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13. Destino, Hereditariedade,
e Re-Encarnação
(p. 225)
“Cum ergo natus esset Jesus in
I propose to set before the readers of L’Aurore, as
briefly and succinctly as I can, that system and method of applied theology
which, under various names and disguises, whether as
Neoplatonism, as Gnosticism, as Alchemy, or as the Hermetic art, has
constituted the wealth of Mystics of all ages; identical always
(p. 226)
although presented under so many differing
modes, but finding its fullest and most perfect formation by the mouth and in
the dogmas of the Catholic Church.
Mysticism may, perhaps, be helpfully defined as experiential Theosophy. While
theosophy, in its broader signification, represents and includes the entire
range of Transcendentalism, the science of the Mystic is strictly and finely
spiritual. It is the science of the Saint rather than of the Adept, and occupies
itself immediately and concentratively with the
interests of the Soul and the aspirations of the Heart. It takes scant account
of occult physics and dynamics, or of the intellectual ceremonials of la Haute Magie. In intent and scope it is interpretative rather than exegetic or
constructive, and occupies itself with the conversion of the exoteric, material,
and general formulae of faith and doctrine into esoteric, spiritual, and
particular meanings, enfranchising the concerns and interests of the Soul from
the bondage of the Letter and the Form, and lifting the plane of belief from the
level of Tradition to that of Revelation. Thus the religion of the Mystic is
essentially spiritual, and all its articles relate to interior conditions,
principles, and processes. It is based upon experimental knowledge, and its
central figures are attributes, qualities, and sacraments; not personages nor
events, no matter how great or remarkable. These latter, with all the material
accessories and accidents they imply, are by the Mystic regarded as constituting
the Vehicle, not the essential element of religion, since
they are not, and cannot be, noumena or absolutes.
I have used the term “applied theology” to express the personal and inward
application to the life and in the heart of man of the great dogmas which form
the outward and visible fabric of Religion. It is not by any means my purpose to
criticise or meddle with these dogmas in their historical sense. I take
them as the Church enunciates them, and intend to shew their secret and
particular sense as illustrated and developed in the interior world of devout
human experience. And in this work I shall endeavour at the outset to distinguish between false and
true Mysticism, giving a few simple rules by observing which it will not be
difficult to avoid the one and appropriate the other.
First, then, the science of true Mysticism has three salient characteristics: form is no more, time is no more,
personality is no more. Instead of Time is
Eternity, instead of the Formal is the
(p. 227)
Essential, instead of Persons are Principles. So
long as the dross of any merely intellectual or physical concept remains
unconverted into the gold of spiritual meaning, so long, for the true Mystic,
the most inward and secret application of religious dogma is unattained. In all
our essays, therefore, at the transmutation of historical into hermetic
theology, we must take care that we do not stop halfway at pseudo-psychologic interpretations, and mistake the physiological
or the merely recondite for the spiritual. We must get rid of personae, of
places, of events occurring exteriorly to ourselves, or ideas compelling
association with material conditions. Suggestive and attractive though some such
half-and-half mysticisms may be, they are full of
danger, and terribly liable to mislead into spurious theosophy, bewildering
hallucination, and even madness. This the old initiates knew right well when
they imagined the hermetic allegory which has, for ages, in many lands and under
various guises, done duty as a fairytale none the less poetic because of its
divineness; – how the true Knight, armed with a sword and a silver thread
bestowed on him by his fairy godmother, goes in search of the sleeping Beauty in
the wood, and by means of that magic clue winds his way safely through
labyrinths and tangled mazes in which many other less fortunate knights had
become lost, until at last he penetrates into the very heart of the enchanted
bower and finds and awakens her who is his destined bride. That silver thread is
the secret of the Mystic; it is the test of Spirituality, by holding fast and
following which continually, he passes by with safety all the distractions of
divergent interpretations and sideways of thought which is not ultimate and
absolute in its application, and so emerges finally into the very core and
essential of his being where the Divine Beauty sleeps, awaiting his kiss of
recognition.
Secondly, and lastly, true Mysticism is strictly orderly, obedient, and reverent
of congruities. It is systematised and coherent; it is
disciplined and sane. Having found and determined the spiritual value and
correspondence of any dogma, personification, or symbol, it abides by it, and
does not perpetually shift and break correspondences and meanings, catching at
new ones and letting go the old, as fancy may suggest.
Recognising
many planes of Truth, it is, nevertheless, careful to
categorise
these planes in orderly sequence, and to relate them appropriately; never
transgressing the disciplines of scientific restraint, nor violating the natural
and proper harmonies of far and near, real and illusory, ideal and actual. It is
thus homogeneous, methodic,
(p. 228)
law-abiding. It creates no new dogmas or fancy
beliefs at hazard, but follows scrupulously and obediently the teaching of the
Church Catholic, whose exponent and minister it is.
Obviously, to be a Mystic after such a manner is by no means an easy thing. Much
knowledge, much discretion, much experience are needed for the guidance of the
aspirant. What, then, is the criterium, what the
guarantee of a successful issue in the enterprise? These are found in the
exercise of three supreme functions, each a sovereign principle in man: Right
Perception, Right Aspiration, Right Judgment. They are,
spiritually, the Kings of the East, and their apparition announces the Epiphany
of the Divine Life. Theirs it is to cognise, to
interpret, to illumine the interior nature, and to demonstrate the perfect
reasonableness of the divine science. They are, so to speak, the sponsors for
Christ, the Godfathers of the heavenly Babe. They affirm and declare Him; their
presence at His cradle and their united act of adoration are the supreme
ratification of His supernal origin. Their respective offerings of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh symbolise the recognition of
the Inward Light in Man by the prophetic, priestly, and kingly attributes of his
nature. These three wise principles, whose testimony to the Deific Source of
that Light is necessary to our acceptance of It as “God with us,” – Emmanuel –
arise themselves in the East or place of the Aurore, and are the accredited ambassadors of the Most High.
So lowly, so humble, so insignificant seem
the beginnings of the Divine Life when first the holy Soul brings It forth in
the seclusion and darkness of her retreat from the world, that she can scarce
believe in Its ineffable and miraculous nature. In her deep humility she lays
this precious Offspring in a modest cradle concealed from the general gaze, and
awaits events in reverent silence. Then come the “Magians,” unerring in their witness to the Truth,
proclaiming by their act of adoration that this is indeed the Son of God who is
born among men, that the reign of Herod – or the lower nature – is at an end,
and that henceforward the kingship of the Christ is established and attested.
Not that the new king will escape opposition and persecution, for Herod is not
to be deposed without a struggle. “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit,” the law of Death wars against
the law of Life eternal.
“Futurum est
enim
ut Herodes quaerat puerum ad perdendum eum.”
The advent of the kings signifies, therefore, the time of interpretation, of
unveiling, of making known; and the office which
(p. 229)
they come to fulfil is
that of Illumination. The manifestation of the holy Child is the Epiphany in
Man, collectively and individually, of the Divine Life, but this can only be
discerned and proclaimed for what It is by the
consensus of our highest mental, psychic, and spiritual faculties, right
perception, right aspiration, right judgment. By the combined verdict of this
royal council God certifies to us the truth. And it is thus that Mystics have
always apprehended the birth of the Lord within their own hearts, and have
unmistakably recognised and joyfully saluted Him. And
now, it seems that the day of the
Kings of the East is coming in its fulness; not for a
few individual Mystics merely, but for the Catholic Church in her entirety; that
the hour of making known is at hand, and that, from the rising of the sun, the
messengers of God are approaching us with good tidings.
It is my object to unfold the mission of the Rois Mages, for this is none other than the
evangel of Mysticism itself; the evangel of Manifestation and of Interpretation;
the Life of Christ declared and exposed after its spiritual and individual
meaning. “Et si cognovimus
secundum carnem Christum: sed
nunc
jam non novimus” (2 Cor.
V, 16). (1)
FOOTNOTES
(225:1) This Article on “The Mystic Magi, or Kings of the East,” and the following one on “Christian
Mysticism,” were written by Anna Kingsford, in 1886, for publication in the
then new French
monthy L’Aurore, which was under the editorship of
Lady Caithness (Duchess of Pomar).
They were written in English, and translated into French for publication, but by
whom they were translated I know not – it was not by Anna Kingsford. I have in
my possession the original MS. of “The Mystic Magi, or Kings of the East,” and it is from this that the
present Article has been copied. After considerable trouble, I obtained copies
of the two Articles in L’Aurore. That on “The Mystic Magi, or Kings of the East,”
appeared in L’Aurore (No. I. p. 30) in December 1886, under the
title “Les Rois
Mages Mystiques”; and that on “Christian Mysticism” in
L’Aurore
(No. iv. pp. 204-211) in March 1887, under the title “La Sainte Vierge Mystique”. (See
Light, 1887, p. 212.)
The above-mentioned copies of the Articles in L’Aurore have been translated into English by
my friend Mrs. D.S. Hehner, who says: “These articles
seem to have been originally written in English, which no doubt was Anna
Kingsford’s own clear and terse English, and then translated – very inadequately
– into French. The typing of the copies of the French Articles in
L’Aurore, too, is so defective, that it is in
places difficult to make out the sense. In some cases, words have been omitted; in
others, changed altogether. Several sentences read anything but clear in spite
of my efforts to render them as well as possible. (...) I have added between
brackets words which I thought helpful in order to render the idea. (...) As to
the rest, and generally speaking, you can rely on accuracy. I should have liked
to be free at times, but have not yielded to the temptation. You will find much
to alter in order to make the whole perfectly lucid.”
The Article on “Christian Mysticism”
has – with the exception of a few verbal alterations – been copied from.
Mrs Hehner’s
translation from the French, which, it is
seen, cannot be a correct rendering of Anna Kingsford’s original Article
from which the French translation was made, but as it is the nearest idea that I
can give of the original, I have thought it better to give it as it stands,
coupled with the above explanation. – S.H.H.
(225:2) [Transcriber’s note: Matt. 2:1-2 – “Now when Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the King,
behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalém. Saying, where is he that is born king of the
Jews? For we have seen his star in the
East, and are come to worship him.”]
(229:1) [Transcriber’s note: 2 Cor. 5:16 –
“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known
Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.”]
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