as has been said, even as the pendulum swings
back upon its own path to its starting-point. Therefore, following the law of creation, or action, the "Fall" of
our progenitors into creation, or generation, was necessary as soon as it had been initiated by their creator.
As a variant upon this symbol, there is an old Hermetic glyph in which the circle is formed by two serpents
swallowing each other's tails. Everyone will recollect the Caduceus of Hermes, the Psychopompus, or conductor
of the Souls of the dead from and to Orcus. This is composed of a rod with a knob at the top, entwined with
two serpents, but in the original symbolism it was composed of three serpents, the three Fires
which are also seven and forty-nine.[Page 9]
In this connection it may be remarked that Kundalini,
one of (lie powers latent in man, is said in the "Voice
of the Silence" to be called the "Serpentine, or annular power, on account of its spiral working......
It is an electric fiery power, the great pristine force, which underlies all organic and inorganic matter".
Therefore, when Thomas Vaughn, in one of his alchemical
receipts, says, "Take our two serpents,
which are found everywhere on the face of the earth", he may not be quite an ignoramus as the moderns
imagine, and, after all, there may be something more in Alchemy than our material scientists are prepared to
admit.
We will now leave our circle, and, bearing in mind
that the serpent is a dual Symbol in that it shadows forth both Spirit and Matter, will proceed to consider
the symbol of the interlaced triangles.
Let us again refer to Oken, and see how he traces the
connection between the O and this duality. " (+ —)," he
says, " is nothing else than the definition of O. This duality is the monad itself under another form.
In multiplication, it is the form alone which changes. The Eternal becomes the real by a dual division of itself.
Once manifested it is either positive or negative. Nought differs from infinite unity only because it is not
affirmed.
"+ presupposes O; — presupposes + and O;
but O presupposes neither + nor —. Purely negative
quantities are nonentities, for they can only be connected with positive magnitudes. — is the retrogression
of + into O".
If + be taken to represent Spirit or the Purush of the Hindu philosophies, then the triangle
with its apex pointing upwards will have the same signification. For has it not the shape of a tongue of flame
or fire ?
Truly as + it is the everlasting Yea of Teufelsdröch,
the positive pole of the Universal Magnet.
In like manner, the triangle with its apex pointing
downwards is the — or negative pole of the Universe,
Matter, or Prakriti, the Everlasting Nay of the Philosopher of Old Clothes. As, also, the Above is Fire, so
the Below is Water; but this metaphysically. Yet these two triangles are essentially one and as a distinct
duality, unthinkable. For there must be a Centre of Indifference, a Synthetical Something, whether we express
it by the all-containing circle of the Serpent, or by the central point expanded into the symbolism of the
Crux Ansata of ancient Egypt. Thus the Higher is reflected in the Lower, which is essentially itself, and we
have a duality of trinities which are essentially a unity, which unity in itself is nothing (O).
This pantacle portrays the generation of all numbers,
and is, therefore, the type of the Universe. For example, the point within, or the whole figure, is 1;
the two triangles are 2; each triangle has three sides; the three sides of one triangle with the other as
a unity, or the three sides of each triangle with the [Page 10] centre point
common to both produce 4; the common property of three sides, and the duality of the triangles yield 5; there
are 6 points to this hieroglyphic hexagram, which, together with the central one, make 7; and if we proceed
to place the tail in the Serpent's mouth by adding the extremes we obtain: —
1 + 6 = 7.
2 + 5 = 7
3 + 4 = 7.
This trinity represents the three lower, or manifested,
planes of cosmos, and the synthesizing fourth plane, corresponding with each of which are two human principles,
and the seventh, which is universal.
It matters not by what name the pantacle is called,
for there are hundreds, and we are not among those who consider that "names" are "things",
it is always the symbol of the Macrocosm, or Universe. The interlacing of these triangles forms
an interior plane six-sided figure, or hexagon, which is typical of the manifested universe synthesized by
the central Symbol of the Microcosm, or Man, seven in all. The sides of this plane figure form the bases of
six triangles, of which the apexes touch the Serpent of Wisdom. From one point of view, these are the seven
rays of the Logos, or Word, the six and the synthesizing seventh, each a trinity which becomes a septenary,
thus typifying the forty-nine Fires. For analogy is the first law of symbolism, and there are ever three unmanifested,
or formless planes, and three manifested or of form,and one that is both formless and of form, both subjective
and objective, and yet neither one nor the other. These lower planes, or states, again, in their turn, are
of a like nature, each relatively being both spiritual and material, spiritual towards the interiors and material
towards the exteriors, and of neither nature, yet of both natures, at their laya, or zero points, where one
passes into the other.
Moreover, as shown above, we may regard either triangles
as a unity in its oneness, or as a trinity with respect to its sides, each unity of Sameness with its trinity
of Difference forming a quaternary, or Tetraktis, the one towards Spirit being the Supernal, and the one
towards Matter being the Infernal.
Seeing also that there are an infinite variety of triangles, of which the equilateral is the only perfect
figure, the inequality of the sides will represent the infinite variety of triple qualities, which form each
entity.
Therefore, each triangle typifies the three fundamental
Gunas, or qualities, of the Hindu philosophies, viz., Satra, Tamas and Rajas, of which Satva
correlates with wisdom, goodness, purity, light, spirituality, and sameness; Tamas with ignorance, evil,
impurity, darkness, materiality, and difference; and Rajas with foulness, or passionate activity, a transformation
of the mysterious Eros and Kama. These are the Preservative, Destructive, and Creative energies in nature,
as typified by the Trimurti, or Trinity,
of the Hindus under the personifications of Vishna, Shira and Brahmâ.
Moreover, the six points of the interlaced triangles
are the six directions of Space, North, South, East, and West, the Zenith, and Nadir; or, before, behind,
right, left, up and down, synthesized by the point in the centre, which [Page 11] is
no direction, yet potentially all directions. And this universe of three dimensions and seven directions
is surrounded by the great circle of Time or Death, the Devourer; for even the great cosmos, endless though
it may seem to our finite intelligence, is confined within the bounds of finitude and change, and with the
removal of time, will in the Overprice resolve itself into its primordial Source, and the circle "Pass
not", being broken, will cease "becoming" in the perfection of the great day "Be with
us".
Seeing, again, that the lower triangle is a reflection
of the upper, this pantacle symbolizes the great Hermetic axiom, "As above, so below". More over,
the lower triangle is reversed. Thus we have a symbol of a binary in nature, without which manifestation
were impossible. Among which opposites we may mention the terms personal and impersonal. The personal is
limited and finite, while the impersonal is unlimited and infinite. Therefore, the Occultist refuses to entertain
the idea of a personal deity as the expression of the Universal Divine, of which, indeed, he can predicate
nothing — not even that, and IT
is impersonal. For to predicate anything of the unspeakable and the unthinkable is to depart from its nature
and create the uncreated. Yet in this war of terms, that which points towards the progress of thought and frees
itself from the shackles of matter and finiteness should have the preference, and the spiritual or impersonal
be predicated of one Deity rather than the material or personal. Now everything exists by its opposite, light
by darkness, liberty by necessity, good by evil. And if this polarity of the universe were destroyed, existence would cease and all would be.
As Eliphas Levi says: "If the shield of Satan did not stay the spear
of Michael the power of the angel would lose itself in the void, or manifest itself in infinite destruction.
If, on the contrary, the foot of Michael did not keep down Satan in his efforts to ascend, Satan would dethrone
God, or rather, lose himself in the abysses of the height". Returning to our triangles, if they are gradually
pulled apart until their bases coincide, we have the quaternary traversed by a diameter. Remove this diameter,
and the subtle being separated from the fixed, we have a facet of the symbol of the philosophers' stone, or
the cube.
We will now proceed to give some meaning to the curious symbol which is near the mouth of the serpent. It
is called in India the Jaina Cross, the Svastica, and the Chackra, Discus, or Wheel of Krishna, in which sense
it overlaps the meanings of the interlaced triangles, which are sometimes called by the same name. In the West
it is known as the Gnostic Cross, and is identical with the Wheels of Pythagoras and Ezekiel.
It is also the Miölnir, or Hammer of Thor, in
the Scandinavian mythology, the magic weapon forged by the Dwarfs in their war with the Giants. In other
words, the Titans, or forces of matter. When the Ases are purified by the fire of Suffering, Miölnir will
lose its virtue. This "Hammer of Creation",
and in another sense of Destruction, is sung by the bards of ancient Aryavata, in India's great epic, the
Mahabharata, Book I., Chapter xv. [Page 12]
"In the midst of this dreadful hurry and confusion
of the fight, Nar and Narayan entered the field together, Narayan beholding a celestial bow in the hands
of Nar, it reminded him of his Chakra, the destroyer of the Asuras. The faithful weapon, ready at the
mind's call,
flew down from heaven with direct and refulgent speed, beautiful yet terrible to behold, and being arrived,
glowing like the sacrificial flame, and spreading terror around, Narayan, with his right arm formed like
the elephantine trunk, hurled forth the ponderous orb, the speedy messenger and glorious ruin of hostile
towns, who, raging like the final all-destroying fire, shot bounding with desolating force, killing thousands
of the Asuras in his rapid flight, burning and involving like lambent flame, and cutting down all that would
approach him. Anon he climbeth the heavens from whence he came".
The turning back of its ends denotes its revolution.
It is therefore the symbol of evolution and progress as Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: "He
who in this life does not cause this cycle, thus already revolved, to continue revolving, lives to no purpose
a life of sin, indulging his senses".
Round this quaternary are two circles, the outer, the infinite, all-comprehending, the inner
the circle, etc., the circle of necessity surrounding the quaternary of matter; between are the three
arupa or formless and spiritual planes. From the microcosmic or human standpoint it typifies the "divine
pilgrim" upon the wheel
of matter, or the Christ crucified on the cross, or the tree of the lower quaternary or personality.
The form of this cross is sometimes found in this shape:—
Here we see the quaternary of matter represented by
the simple Svastica and the divine Tetraktis, or quaternary, manifested by the four mathematical points.
Each material cell, or principle, has a germ of spirituality within it, for in Occultism even a blade of
grass has all its seven principles, though some are latent. So long as man is drawn by tanha, or his
thirst for life, into the meshes of matter, so long will he continue to tread his sorrowful pilgrimage upon
the wheel of re-incarnation. To be freed from this necessity the four arms, or spokes, must be drawn within
the hub, and the base metals transmuted into gold. Further this symbol denotes the four mystic elements of
the ancients-earth, water, air, and fire, surrounded by Ether "the
lining" of
Akasa, which we may describe, though in fear of being misunderstood owing to the materialistic bent of modern
thought, as cosmic electricity. The four beings who mysteriously preside over these four points of the compass,
to use the most material of all descriptions, are mysteriously connected with Karma, of which [Page
13] they
are the agents, and, in another sense, are the protectors of mankind. To trace the meanings of the cross, even
superficially, would take volumes, and the object of this paper is merely to give a few hints towards the comprehension
of a few of the infinite meanings of the hoary symbolism collected into the seal of the Society; it will, therefore,
be better to combine the interpretation of the Svastica and the Crux Ansata, the handled cross or Tau, the
central symbol. Perhaps, however, it may be said that in relation to the whole, the Svastica should be interpreted
as a cosmic, and the Tau as a human symbol. If that be so, we will leave the Macrocosm, and proceed to consider
the symbol of the Microcosm, or man.
In the first place we observe that the Tau differs
fundamentally from the Svastica in that it has only three arms. The horizontal and vertical lines do not
cut each other, but merely meet. When they cut the vertical, or spiritual, is immersed in the horizontal,
or material, the fall into matter is accomplished. With the "handle", or
superimposed circle, it signifies life or spirit. We find that in ancient Egypt the initiated adept who had
successfully passed all his trials was bound upon a cross of this shape, upon which he remained for three days
plunged in a deep and sacred trance, during which his higher principles, or spiritual soul, were supposed to
hold communion with the gods. For three days the body remained in the crypt of the temple or pyramid, and on
the morning of the third day, just as the sun rose, the Tau and its burden was set so as to catch the first
rays of the luminary, and the glorified initiate was brought back to earth-life. In this connection, then,
the circle of the handle typifies the immortal spiritual Ego which was also symbolized by a winged globe.
But let it not be supposed that these dramas of initiation
were peculiar to ancient Egypt. In Antiquity the Mysteries were the most sacred institutions of all nations,
and all the knowledge of the ancients was derived therefrom. In their purity, their tradition and apostolic
succession contained in an unbroken chain without missing links, until, with the arrival of Kali Yug, they
began gradually to lose their purity. The poison of materiality gradually infused itself, and so closed veil
after veil of the temple of Isis until mankind began to deny that there ever were such things, and clamoured
that the only realities were surfaces, and that these contain no within.
But though, from lack of knowledge, the generality
denied these mysteries, yet they remained; for, though the school had ceased for want of fit pupils, the
masters had still to watch and wait; they could not leave their self-appointed task until they were relieved
by volunteers who would continue to guard the portals of knowledge from the unworthy, and point the way to
worthy aspirants. Hence the traditions that a magician could not die until he has passed the "word" to
his successor.
Yet this symbolism and these mysteries were
in vain if they but pointed [Page
14] to mere
external forms and ritual. The spiritual interpretation of them must be for all time, and must point to something
ever present. And if the latter is the case, as we believe, we can never over-estimate the wonderful efficacy
of these magnificent heirlooms left us by our predecessors.
The true interpretation of a symbol is that which applies "now
and within", and
we shall find that this Crux Ansata contains a wonderful mystery and a virtue that can raise humanity from
the animal to the divine. For the dark crypt in which the crucified one was placed, is the body. The body
was plunged in a deathlike trance, and the cross of the passions was still and lifeless, for this was the
last trial, and the lower nature was to be for ever subdued by the higher. So too if we can send the three-headed
Cerberus of the passionate nature or principles to sleep, we shall be glorified by the awakening of the spiritual
senses, and so overthrow the old dragon.
There is another form of this symbol, viz :
or alchemically
This is also the Ansated Cross, and is a symbol of
man, generation and life. The androgyne has separated into male and female, and man has stepped out of the
circle of Spirit. It is thus the symbol of septenary man, the 3 and the 4. It also symbolizes Venus-Lucifer,
the morning and evening star. Venus or Lucifer may be looked upon as the alter ego of the earth, for
their symbols are the same except with this remarkable difference, that they are reversed, and that whereas
in the case of the former spirit dominates matter, with the latter it is the material quaternary which crowns
it in triumph. There is much food for reflection in this strange fact. How verily art thou fallen from Heaven,
Lucifer, Son of the Morning!
If, however, it is remembered that the fallen angels are in reality the incarnating and spiritual souls of
men, it will be easy to see that their reflections, our evanescent personalities, are their counterparts reversed
in the ocean of matter or Maya, illusion and ignorance, the permanent above the impermanent below. Therefore,
to be at one with our higher natures we must reverse this tendency of our lower natures, and let the circle
or triangle of spirit dominate the quaternary of matter. The Ansated Cross, therefore, is the symbol of regenerated
man, who, when thus purified, remains in the midst, knowing all things in the universe.
Returning to our symbol as a whole, let us treat it from the exteriors to the interiors, remembering at the
same time that in so doing we really proceed from the interior to the exterior of things as manifesting the
eternal idea.
First we have the Serpent, which, as a unity, represents
the one substance, the Mother-Father, of the stanzas of the Book of Dzyan in the Secret Doctrine.
This substance is purely metaphysical, and is not matter; but the one Something which, as has been said,
is for us pure thought. Then, as Brahmâ, the supreme [Page 15] being divides
himself into two, and in his female half Vach creates Viraj, who, when born, immediately exclaims " I
am Brahm", thus producing the illusion of " I am I", as distinguished from the reality " I
am", so the one Substance becomes two, or Mother and Father, and immediately results in the Son, or the
Universe, symbolized in our seal by the double-circled Svastica, which is further portrayed and expanded by
the Seal of Solomon or the interlaced triangles. And as the Serpent bites its own tail, so the Universe enters
within itself in man, the central symbol, who is the intelligent and self-conscious centre of the arc of evolution.
It will further be seen that the seal of the Society includes its three objects for as it shows the centre
of the universe as man, so it shows that all men are essentially one, thus portraying its first object of establishing
a basis of universal brotherhood.
Moreover, in uniting into one symbol the symbolism
of all the great world religions, it shows their essential unity, which is the basis of Theosophy, the synthesis
of all systems; thus it fitly typifies the second object, which is the study of comparative religions, sciences,
and philosophies.
And, lastly, as the powers of Cosmos, or Nature and Man, or of the Macrocosm and Microcosm, are shown forth
especially in the symbology of the Serpent, so our seal declares the third object, which is a study of the
undiscovered laws of nature and the powers latent in man.
And if anyone inquire what good is this study of symbolism
and this revival of the superstition of the ancients, it may be replied in the words of one of the greatest
of the moderns, viz., of Thomas
Carlyle, "of kin
to the incalculable influences of Concealment, and connected with still greater things, is the wondrous agency
of symbols. In a Symbol there is a concealment, and yet a revelation; here, therefore, by Silence and by Speech
acting together, comes a double significance. And if both the Speech be itself high, and the Silence fit and
noble, how expressive will their union be I Thus in many a painted Device, or simple Seal-emblem, the commonest
Truth stands out to us proclaimed with quite new emphasis".
And further on: "Another matter it is, however,
when your symbol has intrinsic meaning, and is of itself fit that men should unite round it. Let but the
God-like manifest itself to sense. Let but Eternity look, more or less visibly, through the time Figure!
Then it is fit that men unite there, and worship together before such a symbol; and so from day to day, and
from age to age, superadd to it new divineness".
In speaking of the keys of the mystery-language and of symbolism, the author of the Secret
Doctrine says:
"The comprehension of the Occult Doctrine is based
upon that of the seven sciences, which sciences find their expression in the seven different applications
of the secret records......Thus we have to deal with modes [Page 16] of thought
on seven entirely different planes of Ideality. Every text (and symbol) relates to, and has to be rendered
from, one of the following standpoints: —
1. The Realistic plane of thought.
2. The Idealistic.
3. The purely Divine or Spiritual.
The other planes too far descend the average consciousness,
especially of the realistic mind, to admit of their being symbolized in terms of ordinary phraseology. There
is no purely mythical element in any of the ancient religious texts; but the mode of thought in which they
were originally written has to be found out and closely adhered to during the process of interpretation.
For it is either symbolical (archaic mode of thought), emblematical (a later, though very ancient mode of
thought), parabolical (allegory), hieroglyphical, or, again, logogrammical — the most difficult method
of all; as every letter, as in the Chinese language, represents a whole word.
Thus we see that, of all writings, symbols are of the most universal application, and how that the ancients,
by their symbology, created vehicles for the Infinite, with which, indeed, they were in closer touch than the
moderns, who rejoice in the exact verbosity of modern scientific and legal phraseology, whereby we strive to
narrow and confine all things. Like, also, as the spiritual science of Alchemy left its gross body to the material
science of Chemistry, and Astrology bequeathed its shell to mathematical Astronomy, so has symbology projected
its shadow in the science of Geometry and Algebra. If, then, the material expression of these sciences is so
potent that it has enslaved the intellectual world of the nineteenth century, what must be the spiritual potentialities
within them!
Herodotus is called the Father of History, and his writings are revered by scientific chroniclers as the rise
of the sun of intellect over the fields of superstition, mythology, and allegory. But was the method of the
ancients so irrational ?
For them the events of history were but the fleeting
and impermanent showing forth of great laws of nature; for them the form was nothing, the spirit that
manifested, alone was worth the remembering; causes were nearer truth than effects. Therefore, they refused
to stamp the evil of the past upon the minds of men, for they knew full well that seeing there was more of
evil in the world than good, and that the events of history and the hate-bred warfare of the nations was
the result of the passionate side of human nature, they refused to perpetuate the progeny of these passions
by clothing them in the protecting garments of history.
They refused to perpetuate national hatred by feeding
the fire of discord by the fuel of history. For they knew that by the law of the association of ideas the
passions of the past would thus inoculate the thought of the present. But [Page 17] mankind
required a demonstration of the truth of these laws, of which the majority were gradually losing the knowledge.
Thus following the law of ebb and flow, the pendulum has swung into the materiality of realism, and, having
now reached the end of its arc, commences to return upon its path with the added knowledge of its experience.
It is now being daily demonstrated that results are infinite and that their study requires longer time than
the life of the individual allows, therefore it becomes imperatively necessary to reduce this infinity, and
confine it within some limit, if we are not to lose ourselves in the void. In plain words, the details of
sciences, religions and philosophies have to be classified and synthesized; and a beginning in this direction
has been already made in the introduction of the comparative method. Thus the swing of the pendulum begins
to return, and at this returning point a moment of pause is given us, where we have the chance of a brief
respite from the overpowering rush of collective thought. At such moments we can view the landscape and choose;
we can even ascend the shaft of the pendulum, and so, for ourselves, lessen its velocity.
Of this ascent the simplicity of symbolism is a type;
for in a symbol may be included the whole science of life, and therefore, the adoption by the Society of
a Seal which includes the chief symbols of the past is a potent sign of the tendency of thought today.
Moreover, it is the gauntlet thrown down to materialistic negation by serving as a practical method for the
training of that intuitive faculty which is the bridge between the material and spiritual mind, the path
from the Satanic to the Divine.