OCCULT THEOCRASY
BY LADY QUEENBOROUGH
(EDITH STARR MILLER)
OCCULT THEOCRASY
PART I
THE MYSTERIES OF FREEMASONRY
CHAPTER I
THE RELIGION OF THE SECRET
Man is a creature of mind and matter. To the realm of mind belongs metaphysical thought which, whether trained or untrained, is peculiar to each individual and is subject for its development or restraint to his will. It is the basis of religion in the generally accepted sense of this word ; it is purely spiritual and can reach the height of mysticism. From it issue creeds or doctrines and the erection of a theological system of beliefs.
Imparted to other individuals and accepted by them, the metaphysical thought of a few great minds has become the basis of religious systems. Upon its teaching was grafted a Ritual or Law, disciplining the life, mystic, moral, social and even physical, of its adherents or believers. From the exercise of such laws, theocracy or the rule of priesthood was evolved. It is to be found in every religion regardless of the fact that in some instances like in the Buddhist doctrine of Gautama and in the teaching of Jesus Christ, nothing is further removed than ritualism from the metaphysical thought or religious conception of the founders.
The power of theocracy or exercise of government rule over the masses by a hierarchy of priests or adepts rested on its dual system of teaching, namely : Exoteric and Esoteric, the former a code of discipline of the thought and mode of life of the masses, the latter the hierarchic school wherein were trained the chosen adepts destined to safeguard the rules imposed upon the people by the high priests.
Upon a close study of the manifold religious systems, the corruption of which led to theocratic rule, namely, Brahminism, the Ancient Egyptian Cult, Mosaicism or Judaism, Christianism and Mahometanism, one finds the accepted belief of Monotheism as the basis of esoteric or secret belief or doctrine. Monotheism is here taken in the sense of First Principle.
Whereas the Egyptian high priesthood of Memphis kept this theory as the esoteric teaching of the high adepts, Moses, brought up as one of them, gave it as exoteric or popular belief to the Israeli sect to which he belonged, embodying it in a deity, the terrible Jehovah of the Jews.
Another side of the esoteric teaching was that of occultism, the development of all human psychic forces which, when misused, lead to the practice of magic. The esoteric part of all religions or hermeticism, the teaching and practice of occultism, led to the development of what might be termed the religion of the secret, which eventually overshadowed and helped to dissimulate subversive activities.
It is with this that we are chiefly concerned and will endeavour, to some degree, to show its baneful influence on society of all creeds and nations. Let the reader bear in mind that it is not the object of this work to discuss the place occupied and the part played by either Metaphysics and Philosophy on the one hand, and Science and Ritualism on the other. The limitations of each and its encroachment upon the territory of the others, the ensuing conflicts, are matter for the history of fanaticism throughout the ages. Our aim is to follow the outgrowth of Esoterism and a few of its multiple ramifications in the realm of perversion and subversion.
CHAPTER II
THE MEANING OF OCCULTISM
A summary and some explanation of the principal forms of occultism must precede the chapters which deal with the historical side of this subject, and the objections, those of the credulous as well as those of the sceptics, must be foreseen and forestalled. Many persons are tempted to deny, arbitrarily and without examination, statements on matters of which they have no previous knowledge, but even the possible criticism of such as these must have received due consideration.
In this age of wireless and aeroplanes, one of the fads of the modern highbrow is to scoff at such things as sorcerers, magic and evocations as old wives' tales. Tales of ancient history ! There are people who refuse to believe in the existence of the supernatural, perhaps we should say supernormal, even when confronted with the evidence. Such are the sceptics who deny everything. Hidebound in their prejudice, they ignore the fact that magic, White or Black, has now as many adepts as ever, nor can they distinguish between the different schools of spiritism.
First, there are the charlatans whose tricks in the line of Spiritism are generally sooner or later unmasked.
Second, there are the Occultists who operate in secrecy and hide their meetings from all but initiates with the greatest care.
Many persons are duped by charlatans, so the sceptics persuade themselves of the absolute non-existence of all diabolical practices in modern times. They are wrong. For Occultism flourishes now in Europe, Asia, and America. The Black Mass is said today in Paris and London, and Satanism has its faithful followers. On this subject one of the most eminent writers was Carl Hackse, who, under the pseudonym of Dr. Bataille, made an extensive study of Occultism and gave his extremely exaggerated views of it in the book Le Diablc au XIXe Siecle.
The following pages of this chapter are mostly either quotations or abridgements from that work :
" According to the teaching of the Christian churches, God allows demons certain limited powers, but they are not permitted to open the gates of hell and release a spirit at the request of one who evokes the dead. The dead, even damned, will not show themselves if evoked, nor would evocations be answered by those who had succeeded in attaining the kingdom of heaven, but devils can and do, says the Church, substitute themselves for the deceased. They will impersonate a dead person whose appearance is demanded by invocations.
" It is also admitted that the fallen angels or spirits will often manifest to people without being called, The theological hagiographa cite many cases of diabolical apparitions to saints, apparitions which these saints have been able to repel and conquer... but what sceptics and agnostic Christians alike ignore is that besides the drawing room mediums, mediums for diversion, there are occultists whose vile practices are veiled in the profoundest mystery. These men, whose moral sense is absolutely perverted, believe in Lucifer, but they believe him to be the equal of God and worship him secretly. " 1
' Modern Occultism is on the one hand practical Cabala and on the other, Indian Yogism, both of which have always had their adepts more or less openly.
The Cabala is Occult Science itself. It is the secret theology of the initiates, theology essentially Satanic. In a word the counter-theology. Our God, the God of the Christians, is the power of evil in the eyes of the Cabalists ; and for them the power of good, the real God, is Lucifer.
"The Cabala teaches magic or the art of intercourse with spirits and supernatural beings.
" One cannot be a convinced Cabalist without soon becoming a magician and devoting oneself to the practices of occultism.
" Not that our Cabalists or contemporary magicians practise all the different branches of occultism. Some of these have been abandoned and others are only used by charlatans for the exploitation of superstitious persons, but a great many, precisely the most criminal and perverse, are observed in the hidden dens of our modern Luciferians. "2
Magic has two divisions :
The first is divining magic, subdivided into several branches of which the principal are :
Astrology Aeromancy
Palmistry Hydromancy
Anthropomancy Pyromancy
Oneirocritica Cartomancy
The second is operative magic, also subdivided into several branches of which the principal are :
Alchemy-Necromancy
Mesmerism- Theurgy
Various miraculous feats
There are moreover some superstitious practices not specially classed. Bataille thus defines some of the foregoing :
Astrology. — Divining the future by the stars. The casting of horoscopes is its most prevalent practice.
Palmistry. — Divining the future by the hand.
Anthropomancy. — This is one of the practices supposed at present to have fallen into disuse. It is a horrible, savage abomination and consists in disembowelment of a human being for the purpose of divining the future by inspection of the entrails.
Mediaeval history accuses Gilles de Retz of perpetrating this crime on children, whom he lured to his castle for the purpose. Tacitus says that the Druids, in ancient Britain, used to consult their Gods by looking into the entrails of their captives.
Oneirocritics. — Divining the future through interpretation of dreams.
Aeromancy. — Divination by the study of aerial phenomena.
Hydromancy. — Divination by the study of liquids or aquatic phenomena.
Pyromancy. — Divination by fire.
Cartomancy. — Divination by cards.
There is no need to expatiate further on the more or less grotesque means employed by those who follow these false sciences. One must be somewhat erratic to imagine that the future can be foretold by coffee grounds, by the antics of flames in a grate, by the order in which shuffled cards will be drawn, or by the odd shapes assumed by wind-driven clouds ! When events corroborate predictions made under these conditions, it can be attributed to the use of the power of clairvoyance, but these fortune tellers, some of whom have a thorough knowledge of the rules governing the practices of these absurdities, are the first to distrust their art.
Such expedients, disdained by the real occultists, are too unimportant to be worthy of note. It is quite another matter to expose the Satanists, ignored by the public, whose sects, bearing different names in different countries, constitute, in reality, only one, single, secret religion whose fanatics, imbued with the spirit of evil, will sacrifice themselves blindly to their cause.
Throughout the universe, all Luciferian and Satanic rites bear a basic similarity.
Dealing principally with the practices of contemporary operative magic, it is Bataille's opinion that as regards the mysterious art of Alchemy, its theory is called Hermetic Science and has a double objective, namely, the discovery of the philosopher's stone, a substance capable of transmuting base metals into gold and drinkable gold, or the Elixir of long life which is a magic potion endowed with the properties necessary to prolong human life indefinitely or, at least, to maintain in old age the faculties of youth. Alchemy as a science seems now obsolete.
The Alchemists knew the existence of microbes and toxins long before the medical discoveries of the present age. The laboratories of Satanic bacteriology have been working, for a long time, on cultures of bacilli or solutions of their toxic properties which, even when administered in infinitesimal doses, mixed with food or drink, disseminate disease and death where it is judged necessary by the " Masters " that life is to be destroyed. In these cases deaths occur from apparently natural causes!
He further says that Magnetic Mesmerism is the occult medicine of the Cabalists. One must naturally not confuse the scientists who are at present making researches in hypnotism and suggestion, in the interest of science, with the emulators of Cagliostro whose aim is to procure diversions, often wicked and immoral. Scientific magnetism is still an obscure question being studied by theologians, physiologists and criminologists, whereas that of the adepts of magic has nothing to do with this ; it is a branch of the subterranean work that is nearing its goal today.
Necromancy is partly divining magic and partly operative magic. This practice consists in the evocation of the spirits of the dead. Spiritism and rapping of tables are necromancy, but if all spiritists are not necessarily Cabalists, all Cabalists are practicing necromancy. People are far from suspecting the progress made by necromancy along these lines. Freemasonry is yearly more and more invaded by the spiritist element to the extent that, in 1889, an international convention of spiritist Freemasons attended by about 500 delegates was held at the Hotel of the Grand Orient of France, rue Cadet, Paris.
This was only a beginning ! 3
Eliphas Levi, a renowned occultist of the 19th century, writing in Histoire de la Magie,4 in the following words, sounds a warning to those who, recklessly, would venture into the domain of the occult.
" The experiences of theurgy and necromancy are always disastrous to those who indulge in them. When one has once stood on the threshold of the other world one must die and almost invariably under terrible conditions. First giddiness, then catalepsy followed by madness. It is true that the atmosphere is disturbed, the woodwork cracks and doors tremble and groan in the presence of certain persons, after a series of intoxicating acts. Weird sounds, sometimes bloody signs, will appear spontaneously on paper or linen. They are always the same and are classed by magicians as Diabolical writings. The very sight of them induces a state of convulsion or ecstacy in the mediums who believe themselves to be seeing spirits. Thus Satan, the Spirit of Evil, is transfigured for them into an angel of light but, before they will manifest, these so-called spirits require sympathetic excitement produced by sexual intercourse on the part of their devotees. Hands must be placed in hands, feet on feet, they must breathe in each other's faces, these acts often being followed by others of an obscene character. The initiates, revelling in these forms of excesses believe themselves to be the elect of God and the arbiters of destiny. They are the successors of the fakirs of India. No warning will save them.
" To cure such illnesses, the priests of Greece used to terrify their patients by concentration and exaggeration of the evil in one great paroxysm. They made the adept sleep in the cave of Trophonius. After some preliminary preparations, he descended to a subterranean cavern in which he was left without light soon to be prostrated by intoxicating gases. Then the visionary, still in the throes of ghastly dreams caused by incipient asphyxia, was rescued, being carried off prophesying on his tripod. These tests gave their nervous systems such a shock that the patients never dared mention evocations of phantoms again.
" Theurgy is the highest degree of occultism. Necromancy is limited to the summoning of dead souls, but the Theurgists of the nineteenth century evoke entities qualified by them as genii, angels of light, exalted spirits, spirits of fire etc. In their meetings, scattered throughout the world, they worship Lucifer. The three mysterious letters J... B... M..., that the common initiates see in the Masonic Temples, are reproduced in the meeting rooms of the Luciferians, but they no longer mean Jakin, Bohaz, Mahabone, as in the Lodges, nor Jacques Bourguignon Molay, as with the Knights Kadosch ; in Theurgy these three letters mean ; Jesus Bethlemitus Maledictus. Theurgy is therefore pure Satanism. " 5
" Moreover it is important to note that the Cabalists, admitted to the mysteries of Theurgy, never mention the word Satan. They look upon certain dissident adepts who invoke the devil under the name of Satan as heretics, whose system they call Goety or Black Magic. They call their own practices Theurgy or White Magic. "6
Between these two types of Devil worshippers, the Luciferian occultists and the Satanists, there is a difference which must not be overlooked.
Luciferians never call their infernal master " Spirit of Evil" or " Father and Creator of Crime ". Albert Pike even forbade the use of the word Satan under any circumstances.
There is indeed a distinction between the Satanists and Luciferians. The Satanists, described by Mr. Huysmans in his book, Let Bas, are chiefly persons mentally deranged by the use and abuse of drugs who, while suffering from a peculiar form of hysteria, accuse the God of the Christians of having betrayed the cause of humanity. They are persons who recognize that their God Satan occupies a position in the supernatural sphere, inferior to that of the Christian deity. On the other hand the Luciferians or the initiates of kindred rites, while still labouring under a strange delusion, act deliberately and glorify Lucifer as the principle of good. To them he is the equal of the God of the Christians whom they describe as the principle of evil.
It is necessary to recognize the distinction which exists between Luciferians and Satanists, for their two cults bear each other no resemblance, although Lucifer-Satan manifests indiscriminately to his faithful followers of both denominations. One must not, however, imagine that the pride and satisfaction he derives from this adulation acts as an inducement to making him appear whenever he is called ! Occultists of all schools agree that nothing is more capricious than the conduct of spirits when evoked !
It is well moreover to remember that Luciferian occultism is no novelty, nor must one make the mistake of confusing it with ordinary Freemasonry, the Lodges of which are only private clubs. 7
Many authors have published books on Freemasonry, some printing the rituals, some their personal observations on certain facts, but few of these authors, having themselves passed into occult masonry, the real masonry of the Cabalistic degrees which is in touch with all secret societies, Masonic as well as non-Masonic, have been able to state that Luciferian Occultism controls Freemasonry.
Though this is indeed the case, neither the President of the Council of the Order of the Grand Orient of France, the supreme chief of French Freemasonry, nor the president of the Supreme Council of Scottish Rites will be received at the meeting of a simple Luciferian ceremony just on account of his title and dignity unless, at the same time, he possesses a diploma of Cabalistic grade which requires another initiation. On the other hand, the first Oddfellow from Canada, a member of the Chinese San-ho-hui of China, a Luciferian Fakir from India, all these can visit at their pleasure all lodges and inner shrines of ordinary Freemasonry in all countries because, in each one of the Satanic sects, the directing authority is exercised by heads who belong to the most exalted masonic degrees of the different rites, degrees which are for them of secondary importance. These chiefs, at the request of their subordinates of the Luciferian societies, deliver to them freely the diplomas necessary to obtain admittance everywhere, as well as the sacred words and yearly and half yearly pass-words of all the masonic rites of the globe.8
Luciferian Occultism, as has been said before, is therefore not a novelty, but it bore a different name in the early days of Christianity. It was called Gnosticism and its founder was Simon the Magician.
The Gnostics were not ordinary heretics but constituted an anti-christian sect. To deceive the multitude, they affected disagreement with certain doctrines of the Apostles, and the chiefs selected from among the initiates those destined to receive, in secret council, the Satanic revelation. Gnosticism is marked with the seal of Lucifer. It is contemporary with the Apostle Peter and has continued, without interruption, down to the present day, periodically changing its mask.
The seven founders of Freemasonry were all Gnostics, Magi of the English Rose Croix, whose names were : Theophile Desaguliers, named Chaplain of the Prince of Wales by George II, Anderson, the clergyman, an Oxford graduate and preacher to the King of England, George Payne, James King, Calvert, Lumden-Madden, and Elliott.
Gnosticism, as the Mother of Freemasonry, has imposed its mark in the very centre of the chief symbol of this association. The most conspicuous emblem which one notices on entering a masonic temple, the one which figures on the seals, on the rituals, everywhere in fact, appears in the middle of the interlaced square and compass, it is the five pointed star framing the letter G. Different explanations of this letter G are given to the initiates. In the lower grades, one is taught that it signifies Geometry. To the brothers frequenting the lodges admitting women as members, it is revealed that the mystic letter means Generation, but the revelation is attended with great secrecy. Finally, t6 those found worthy to penetrate into the sanctuary of Knights Kadosch, the enigmatic letter becomes the initial of the doctrine of the perfect initiates which is Gnosticism. This explanation is no longer an imaginary fabrication. It is Gnosticism which is the real meaning of the G in the flamboyant star, for, after the grade of Kadosch (a Hebrew word meaning consecrated) the Freemasons dedicate themselves to the glorification of Gnosticism (or anti-christianity) which is defined by Albert Pike as " the soul and marrow of Freemasonry. "9
Let us add that the ancient mysteries of Gnosticism have been known and published in the past. There is no difference between the Gnosticism of the early ages of Christianity and modern occultism.
The fundamental principle of Gnosticism was the double divinity (dual principle) and this is exactly the theological theory of modern occultism. The Gnostics claimed that the good God was Lucifer and that Christ was the devil, that what the Christians call vice was for them virtue, and to the Christian dogma they opposed Gnosticism, a word meaning human knowledge.
Early Gnosticism had its doctors ; the Basilidians, Ophites and Valentinians. Basilide of Alexandria, one of them, lived at the end of the first century. He taught metempsychosis and the principles underlying present-day Theosophy. His system resembles that of the spiritists of the nineteenth century who have invented nothing, for they copy Gnosticism even in its theory of the transmigration of souls. Basilide affirmed that he was the reincarnation of Plato. Whoever has penetrated into assemblies of modern theurgists can attest that one of its current theories is that of reincarnation.
After Basilide came Montanus who died in 212. Montanus was a grand master of the art of divination. The Bite of Mizraim (a Freemasonry said to be Egyptian) copies slavishly, in its Cabalistic grades, all the phantasmagoria of Montanus. This Gnostic doctor plunged himself into ecstasies and, according to history, he had two women, Maximilla and Priscilla, trained to act as his accomplices. The Gnostics came in crowds to admire their contortions worthy of epileptics. They had the sacred illness,10 and were considered two saints of Satan. In the assemblies of the sect, when they went into frenzies and prophesied, their oracular sayings were listened to with veneration by the adepts.
Were they acting a part, were they just mediums or somnambulists, or were they what the Roman Catholics call " possessed " ?
This is a hard question to answer.
A modern example of the influence exercised by occult organizations on the destinies of mankind is to be found in the history of The Holy Alliance, founded in 1815 by Alexander I, Emperor of Russia. This was originally a union of monarchs pledged to support the Christian Church and to stem the rising tide of radicalism, revolution and subversion.
In L'Histoire de la Magie (p. 467), Eliphas Levi states that the spiritist sect of " The Rescuers of Louis XVI ", wishing to penetrate this organization to use it for their own purposes, succeeded in insinuating one of their illumines into the good graces of the Czar. This was Madame Bouche, known to the adepts as Sister Salome. After eighteen months spent at the Russian Court, during which she had many secret interviews with the Emperor, she was supplanted by another medium-somnambulist of the sect, the famous Madame de Krudener who acquired so great an influence over the Czar that his ministers became alarmed at the situation thus created. Levi thus describes the fall of the favorite ;
" One day, as the emperor was leaving her, she barred his passage crying ' God reveals to me that your life is in great danger. An assassin is in the palace. ' The Emperor, alarmed, caused the palace to be searched and a man, armed with a dagger, was found. He confessed, when questioned, that he had been introduced into the palace by Madame de Krudener herself.
' One wonders if the whole affair was not simply the result of a clever intrigue calculated to get rid of the prophetess. As such it was singularly successful for Madame de Krudener was summarily banished from the Russian Court.
In De la Magonnerie Occulte (pp. 87-88), J. M. Ragon tells us that " science counts four kinds of Somnambulism : The natural, the symptomatic, the magnetic and the ecstatic.
" Natural and symptomatic somnambulism are two essentially different states, one occurring only at night, the other by day as well as by night. The conduct of the subject is different under the two conditions.
" Magnetic and ecstatic somnambulism differ from one another insomuch as the one is commanded (willed) and the other is not. The first is artificial, the other natural. In the first, the subject is dependent; in the second, he acts independently. That is why induced somnambulism cures the natural when substituted for it.
" A lucid somnambulist bears no more resemblance to a man asleep than he does to an active man awake ".
When the Gnostics practised magic, they evoked the spirits of the dead exactly as do the occultists of today. Dawning Christianity was prolific in miracles so, in order to fight it, the disciples of Gnosticism had recourse to diabolical marvels. In this respect, are not contemporaneous spiritists, with their rapping tables and apparitions, Gnostics under another name ?
Secret Gnostic meetings lead to depravity, as the adepts indulge in every kind of turpitude and obscenity, often under the influence of drugs such as Indian Hemp (Cannabis indica) or Opium, the medicinal properties of which, when administered under certain conditions, are provocative of mediumistic phenomena.
Thus debauched, their moral sense weakened, initiates are ready to work. They work, they fall, and, as they fall the Occult power grasps its prey. Their life, henceforth, is subject to the will of the Hidden Masters who, according to their secret designs, will lead their slaves to power, or a semblance of power, or else to their downfall. To use the words of " Inquire Within " in Light-bearers of Darkness (p. 118) ... " These masters
— doubtless identical with the terrible power behind the horrors of Russia's sufferings and World Revolution
— have in reality no interest in soul or astral development, except as a means of forming passive illuminated tools, completely controlled in mind and actions. " 11
" Inquire Within " further suggests that there is " a group of flesh-and-blood men, who can form etheric links, from any distance, with the leaders of these societies and who secretly work by means of that light which can slay or make alive ', intoxicating, blinding, and, if need be, destroying unwary men and women, using them as instruments or ' Light-bearers ' to bring to pass this mad and evil scheme of World Dominion by the God-People —the Cabalistic Jew. " 12
A further explanation of the phenomenon of induced mediumship is given us by the same author who quotes the following lines from Eliphas Levi's History of Magic:
" This may take place when, through a series of almost impossible exercises... our nervous system, having been habituated to all tensions and fatigues, has become a kind of living galvanic pile, capable of condensing and projecting powerfully that Light (astral) which intoxicates and destroys.
" Inquire Within " comments further :
" It attempts to show that it leads to mastership and self control, but on careful consideration it proves to be merely conscious mediumship inspired by crafty and wilful deception, giving the adept a false confidence, inducing him to let go his physical senses and work upon the astral, where, enclosed by formulae given by these masters themselves, he is completely at their mercy. "
A recent practical illustration of these methods is the teaching contained in a book Asia Mysteriosa by Zam Bhotiva, (published by Dorbon Aine) which suggests ways and means of communication with the " Hidden Masters ".
It will be recognised by anyone having taken an interest in the progress of science along certain lines that there is nothing impossible or even improbable in the suggestion that telepathy may be exploited by organisations for their own particular ends.
Forty years ago William Gay Hudson wrote on telepathy as follows :
If the power exists in man to convey a telepathic message to his fellow-man, it presupposes the existence of the power in the percipient to repeat the message to a third person, and so on indefinitely, until someone receives it who has the power to elevate the information above the threshold of his consciousness, and thus convey it to the objective intelligence of the world. Nor is the element of time necessarily an adverse factor in the case ; for there is no reason to suppose that such messages may not be transmitted from one to another for generations. Thus, the particulars of a tragedy might be revealed many years after the event, and in such a way as to render it difficult, if not impossible, to trace the line through which the intelligence was transmitted. For the spiritist the easy and ever-ready explanation of such a phenomenon is to ascribe it to the intervention of spirits of the dead. But to those who have kept pace with the developments of modern scientific investigation, and who are able to draw the legitimate and necessary conclusions from the facts discovered, the explanation is obvious, without the necessity of entering the domain of the supernatural. " 13
On the subject of Hypnotism and Crime, Hudson, writing further, reaches however a fatally false conclusion which for many years remained unchallenged. He states (p. 140) " It is true that, on ordinary questions, the truth is always uppermost in the subjective mind. A hypnotic subject will often say, during the hypnotic sleep, that which he would not say in his waking moments. Nevertheless, he never betrays a vital secret... That this is true is presumptively proved by the fact that in all the years during which the science of hypnotism has been practised, no one has ever been known to betray the secrets of any society or order. The attempt has often been made, but it has never succeeded. "
Hudson attributes this reticence to auto-suggestion opposing the suggestion of another. This however is not the case, for, where a member of a secret society or order is concerned, that member was already hypnotized during initiation and it is not his will that guards the secret, it is the will of another, the will of the Lodge.
How many people know that hypnotism is about all there is to initiation ? Hypnotism and fear. The rest is camouflage.
In the event of this statement being doubted, we quote herewith from Freemasonry Universal an article which needs no further comment:
" The Stewards prepare the candidate ; the Tyler first, and afterwards in turn the I. G., Deacons and Junior Wardens should inspect the candidate to see that everything is strictly correct.
" The preparation symbolises poverty, blindness (or ignorance) and poverty of spirit, — but it may also signify a purification, i.e., that the riches and pleasures which bind one to the material side of life are discarded and the spirit blinded to their attractions. The baring of the right arm, left breast, left knee and right heel being slipshod, are apparently a reference to the awakening of occult centres in one's being which may only become active when purification of the whole nature has begun.
" The very specific character of the preparation points to real knowledge of the occult physiology of the process of initiation on the part of those who originated the method which has been so faithfully preserved. Certain Forces are sent through the candidate's body during the ceremony, especially at the moment when he is created, received and constituted an Entered Apprentice Freemason. Certain parts of the Lodge have been very heavily charged with magnetic force especially in order that the Candidate may absorb as much as possible of this force. The first object of this curious method of preparation is to expose to this influence those various parts of the body which are especially used in the ceremony. In ancient Egypt, there was another reason for these preparations, for a weak current of physical electricity was sent through the candidate by means of a rod or sword with which he was touched at certain points. It is partly on this account that at this first initiation the candidate is deprived of all metals since they may very easily interfere with the flow of the currents. "
All kinds of nice inspiring symbolical interpretations of the ritual are generally given for the benefit of people who seem to want them, but it is here evident that the candidate, unknown to himself or herself, has acted throughout the ceremony of initiation under the stress of hypnotism. No longer a free agent, the initiate takes the oath under hypnotic force which, has also been used to instil into him the feeling of fear. Fear guards the secret of initiation, fear born under the power of hypnotism to serve henceforth as the controlling agent of the initiators over the initiated.
The Right Worshipful Master must be a genuine occultist, as it is up to him to charge (hypnotise) the candidate, for to give this in the words of Freemasonry Universal : " The R. W. M. gives the light, the pure white light of truth and illumination. "
Illumination, alias Kundalini, alias Serpent power, alias Electromagnetic force, alias the Sex force, etc. !
Even in our western world any one wishing to study Hatha Yoga can learn to neutralize the action of gravity and go some yards up in the air. This stunt, and the assumption of any size at will, are tricks for which training is essential, and if one works at it hard enough, one will eventually be able to mesmerise people for one's own purposes, business, political or other, thus following the lure of the occult to a sinister end i.e. Black Magic.
We would here observe that the miracles performed by Jesus Christ bore a distinctive feature, often overlooked, namely, that in every case altruism was the source of their inspiration. Thus they were a symbol of charity.
This gives us the esoteric explanation of His silence when taunted on the cross. " He saved others, himself he cannot save. " Sooner than use this power for personal advantage He chose death !
Gnostic miracles, such as that of being buried alive for a period of time which constitutes the Hindu religious rites of Samadhi have no ulterior charitable purpose. They are chiefly performed for the object of creating wonderment, curiosity or faith in magic, and as such, failing the altruistic motive, are classifiable under the general term of Black Magic.
As a stimulus to popular faith, they are, however, sanctioned by most Pagan religions, though where such a custom prevails, the magical performers themselves are not privileged to withhold their gains for themselves, as these are claimed by the Temple.
Having dealt with the preliminaries of the subject, we will now proceed along the thorny paths of history — not the history of wars, battles, heroes, but that of the agents of their being !
CHAPTER III
BRAHMINISM
For a brief study of Brahminism, the religion practised in India, we can hardly do better than quote from the work of such recognized authorities as Messrs. Stillson and Hughan. 1 In attempting to trace the origin of Brahminism, they make the following observations :
" After being conquered by the Cuthites under Rama, the son of Cush, referred to in Genesis x, 2, 7, the Mysteries of the Deluge were introduced. The worship soon became divided into two sects. We are not fully apprised when was first introduced the Brahminic system, composed of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, constituting the Trimurti... one branch of which was mild and benevolent, and addressed to Vishnu, the Preserver, while the other proclaimed the superiority of Siva, who was called the Destroyer and the representative of terror and penance, barbarity and blood ; in Egypt, represented by Typhon.
" These Mysteries, whatever may have been their origin, or for what purposes they were then instituted, were certainly a corruption of the original worship of the one Deity. They bore a direct reference to the happiness of Man in Paradise, where he was first placed ; his subsequent deviations and transgressions, and the destruction of the race by the general deluge... The great cavern of Elephanta, perhaps the most ancient temple in the world made by man, in which these rites were performed and remaining to the present day, is an evidence of the magnitude of that system...
" The caverns of Salsette, of which there are three hundred, all have within them carved and emblematic characters. The different ranges of apartments are connected by open galleries, and only by private entrances could the most secret caverns, which contained the ineffable symbols, be approached, and so curiously contrived as to give the highest effect upon the neophytes when in the ceremonial of initiation. A cubical cisia, used for the periodical sepulture of the aspirant, was located in the most secret recesses of the cavern. The consecrated water of absolution was held in a carved basin in every cavern, and on the surface floated the flowers of the lotus. The Linga or Phallus appeared everywhere most conspicuous, and oftentimes in situations too disgusting to be mentioned... "
Sacrifices to the sun, to the planets, and to household gods, were made accompanied with ablutions of water, purifications with dung and urine of the cow. This last was because the dung was the medium by which the soil was made fertile and reminded them of the doctrine of ' Corruption and reproduction ' taught in the worship of Siva. "
An initiation is thus described :
" Amidst all the confusion, a sudden explosion was heard, which was followed by a dead silence. Flashes of brilliant light were succeeded by darkness. Phantoms and shadows of various forms, surrounded by rays of light, flitted across the gloom. Some with many hands, arms, and legs; others without them; sometimes a shapeless trunk, then a human body with the head of a bird, or beast, or a fish ; all manner of incongruous forms and bodies were seen, and all calculated to excite terror in the mind of the postulant. "
A gorgeous appearance, with unnumbered heads, each having a crown set with resplendent jewels, one of which excelled the others; his eyes gleamed like flaming torches, but his neck, his tongues and his body were black ; the skirts of his garments were yellow, and sparkling jewels hung in all of his ears ; his arms were extended, and adorned with bracelets, and his hands bore the holy shell; the radiated weapon, the war mace, and the sacred lotus. This image represented Mahadeva 2 himself, in his character of the Destroyer. "
Among other learned authorities, writing on these subjects, is Jacolliot who gives the following description of perverted Brahminism :
" The study of philosophic truth does not relieve the Nirvanys and Yogys from the necessity of the tapas-sas, or bodily mortifications. On the contrary, it would seem that they carry them to the greatest extremes................. Everything that affects or consumes the body, everything that tends to its annihilation, without actually destroying it, is thought to be meritorious.
" Several centuries previous to the present era, however, these bodily mortifications had assumed a character of unusual severity. 3
" To the contemplative dreamers of the earliest ages in India, who devoted the whole of their time to meditation, and never engaged in practices involving physical suffering oftener than once a week, had succeeded a class of bigoted fanatics, who placed no limit to their religious enthusiasm, and inflicted upon themselves the most terrible tortures. 4
" A spiritual reaction, however, occurred, and those who had been initiated into the higher degrees took that opportunity to abandon the practice of the tapas-sas, or corporal mortification. They sought rather to impress the imagination of the people by excessive asceticism in opposition to the laws of nature. A profound humility, an ardent desire to live unknown by the world, and to have the divinity as the only witness to the purity of their morals, took possession of them, and though they continued the practice of excessive abstemiousness, they did so perhaps more that they might not seem to be in conflict with the formal teachings of the sacred scriptures.
" That kind of austerity is the only one now enjoined upon all classes of initiates.
" The Fakirs appear to have gradually monopolized all the old modes of inflicting pain, and have carried them to the greatest extremes. They display the most unbounded fanaticism in their self-inflicted tortures upon all great public festivals....
" The Nirvanys live in a constant state of ecstatic contemplation, depriving themselves of sleep as far as possible, and taking food only once a week, after sunset.
" They are never visible either in the grounds or inside the temples, except on the occasion of the grand festival of fire, which occurs every five years. On that day, they appear at midnight upon a stand erected in the centre of the sacred tank. They appear like
spectres, and the surrounding atmosphere is illumined by them by means of their incantations. They seem to be in the midst of a column of light rising from earth to heaven.5
" The seven degrees of initiation in the sacerdotal cast of the Brahmins are : 6
Grihasta—or House-Master.
Purohita—or Priest of Popular Evocations.
Fakir—Performing.
Sannyasis—or Naked Cenobites, Superior Exorcists.
Nirvanys—Naked Evocators.
Yogy's—Contemplative.
Brahmatmaj—Supreme Chief.
" Upon reaching the third degree of initiation, the Brahmins were divided into tens, and a superior Guru, or professor of the occult sciences, was placed over each decade. He was revered by his disciples as a god.
" Seventy Brahmins more than seventy years old are chosen from among the Nirvanys to see that the law of the Lotus, or the occult science, is never revealed to the vulgar, and that those who have been initiated into the sacred order are not contaminated by the admission of any unworthy person. " (Quoted from the Agrouchada-Parikchai).
" In addition to its attributes as an initiatory tribunal, the council of the elders also had charge of administering the pagoda property, from which it made provision for the wants of its members (of the three classes) who shared everything in common. It also directed the wanderings of the Fakirs, whose duty it is to give manifestations of occult power outside.
It also elected the Brahmatma from its own members.
With regard to the rise to power of the Brahmin caste in India, Mr. Jacolliot writes in Les Fils de Dieu :
" Doubtless, in the midst of this new society discontent and discord were unavoidable. Happy in the power they had secured, the chiefs of the Brahmins, however, had to consider means for preserving and insuring it against a reversal of popular favour. At this distance, it is impossible for us to judge the mental influences at work during a period covering about two thousand years, that is to say, from the day when the priests united into a kind of corporation to the time when, enjoying unchallenged authority, they published the Vedhas. This was a collection of prayers and ancient ceremonies interspersed with the texts necessary to maintaining their supremacy under the name oiManou (Sanscrit meaning : wise law giver), a new code of law which, rejecting all the ancient customs of equality and dividing the people into castes, invested the Brahmins with world power and established the dogma of the Trimourti or Trinity of God, from which eventually was to spring polytheism and a host of the most monstrous superstitions.
" This religious revolution occurred about twelve thousand years before our era, under the Brahmatma Vasichta-Richi.
" The Vedhas and Manou, collected and codified by the Brahmins were given as coming from Brahma himself, and anyone doubting the truth of this origin was liable to the penalty of death."
As among the Ancient Egyptians the teaching of monotheism was restricted to the highest initiates alone. Jacolliot emphasises this when he writes :
" The worship of the one God or Zeus unrevealed, reserved to the priests, was forbidden to the lower classes, but three temples dedicated to the three persons-of the Trimourti, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, opened their doors to the adoration of the people, all of whom were allowed to select one of the three personages of the trinity they would prefer to worship."
This division in religious worship which eventually led to the caste system shows the power of theocratic tyranny, the Brahmins, seeking to justify the method whereby the control of the masses is vested in the hands of a few, when preaching in the pagodas, even now say : " See how logical is this system of division of the people into castes. It was formed in the likeness of the divinity, Zeus, sovereign master of all things, but taking no action himself. This is the Brahmin priest Brahma, the God who creates, who acts, who directs, that is the aristocrat or the prince ; Vishnu, the God who preserves, that is the artisan, the merchant, who produces taxes, preserving and assuring the prosperity of the State by his work and industry. As for Siva, the terrible God, he keeps the Soudra (peasant) in a state of humility and obedience appropriate to his station in life.
" Another very important function appears however to have been early assigned to him, on which much more stress is laid in his (Siva) modern worship — that of destroyer — viz., the character of a generative power, symbolized in the phallic emblem (Linga) and in the sacred bull (Nandi), the favorite attendant of the god. This feature being entirely alien from the nature of the Vedic god, it has been conjectured with some plausibility, that the Linga-worship was originally prevalent among the non-Aryan population, and was thence introduced into the worship of Siva. 7
One of the most curious facts in the Theocratic System ruling India is that the principle of equality is evidenced only in the teaching and practice of Occultism. Members of all castes are admitted on the same footing to learn magic or fakirism and compose the class known under the name of Fakirs. This system of equality is similar to the brotherhood principle and teaching of democracy advocated in Freemasonry which was so effectively exploited in all the lodges that fomented the French Revolution.
" As all castes are admitted to the congregation of the Fakirs, the lowest of the soudras on entering it becomes the equal of the Brahmins. In spreading the belief that whosoever consented to enroll among the high initiates of the pagoda, and to die for the faith, was transported to the abode of Brahma without accomplishing further migration on earth or having to pass through hell, the Brahmins provided for an inexhaustible supply of fakirs. "
" Before entering the category of fakir, those who are destined to illustrate the ceremonies of the cults by their tortures and death, the new recruits practise the occult sciences under the direction of initiated Brahmins in the innermost recesses of the pagodas. "
While " there are indeed extraordinary phenomena in what is termed by the Brahmins occult science, there are none which cannot be explained and which are not in accordance with the law of nature. "
" To become expert in magic, like the believers in the philosophic doctrine of the Pitris, the pupil must learn, from a magician whom the sorcerers call their Guru, the formulas of evocation, by means of which the malign spirits are brought into complete subjection.
" Some of these spirits the magician evokes in preference to others, probably on account of their willingness to do anything that may be required of them. "
" An intimate connection exists between the doctrine of the ancient Jewish Cabalists and those of the Hindu votaries of the Pitris — or spirits — whose scientific book is the Agrouchada-parikchai. 8
" It would be impossible to enumerate the different drugs, ingredients and implements that compose the stock-in-trade of a magician. " 9
The standard Indian book on magic is the Oupnekhat. Therein is to be found a detailed description of methods available for producing catalepsy, somnambulism, hallucination and ecstasy by strength of will and fatigue of the nervous system. 10
This is what is known to the modern common-sense mortal as " Yogi stuff ", and it is mostly based on breathing exercises.
We will now quote from Mr. Sellon :
" It is a little remarkable that of the host of Divinities, especially in Bengal, Siva is the God whom they are especially delighted to honour. As the Destroyer, and one who revels in cruelty and bloodshed, this terrible deity, who has not inaptly been compared to the Moloch of Scripture, of all their Divinities suggests most our idea of the Devil. It may therefore be concluded that the most exalted notion of worship among the Hindus is a service of Fear. The Brahmins say that the other Gods are good and benevolent, and will not hurt their creatures, but that Siva is powerful and cruel, and that it is necessary to appease him.
" Although this deity is sometimes represented in the human form in his images, it is not thus that he is most frequently adored. The most popular representation of him is unquestionably the Linga ; a smooth stone rising out of another stone of finer texture, simulacrum membri virilis, et pudendum muliebre. This emblem is identical with Siva in his capacity of 'Lord of all.' 11
" It is necessary, however, to observe here that Professor Wilson, while admitting that ' the Linga is perhaps the most ancient object of homage adopted in India', adds, ' subsequently to the ritual of the Vedhas, which was chiefly, if not wholly, addressed to the Elements, and particularly to fire. How far the worship of the Linga is authorized by the Vedhas is doubtful, but that it is the main purport of several of the Puranas there can be no doubt.' 12
" The worship of Siva under the type of the Linga is almost the only form in which that deity is reverenced. Its prevalence throughout the whole tract of the Ganges as far as Benares is sufficiently conspicuous. In Bengal, the Lingam Temples are commonly erected in a range of six, eight, or twelve on each side of a Ghaut leading to the river. At Kalma is a circular group of one hundred and eight temples erected by the Rajah of Burdwan. These temples, and indeed all those found in Bengal, consist of a simple chamber of a square form surmounted by a pyramidal centre ; the area of each is very small. The Linga of black or white marble, and sometimes of alabaster slightly tinted and gilt, is placed in the middle. " 13
" Benares is the peculiar seat of this form of worship. The principal Deity, Siva, there called Visweswara, is a Linga ; and most of the chief objects of pilgrimage are similar blocks of stone. No less than forty-seven Lingas are visited, all of preeminent sanctity; but there are hundreds of inferior note still worshipped, and thousands whose fame and fashion have passed away. It is a singular fact, that upon this adoration of the procreative and sexual Sacti (or power) seen "throughout nature, hinges the whole gist of the Hindu faith. 14
" Bacchus or Osiris was represented by an equilateral triangle, and the sectarian mark of the worshippers of Siva is this hieroglyphic. The worship of Bacus was the same as that which is paid to Siva, it had the same obscenities, the same cruel bloodthirsty rites, and the same emblem of the generative power. 15
" Durga, Kali, or Maha Kali as the Sacti, spouse or energetic will of Siva, the destructive power, bears a remarkable analogy with the Moloch of Scripture, as well as with Typhon, Saturn, Dis, Pluto, and other divinities of the West. 16
" When the attributes of the Supreme Being began to be viewed in the light of distinct individuals, mankind attached themselves to the worship of the one or the other exclusively, and arranged themselves into sects : the worshippers of Siva introduced the doctrine of the eternity of matter. In order to reconcile the apparent contradiction of assigning the attribute of creation to the principle of Destruction, they asserted that the dissolution and destruction of bodies was not real with respect to matter, which was in itself indestructible, although its modifications were in a constant succession of mutation ; that the power must necessarily unite in itself the attributes of creation and apparent destruction ; that this power and matter are two distinct and co-existent principles in nature ; the one active, the other passive ; the one male, the other female; and that creation was the effect of the mysterious union of the two.
" This Union is worshipped under a variety of names : Bhava, Bhavani, Mahadeva, Mahamaya, etc. Thus the attribute of creation was usurped from Brahma, by the followers of Siva, to adorn and characterize their favorite divinity. "
" This seems to have been a popular worship for a great length of time, out of which sprang two sects : the one personified the whole Universe and dispensations of providence (in the regulation of it) under the name of Prakriti, and which we from the Latin call nature. This sect retains the Sacti only, and were the originators of the Sactas sects, or worshippers of Power. The other sect took for their symbol the Male emblem (Linga) unconnected with the female Sacti (or Yoni). There was also a third sect, who adored both male and female.
" According to Theodoret, Arnobius, and Clemens of Alexandria, the Yoni of the Hindus was the sole object of veneration in the mysteries of Eleusis.17
" It is not only the votaries of Siva who adore their God under the symbolic form of the Linga; the Vaishnavas, or followers of Vishnu, use the same medium. They also are Lingayats, one of the essential characteristics of which is wearing the Type on some part of their dress or person. 18
" The Vaishnavas are divided into many sects. They comprise the Ghoculasthas, the Yonijas, the Ramani, and Radha-balluthis.
" The Ghoculasthas adore Krishna, while the Ramani worship Rama ; both have again branched into three sects — one consists of the exclusive worshippers of Krishna, and these only are deemed true and orthodox Vaishnavas... As Parameswara, Krishna is represented of a black or dark blue colour. Now the Tulasi is the black Ocimum, and all animals or vegetables of a black or blue colour are sacred to him. His linga also is always either black or dark blue, and may thus be distinguished from that of Siva, which is generally white.
" This divinity, as Parameswara, is Janan'nauth (Juggernaut), or ' Lord of the Universe ', and it is under the wheels of his sacred car that so many misguided beings annually immolated themselves.
" To return, however, to the Vaishnavas. Another of their sects adore Krishna and his mistress Radha united. These are the Lingionijas, whose worship is perhaps the most free of all the Pujas. A third, the Radha-ballubhis, dedicate their offerings to Radha only. The followers of these last mentioned sects have adopted the singular practice of presenting to a naked girl the oblation intended for the Goddess, constituting her the living impersonation of Radha. Rut when a female is not to be obtained for this purpose, the votive offerings are made to an image of the Yoni, or emblem of the feminine power. These worshippers are called Yonijas, in contradistinction to the Lingayats, or adorers of the Krishna (Vishnu) Linga.
" As the Saivas are all worshippers of Siva and Bowannee (Pavati) conjointly, so the Vaishnavas also offer up their prayers to Laksmi-Nayarana. The exclusive adorers of this Goddess are the Sactas.
" The caste mark of the Saivas and Sactas consists of three horizontal lines on the forehead with ashes obtained, if possible, from the hearth on which a consecrated fire is perpetually maintained. The adoration of the Sacti is quite in accordance with the spirit of the mythological system of the Hindus. It has been computed that, of the Hindus in Bengal, at least three-fourths are Sactas, of the remaining fourth, three parts are Vaishnavas, and one, Saivas.
" Independently of the homage paid to the principal Deities, there are a great variety of inferior beings, Dewtas, and demi-gods of a malevolent character and formidable aspect, who receive the worship of the multitude. The bride of Siva, however, in one or other of her many and varied forms, is by far the most popular goddess in Bengal and along the Ganges.
" The worship of the female generative principle, as distinct from the Divinity, appears to have originated in the literal interpretation of the metaphorical language of the Vedhas, in which Will, or purpose to Create the Universe, is represented as originating from the Creator and co-existent with him as his bride, and part of himself. "
" Although the adoration of the Sacti (the personified energy of the Omnipotent) is authorized by some of the Puranas, the rites and formulae are more clearly set forth in a voluminous collection of books called Tantras. These writings convey their meaning in the similitude of dialogue between Uma (or Siva) and Pavati.
" The followers of the Tantras profess to consider them as a fifth Vedh, and attribute to them equal antiquity and superior authority. "
" The Tantras are too numerous to specify them further, but the curious reader will find them under the heads of Syama Rahasya, Anandra, Rudra, Yamala, Mandra, Mahodahi, Sareda, Tilika, and Kalika-Tantras.
" Although any of the goddesses may be objects of the Sacta worship, and the term Sacti comprehends them all, yet the homage of the Sactas is almost restricted, in Bengal, to the consort of Siva. The Varnis, or Vamacharis, worship Devi as well as all goddesses. Their worship is derived from a portion of the Tantras.
" According to the immediate object of the worshipper is the particular form of worship ; but all the forms require the use of some or all of the five Makaras — Mansa, Matsya, Madya, Maithuna, and Mudra — that is : flesh, fish, wine, women, and certain mystical gesticulations with the fingers. Suitable Muntrus, or incantations, are also indispensable, according to the end proposed, consisting of various unmeaning monosyllabic combinations of letters, of great imaginary efficacy.
" When the object of worship is to acquire an interview with, and control over, impure spirits, a dead body is necessary. The adept is also to be alone, at midnight, in a cemetery or place where bodies are burnt. Seated on the corpse he is to perform the usual offerings, and if he do so without fear or disgust, the Dhutas, the Yoginis, and other male and female demons become his slaves. 19
" In this and many of the observances practised, solitude is enjoined, but all the principal ceremonies comprehend the worship of Sacti, or Power, and require, for that purpose, the presence of a young and beautiful girl, as the living representative of the goddess. This worship is mostly celebrated in a mixed society ; the men of which represent Bhairavas, or Viras, and the women, Bhanravis and Nayikas. The Sacti is personified by a naked girl, to whom meat and wine are offered, and then distributed among the assistants. Here follows the chanting of the Muntrus and sacred texts, and the performance of the Mudra, or gesticulations with the fingers. The whole terminates with orgies amongst the votaries of a very licentious description. This ceremony is entitled the Sri Chakra or Purna-bisheka, The Ring or full Initiation. 20
" This method of adoring the Sacti is unquestionably acknowledged by the texts regarded by the Vanis as authorities for the impurities practised.
" The members of the sect are sworn to secrecy, and will not therefore acknowledge any participation in Sacta-Puja. Some years ago, however, they began to throw off this reserve, and at the present day they trouble themselves very little to disguise their initiation into its mysteries, but they do not divulge in what those mysteries consist.
" The Kauchiluas are another branch of the Sactas sect; their worship much resembles that of the Caulas. They are, however, distinguished by one particular rite not practised by the others, and throw into confusion all the ties of female relationship ; natural restraints are wholly disregarded, and a community of "women among the votaries inculcated.
" On the occasions of the performance of divine worship, the women and girls deposit their " julies ", or bodices, in a box in charge of the Guru, or priest. At the close of the rites, the male worshippers take each a " julie " from the box, and the female to whom it belongs, even were she his sister, becomes his partner for the evening in these lascivious orgies.
" In every temple of any importance in India we find a troupe of Nautch or dancing girls attached.
" These women are generally procured when quite young, and are early initiated into all the mysteries of their profession. They are instructed in dancing and vocal and instrumental music, their chief employment being to chant the sacred hymns, and perform nautches before the God, on the recurrence of high festivals. But this is not the only service required of them, for besides being the acknowledged mistresses of the officiating priests, it is their duty to prostitute themselves in the courts of the temple to all comers, and thus raise funds for the enrichment of the place of worship to which they belong... A Nautch woman esteems it a peculiar privilege to become the Radha Dea on such occasions. It is an office indeed which these adepts are, on every account, better calculated to fulfil with satisfaction to the sect of Sacteyas, who require their aid, than a more innocent and unsophisticated girl.
" The worship of Sacti is the adoration of Power, 21 which the Hindus typify by the Yoni, or womb, the Argha or vulva, and by the leaves and flowers of certain plants thought to resemble it. 22
" In Ananda Tantram, cap. VII, 148, and other passages, reference is made to Bhagamala. She appears to be the goddess who presides over the pudendum muliebre, i.e. the deified vulva ; and the Sacti is thus personified.
" Such are some of the peculiar features of the worship of Power (or Gnosticism), and which, combined with the Linga Puga (or adoration of the Phallus), constitutes at the present day one of the most popular dogmas of the Hindus. "
Heckethorn tells us that the Maharajas constitute another sect of priests and adds : " It appears abundantly from the works of recognized authority written by Maharajas, and from existing popular belief in the Vallabhacharya sect, that Vallabhacharya is believed to have been an incarnation of the god Krishna, and that the Maharajas, as descendants of Vallabhacharya, have claimed and received from their followers the like character of incarnations of that god by hereditary succession. The ceremonies of the worship paid to Krishna through these priests are all of the most licentious character. The love and subserviency due to a Supreme Being are here materialized and transferred to those who claim to be the living incarnations of the god. Hence the priests exercise an unlimited influence over their female votaries, who consider it a great honour to acquire the temporary regard of the voluptuous Maharajas, the belief in whose pretensions is allowed to interfere, almost vitally, with the domestic relations of husband and wife. " 23
Miss Mayo, in her book Mother India, published in 1927, gives an interesting description of a temple of Kali. " Kali Ghat " — place of Kali — is the root-word of the name Calcutta. " Kali is a Hindu goddess, wife of the great god Siva, whose attribute is destruction and whose thirst is for blood and death-sacrifice. "
Kali has thousands of temples in India, great and small. Heckethorn further explains that " the association of Thugs, after having existed in India for centuries, was only discovered in 1810. The names by which the members were known to each other, and also to others, was Funsiegeer, that is, ' men of the noose '. The name Thug is said to be derived from thaga, to deceive, because the Thugs get hold of their victims by luring them into false security. One common mode of decoying young men having valuables upon them is to place a young and handsome woman by the wayside, and apparently in great grief, who, by some pretended tale of misfortune, draws him into the jungle, where the gang are lying in ambush, and on his appearance strangle him. The gang consists of from ten to fifty members ; and they will follow or accompany the marked-out victim for days, nor attempt his murder until an opportunity, offering every chance of success, presents itself. After every murder they perform a religious ceremony, called Jagmi; and the division of the spoil is regulated by old-established laws — the man that threw the handkerchief gets the largest share, the man that held the hands the next largest proportion, and so on. In some gangs their property is held in common. Their crimes are committed in honour of Kali who hates our race, and to whom the death of man is a pleasing sacrifice. 24
" Kali, or Bhowany, for she is equally well known by both names, was, according to the Indian legend, born of the burning eye which Shiva has on his forehead, whence she issued, like the Greek Minerva, out of the skull of Jupiter, a perfect and full-grown being. She represents the Evil Spirit, delights in human blood, presides over plague and pestilence, and directs the storm and hurricane, and ever aims at destruction. She is represented under the most frightful effigy the Indian mind could conceive ; her face is azure, streaked with yellow ; her glance is ferocious ; she wears her dishevelled and bristly hair displayed like the peacock's tail and braided with green serpents. Her purple lips seem streaming with blood ; her tusk-like teeth descend over her lower lip ; she has eight or ten arms, each hand holding some murderous weapon, and sometimes a human head dripping with gore. With one foot she stands on a human corpse. She has her temples, in which the people sacrifice cocks and bullocks to her, but her priests are the Thugs, the ' Sons of Death ', who quench the never-ending thirst of this divine vampyre. " 25
As regards the sect of Kali's worshippers, Heckethorn gives the following details :
" A newly admitted member takes the appellation of Sahib-Zada. He commences his infamous career as lughah, or gravedigger, or as belhal, or explorer of the spots most convenient for executing a projected assassination, or bhil. In this condition he remains for several years, until he has given abundant proof of his ability and good will. He is then raised to the degree of Bhuttotah, or strangler, which advancement, however, is preceded by new formalities and ceremonies. On the day appointed for the ceremony, the candidate is conducted by his guru into a circle, formed in the sands and surrounded by mysterious hieroglyphics, where prayers are offered up to their deity. The ceremony lasts four days, during which the candidate is allowed no other food but milk. He occupies himself in practising the immolation of victims fastened to a cross erected in the ground. On the fifth day the priest gives him the fatal noose, washed in holy water and anointed with oil, and after more religious ceremonies, he is pronounced a perfect bhuttotah. He binds himself by fearful oaths to maintain the most perfect silence on all that concerns the society, and to labour without ceasing towards the destruction of the human race. He is the rex sacrificulus, and the person he encounters, and Bhowany places in his way, the victim. Certain persons, however, are excepted from the attacks of the Thugs. " 26
The political significance of such a sect in any Theocrasy can be easily understood when one realizes what it means to the rulers of a land to have at their disposal a staff of fanatics trained to kill anyone on the order of a priest! The utility of such organizations is obvious in a hierarchy where the rulers are also priests reigning by "Divine Right".
next
MAZDEISM (Zoroastrianism)
notes chapter 2
1. Bataille, Le Diable au XDC Siecle, vol. I, p. 28.
2. Ibid., p. 29.
3. Bataille, Le Diable au XIX" SiMe, p. 35. ■i- P. 143.
5. Bataille, op. cit, p. 35.
6. Ibid., p. 36.
7. Bataille, op. cit, p.- 36.
8. Bataille, op. cit., p. 36.
9. " The G which the Freemasons place in the middle of the flamboyant star signifies Gnosticism and Generation, the most sacred words of the ancient Cabala. " See Eliphas Levi, Dogme et Rituel cle la Haute Magie, vol. II, p. 97.
10. In reference to the Pagans " who (as we read in divers authors) consecrated most kinds of Distempers of the Body, and Affections of the Mind; erected Temples and Altars to Fevers. Paleness. Madness, and Death ; to Laughter, Lust, Contumely, Impudence, and Calumny. Every strange Disorder, as well as Epilepsy, is the Sacred Disease. Sua cuique Deus sit dira Cupido (Each bold Fancy grows into a God). " But it must be remembered this Distemper was called also Morbus Comitialis ; because if any one fell into it, during the Assembly, it was a fatal Omen, and they immediately broke up ". Bishop Lavington, The Enthusiasm of Methodists and Papists compared, p. 123.
11. This refers to Gnostic Secret Societies described in this book.
12. " Inquire Within " op. cit., pp. 116-117.
13. Hudson, The Law of Psychic Phenomena, p. 236.
chapter 3
1. Stillson and Hughan, The History of Freemasonry and Concordant Orders, see the chapter entitled " Hindoostan ", p. 74 et seq.
2. Mafia (Sanscrit) = grand.
3. Louis Jacolliot, Occult Science in India, pp. 92-93.
4. Bataille, op. cit., for a fanciful description of such rites.
5. Louis Jacolliot, op. cit., p. 72. and Bataille, op. cit.
6. Louis Jacolliot, op. cit., pp. 73 to 101.
7. Article on Brahminism : Enc. Brit. 9th Edition.
8. Jacolliot, op. cit.
9. Ibid.
10. E. Levi, Dogme etrituelde la Haute Magie, p. 70. et seq.
11. Edward Sellon, Annotations on the Sacred Writings of the Hindus, p. 8.
12. Ibid., p. 8.
13. Ibid, p. 10.
14. Ibid., p. 12.
15. Ibid., p. 20.
16. Ibid., p. 21.
17. ibid., p. 23.
18. Ibid., p. 40.
19. Bataille, LeDiable au XIXs siecle, for fanciful description of such rites.
20. Sellon, op. cit, p. 53 et seq.
21. Author's note : Sex power = Kundalini, electro-magnetic force, astral light, fire.
22. See Lotus-Padma, explanation in chapter on Symbolism
23. Heckethorn, Secret Societies of all Ages and Countries, vol. II, p. 307.
24. Heckethorn, op. cit., p. 318, vol. II.
25. Heckethorn, op. cit, vol. II, p. 318 and, for recent corroboration, see Katherine Mayo, Mother India.
26. Heckethorn, op. cit, vol. II, p. 323
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