The symbol of Nature's eternal war for the impossible equilibrium between spirit and matter; the symbol, also, of Time, which is but the illusion in which eternity clothes itself; forever putting on and forever putting off new garments of matter. The crowned king is the victorious soul, waiting, with the scythe of Time, to reap the harvest of the world; while incarnated man, as represented in the wrestling youths, is struggling for that which he did not produce, and which only death can reap. The poppy reveals the secret of the illusions of Nature's master-showman.

All earthly things are unreal to the spirit, which is the only real thing. Man's effort to h.o.a.rd and save the things of this world IS INJUSTICE TO OTHERS. The struggle is eternal, and no matter how careful or cunning man is to monopolize either power, truth or wealth, swift-footed time will readjust all things without error.

O child of Adam! "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal."

TABLET THE EIGHTH

Scorpio

SYMBOL

A wide, and plain, on it a skeleton; a dull, grey sky, in which an Eagle soars, full-fed, it seems, from the flesh of the skeleton.

VIII

REFLECTION

TABLET THE EIGHTH

A significant symbol to the seer, showing forth the two ultimates of life and death, of earthly things and s.e.x. Scorpio is both the eagle of the spirit, soaring aloft, well fed with all that is worth carrying away from the earth; and also the scorpion, whose natural home is the desert.

In s.e.x, either way, life is given. Shall it be to your spirit making fat and full your immortal self, or will the other interpretation be yours? And will you leave yourself dead and annihilated, a skeleton, to the Ego, the Divine spirit? For s.e.x is indeed the foundation of all. Raised to the region of Libra, it is power and magnetism. To the bosom it is love; to the brain it is enthusiasm. It is the promethian fire of life, the creative force, giving vigor to whatever region to which it is raised; or, lowered, to be spent with no returns, it debases and renders life a desert of dry bones.

O child of Adam! Reflect on the fall of man from spirit to matter, and combine the wisdom of the serpent with the purity of the dove, and "lest ye partake of the tree of life ye shall surely die."

TABLET THE NINTH

Saggitarius

SYMBOL

A child in a sh.e.l.l, holding in its hand a feathered lance, is drawn by five stars, grouped in an under arc.

IX

REFLECTION

TABLET THE NINTH

The symbol of the conscious soul. The sh.e.l.l is the body, drawn by the five senses--stars--which form an under arc, to represent the world of material things and our relation thereto. The child, armed with the feathered lance, is the soul; riding thus, fully armed, in the sh.e.l.l of the body, it realizes the duality of truth; that all things are changeable; and that each thing is true upon the plane of its manifestation, while an illusion to that which is interior to its life, while the soul is in its dream state. Sagittarius represents conservatism and the permanence of crystallized inst.i.tutions; but, when the spirit awakes and bursts the sh.e.l.l of matter, the senses, instead of being the guardians and jailors of its environment, become its servants, and the means by which, united as the one Ego, sense-perception, it races o'er the fields of Aeth--a being of life and beauty, shining in the empyrean of G.o.d.

O child of Adam! Ever remember that temperament and environment const.i.tute the north and south poles of human possibility, and that ability, combined with opportunity, is the measure of responsibility.

PART 1

Here beginneth Chapter 4 of the Book which is called--"The Tablets of Aeth," wherein is transcribed the Fourth Quadrant of the Twelve Mansions.

"A hair, perhaps, divides the false and true. Yes, and a single alif were the clue-- Could you but find it--to the treasure house, And, peradventure, to THE MASTER, too.

"Beware, O my son, of self-incense. It is the most dangerous on account of its agreeable intoxication. * * * Learn, O my beloved, that the light of Allah's truth will often penetrate an empty head more easily than one too crammed with learning."

TABLET THE TENTH

Capricorn

A deep, black ground, o'er which shimmers a phosph.o.r.escent light; at each side an aurora borealis rises, mountain like; above all, a tiny star.

X

REFLECTION

TABLET THE TENTH

Here is revealed the symbol of the messenger of the Most High.

The star hovers over the phosph.o.r.escent light cast on the darkness as the spirit hovers over the blackness of matter. The aurora borealis stands as the emblem for the magnetic attraction of Earth on spirit, the Christ soon to be born in the manger of the Goat; the descent of the Holy Ghost into material form, so that heavenly truth may illumine the drear speculum of earthly thought with the Divine iridescence of celestial light. It is the lowest arc of the cycle that reveals the new birth of death unto life--the divine egg of Brahma, containing the promise of the new law: "Peace on Earth, good will towards men."

O child of Adam! Be thou the star, and not a dweller of the outer darkness, and "Let your light so shine before men, that, they may see your good works."

TABLET THE ELEVENTH

Aquarius

SYMBOL

A stormy sea is seen; above it the eight stars shine, brilliant and clear.

XI

REFLECTION

TABLET THE ELEVENTH

This tablet symbolizes the complete materialization of man--man, perfect on the earth and the lord thereof, in so far as material forces are concerned. The storm is the tempest of life, the whirl of the elements of matter in their battle with the spirit. The eight stars, brilliant now (for they are the same stars that were dimly seen in Gemini), show that the conquest of matter is complete, the great fall of spirit finished; the end of involution. And this would bring stagnation and death, if peace now ensued. The lesson taught is that, not in peace and rest can the soul grow; but amidst the earthquakes that shake thrones, the floods that overwhelm countries, the fires that reduce to ashes, has the strong man-soul grown to its present state and power. So fear not the storm, but the calm; not the unrest, but the quiet; fear not the battle, but the ign.o.ble peace of the coward.

O child of Adam! The astral soul must learn to do and dare. Not over the brave man's grave shall it be written, "Rest in peace,"

but "I will arise, and go to my father."

TABLET THE TWELFTH

Pisces

SYMBOL