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Serial Lesson 2
From Course II, Astrological Signatures, Chapter 1
Original Copyright 1925, Elbert Benjamine (a.k.a. C. C. Zain)
Copyright 2010, The Church of Light
Birth Charts: Adolph Hitler Chart Benito Mussolini Chart
Chapter1
The Two Keys
IN all ages and in every land and
clime there are progressive souls whose spiritual vision pierces the murky
clouds of dogmatic illusion with which priestcraft and statecraft have ever
sought to obscure the sun of divine truth. These bold aspirants to esoteric
wisdom have the courage to burst the fetters that chain them to the lifeless
creeds which are forced upon a benighted world. They free themselves from the
thralldom of prejudice, and from that of servility to popular opinion. They
intrepidly turn their faces from the blackness of the dead ages to knock
resolutely at the door of the Temple of Knowledge. They realize that only
within the sacred precincts of nature’s sanctuary burn the altar fires whose
light produces the shadowy illusions which are believed by the multitudes who
worship them to be the only reality. And they learn that this sanctuary may be
unlocked only by the use of two keys.
Such a candidate for initiation,
having become as a little child, after divesting himself alike of the shroud of
orthodoxy and the encumbrance of current scientific opinion—the one as dogmatic
as the other—stands at the entrance of the temple, seeking admittance. This
structure is the edifice of nature, the home of Isis, the lodge room of our
Grand Master, King Sol; and is referred to in the Bible as Solomon’s Temple.
Now this name can hardly have been derived directly from so many divergent
sources, yet in spite of this, SOL-OM-ON presents some interesting
correspondences; for Sol is the Latin name of the Sun God Phoebus; Om is a
Hindu name of Deity; and On is the Sun God of Heliopolis, Egypt, which
anciently was called the City of On.
The candidate has heard it said,
“Knock and it will open; Ask and ye shall receive; Seek and ye shall find.” So,
sustained by a love of justice, he stands with clean hands and a pure heart at
the gate to the sanctuary. After a time his efforts are rewarded by glimpses of
the interior as the gates are opened by other hands, or the intuitions of his
soul penetrate their opaqueness. His summons are finally answered by the Voice
of the Silence, encouraging him to further endeavor; but at the same time
admonishing him that there is no vicarious atonement or attainment. Each must
unlock the doors that bar his progress and that guard the temple from
profanation, for himself.
King Solomon’s Temple has two
doors; so also, there are two doors to its oracle. He who would enter either
must possess their respective keys. The door on the right is opened only with
the aid of a golden key; that on the left requires a key of silver. These same
two keys with which the outer doors of the temple may be unlocked will also
open the doors of the oracle; but the keys that are turned from right to left
in the outer doors must be turned from left to right to unlock the inner.
That keys are extant by which
their possessor may penetrate the barriers of objective phenomena is common
knowledge among all well posted occultists. Students of masonic symbolism go
further; for they recognize that these keys are two in number.
In fact, the literature on
ceremonial magic very largely revolves around the two productions, the one
entitled, “Clavicula Solomonis” (The Key of Solomon the King), and the other
entitled, “Lemegeton” (Lesser Key), there being an English translation of both.
But the usefulness of these volumes, if they may be said to have a use,
pertains to the history of mystical aberration, and to magical practices of
doubtful quality, rather than to any revelation of the mysteries.
Turning from these again to
freemasonry, we find the symbol associated with the Fellow Craft degree to be
complex. We are in search of keys, therefore the other symbology need not here
concern us. But one prominent feature of the symbol are Two Crossed Keys, one
of Silver and the other of Gold. These are the keys for which we seek. Masonry
in its symbolism has preserved the keys to initiation. They are the keys that
unlock the doors of King Solomon’s Temple; but precisely what these two keys
symbolize in occult science no modern expounder, in so far as I have been able
to learn, has explained. Therefore, I shall devote this chapter to bringing to
the notice of all and sundry who are interested in occult matters, both the
importance and the nature of the key of silver and the key of gold.
The better to understand the
conditions which confront the present day searcher after truth, let us review
the past with an eye to discerning the method by which whatever of
enlightenment we now possess was gained. Perchance that method will give us a
clue to the manner in which the many perplexities that now confront us may be
solved.
Turning back the pages in the
book of history a few hundred years, we find the utmost confusion in the realm
of scientific thought. Prior to the seventeenth century material science was a
wild jumble of notions. It was as great a medley of inconsistencies as we find
today in the realm of religion and mysticism. And even as today assertions
regarding religion are thought to be proved by citing authorities, so then the
facts of material science rested upon authority as their final criterion. Just
as mystics and religionists now feel free to give the particular interpretation
of an authority—the Bible, for instance—that best suits their convenience, so
then students were equally free in giving their own interpretation of
scientific authorities. The controversies and animosities of present day
religious sects and mystic cults are paralleled by the contention and turmoil
in scientific circles preceding the seventeenth century.
This conflict between various
schools was at an acute stage when, early in the seventeenth century, an event
occurred which revolutionized the methods of scientific thought. The existing
chaos of science was well recognized. Therefore, in the hope of establishing
some kind of order, Cardinal Bagne called together the notables and savants of
his time to listen to the discourse of a scholar, M. Chandoux, who expounded
the principles of a new philosophy. Present at that discourse was young René
Descartes.
M. Chandoux was an eloquent
speaker and clothed his thoughts in flowery language. With one exception his
hearers were convinced and applauded loudly. The exception was René Descartes.
An acquaintance, noticing
Descartes’ reticence, asked him to explain in what manner he disapproved of the
new principles so eloquently presented. Descartes complimented the speaker
highly upon his ability, and then voiced an axiom that every occult student
should constantly bear in mind. It is due to the failure to realize the
importance of this fact that a thousand and one intellectual crudities are
being palmed off on a credulous world today. He said: “Nothing Can Be Proved or Disproved by Unproved Principles.”
What was true of material science
in Descartes’ time is equally true in regard to occultism, mysticism, and
religion at present: “The probable being often substituted for the true, it
being easy to mistake the fictitious for the true when dressed in false guise.”
To illustrate this, Descartes
asked the assembly to give him some well recognized fact. Then, by means of
twelve statements he proved the fact to be true. After which, he took twelve
other statements, and, to the consternation of all present, proceeded with
equal ease, and in an apparently irrefutable manner, to prove its falsity.
The experiment was repeated again
and again, to the great dismay of his audience. A confusion resulted that
resembles that of religion and occultism today. The apparently proven facts of
man’s proper relation to other entities in the universe and to Deity are
subject to just such jugglery, to affirmation by some authorities and to denial
by others; both being sustained by arguments. No wonder the student often
doubts the possibility of knowing without mistake the real truth concerning
anything.
So it was with Descartes’
hearers. They began to doubt their ability ever to recognize the truth.
Consequently they sought his opinion about the matter. His reply is quite as
important to religion and occult science today as it then was to material
science, and if his advice is followed it will work as important a change for
their betterment as it then worked for the advancement of material knowledge.
He stated that Mathematics Alone avoids sophisms, and by its aid All Problems
can be Solved, if Proper Principles be Followed.
That was the beginning of what is
now called exact science. Its success during the intervening years has been due
to the ability of its votaries to follow proper mathematical principles.
Furthermore, the incongruities of certain materialistic philosophers and
scientists are due to their departure from mathematical methods and their
attempting to prove their doctrines by unproved principles.
Now it is not my purpose to
convey the idea that the physical intellect alone is capable of successfully
wrestling with nature’s arcane truths; for the soul, when free from the bondage
of the physical senses, becomes a far superior judge of reality. The
perceptions of the astral brain have a far greater range than those of the
physical, and the sense organs of the spiritual body have even a much greater
range than these. Furthermore, on the inner planes, intelligences of vastly
greater ability than any on earth may be contacted. The soul when free from the
body and functioning in a finer form is infinitely more capable of grasping the
true inner significance of nature’s wondrous manifestations.
But it is only the exceptional
individual, under exceptional circumstances, who is able so to free himself
from the limitations imposed by the flesh, that upon his soul’s return to its
earthy tenement from sublime flights in the starry realms of aeth his physical
organism grasps the truths he has contacted without coloring them to conform to
preconceived ideas, to prevalent opinions, or to the personal peculiarities due
to centers of energy within his astral form that are mapped by his birth chart.
The soul’s experience may be compared to the pure white radiance of our sun,
which is stained to different hues as it passes through colored cathedral
windows.
People in general are greatly
influenced by thought currents. Some dominant character puts forth an idea.
Other less positive minds receive this idea either through unconscious thought
transference, or through the written or spoken word. The positiveness with
which the idea is launched enables it to gain a controlling power over a few.
These then, having become dominated by the idea, formulate it anew. Thinking
about it strongly, they send out astral waves that reach the astral brains of a
whole nation. One after another people begin to accept the idea, and the more
people there are thinking it the stronger becomes its power to dominate others.
The ease with which a few men in
high political office often are able to warp the judgment of a whole people
well illustrates this. No matter how pernicious or illogical the idea is, if it
is launched strongly enough and gains momentum, it will dominate the majority.
History abounds with the follies of whole nations temporarily so dominated.
They are so under the power of suggestion that they fail to see the matter in
any light but that under which it has been presented to them. They lose the
power to reason about this particular thing, just as a hypnotized subject must
accept what the operator suggests without question, and may imagine he is quite
logical and rational. Likewise, the memory of the soul’s experiences when free
from the physical body has a tendency to be warped by thought currents into
conformity with them.
There is also a tendency, deeply
rooted in the makeup of the astral body, on the part of mystical minds to be
controlled by autosuggestion. They sometimes become so dominated by some
religious belief, or by some phantasy that has gained a strong hold in the
astral brain, that the meaning of both physical and astral experiences is
greatly distorted to confirm it. If there is much egotism, conversation with
any disembodied entity may be construed as talking directly with Deity, even
though others recognize the entity as an elemental. In such cases the mystic
follows the dictates of the voice, even if it leads to death. And even where no
such dominant idea is present, early beliefs often are so strongly entrenched
in the astral brain as to considerably color the memory of experiences brought
back from excursions into higher realms. Consequently, there is always the need
of critical analysis of such experiences, and the application of as competent
methods as possible to test their accuracy. Such methods are embraced within
the silver and golden keys.
Let us consider that nature in
all her various manifestations is under law, and that this law invariably is
based upon mathematical principles. Mathematical relations are absolute, and
pertain as well to spiritual, celestial and angelic spheres, as they do to our
humble planet. Everything, from the tremor of a thought wave to the evolution
of a universe, operates in strict obedience to numerical law. The eight-volved
tower of Babel rose on Shinar’s plain to exemplify the numbers understood by
the Magi to govern race evolution. The pyramids yet stand as a monumental proof
of the numerical relations existing between the earth, the universe, and the
soul of man. And though the Pythagorean system of numbers was never placed in
writing, and hence is dimly grasped except by the few, yet its fame has echoed
down the corridors of time and prompts our soul to listen to the music of the
spheres.
Mathematics alone enables one to
avoid mental pitfalls, and it is due to this fact that the Golden and Silver
keys are the most valuable possessions that the occultist can obtain in the
world of mental research; for they are each grounded in, and strictly built
upon numerical proportions.
To comprehend their function we
must have recourse to the Written and Oral Laws.
Initiates understand the Written
Law to be that Law inscribed in scintillating characters of light, by the ever
moving finger of Deity, in the azure dome that spans our midnight sky. It is
written in the Language of the Stars, and thus revealed His will to the
primitive Assyrian Shepherds. Its study later gave to Egypt her splendor, and
made the Chaldean Magi so justly famous. It was the knowledge of this
ineffaceable Written Law, the sublime science of the starry heavens, that
constituted the wisdom that flowed from the magical schools of Atlantis toward
the rising sun; and in the dim and distant past, in those remoter periods of
racial childhood, before material struggles had crystallized the sensitiveness
of the soul, it was the pure intuitional recognition of the Written Law that
constituted primitive religion.
Man is an epitome of the
universe; is, in fact, a universe in miniature, built upon the exact plan and
proportions of the larger one. His component parts interact with one another,
even as do the orbs of nature; and they also interact with those larger bodies.
Man, in his ignorance, imagines himself an isolated unit; but as his vision
expands, he more and more recognizes the unity existing between himself and his
divine source; and between himself and the infinitude of other manifestations.
Can we wonder then, realizing the
mystical relation that exists between the soul and the stars, that a primitive
people whose spiritual faculties were infinitely more sensitive and active than
our own, should formulate their system of religion to conform to the heavenly
bodies? They worshiped Deity by striving to learn and obey His laws. The
Heavenly Father was looked upon as a benefic being whose mandates were to be
obeyed, even as a child places loving confidence in the wisdom of its parents.
Observation had convinced these
primitive races that everything of importance occurred conformably to the
position and movements of the heavenly bodies. The recurrence of certain
celestial phenomena always brought the rains of winter; other positions ever heralded
the time for sowing, and the time for harvest. The rivers overflowed their
banks when at dusk or dawn certain stars were in the ascendant; and the tides
of human life, as well as those of the sea, ebbed and flowed in obedience to
the dictates of the heavenly orbs. These children of nature worshiped Deity by
obedience to the dictates of nature. And it was only because they had become
convinced that it is God’s method of instructing His children that they bowed
in reverence to the Written Law.
Thus it need not surprise us to
find the remnants of an Astronomical Religion in every land. Being founded upon
long ages of carefully tabulated facts, as well as subject to searching
verification by specially qualified souls, it constituted a Science as well as
a Religion. The qualities and interior principles of stellar influence were
made the subject of systematic study for centuries; and their correspondences
were located, both on the earth and in the human constitution. This religion
was the worship of nature’s laws.
In after years, when only a few
could comprehend its scientific aspect because of spiritual and mental
degeneration due to cyclic changes, the result of these studies was formulated
into myths, each portraying the attributes and qualities of some stellar orb or
celestial phenomenon. Certain qualities ascribed to Deity in his manifestations
through the orbs and stars thus became the object of special worship by some
people. Fire worship, sex worship, serpent worship, all sprang from this
source; as well as the worship of mythological characters, who always portray
with accuracy the qualities of celestial bodies. It certainly would greatly
surprise the orthodox devotees of the twentieth century if they could but know
how much of their religion is borrowed, with little or no alteration, from
astronomical worship.
Astronomy is the Written Law, and
the Golden Key to its interpretation is Astrology.
This golden key is constructed
strictly upon mathematical lines; is, in fact, the only means of positively applying
mathematics to the door of the past and future, and thus minimizing the chance
of error. The student ignorant of its use can never realize the relation of his
soul to the universe; nor comprehend astromasonry, astrotheology, nor
astromythology. The philosophy and religion of the ancients will be to him a
perplexing labyrinth; because they are founded upon the principles of astronomy
and astrology. It is by the use of this key alone that natural sympathies and
antipathies become understandable; and the cyclic locks that alike are found to
guard men, nations, worlds, and starry systems, are turned in their wards by
the hand of the mind only by its aid.
This golden key unlocks the door
of positive knowledge in King Solomon’s Temple. It reveals the why and
wherefore of man’s past, present, and future condition. It is mathematical
certainty alike in religion, philosophy, and science; for it deals not with
effects, but with causes. The alchemist who neglects the golden key will seek
in vain to transmute base metals into gold, and will fail utterly in producing
the elixir vitae. The physician ignorant of its use, be he homeopathic,
allopathic, chiropractic, osteopathic, mental scientist, christian scientist,
or divine healer, will in many instances receive unexpected results from his
best efforts; because he fails to grasp the inner magnetic relation of his
patient, himself, and the method he employs. What is one man’s poison is
another’s cure; and this may be magnetic poison, or mental, as well as physical;
and these inner sympathies and antipathies only become recognized through
familiarity with the principles of astrology.
It is a generally accepted fact
that nations rise and fall with rhythmic precision; but such periods of
ascension and decline can only be known by use of the golden key. Our
government may continue to endow meteorological stations with millions, but the
state of the weather will never be known more than a few days in advance until
they recognize this key; and man without its proper use will continue to grope
in darkness where spiritual facts are concerned.
The golden key alone made
possible the wonderful cures wrought by Paracelsus, it guided the mystic Jacob
Boehme in the erection of a religious and philosophical system; and in all past
ages it has constituted the most reliable chart for those souls who boldly
attempted to sail the wide ocean of spiritual research. It has been the means
by which, at last, they have reached the haven of attainment.
But now let us again consider
more primitive times. The intellectual and spiritual condition of the world is,
like all things manifest, subject to cyclic law; and there have been recurring
periods of comparative light and comparative darkness. After the mental forces
have spent themselves in any age, they begin to wane, and the race declines
into barbaric ignorance. When these periodic conditions of spiritual decline
set in, there is an effort made upon the part of the most enlightened to
preserve their knowledge for the few who will be able to appreciate it during
the dark ages to follow, those who will pass it on in substance to future
generations when the spiritual forces again rise in the world’s ascendant. Thus
originated the Hermetic Schools which are custodians of the Secret Doctrine.
The hierophants of these schools
collect as many facts as possible relating to spiritual things, and formulate
them into allegorical systems suitable for communication by word of mouth. In
order that these mysteries shall not become entirely lost they are frequently
given, in part or as a whole, to the populace. Such allegories become the
religious doctrine of the multitude, and passing into writing may constitute a
holy book. Thus originated the Vedas, the Avesta, the Bible, and other sacred
writings. But as a rule, at their inception, these traditions have been
transmitted orally, by word of mouth, and thus are known to initiates as “The
Oral Law.”
The Oral Law is the Secret
Doctrine, and having been formulated by the Magi, it is constructed in such a
manner as to be incomprehensible to the vulgar, yet not difficult of
interpretation to one possessing its key. This key was explained only during
the course of initiation into the mysteries, after the recipient had proven
indisputably his physical, intellectual, and moral integrity. And just here it
may be well to digress long enough to explain that, following in the literary
custom, I use the masculine pronoun in these lessons to include both sexes; for
never has woman been barred from membership and equal privileges with her
brothers in any true Hermetic School. The doors of Luxor, Rosicrucia, and The
Brotherhood of Light, have ever welcomed her.
But to proceed: This open sesame
to all traditional knowledge exists at the present day and has been recognized
and used advantageously by a number of eminent kabalists, mystics, and savants;
but has received scant attention from those outside the portals of certain
secret societies. This Silver Key to the Oral Law is none other than the Sacred
Tarot, or Book of Thoth. From its pages the illuminated St. Martin drew
inspiration. Aided by, and in strict conformity to its revelations, the savant,
Eliphas Levi, wrote his truly marvelous work, The Dogma and Ritual of
Transcendental Magic. This key was held in the highest esteem by the erudite
Count de Gebelin; was the basis of William Postel’s Key of Things Kept Secret
from the Foundation of the World; and constituted the Ars Magna of Raymond
Lully, by which he claimed all problems might be solved. Lully was a profound
kabalist, and the crowning effort of his life was his philosophical wheel, or
method of applying the Tarot.
Not only do archaeologists find
remnants of the golden key in all portions of the world, but by their side
fragments from the key of silver. The Book of Thoth, under various names, was
known to remotest antiquity. It was formulated by the same master minds who
peopled the starry heavens with mystic characters and forged the golden key to
their interpretation, to serve as the handmaiden to religious astrology.
Now the golden key has a stem of
twenty-two symbols—twelve zodiacal signs and ten planets. It has a ring of four
decades—thirty-six decanates and four seasons of the sun’s annual cycle. It has
wards, consisting of the twelve mundane mansions and the elemental ruler of
each of the four quadrants, that turn in three worlds. In its action it is
masculine and positive.
The silver key is a duplicate of
the one of gold, except that in its action it is feminine and passive, thus
bearing the same relation to the latter that woman bears to man. The twenty-two
Major Arcana of the Tarot each bear an exact correspondence to one of the
twelve zodiacal signs or ten planets and constitute an esoteric interpretation
of them. The forty numbered Minor Arcana bear a strict relation to the
thirty-six decanates and the four seasons of the sun’s annual cycle. The
sixteen members of the Tarot Court accurately describe the twelve mundane
mansions and the elemental ruler of each of the four quadrants.
In fact, the Tarot bears the same
relation to astrology that the Moon bears to the Sun, and even as the Sun
illuminates the day, so does astrology shed its radiance upon the more evident
truths of occultism. But those deeper and more recondite mysteries remaining in
the shadow cast by objective existence would forever remain in the dark, even
as at night nothing is seen until the Moon has risen, were it not for the soft
radiance of the silver key. It is true, the moon shines by borrowed light; yet
we are grateful for her rays. Just so the Tarot borrows her significance from
her heavenly spouse, astrology; yet she sheds an ever welcome illumination upon
our darkest mental paths.
Bearing this explanation in mind
a much quoted passage from the Zohar, one of the books of the Jewish Kabalah,
becomes luminous. It runs thus: “At the death of Moses the sun was eclipsed and
the Written Law lost its splendor, and at the death of David the moon
diminished and the Oral Law was tarnished.”
Moses according to tradition—and
the word kabalah means traditions—was raised by the Egyptian Magi, and was
initiated into the mysteries. Consequently he was familiar with both astronomy
and the kabalah, or the Written Law and the Oral Law; and had been given the
keys to their interpretation. In fact, the story of creation as allegorically
given in Genesis, when correctly interpreted, is capable of a mathematical
proof that harmonizes with the law of cycles as known to present day initiates.
Furthermore, the whole Pentateuch, by whomsoever written, teems with thinly
veiled references to astronomical cycles, laws, qualities, and movements. As
these references are found to coincide with observed phenomena, they indicate a
deep knowledge of astrology, the golden key, upon the part of their composer.
So the kabalists, having reference to the positive illuminating power of the
golden key, compared it to the sun. This sun, meaning astrology, was eclipsed
at the death of Moses. Its proper use was lost to the Jews; hence the Written
Law, astronomy, lost its splendor, or became meaningless. And this fact is
confirmed by Bible study.
The silver key, the intuitional,
feminine counterpart of astrology, was compared to the moon, which diminished
at the death of David. That is, the Jews were skilled in the meaning and use of
the Tarot down to the time of David, but at his death they lost the final key
to their mysteries, hence the Oral Law was tarnished. They yet retained the
Bible and the kabalah, but had lost the key to their interpretation; and when a
part of the latter finally was committed to writing, the ignorance of this key
on the part of its scribes gave to it a garbled form.
The ark of the covenant, which
the Children of Israel ever carried with them was a synthetic representation of
the Tarot, or Book of Thoth. Now the silver key has wards opening the three
worlds of existence. Corresponding to these are the three stories of the ark.
The base was of square form to represent the physical world and the alchemical
kingdom of salt. Each of the two rings on either side, through which were
thrust the carrying poles, thus represents the number ten, the sacred
emanations of the Sephiroth. The four rings collectively represent the
Sephiroth in all four of the elemental realms, corresponding in this to the
forty Minor Arcana of the Tarot. As mind is superior to matter, the coffer just
above the base corresponds to the intellectual world and the alchemical kingdom
of mercury. This is represented in the Tarot by the human figures that
constitute the Court Arcana. The divine world was symbolized by the uppermost
section, that region above the mercy seat. This corresponds alchemically to the
kingdom of sulphur, and in the Tarot is represented by the twenty-two Major
Arcana, typifying as they do the signs and planets of heaven whose influence is
ever active upon both the lower forms of life and the actions of men.
In this ark were carried the four
symbolical suits of the Tarot. There was the golden pot, or suit of cups.
Aaron’s rod that budded represents the suit of scepters. The tables of the
covenant, or law, correspond to the suit of swords; and the mana contained in
the golden pot well symbolizes the suit of coins.
The cherubs at either end of the
mercy seat typify in the divine world the Father-Motherhood of God, in the
intellectual world the rational and intuitional methods of gaining knowledge,
and in the physical world the positive and negative forces of nature. Kabalists
assert that it was between the wings of these cherubs that the high priests
consulted the Lord by means of Teraphim, Urim, Thummim, and by Ephod; and such
biblical mention as is made of the matter tends to confirm the opinion. This
method was none other than the use of the silver key, the sacred Tarot.
This is but one of the many
examples that might be cited to show an early knowledge of the silver key upon
the part of the Hebrews; but their later writings, with some exceptions, do not
indicate the same familiarity with it. Ezekiel evidently recovered it, for by
its application alone can the mystic symbology of his writings be intelligently
interpreted. Daniel also evinces some knowledge of its use; and the whole
Apocalypse, whoever its author may have been, is based upon the Tarot. In fact,
each of the twenty-two chapters is an exemplification of one of the twenty-two
Major Arcana in its relation with the others, as applied to prophecy. Thus it
well may be said that at the death of David it was lost to the Jewish
priesthood, yet it is equally certain that afterwards it was recovered by some
of the inspired prophets.
Not only the Bible but the sacred
writings of other nations of antiquity may be interpreted by use of the silver
key; for their allegories came alike from a common source, and have suffered
minor alterations due to later environment. We may confidently say, then, that no
one can thoroughly understand the inner meaning of the ancient sacred books who
is ignorant of the Tarot. Or, stating it in the words of Eliphas Levi we may
say: “Without the Tarot, the magic of the ancients is a closed book, and it is
impossible to penetrate any of the great mysteries of the Kabalah.”
We may be sure that the gigantic
intellects who first discovered the Written Law, and who formulated the Oral
Law, perceived in nature a unity whose ever varying manifestations are due to
certain fundamental principles. The universe is but the action and reaction of
these principles under the dominion of one law, and this law conforms strictly
to mathematical relations. These mathematical relations once discovered through
observation of the Written Law, it was but a step to incorporate them in the
Oral Law. Likewise they are maintained in, and contribute to the value of, the
silver key.
The keen intuitions and spiritual
perceptions of the ancient Magi enabled them to formulate the exact
correspondence between the soul and the stars. They likewise forged the golden
key as a means of unlocking this realm of positive knowledge. But the inner,
more secret, intuitive interpretations; wherein they often exemplified the
personal experience of the soul in other realms than this, required a key of
different composition. Therefore, in its construction they employed the
language of universal symbolism. The silver key, constructed as a mathematical
duplicate of its golden counterpart, if intelligently applied, will not fail to
open one of the principal doors to King Solomon’s Temple.
In fact, the traditions of
freemasonry aver that owing to the death of one of their grand masters the
master mason’s word was lost, and with it the key to certain of their
mysteries. At a later date, through an accidental discovery, the lost word and
lost key were recovered. This discovery is represented as the disinterment of
the ark of the covenant containing the four emblems that each mark one suit of
the Tarot.
From the ark are taken, first the
Book of Laws, and then four pieces of paper or scrolls of parchment bearing the
key to the characters of their mysteries. As has been mentioned, the ark of the
covenant is a symbolical synthesis of the Tarot. The Book of Laws represents
the Oral Law. The four scrolls of parchment signify the four quadrants of the
heavens upon which is inscribed the characters of the Written Law.
The master’s word is found upon
the ark, covered with three squares, which are the jewels of the three ancient
grand masters. These jewels are astronomical measures, and form a portion of
the golden key.
Freemasonry undoubtedly is
derived from the ancient mysteries of initiation. Each of the first thirty-two
degrees is founded upon one of the ten numbered Arcana, or one of the
twenty-two Major Arcana. The members of the lodge by whom the candidate is surrounded
are represented by the Court Arcana. The thirty-third degree is typified in the
Tarot by the mystic seal. These degrees also correspond to the thirty-three
chapters of the kabalistical book, Sephir Yetzirah, or Book of Formation,
which, founded upon the Tarot, has thirty-three chapters, and is explained by a
commentary entitled, “The Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom.” As masonic ritual is
based upon the Tarot, its esoteric meaning is only comprehensible when proper
application is made of the silver key.
Nor is the use of the silver key
confined to revealing the mysteries of antiquity, for it can advantageously be
applied to the solution of all the problems of science and philosophy.
“Letters are absolute ideas;
absolute ideas are numbers; numbers are perfect signs. In reuniting ideas to
numbers we can operate upon ideas as upon numbers and arrive at the mathematics
of truth.” Thus the possibilities of the Tarot are only limited by the ability
of its user. Its prevalent abuse as a divinatory instrument, it is true, has
brought it somewhat into disrepute. Yet while not denying the effectiveness of
either the golden key or the silver key in divination, I should not fail to
emphasize that this is the lowest plane of their usefulness, and that their
application to spiritual matters will yield the seeker far superior rewards for
effort expended.
Again to quote Levi in regard to
the Tarot: “It is a truly philosophical machine, which keeps the mind from
going astray while leaving its initiative and liberty; it is mathematics
applied to the absolute, the alliance of the positive and the ideal, a lottery
of thought as exact as numbers, perhaps the simplest and grandest conception of
human genius.”
This is a stupendous thought. And
lest the reader be given the impression that there is something complex and
difficult in the principle underlying the golden key and the silver key, before
bringing this chapter to a close, I shall risk introducing an element of
crudeness by descending from philosophical concepts to the most material and
commonplace matters of which, at the moment, I can think.
For the sake of illustration
only, and admitting it to be rather an undignified example, let us suppose that
a man desired to build and furnish a dwelling.
He is confronted with purchasing quite
an assortment of things, and it becomes necessary to know how much of each to
purchase, and what the cost will be. He must have dimension lumber, siding,
sheeting, brick, nails, sand, lime, plumbing fixtures, and many other things in
addition to paying for the labor. How is he to determine the influence of this
proposed dwelling upon his bank account?
Obviously, he can not merely
visualize the house as built and furnished, and from such a picture draw any
accurate conclusions as to its complete cost. Nor will visualizing the
materials as brought together in crude piles assist him much.
Now lumber is sold by the board
foot. Therefore, having recourse to mathematics, he determines how many board
feet of each kind of lumber are required. Then, multiplying each kind by the
price per foot for that kind, and adding together the various prices so
obtained he arrives at the cost of his lumber bill.
But brick, being sold by the
thousand, cannot be computed in board feet. To find the cost of the brick
required he must multiply the number of thousand brick by the cost per
thousand.
Sand is sold neither by the
thousand nor by the board foot, but by the yard. The number of yards of sand
required multiplied by the price per yard, therefore, gives him the cost of the
sand.
Nails, which are also required,
are not sold by the thousand, nor by the yard, nor by the board foot, but by
the pound. Consequently, to find the cost of the nails he must multiply the
number of pounds of nails by the price per pound.
Without going into the details of
other requirements; such as lime, sold by the barrel; wall paper, sold by the
roll; rugs, sold by the square foot; chinaware, sold by the dozen; and skilled
labor, sold by the hour; it is quite evident that an accurate estimate of each requirement
can only be made by first associating it with its own symbol of commensuration.
Nails cannot be computed by associating them with board feet, but they can be
computed by associating them, according to proper mathematical principles, with
pounds, which is their proper symbol of commensuration. Furthermore, when each
requirement has been properly associated with its own symbol of commensuration,
and through this its cost calculated, by then adding together the prices of
these various items the cost of the completed dwelling may be made known.
So much for boards, and nails,
and chinaware, and the even more familiar commodity, human labor.
But even as there is a symbol of
commensuration for each of these common things, by which alone its influence
upon the bank account may be ascertained, so likewise is there a symbol of
commensuration for every object and force in the universe, by which alone its
true quality and influence may be made known. These are astrological terms. As
has been shown in an earlier lesson, everything, in its vibratory rate,
corresponds to some astrological quality. Even ideas and spiritual principles
have astrological correspondences. Therefore, by associating the symbol of its
astrological correspondence with anything we are using its own symbol of
commensuration; and much as board foot associated with lumber enables it to be
measured, so the astrological term enables us to form a just estimate of other
things.
Furthermore, when things are
associated with their proper astrological symbols, and thus made commensurate,
their influence upon each other or upon an individual may be learned. When
stated in astrological terms the most diverse matters become commensurate. As
nails and boards and sand and lime, when first made commensurate by associating
each with its own proper symbol, and that stating in terms of dollars and
cents, may thus be combined to give a total cost; so, by associating them first
with their own astrological symbols, and then stating in terms of vibratory
harmony and discord, the total influence upon human thought and life of the
most diverse things may be known.
Among the most potent of these
diverse things to influence the course of human life are invisible planetary
rays. That we are unconscious of their power to influence us at certain times
to think and act in one way, and at another time to think and act in an
opposite manner, mitigates their influence not in the least. Is the sunflower,
whose face follows the course of the sun, aware that its movements are influenced
by light? Both plants and animals are continually influenced in their growth
and behavior by gravitation, yet what is gravitation? Animals and plants, both
in growth and in movement, respond markedly to changes in temperature.
Subconsciously they may be aware of the desire that leads to these various
behaviors, as no doubt man is subconsciously aware of the desire to act in a
certain way because of his astral body being stimulated by planetary
vibrations. Objectively he merely experiences certain impulses without knowing
why. The moth does not know why it flies into the flame. It flies into it
because light has the power of stimulating it to fly in the direction of the
light. This tropism, as it is called, causes the moth to react to certain
vibrations in a specific way, and another tropism causes man to react to
planetary influence in a way that may not be dissimilar.
This, then, is the method
incorporated into the two keys. They are constructed to reveal astrological
correspondences and thus facilitate the use of the proper symbols of
commensuration. They are constructed to indicate, once the proper symbols have
been obtained, the influence of one thing or idea upon another. They include in
their composition such mathematics as is necessary to determine the total
harmony and discord, and hence the total influence, of the most diverse things
when they are brought together. They constitute a means of measuring both
special and universal forces.
In conclusion, I again state the
words of Descartes, who, it may be mentioned, before settling down to his final
life work, roamed the whole of Europe in search of someone who could initiate
him into a secret occult fraternity; “Mathematics alone avoids sophisms.”
In this we find the greatest
commendation for the use of both the golden key and the silver key, for both
conform to mathematical principles. And in no other field will the student be
so well rewarded for his labor, and less likely to become grounded in error,
than in applying to the macrocosm and the microcosm these two invaluable keys.
Birth Charts
Adolph Hitler Chart
April 20, 1889 6:30 P.M. LMT 48N; 13E
Data: Data: Astrological Signatures by C. C. Zain
1914 Lance Corporal in World War: Mars (ruler of house of war) sesquisquare Uranus r.
1919 became obsessed with idea of regenerating Germany: Sun conjunction Neptune r (planet of big schemes and of ideals).
1923 with Ludendorf, attempted putsch in Bavaria failed, and he was imprisoned: Sun sesqui-square Uranus p in house of imprisonment.
1931 civil war: Mars semi-square Sun r in house of war.
1933 became dictator of Germany: Sun sextile Saturn r in 10th (house of honor).
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Benito Mussolini Chart
July 29, 1883 2:00 P.M. LMT 41N; 16E
Data: Astrological Signatures by C. C. Zain
1914 expelled from socialist ranks for advocating war: Sun conjunction M.C. r (honor); Mercury trine Pluto r in house of war.
1919 March 23, first Fascisti meeting: Sun in 10th (honor) square Saturn r; Venus conjunction M.C. r (honor) sextile Mars p.
1922 October 30, March on Rome, became dictator of Italy: Sun in 10th square Mars r in house of war; Mercury trine Moon r (people).
1935 October, war with Ethiopia: Venus conjunction Sun p in 10th; Mercury square Venus r; Mars semi-square Pluto r in house of war.
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