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-------------------      ,transcriber's 
,note3                                  
,inconsistent hyphenation in the        
original document has           been    
preserved4                              
,obvious typographical errors have been 
corrected4 ,for           a complete    
list1 please see the end of this        
document4                               
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-------------------         99       99 
99       99       99     ,,christianity 
,,as ,,mystical ,,fact ,,and ,,the      
,,mysteries ,,of ,,antiquity   ,,by     
,,dr4 ,,rudolf ,,steiner ,,author ,,of  
,,mystics ,,of ,,the ,,renaissance1     
,,the ,,gates ,,of ,,knowledge1 ,,etc4  
,,third ,,edition1 ,,revised ,,and      
,,enlarged   ,,edited ,,by ,h4          
,,collison   ,,the ,,authorized         
,,english ,,translation   ,g4,p4        

,,putnam',s ,,sons ,,new ,,york ,,and   
,,london ,the ,knickerbocker ,press     
#aiad     ,,copyright1 #aiad ,,by ,h4   
,,collison   ,the copyrights1 the       
publishing rights1 and the editorial    
responsibility for the translations of  
the works of ,rudolf ,steiner1 ,ph4,d41 
with the exception of those already     
published under the editorial           
supervision of ,mr4 ,max ,gysi1 are now 
vested in ,mr4 ,harry ,collison1 ,m4,a41
 ,oxon4  ,the ,knickerbocker ,press1    
,new ,york     ,,preface ,,to ,,the     
,,second ,,edition   ,christianity as   
,mystical ,fact was the title given by  
the author to this work1 when1 eight    
years ago1 he gathered into it the      
substance of lectures delivered by him  
in #aijb4 ,the title indicated the      
special character of the book4 ,in it   
the attempt was made1 not merely to     
represent historically the mystical     
content of ,christianity1 but to        
describe the origin of ,christianity    
from the standpoint of mystical         

contemplation4 ,underlying this         
intention was the thought that at the   
genesis of ,christianity mystical facts 
were at work which can only be perceived
 by such contemplation4  ,it is only the
 book itself which can make clear that  
by mystical its author does not imply a 
conception which relies more on vague   
feelings than on strictly scientific    
statements4 ,it is true that mysticism  
is at present widely understood in the  
former sense1 and hence it is declared  
by many to be a sphere of the human     
soul-life with which true science can   
have nothing to do4 ,in this book the   
word mysticism is used in the sense of  
the representation of a spiritual fact1 
which can only be recognised in its true
 nature when the knowledge of it is     
derived from the sources of spiritual   
life itself4 ,if the kind of knowledge  
drawn from such sources is rejected1 the
 reader will not be in a position to    
judge of the contents of this book4     
,only one who allows that the same      

clearness may exist in mysticism as in a
 true representation of the facts of    
natural science1 will be ready to admit 
that the content of ,christianity as    
mysticism may also be mystically        
described4 ,for it is not only a        
question of the contents of the book1   
but first and foremost of the methods of
 knowledge by means of which the        
statements in it are made4  ,many there 
are in the present day who have a most  
violent dislike to such methods1 which  
are regarded as conflicting with the    
ways of true science4 ,and this is not  
only the case with those willing to     
admit other interpretations of the world
 than their own1 on the ground of       
genuine knowledge of natural science1   
but also with those who as believers    
wish to study the nature of             
,christianity4  ,the author of this book
 stands on the ground of a conception   
which sees that the achievements of     
natural science in our age must lead up 
into true mysticism4 ,in fact1 any other

 attitude as regards knowledge actually 
contradicts everything presented by the 
achievements of natural science4 ,the   
facts of natural science itself indeed  
cannot be comprehended by means of those
 methods of knowledge which so many     
people would like to employ to the      
exclusion of others1 under the illusion 
that they stand on the firm ground of   
natural science4 ,it is only when we are
 prepared to admit that a full          
appreciation of our present admirable   
knowledge of nature is compatible with  
genuine mysticism1 that we can take the 
contents of this book into              
consideration4  ,the author's intention 
is to show1 by means of what is here    
called mystical knowledge1 how the      
source of ,christianity prepared its own
 ground in the mysteries of             
pre-,christian times4 ,in this          
pre-,christian mysticism we find the    
soil in which ,christianity throve1 as a
 germ of quite independent nature4 ,this
 point of view makes it possible to     

understand ,christianity in its         
independent being1 even though its      
evolution is traced from pre-,christian 
mysticism4 ,if this point of view be    
overlooked1 it is very possible to      
misunderstand that independent          
character1 and to think that            
,christianity was merely a further      
development of what already existed in  
pre-,christian mysticism4 ,many people  
of the present day have fallen into this
 error1 comparing the content of        
,christianity with pre-,christian       
conceptions1 and then thinking that     
,christian ideas were only a            
continuation of the former4 ,the        
following pages are intended to show    
that ,christianity presupposes the      
earlier mysticism just as a seed must   
have its soil4 ,it is intended to       
emphasise the peculiar character of the 
essence of ,christianity1 through the   
knowledge of its evolution1 but not to  
extinguish it4  ,it is with deep        
satisfaction that the author is able to 

mention that this account of the nature 
of ,christianity has found acceptance   
with a writer who has enriched the      
culture of our time in the highest sense
 of the word1 by his important works on 
the spiritual life of humanity4 ,edouard
 ,schur1 author of ,les ,grands         
,initis1#a is so far in accord with the 
attitude of this book that he undertook 
to translate it into ,french1 under the 
title1 ,le mystre chrtien et les mystres
 antiques4 ,it may be mentioned by the  
way1 and as a symptom of the existence  
at the present time of a longing to     
understand the nature of ,christianity  
as presented in this work1 that the     
first edition was translated into other 
,european languages besides ,french4    
,the author has not found occasion to   
alter anything essential in the         
preparation of this second edition4 ,on 
the other hand1 what was written eight  
years ago has been enlarged1 and the    
endeavour has been made to express many 
things more exactly and circumstantially

 than was then possible4 ,unfortunately 
the author was obliged1 through stress  
of work1 to let a long period elapse    
between the time when the first edition 
was exhausted1 and the appearance of the
 second4                                
,,rudolf ,,steiner4    ,may1 #aiaj4     
,,footnotes3  #a ,this book is to be had
 in an ,english translation1 by ,f4     
,rothwell1 under the title of ,the      
,great ,initiates1 ,a ,sketch of the    
,secret ,history of ,religions1 by      
,edouard ,schur 7,pub41 ,rider  ,son1   
,london74     ,,contents                
,,page  ,,preface ,,to ,,the ,,second   
,,edition                               
iii  ,,chapter     ,i4--,,points ,,of   
,,view                                  
#a    ,,ii4--,,the ,,mysteries ,,and    
,,their ,,wisdom                        
#aj   ,,iii4--,,the ,,greek ,,sages     
,,before ,,plato ,,in ,,the ,,light ,,of
 ,,the        ,,wisdom ,,of ,,the       
,,mysteries                             
#ci    ,,iv4--,,plato ,,as ,a ,,mystic  

#fc     ,v4--,,the ,,wisdom ,,of ,,the  
,,mysteries ,,and ,,the ,,myth          
#ic    ,,vi4--,,the ,,mystery ,,wisdom  
,,of ,,egypt                            
#abg   ,,vii4--,,the ,,gospels          
#adg  ,,viii4--,,the ,,lazarus ,,miracle
                                    #aei
    ,,ix4--,,the ,,apocalypse ,,of ,,st4
 ,,john                             #agg
     ,x4--,,jesus ,,and ,,his           
,,historical ,,background               
#aih    ,,xi4--,,the ,,nature ,,of      
,,christianity                          
#bjc   ,,xii4--,,christianity ,,and     
,,heathen ,,wisdom                      
#bae  ,,xiii4--,,st4 ,,augustine ,,and  
,,the ,,church                          
#bbg         ,,notes                    
#bci            99       99       99    
99       99     ,,christianity ,,as     
,,mystical ,,fact            99       99
       99       99       99             
,christianity as ,mystical ,fact  ,i    
,,points ,,of ,,view   ,natural ,science
 has deeply influenced modern thought4  

,it is becoming more and more impossible
 to speak of spiritual needs and the    
life of the soul1 without taking into   
consideration the achievements and      
methods of this science4 ,it must be    
admitted1 however1 that many people     
satisfy these needs1 without letting    
themselves be troubled by its influence4
 ,but those who feel the beating of the 
pulse of the age must take this         
influence into consideration4 ,with     
increasing swiftness do ideas derived   
from natural science take possession of 
our brains1 and1 unwillingly though it  
may be1 our hearts follow1 often in     
dejection and dismay4 ,it is not a      
question only of the number thus won    
over1 but of the fact that there is a   
force within the method of natural      
science1 which convinces the attentive  
observer that that method contains      
something which cannot be neglected1 and
 is one by which any modern conception  
of the universe must be profoundly      
affected4 ,many of the outgrowths of    

this method compel a justifiable        
rejection4 ,but such rejection is not   
sufficient in an age in which very many 
resort to this way of thinking1 and are 
attracted to it as if by magic4 ,the    
case is in no way altered because some  
people see that true science long ago   
passed1 by its own initiative1 beyond   
the shallow doctrines of force and      
matter taught by materialists4 ,it would
 be better1 apparently1 to listen to    
those who boldly declare that the ideas 
of natural science will form the basis  
of a new religion4 ,if these ideas also 
appear shallow and superficial to one   
who knows the deeper spiritual needs of 
humanity1 he must nevertheless take note
 of them1 for it is to them that        
attention is now turned1 and there is   
reason to think they will claim more and
 more notice in the near future4        
,another class of people have also to be
 taken into account1 those whose hearts 
have lagged behind their heads4 ,with   
their reason they cannot but accept the 

ideas of natural science4 ,the burden of
 proof is too much for them4 ,but those 
ideas cannot satisfy the religious needs
 of their souls1--the perspective       
offered is too dreary4 ,is the human    
soul to rise on the wings of enthusiasm 
to the heights of beauty1 truth1 and    
goodness1 only for each individual to be
 swept away in the end like a bubble    
blown by the material brain8 ,this is a 
feeling which oppresses many minds like 
a nightmare4 ,but scientific concepts   
oppress them also1 coming as they do    
come with the mighty force of authority4
 ,as long as they can1 these people     
remain blind to the discord in their    
souls4 ,indeed they console themselves  
by saying that full clearness in these  
matters is denied to the human soul4    
,they think in accordance with natural  
science so long as the experience of    
their senses and the logic of their     
intellect demand it1 but they keep to   
the religious sentiments in which they  
have been educated1 and prefer to remain

 in darkness as to these matters1--a    
darkness which clouds their             
understanding4 ,they have not the       
courage to battle through to the light4 
,there can be no doubt whatever that the
 habit of thought derived from natural  
science is the greatest force in modern 
intellectual life1 and it must not be   
passed by heedlessly by any one         
concerned with the spiritual interests  
of humanity4 ,but it is none the less   
true that the way in which it sets about
 satisfying spiritual needs is          
superficial and shallow4 ,if this were  
the right way1 the outlook would indeed 
be dreary4 ,would it not be depressing  
to be obliged to agree with those who   
say3 ,thought is a form of force4 ,we   
walk by means of the same force by which
 we think4 ,man is an organism which    
transforms various forms of force into  
thought-force1 an organism the activity 
of which we maintain by what we call    
'food1' and with which we produce what  
we call 'thought4' ,what a marvellous   

chemical process it is which could      
change a certain quantity of food into  
the divine tragedy of ,hamlet4 ,this is 
quoted from a pamphlet of ,robert ,g4   
,ingersoll1 bearing the title1 ,modern  
,twilight of the ,gods4 ,it matters     
little if such thoughts find but scanty 
acceptance in the outside world4 ,the   
point is that innumerable people find   
themselves compelled by the system of   
natural science to take up with regard  
to world-processes an attitude in       
conformity with the above1 even when    
they think they are not doing so4  ,it  
would certainly be a dreary outlook if  
natural science itself compelled us to  
accept the creed proclaimed by many of  
its modern prophets4 ,most dreary of all
 for one who has gained1 from the       
content of natural science1 the         
conviction that in its own sphere its   
mode of thought holds good and its      
methods are unassailable4 ,for he is    
driven to make the admission that1      
however much people may dispute about   

individual questions1 though volume     
after volume may be written1 and        
thousands of observations accumulated   
about the struggle for existence and its
 insignificance1 about the omnipotence  
or powerlessness of natural selection1  
natural science itself is moving in a   
direction which1 within certain limits1 
must find acceptance in an              
ever-increasing degree4  ,but are the   
demands made by natural science really  
such as they are described by some of   
its representatives8 ,that they are not 
so is proved by the method employed by  
these representatives themselves4 ,the  
method they use in their own sphere is  
not such as is often described1 and     
claimed for other spheres of thought4   
,would ,darwin and ,ernst ,haeckel ever 
have made their great discoveries about 
the evolution of life if1 instead of    
observing life and the structure of     
living beings1 they had shut themselves 
up in a laboratory and there made       
chemical experiments with tissue cut out

 of an organism8 ,would ,lyell have been
 able to describe the development of the
 crust of the earth if1 instead of      
examining strata and their contents1 he 
had scrutinised the chemical qualities  
of innumerable rocks8 ,let us really    
follow in the footsteps of these        
investigators who tower like giants in  
the domain of modern science4 ,we shall 
then apply to the higher regions of     
spiritual life the methods they have    
used in the study of nature4 ,we shall  
not then believe we have understood the 
nature of the divine tragedy of ,hamlet 
by saying that a wonderful chemical     
process transformed a certain quantity  
of food into that tragedy4 ,we shall    
believe it as little as an investigator 
of nature could seriously believe that  
he has understood the mission of heat in
 the evolution of the earth1 when he has
 studied the action of heat on sulphur  
in a retort4 ,neither does he attempt to
 understand the construction of the     
human brain by examining the effect of  

liquid potash on a fragment of it1 but  
rather by inquiring how the brain has1  
in the course of evolution1 been        
developed out of the organs of lower    
organisms4  ,it is therefore quite true 
that one who is investigating the nature
 of spirit can do nothing better than   
learn from natural science4 ,he need    
only do as science does1 but he must not
 allow himself to be misled by what     
individual representatives of natural   
science would dictate to him4 ,he must  
investigate in the spiritual as they do 
in the physical domain1 but he need not 
adopt the opinions they entertain about 
the spiritual world1 confused as they   
are by their exclusive contemplation of 
physical phenomena4  ,we shall only be  
acting in the spirit of natural science 
if we study the spiritual development of
 man as impartially as the naturalist   
observes the sense-world4 ,we shall then
 certainly be led1 in the domain of     
spiritual life1 to a kind of            
contemplation which differs from that of

 the naturalist as geology differs from 
pure physics and biology from chemistry4
 ,we shall be led up to higher methods1 
which cannot1 it is true1 be those of   
natural science1 though quite           
conformable with the spirit of it4 ,such
 methods alone are able to bring us to  
the heart of spiritual developments1    
such as that of ,christianity1 or other 
worlds of religious conceptions4 ,any   
one applying these methods may arouse   
the opposition of many who believe they 
are thinking scientifically1 but he will
 know himself1 for all that1 to be in   
full accord with a genuinely scientific 
method of thought4  ,an investigator of 
this kind must also go beyond a merely  
historical examination of the documents 
relating to spiritual life4 ,this is    
necessary just on account of the        
attitude he has acquired from his study 
of natural history4 ,when a chemical law
 is explained1 it is of small use to    
describe the retorts1 dishes1 and       
pincers which have led to the discovery 

of the law4 ,and it is just as useless1 
when explaining the origin of           
,christianity1 to ascertain the         
historical sources drawn upon by the    
,evangelist ,st4 ,luke1 or those from   
which the hidden revelation of ,st4     
,john is compiled4 ,history can in this 
case be only the outer court to research
 proper4 ,it is not by tracing the      
historical origin of documents that we  
shall discover anything about the       
dominant ideas in the writings of ,moses
 or in the traditions of the ,greek     
mystics4 ,these documents are only the  
outer expression for the ideas4 ,nor    
does the naturalist who is investigating
 the nature of man trouble about the    
origin of the word man1 or the way in   
which it has developed in a language4   
,he keeps to the thing1 not to the word 
in which it finds expression4 ,and in   
studying spiritual life we must likewise
 abide by the spirit and not by outer   
documents4     ,,ii  ,,the ,,mysteries  
,,and ,,their ,,wisdom   ,a kind of     

mysterious veil hangs over the manner in
 which spiritual needs were satisfied   
during the older civilisations by those 
who sought a deeper religious life and  
fuller knowledge than the popular       
religions offered4 ,if we inquire how   
these needs were satisfied1 we find     
ourselves led into the dim twilight of  
the mysteries1 and the individual       
seeking them disappears for a time from 
our observation4 ,we see how it is that 
the popular religions cannot give him   
what his heart desires4 ,he acknowledges
 the existence of the gods1 but knows   
that the ordinary ideas about them do   
not solve the great problems of         
existence4 ,he seeks a wisdom which is  
jealously guarded by a community of     
priest-sages4 ,his aspiring soul seeks a
 refuge in this community4 ,if he is    
found by the sages to be sufficiently   
prepared1 he is led up by them1 step by 
step1 to higher knowledge1 in places    
hidden from the eyes of outward         
observers4 ,what then happens to him is 

concealed from the uninitiated4 ,he     
seems for a time to be entirely removed 
from earthly life and to be transported 
into a hidden world4  ,when he reappears
 in the light of day a different1 quite 
transformed person is before us4 ,we see
 a man who cannot find words sublime    
enough to express the momentous         
experience through which he has passed4 
,not merely metaphorically but in a most
 real sense does he seem to have gone   
through the gate of death and to have   
awakened to a new and higher life4 ,he  
is1 moreover1 quite certain that no one 
who has not had a similar experience can
 understand his words4  ,this was what  
happened to those who were initiated    
into the ,mysteries1 into that secret   
wisdom withheld from the people and     
which threw light on the greatest       
questions4 ,this secret religion of the 
elect existed side by side with the     
popular religion4 ,its origin vanishes1 
as far as history is concerned1 into the
 obscurity in which the origin of       

nations is lost4 ,we find this secret   
religion everywhere amongst the ancients
 as far as we know anything concerning  
them2 and we hear their sages speak of  
the ,mysteries with the greatest        
reverence4 ,what was it that was        
concealed in them8 ,and what did they   
unveil to the initiate8  ,the enigma    
becomes still more puzzling when we     
discover that the ancients looked upon  
the ,mysteries as something dangerous4  
,the way leading to the secrets of      
existence passed through a world of     
terrors1 and woe to him who tried to    
gain them unworthily4 ,there was no     
greater crime than the betrayal of      
secrets to the uninitiated4 ,the traitor
 was punished with death and the        
confiscation of his property4 ,we know  
that the poet schylus was accused of    
having reproduced on the stage something
 from the ,mysteries4 ,he was only able 
to escape death by fleeing to the altar 
of ,dionysos and by legally proving that
 he had never been initiated4  ,what the

 ancients say about these secrets is    
significant1 but at the same time       
ambiguous4 ,the initiate is convinced   
that it would be a sin to tell what he  
knows and also that it would be sinful  
for the uninitiated to listen4 ,plutarch
 speaks of the terror of those about to 
be initiated1 and compares their state  
of mind to preparation for death4 ,a    
special mode of life had to precede     
initiation1 tending to give the spirit  
the mastery over the senses4 ,fasting1  
solitude1 mortifications1 and certain   
exercises for the soul were the means   
employed4 ,the things to which man      
clings in ordinary life were to lose all
 their value for him4 ,the whole trend  
of his life of sensation and feeling was
 to be changed4  ,there can be no doubt 
as to the meaning of such exercises and 
tests4 ,the wisdom which was to be      
offered to the candidate for initiation 
could only produce the right effect upon
 his soul if he had previously purified 
the lower life of his sensibility4 ,he  

was introduced to the life of the       
spirit4 ,he was to behold a higher      
world1 but he could not enter into      
relations with that world without       
previous exercises and tests4 ,the      
relations thus gained were the condition
 of initiation4  ,in order to obtain a  
correct idea on this matter1 it is      
necessary to gain experience of the     
intimate facts of the growth of         
knowledge4 ,we must feel that there are 
two widely divergent attitudes towards  
that which the highest knowledge gives4 
,the world surrounding us is to us at   
first the real one4 ,we feel1 hear1 and 
see what goes on in it1 and because we  
thus perceive things with our senses1 we
 call them real4 ,and we reflect about  
events1 in order to get an insight into 
their connections4 ,on the other hand1  
what wells up in our soul is at first   
not real to us in the same sense4 ,it is
 merely thoughts and ideas4 ,at the most
 we see in them only images of reality4 
,they themselves have no reality1 for we

 cannot touch1 see1 or hear them4       
,there is another way of being connected
 with things4 ,a person who clings to   
the kind of reality described above will
 hardly understand it1 but it comes to  
certain people at some moment in their  
lives4 ,to them the whole connection    
with the world is completely reversed4  
,they then call the images which well up
 in the spiritual life of their souls   
actually real1 and they assign only a   
lower kind of reality to what the senses
 hear1 touch1 feel1 and see4 ,they know 
that they cannot prove what they say1   
that they can only relate their new     
experiences1 and that when relating them
 to others they are in the position of a
 man who can see and who imparts his    
visual impressions to one born blind4   
,they venture to impart their inner     
experiences1 trusting that there are    
others round them whose spiritual eyes1 
though as yet closed1 may be opened by  
the power of what they hear4 ,for they  
have faith in humanity and want to give 

it spiritual sight4 ,they can only lay  
before it the fruits which their spirit 
has gathered4 ,whether another sees     
them1 depends on his spiritual eyes     
being opened or not4  ,there is         
something in man which at first prevents
 him from seeing with the eyes of the   
spirit4 ,he is not there for that       
purpose4 ,he is what his senses are1 and
 his intellect is only the interpreter  
and judge of them4 ,the senses would ill
 fulfil their mission if they did not   
insist upon the truth and infallibility 
of their evidence4 ,an eye must1 from   
its own point of view1 uphold the       
absolute reality of its perceptions4    
,the eye is right as far as it goes1 and
 is not deprived of its due by the eye  
of the spirit4 ,the latter only allows  
us to see the things of sense in a      
higher light4 ,nothing seen by the eye  
of sense is denied1 but a new           
brightness1 hitherto unseen1 radiates   
from what is seen4 ,and then we know    
that what we first saw was only a lower 

reality4 ,we see that still1 but it is  
immersed in something higher1 which is  
spirit4 ,it is now a question of whether
 we realise and feel what we see4 ,one  
who lives only in the sensations and    
feelings of the senses will look upon   
impressions of higher things as a ,fata 
,morgana1 or mere play of fancy4 ,his   
feelings are entirely directed towards  
the things of sense4 ,he grasps         
emptiness when he tries to lay hold of  
spirit forms4 ,they withdraw from him   
when he gropes after them4 ,they are    
just mere thoughts4 ,he thinks them1 but
 does not live in them4 ,they are       
images1 less real to him than fleeting  
dreams4 ,they rise up like bubbles while
 he is standing in his reality2 they    
disappear before the massive1 solidly   
built reality of which his senses tell  
him4  ,it is otherwise with one whose   
perceptions and feelings with regard to 
reality have changed4 ,for him that     
reality has lost its absolute stability 
and value4 ,his senses and feelings need

 not become numbed1 but they begin to be
 doubtful of their absolute authority4  
,they leave room for something else4    
,the world of the spirit begins to      
animate the space left4  ,at this point 
a possibility comes in which may prove  
terrible4 ,a man may lose his sensations
 and feelings of outer reality without  
finding any new reality opening up      
before him4 ,he then feels himself as if
 suspended in the void4 ,he feels as if 
he were dead4 ,the old values have      
disappeared and no new ones have arisen 
in their place4 ,the world and man no   
longer exist for him4 ,this1 however1 is
 by no means a mere possibility4 ,it    
happens at some time or other to every  
one who is seeking for higher knowledge4
 ,he comes to a point at which the      
spirit represents all life to him as    
death4 ,he is then no longer in the     
world1 but under it1--in the nether     
world4 ,he is passing through ,hades4   
,well for him if he sink not6 ,happy if 
a new world open up before him6 ,either 

he dwindles away or he appears to       
himself transfigured4 ,in the latter    
case he beholds a new sun and a new     
earth4 ,the whole world has been born   
again for him out of spiritual fire4    
,it is thus that the initiates describe 
the effect of the ,mysteries upon them4 
,menippus relates that he journeyed to  
,babylon in order to be taken to ,hades 
and to be brought back again by the     
successors of ,zarathustra4 ,he says    
that he swam across the great water on  
his wanderings1 and that he passed      
through fire and ice4 ,we hear that the 
,mystics were terrified by a flashing   
sword1 and that blood flowed4 ,we       
understand this when we know from       
experience the point of transition from 
lower to higher knowledge4 ,we then feel
 as if all solid matter and things of   
sense had dissolved into water1 and as  
if the ground were cut away from under  
our feet4 ,everything is dead which we  
felt before to be alive4 ,the spirit has
 passed through the life of the senses1 

as a sword pierces a warm body2 we have 
seen the blood of sense-nature flow4    
,but a new life has appeared4 ,we have  
risen from the nether-world4 ,the orator
 ,aristides relates this3 ,i thought ,i 
touched the god and felt him draw near1 
and ,i was then between waking and      
sleeping4 ,my spirit was so light that  
no one who is not initiated can speak of
 or understand it4 ,this new existence  
is not subject to the laws of lower     
life4 ,growth and decay no longer affect
 it4 ,one may say much about the        
,eternal1 but words of one who has not  
been through ,hades are mere sound and  
smoke4 ,the initiates have a new        
conception of life and death4 ,now for  
the first time do they feel they have   
the right to speak about immortality4   
,they know that one who speaks of it    
without having been initiated talks of  
something which he does not understand4 
,the uninitiated attribute immortality  
only to something which is subject to   
the laws of growth and decay4 ,the      

,mystics1 however1 did not merely desire
 to gain the conviction that the kernel 
of life is eternal4 ,according to the   
view of the ,mysteries1 such a          
conviction would be quite valueless1 for
 this view holds that the ,eternal is   
not present as a living reality in the  
uninitiated4 ,if such an one spoke of   
the ,eternal1 he would be speaking of   
something non-existent4 ,it is rather   
the ,eternal itself that the ,mystics   
are seeking4 ,they have first to awaken 
the ,eternal within them1 then they can 
speak of it4 ,hence the hard saying of  
,plato is quite real to them1 that the  
uninitiated sinks into the mire1 and    
that only one who has passed through the
 mystical life enters eternity4 ,it is  
only in this sense that the words in the
 fragment of ,sophocles can be          
understood3 ,thrice-blessed are the     
initiated who come to the realm of the  
shades4 ,they alone have life there4    
,for others there is only misery and    
hardship4  ,is one therefore not        

describing dangers when speaking of the 
,mysteries8 ,is it not robbing a man of 
happiness and of the best part of his   
life to take him to the portals of the  
nether-world8 ,terrible is the          
responsibility incurred by such an act4 
,and yet ought we to refuse that        
responsibility8 ,these were the         
questions which the initiate had to put 
to himself4 ,he was of opinion that his 
knowledge bore the same relation to the 
soul of the people as light does to     
darkness4 ,but innocent happiness dwells
 in that darkness1 and the ,mystics were
 of opinion that that happiness should  
not be sacrilegiously interfered with4  
,for what would have happened in the    
first place if the ,mystic had betrayed 
his secret8 ,he would have uttered words
 and only words4 ,the feelings and      
emotions which would have evoked the    
spirit from the words would have been   
absent4 ,to do this preparation1        
exercises1 tests1 and a complete change 
in the life of sense were necessary4    

,without this the hearer would have been
 hurled into emptiness and nothingness4 
,he would have been deprived of what    
constituted his happiness1 without      
receiving anything in exchange4 ,one may
 also say that one could take nothing   
away from him1 for mere words would     
change nothing in his life of feeling4  
,he would only have been able to feel   
and experience reality through his      
senses4 ,nothing but a terrible         
misgiving1 fatal to life1 would be given
 him4 ,this could only be construed as a
 crime4  ,the wisdom of the ,mysteries  
is like a hothouse plant1 which must be 
cultivated and fostered in seclusion4   
,any one bringing it into the atmosphere
 of everyday ideas brings it into air in
 which it cannot flourish4 ,it withers  
away to nothing before the caustic      
verdict of modern science and logic4    
,let us therefore divest ourselves for a
 time of the education we gained through
 the microscope and telescope and the   
habit of thought derived from natural   

science1 and let us cleanse our clumsy  
hands1 which have been too busy with    
dissecting and experimenting1 in order  
that we may enter the pure temple of the
 ,mysteries4 ,for this a candid and     
unbiassed attitude of mind is necessary4
  ,the important point for the ,mystic  
is at first the frame of mind in which  
he approaches that which to him is the  
highest1 the answers to the riddles of  
existence4 ,just in our day1 when only  
gross physical science is recognised as 
containing truth1 it is difficult to    
believe that in the highest things we   
depend upon the key-note of the soul4   
,knowledge thereby becomes an intimate  
personal concern4 ,but this is what it  
really is to the ,mystic4 ,tell some one
 the solution of the riddle of the      
universe6 ,give it him ready-made6 ,the 
,mystic will find it to be nothing but  
empty sound1 if the personality does not
 meet the solution half-way in the right
 manner4 ,the solution in itself is     
nothing2 it vanishes if the necessary   

feeling is not kindled at its contact4  
,a divinity approaches you4 ,it is      
either everything or nothing4 ,nothing1 
if you meet it in the frame of mind with
 which you confront everyday matters4   
,everything1 if you are prepared1 and   
attuned to the meeting4 ,what the       
,divinity is in itself is a matter which
 does not affect you2 the important     
point for you is whether it leaves you  
as it found you or makes another man of 
you4 ,but this depends entirely on      
yourself4 ,you must have been prepared  
by a special education1 by a development
 of the inmost forces of your           
personality for the work of kindling and
 releasing what a divinity is able to   
kindle and release in you4 ,what is     
brought to you depends on the reception 
you give to it4  ,plutarch has told us  
about this education1 and of the        
greeting which the ,mystic offers the   
divinity approaching him2 ,for the god1 
as it were1 greets each one who         
approaches him1 with the words1 ',know  

thyself1' which is surely no worse than 
the ordinary greeting1 ',welcome4' ,then
 we answer the divinity in the words1   
',thou art1' and thus we affirm that the
 true1 primordial1 and only adequate    
greeting for him is to declare that he  
is4 ,in that existence we really have no
 part here1 for every mortal being1     
situated between birth and destruction1 
merely manifests an appearance1 a feeble
 and uncertain image of itself4 ,if we  
try to grasp it with our understanding1 
it is as when water is tightly          
compressed and runs over merely through 
the pressure1 spoiling what it touches4 
,for the understanding1 pursuing a too  
definite conception of each being that  
is subject to accidents and change1     
loses its way1 now in the origin of the 
being1 now in its destruction1 and is   
unable to apprehend anything lasting or 
really existing4 ,for1 as ,heraclitus   
says1 we cannot swim twice in the same  
wave1 neither can we lay hold of a      
mortal being twice in the same state1   

for1 through the violence and rapidity  
of movement1 it is destroyed and        
recomposed2 it comes into being and     
again decays2 it comes and goes4        
,therefore1 that which is becoming can  
neither attain real existence1 because  
growth neither ceases nor pauses4       
,change begins in the germ1 and forms an
 embryo2 then there appears a child1    
then a youth1 a man1 and an old man2 the
 first beginnings and successive ages   
are continually annulled by the ensuing 
ones4 ,hence it is ridiculous to fear   
one death1 when we have already died in 
so many ways1 and are still dying4 ,for1
 as ,heraclitus says1 not only is the   
death of fire the birth of air1 and the 
death of air the birth of water1 but the
 same change may be still more plainly  
seen in man4 ,the strong man dies when  
he becomes old1 the youth when he       
becomes a man1 the boy on becoming a    
youth1 and the child on becoming a boy4 
,what existed yesterday dies to-day1    
what is here to-day will die to-morrow4 

,nothing endures or is a unity1 but we  
become many things1 whilst matter       
wanders around one image1 one common    
form4 ,for if we were always the same1  
how could we take pleasure in things    
which formerly did not please us1 how   
could we love and hate1 admire and blame
 opposite things1 how could we speak    
differently and give ourselves up to    
different passions1 unless we were      
endowed with a different shape1 form1   
and different senses8 ,for no one can   
rightly come into a different state     
without change1 and one who is changed  
is no longer the same2 but if he is not 
the same1 he no longer exists and is    
changed from what he was1 becoming      
something else4 ,sense-perception only  
led us astray1 because we do not know   
real being1 and mistook for it that     
which is only an appearance4#b          
,plutarch often describes himself as an 
initiate4 ,what he portrays here is a   
condition of the life of the ,mystic4   
,man acquires a kind of wisdom by means 

of which his spirit sees through the    
illusive character of sense-life4 ,what 
the senses regard as being1 or reality1 
is plunged into the stream of becoming2 
and man is subject to the same          
conditions in this respect as all other 
things in the world4 ,before the eyes of
 his spirit he himself dissolves1 the   
sum-total of his being is broken up into
 parts1 into fleeting phenomena4 ,birth 
and death lose their distinctive        
meaning1 and become moments of appearing
 and disappearing1 just as much as any  
other happenings in the world4 ,the     
,highest cannot be found in the         
connection between development and      
decay4 ,it can only be sought in what is
 really abiding1 in what looks back to  
the past and forward to the future4  ,to
 find that which looks 7i4e4 the spirit7
 backwards and forwards is the first    
stage of knowledge4 ,this is the spirit1
 which is manifesting in and through the
 physical4 ,it has nothing to do with   
physical growth4 ,it does not come into 

being and again decay as do             
sense-phenomena4 ,one who lives entirely
 in the world of sense carries the      
spirit latent within him4 ,one who has  
pierced through the illusion of the     
world of sense has the spirit within him
 as a manifest reality4 ,the man who    
attains to this insight has developed a 
new principle within him4 ,something has
 happened within him as in a plant when 
it adds a coloured flower to its green  
leaves4 ,it is true the forces causing  
the flower to grow were already latent  
in the plant before the blossom         
appeared1 but they only became effective
 when this took place4 ,divine1         
spiritual forces are latent in the man  
who lives merely through his senses1 but
 they only become a manifest reality in 
the initiate4 ,such is the              
transformation which takes place in the 
,mystic4 ,by his development he has     
added a new element to the world4 ,the  
world of sense made him a human being   
endowed with senses1 and then left him  

to himself4 ,nature had thus fulfilled  
her mission4 ,what she is able to do    
with the powers operative in man is     
exhausted2 not so the forces themselves4
 ,they lie as though spellbound in the  
merely natural man and await their      
release4 ,they cannot release           
themselves4 ,they fade away to nothing  
unless man seizes upon them and develops
 them1 unless he calls into actual being
 what is latent within him4  ,nature    
evolves from the imperfect to the       
perfect4 ,she leads beings1 through a   
long series of stages1 from inanimate   
matter1 through all living forms up to  
physical man4 ,man looks around and     
finds himself a changing being with     
physical reality1 but he also perceives 
within him the forces from which the    
physical reality arose4 ,these forces   
are not what change1 for they have given
 birth to the changing world4 ,they are 
within man as a sign that there is more 
life within him than he can physically  
perceive4 ,what they may make man is not

 yet there4 ,he feels something flash up
 within him which created everything1   
including himself1 and he feels that    
this will inspire him to higher creative
 activity4 ,this something is within    
him1 it existed before his manifestation
 in the flesh1 and will exist           
afterwards4 ,by means of it he became1  
but he may lay hold of it and take part 
in its creative activity4  ,such are the
 feelings animating the ,mystic after   
initiation4 ,he feels the ,eternal and  
,divine4 ,his activity is to become a   
part of that divine creative activity4  
,he may say to himself3 ,i have         
discovered a higher ego within me1 but  
that ego extends beyond the bounds of my
 sense-existence4 ,it existed before my 
birth and will exist after my death4    
,this ego has created from all eternity1
 it will go on creating in all eternity4
 ,my physical personality is a creation 
of this ego4 ,but it has incorporated me
 within it1 it works within me1 ,i am a 
part of it4 ,what ,i henceforth create  

will be higher than the physical4 ,my   
personality is only a means for this    
creative power1 for this ,divine is     
within me4 ,thus did the ,mystic        
experience his birth into the ,divine4  
,the ,mystic called the power that      
flashed up within him a daimon4 ,he was 
himself the product of this daimon4 ,it 
seemed to him as though another being   
had entered him and taken possession of 
his organs1 a being standing between his
 physical personality and the all-ruling
 cosmic power1 the divinity4  ,the      
,mystic sought this--his daimon4 ,he    
said to himself3 ,i have become a human 
being in mighty ,nature1 but ,nature did
 not complete her task4 ,this completion
 ,i must take in hand myself4 ,but ,i   
cannot accomplish it in the gross       
kingdom of nature to which my physical  
personality belongs4 ,what it is        
possible to develop in that realm has   
already been developed4 ,therefore ,i   
must leave this kingdom and take up the 
building in the realm of the spirit at  

the point where nature left off4 ,i must
 create an atmosphere of life not to be 
found in outer nature4  ,this atmosphere
 of life was prepared for the ,mystic in
 the ,mystery temples4 ,there the forces
 slumbering within him were awakened1   
there he was changed into a higher      
creative spirit-nature4 ,this           
transformation was a delicate process4  
,it could not bear the untempered       
atmosphere of everyday life4 ,but when  
once it was completed1 its result was   
that the initiate stood as a rock1      
rising from the eternal and able to defy
 all storms4 ,but it was impossible for 
him to reveal his experiences to any one
 unprepared to receive them4  ,plutarch 
says that the ,mysteries gave deep      
understanding of the true nature of the 
daimons4 ,and ,cicero tells us that from
 the ,mysteries1 ,when they are         
explained and traced back to their      
meaning1 we learn the nature of things  
rather than that of the gods4#c ,from   
such statements we see clearly that     

there were higher revelations for the   
,mystics about the nature of things than
 that which popular religion was able to
 impart4 ,indeed we see that the        
daimons1 i4e41 spiritual beings1 and the
 gods themselves1 needed explaining4    
,therefore initiates went back to beings
 of a higher nature than daimons or     
gods1 and this was characteristic of the
 essence of the wisdom of the           
,mysteries4  ,the people represented the
 gods and daimons in images borrowed    
from the world of sense-reality4 ,would 
not one who had penetrated into the     
nature of the ,eternal doubt about the  
eternal nature of such gods as these8   
,how could the ,zeus of popular         
imagination be eternal if he bore within
 him the qualities of a perishable      
being8 ,one thing was clear to the      
,mystics1 that man arrives at a         
conception of the gods in a different   
way from the conception of other things4
 ,an object belonging to the outer world
 compels us to form a very definite idea

 of it4 ,in contrast to this1 we form   
our conception of the gods in a freer   
and somewhat arbitrary manner4 ,the     
control of the outer world is absent4   
,reflection teaches us that what we     
conceive as gods is not subject to outer
 control4 ,this places us in logical    
uncertainty2 we begin to feel that we   
ourselves are the creators of our gods4 
,indeed1 we ask ourselves how we have   
arrived at a conception of the universe 
that goes beyond physical reality4 ,the 
initiate was obliged to ask himself such
 questions2 his doubts were justified4  
,look at all representations of the     
gods1 he might think to himself4 ,are   
they not like the beings we meet in the 
world of sense8 ,did not man create them
 for himself1 by giving or withholding  
from them1 in his thought1 some quality 
belonging to beings of the sense-world8 
,the savage lover of the chase creates a
 heaven in which the gods themselves    
take part in glorious hunting1 and the  
,greek peopled his ,olympus with divine 

beings whose models were taken from his 
own surroundings4  ,the philosopher     
,xenophanes 7,b4,c4 #ege-dhj7 drew      
attention to this fact with a crude     
logic4 ,we know that the older ,greek   
philosophers were entirely dependent on 
the wisdom of the ,mysteries4 ,we will  
afterwards prove this in detail1        
beginning with ,heraclitus4 ,what       
,xenophanes says may at once be taken as
 the conviction of a ,mystic4 ,it runs  
thus3  ,men who picture the gods as     
created in their own human forms1 give  
them human senses1 voices1 and bodies4  
,but if cattle and lions had hands1 and 
knew how to use them1 like men1 in      
painting and working1 they would paint  
the forms of the gods and shape their   
bodies as their own bodies were         
constituted4 ,horses would create gods  
in horse-form1 and cattle would make    
gods like bulls4  ,through insight of   
this kind1 man may begin to doubt the   
existence of anything divine4 ,he may   
reject all mythology1 and only recognise

 as reality what is forced upon him by  
his sense-perception4 ,but the ,mystic  
did not become a doubter of this kind4  
,he saw that the doubter would be like a
 plant were it to say3 ,my crimson      
flowers are null and futile1 because ,i 
am complete within my green leaves4     
,what ,i may add to them is only adding 
illusive appearance4 ,just as little    
could the ,mystic rest content with gods
 thus created1 the gods of the people4  
,if the plant could think1 it would     
understand that the forces which created
 its green leaves are also destined to  
create crimson flowers1 and it would not
 rest till it had investigated those    
forces and come face to face with them4 
,this was the attitude of the ,mystic   
towards the gods of the people4 ,he did 
not deny them1 or say they were         
illusion2 but he knew they had been     
created by man4 ,the same forces1 the   
same divine element1 which are at work  
in nature1 are at work in the ,mystic4  
,they create within him images of the   

gods4 ,he wishes to see the force that  
creates the gods2 it comes from a higher
 source than these gods4 ,xenophanes    
alludes to it thus3 ,there is one god   
greater than all gods and men4 ,his form
 is not like that of mortals1 his       
thoughts are not their thoughts4  ,this 
god was also the ,god of the ,mysteries4
 ,he might have been called a hidden    
,god1 for man could never find him with 
his senses only4 ,look at outer things  
around you1 you will find nothing       
divine4 ,exert your reason1 you may be  
able to detect the laws by which things 
appear and disappear1 but even your     
reason will not show you anything       
divine4 ,saturate your imagination with 
religious feeling1 and you may be able  
to create images which you may take to  
be gods1 but your reason will pull them 
to pieces1 for it will prove to you that
 you created them yourself1 and borrowed
 the material from the sense-world4 ,so 
long as you look at outer things in your
 quality of simply a reasonable being1  

you must deny the existence of ,god2 for
 ,god is hidden from the senses1 and    
from that reason of yours which explains
 sense-perceptions4  ,god lies hidden   
spellbound in the world1 and you need   
,his own power to find ,him4 ,you must  
awaken that power in yourself4 ,these   
are the teachings which were given to   
the candidate for initiation4  ,and now 
there began for him the great cosmic    
drama with which his life was bound up4 
,the action of the drama meant nothing  
less than the deliverance of the        
spellbound god4 ,where is ,god8 ,this   
was the question asked by the soul of   
the ,mystic4 ,god is not existent1 but  
nature exists4 ,and in nature ,he must  
be found4 ,there ,he has found an       
enchanted grave4 ,it was in a higher    
sense that the ,mystic understood the   
words ,god is love4 ,for ,god has       
exalted that love to its climax1 ,he has
 sacrificed ,himself in infinite love1  
,he has poured ,himself out1 fallen into
 number in the manifold of nature4      

,things in nature live and ,he does not 
live4 ,he slumbers within them4 ,we are 
able to awaken ,him2 if we are to give  
,him existence1 we must deliver ,him by 
the creative power within us4  ,the     
candidate now looks unto himself4 ,as   
latent creative power as yet without    
existence1 the ,divine is living in his 
soul4 ,in the soul is a sacred place    
where the spellbound god may wake to    
liberty4 ,the soul is the mother who is 
able to conceive the god by nature4 ,if 
the soul allows herself to be           
impregnated by nature1 she will give    
birth to the divine4 ,god is born from  
the marriage of the soul with           
nature1--no longer a hidden1 but a      
manifest god4 ,he has life1 a           
perceptible life1 wandering amongst men4
 ,he is the god freed from enchantment1 
the offspring of the ,god who was hidden
 by a spell4 ,he is not the great ,god1 
who was and is and is to come1 but yet  
he may be taken1 in a certain sense1 as 
the revelation of ,him4 ,the ,father    

remains at rest in the unseen2 the ,son 
is born to man out of his own soul4     
,mystical knowledge is thus an actual   
event in the cosmic process4 ,it is the 
birth of the ,divine4 ,it is an event as
 real as any natural event1 only enacted
 upon a higher plane4  ,the great secret
 of the ,mystic is that he himself      
creates his god1 but that he first      
prepares himself to recognise the god   
created by him4 ,the uninitiated man has
 no feeling for the father of that god1 
for that ,father slumbers under a spell4
 ,the ,son appears to be born of a      
virgin1 the soul having seemingly given 
birth to him without impregnation4 ,all 
her other children are conceived by the 
sense-world4 ,their father may be seen  
and touched1 having the life of sense4  
,the ,divine ,son alone is begotten of  
the hidden1 eternal1 ,divine1 ,father   
,himself4   ,,footnotes3  #b ,plutarch's
 ,moral ,works1 ,on the ,inscription    
,,ej at ,delphi1 pp4 #ag-ah4  #c        
,plutarch1 ,on the ,decline of the      

,oracles2 ,cicero ,on the ,nature of the
 ,gods4     ,,iii  ,,the ,,greek ,,sages
 ,,before ,,plato ,,in ,,the ,,light    
,,of ,,the ,,wisdom ,,of ,,the          
,,mysteries   ,numerous facts combine to
 show us that the philosophical wisdom  
of the ,greeks rested on the same mental
 basis as mystical knowledge4 ,we only  
understand the great philosophers when  
we approach them with feelings gained   
through study of the ,mysteries4 ,with  
what veneration does ,plato speak of the
 secret doctrines in the ,phdo4 ,and it 
almost seems1 says he1 as though those  
who have appointed the initiations for  
us are not at all ordinary people1 but  
that for a long time they have been     
enjoining upon us that any one who      
reaches ,hades without being initiated  
and sanctified falls into the mire2 but 
that he who is purified and consecrated 
when he arrives1 dwells with the gods4  
,for those who have to do with          
initiations say that there are many     
thyrsus-bearers1 but few really         

inspired4 ,these latter are1 in my      
opinion1 none other than those who have 
devoted themselves in the right way to  
wisdom4 ,i myself have not missed the   
opportunity of becoming one of these1 as
 far as ,i was able1 but have striven   
after it in every way4  ,it is only a   
man who is putting his own search for   
wisdom entirely at the disposal of the  
condition of soul created by initiation 
who could thus speak of the ,mysteries4 
,and there is no doubt that a flood of  
light is poured on the words of the     
great ,greek philosophers1 when we      
illustrate them from the ,mysteries4    
,the relation of ,heraclitus of ,ephesus
 7#ece-dge ,b4,c47 to the ,mysteries is 
plainly given us in a saying about him1 
to the effect that his thoughts were an 
impassable road1 and that any one1      
entering upon them without being        
initiated1 found only dimness and       
darkness1 but that1 on the other hand1  
they were brighter than the sun for any 
one introduced to them by a ,mystic4    

,and when it is said of his book1 that  
he deposited it in the temple of        
,artemis1 this only means that initiates
 alone could understand him4 7,edmund   
,pfleiderer has already collected the   
historical evidence for the relation of 
,heraclitus to the ,mysteries4 ,cf4 his 
book ,die ,philosophie des ,heraklit von
 ,ephesus im ,lichte der ,mysterienidee4
 ,berlin1 #ahhf47 ,heraclitus was called
 ,the ,obscure1 because it was only     
through the ,mysteries that light could 
be thrown on his intuitive views4       
,heraclitus comes before us as a man who
 took life with the greatest            
earnestness4 ,we see plainly from his   
features1 if we know how to reconstruct 
them1 that he bore within him intimate  
knowledge which he knew that words could
 only indicate1 not express4 ,out of    
such a temper of mind arose his         
celebrated utterance1 ,all things fleet 
away1 which ,plutarch explains thus3 ,we
 do not dip twice into the same wave1   
nor can we touch twice the same mortal  

being4 ,for through abruptness and speed
 it disperses and brings together1 not  
in succession but simultaneously4  ,a   
man who thus thinks has penetrated the  
nature of transitory things1 for he has 
felt compelled to characterise the      
essence of transitoriness itself in the 
clearest terms4 ,such a description as  
this could not be given1 unless the     
transitory were being measured by the   
eternal1 and in particular it could not 
be extended to man without having seen  
his inner nature4 ,heraclitus has       
extended his characterisation to man4   
,life and death1 waking and sleeping1   
youth and age are the same2 this in     
changing is that1 and that again this4  
,in this sentence there is expressed    
full knowledge of the illusionary nature
 of the lower personality4 ,he says     
still more forcibly1 ,life and death are
 found in our living even as in our     
dying4 ,what does this mean but that it 
is only a transient point of view when  
we value life more than death8 ,dying is

 to perish1 in order to make way for new
 life1 but the eternal is living in the 
new life1 as in the old4 ,the same      
eternal appears in transitory life as in
 death4 ,when we grasp this eternal1 we 
look upon life and death with the same  
feeling4 ,life only has a special value 
when we have not been able to awaken the
 eternal within us4 ,the saying1 ,all   
things fleet away1 might be repeated a  
thousand times1 but unless said in this 
feeling1 it is an empty sound4 ,the     
knowledge of eternal growth is valueless
 if it does not detach us from temporal 
growth4 ,it is the turning away from    
that love of life which impels towards  
the transitory1 which ,heraclitus       
indicates in his utterance1 ,how can we 
say about our daily life1 ',we are1'    
when from the standpoint of the eternal 
we know that ',we are and are not8'     
7,cf4 ,fragments of ,heraclitus1 ,no4   
#ha47 ,hades and ,dionysos are one and  
the same1 says one of the ,fragments4   
,dionysos1 the god of joy in life1 of   

germination and growth1 to whom the     
,dionysiac festivals are dedicated is1  
for ,heraclitus1 the same as ,hades1 the
 god of destruction and annihilation4   
,only one who sees death in life and    
life in death1 and in both the eternal1 
high above life and death1 can view the 
merits and demerits of existence in the 
right light4 ,then even imperfections   
become justified1 for in them too lives 
the eternal4 ,what they are from the    
standpoint of the limited lower life1   
they are only in appearance1--,the      
gratification of men's wishes is not    
necessarily a happiness for them4       
,illness makes health sweet and good1   
hunger makes food appreciated1 and toil 
rest4 ,the sea contains the purest and  
impurest water1 drinkable and wholesome 
for fishes1 it is undrinkable and       
injurious to human beings4 ,here        
,heraclitus is not primarily drawing    
attention to the transitoriness of      
earthly things1 but to the splendour and
 majesty of the eternal4  ,heraclitus   

speaks vehemently against ,homer and    
,hesiod1 and the learned men of his day4
 ,he wished to show up their way of     
thinking1 which clings to the transitory
 only4 ,he did not desire gods endowed  
with qualities taken from a perishable  
world1 and he could not regard as a     
supreme science1 that science which     
investigates the growth and decay of    
things4 ,for him1 the eternal speaks out
 of the perishable1 and for this eternal
 he has a profound symbol4 ,the harmony 
of the world returns upon itself1 like  
that of the lyre and the bow4 ,what     
depths are hidden in this image6 ,by the
 pressing asunder of forces1 and again  
by the harmonising of these divergent   
forces1 unity is attained4 ,how one     
sound contradicts another1 and yet1     
together1 they produce harmony4 ,if we  
apply this to the ,spiritual world1 we  
have the thought of ,heraclitus1        
,immortals are mortal1 mortals immortal1
 living the death of mortals1 dying the 
life of the ,immortals4  ,it is man's   

original fault to direct his cognition  
to the transitory4 ,thereby he turns    
away from the eternal1 and life becomes 
a danger to him4 ,what happens to him1  
comes to him through life1 but its      
events lose their sting if he ceases to 
set unconditioned value on life4 ,in    
that case his innocence is restored to  
him4 ,it is as though he were from the  
so-called seriousness of life able to   
return to his childhood4 ,the adult     
takes many things seriously with which a
 child merely plays1 but one who really 
knows1 becomes like a child4 ,serious   
values lose their value1 looked at from 
the standpoint of eternity4 ,life then  
seems like a play4 ,on this account does
 ,heraclitus say1 ,eternity is a child  
at play1 it is the reign of a child4    
,where does the original fault lie8 ,in 
taking with the utmost seriousness what 
does not deserve to be so taken4 ,god   
has poured ,himself into the universe of
 things4 ,if we take these things and   
leave ,god unheeded1 we take them in    

earnest as the tombs of ,god4 ,we should
 play with them like a child1 and should
 earnestly strive to awaken forth from  
them ,god1 who sleeps spellbound within 
them4  ,contemplation of the eternal    
acts like a consuming fire on ordinary  
illusions about the nature of things4   
,the spirit breaks up thoughts which    
come through the senses1 it fuses them4 
,this is the higher meaning of the      
,heraclitean thought1 that fire is the  
primary element of all things4 ,this    
thought is certainly to be taken at     
first as an ordinary physical           
explanation of the phenomena of the     
universe4 ,but no one understands       
,heraclitus who does not think of him in
 the same way as ,philo1 living in the  
early days of ,christianity1 thought of 
the laws of the ,bible4 ,there are      
people1 he says1 who take the written   
laws merely as symbols of spiritual     
teaching1 who diligently search for the 
latter1 but despise the laws themselves4
 ,i can only blame such1 for they should

 pay heed to both1 to knowledge of the  
hidden meaning and to observing the     
obvious one4 ,if the question is        
discussed whether ,heraclitus meant by  
fire physical fire1 or whether fire for 
him was only a symbol of eternal spirit 
which dissolves and reconstitutes all   
things1 this is putting a wrong         
construction upon his thought4 ,he meant
 both and neither of these things4 ,for 
spirit was also alive1 for him1 in      
ordinary fire1 and the force which is   
physically active in fire lives on a    
higher plane in the human soul1 which   
melts in its crucible mere              
sense-knowledge1 so that out of this the
 contemplation of the eternal may arise4
  ,it is very easy to misunderstand     
,heraclitus4 ,he makes ,strife the      
,father of things1 but only of things1  
not of the eternal4 ,if there were no   
contradictions in the world1 if the most
 multifarious interests were not        
opposing each other1 the world of       
becoming1 of transitory things1 would   

not exist4 ,but what is revealed in this
 antagonism1 what is poured forth into  
it1 is not strife but harmony4 ,just    
because there is strife in all things1  
the spirit of the wise should pass over 
them like a breath of fire1 and change  
them into harmony4  ,at this point there
 shines forth one of the great thoughts 
of ,heraclitean wisdom4 ,what is man as 
a personal being8 ,from the above point 
of view ,heraclitus is able to answer4  
,man is composed of the conflicting     
elements into which divinity has poured 
itself4 ,in this state he finds himself1
 and beyond this becomes aware of the   
spirit within him1--the spirit which is 
rooted in the eternal4 ,but the spirit  
itself is born1 for man1 out of the     
conflict of elements1 and it is the     
first which has to calm them4 ,in man1  
,nature surpasses her natural limits4   
,it is indeed the same universal force  
which created antagonism and the mixture
 of elements which is afterwards1 by its
 wisdom1 to do away with the conflict4  

,here we arrive at the eternal dualism  
which lives in man1 the perpetual       
antagonism between the temporal and the 
eternal4 ,through the eternal he has    
become something quite definite1 and out
 of this1 he is to create something     
higher4 ,he is both dependent and       
independent4 ,he can only participate in
 the eternal ,spirit whom he            
contemplates1 in the measure of the     
compound of elements which that eternal 
,spirit has effected within him4 ,and it
 is just on this account that he is     
called upon to fashion the eternal out  
of the temporal4 ,the spirit works      
within him1 but works in a special way4 
,it works out of the temporal4 ,it is   
the peculiarity of the human soul that a
 temporal thing should be able to work  
like an eternal one1 should grow and    
increase in power like an eternal thing4
 ,this is why the soul is at once like a
 god and a worm4 ,man1 owing to this1   
stands in a mid-position between ,god   
and animals4 ,the growing and increasing

 force within him is his daimonic       
element1--that within him which pushes  
out beyond himself4  ,man's daimon is   
his destiny4 ,thus strikingly does      
,heraclitus make reference to this fact4
 ,he extends man's vital essence far    
beyond the personal4 ,the personality is
 the vehicle of the daimon1 which is not
 confined within the limit of the       
personality1 and for which the birth and
 death of the personality are of no     
importance4 ,what is the relation of the
 daimonic element to the personality    
which comes and goes8 ,the personality  
is only a form for the manifestation of 
the daimon4  ,one who has arrived at    
this knowledge looks beyond himself1    
backwards and forwards4 ,the daimonic   
experiences through which he has passed 
are enough to prove to him his own      
immortality4 ,and he can no longer limit
 his daimon to the one function of      
occupying his personality1 for the      
latter can only be one of the forms in  
which the daimon is manifested4 ,the    

daimon cannot be shut up within one     
personality1 he has power to animate    
many4 ,he is able to transform himself  
from one personality into another4 ,the 
great thought of reincarnation springs  
as a matter of course from the          
,heraclitean premises1 and not only the 
thought but the experience of the fact4 
,the thought only paves the way for the 
experience4 ,one who becomes conscious  
of the daimonic element within him does 
not recognise it as innocent and in its 
first stage4 ,he finds that it has      
qualities4 ,whence do they come8 ,why   
have ,i certain natural aptitudes8      
,because others have already worked upon
 my daimon4 ,and what becomes of the    
work which ,i accomplish in the daimon  
if ,i am not to assume that its task    
ends with my personality8 ,i am working 
for a future personality4 ,between me   
and the ,spirit of the ,universe1       
something interposes which reaches      
beyond me1 but is not yet the same as   
divinity4 ,this something is my daimon4 

,my to-day is only the product of       
yesterday1 my to-morrow will be the     
product of to-day2 in the same way my   
life is the result of a former and will 
be the foundation of a future one4 ,just
 as mortal man looks back to innumerable
 yesterdays and forward to many         
to-morrows1 so does the soul of the sage
 look upon many lives in his past and   
many in the future4 ,the thoughts and   
aptitudes ,i acquired yesterday ,i am   
using to-day4 ,is it not the same with  
life8 ,do not people enter upon the     
horizon of existence with the most      
diverse capacities8 ,whence this        
difference8 ,does it proceed from       
nothing8  ,our natural sciences take    
much credit to themselves for having    
banished miracle from our views of      
organic life4 ,david ,frederick         
,strauss1 in his ,alter und ,neuer      
,glaube1 considers it a great           
achievement of our day that we no longer
 think that a perfect organic being is a
 miracle issuing from nothing4 ,we      

understand its perfection when we are   
able to explain it as a development from
 imperfection4 ,the structure of an ape 
is no longer a miracle if we assume its 
ancestors to have been primitive fishes 
which have been gradually transformed4  
,let us at least submit to accept as    
reasonable in the domain of spirit what 
seems to us to be right in the domain of
 nature4 ,is the perfect spirit to have 
the same antecedents as the imperfect   
one8 ,does a ,goethe have the same      
antecedents as any ,hottentot8 ,the     
antecedents of an ape are as unlike     
those of a fish as are the antecedents  
of ,goethe's mind unlike those of a     
savage4 ,the spiritual ancestry of      
,goethe's soul is a different one from  
that of the savage soul4 ,the soul has  
grown as well as the body4 ,the daimon  
in ,goethe has more progenitors than the
 one in a savage4 ,let us take the      
doctrine of reincarnation in this sense1
 and we shall no longer find it         
unscientific4 ,we shall be able to      

explain in the right way what we find in
 our souls1 and we shall not take what  
we find as if created by a miracle4 ,if 
,i can write1 it is owing to the fact   
that ,i learned to write4 ,no one who   
has a pen in his hand for the first time
 can sit down and write offhand4 ,but   
one who has come into the world with the
 stamp of genius1 must he owe it to a   
miracle8 ,no1 even the stamp of genius  
must be acquired4 ,it must have been    
learned4 ,and when it appears in a      
person1 we call it a daimon4 ,this      
daimon too must have been to school2 it 
acquired in a former life what it puts  
into force in a later one4  ,in this    
form1 and this form only1 did the       
thought of eternity pass before the mind
 of ,heraclitus and other ,greek sages4 
,there was no question with them of a   
continuance of the immediate personality
 after death4 ,compare some verses of   
,empedocles 7,b4,c4 #dij-dcj74 ,he says 
of those who accept the data of         
experience as miracles3      ,foolish   

and ignorant they1 and do not reach     
far with their thinking1     ,who       
suppose that what has not existed can   
come into being1     ,or that something 
may die away wholly and       vanish    
completely2     ,impossible is it that  
any beginning can come       from       
,not-,being1     ,quite impossible also 
that being can fade into       nothing2 
,for wherever a being is driven1 there  
will it       continue to be4     ,never
 will any believe1 who has been in these
       matters instructed1     ,that    
spirits of men only live while what is  
called life here endures1     ,that only
 so long do they live1 receiving their  
joys and their sorrows1     ,but that   
ere they were born here and when they   
are dead1 they are nothing4  ,the ,greek
 sage did not even raise the question   
whether there was an eternal part in    
man1 but only enquired in what this     
eternal element consisted and how man   
can nourish and cherish it in himself4  
,for from the outset it was clear to him

 that man is an intermediate creation   
between the earthly and the divine4 ,it 
was not a question of a divine being    
outside and beyond the world4 ,the      
divine lives in man but lives in him    
only in a human way4 ,it is the force   
urging man to make himself ever more and
 more divine4 ,only one who thinks thus 
can say with ,empedocles3      ,when    
leaving thy body behind thee1 thou      
soarest into the ether1     ,then thou  
becomest a god1 immortal1 not           
subject to death4  ,what may be done for
 a human life from this point of view8  
,it may be introduced into the magic    
circle of the eternal4 ,for in man there
 must be forces which merely natural    
life does not develop4 ,and the life    
might pass away unused if the forces    
remained idle4 ,to open them up1 thereby
 to make man like the divine1--this was 
the task of the ,mysteries4 ,and this   
was also the mission which the ,greek   
sages set before themselves4 ,in this   
way we can understand ,plato's          

utterance1 that he who passes           
unsanctified and uninitiated into the   
world below will lie in a slough1 but   
that he who arrives there after         
initiation and purification will dwell  
with the gods4 ,we have to do here with 
a conception of immortality1 the        
significance of which lies bound up     
within the universe4 ,everything which  
man undertakes in order to awaken the   
eternal within him1 he does in order to 
raise the value of the world's          
existence4 ,the fresh knowledge he gains
 does not make him an idle spectator of 
the universe1 forming images for himself
 of what would be there just as much if 
he did not exist4 ,the force of his     
knowledge is a higher one1 it is one of 
the creative forces of nature4 ,what    
flashes up within him spiritually is    
something divine which was previously   
under a spell1 and which1 failing the   
knowledge he has gained1 must have lain 
fallow and waited for some other        
exorcist4 ,thus a human personality does

 not live in and for itself1 but for the
 world4 ,life extends far beyond        
individual existence when looked at in  
this way4 ,from within such a point of  
view we can understand utterances like  
that of ,pindar giving a vista of the   
eternal3 ,happy is he who has seen the  
,mysteries and then descends under the  
hollow earth4 ,he knows the end of life1
 and he knows the beginning promised by 
,zeus4  ,we understand the proud traits 
and solitary nature of sages such as    
,heraclitus4 ,they were able to say     
proudly of themselves that much had been
 revealed to them1 for they did not     
attribute their knowledge to their      
transitory personality1 but to the      
eternal daimon within them4 ,their pride
 had as a necessary adjunct the stamp of
 humility and modesty1 expressed in the 
words1 ,all knowledge of perishable     
things is in perpetual flux like the    
things themselves4 ,heraclitus calls the
 eternal universe a play1 he could also 
call it the most serious of realities4  

,but the word earnest has lost its force
 through being applied to earthly       
experiences4 ,on the other hand1 the    
realisation of the play of the eternal  
leaves man that security in life of     
which he is deprived by that earnest    
which has come out of transitory things4
  ,a different conception of the        
universe from that of ,heraclitus grew  
up1 on the basis of the ,mysteries1 in  
the community founded by ,pythagoras in 
the #fth century ,b4,c4 in ,southern    
,italy4 ,the ,pythagoreans saw the basis
 of things in the numbers and           
geometrical figures of which they       
investigated the laws by means of       
mathematics4 ,aristotle says of them3   
,they first studied mathematics1 and1   
quite engrossed in them1 they considered
 the elements of mathematics to be the  
elements of all things4 ,now as numbers 
are naturally the first thing in        
mathematics1 and they thought they saw  
many resemblances in numbers to things  
and to development1 and certainly more  

in numbers than in fire1 earth1 and     
water1 in this way one quality of       
numbers came to mean for them justice1  
another1 the soul and spirit1 another1  
time1 and so on with all the rest4      
,moreover they found in numbers the     
qualities and connections of harmony2   
and thus everything else1 in accordance 
with its whole nature1 seemed to be an  
image of numbers1 and numbers seemed to 
be the first thing in nature4  ,the     
mathematical and scientific study of    
natural phenomena must always lead to a 
certain ,pythagorean habit of thought4  
,when a string of a certain length is   
struck1 a particular sound is produced4 
,if the string is shortened in certain  
numeric proportions1 other sounds will  
be produced4 ,the pitch of the sounds   
may be expressed in figures4 ,physics   
also expresses colour-relations in      
figures4 ,when two bodies combine into  
one substance1 it always happens that a 
certain definite quantity of the one    
body1 expressible in numbers1 combines  

with a certain definite quantity of the 
other4 ,the ,pythagoreans' sense of     
observation was directed to such        
arrangements of measures and numbers in 
nature4 ,geometrical figures also play a
 similar rle4 ,astronomy1 for instance1 
is mathematics applied to the heavenly  
bodies4 ,one fact became important to   
the thought-life of the ,pythagoreans4  
,this was that man1 quite alone and     
purely through his mental activity1     
discovers the laws of numbers and       
figures1 and yet1 that when he looks    
abroad into nature1 he finds that things
 are obeying the same laws which he has 
ascertained for himself in his own mind4
 ,man forms the idea of an ellipse1 and 
ascertains the laws of ellipses4 ,and   
the heavenly bodies move according to   
the laws which he has established4 7,it 
is not1 of course1 a question here of   
the astronomical views of the           
,pythagoreans4 ,what may be said about  
these may equally be said of ,copernican
 views in the connection now being dealt

 with47 ,hence it follows as a direct   
consequence that the achievements of the
 human soul are not an activity apart   
from the rest of the world1 but that in 
those achievements the cosmic laws are  
expressed4 ,the ,pythagoreans said3 ,the
 senses show man physical phenomena1 but
 they do not show the harmonious order  
which these things follow4 ,the human   
mind must first find that harmonious    
order within itself1 if it wishes to    
behold it in the outer world4 ,the      
deeper meaning of the world1 that which 
bears sway within it as an eternal1     
law-obeying necessity1 this makes its   
appearance in the human soul and becomes
 a present reality there4 ,,the         
,,meaning ,,of ,,the ,,universe ,,is    
,,revealed in the soul4 ,this meaning is
 not to be found in what we see1 hear1  
and touch1 but in what the soul brings  
up to the light from its own unseen     
depths4 ,the eternal laws are thus      
hidden in the depths of the soul4 ,if we
 descend there1 we shall find the       

,eternal4 ,god1 the eternal harmony of  
the world1 is in the human soul4 ,the   
soul-element is not limited to the      
bodily substance which is enclosed      
within the skin1 for what is born in the
 soul is nothing less than the laws by  
which worlds revolve in celestial space4
 ,the soul is not in the personality4   
,the personality only serves as the     
organ through which the order which     
pervades cosmic space may express       
itself4 ,there is something of the      
spirit of ,pythagoras in what one of the
 ,fathers1 ,gregory of ,nyssa1 said3 ,it
 is said that human nature is something 
small and limited1 and that ,god is     
infinite1 and it is asked how the finite
 can embrace the infinite4 ,but who     
dares to say that the infinity of the   
,godhead is limited by the boundary of  
the flesh1 as though by a vessel8 ,for  
not even during our lifetime is the     
spiritual nature confined within the    
boundaries of the flesh4 ,the mass of   
the body1 it is true1 is limited by     

neighbouring parts1 but the soul reaches
 out freely into the whole of creation  
by the movements of thought4  ,the soul 
is not the personality1 the soul belongs
 to infinity4 ,from such a point of view
 the ,pythagoreans must have considered 
that only fools could imagine the       
soul-force to be exhausted with the     
personality4  ,for them1 too1 as for    
,heraclitus1 the essential point was the
 awakening of the eternal in the        
personal4 ,knowledge for them meant     
intercourse with the eternal4 ,the more 
man brought the eternal element within  
him into existence1 the greater must he 
necessarily seem to the ,pythagoreans4  
,life in their community consisted in   
holding intercourse with the eternal4   
,the object of the ,pythagorean         
education was to lead the members of the
 community to that intercourse4 ,the    
education was therefore a philosophical 
initiation1 and the ,pythagoreans might 
well say that by their manner of life   
they were aiming at a goal similar to   

that of the cults of the ,mysteries4    
,,iv  ,,plato ,,as ,a ,,mystic   ,the   
importance of the ,mysteries to the     
spiritual life of the ,greeks may be    
realised from ,plato's conception of the
 universe4 ,there is only one way of    
understanding him thoroughly4 ,it is to 
place him in the light which streams    
forth from the ,mysteries4  ,plato's    
later disciples1 the ,neo-,platonists1  
credit him with a secret doctrine which 
he imparted only to those who were      
worthy1 and which he conveyed under the 
seal of secrecy4 ,his teaching was      
looked upon as mysterious in the same   
sense as the wisdom of the ,mysteries4  
,even if the seventh ,platonic letter is
 not from his hand1 as is alleged1 it   
does not signify for our present        
purpose1 for it does not matter whether 
it was he or another who gave utterance 
to the view expressed in this letter4   
,this view is of the essence of ,plato's
 philosophy4 ,in the letter we read as  
follows3 ,this much ,i may say about all

 those who have written or may hereafter
 write as if they knew the aim of my    
work1--that no credence is to be        
attached to their words1 whether they   
obtained their information from me1 or  
from others1 or invented it themselves4 
,i have written nothing on this subject1
 nor would anything be allowed to       
appear4 ,this kind of thing cannot be   
expressed in words like other teaching1 
but needs a long study of the subject   
and a making oneself one with it4 ,then 
it is as though a spark leaped up and   
kindled a light in the soul which       
thereafter is able to keep itself       
alight4 ,this utterance might only      
indicate the writer's powerlessness to  
express his meaning in words1--a mere   
personal weakness1--if the idea of the  
,mysteries were not to be found in them4
 ,the subject on which ,plato had not   
written and would never write1 must be  
something about which all writing would 
be futile4 ,it must be a feeling1 a     
sentiment1 an experience1 which is not  

gained by instantaneous communication1  
but by making oneself one with it1 in   
heart and soul4 ,the reference is to the
 inner education which ,plato was able  
to give those he selected4 ,for them1   
fire flashed forth from his words1 for  
others1 only thoughts4  ,the manner of  
our approach to ,plato's ,dialogues is  
not a matter of indifference4 ,they will
 mean more or less to us1 according to  
our spiritual condition4 ,much more     
passed from ,plato to his disciples than
 the literal meaning of his words4 ,the 
place where he taught his listeners     
thrilled in the atmosphere of the       
,mysteries4 ,his words awoke overtones  
in higher regions1 which vibrated with  
them1 but these overtones needed the    
atmosphere of the ,mysteries1 or they   
died away without having been heard4    
,in the centre of the world of the      
,platonic ,dialogues stands the         
personality of ,socrates4 ,we need not  
here touch upon the historical aspect of
 that personality4 ,it is a question of 

the character of ,socrates as it appears
 in ,plato4 ,socrates is a person       
consecrated by his dying for truth4 ,he 
died as only an initiate can die1 as one
 to whom death is merely a moment of    
life like other moments4 ,he approaches 
death as he would any other event in    
existence4 ,his attitude towards it was 
such that even in his friends the       
feelings usual on such an occasion were 
not aroused4 ,phdo says this in the     
,dialogue on the ,immortality of the    
,soul3 ,truly ,i found myself in the    
strangest state of mind4 ,i had no      
compassion for him1 as is usual at the  
death of a dear friend4 ,so happy did   
the man appear to me in his demeanour   
and speech1 so steadfast and noble was  
his end1 that ,i was confident that he  
was not going to ,hades without a divine
 mission1 and that even there it would  
be as well with him as it is with any   
one anywhere4 ,no tender-hearted emotion
 overcame me1 as might have been        
expected at such a mournful event1 nor  

on the other hand was ,i in a cheerful  
mood1 as is usual during philosophical  
pursuits1 and although our conversation 
was of this nature2 but ,i found myself 
in a wondrous state of mind and in an   
unwonted blending of joy and grief when 
,i reflected that this man was about to 
die4 ,the dying ,socrates instructs his 
disciples about immortality4 ,his       
personality1 which had learned by       
experience the worthlessness of life1   
furnishes a kind of proof quite         
different from logic and arguments      
founded on reason4 ,it seems as if it   
were not a man speaking1 for this man   
was passing away1 but as if it were the 
voice of eternal truth itself1 which had
 taken up its abode in a perishable     
personality4 ,where a mortal being is   
dissolving into nothing1 there seems to 
be a breath of the air in which it is   
possible for eternal harmonies to       
resound4  ,we hear no logical proofs of 
immortality4 ,the whole discourse is    
designed to lead the friends where they 

may behold the eternal4 ,then they will 
need no proofs4 ,would it be necessary  
to prove that a rose is red1 to one who 
has one before him8 ,why should it be   
necessary to prove that spirit is       
eternal1 to one whose eyes we have      
opened to behold spirit8 ,experiences1  
inner events1 ,socrates points to them1 
and first of all to the experience of   
wisdom itself4  ,what does he desire who
 aspires after wisdom8 ,he wishes to    
free himself from what the senses offer 
him in every-day perception4 ,he seeks  
for the spirit in the sense-world4 ,is  
not this a fact which may be compared   
with dying8 ,for1 according to          
,socrates1 those who occupy themselves  
with philosophy in the right way are    
really striving after nothing else than 
to die and to be dead1 without this     
being perceived by others4 ,if this is  
true1 it would be strange if1 after     
having aimed at this all through life1  
when death itself comes they should be  
indignant at that which they have so    

long striven after and taken pains      
about4 ,to corroborate this1 ,socrates  
asks one of his friends3 ,does it seem  
to you befitting a philosopher to take  
trouble about so-called fleshly         
pleasures1 such as eating and drinking8 
or about sexual pleasures8 ,and do you  
think that such a man pays much heed to 
other bodily needs8 ,to have fine       
clothes1 shoes1 and other bodily        
adornments1--do you think he considers  
or scorns this more than utmost         
necessity demands8 ,does it not seem to 
you that it should be such a man's whole
 preoccupation not to turn his thoughts 
to the body1 but as much as possible    
away from it and towards the soul8      
,therefore this is the first mark of the
 philosopher1 that he1 more than all    
other men1 relieves his soul of         
association with the body4  ,on this    
subject ,socrates has something more to 
say1 i4e41 that aspiration after wisdom 
has this much in common with dying1 that
 it turns man away from the physical4   

,but whither does he turn8 ,towards the 
spiritual4 ,but can he desire the same  
from spirit as from the senses8         
,socrates thus expresses himself on this
 point3 ,but how is it with reasonable  
knowledge itself8 ,is the body a        
hindrance or not1 if we take it as a    
companion in our search for knowledge8  
,i mean1 do sight and hearing procure   
man any truth8 ,or is what the poets    
sing meaningless1 that we see and hear  
nothing clearly8444 ,when does the soul 
catch sight of truth8 ,for when it tries
 to examine something with the help of  
the body1 it is manifestly deceived by  
the latter4  ,everything of which we are
 cognisant by means of our bodily senses
 appears and disappears4 ,and it is this
 appearing and disappearing which is the
 cause of our being deceived4 ,but when 
with our reasonable intelligence we look
 deeper into things1 the eternal element
 in them is revealed to us4 ,thus the   
senses do not offer us the eternal in   
its true form4 ,the moment we trust them

 implicitly they deceive us4 ,they cease
 to deceive us if we confront them with 
our thinking insight and submit what    
they tell us to its examination4  ,but  
how could our thinking insight sit in   
judgment on the declarations of the     
senses1 unless there were something     
living within it which transcends       
sense-perception8 ,therefore the truth  
or falsity in things is decided by      
something within us which opposes the   
physical body and is consequently not   
subject to its laws4 ,first of all1 it  
cannot be subject to the laws of growth 
and decay4 ,for this something contains 
truth within it4 ,now truth cannot have 
a yesterday and a to-day1 it cannot be  
one thing one day and another the next1 
like objects of sense4 ,therefore truth 
must be something eternal4 ,and when the
 philosopher turns away from the        
perishable things of sense and towards  
truth1 he is turning towards an eternal 
element that lives within him4 ,if we   
immerse ourselves wholly in spirit1 we  

shall live wholly in truth4 ,the things 
of sense around us are no longer present
 merely in their physical form4 ,and he 
accomplishes this most perfectly1 says  
,socrates1 who approaches everything as 
much as possible with the spirit only1  
without either looking round when he is 
thinking1 or letting any other sense    
interrupt his reflecting2 but who1      
making use of pure thought only1 strives
 to grasp everything as it is in itself1
 separating it as much as possible from 
eyes and ears1 in short from the whole  
body1 which only disturbs the soul and  
does not allow it to attain truth and   
insight when associated with the        
soul4444 ,now is not death the release  
and separation of the soul from the     
body8 ,and it is only true philosophers 
who are always striving to release the  
soul as far as they can4 ,this1         
therefore1 is the philosopher's         
vocation1 to deliver and separate the   
soul from the body4444 ,therefore it    
would be foolish if a man1 who all his  

life has taken measures to be as near   
death as possible1 should1 when it      
comes1 rebel against it4444 ,in truth   
the real seekers after wisdom aspire to 
die1 and of all men they are those who  
least fear death4 ,moreover ,socrates   
bases all higher morality on liberation 
from the body4 ,he who only follows what
 his body ordains is not moral4 ,who is 
valiant8 asks ,socrates4 ,he is valiant 
who does not obey his body but the      
demands of his spirit when these demands
 imperil the body4 ,and who is          
temperate8 ,is not this he who does not 
let himself be carried away by desires1 
but who maintains an indifferent and    
moral demeanour with regard to them4    
,therefore are not those alone temperate
 who set least value on the body and    
live in the love of wisdom8 ,and so it  
is1 in the opinion of ,socrates1 with   
all virtues4  ,thence ,socrates goes on 
to characterise intellectual cognition4 
,what is it after all1 to cognise8      
,undoubtedly we arrive at it by forming 

judgments4 ,i form a judgment about some
 object2 for instance1 ,i say to myself1
 what is in front of me is a tree4 ,how 
do ,i arrive at saying that8 ,i can only
 do it if ,i already know what a tree   
is4 ,i must remember my conception of a 
tree4 ,a tree is a physical object4 ,if 
,i remember a tree1 ,i therefore        
remember a physical object4 ,i say of   
something that it is a tree1 if it      
resembles other things which ,i have    
previously observed and which ,i know to
 be trees4 ,memory is the medium for    
this knowledge4 ,it makes it possible   
for me to compare the various objects of
 sense4 ,but this does not exhaust my   
knowledge4 ,if ,i see two similar       
things1 ,i form a judgment and say1     
these things are alike4 ,now1 in        
reality1 two things are never exactly   
alike4 ,i can only find a likeness in   
certain respects4 ,the idea of a perfect
 similarity therefore arises within me  
without having its correspondence in    
reality4 ,and this idea helps me to form

 a judgment1 as memory helps me to a    
judgment and to knowledge4 ,just as one 
tree reminds me of others1 so am ,i     
reminded of the idea of similarity by   
looking at two things from a certain    
point of view4 ,thoughts and memories   
therefore arise within me which are not 
due to physical reality4  ,all kinds of 
knowledge not borrowed from             
sense-reality are grounded on such      
thoughts4 ,the whole of mathematics     
consists of them4 ,he would be a bad    
geometrician who could only bring into  
mathematical relations what he can see  
with his eyes and touch with his hands4 
,thus we have thoughts which do not     
originate in perishable nature1 but     
arise out of the spirit4 ,and it is     
these that bear in them the mark of     
eternal truth4 ,what mathematics teach  
will be eternally true1 even if         
to-morrow the whole cosmic system should
 fall into ruins and an entirely new one
 arise4 ,conditions might prevail in    
another cosmic system1 to which our     

present mathematical truths would not be
 applicable1 but these would be none the
 less true in themselves4  ,it is only  
when the soul is alone with itself that 
it can bring forth these eternal truths4
 ,it is at these times related to the   
true and eternal1 and not to the        
ephemeral and apparent4 ,hence ,socrates
 says3 ,when the soul returning into    
itself reflects1 it goes straight to    
what is pure and everlasting and        
immortal and like unto itself2 and being
 related to this1 cleaves unto it when  
the soul is alone1 and is not hindered4 
,and then the soul rests from its       
mistakes1 and is like unto itself1 even 
as the eternal is1 with whom the soul is
 now in touch4 ,this state of soul is   
called wisdom4444 ,look now whether it  
does not follow from all that has been  
said1 that the soul is most like the    
divine1 immortal1 reasonable1 unique1   
indissoluble1 what is always the same   
and like unto itself2 and that on the   
other hand the body most resembles what 

is human and mortal1 unreasonable1      
multiform1 soluble1 never the same nor  
remaining equal to itself4444 ,if1      
therefore1 this be so1 the soul goes to 
what is like itself1 to the immaterial1 
to the divine1 immortal1 reasonable4    
,there it attains to bliss1 freed from  
error and ignorance1 from fear and      
undisciplined love and all other human  
evils4 ,there it lives1 as the initiates
 say1 for the remaining time truly with 
,god4  ,it is not within the scope of   
this book to indicate all the ways in   
which ,socrates leads his friends to the
 eternal4 ,they all breathe the same    
spirit4 ,they all tend to show that man 
finds one thing when he goes the way of 
transitory sense-perception1 and another
 when his spirit is alone with itself4  
,it is to this original nature of spirit
 that ,socrates points his hearers4 ,if 
they find it1 they see with their own   
spiritual eyes that it is eternal4 ,the 
dying ,socrates does not prove the      
immortality of the soul1 he simply lays 

bare the nature of the soul4 ,and then  
it comes to light that growth and decay1
 birth and death1 have nothing to do    
with the soul4 ,the essence of the soul 
lies in the true1 and this can neither  
come into being nor perish4 ,the soul   
has no more to do with the becoming than
 the straight has with the crooked4 ,but
 death belongs to the becoming4         
,therefore the soul has nothing to do   
with death4 ,must we not say of what is 
immortal1 that it admits of mortality as
 little as does the straight of the     
crooked8 ,starting from this point1 must
 we not ask1 adds ,socrates1 that if the
 immortal is imperishable1 is it not    
impossible for the soul to come to an   
end when death arrives8 ,for from what  
has been already shown1 it does not     
admit of death1 nor can it die any more 
than three can be an even number4  ,let 
us review the whole development of this 
dialogue1 in which ,socrates brings his 
hearers to behold the eternal in human  
personality4 ,the hearers accept his    

thoughts1 and they look into themselves 
to see if they can find in their inner  
experiences something which assents to  
his ideas4 ,they make the objections    
which strike them4 ,what has happened to
 the hearers when the dialogue is       
finished8 ,they have found something    
within them which they did not possess  
before4 ,they have not merely accepted  
an abstract truth1 but they have gone   
through a development4 ,something has   
come to life in them which was not      
living in them before4 ,is not this to  
be compared with an initiation8 ,and    
does not this throw light on the reason 
for ,plato's setting forth his          
philosophy in the form of conversation8 
,these dialogues are nothing else than  
the literary form of the events which   
took place in the sanctuaries of the    
,mysteries4 ,we are convinced of this   
from what ,plato himself says in many   
passages4 ,plato wished to be1 as a     
philosophical teacher1 what the         
initiator into the ,mysteries was1 as   

far as this was compatible with the     
philosophical manner of communication4  
,it is evident how ,plato feels himself 
in harmony with the ,mysteries6 ,he only
 thinks he is on the right path when it 
is taking him where the ,mystic is to be
 led4 ,he thus expresses himself on the 
subject in the ,timus4 ,all those who   
are of right mind invoke the gods for   
their small or great enterprises2 but we
 who are engaged in teaching about the  
universe1--how far it is created and    
uncreated1--have the special duty1 if we
 have not quite lost our way1 to call   
upon and implore the gods and goddesses 
that we may teach everything first in   
conformity with their spirit1 and next  
in harmony with ourselves4 ,and ,plato  
promises those who follow this path1    
that divinity1 as a deliverer1 will     
grant them illuminating teaching as the 
conclusion of their devious and         
wandering researches4         99        
99       99       99       99  ,it is   
especially the ,timus that reveals to us

 how the ,platonic cosmogony is         
connected with the ,mysteries4 ,at the  
very beginning of this dialogue there is
 mention of an initiation4 ,solon is    
initiated by an ,egyptian priest into   
the formation of the worlds1 and the way
 in which eternal truths are            
symbolically expressed in traditional   
myths4 ,there have already been many and
 various destructions of part of the    
human race1 says the ,egyptian priest to
 ,solon1 and there will be more in the  
future2 the most extensive by fire and  
water1 other lesser ones through        
countless other causes4 ,it is also     
related in your country that ,phathon1  
the son of ,helios1 once mounted his    
father's chariot1 and as he did not know
 how to drive it1 everything on the     
earth was burnt up1 and he himself slain
 by lightning4 ,this sounds like a      
fable1 but it contains the truth of the 
change in the movements of the celestial
 bodies revolving round the earth and of
 the annihilation of everything on the  

earth by much fire4 ,this annihilation  
happens periodically1 after the lapse of
 certain long periods of time4 ,this    
passage in the ,timus contains a plain  
indication of the attitude of the       
initiate towards folk-myths4 ,he        
recognises the truths hidden in their   
images4  ,the drama of the formation of 
the world is brought before us in the   
,timus4 ,any one who will follow up the 
traces which lead to this formation of  
the cosmos arrives at a dim apprehension
 of the primordial force from which all 
things proceeded4 ,now it is difficult  
to find the ,creator and ,father of the 
universe1 and when we have found ,him1  
it is impossible to speak about ,him so 
that all may understand4 ,the ,mystic   
knew what this impossibility means4 ,it 
points to the divine drama4 ,god is not 
present in what belongs merely to the   
senses and understanding4 ,in those ,he 
is only present as nature4 ,he is under 
a spell in nature4 ,only one who awakens
 the divine within himself is able to   

approach ,him4 ,thus ,he cannot at once 
be made comprehensible to all4 ,but even
 to one who approaches ,him1 ,he does   
not appear ,himself4 ,the ,timus says   
that also4 ,the ,father made the        
universe out of the body and soul of the
 world4 ,he mixed together1 in harmony  
and perfect proportions1 the elements   
which came into being when ,he1 pouring 
,himself out1 gave up ,his separate     
existence4 ,thereby the body of the     
world came into being1 and stretched    
upon it1 in the form of a cross1 is the 
soul of the world4 ,it is what is divine
 in the world4 ,it found the death of   
the cross so that the world might come  
into existence4 ,plato may therefore    
call nature the tomb of the divine1 a   
grave1 however1 in which nothing dead   
lies but the eternal1 to which death    
only gives the opportunity of bringing  
into expression the omnipotence of life4
 ,and man sees nature in the right light
 when he approaches it in order to      
release the crucified soul of the world4

 ,it must rise again from its death1    
from its spell4 ,where can it come to   
life again8 ,only in the soul of        
initiated man4 ,then wisdom finds its   
right relation to the cosmos4 ,the      
resurrection1 the liberation of ,god1   
that is wisdom4 ,in the ,timus the      
development of the world is traced from 
the imperfect to the perfect4 ,an       
ascending process is represented        
imaginatively4 ,beings are developed4   
,god reveals ,himself in their          
development4 ,evolution is the          
resurrection of ,god from the tomb4     
,within evolution1 man appears4 ,plato  
shows that in man there is something    
special4 ,it is true the whole world is 
divine1 and man is not more divine than 
other beings4 ,but in other beings ,god 
is present in a hidden way1 in man he is
 manifest4 ,at the end of the ,timus we 
read3 ,and now we might assert that our 
study of the universe has attained its  
end1 for after the world was provided   
and filled with mortal and immortal     

living beings1 it1 this one and only    
begotten world1 has itself become a     
visible being embracing everything      
visible1 and an image of the ,creator4  
,it has become the ,god perceptible to  
the senses1 and the greatest and best   
world1 the fairest and most perfect     
which there could be4 ,but this one and 
only begotten world would not be perfect
 if the image of its ,creator were not  
to be found amongst the images it       
contains4 ,this image can only be       
engendered in the human soul4 ,not the  
,father ,himself1 but the ,son1 ,god's  
offspring1 living in the soul1 and being
 like unto the ,father1 him man can     
bring forth4  ,philo1 of whom it was    
said that he was the resurrected ,plato1
 characterised as the ,son of ,god the  
wisdom born out of man1 which lives in  
the soul and contains the reason        
existing in the world4 ,this cosmic     
reason1 or ,logos1 appears as the book  
in which everything in the world is     
recorded and delineated4 ,it also       

appears as the ,son of ,god1 following  
in the paths of the ,father1 and        
creating forms1 looking at their        
archetypes4 ,the platonising ,philo     
addresses this ,logos as ,christ1 ,as   
,god is the first and only king of the  
universe1 the way to ,him is rightly    
called the ',royal ,road4' ,consider    
this road to be philosophy 444 the road 
which the company of the ancient        
ascetics took1 who turned away from the 
entangling fascination of pleasure and  
devoted themselves to the noble and     
earnest cultivation of the beautiful4   
,the law names this ,royal ,road1 which 
we call true philosophy1 ,god's word and
 spirit4  ,it is like an initiation to  
,philo when he enters upon this path1 in
 order to meet the ,logos who1 to him1  
is the ,son of ,god4 ,i do not shrink   
from relating what has happened to me   
innumerable times4 ,often when ,i wished
 to put my philosophical thoughts in    
writing1 in my accustomed way1 and saw  
quite clearly what was to be set down1  

,i nevertheless found my mind barren and
 rigid1 so that ,i was obliged to desist
 without having accomplished anything1  
and seemed to be hampered with idle     
fancies4 ,at the same time ,i could not 
but marvel at the power of the reality  
of thought1 with which it rests to open 
and to close the womb of the human soul4
 ,another time1 however1 ,i would begin 
empty and arrive1 without any trouble1  
at fulness4 ,thoughts came flying like  
snowflakes or grains of corn invisibly  
from above1 and it was as though divine 
power took hold of me and inspired me1  
so that ,i did not know where ,i was1   
who was with me1 who ,i was1 or what ,i 
was saying or writing2 for just then the
 flow of ideas was given me1 a          
delightful clearness1 keen insight1 and 
lucid mastery of material1 as if the    
inner eye were able to see everything   
with the greatest distinctness4  ,this  
is a description of a path to knowledge 
so expressed that we see that any one   
taking this path is conscious of flowing

 in one current with the divine1 when   
the ,logos becomes alive within him4    
,this is also expressed clearly in the  
words3 ,when the spirit1 moved by love1 
takes its flight into the most holy1    
soaring joyously on divine wings1 it    
forgets everything else and itself4 ,it 
only clings to and is filled with that  
of which it is the satellite and        
servant1 and to this it offers the      
incense of the most sacred and chaste   
virtue4  ,there are only two ways for   
,philo4 ,either man follows the world of
 sense1 that is1 what observation and   
intellect offer1 in which case he limits
 himself to his personality and         
withdraws from the cosmos2 or he becomes
 conscious of the universal cosmic      
force1 and experiences the eternal      
within his personality4 ,he who wishes  
to escape from ,god falls into his own  
hands4 ,for there are two things to be  
considered1 the universal ,spirit which 
is ,god1 and one's own spirit4 ,the     
latter flees to and takes refuge in the 

universal ,spirit1 for one who goes     
beyond his own spirit says that it is   
nothing and connects everything with    
,god2 but one who avoids ,god1 abolishes
 the ,first ,cause1 and makes himself   
the cause of everything which happens4  
,the ,platonic view of the universe sets
 out to be knowledge which by its very  
nature is also religion4 ,it brings     
knowledge into relation with the highest
 to which man can attain through his    
feelings4 ,plato will only allow        
knowledge to hold good when feeling may 
be completely satisfied in it4 ,it is   
then more than science1 it is the       
substance of life4 ,it is a higher man  
within man1 that man of which the       
personality is only an image4 ,within   
man is born a being who surpasses him1 a
 primordial1 archetypal man1 and this is
 another secret of the ,mysteries       
brought to expression in the ,platonic  
philosophy4 ,hippolytus1 one of the     
,early ,fathers1 alludes to this secret4
 ,this is the great secret of the       

,samothracians 7who were guardians of a 
certain ,mystery-cult71 which cannot be 
expressed and which only the initiates  
know4 ,but these latter speak in detail 
of ,adam1 as the primordial1 archetypal 
man4  ,the ,platonic ,dialogue on ,love1
 or the ,symposium1 also represents an  
initiation4 ,here love appears as the   
herald of wisdom4 ,if wisdom1 the       
eternal word1 the ,logos1 is the ,son of
 the ,eternal ,creator of the cosmos1   
love is related to the ,logos as a      
mother4 ,before even a spark of the     
light of wisdom can flash up in the     
human soul1 a dim impulse or desire for 
the divine must be present in it4       
,unconsciously the divine must draw man 
to what afterwards1 when raised into his
 consciousness1 constitutes his supreme 
happiness4 ,what ,heraclitus calls the  
daimon in man 7see p4 #di7 is connected 
with the idea of love4 ,in the          
,symposium1 people of the most various  
ranks and views of life speak about     
love1--the ordinary man1 the politician1

 the scientific man1 the satiric poet   
,aristophanes1 and the tragic poet      
,agathon4 ,they each have their own view
 of love1 in keeping with their         
different experiences of life4 ,the way 
in which they express themselves shows  
the stage at which their daimon has     
arrived 7cf4 p4 #di74 ,by love one being
 is attracted to another4 ,the          
multiplicity1 the diversity of the      
things into which divine unity was      
poured1 aspires towards unity and       
harmony through love4 ,thus love has    
something divine in it1 and owing to    
this1 each individual can only          
understand it as far as he participates 
in the divine4  ,after these men and    
others at different degrees of maturity 
have given utterance to their ideas     
about love1 ,socrates takes up the word4
 ,he considers love from the point of   
view of a man in search of knowledge4   
,for him1 it is not a divinity1 but it  
is something which leads man to ,god4   
,eros1 or love1 is for him not divine1  

for a god is perfect1 and therefore     
possesses the beautiful and good2 but   
,eros is only the desire for the        
beautiful and good4 ,he thus stands     
between man and ,god4 ,he is a daimon1 a
 mediator between the earthly and the   
divine4  ,it is significant that        
,socrates does not claim to be giving   
his own thoughts when speaking of love4 
,he says he is only relating what a     
woman once imparted to him as a         
revelation4 ,it was through mantic art  
that he came to his conception of love4 
,diotima1 the priestess1 awakened in    
,socrates the daimonic force which was  
to lead him to the divine4 ,she         
initiated him4  ,this passage in the    
,symposium is highly suggestive4 ,who is
 the wise woman who awakened the daimon 
in ,socrates8 ,she is more than a merely
 poetic mode of expression4 ,for no wise
 woman on the physical plane could      
awaken the daimon in the soul1 unless   
the daimonic force were latent in the   
soul itself4 ,it is surely in ,socrates'

 own soul that we must also look for    
this wise woman4 ,but there must be a   
reason why that which brings the daimon 
to life within the soul should appear as
 an outward being on the physical plane4
 ,the force cannot work in the same way 
as the forces which may be observed in  
the soul1 as belonging to and native to 
it4 ,we see that it is the soul-force   
which precedes the coming of wisdom     
which ,socrates represents as a wise    
woman4 ,it is the mother-principle which
 gives birth to the ,son of ,god1       
,wisdom1 the ,logos4 ,the unconscious   
soul-force which brings the divine into 
the consciousness is here represented as
 the feminine element4 ,the soul which  
as yet is without wisdom is the mother  
of what leads to the divine4 ,this      
brings us to an important conception of 
mysticism4 ,the soul is recognised as   
the mother of the divine4 ,unconsciously
 it leads man to the divine1 with the   
inevitableness of a natural force4      
,this conception throws light on the    

view of ,greek mythology taken in the   
,mysteries4 ,the world of the gods is   
born in the soul4 ,man looks upon what  
he creates in images as his gods 7cf4 p4
 #cc74 ,but he must force his way       
through to another conception4 ,he must 
transmute into divine images the divine 
force which is active within him before 
the creation of those images4 ,behind   
the divine appears the mother of the    
divine1 which is nothing else than the  
original force of the human soul4 ,thus 
side by side with the gods1 man         
represents goddesses4  ,let us look at  
the myth of ,dionysos in this light4    
,dionysos is the son of ,zeus and a     
mortal mother1 ,semele4 ,zeus wrests the
 still immature child from its mother   
when she is slain by lightning1 and     
shelters it in his own side till it is  
ready to be born4 ,hera1 the mother of  
the gods1 incites the ,titans against   
,dionysos1 and they tear him in pieces4 
,but ,pallas ,athene rescues his heart1 
which is still beating1 and brings it to

 ,zeus4 ,out of it he engenders his son 
for the second time4  ,in this myth we  
can accurately trace a process which is 
enacted in the depths of the human soul4
 ,interpreting it in the manner of the  
,egyptian priest who instructed ,solon  
about the nature of myths 7cf4 p4 #gh et
 seq471 we might say1 it is related that
 ,dionysos was the son of a god and of a
 mortal mother1 that he was torn in     
pieces and afterwards born again4 ,this 
sounds like a fable1 but it contains the
 truth of the birth of the divine and   
its destiny in the human soul4 ,the     
divine unites itself with the earthly1  
temporal human soul4 ,as soon as the    
divine1 ,dionysiac element stirs within 
the soul1 it feels a violent desire for 
its own true spiritual form4 ,ordinary  
consciousness1 which once again appears 
in the form of a female goddess1 ,hera1 
becomes jealous at the birth of the     
divine out of the higher consciousness4 
,it arouses the lower nature of man 7the
 ,titans74 ,the still immature divine   

child is torn in pieces4 ,thus the      
divine child is present in man as       
intellectual science broken up4 ,but if 
there be enough of the higher wisdom    
7,zeus7 in man to be active1 it nurses  
and cherishes the immature child1 which 
is then born again as a second son of   
,god 7,dionysos74 ,thus from science1   
which is the fragmentary divine force in
 man1 is born undivided wisdom1 which is
 the ,logos1 the son of ,god and of a   
mortal mother1 of the perishable human  
soul1 which unconsciously aspires after 
the divine4 ,as long as we see in all   
this merely a process in the soul and   
look upon it as a picture of this       
process1 we are a long way from the     
spiritual reality which is enacted in   
it4 ,in this spiritual reality the soul 
is not merely experiencing something in 
itself1 but it has been released from   
itself and is taking part in a cosmic   
event1 which is not enacted within the  
soul1 in reality1 but outside it4       
,platonic wisdom and ,greek myths are   

closely linked together1 so too are the 
myths and the wisdom of the ,mysteries4 
,the created gods were the object of    
popular religion1 the history of their  
origin was the secret of the ,mysteries4
 ,no wonder that it was held to be      
dangerous to betray the ,mysteries1 for 
thereby the origin of the gods of the   
people was betrayed4 ,and a right       
understanding of that origin is         
salutary1 a misunderstanding is         
injurious4     ,v  ,,the ,,wisdom ,,of  
,,the ,,mysteries ,,and ,,the ,,myth    
,the ,mystic sought forces and beings   
within himself which are unknown to man 
as long as he remains in the ordinary   
attitude towards life4 ,the ,mystic puts
 the great question about his own       
spiritual forces and the laws which     
transcend the lower nature4 ,a man of   
ordinary views of life1 bounded by the  
senses and logic1 creates gods for      
himself1 or when he gets to the point of
 seeing that he has made them1 he       
disclaims them4 ,the ,mystic knows that 

he creates gods1 he knows why he creates
 them1 he sees1 so to say1 behind the   
natural law which makes man create them4
 ,it is as though a plant suddenly      
became conscious1 and learned the laws  
of its growth and development4 ,as it   
is1 it develops in lovely               
unconsciousness4 ,if it knew about the  
laws of its own being1 its relation to  
itself would be completely changed4     
,what the lyric poet feels when he sings
 about a plant1 what the botanist thinks
 when he investigates its laws1 this    
would hover before a conscious plant as 
an ideal of itself4  ,it is thus with   
the ,mystic with regard to the laws1 the
 forces working within him4 ,as one who 
knew1 he was forced to create something 
divine beyond himself4 ,and the         
initiates took up the same attitude to  
that which the people had created beyond
 nature2 that is to the world of popular
 gods and myths4 ,they wanted to        
penetrate the laws of this world of gods
 and myths4 ,where the people saw the   

form of a god1 or a myth1 they looked   
for a higher truth4  ,let us take an    
example4 ,the ,athenians had been forced
 by the ,cretan king ,minos to deliver  
up to him every eight years seven boys  
and seven girls4 ,these were thrown as  
food to a terrible monster1 the         
,minotaur4 ,when the mournful tribute   
was to be paid for the third time1 the  
king's son ,theseus accompanied it to   
,crete4 ,on his arrival there1 ,ariadne1
 the daughter of ,minos interested      
herself in him4 ,the ,minotaur dwelt in 
the labyrinth1 a maze from which no one 
could extricate himself who had once got
 in4 ,theseus desired to deliver his    
native city from the shameful tribute4  
,for this purpose he had to enter the   
labyrinth into which the monster's booty
 was usually thrown1 and to kill the    
,minotaur4 ,he undertook the task1      
overcame the formidable foe1 and        
succeeded in regaining the open air with
 the aid of a ball of thread which      
,ariadne had given him4  ,the ,mystic   

had to discover how the creative human  
mind comes to weave such a story4 ,as   
the botanist watches the growth of      
plants in order to discover its laws1 so
 did the ,mystic watch the creative     
spirit4 ,he sought for a truth1 a       
nucleus of wisdom where the people had  
invented a myth4  ,sallust discloses to 
us the attitude of a mystical sage      
towards a myth of this kind4 ,we might  
call the whole world a myth1 says he1   
which contains bodies and things        
visibly1 and souls and spirits in a     
hidden manner4 ,if the truth about the  
gods were taught to all1 the            
unintelligent would disdain it from not 
understanding it1 and the more capable  
would make light of it4 ,but if the     
truth is given in a mystical veil1 it is
 assured against contempt and serves as 
a stimulus to philosophic thinking4     
,when the truth contained in a myth was 
sought by an initiate1 he was conscious 
of adding something which did not exist 
in the consciousness of the people4 ,he 

was aware of being above that           
consciousness1 as a botanist is above a 
growing plant4 ,something was expressed 
which was different from what was       
present in the mythical consciousness1  
but it was looked upon as a deeper      
truth1 symbolically expressed in the    
myth4 ,man is confronted with his own   
sense-nature in the form of a hostile   
monster4 ,he sacrifices to it the fruits
 of his personality1 and the monster    
devours them1 and continues to do so    
till the conqueror 7,theseus7 awakes in 
man4 ,his intuition spins the thread by 
means of which he finds his way again   
when he repairs to the maze of the      
senses in order to slay his enemy4 ,the 
mystery of human knowledge itself is    
expressed in this conquering of the     
senses4 ,the initiate knows that        
mystery4 ,it points to a force in human 
personality unknown to ordinary         
consciousness1 but nevertheless active  
within it4 ,it is the force which       
creates the myth1 which has the same    

structure as mystical truth4 ,this truth
 finds its symbol in the myth4  ,what   
then is to be found in the myths8 ,in   
them is a creation of the spirit1 of the
 unconsciously creative soul4 ,the soul 
has well-defined laws4 ,in order to     
create beyond itself1 it must work in a 
certain direction4 ,at the mythological 
stage it does this in images1 but these 
are built up according to the laws of   
the soul4 ,we might also say that when  
the soul advances beyond the stage of   
mythological consciousness to deeper    
truths1 these bear the same stamp as did
 the myths1 for one and the same force  
was at work in their formation4         
,plotinus1 the philosopher of the       
,neo-,platonic school 7,a4,d4 #bjd-bfi71
 speaks of this relation of mythical    
representation to higher knowledge in   
reference to the priest-sages of ,egypt4
 ,whether as the result of rigorous     
investigations1 or whether instinctively
 when imparting their wisdom1 the       
,egyptian sages do not use1 for         

expressing their teaching and precepts1 
written signs which are imitations of   
voice and speech2 but they draw         
pictures1 and in the outlines of these  
they record1 in their temples1 the      
thought contained in each thing1 so that
 every picture contains knowledge and   
wisdom1 and is a definite truth and a   
complete whole1 although there is no    
explanation nor discussion4 ,afterwards 
the contents of the picture are drawn   
out of it and expressed in words1 and   
the cause is found why it is as it is1  
and not otherwise4  ,if we wish to find 
out the connection of mysticism with    
mythical narratives1 we must see what   
relationship to them there is in the    
views of the great thinkers1 those who  
knew their wisdom to be in harmony with 
the methods of the ,mysteries4 ,we find 
such harmony in ,plato in the fullest   
degree4 ,his explanations of myths and  
his application of them in his teaching 
may be taken as a model 7cf4 p4 #gh et  
seq474 ,in the ,phdrus1 a dialogue on   

the soul1 the myth of ,boreas is        
introduced4 ,this divine being1 who was 
seen in the rushing wind1 one day saw   
the fair ,orithyia1 daughter of the     
,attic king ,erectheus1 gathering       
flowers with her companions4 ,seized    
with love for her1 he carried her off to
 his grotto4 ,plato1 by the mouth of    
,socrates1 rejects a rationalist        
interpretation of this myth4 ,according 
to this explanation1 an outward1 natural
 fact is poetically symbolised by the   
narrative4 ,a hurricane seized the      
king's daughter and hurled her over the 
rocks4 ,interpretations of this sort1   
says ,socrates1 are learned sophistries1
 however popular and usual they may     
be4444 ,for one who has pulled to pieces
 one of these mythological forms must1  
to be consistent1 elucidate sceptically 
and explain naturally all the rest in   
the same way4444 ,but even if such a    
labour could be accomplished1 it would  
in any case be no proof of superior     
talents in the one carrying it out1 but 

only of superficial wit1 boorish wisdom1
 and ridiculous haste4444 ,therefore ,i 
leave on one side all such enquiries1   
and believe what is generally thought   
about the myths4 ,i do not examine them1
 as ,i have just said1 but ,i examine   
myself to see whether ,i too may perhaps
 be a monster1 more complicated and     
therefore more disordered than the      
chimra1 more savage than ,typhon1 or    
whether ,i represent a more docile and  
simple being1 to whom some particle of a
 virtuous and divine nature has been    
given4  ,we see from this that ,plato   
does not approve of a rationalistic and 
merely intellectual interpretation of   
myths4 ,this attitude must be compared  
with the way in which he himself uses   
myths in order to express himself       
through them4 ,when he speaks of the    
life of the soul1 when he leaves the    
paths of the transitory and seeks the   
eternal in the soul1 when1 therefore1   
images borrowed from sense-perception   
and reasoning thought can no longer be  

used1 then ,plato has recourse to the   
myth4 ,phdrus treats of the eternal in  
the soul1 which is portrayed as a car   
drawn by two horses winged all over1 and
 driven by a charioteer4 ,one horse is  
patient and docile1 the other wild and  
headstrong4 ,if an obstacle comes in the
 way of the car the troublesome horse   
takes the opportunity of impeding the   
docile one and defying the driver4 ,when
 the car arrives where it has to follow 
the gods up the celestial steep1 the    
intractable horse throws the team into  
confusion4 ,if it is less strong than   
the good horse1 it is overcome1 and the 
car is able to go on into the           
supersensible realm4 ,it thus happens   
that the soul can never ascend without  
difficulties into the kingdom of the    
divine4 ,some souls rise more to the    
vision of eternity1 some less4 ,the soul
 which has seen the world beyond remains
 safe until the next journey4 ,one who1 
on account of the intractable horse1 has
 not seen beyond1 must try again on the 

next journey4 ,these journeys signify   
the various incarnations of the soul4   
,one journey signifies the life of the  
soul in one personality4 ,the wild horse
 represents the lower nature1 the docile
 one the higher nature2 the driver1 the 
soul longing for union with the divine4 
,plato resorts to the myth in order to  
describe the course of the eternal      
spirit through its various              
transformations4 ,in the same way he has
 recourse1 in other writings1 to        
symbolical narrative1 in order to       
portray the inner nature of man1 which  
is not perceptible to the senses4       
,plato is here in complete harmony with 
the mythical and allegorical manner of  
expression used by others4 ,for instance
 there is in ancient ,hindu literature a
 parable attributed to ,buddha4  ,a man 
very much attached to life1 who seeks   
sensuous pleasures and will die at no   
price is pursued by four serpents4 ,he  
hears a voice commanding him to feed and
 bathe the serpents from time to time4  

,the man runs away1 fearing the         
serpents4 ,again he hears a voice1      
warning him that he is pursued by five  
murderers4 ,once more he escapes4 ,a    
voice calls his attention to a sixth    
murderer1 who is about to behead him    
with a sword4 ,again he flees4 ,he comes
 to a deserted village4 ,there he hears 
a voice telling him that robbers are    
shortly going to plunder the village4   
,having again escaped1 he comes to a    
great flood4 ,he feels unsafe where he  
is1 and out of straw1 wood1 and leaves  
he makes a basket in which he arrives at
 the other shore4 ,now he is safe1 he is
 a ,brahmin4  ,the meaning of this      
allegory is that man has to pass through
 the most various states before         
attaining to the divine4 ,the four      
serpents represent the four elements1   
fire1 water1 earth1 and air4 ,the five  
murderers are the five senses4 ,the     
deserted village is the soul which has  
escaped from sense-impressions1 but is  
not yet safe if it is alone with itself1

 for if its lower nature lays hold of   
it1 it must perish4 ,man must construct 
for himself the boat which is to carry  
him over the flood of the transitory    
from the one shore1 the sense-nature1 to
 the other1 the eternal1 divine world4  
,let us look at the ,egyptian mystery of
 ,osiris in this light4 ,osiris had     
gradually become one of the most        
important ,egyptian divinities2 he      
supplanted other gods in certain parts  
of the country2 and an important cycle  
of myths was formed round him and his   
consort ,isis4  ,osiris was the son of  
the ,sun-god1 his brother was           
,typhon-,set1 and his sister was ,isis4 
,osiris married his sister1 and together
 they reigned over ,egypt4 ,the wicked  
brother1 ,typhon1 meditated killing     
,osiris4 ,he had a chest made which was 
exactly the length of ,osiris' body4 ,at
 a banquet this chest was offered to the
 person whom it exactly fitted4 ,this   
was ,osiris and none other6 ,he entered 
the chest4 ,typhon and his confederates 

rushed upon him1 closed the chest1 and  
threw it into the river4 ,when ,isis    
heard the terrible news she wandered far
 and wide in despair1 seeking her       
husband's body4 ,when she had found it1 
,typhon again took possession of it1 and
 tore it in fourteen pieces which were  
dispersed in many different places4     
,various tombs of ,osiris were shown in 
,egypt4 ,in many places1 up and down the
 country1 portions of the god were said 
to be buried4 ,osiris himself1 however1 
came forth from the nether-world and    
vanquished ,typhon4 ,a beam shone from  
him upon ,isis1 who in consequence bore 
a son1 ,harpocrates or ,horus4  ,and now
 let us compare this myth with the view 
which the ,greek philosopher1           
,empedocles 7,b4,c4 #dij-dcj7 takes of  
the universe4 ,he assumes that the one  
original primeval being was once broken 
up into the four elements1 fire1 water1 
earth1 and air1 or into the multiplicity
 of being4 ,he represents two opposing  
forces1 which within this world of      

existence bring about growth and decay1 
love and strife4 ,empedocles says of the
 elements3      ,they remain ever the   
same1 but yet by       combining their  
forces     ,become transformed into men 
and the       numberless beings besides4
     ,these are now joined into one1    
love binding the       many together1   
,now once again they are scattered1     
dispersing       through hatred and     
strife4  ,what then are the things in   
the world from ,empedocles' point of    
view8 ,they are the elements in         
different combinations4 ,they could only
 come into being because the ,primeval  
,unity was broken up into the four      
essences4 ,therefore this primordial    
unity was poured into the elements4     
,anything confronting us is part of the 
divinity which was poured out4 ,but the 
divinity is hidden in the thing2 it     
first had to die that things might come 
into being4 ,and what are these things8 
,mixtures of divine constituents        
effectuated by love and hatred4         

,empedocles says this distinctly3       
,see1 for a clear demonstration1 how the
 limbs of       a man are constructed1  
,all that the body possesses1 in beauty 
and pride       of existence1     ,all  
put together by love1 are the elements  
there       forming one4     ,afterwards
 hatred and strife come1 and fatally    
tear them asunder1     ,once more they  
wander alone1 on the desolate           
confines of life4     ,so it is with the
 bushes and trees1 and the              
water-inhabiting fishes1     ,wild      
animals roaming the mountains1 and ships
       swiftly borne by their sails4    
,empedocles therefore must come to the  
conclusion that the sage finds again the
 ,divine ,primordial ,unity1 hidden in  
the world by a spell1 and entangled in  
the meshes of love and hatred4 ,but if  
man finds the divine1 he must himself be
 divine1 for ,empedocles takes the point
 of view that a being is only cognised  
by its equal4 ,this conviction of his is
 expressed in ,goethe's lines3 ,if the  

eye were not of the nature of the sun1  
how could we behold light8 ,if divine   
force were not at work in us1 how could 
divine things delight us8  ,these       
thoughts about the world and man1 which 
transcend sense-experience1 were found  
by the ,mystic in the myth of ,osiris4  
,divine creative force has been poured  
out into the universe2 it appears as the
 four elements2 ,god 7,osiris7 is       
killed4 ,man is to raise him from the   
dead with his cognition1 which is of    
divine nature4 ,he is to find him again 
as ,horus 7the ,son of ,god1 the ,logos1
 ,wisdom71 in the opposition between    
,strife 7,typhon7 and ,love 7,isis74    
,empedocles expresses his fundamental   
conviction in ,greek form by means of   
images which border on myth4 ,love is   
,aphrodite1 and strife is ,neikos4 ,they
 bind and unbind the elements4  ,the    
portrayal of the content of a myth in   
the manner followed here must not be    
confused with a merely symbolical or    
even allegorical interpretation of      

myths4 ,this is not intended4 ,the      
images forming the contents of a myth   
are not invented symbols of abstract    
truths1 but actual soul-experiences of  
the initiate4 ,he experiences the images
 with his spiritual organs of           
perception1 just as the normal man      
experiences the images of physical      
things with his eyes and ears4 ,but as  
an image is nothing in itself if it is  
not aroused in the perception by an     
outer object1 so the mythical image is  
nothing unless it is excited by real    
facts of the spiritual world4 ,only in  
regard to the physical world1 man is at 
first outside the exciting causes1      
whereas he can only experience the      
images of myths when he is within the   
corresponding spiritual occurrences4 ,in
 order1 however1 to be within them1 he  
must have gone through initiation4 ,then
 the spiritual occurrences within which 
he is perceiving are1 as it were1       
illustrated by the myth-images4 ,any one
 who cannot take the mythical element as

 such illustration of real spiritual    
occurrences1 has not yet attained to the
 understanding of it4 ,for the spiritual
 events themselves are supersensible1   
and images which are reminiscent of the 
physical world are not themselves of a  
spiritual nature1 but only an           
illustration of spiritual things4 ,one  
who lives merely in the images lives in 
a dream4 ,only one who has got to the   
point of feeling the spiritual element  
in the image as he feels in the         
sense-world a rose through the image of 
a rose1 really lives in spiritual       
perceptions4 ,this is the reason why the
 images of myths cannot have only one   
meaning4 ,on account of their           
illustrative character1 the same myths  
may express several spiritual facts4 ,it
 is not therefore a contradiction when  
interpreters of myths sometimes connect 
a myth with one spiritual fact and      
sometimes with another4  ,from this     
standpoint1 we are able to find a thread
 to conduct us through the labyrinth of 

,greek myths4 ,let us consider the      
legend of ,heracles4 ,the twelve labours
 imposed upon ,heracles appear in a     
higher light when we remember that      
before the last and most difficult one1 
he is initiated into the ,eleusinian    
mysteries4 ,he is commissioned by ,king 
,eurystheus of ,mycen to bring the      
hell-hound ,cerberus from the infernal  
regions and take it back there again4   
,in order to undertake the descent into 
hell1 ,heracles had to be initiated4    
,the ,mysteries conducted man through   
the death of perishable things1         
therefore into the nether-world1 and by 
initiation they rescued his eternal part
 from perishing4 ,as a ,mystic1 he could
 vanquish death4 ,heracles having become
 a ,mystic overcomes the dangers of the 
nether-world4 ,this justifies us in     
interpreting his other ordeals as stages
 in the inner development of the soul4  
,he overcomes the ,neman lion and brings
 him to ,mycen4 ,this means that he     
becomes master of purely physical force 

in man2 he tames it4 ,afterwards he     
slays the nine-headed ,hydra4 ,he       
overcomes it with firebrands and dips   
his arrows in its gall1 so that they    
become deadly4 ,this means that he      
overcomes lower knowledge1 that which   
comes through the senses4 ,he does this 
through the fire of the spirit1 and from
 what he has gained through the lower   
knowledge1 he draws the power to look at
 lower things in the light which belongs
 to spiritual sight4 ,heracles captures 
the hind of ,artemis1 goddess of        
hunting3 everything which free nature   
offers to the human soul1 ,heracles     
conquers and subdues4 ,the other labours
 may be interpreted in the same way4 ,we
 cannot here trace out every detail1 and
 only wish to describe how the general  
sense of the myth points to inner       
development4  ,a similar interpretation 
is possible of the expedition of the    
,argonauts4 ,phrixus and his sister     
,helle1 children of a ,boeotian king1   
suffered many things from their         

step-mother4 ,the gods sent them a ram  
with a golden fleece1 which flew away   
with them4 ,when they came to the       
straits between ,europe and ,asia1      
,helle was drowned4 ,hence the strait is
 called the ,hellespont4 ,phrixus came  
to the ,king of ,colchis1 on the east   
shore of the ,black ,sea4 ,he sacrificed
 the ram to the gods1 and gave its      
fleece to ,king etes4 ,the king had it  
hung up in a grove and guarded by a     
terrible dragon4 ,the ,greek hero ,jason
 undertook to fetch the fleece from     
,colchis1 in company with other heroes1 
,heracles1 ,theseus1 and ,orpheus4      
,heavy tasks were laid upon ,jason by   
etes for the obtaining of the treasure1 
but ,medea1 the king's daughter1 who was
 versed in magic1 aided him4 ,he subdued
 two fire-breathing bulls4 ,he ploughed 
a field and sowed in it dragon's teeth  
from which armed men grew up out of the 
earth4 ,by ,medea's advice he threw a   
stone into their midst1 whereupon they  
killed each other4 ,jason lulls the     

dragon to sleep with a charm of ,medea's
 and is then able to win the fleece4 ,he
 returns with it to ,greece1 ,medea     
accompanying him as his wife4 ,the king 
pursues the fugitives4 ,in order to     
detain him1 ,medea slays her little     
brother ,absyrtus1 and scatters his     
limbs in the sea4 etes stays to collect 
them1 and the pair are able to reach    
,jason's home with the fleece4  ,each of
 these facts requires a deep            
elucidation4 ,the fleece is something   
belonging to man1 and infinitely        
precious to him4 ,it is something from  
which he was separated in times of yore1
 and for the recovery of which he has to
 overcome terrible forces4 ,it is thus  
with the eternal in the human soul4 ,it 
belongs to man1 but man is separated    
from it by his lower nature4 ,only by   
overcoming the latter1 and lulling it to
 sleep1 can he recover the eternal4     
,this becomes possible when his own     
consciousness 7,medea7 comes to his aid 
with its magic power4 ,medea is to      

,jason what ,diotima was to ,socrates1 a
 teacher of love 7cf4 p4 #hh74 ,man's   
own wisdom has the magic power necessary
 for attaining the divine after having  
overcome the transitory4 ,from the lower
 nature there can only arise a lower    
human principle1 the armed men who are  
overcome by spiritual force1 the counsel
 of ,medea4 ,even when man has found the
 eternal1 the fleece1 he is not yet     
safe4 ,he has to sacrifice part of his  
consciousness 7,absyrtus74 ,this is     
exacted by the physical world1 which we 
can only apprehend as a multiple        
7dismembered7 world4 ,we might go still 
deeper into the description of the      
spiritual events lying behind the       
images1 but it is only intended here to 
indicate the principle of the formation 
of myths4  ,of special interest1 when   
interpreted in this way1 is the legend  
of ,prometheus4 ,he and his brother     
,epimetheus are sons of the ,titan      
,iapetus4 ,the ,titans are the offspring
 of the oldest generation of gods1      

,uranus 7,heaven7 and ,ga 7,earth74     
,kronos1 the youngest of the ,titans1   
dethroned his father and seized upon the
 government of the world4 ,in return1 he
 was overpowered1 with the other        
,titans1 by his son ,zeus1 who became   
the chief of the gods4 ,in the struggle 
with the ,titans1 ,prometheus was on the
 side of ,zeus4 ,by his advice1 ,zeus   
banished the ,titans to the             
nether-world4 ,but in ,prometheus there 
still lived the ,titan spirit1 he was   
only half a friend to ,zeus4 ,when the  
latter wished to exterminate men on     
account of their arrogance1 ,prometheus 
espoused their cause1 taught them       
numbers1 writing1 and everything else   
which leads to culture1 especially the  
use of fire4 ,this aroused the wrath of 
,zeus against ,prometheus4 ,hephaistos1 
the son of ,zeus1 was commissioned to   
make a female form of great beauty1 whom
 the gods adorned with every possible   
gift4 ,she was called ,pandora1 the     
all-gifted one4 ,hermes1 messenger of   

the gods1 brought her to ,epimetheus1   
the brother of ,prometheus4 ,she brought
 him a casket1 as a present from the    
gods4 ,epimetheus accepted the present1 
although ,prometheus had warned him     
against receiving any gift from the     
gods4 ,when the casket was opened1 every
 possible human evil flew out of it4    
,hope alone remained1 and this because  
,pandora quickly closed the box4 ,hope  
has therefore been left to man1 as a    
doubtful gift of the gods4 ,by order of 
,zeus1 ,prometheus was chained to a rock
 on the ,caucasus1 on account of his    
relation to man4 ,an eagle perpetually  
gnaws his liver1 which is as often      
renewed4 ,he has to pass his life in    
agonising loneliness till one of the    
gods voluntarily sacrifices himself1    
i4e41 devotes himself to death4 ,the    
tormented ,prometheus bears his         
sufferings steadfastly4 ,it had been    
told him that ,zeus would be dethroned  
by the son of a mortal unless ,zeus     
consented to wed this mortal woman4 ,it 

was important for ,zeus to know this    
secret4 ,he sent the messenger ,hermes  
to ,prometheus1 in order to learn       
something about it4 ,prometheus refused 
to say anything4 ,the legend of         
,heracles is connected with that of     
,prometheus4 ,in the course of his      
wanderings ,heracles comes to the       
,caucasus4 ,he slays the eagle which was
 devouring the liver of ,prometheus4    
,the centaur ,chiron1 who cannot die1   
although suffering from an incurable    
wound1 sacrifices himself for           
,prometheus1 who is thereupon reconciled
 with the gods4  ,the ,titans are the   
force of will1 proceeding as nature     
7,kronos7 from the original universal   
spirit 7,uranus74 ,here we have to think
 not merely of will-forces in an        
abstract form1 but of actual            
will-beings4 ,prometheus is one of them1
 and this describes his nature4 ,but he 
is not altogether a ,titan4 ,in a       
certain sense he is on the side of      
,zeus1 the ,spirit1 who enters upon the 

rulership of the world after the        
unbridled force of nature 7,kronos7 has 
been subdued4 ,prometheus is thus the   
representative of those worlds which    
have given man the progressive element1 
half nature-force1 half spiritual force1
 man's will4 ,the will points on the one
 side towards good1 on the other1       
towards evil4 ,its fate is decided      
according as it leans to the spiritual  
or the perishable4 ,this fate is that of
 man himself4 ,he is chained to the     
perishable1 the eagle gnaws him1 he has 
to suffer4 ,he can only reach the       
highest by seeking his destiny in       
solitude4 ,he has a secret which is that
 the divine 7,zeus7 must marry a mortal 
7human consciousness bound up with the  
physical body71 in order to beget a son1
 human wisdom 7the ,logos7 which will   
deliver the deity4 ,by this means       
consciousness becomes immortal4 ,he must
 not betray this secret till a ,mystic  
7,heracles7 comes to him1 and           
annihilates the power which was         

perpetually threatening him with death4 
,a being half animal1 half human1 a     
centaur1 is obliged to sacrifice itself 
to redeem man4 ,the centaur is man      
himself1 half animal1 half spiritual4   
,he must die in order that the purely   
spiritual man may be delivered4 ,that   
which is disdained by ,prometheus1 human
 will1 is accepted by ,epimetheus1      
reason or prudence4 ,but the gifts      
offered to ,epimetheus are only troubles
 and sorrows1 for reason clings to the  
transitory and perishable4 ,and only one
 thing is left--the hope that even out  
of the perishable the eternal may some  
day be born4  ,the thread running       
through the legends of the ,argonauts1  
,heracles and ,prometheus1 is continued 
in ,homer's ,odyssey4 ,here we find     
ourselves compelled to use our own      
method of interpretation4 ,but on closer
 consideration of everything which has  
to be taken into account1 even the      
sturdiest doubter must lose all scruples
 about such an interpretation4 ,in the  

first place1 it is a startling fact that
 it is also related of ,odysseus that he
 descended into the nether-world4       
,whatever we may think about the author 
of the ,odyssey in other respects1 it is
 impossible to imagine his representing 
a mortal descending to the infernal     
regions1 without his bringing him into  
connection with what the journey into   
the nether-world meant to the ,greeks4  
,it meant the conquest of the perishable
 and the awakening of the eternal in the
 soul4 ,it must therefore be conceded   
that ,odysseus accomplished this1 and   
thereby his experiences and those of    
,heracles acquire a deeper significance4
 ,they become a delineation of the      
non-sensuous1 of the soul's progress of 
development4 ,hence the narrative in the
 ,odyssey is different from what is     
demanded by a history of outer events4  
,the hero makes voyages in enchanted    
ships4 ,actual geographical distances   
are dealt with in most arbitrary        
fashion4 ,it is not in the least a      

question of what is physically real4    
,this becomes comprehensible1 if the    
physically real events are only related 
for the sake of illustrating the        
development of a soul4 ,moreover the    
poet himself at the opening of the book 
says that it deals with a search for the
 soul3  ,o ,muse1 sing to me of the man 
full of resource1 who wandered very much
 after he had destroyed the sacred city 
of ,troy1 and saw the cities of many    
men1 and learned their manners4 ,many   
griefs also in his mind did he suffer on
 the sea1 although seeking to preserve  
his own soul1 and the return of his     
companions4  ,we have before us a man   
seeking for the soul1 for the divine1   
and his wanderings during this search   
are narrated4 ,he comes to the land of  
the ,cyclopes4 ,these are uncouth       
giants1 with only one eye and that in   
the centre of the forehead4 ,the most   
terrible1 ,polyphemus1 devours several  
of ,odysseus' companions4 ,odysseus     
himself escapes by blinding the         

,cyclopes4 ,here we have to do with the 
first stage of life's pilgrimage4       
,physical force or the lower nature has 
to be overcome4 ,it devours any one who 
does not take away its power1 who does  
not blind it4 ,odysseus next comes to   
the island of the enchantress ,circe4   
,she changes some of his companions into
 grunting pigs4 ,she also is subdued by 
,odysseus4 ,circe is the lower          
mind-force1 which cleaves to the        
transitory4 ,if misused1 it may thrust  
men down even deeper into bestiality4   
,odysseus has to overcome it4 ,then he  
is able to descend into the             
nether-world4 ,he becomes a ,mystic4    
,now he is exposed to the dangers which 
beset the ,mystic on his progress from  
the lower to the higher degrees of      
initiation4 ,he comes to the ,sirens1   
who lure the passer-by to death by sweet
 magic sounds4 ,these are the forms of  
the lower imagination1 which are at     
first pursued by one who has freed      
himself from the power of the senses4   

,he has got so far that his spirit acts 
freely1 but is not initiated4 ,he       
pursues illusions1 from the power of    
which he must break loose4 ,odysseus has
 to accomplish the awful passage between
 ,scylla and ,charybdis4 ,the ,mystic1  
at the beginning of the path wavers     
between spirit and sensuousness4 ,he    
cannot yet grasp the full value of      
spirit1 yet sensuousness has already    
lost its former attraction4 ,all        
,odysseus' companions perish in a       
shipwreck2 he alone escapes and comes to
 the nymph ,calypso1 who receives him   
kindly and takes care of him for seven  
years4 ,at length1 by order of ,zeus1   
she dismisses him to his home4 ,the     
,mystic has arrived at a stage at which 
all his fellow-aspirants fail2 he alone1
 ,odysseus1 is worthy4 ,he enjoys for a 
time1 which is defined by the mystically
 symbolic number seven1 the rest of     
gradual initiation4 ,before ,odysseus   
arrives at his home1 he comes to the    
isle of the ,phaces1 where he meets with

 a hospitable reception4 ,the king's    
daughter gives him sympathy1 and the    
king1 ,alcinous1 entertains and honours 
him4 ,once more does ,odysseus approach 
the world and its joys1 and the spirit  
which is attached to the world1         
,nausicaa1 awakes within him4 ,but he   
finds the way home1 to the divine4 ,at  
first nothing good awaits him at home4  
,his wife1 ,penelope1 is surrounded by  
numerous suitors4 ,each one she promises
 to marry1 when she has finished weaving
 a certain piece of work4 ,she avoids   
keeping her promise by undoing every    
night what she has woven by day4        
,odysseus is obliged to vanquish the    
suitors before he can be reunited to his
 wife in peace4 ,the goddess ,athene    
changes him into a beggar so that he may
 not be recognised at his entrance2 and 
thus he overcomes the suitors4 ,odysseus
 is seeking his own deeper              
consciousness1 the divine powers of the 
soul4 ,he wishes to be united with them4
 ,before the ,mystic can find them1 he  

must overcome everything which sues for 
the favour of that consciousness4 ,the  
band of suitors spring from the world of
 lower reality1 from perishable nature4 
,the logic directed against them is a   
spinning which is always undone again   
after it has been spun4 ,wisdom 7the    
goddess ,athene7 is the sure guide to   
the deepest powers of the soul4 ,it     
changes man into a beggar1 i4e41 it     
divests him of everything of a          
transitory nature4         99       99  
99       99       99  ,the ,eleusinian  
festivals1 which were celebrated in     
,greece in honour of ,demeter and       
,dionysos1 were steeped in the wisdom of
 the ,mysteries4 ,a sacred road led from
 ,athens to ,eleusis4 ,it was bordered  
with mysterious signs1 intended to bring
 the soul into an exalted mood4 ,in     
,eleusis were mysterious temples1 served
 by families of priests4 ,the dignity   
and the wisdom which was bound up with  
it were inherited in these families from
 generation to generation4 7,instructive

 information about the organisation of  
these sanctuaries will be found in ,karl
 ,btticher's ,ergnzungen zu den letzten 
,untersuchungen auf der ,akropolis in   
,athen1 ,philologus1 ,supplement1 vol4  
iii1 part #c47 ,the wisdom1 which       
qualified for the priesthood1 was the   
wisdom of the ,greek ,mysteries4 ,the   
festivals1 which were celebrated twice a
 year1 represented the great world-drama
 of the destiny of the divine in the    
world1 and of that of the human soul4   
,the lesser ,mysteries took place in    
,february1 the greater in ,september4   
,initiations were connected with the    
festivals4 ,the symbolical presentation 
of the cosmic and human drama formed the
 final act of the initiations of the    
,mystics1 which took place here4  ,the  
,eleusinian temples had been erected in 
honour of the goddess ,demeter4 ,she was
 a daughter of ,kronos4 ,she had given  
to ,zeus a daughter1 ,persephone1 before
 his marriage with ,hera4 ,persephone1  
while playing1 was carried away by      

,hades 7,pluto71 the god of the infernal
 regions4 ,demeter wandered far and wide
 over the earth1 seeking her with       
lamentations4 ,sitting on a stone in    
,eleusis1 she was found by the daughters
 of ,keleus1 ruler of the place2 in the 
form of an old woman she entered the    
service of his family1 as nurse to the  
queen's son4 ,she wished to endow this  
boy with immortality1 and for this      
purpose hid him in fire every night4    
,when his mother discovered this1 she   
wept and lamented4 ,after that the      
bestowal of immortality was impossible4 
,demeter left the house4 ,keleus then   
built a temple4 ,the grief of ,demeter  
for ,persephone was limitless4 ,she     
spread sterility over the earth4 ,the   
gods had to appease her1 to prevent a   
great catastrophe4 ,then ,zeus induced  
,hades 7,pluto7 to release ,persephone  
into the upper world1 but before letting
 her go1 he gave her a pomegranate to   
eat4 ,this obliged her to return        
periodically to the nether-world for    

evermore4 ,henceforward she spent a     
third of the year there1 and two-thirds 
in the world above4 ,demeter was        
appeased and returned to ,olympus2 but  
at ,eleusis1 the place of her suffering1
 she founded the cult which should keep 
her fate in remembrance4  ,it is not    
difficult to discover the meaning of the
 myth of ,demeter and ,persephone4 ,it  
is the soul which lives alternately     
above and below4 ,the immortality of the
 soul and its perpetually recurring     
transformation by birth and death are   
thus symbolised4 ,the soul originates   
from the immortal--,demeter4 ,but it is 
led astray by the transitory1 and even  
prevailed upon to share its destiny4 ,it
 has partaken of the fruits in the      
nether-world1 the human soul is         
satisfied with the transitory1 therefore
 it cannot permanently live in the      
heights of the divine4 ,it has always to
 return to the realm of the perishable4 
,demeter is the representative of the   
essence from which human consciousness  

arose2 but we must think of it as the   
consciousness which was able to come    
into being through the spiritual forces 
of the earth4 ,thus ,demeter is the     
primordial essence of the earth1 and the
 endowment of the earth with the        
seed-forces of the produce of the fields
 through her1 points to a still deeper  
side of her being4 ,this being wishes to
 give man immortality4 ,she hides her   
nursling in fire by night4 ,but man     
cannot bear the pure force of fire 7the 
spirit74 ,demeter is obliged to abandon 
the idea4 ,she is only able to found a  
temple service1 through which man is    
able to participate in the divine as far
 as this is possible4  ,the ,eleusinian 
festivals were an eloquent confession of
 the belief in the immortality of the   
human soul4 ,this confession found      
symbolic expression in the ,persephone  
myth4 ,together with ,demeter and       
,persephone ,dionysos was commemorated  
in ,eleusis4 ,as ,demeter was honoured  
as the divine creatress of the eternal  

in man1 so in ,dionysos was honoured the
 ever-changing divine in the world4 ,the
 divine poured into the world and torn  
to pieces in order to be spiritually    
reborn 7cf4 p4 #ij7 had to be honoured  
together with ,demeter4 7,a brilliant   
description of the spirit of the        
,eleusinian ,mysteries is found in      
,edouard ,schur's book1 ,sanctuaires    
d',orient4 ,paris1 #ahih47     ,,vi     
,,the ,,mystery ,,wisdom ,,of ,,egypt   
,when leaving thy body behind thee1 thou
 soarest into the ether1     ,then thou 
becomest a god1 immortal1 not subject to
 death4   ,in this utterance of         
,empedocles 7cf4 p4 #ee7 is epitomised  
what the ancient ,egyptians thought     
about the eternal element in man and its
 connection with the divine4 ,the proof 
of this may be found in the so-called   
,book of the ,dead1 which has been      
deciphered by the diligence of          
nineteenth-century investigators 7cf4   
,lepsius1 ,das ,totenbuch der alten     
gypter1 ,berlin1 #ahdb74 ,it is the     

greatest continuous literary work which 
has come down to us from ancient ,egypt4
 ,all kinds of instructions and prayers 
are contained in it1 which were put into
 the tomb of each deceased person to    
serve as a guide when he was released   
from his mortal tenement4 ,the most     
intimate ideas of the ,egyptians about  
the ,eternal and the origin of the world
 are contained in this work4 ,these     
ideas point to a conception of the gods 
similar to that of ,greek mysticism4    
,osiris gradually became the favourite  
and most universally recognised of the  
various deities worshipped in different 
parts of ,egypt4 ,in him were comprised 
the ideas about the other divinities4   
,whatever the majority of the ,egyptian 
people may have thought about ,osiris1  
the ,book of the ,dead indicates that   
the priestly wisdom saw in him a being  
that might be found in the human soul   
itself4 ,everything said about death and
 the dead shows this plainly4 ,while the
 body is given to earth1 and kept by it1

 the eternal part of man enters upon the
 path to the primordial eternal4 ,it    
comes before the tribunal of ,osiris1   
and the forty-two judges of the dead4   
,the fate of the eternal part of man    
depends on the verdict of these judges4 
,if the soul has confessed its sins and 
been deemed reconciled to eternal       
justice1 invisible powers approach it   
and say3 ,the ,osiris ,n4 has been      
purified in the pool which is south of  
the field of ,hotep and north of the    
field of ,locusts1 where the gods of    
verdure purify themselves at the fourth 
hour of the night and the eighth hour of
 the day with the image of the heart of 
the gods1 passing from night to day4    
,thus1 within the eternal cosmic order1 
the eternal part of man is addressed as 
an ,osiris4 ,after the name ,osiris     
comes the deceased person's own name4   
,and the one who is being united with   
the eternal cosmic order also calls     
himself ,osiris4 ,i am the ,osiris ,n4  
,growing under the blossoms of the      

fig-tree is the name of the ,osiris ,n4 
,man therefore becomes an ,osiris4      
,being ,osiris is only a perfect stage  
in human development4 ,it seems obvious 
that even the ,osiris who is a judge    
within the eternal cosmic order is      
nothing else but a perfect man4 ,between
 being human and divine1 there is a     
difference in degree and number4 ,the   
mystic view of the mystery of number    
underlies this4 ,osiris as a cosmic     
being is ,one1 yet on this account he   
exists undivided in each human soul4    
,each person is an ,osiris1 yet the ,one
 ,osiris must be represented as a       
separate being4 ,man is in course of    
development2 at the end of his          
evolutionary career1 he becomes divine4 
,in taking this view1 we must speak of  
divinity1 or becoming divine1 rather    
than of a separate divine being1        
complete in himself4  ,it cannot be     
doubted but that according to this view 
only he can really enter upon the       
,osiris existence1 who has reached the  

portals of the eternal cosmic order as  
an ,osiris4 ,thus1 the highest life     
which man can lead must consist in his  
changing himself into ,osiris4 ,even    
during mortal life1 a true man will live
 as a perfect ,osiris as far as he can4 
,he becomes perfect when he lives as an 
,osiris1 when he passes through the     
experiences of ,osiris4 ,in this way1 we
 see the deeper significance of the     
,osiris myth4 ,it becomes the ideal of  
the man who wishes to awaken the eternal
 within him4  ,osiris is torn to pieces 
and killed by ,typhon4 ,the fragments of
 his body are preserved and cared for by
 his consort1 ,isis4 ,after his death he
 let a ray of his own light fall upon   
her1 and she bore him ,horus4 ,this     
,horus takes up the earthly tasks of    
,osiris4 ,he is the second ,osiris1     
still imperfect1 but progressing towards
 the true ,osiris4  ,the true ,osiris is
 in the human soul1 which at first is of
 a transitory nature2 but as such1 it is
 destined to give birth to the eternal4 

,man may1 therefore1 regard himself as  
the tomb of ,osiris4 ,the lower nature  
7,typhon7 has killed the higher nature  
in him4 ,love in his soul 7,isis7 must  
take care of the dead fragments of his  
body1 and then the higher nature1 the   
eternal soul 7,horus7 will be born1     
which can progress to ,osiris life4 ,the
 man who is aspiring to the highest kind
 of existence must repeat in himself1 as
 a microcosm1 the macrocosmic universal 
,osiris process4 ,this is the meaning of
 ,egyptian initiation4 ,what ,plato 7cf4
 p4 #hj7 describes as a cosmic process1 
i4e41 that the ,creator has stretched   
the soul of the world on the body of the
 world in the form of a cross1 and that 
the cosmic process is the release of    
this crucified soul1--this process had  
to be enacted in man on a smaller scale 
if he was to be qualified for ,osiris   
life4 ,the candidate for initiation had 
to develop himself in such a way that   
his soul-experience1 his becoming an    
,osiris1 became blended into one with   

the cosmic ,osiris process4  ,if we     
could look into the temples of          
initiation in which people underwent the
 transformation into ,osiris1 we should 
see that what took place represented    
microcosmically the building of the     
cosmos4 ,man who proceeded from the     
,father was to give birth to the ,son in
 himself4 ,what he actually bears within
 him1 divinity hidden under a spell1 was
 to become manifest in him4 ,this       
divinity is kept down in him by the     
power of the earthly nature2 this lower 
nature must first be buried in order    
that the higher nature may arise4  ,from
 this we are able to interpret what we  
are told about the incidents of         
initiation4 ,the candidate was subjected
 to mysterious processes1 by means of   
which his earthly nature was killed1 and
 his higher part awakened4 ,it is not   
necessary to study these processes in   
detail1 if we understand their meaning4 
,this meaning is contained in the       
confession possible to every one who    

went through initiation4 ,he could say3 
,before me was the endless perspective  
at the end of which is the perfection of
 the divine4 ,i felt that the power of  
the divine is within me4 ,i buried what 
in me keeps down that power4 ,i died to 
earthly things4 ,i was dead4 ,i had died
 as a lower man1 ,i was in the          
nether-world4 ,i had intercourse with   
the dead1 i4e41 with those who have     
already become part of the chain of the 
eternal cosmic order4 ,after my sojourn 
in the nether-world1 ,i arose from the  
dead4 ,i overcame death1 but now ,i have
 become different4 ,i have nothing more 
to do with perishable nature4 ,it has in
 me become saturated with the ,logos4 ,i
 now belong to those who live eternally1
 and who will sit at the right hand of  
,osiris4 ,i myself shall be a true      
,osiris1 part of the eternal cosmic     
order1 and judgment of life and death   
will be placed in my hands4 ,the        
candidate for initiation had to submit  
to the experience which made such a     

confession possible to him4 ,thus this  
was an experience of the highest kind4  
,let us now imagine that a non-initiate 
hears of such experiences4 ,he cannot   
know what has really taken place in the 
initiate's soul4 ,in his eyes1 the      
initiate died physically1 lay in the    
grave1 and rose again4 ,what is a       
spiritual reality at a higher stage of  
existence appears when expressed in the 
form of sense-reality as an event which 
breaks through the order of nature4 ,it 
is a miracle4 ,so far initiation was a  
miracle4 ,one who really wished to      
understand it must have awakened within 
him powers to enable him to stand on a  
higher plane of existence4 ,he must have
 approached these higher experiences    
through a course of life specially      
adapted for the purpose4 ,in whatever   
way these prepared experiences were     
enacted in individual cases1 they are   
always found to be of quite a definite  
type4 ,and so an initiate's life is a   
typical one4 ,it may be described       

independently of the single personality4
 ,or rather1 an individual could only be
 described as being on the way to the   
divine if he had passed through these   
definite typical experiences4  ,such a  
personality was ,buddha1 living in the  
midst of his disciples4 ,as such an one 
did ,jesus appear to his community4     
,nowadays we know of the parallelism    
that exists between the biographies of  
,buddha and of ,jesus4 ,rudolf ,seydel  
has convincingly proved this parallelism
 in his book1 ,buddha und ,christus4    
7,compare also the excellent essay by   
,dr4 ,hbbe-,schleiden1 ,jesus ein       
,buddhist47 ,we have only to follow out 
the two lives in detail in order to see 
that all objections to the parallelism  
are futile4  ,the birth of ,buddha is   
announced by a white elephant1 which    
descends from heaven and declares to the
 queen1 ,maya1 that she will bring forth
 a divine man1 who will attune all      
beings to love and friendship1 and will 
unite them in a close alliance4 ,we read

 in ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel3 ,to a virgin  
espoused to a man whose name was        
,joseph1 of the house of ,david2 and the
 virgin's name was ,mary4 ,and the angel
 came in unto her1 and said1 ',hail1    
thou that art highly favoured4444       
,behold1 thou shalt conceive in thy     
womb1 and bring forth a son1 and shalt  
call his name ,jesus4 ,he shall be      
great1 and shall be called the ,son of  
the ,highest4'  ,the ,brahmins1 or      
,indian priests1 who know what the birth
 of a ,buddha means1 interpret ,maya's  
dream4 ,they have a definite1 typical   
idea of a ,buddha1 to which the life of 
the personality about to be born will   
have to correspond4 ,similarly we read  
in ,matthew ii4 et seq41 that when      
,herod had gathered all the chief       
priests and scribes of the people       
together1 he demanded of them where     
,christ should be born4 ,the ,brahmin   
,asita says of ,buddha3 ,this is the    
child which will become ,buddha1 the    
redeemer1 the leader to immortality1    

freedom1 and light4 ,compare with this  
,luke ii4 #be3 ,and1 behold1 there was a
 man in ,jerusalem1 whose name was      
,simeon2 and the same man was just and  
devout1 waiting for the consolation of  
,israel3 and the ,holy ,ghost was upon  
him4444 ,and when the parents brought in
 the child ,jesus1 to do for him after  
the custom of the law1 then took he him 
up in his arms1 and blessed ,god1 and   
said1 ,lord1 now lettest thou thy       
servant depart in peace1 according to   
thy word3 for mine eyes have seen thy   
salvation1 which thou hast prepared     
before the face of all people2 a light  
to lighten the ,gentiles1 and the glory 
of thy people ,israel4  ,it is related  
of ,buddha that at the age of twelve he 
was lost1 and found again under a tree1 
surrounded by poets and sages of the    
olden time1 whom he was teaching4 ,with 
this incident the following passage in  
,st4 ,luke corresponds3 ,now his parents
 went to ,jerusalem every year at the   
feast of the passover4 ,and when he was 

twelve years old1 they went up to       
,jerusalem after the custom of the      
feast4 ,and when they had fulfilled the 
days1 as they returned1 the child ,jesus
 tarried behind in ,jerusalem2 and      
,joseph and his mother knew not of it4  
,but they1 supposing him to have been in
 the company1 went a day's journey2 and 
they sought him among their kinsfolk and
 acquaintance4 ,and when they found him 
not1 they turned back again to          
,jerusalem1 seeking him4 ,and it came to
 pass that after three days they found  
him in the temple1 sitting in the midst 
of the doctors1 both hearing them1 and  
asking them questions4 ,and all that    
heard him were astonished at his        
understanding and answers 7,luke ii4    
#da-dg74  ,after ,buddha had lived in   
solitude1 and returned1 he was received 
by the benediction of a virgin1 ,blessed
 is thy mother1 blessed is thy father1  
blessed is the wife to whom thou        
belongest4 ,but he replied1 ,only they  
are blessed who are in ,nirvana1 i4e41  

who have entered the eternal cosmic     
order4 ,in ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel 7xi4    
#bg71 we read3 ,and it came to pass1 as 
he spake these things1 a certain woman  
of the company lifted up her voice and  
said unto him1 ',blessed is the womb    
that bare thee1 and the paps which thou 
hast sucked4' ,but he said1 ',yea       
rather1 blessed are they that hear the  
word of ,god1 and keep it4'  ,in the    
course of ,buddha's life1 the tempter   
comes to him and promises him all the   
kingdoms of the earth4 ,buddha refuses  
everything in the words3 ,i know well   
that ,i am destined to have a kingdom1  
but ,i do not desire an earthly one4 ,i 
shall become ,buddha and make all the   
world exult with joy4 ,the tempter has  
to own that his reign is over4 ,jesus   
answers the same temptation in the      
words3 ,get thee hence1 ,satan1 for it  
is written1 ,thou shalt worship the     
,lord thy ,god1 and him only shalt thou 
serve4 ,then the devil leaveth him      
7,matthew iv4 #aj1 #aa74 ,this          

description of the parallelism might be 
extended to many other points with the  
same result4  ,the life of ,buddha ended
 sublimely4 ,on a journey1 he felt ill2 
he came to the river ,hiranja1 near     
,kuschinagara4 ,there he lay down on a  
carpet which his favourite disciple1    
,ananda1 spread for him4 ,his body began
 to be luminous from within4 ,he died   
transfigured1 his body irradiating      
light1 saying1 ,nothing endures4  ,the  
death of ,buddha corresponds with the   
transfiguration of ,jesus4 ,and it came 
to pass about eight days after these    
sayings1 he took ,peter and ,john and   
,james1 and went up into a mountain to  
pray4 ,and as he prayed1 the fashion of 
his countenance was altered1 and his    
raiment was white and glistering4       
,buddha's earthly life ends at this     
point1 but it is here that the most     
important part of the life of ,jesus    
begins1--,his suffering1 death1 and     
resurrection4 ,other accounts of        
,buddha's death need not here be        

considered1 even though they reveal     
profound aspects4  ,the agreement in    
these two redemptive lives leads to the 
same conclusion4 ,the narratives        
themselves indicate the nature of this  
conclusion4 ,when the priest-sages hear 
what kind of birth is to take place1    
they know what is involved4 ,they know  
that they have to do with a ,divine man2
 they know beforehand what kind of      
personality it is who is appearing4 ,and
 therefore his course of life can only  
correspond with what they know about the
 life of a ,divine man4 ,in the wisdom  
of their ,mysteries such a life is      
traced out for all eternity4 ,it can    
only be as it must be2 it comes into    
manifestation like an eternal law of    
nature4 ,just as a chemical substance   
can only behave in a certain definite   
way1 so a ,buddha or a ,christ can only 
live in a certain definite way4 ,his    
life is not described merely by writing 
a casual biography2 it is much better   
described by giving the typical features

 which are contained for all time in the
 wisdom of the ,mysteries4 ,the ,buddha 
legend is no more a biography in the    
ordinary sense than the ,gospels are    
meant to be a biography in the ordinary 
sense of the ,christ ,jesus4 ,in neither
 is the merely accidental given2 both   
relate the course of life marked out for
 a world-redeemer4 ,the source of the   
two accounts is to be found in the      
mystery traditions and not in outer     
physical history4 ,jesus and ,buddha    
are1 to those who have recognised their 
,divine nature1 initiates in the most   
eminent sense4 ,hence their lives are   
lifted out of things transitory1 and    
what is known about initiates applies to
 them4#d ,the casual incidents in their 
lives are not narrated4 ,of such it     
might be announced ,in the beginning was
 the ,word1 and the ,word was with ,god1
 and the ,word was a ,god and the ,word 
was made flesh and dwelt among us4  ,but
 the life of ,jesus contains more than  
that of ,buddha4 ,buddha's ends with the

 ,transfiguration2 the most momentous   
part of the life of ,jesus begins after 
the ,transfiguration4 ,in the language  
of initiates this means that ,buddha    
reached the point at which divine light 
begins to shine in men4 ,he faces mortal
 death4 ,he becomes the light of the    
world4 ,jesus goes farther4 ,he does not
 physically die at the moment when the  
light of the world shines through him4  
,at that moment he is a ,buddha4 ,but at
 that very moment he enters upon a stage
 which finds expression in a higher     
degree of initiation4 ,he suffers and   
dies4 ,what is earthly disappears4 ,but 
the spiritual element1 the light of the 
world1 does not4 ,his resurrection      
follows4 ,he is revealed to his         
followers as ,christ4 ,buddha1 at the   
moment of his ,transfiguration1 flows   
into the blissful life of the ,universal
 ,spirit4 ,christ ,jesus awakens the    
,universal ,spirit once more1 but in a  
human form1 in present existence4 ,such 
an event had formerly taken place at the

 higher stages of initiation4 ,those    
initiated in the spirit of the ,osiris  
myth attained to such a resurrection4   
,in the life of ,jesus1 this great      
initiation was added to the ,buddha     
initiation4 ,buddha demonstrated by his 
life that man is the ,logos1 and that he
 returns to the ,logos1 to the light1   
when his earthly part dies4 ,in ,jesus1 
the ,logos himself became a person4 ,in 
him1 the ,word was made flesh4          
,therefore1 what was enacted in the     
innermost recesses of the temples by the
 guardians of the ancient ,mysteries has
 been apprehended1 through              
,christianity1 as a historical fact4    
,the followers of ,christ ,jesus        
confessed their belief in ,him1 the     
initiate1 of unique and supreme         
greatness4 ,he proved to them that the  
world is divine4 ,in the ,christian     
community1 the wisdom of the ,mysteries 
was indissolubly bound up with the      
personality of ,christ ,jesus4 ,that    
which man previously had sought to      

attain through the ,mysteries was now   
replaced by the belief that ,christ had 
lived on earth1 and that the faithful   
belonged to him4  ,henceforward1 part of
 what was formerly only to be gained    
through mystical methods1 could be      
replaced1 in the ,christian community1  
by the conviction that the divine had   
been manifested in the ,word present    
amongst them4 ,not that for which each  
individual soul underwent a long        
preparation was now decisive1 but what  
those had heard and seen who were with  
,jesus1 and what was handed down by     
them4 ,that which was from the          
beginning1 which we have heard1 which   
444 our hands have handled1 of the ,word
 of life 444 that which we have seen and
 heard declare we unto you1 that ye also
 may have fellowship with us4 ,thus do  
we read in the first ,epistle of ,st4   
,john4 ,and this immediate reality is to
 embrace all future generations in a    
living bond of union1 and as a church is
 mystically to extend from race to race4

 ,it is in this sense that the words of 
,st4 ,augustine are to be understood1 ,i
 should not believe the ,gospels unless 
the authority of the ,catholic ,church  
induced me to do so4 ,thus the ,gospels 
do not contain within themselves        
testimony to their truth1 but they are  
to be believed because they are founded 
on the personality of ,jesus1 and       
because the ,church from that           
personality mysteriously draws the power
 to make the truth of the ,gospels      
manifest4  ,the ,mysteries handed down  
traditionally the means of arriving at  
truth2 the ,christian community itself  
propagates the truth4 ,to the confidence
 in the mystical forces which spring up 
in the inmost being of man1 during      
initiation1 was added the confidence in 
the ,one1 primordial ,initiator4  ,the  
,mystics sought to become divine1 they  
wished to experience divinity4 ,jesus   
was divine1 we must hold fast to ,him1  
and then we shall become partakers of   
,his divinity1 in the community founded 

by ,him2 this became ,christian         
conviction4 ,what became divine in      
,jesus was made so for all ,his         
followers4 ,lo1 ,i am with you alway1   
even unto the end of the world4 ,the one
 who was born in ,bethlehem has an      
eternal character independent of time4  
,the ,christmas anthem thus speaks of   
the birth of ,jesus1 as if it took place
 each ,christmas1 ,christ is born       
to-day1 the ,saviour has come into the  
world to-day1 to-day the angels are     
singing on earth4  ,in the              
,christ-experience is to be seen a      
definite stage of initiation4 ,when the 
,mystic of pre-,christian times passed  
through this ,christ-experience1 he was1
 through his initiation1 in a state     
which enabled him to perceive something 
spiritually1--in higher worlds1--to     
which no fact in the world of sense     
corresponded4 ,he experienced that which
 surrounds the ,mystery of ,golgotha in 
the higher world4 ,if the ,christian    
,mystic goes through this experience by 

initiation1 he at the same time beholds 
the historical event which took place on
 ,golgotha1 and knows that in that      
event1 enacted within the physical      
world1 there is the same content as was 
formerly only in the supersensible facts
 of the ,mysteries4 ,thus there was     
poured out on the ,christian community1 
through the ,mysteries of ,golgotha1    
that which formerly had been poured out 
on the ,mystics within the temples4 ,and
 initiation gives ,christian ,mystics   
the possibility of becoming conscious of
 what is contained in the ,mystery of   
,golgotha1 whereas faith makes man an   
unconscious partaker of the mystical    
stream which flowed from the events     
depicted in the ,new ,testament1 and    
which has ever since been pervading the 
spiritual life of humanity4             
,,footnotes3  #d ,the great initiates   
raised themselves through initiation up 
into the sphere of the ,logos and       
carried this ,logos influence with them 
in their human life4 ,the fundamental   

difference between them and ,jesus was  
the fact that the ,logos in the course  
of its evolution individualised itself  
into ,one ,divine ,individuality who    
descended into ,jesus of ,nazareth at   
the ,baptism1 and so that the ,logos    
manifested its whole ,divine            
individuality through the personality of
 ,jesus as far as it was possible to    
express ,divinity by human means4 ,such 
was the unique character of the ,christ 
,jesus4     ,,vii  ,,the ,,gospels      
,the accounts of the life of ,jesus     
which can be submitted to historical    
examination are contained in the        
,gospels4 ,all that does not come from  
this source might1 in the opinion of one
 of those who are considered the        
greatest historical authorities on the  
subject 7,harnack71 be easily written on
 a quarto page4  ,but what kind of      
documents are these ,gospels8 ,the      
fourth1 that of ,st4 ,john1 differs so  
much from the others1 that those who    
think themselves obliged to follow the  

path of historical research in order to 
study the subject1 come to the          
conclusion3 ,if ,john possesses the     
genuine tradition about the life of     
,jesus1 that of the first three         
,evangelists 7the ,synoptists7 is       
untenable4 ,if the ,synoptists are      
right1 the ,fourth ,gospel must be      
rejected as a historical source 7,otto  
,schmiedel1 ,die ,hauptprobleme der     
,leben ,jesu ,forschung1 p4 #ae74 ,this 
is a statement made from the standpoint 
of the historical investigator4  ,in the
 present work1 in which we are dealing  
with the mystical contents of the       
,gospels1 such a point of view is       
neither to be accepted nor rejected4    
,but attention must certainly be drawn  
to such an opinion as the following3    
,measured by the standard of            
consistency1 inspiration1 and           
completeness1 these writings leave very 
much to be desired1 and even measured by
 the ordinary human standard1 they      
suffer from not a few imperfections4    

,this is the opinion of a ,christian    
theologian 7,harnack1 ,wesen des        
,christentums74  ,one who takes his     
stand on a mystical origin of the       
,gospels easily finds an explanation of 
what is apparently contradictory1 and   
also discovers harmony between the      
fourth ,gospel and the three others4    
,for none of these writings are meant to
 be mere historical tradition in the    
ordinary sense of the word4 ,they do not
 profess to give a historical biography 
7cf4 p4 #adj et seq474 ,what they       
intended to give was already shadowed   
forth in the traditions of the          
,mysteries1 as the typical life of a    
,son of ,god4 ,it was these traditions  
which were drawn upon1 not history4 ,now
 it was only natural that these         
traditions should not be in complete    
verbal agreement in every ,mystery      
centre4 ,still1 the agreement was so    
close that the ,buddhists narrated the  
life of their divine man almost in the  
same way in which the ,evangelists      

narrated the life of ,christ4 ,but      
naturally there were differences4 ,we   
have only to assume that the four       
,evangelists drew from four different   
mystery traditions4 ,it testifies to the
 extraordinary personality of ,jesus    
that in four writers1 belonging to      
different traditions1 he awakened the   
belief that he was one who so perfectly 
corresponded with their type of an      
initiate1 that they were able to        
describe him as one who lived the       
typical life marked out in their        
,mysteries4 ,they each described his    
life according to their own mystic      
traditions4 ,and if the narratives of   
the first three ,evangelists resemble   
each other1 it proves nothing more than 
that they drew from similar mystery     
traditions4 ,the fourth ,evangelist     
saturated his ,gospel with ideas which  
are1 in many respects1 reminiscent of   
the religious philosopher1 ,philo 7cf4  
p4 #hb74 ,this only proves that he was  
rooted in the same mystic tradition as  

,philo4  ,there are various elements in 
the ,gospels4 ,firstly1 facts are       
related1 which seem to lay claim to     
being historical4 ,secondly1 there are  
parables1 in which the narrative form is
 only used to symbolise a deeper truth4 
,and1 thirdly1 there are teachings      
characteristic of the ,christian        
conception of life4 ,in ,st4 ,john's    
,gospel there is no real parable4 ,the  
source from which he drew was a mystical
 school which considered parables       
unnecessary4  ,the part played by       
ostensibly historical facts and parables
 in the first three ,gospels is clearly 
shown in the narrative of the cursing of
 the fig tree4 ,in ,st4 ,mark xi4       
#aa-ad1 we read3 ,and ,jesus entered    
into ,jerusalem1 and into the temple3   
and when he had looked round about upon 
all things1 and now the eventide was    
come1 he went out unto ,bethany with the
 twelve4 ,and on the morrow1 when they  
were come from ,bethany1 he was hungry3 
and seeing a fig tree afar off having   

leaves1 he came1 if haply he might find 
any thing thereon3 and when he came to  
it1 he found nothing but leaves2 for the
 time of figs was not yet4 ,and ,jesus  
answered and said unto it1 ,no man eat  
fruit of thee hereafter for ever4 ,in   
the corresponding passage in ,st4       
,luke's ,gospel1 he relates a parable   
7xiii4 #f1 #g73 ,he spake also this     
parable2 ,a certain man had a fig tree  
planted in his vineyard2 and he came and
 sought fruit thereon1 and found none4  
,then said he unto the dresser of his   
vineyard1 ,behold these three years ,i  
come seeking fruit on this fig tree1 and
 find none3 cut it down2 why cumbereth  
it the ground8 ,this is a parable       
symbolising the uselessness of the old  
teaching1 represented by the barren fig 
tree4 ,that which is meant              
metaphorically1 ,st4 ,mark relates as a 
fact appearing to be historical4 ,we may
 therefore assume that1 in general1     
facts related in the ,gospels are not to
 be taken as only historical1 or as if  

they were only to hold good in the      
physical world1 but as mystical facts2  
as experiences1 for the recognition of  
which spiritual vision is necessary1 and
 which arise from various mystical      
traditions4 ,if we admit this1 the      
difference between the ,gospel of ,st4  
,john and the ,synoptists ceases to     
exist4 ,for mystical interpretation1    
historical research has not to be taken 
into account4 ,even if one or another   
,gospel were written a few decades      
earlier or later than the others1 they  
are all of like historical value to the 
mystic1 ,st4 ,john's ,gospel as well as 
the others4  ,and the miracles do not   
present the least difficulty when       
interpreted mystically4 ,they are       
supposed to break through the laws of   
nature4 ,they only do this when they are
 considered as events which have so come
 about on the physical plane1 in the    
perishable world1 that ordinary         
sense-perception could see through them 
offhand4 ,but if they are experiences   

which can only be fathomed on a higher  
stage of existence1 namely the          
spiritual1 it is obvious that they      
cannot be understood by means of the    
laws of physical nature4  ,it is thus   
first of all necessary to read the      
,gospels correctly2 then we shall know  
in what way they are speaking of the    
,founder of ,christianity4 ,their       
intention is to relate his life in the  
manner in which communications were made
 through the ,mysteries4 ,they relate it
 in the way in which a ,mystic would    
speak of an initiate4 ,only1 they give  
the initiation as the unique            
characteristic of one unique being4 ,and
 they make salvation depend on man's    
holding fast to the initiate of this    
unique order4 ,what had come to the     
initiates was the kingdom of ,god4 ,this
 unique being has brought the kingdom to
 all who will cleave to him4 ,what was  
formerly the personal concern of each   
individual has become the common concern
 of all those who are willing to        

acknowledge ,jesus as their ,lord4  ,we 
can understand how this came about if we
 admit that the wisdom of the ,mysteries
 was imbedded in the popular religion of
 the ,jews4 ,christianity arose out of  
,judaism4 ,we need not therefore be     
surprised at finding engrafted on       
,judaism1 together with ,christianity   
those mystical ideas which we have seen 
to be the common property of ,greek and 
,egyptian spiritual life4 ,if we examine
 national religions1 we find various    
conceptions of the spiritual2 but if1 in
 each case1 we go back to the deeper    
wisdom of the priests1 which proves to  
be the spiritual nucleus of them all1 we
 find agreement everywhere4 ,plato knows
 himself to be in agreement with the    
priest-sages of ,egypt when he is trying
 to set forth the main content of ,greek
 wisdom in his philosophical view of the
 universe4 ,it is related of ,pythagoras
 that he travelled to ,egypt and ,india1
 and was instructed by the sages in     
those countries4 ,thinkers who lived in 

the earlier days of ,christianity found 
so much agreement between the           
philosophical teachings of ,plato and   
the deeper meaning of the ,mosaic       
writings1 that they called ,plato a     
,moses with ,attic tongue4  ,thus       
,mystery wisdom existed everywhere4 ,in 
,judaism it acquired a form which it had
 to assume if it was to become a        
world-religion4  ,judaism expected the  
,messiah4 ,it is not to be wondered at  
that when the personality of an unique  
initiate appeared1 the ,jews could only 
conceive of him as being the ,messiah4  
,indeed this circumstance throws light  
on the fact that what had been an       
individual matter in the ,mysteries     
became an affair of the whole nation4   
,the ,jewish religion had from the      
beginning been a national religion4 ,the
 ,jewish people looked upon itself as   
one organism4 ,its ,jao was the ,god of 
the whole nation4 ,if the son of this   
,god were to be born1 he must be the    
redeemer of the whole nation4 ,the      

individual ,mystic was not to be saved  
apart from others1 the whole nation was 
to share in the redemption4 ,that one is
 to die for all is founded on the       
fundamental ideas of the ,jewish        
religion4  ,it is also certain that     
there were mysteries in ,judaism1 which 
could be brought out of the dimness of a
 secret cult into the popular religion4 
,a fully-developed mysticism existed    
side by side with the priestly wisdom   
which was attached to the outer         
formalism of the ,pharisees4 ,this      
mystery wisdom is spoken of among the   
,jews just as it is elsewhere4 ,when one
 day an initiate was speaking of it1 and
 his hearers sensed the secret meaning  
of his words1 they said3 ,old man1 what 
hast thou done8 ,oh1 that thou hadst    
kept silence6 ,thou thinkest to navigate
 the boundless ocean without sail or    
mast4 ,this is what thou art attempting4
 ,wilt thou fly upwards8 ,thou canst    
not4 ,wilt thou descend into the depths8
 ,an immeasurable abyss is yawning      

before thee4 ,and the ,kabbalists1 from 
whom the above is taken1 also speak of  
four ,rabbis2 and these four ,rabbis    
sought the secret path to the divine4   
,the first died2 the second lost his    
reason2 the third caused monstrous      
evils1 and only the fourth1 ,rabbi      
,akiba1 went in and out of the spiritual
 world in peace4  ,we thus see that     
within ,judaism also there was a soil in
 which an initiate of an unique kind    
could develop4 ,he had only to say to   
himself3 ,i will not let salvation be   
limited to a few chosen people4 ,i will 
let all people participate in it4 ,he   
was to carry out into the world at large
 what the elect had experienced in the  
temples of the ,mysteries4 ,he had to be
 willing to take upon himself to be1 in 
spirit1 to his community1 through his   
personality1 that which the cult of the 
,mysteries had heretofore been to those 
who took part in them4 ,it is true he   
could not at once give to the whole     
community the experiences of the        

,mysteries1 nor would he have wished to 
do so4 ,but he wished to give to all the
 certainty of the truth contemplated in 
the ,mysteries4 ,he wished to cause the 
life1 which flowed within the           
,mysteries1 to flow through the further 
historical evolution of humanity1 and   
thus to raise mankind to a higher stage 
of existence4 ,blessed are they that    
have not seen1 and yet have believed4   
,he wished to plant unshakably in human 
hearts1 in the form of confidence1 the  
certainty that the divine really exists4
 ,one who stands outside initiation and 
has this confidence will certainly go   
further than one who is without it4 ,it 
must have weighed like a mountain on the
 mind of ,jesus to think that there     
might be many standing outside who do   
not find the way4 ,he wished to lessen  
the gulf between those to be initiated  
and the people4 ,christianity was to be 
a means by which every one might find   
the way4 ,should one or another not yet 
be ripe1 at any rate he is not cut off  

from the possibility of sharing1 more or
 less unconsciously1 in the benefit of  
the spiritual current flowing through   
the ,mysteries4 ,the ,son of ,man is    
come to seek and to save that which was 
lost4 ,henceforward even those who      
cannot yet share in initiation may enjoy
 some of the fruits of the ,mysteries4  
,henceforth the ,kingdom of ,god was not
 to be dependent on outward ceremonies3 
,neither shall they say1 ,lo here6 or1  
,lo there6 for1 behold1 the ,kingdom of 
,god is within you4 ,with ,jesus the    
point in question was not so much how   
far this or that person advanced in the 
kingdom of the spirit1 as that all      
should be convinced that that kingdom   
exists4 ,in this rejoice not1 that the  
spirits are subject unto you2 but rather
 rejoice1 because your names are written
 in heaven4 ,that is1 have confidence in
 the divine4 ,the time will come when   
you will find it4     ,,viii  ,,the     
,,lazarus ,,miracle   ,amongst the      
miracles attributed to ,jesus1 very     

special importance must be attached to  
the raising of ,lazarus at ,bethany4    
,everything combines to assign a        
prominent position in the ,new          
,testament to that which is here related
 by the ,evangelist4 ,we must bear in   
mind that ,st4 ,john alone relates it1  
the ,evangelist who by the weighty words
 with which he opens his ,gospel claims 
for it a very definite interpretation4  
,st4 ,john begins with these sentences3 
,in the beginning was the ,word1 and the
 ,word was with ,god1 and the word was a
 ,god4444 ,and the ,word was made flesh1
 and dwelt among us1 and we beheld his  
glory1 a glory as of the only begotten  
of the ,father1 full of grace and truth4
  ,one who places such words at the     
beginning of his narrative is plainly   
indicating that he wishes it to be      
interpreted in a very deep sense4 ,the  
man who approaches it with merely       
intellectual explanations1 or otherwise 
in a superficial way1 is like one who   
thinks that ,othello on the stage really

 murders ,desdemona4 ,what then is it   
that ,st4 ,john means to say in his     
introductory words8 ,he plainly says    
that he is speaking of something        
eternal1 which existed at the beginning 
of things4 ,he relates facts1 but they  
are not to be taken as facts observed by
 the eye and ear1 and upon which logical
 reason exercises its skill4 ,he hides  
behind facts the ,word which is in the  
,cosmic ,spirit4 ,for him1 the facts are
 the medium in which a higher meaning is
 expressed4 ,and we may therefore assume
 that in the fact of a man being raised 
from the dead1 a fact which offers the  
greatest difficulties to the eye1 ear1  
and logical reason1 the very deepest    
meaning lies concealed4  ,another thing 
has to be taken into consideration4     
,renan1 in his ,life of ,jesus1 has     
pointed out that the raising of ,lazarus
 undoubtedly had a decisive influence on
 the end of the life of ,jesus4 ,such a 
thought appears impossible from the     
point of view which ,renan takes4 ,for  

why should the fact that the belief was 
being circulated amongst the populace   
that ,jesus had raised a man from the   
dead appear to his opponents so         
dangerous that they asked the question1 
,can ,jesus and ,judaism exist side by  
side8 ,it does not do to assert with    
,renan3 ,the other miracles of ,jesus   
were passing events1 repeated in good   
faith and exaggerated by popular report1
 and they were thought no more of after 
they had happened4 ,but this one was a  
real event1 publicly known1 and by means
 of which it was sought to silence the  
,pharisees4 ,all the enemies of ,jesus  
were exasperated by the sensation it    
caused4 ,it is related that they sought 
to kill ,lazarus4 ,it is                
incomprehensible why this should be if  
,renan were right in his opinion that   
all that happened at ,bethany was the   
getting up of a mock scene1 intended to 
strengthen belief in ,jesus4 ,perhaps   
,lazarus1 still pale from his illness1  
had himself wrapped in a shroud and laid

 in the family grave4 ,these tombs were 
large rooms hewn out of the rock1 and   
entered by a square opening which was   
closed by an immense slab4 ,martha and  
,mary hastened to meet ,jesus1 and      
brought him to the grave before he had  
entered ,bethany4 ,the painful emotion  
felt by ,jesus at the grave of the      
friend whom he believed to be dead      
7,john xi4 #cc1 #ch7 might be taken by  
those present for the agitation and     
tremors which were wont to accompany    
miracles4 ,according to popular belief1 
divine power in a man was like an       
epileptic and convulsive element4       
,continuing the above hypothesis1 ,jesus
 wished to see once more the man he had 
loved1 and the stone having been rolled 
away1 ,lazarus came forth in his        
grave-clothes1 his head bound with a    
napkin4 ,this apparition naturally was  
looked upon by every one as a           
resurrection4 ,faith knows no other law 
than the interest of what it holds to be
 true4 ,does not such an explanation    

appear absolutely nave1 when ,renan adds
 the following opinion3 ,everything     
seems to suggest that the miracle of    
,bethany materially contributed to      
hasten the death of ,jesus8 ,yet there  
is undoubtedly an accurate perception   
underlying this last assertion of       
,renan4 ,but with the means at his      
disposal he is not able to interpret or 
justify his opinion4  ,something of     
quite special importance must have been 
accomplished by ,jesus at ,bethany1 in  
order that such words as the following  
may be accounted for3 ,then gathered the
 chief priests and the ,pharisees a     
council1 and said1 ',what do we8 for    
this man doeth many miracles' 7,john xi4
 #dg74 ,renan1 too1 conjectures         
something special3 ,it must be          
acknowledged1 he says1 that ,john's     
narrative is of an essentially different
 kind from the accounts of miracles of  
which the ,synoptists are full1 and     
which are the outcome of the popular    
imagination4 ,let us add that ,john is  

the only ,evangelist with accurate      
knowledge of the relations of ,jesus    
with the family at ,bethany1 and that it
 would be incomprehensible how a        
creation of the popular mind could have 
been inserted in the frame of such      
personal reminiscences4 ,it is1         
therefore1 probable that the miracle in 
question was not amongst the wholly     
legendary ones1 for which no one is     
responsible4 ,in other words1 ,i think  
that something took place at ,bethany   
which was looked upon as a resurrection4
 ,does not this really mean that ,renan 
surmises that something happened at     
,bethany which he cannot explain8 ,he   
entrenches himself behind the words3 ,at
 this distance of time1 and with only   
one text bearing obvious traces of      
subsequent additions1 it is impossible  
to decide whether1 in the present case1 
all is fiction1 or whether a real fact  
which happened at ,bethany served as the
 basis of the report that was spread    
abroad4 ,might it not be that we have to

 do here with something of which we     
might arrive at a true understanding    
merely by reading the text in the right 
way8 ,in that case1 we should perhaps no
 longer speak of fiction4  ,it must be  
admitted that the whole narrative of    
this event in ,st4 ,john's ,gospel is   
wrapped in a mysterious veil4 ,to show  
this1 we need only mention one point4   
,if the narrative is to be taken in the 
literal1 physical sense1 what meaning   
have these words of ,jesus3 ,this       
sickness is not unto death1 but for the 
glory of ,god1 that the ,son of ,god    
might be glorified thereby4 ,this is the
 usual translation of the words1 but the
 actual state of the case is better     
arrived at1 if they are translated1 for 
the vision 7or manifestation7 of ,god1  
that the ,son of ,god might be          
manifested thereby4 ,this translation is
 also correct according to the ,greek   
original4 ,and what do these other words
 mean1 ,jesus said unto her1 ,i am the  
resurrection1 and the life3 he that     

believeth in me1 though he were dead1   
yet shall he live8 7,john xi4 #d1 #be74 
,it would be a triviality to think that 
,jesus meant to say that ,lazarus had   
only become ill in order that ,jesus    
might manifest ,his skill through him4  
,and it would again be a triviality to  
think that ,jesus meant to assert that  
faith in ,him brings to life again one  
who in the ordinary sense is dead4 ,what
 would there be remarkable about a      
person who has risen from the dead1 if  
after his resurrection he were the same 
as he was before dying8 ,indeed what    
would be the meaning of describing the  
life of such a person in the words1 ,i  
am the resurrection and the life8 ,life 
and meaning at once come into the words 
of ,jesus if we understand them to be   
the expression of a spiritual occurrence
 and then1 in a certain sense1 literally
 as they stand in the text4 ,jesus      
actually says that ,he is the           
resurrection that has happened to       
,lazarus1 and that ,he is the life that 

,lazarus is living4 ,let us take        
literally what ,jesus is in ,st4 ,john's
 ,gospel4  ,he is the ,word that was    
made flesh4 ,he is the ,eternal that    
existed in the beginning4 ,if he is     
really the resurrection1 then the       
,eternal1 ,primordial has risen again in
 ,lazarus4 ,we have1 therefore1 to do   
with a resurrection of the eternal      
,word1 and this ,word is the life to    
which ,lazarus has been raised4 ,it is a
 case of illness1 not one leading to    
death1 but to the glory1 i4e41 the      
manifestation of ,god4 ,if the eternal  
,word has reawakened in ,lazarus1 the   
whole event conduces to manifest ,god in
 ,lazarus4 ,for by means of the event   
,lazarus has become a different man4    
,before it1 the ,word1 or spirit did not
 live in him1 now it does4 ,the spirit  
has been born within him4 ,it is true   
that every birth is accompanied by      
illness1 that of the mother1 but the    
illness leads to new life1 not to death4
 ,in ,lazarus that part of him becomes  

ill from which the new man1 permeated by
 the ,word1 is born4         99       99
       99       99       99  ,where is  
the grave from which the ,word is born8 
,to answer this question we have only to
 remember ,plato1 who calls man's body  
the tomb of the soul4 ,and we have only 
to recall ,plato's speaking of a kind of
 resurrection when he alludes to the    
coming to life of the spiritual world in
 the body4 ,what ,plato calls the       
spiritual soul1 ,st4 ,john denominates  
the ,word4 ,and for him1 ,christ is the 
,word4 ,plato might have said1 ,one who 
becomes spiritual has caused something  
divine to rise out of the grave of his  
body4 ,for ,st4 ,john1 that which took  
place through the life of ,jesus was    
that resurrection4 ,it is not           
surprising1 therefore1 if he makes      
,jesus say1 ,i am the resurrection4     
,there can be no doubt that the         
occurrence at ,bethany was an awakening 
in the spiritual sense4 ,lazarus became 
something different from what he was    

before4 ,he was raised to a life of     
which the ,eternal ,word could say1 ,i  
am that life4 ,what then took place in  
,lazarus8 ,the spirit came to life      
within him4 ,he became a partaker of the
 life which is eternal4 ,we have only to
 express his experience in the words of 
those who were initiated into the       
,mysteries1 and the meaning at once     
becomes clear4 ,what does ,plutarch     
7vide supra p4 #bf et seq47 say about   
the object of the ,mysteries8 ,they were
 to serve to withdraw the soul from     
bodily life and to unite it with the    
gods4 ,schelling thus describes the     
feelings of an initiate3  ,the initiate 
through his initiation became a link in 
the magic chain1 he himself became a    
,kabir4 ,he was admitted into an        
indestructible association and1 as      
ancient inscriptions express it1 joined 
to the army of the higher gods          
7,schelling1 ,philosophie der           
,offenbarung74 ,and the revolution that 
took place in the life of one who       

received initiation cannot be more      
significantly described than in the     
words spoken by desius to his disciple1 
the ,emperor ,constantine3 ,if one day  
thou shouldst take part in the          
,mysteries1 thou wilt feel ashamed of   
having been born merely as a man4  ,if  
we fill our souls with such feelings as 
these1 we shall gain the right attitude 
towards the event that took place at    
,bethany1 and have a peculiarly         
characteristic experience through ,st4  
,john's narrative4 ,a certainty will    
dawn upon us which cannot be obtained by
 any logical interpretation or by any   
attempt at rationalistic explanation4 ,a
 mystery in the true sense of the word  
is before us4 ,the ,eternal ,word       
entered into ,lazarus4 ,in the language 
of the ,mysteries1 he became an initiate
 7vide p4 #acb et seq471 and the event  
narrated to us must be the process of   
initiation4  ,let us look upon the whole
 occurrence as though it were an        
initiation4 ,lazarus is loved by ,jesus 

7,john xi4 #cf74 ,no ordinary affection 
can be meant by this1 for it would be   
contrary to the spirit of ,st4 ,john's  
,gospel1 in which ,jesus is ,the ,word4 
,jesus loved ,lazarus because he found  
him ripe for the awakening of the ,word 
within him4 ,jesus had relations with   
the family at ,bethany4 ,this only means
 that ,jesus had made everything ready  
in that family for the final act of the 
drama1 the raising of ,lazarus4 ,the    
latter was a disciple of ,jesus1 such an
 one that ,jesus could be quite sure    
that in him the awakening would be      
consummated4 ,the final act in a drama  
of awakening consisted in a symbolical  
action4 ,the person involved in it had  
not only to understand the words1 ,die  
and become6 ,he had to fulfil them      
himself by a real1 spiritual action4    
,his earthly part1 of which his higher  
being in the ,spirit of the ,mysteries  
must be ashamed1 had to be put away4    
,the earthly must die a symbolic-real   
death4 ,the putting of his body into a  

somnambulic sleep for three days can    
only be denoted an outer event in       
comparison with the greatness of the    
transformation which was taking place in
 him4 ,an incomparably more momentous   
spiritual event corresponded to it4 ,but
 this very process was the experience   
which divides the life of the ,mystic   
into two parts4 ,one who does not know  
from experience the inner significance  
of such acts cannot understand them4    
,they can only be suggested by means of 
a comparison4  ,the substance of        
,shakespeare's ,hamlet may be compressed
 into a few words4 ,any one who learns  
these words may say that in a certain   
sense he knows the contents of ,hamlet2 
and logically he does4 ,but one who has 
let all the wealth of the ,shakespearian
 drama stream in upon him knows ,hamlet 
in a different way4 ,a life-current has 
passed through his soul which cannot be 
replaced by any mere description4 ,the  
idea of ,hamlet has become an artistic1 
personal experience within him4  ,on a  

higher plane of consciousness1 a similar
 process takes place in man when he     
experiences the magically significant   
event which is bound up with initiation4
 ,what he attains spiritually1 he lives 
through symbolically4 ,the word         
symbolically is used here in the sense  
that an outer event is really enacted on
 the physical plane1 but that as such1  
it is nevertheless a symbol4 ,it is not 
a case of an unreal1 but of a real      
symbol4 ,the earthly body has really    
been dead for three days4#e ,new life   
comes forth from death4 ,this life has  
outlived death4 ,man has gained         
confidence in the new life4  ,it        
happened thus with ,lazarus4 ,jesus had 
prepared him for resurrection4 ,his     
illness was at once symbolic and real1  
an illness which was an initiation 7cf4 
p4 #acb et seq471 and which leads1 after
 three days1 to a really new life4      
,lazarus was ripe for undergoing this   
experience4 ,he wrapped himself in the  
garment of the ,mystic1 and fell into a 

condition of lifelessness which was     
symbolic death4 ,and when ,jesus came1  
the three days had elapsed4 ,then they  
took away the stone from the place where
 the dead was laid4 ,and ,jesus lifted  
up his eyes and said1 ',father1 ,i thank
 thee that thou hast heard me' 7,john   
xi4 #da74 ,the ,father had heard ,jesus1
 for ,lazarus had come to the final act 
in the great drama of knowledge4 ,he had
 learned how resurrection is attained4  
,an initiation into the ,mysteries had  
been consummated4 ,it was a case of such
 an initiation as had been understood as
 such during the whole of antiquity4 ,it
 had taken place through ,jesus1 as the 
initiator4 ,union with the divine had   
always been conceived of in this way4   
,in ,lazarus ,jesus accomplished the    
great miracle of the transmutation of   
life in the sense of immemorial         
tradition4 ,through this event1         
,christianity is connected with the     
,mysteries4 ,lazarus had become an      
initiate through ,christ ,jesus         

,himself1 and had thereby become able to
 enter the higher worlds4 ,he was at    
once the first ,christian initiate and  
the first to be initiated by ,christ    
,jesus ,himself4 ,through his initiation
 he had become capable of recognising   
that the ,word which had been awakened  
within him had become a person in       
,christ ,jesus1 and that consequently   
there stood before him in the           
personality of his awakener1 the same   
force which had been spiritually        
manifested within him4 ,from this point 
of view1 these words of ,jesus are      
significant1 ,and ,i knew that thou     
hearest me always3 but because of the   
people which stand by ,i said it1 that  
they may believe that thou hast sent me4
 ,this means that the point is to make  
evident this fact3 in ,jesus lives the  
,son of the ,father in such a way that  
when he awakens his own nature in man1  
man becomes a ,mystic4 ,in this way     
,jesus made it plain that the meaning of
 life was hidden in the ,mysteries and  

that they were the path to this         
understanding4 ,he is the living ,word2 
in ,him was personified what had been   
immemorial tradition4 ,and therefore the
 ,evangelist is justified in expressing 
this in the sentence1 in ,him the ,word 
was made flesh4 ,he rightly sees in     
,jesus himself an incarnated ,mystery4  
,on this account1 ,st4 ,john's ,gospel  
is a ,mystery4 ,in order to read it     
rightly1 we must bear in mind that the  
facts are spiritual facts4 ,if a priest 
of the old order had written it1 he     
would have described traditional rites4 
,these for ,st4 ,john took the form of a
 person1 and became the life of ,jesus4 
,an eminent modern investigator of the  
,mysteries1 ,burkhardt in ,die ,zeit    
,konstantins1 says that they will never 
be cleared up4 ,this is because he has  
not found out how to explain them4 ,if  
we take the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john and   
see in it the working out in            
symbolic-corporeal reality the drama of 
knowledge presented by the ancients1 we 

are really gazing upon the ,mystery     
itself4  ,in the words1 ,lazarus1 come  
forth1 we can recognise the call with   
which the ,egyptian priestly initiators 
summoned back to every-day life those   
who1 temporarily removed from the world 
by the processes of initiation1 had     
undergone them in order to die to       
earthly things and to gain a conviction 
of the reality of the eternal4 ,jesus in
 this way revealed the secret of the    
,mysteries4 ,it is easy to understand   
that the ,jews could not let such an act
 go unpunished1 any more than the       
,greeks could have refrained from       
punishing schylus1 if he had betrayed   
the secrets of the ,mysteries4  ,the    
main point for ,jesus was to represent  
in the initiation of ,lazarus before all
 the people which stood by1 an event    
which in the old days of priestly wisdom
 could only be enacted in the recesses  
of the mystery-temples4 ,the initiation 
of ,lazarus was to prepare the way to   
the understanding of the ,mystery of    

,golgotha4 ,previously only those who   
saw1 that is to say1 who were initiated1
 were able to know something of what was
 achieved by initiation1 but now a      
conviction of the ,mysteries of higher  
worlds could also be gained by those who
 had not seen1 and yet had believed4    
,,footnotes3  #e ,this and other        
circumstances connected with the        
so-called raising of ,lazarus from the  
dead are to be understood in the light  
of the fact1 that ,lazarus' death-sleep 
was at the same time symbolic and       
real--it was in other words a symbolic  
reality1 a reality symbolising other    
realities1 and but for the action of    
,christ1 ,lazarus would have remained   
dead4     ,,ix  ,,the ,,apocalypse ,,of 
,,st4 ,,john   ,at the end of the ,new  
,testament stands a remarkable document1
 the ,apocalypse1 the secret ,revelation
 of ,st4 ,john4 ,we have only to read   
the opening words to feel the deep      
mystic character of this book4 ,the     
,revelation of ,jesus ,christ1 which    

,god gave unto him1 to shew unto his    
servants how the necessary things are   
shortly going to happen2 and this is    
sent in signs by the angel of ,god unto 
his servant ,john4 ,what is here        
revealed is sent in signs4 ,therefore we
 must not take the literal meaning of   
the words as they stand1 but seek for a 
deeper meaning of which the words are   
only signs4 ,but there are other things 
also which point to a hidden meaning4   
,st4 ,john addresses himself to the     
seven churches in ,asia4 ,not actual1   
material churches are meant2 the number 
seven is the sacred number1 chosen on   
account of its symbolic meaning4 ,the   
actual number of the ,asiatic churches  
was different4 ,and the manner in which 
,st4 ,john arrived at the revelation    
also points to something mysterious4 ,i 
was in the ,spirit on the ,lord's day1  
and heard behind me a great voice1 as of
 a trumpet1 saying1 ',what thou seest1  
write in a book1 and send it unto the   
seven churches4' ,thus1 we have to do   

with a revelation received by ,st4 ,john
 in the spirit4 ,and it is the          
revelation of ,jesus ,christ4 ,wrapped  
in a hidden meaning there appears what  
,christ ,jesus manifested to the world4 
,therefore we must also look for this   
hidden meaning in the teachings of      
,christ4 ,this revelation bears the same
 relation to ordinary ,christianity as  
was borne by the revelation of the      
,mysteries1 in pre-,christian times1 to 
the people's religion4 ,on this account 
the attempt to treat the ,apocalypse as 
a mystery appears to be justified4  ,the
 ,apocalypse is addressed to seven      
churches4 ,for the reason of this we    
have only to single out one of the seven
 messages sent4 ,in the first of these  
it is said1 ,unto the angel of the      
church of ,ephesus write2 these things  
saith he that holdeth the seven stars in
 his right hand1 who walketh in the     
midst of the seven golden candlesticks2 
,i know thy works1 and thy labour1 and  
thy patience1 and how thou canst not    

bear them which are evil3 and thou hast 
tried them which say they are apostles1 
and are not1 and hast found them liars3 
and hast borne1 and hast patience1 and  
for my name's sake hast laboured1 and   
hast not fainted4 ,nevertheless ,i have 
somewhat against thee1 because thou hast
 left thy highest love4 ,remember       
therefore from whence thou art fallen1  
and repent1 and do the best works2 or   
else ,i will come unto thee quickly1 and
 will remove thy candlestick out of his 
place1 except thou repent4 ,but this    
thou hast1 that thou hatest the deeds of
 the ,nicolaitanes1 which ,i also hate4 
,he that hath an ear1 let him hear what 
the ,spirit saith unto the churches2 to 
him that overcometh will ,i give to eat 
of the tree of life1 which is in the    
midst of the paradise of ,god4 ,this is 
the message addressed to the angel of   
the first community4 ,the angel1 who    
represents the spirit of this community1
 has entered upon the path pointed out  
by ,christianity4 ,he is able to        

distinguish between the false adherents 
of ,christianity and the true4 ,he      
wishes to be ,christian1 and has founded
 his work on the name of ,christ4 ,but  
it is required of him that he should not
 bar his own way to the highest love by 
any kind of mistakes4 ,he is shown the  
possibility of taking a wrong course    
through such errors4 ,through ,christ   
,jesus the way for attaining to the     
divine has been pointed out4            
,perseverance is needed for advancing   
further in the spirit in which the first
 impulse was given4 ,it is possible to  
believe too soon that one has the right 
spirit4 ,this happens when the disciple 
lets himself be led a short way by      
,christ and then leaves his leadership1 
giving way to false ideas about it4 ,the
 disciple thereby falls back again into 
the lower self4 ,he has left his highest
 love4 ,the knowledge which is attached 
to the senses and intellect may be      
raised into a higher sphere1 becoming   
wisdom1 by being spiritualised and made 

divine4 ,if it does not reach this      
height1 it remains amongst perishable   
things4 ,christ ,jesus has pointed out  
the path to the ,eternal1 and knowledge 
must with unwearied perseverance follow 
the path which leads to its becoming    
divine4 ,lovingly must it trace out the 
methods which transmute it into wisdom4 
,the ,nicolaitanes were a sect who took 
,christianity too lightly4 ,they saw one
 thing only1 that ,christ is the ,divine
 ,word1 the ,eternal ,wisdom which is   
born in man4 ,therefore they concluded  
that human wisdom was the ,divine ,word1
 and that it was enough to pursue human 
knowledge in order to realise the divine
 in the world4 ,but the meaning of      
,christian wisdom cannot be construed   
thus4 ,the knowledge which in the first 
instance is human wisdom is as          
perishable as anything else1 unless it  
is first transmuted into divine wisdom4 
,thou art not thus1 says the ,spirit to 
the angel of ,ephesus2 thou hast 'not   
relied' merely upon human wisdom4 ,thou 

hast patiently trodden the ,christian   
path4 ,but thou must not think that the 
'highest' love is not needed to attain  
to the goal4 ,such a love is necessary  
which far surpasses all love to other   
things4 ,only such can be the 'highest' 
love4 ,the path to the divine is an     
infinite one1 and it is to be understood
 that when the first step has been      
gained1 it can only be the preparation  
for ascending higher and higher4 ,such  
is the first of these messages1 as they 
are to be interpreted4 ,the meaning of  
the others may be found in a similar    
way4  ,st4 ,john turned1 and saw seven  
golden candlesticks1 and in the midst of
 the seven candlesticks one like unto   
the ,son of ,man1 clothed with a garment
 down to the foot1 and girt about the   
paps with a golden girdle4 ,his head and
 his hairs were white like wool1 as     
white as snow2 and his eyes were as a   
flame of fire4 ,we are told 7i4 #bj7    
that the seven candlesticks are the     
seven churches4 ,this means that the    

candlesticks are seven different ways of
 attaining to the divine4 ,they are all 
more or less imperfect4 ,and the ,son of
 ,man had in his right hand seven stars 
7v4 #af74 ,the seven stars are the      
angels of the seven churches 7v4 #bj74  
,the guiding spirits1 or daimons 7cf4 p4
 #hg71 of the wisdom of the ,mysteries  
have here become the guiding angels of  
the churches4 ,the churches are         
represented as bodies for spiritual     
beings1 and the angels are the souls of 
those bodies1 just as human souls are   
the guiding powers of human bodies4 ,the
 churches are the imperfect ways to the 
divine1 and the souls of the churches   
were to become guides along those paths4
 ,for this purpose they must themselves 
have for their leader the being who has 
in his right hand seven stars4 ,and out 
of his mouth went a sharp two-edged     
sword3 and his countenance was as the   
sun shineth in his strength4 ,this sword
 is also found in the ,mysteries4 ,the  
candidate for initiation was terrified  

by a flashing sword 7cf4 p4 #ah74 ,this 
indicates the situation of one who      
wishes to know the divine by experience1
 so that the face of wisdom may shine   
upon him like the sun4 ,st4 ,john also  
goes through this experience4 ,it is to 
be a test of his strength 7cf4 p4 #ah74 
,and when ,i saw him1 ,i fell at his    
feet as dead4 ,and he laid his right    
hand upon me1 saying unto me1 ,fear not 
7v4 #ag74 ,the candidate for initiation 
must pass through the experiences which 
otherwise man only undergoes at the gate
 of death4 ,his guide must lead him     
beyond the region in which birth and    
death have a meaning4 ,the initiate     
enters upon a new life4 ,and ,i was     
dead2 and1 behold1 ,i am alive for      
evermore1 ,amen2 and have the keys of   
hell and of death4  ,thus prepared1 ,st4
 ,john is led on to learn the secrets of
 existence4 ,after this ,i looked1 and1 
behold1 a door was opened in heaven3 and
 the first voice which ,i heard was as  
it were of a trumpet talking with me2   

which said1 ,come up hither1 and ,i will
 shew thee things which must be         
hereafter4 ,the messages to the seven   
spirits of the churches make known to   
,st4 ,john what is to take place in the 
physical world in order to prepare the  
way for ,christianity4 ,what he now sees
 in the ,spirit takes him to the        
spiritual fountain-head of things1      
hidden behind physical evolution1 but   
which will be realised1 in a            
spiritualised age1 in the near future1  
by means of physical evolution4 ,the    
initiate experiences now in the spirit  
what is to happen in the future1--,and  
immediately ,i was in the spirit3 and1  
behold1 a throne was set in heaven1 and 
one sat on the throne4 ,and he that sat 
was to look upon like a jasper and a    
sardine stone3 and there was a rainbow  
round about the throne1 in sight like   
unto an emerald4 ,in this way is        
described the source of things in the   
world of sense1 in the pictures in which
 it appears to the seer4 ,and round     

about the throne were four and twenty   
seats3 and upon the seats ,i saw four   
and twenty elders sitting1 clothed in   
white raiment2 and they had on their    
heads crowns of gold 7iv4 #b-d74 ,the   
beings far advanced on the path of      
wisdom thus surround the fountain-head  
of existence1 to gaze on its infinite   
essence and bear testimony to it4 ,and  
in the midst of the throne1 and round   
about the throne1 were four beasts full 
of eyes before and behind4 ,and the     
first beast was like a lion1 and the    
second beast like a calf1 and the third 
beast had a face as a man1 and the      
fourth beast was like a flying eagle4   
,and the four beasts had each of them   
six wings about him2 and they were full 
of eyes within3 and they rest not day   
and night1 saying1 ,holy1 holy1 holy1   
,lord ,god ,almighty1 which was1 and is1
 and is to come4 ,it is not difficult to
 see that the four beasts represent the 
supersensible life underlying physical  
forms of life4 ,afterwards1 when the    

trumpets sound1 they lift up their      
voices1 i4e41 when the life expressed in
 sense-forms has been transmuted into   
spiritual life4  ,in the right hand of  
him who sits on the throne is the book  
in which the path to the highest wisdom 
is traced out 7v4 #a74 ,there is only   
one worthy to open the book4 ,behold1   
the ,lion of the tribe of ,juda1 the    
,root of ,david1 hath prevailed to open 
the book and to loose the seven seals   
thereof4 ,the seven seals of the book   
denote that human wisdom is sevenfold4  
,that this is so is again connected with
 the sacred character of the number     
seven4 ,the mystic wisdom of ,philo     
designates as seals the eternal cosmic  
thoughts which come to expression in    
things4 ,human wisdom seeks for those   
creative thoughts2 but only in the book1
 which is sealed with them1 is divine   
truth to be found4 ,the fundamental     
thoughts of creation must first be      
unveiled1 the seals must be opened1     
before what is in the book can be       

revealed4 ,jesus1 the ,lion1 has power  
to open the seals4 ,he has given a      
direction to the great creative thoughts
 which1 through them1 leads to wisdom4  
,the ,lamb that was slain and that has  
bought its divinity with its blood1     
,jesus1 who drew down the ,christ into  
,himself and who thus1 in the supreme   
sense1 passed through the               
,life-,death-,mystery1 opens the book   
7v4 #i1 #aj74 ,and as each seal is      
opened 7vi71 the four beasts declare    
what they know4  ,at the opening of the 
first seal1 ,st4 ,john sees a white     
horse1 on which sits a rider with a bow4
 ,the first universal power1 an         
embodiment of ,creative ,thought1       
becomes visible4 ,it is put into the    
right direction by the new rider1       
,christianity4 ,strife is allayed by the
 new faith4 ,at the opening of the      
second seal a red horse appears1 ridden 
by one who takes away from the earth    
,peace1--the second universal power1 so 
that humanity may not neglect1 through  

sloth1 to cultivate divine things4 ,the 
opening of the third seal shows the     
universal power of ,justice1 guided by  
,christianity4 ,the fourth brings the   
power of ,religion which1 through       
,christianity1 has received new dignity4
  ,the meaning of the four beasts thus  
becomes plain4 ,they are the four chief 
universal powers1 to which ,christianity
 gives a new direction3 ,war 7the lion72
 ,peaceful ,work 7the bull72 ,justice   
7the being with the human face72 and    
,religious ,enthusiasm 7the eagle74 ,the
 meaning of the third being becomes     
clear when it is said1 at the opening of
 the third seal1 ,a measure of wheat for
 a penny1 and three measures of barley  
for a penny1 and that the rider holds a 
pair of balances4 ,and at the opening of
 the fourth seal a rider becomes visible
 whose name was ,death1 and ,hell       
followed with him4 ,this rider is       
,religious ,justice 7vi4 #f1 #h74 ,when 
the fifth seal is opened there appear   
the souls of those who have already     

acted in the spirit of ,christianity4   
,creative thought itself1 embodied in   
,christianity1 shows itself here2 but by
 this ,christianity is at first meant   
only the first ,christian community1    
which was transitory like other forms of
 creation4 ,the sixth seal is opened    
7vi472 it is made evident that the      
spiritual world of ,christianity is an  
eternal world4 ,the people at large seem
 to be permeated by that spiritual world
 out of which ,christianity itself      
proceeded4 ,what it has itself created  
becomes sanctified4 ,and ,i heard the   
number of them which were sealed3 and   
there were sealed an hundred and forty  
and four thousand of all the tribes of  
the children of ,israel 7vii4 #d74 ,they
 are those who prepared for the ,eternal
 before the coming of ,christianity1 and
 who were transformed by the            
,christ-impulse4  ,the opening of the   
seventh seal follows4 ,it becomes       
evident what true ,christianity is to be
 in the evolution of the world4 ,the    

seven angels1 which stood before ,god1  
appear 7,rev4 viii4 #b74 ,again these   
angels are spirits from the ancient     
,mysteries transferred to ,christianity4
 ,they are the spirits who lead to the  
vision of ,god in a really ,christian   
way4 ,therefore what is next            
accomplished is a leading to ,god3 it is
 an initiation which is bestowed upon   
,st4 ,john4 ,the proclamations of the   
angels are accompanied by the necessary 
signs during initiations4 ,the first    
angel sounded and there followed hail   
and fire mingled with blood1 and they   
were cast upon the earth3 and the third 
part of trees was burnt up1 and all     
green grass was burnt up4 ,and similar  
things take place when the other angels 
sound their trumpets4  ,at this point we
 see that this was not merely an        
initiation in the old sense1 but that a 
new one was taking the place of the old4
 ,christianity was not to be confined1  
like the ancient ,mysteries1 to a few   
elect ones4 ,it was to belong to the    

whole of humanity4 ,it was to be a      
religion of the people2 the truth was to
 be ready for each one who has ears to  
hear4 ,the old ,mystics were singled out
 from a great number2 the trumpets of   
,christianity sound for every one who is
 willing to hear them4 ,whether he draws
 near or not depends on himself4 ,this  
is the reason why the terrors           
accompanying this initiation of humanity
 are so enormously enhanced4 ,what is to
 become of the earth and its inhabitants
 in a far distant future is revealed to 
,st4 ,john at his initiation4           
,underlying this is the thought that    
initiates are able to foresee in higher 
worlds what is realised in the lower    
world only in the future4 ,the seven    
messages present the meaning of         
,christianity to that age1 the seven    
seals represent what was then being     
prepared through ,christianity for      
future accomplishment4 ,the future is   
veiled and sealed to the uninitiated2 it
 is unsealed in initiation4 ,when the   

earthly period is over during which the 
seven messages hold good1 a more        
spiritual time will begin4 ,then life   
will no more flow on as it appears in   
physical forms1 but even outwardly it   
will be a copy of its supersensible     
forms4 ,these latter are represented by 
the four animals and the other          
seal-pictures4 ,in a still later future 
appears that form of the earth which the
 initiate experiences through the       
trumpets4  ,thus the initiate           
prophetically goes through what is to   
happen4 ,and the ,christian initiate    
learns how the ,christ-impulse          
interposes and works on in earthly      
evolution4 ,after it has been shown how 
all that is too much attached to        
perishable things perishes to attain    
true ,christianity1 there appears the   
mighty angel with a little book open in 
his hand1 which he gives to ,st4 ,john4 
,and he said unto me1 ,take it1 and eat 
it up2 and it shall make thy belly      
bitter1 but it shall be in thy mouth    

sweet as honey 7x4 #i74 ,st4 ,john was  
not only to read the little book1 he was
 to absorb it and let its contents      
permeate him4 ,what avails any knowledge
 unless man is vitally and thoroughly   
imbued with it8 ,wisdom has to become   
life1 man must not merely recognise the 
divine1 but become divine himself4 ,such
 wisdom as is written in the book no    
doubt causes pain to the perishable part
 of man1 it shall make thy belly bitter1
 but so much the more does it make happy
 the eternal part1 but it shall be in   
thy mouth sweet as honey4  ,only by such
 an initiation can ,christianity become 
actual on the earth4 ,it kills          
everything belonging to the lower       
nature4 ,and their dead bodies shall lie
 in the street of the great city1 which 
spiritually is called ,sodom and ,egypt1
 where also our ,lord was crucified4 ,by
 this is meant the followers of ,christ1
 who are ill-treated by the temporal    
powers4 ,but what is ill-treated is only
 the mortal part of human nature1 which 

they will afterwards have conquered4    
,thereby their fate is a copy of the    
prefiguring fate of ,christ ,jesus4     
,spiritually ,sodom and ,egypt is the   
symbol of a life which cleaves to the   
outer and is not changed by the         
,christ-impulse4 ,christ is everywhere  
crucified in the lower nature4 ,when the
 lower nature conquers1 all remains     
dead4 ,the dead bodies of men lie about 
in the public places of cities4 ,those  
who overcome the lower nature and awaken
 the crucified ,christ hear the trumpet 
of the seventh angel1 the kingdoms of   
this world are become the kingdoms of   
our ,lord1 and of his ,christ1 and he   
shall reign for ever and ever 7xi4 #ae74
 ,and the temple of ,god was opened in  
heaven1 and there was seen in his temple
 the ark of his testament 7xi4 #ai74    
,in the vision of these events1 the     
initiate sees renewed the old struggle  
between the lower and the higher        
natures4 ,for everything which the      
candidate for initiation formerly had to

 go through must be repeated in one who 
follows the ,christian path4 ,just as   
,osiris was threatened by the evil      
,typhon so now the great dragon1 that   
old serpent 7xii4 #i7 must be overcome4 
,the woman1 the human soul1 gives birth 
to lower knowledge1 which is an adverse 
power if it is not raised to wisdom4    
,man must pass through that lower       
knowledge4 ,in the ,apocalypse it       
appears as the old serpent4 ,from the   
remotest times the serpent had been the 
symbol of knowledge in all mystic       
wisdom4 ,man may be led astray by this  
serpent1--knowledge1--if he does not    
bring to life in him the ,son of ,god1  
who crushes the serpent's head4 ,and the
 great dragon was cast out1 that old    
serpent1 called the ,devil1 and ,satan1 
which deceiveth the whole world3 he was 
cast out into the earth1 and his angels 
were cast out with him 7xii4 #i74 ,in   
these words we can see what it was that 
,christianity wished to be3--a new kind 
of initiation4 ,what had been attained  

in the ,mysteries was to be attained in 
a new form4 ,for in them too the serpent
 had to be overcome1 but this was no    
longer to take place in the old way4    
,the one1 primeval mystery1 the         
,christian mystery1 was to replace the  
many mysteries of antiquity4 ,jesus1 in 
whom the ,logos had been made flesh1 was
 to become the initiator of the whole of
 humanity1 and humanity was to be his   
own community of ,mystics4  ,what was to
 take place was not a separation of the 
elect1 but a linking together of all4   
,as each grows up to it so does he      
become a ,mystic4 ,the good tidings are 
announced to all1 he who has an ear to  
hear hastens to learn the secrets4 ,the 
voice of the heart is to decide in each 
individual case4 ,it is not that one    
person at a time is introduced into the 
,mystery-temples1 but that the word is  
to be spoken to all1 to one it will then
 appeal more strongly than to another4  
,it will be left to the daimon1 the     
angel within each individual1 to decide 

how far the latter may be initiated4    
,the whole world is a ,mystery-temple4  
,not only is salvation to come to those 
who see the wonderful processes in the  
special temples for                     
initiation1--processes which give them a
 guarantee of eternal life1 but ,blessed
 are they that have not seen1 and yet   
have believed4 ,even if at first they   
grope in the dark1 the light may        
nevertheless come to them later4        
,nothing is to be withheld from any one2
 the way is to be open to all4  ,the    
latter part of the ,apocalypse describes
 clearly the dangers threatening        
,christianity through anti-,christian   
powers1 and the final triumph of        
,christianity4 ,all other gods are      
merged in the one ,christian divinity3  
,and the city had no need of the sun1   
neither of the moon to shine in it3 for 
the glory of ,god did lighten it1 and   
the ,lamb is the light thereof 7xxi4    
#bc74 ,the secret of the ,revelation of 
,st4 ,john is that the ,mysteries are no

 longer to be kept under lock and key4  
,and he saith unto me1 ,seal not the    
sayings of the prophecy of this book1   
for the time is at hand4  ,the author of
 the ,apocalypse has set forth what he  
believes to be the relation of his      
church to the churches of antiquity4 ,he
 wished to express in a spiritual       
mystery what he thought about the       
,mysteries themselves4 ,he wrote his    
mystery on the isle of ,patmos1 and he  
is said to have received the ,revelation
 in a grotto4 ,these details indicate   
that the revelation was of a mystery    
character4  ,thus ,christianity arose   
out of the ,mysteries4 ,its wisdom is   
born as a mystery in the ,apocalypse1   
but a mystery which transcends the      
limits of the old mystery world4 ,the   
separate ,mysteries were to become one  
universal one4  ,it may appear to be a  
contradiction to say that the secrets of
 the ,mysteries became manifest through 
,christianity1 and that nevertheless a  
,christian mystery is to be seen again  

in the spiritual visions of the writer  
of the ,apocalypse4 ,the contradiction  
disappears directly we reflect that the 
secrets of the ancient ,mysteries were  
revealed by the events in ,palestine4   
,through these there became manifest    
what had previously been veiled in the  
,mysteries4 ,there is now a new secret1 
namely what has been introduced into the
 evolution of the world by the          
appearance of the ,christ4 ,the initiate
 of ancient times1 when in the spiritual
 world1 saw how evolution points the way
 to the as yet hidden ,christ4 ,the     
,christian initiate experiences the     
unseen effects of the manifested        
,christ4     ,x  ,,jesus ,,and ,,his    
,,historical ,,background   ,in the     
wisdom of the ,mysteries is to be sought
 the soil out of which grew the spirit  
of ,christianity4 ,all that was needed  
was the gaining ground of the           
fundamental conviction that this spirit 
must be introduced into life in greater 
measure than had been the case with the 

,mysteries4 ,but such a conviction was  
widely spread1 as may be seen from the  
manner of life of the ,essenes and      
,therapeut1 who existed long before     
,christianity arose4  ,the ,essenes were
 a secluded sect1 living in ,palestine1 
whose numbers at the time of ,christ    
were estimated at four thousand4 ,they  
formed a community which required that  
its members should lead a life which    
developed a higher life within the soul1
 and brought about a new birth4 ,the    
aspirant for admission was subjected to 
a severe test1 in order to ascertain    
whether he were ripe for preparing      
himself for a higher life4 ,if he was   
admitted1 he had to undergo a period of 
probation1 and to take a solemn oath    
that he would not betray to strangers   
the secrets of the ,essenian discipline4
 ,the object of this life was the       
conquest of the lower nature in man1 so 
that the spirit latent within him might 
be awakened ever more and more4 ,one who
 had experienced up to a certain point  

the spirit within him was raised to a   
higher grade1 and enjoyed a             
corresponding degree of authority1 not  
forced from without1 but conditioned by 
the nature of things4  ,akin to the     
,essenes were the ,therapeut1 who dwelt 
in ,egypt4 ,we get all desirable details
 of their mode of life in a treatise by 
the philosopher ,philo1 ,on the         
,contemplative ,life4 7,the dispute as  
to the authenticity of this work must   
now be regarded as settled1 and it may  
be rightly assumed that ,philo really   
described the life of a community       
existing long before ,christianity1 and 
well known to him4 ,cf4 on the subject1 
,g4,r4 ,mead's ,fragments of a ,faith   
,forgotten47 ,a few passages from       
,philo's treatise will give an idea of  
the main tenets of the ,therapeut4 ,the 
dwellings of the members of the         
community are extremely simple1 only    
affording necessary shelter from extreme
 heat and cold4 ,the dwellings are not  
built close together1 as in towns1 for  

contiguity has no attraction for one who
 wishes for solitude2 nor are they at a 
great distance one from another1 in     
order that the social relations1 so dear
 to them1 may not be made difficult1 and
 that they may easily be able to assist 
each other in case of an attack by      
brigands4 ,in each house is a           
consecrated room called a temple or     
monasterion1 a small room or cell in    
which the mysteries of the higher life  
are cultivated4444 ,they also possess   
works by ancient authors who once       
directed their school1 and left behind  
many explanations about the customary   
method used in allegorical writings4444 
,their interpretation of sacred writings
 is directed to the deeper meaning of   
allegorical narratives4  ,we thus see   
that what had been striven after in the 
narrower circle of the ,mysteries was   
being made general4 ,but such a         
generalisation naturally weakened their 
severe character4 ,the ,essene and      
,therapeutic communities form a natural 

transition from the ,mysteries to       
,christianity4 ,but ,christianity wished
 to extend to humanity in general what  
with the ,essenes and ,therapeut was an 
affair of a sect4 ,this of course       
prepared the way for a still further    
weakening of the old severe forms4  ,the
 existence of such sects makes it       
possible to understand how far the time 
was ripe for the comprehension of the   
mystery of ,christ4 ,in the ,mysteries1 
a man was artificially prepared for the 
dawning upon his consciousness1 at the  
appropriate time1 of the spiritual      
world4 ,within the ,essene or           
,therapeutic community the soul sought1 
by a certain mode of life1 to become    
ripe for the awakening of the higher    
man4 ,a further step forward is that man
 struggles through to a feeling that a  
human individuality may have evolved to 
higher and higher stages of perfection  
in repeated earth lives4 ,one who had   
arrived at a glimpse of this truth would
 also be able to feel that in ,jesus a  

being of lofty spirituality had         
appeared4 ,the loftier the spirituality1
 the greater the possibility of         
accomplishing something of importance4  
,thus the individuality of ,jesus could 
become capable of accomplishing the deed
 which the ,evangelists so mysteriously 
indicate in the ,baptism by ,john1 and  
which1 by the way in which they speak of
 it1 they so clearly point out as of the
 utmost importance4 ,the personality of 
,jesus became able to receive into its  
own soul ,christ1 the ,logos1 who was   
made flesh in that soul4 ,thenceforward 
the ,ego of ,jesus of ,nazareth was the 
,christ1 and the outer personality was  
the vehicle of the ,logos4 ,the event of
 the ,ego of ,jesus becoming the ,christ
 is enacted in the ,baptism by ,st4     
,john4 ,during the period of the        
,mysteries1 union with the ,spirit was  
only for those who were initiated4      
,amongst the ,essenes1 a whole community
 cultivated a life by means of which all
 its members were able to arrive at the 

mystical union4 ,in the coming of       
,christ1 something1 i4e41 the deeds of  
,christ1 was placed before the whole of 
humanity1 so that all might share in the
 mystical union4     ,,xi  ,,the        
,,nature ,,of ,,christianity   ,the     
deepest effect must have been produced  
upon believers in ,christianity by the  
fact that the ,divine1 the ,word1 the   
eternal ,logos1 no longer came to them  
in the dim twilight of the ,mysteries1  
as ,spirit only1 but that when they     
spoke of the ,logos1 they were made to  
think of the historical1 human          
personality of ,jesus4 ,formerly the    
,logos had only been seen in different  
degrees of human perfection4 ,the       
delicate1 subtle differences in the     
spiritual life of personalities could be
 observed1 and the manner and degree in 
which the ,logos became living within   
those seeking initiation4 ,a higher     
degree of maturity was to be interpreted
 as a higher stage of evolution of      
spiritual life4 ,the preparatory steps  

had to be sought in a spiritual life    
already passed through1 and the present 
life was to be regarded as the          
preparatory stage for future degrees of 
spiritual evolution4 ,the conservation  
of the spiritual power of the soul and  
the eternity of that force might be     
stated in the words of the ,jewish      
occult teaching in the book of ,sohar1  
,nothing in the world is lost1 nothing  
falls into the void1 not even the words 
and voice of man3 everything has its    
place and purport4 ,personality was but 
a metamorphosis of the soul1 which      
develops from one personality to        
another4 ,the single life of the        
personality was only considered as a    
link in the chain of development        
stretching backwards and forwards4      
,this ,logos metamorphosing itself in   
the many separate human personalities   
has through ,christianity been directed 
away from these to the one unique       
personality of ,jesus4 ,what had        
previously been distributed throughout  

the world was now united in a single    
personality4 ,jesus became the unique   
,god-,man4 ,in ,jesus something was     
present once which must appear to man as
 the greatest of ideals1 and with which1
 in the course of man's repeated earthly
 lives1 he ought to be more and more    
united4 ,jesus took upon ,himself the   
divinisation of the whole of humanity4  
,in ,him was sought what formerly could 
only be sought in a man's own particular
 soul4 ,one did not any more behold the 
divine and eternal within the           
personality of a man2 all that was now  
beheld in ,jesus4 ,it is not the eternal
 part of the soul that conquers death   
and is raised through its own power as  
divine1 but it is that which was in     
,jesus1 the one ,god that will appear   
and raise the souls4  ,it follows from  
this that an entirely new meaning was   
given to personality4 ,the eternal1     
immortal part had been taken from it4   
,only the personality1 as such1 was     
left4 ,if immortality be not denied1 it 

has to be admitted as pertaining to the 
personality itself4 ,out of the belief  
in the soul's eternal metamorphosis came
 the belief in personal immortality4    
,the personality acquired infinite      
importance1 because it was the only     
thing which was left to man4            
,henceforth there is nothing between the
 personality and the infinite ,god4 ,a  
direct relation with ,him must be       
established4 ,man was no longer capable 
of himself becoming divine1 in a greater
 or less degree4 ,he was simply man1    
standing in a direct but outward        
relation to ,god4 ,this brought quite a 
new note into the conception of the     
world for those who knew the point of   
view held in the ancient ,mysteries4    
,there were many people in this position
 during the first centuries of          
,christianity4 ,they knew the nature of 
the ,mysteries4 ,if they wished to      
become ,christians1 they were obliged to
 come to an understanding with the older
 conceptions4 ,this brought them most   

difficult conflicts within their souls4 
,they sought in most various ways to    
effect a settlement between the two     
tendencies in the conception of the     
world4 ,this conflict is reflected in   
the writings of early ,christian times3 
in those of heathens attracted by the   
sublimity of ,christianity1 as well as  
in the writings of those ,christians who
 found it hard to give up the           
conceptions of the ,mysteries4 ,slowly  
did ,christianity grow out of these     
,mysteries4 ,on the one hand ,christian 
convictions were presented in the form  
of the ,mystery truths1 and on the      
other1 the ,mystery wisdom was clothed  
in ,christian words4  ,clement of       
,alexandria 7ob4 #bag ,a4,d471 a        
,christian writer whose education had   
been pagan1 is an instance of this1 ,god
 has not forbidden us to rest from good 
deeds when keeping the sabbath4 ,he     
permits those who can grasp them to     
share in the divine mysteries and in the
 sacred light4 ,he has not revealed to  

the crowd what is not suitable for them4
 ,he judged it fitting to reveal it only
 to a few1 who are able to grasp it and 
to work out in themselves the           
unspeakable mystery which ,god confided 
to the ,logos1 not to the written word4 
,and ,god hath set some in the ,church  
as apostles2 and some prophets2 and some
 evangelists2 and some pastors and      
teachers2 for the perfecting of the     
saints1 for the work of the ministry1   
for the edifying of the body of ,christ4
 ,individual souls in those days sought 
by very different paths to find the way 
from the ancient views to the ,christian
 ones4 ,and the one who thought he was  
on the right path called others         
heretics4 ,in the meanwhile1 the ,church
 grew stronger and stronger as an       
outward institution4 ,the more power it 
gained1 the more did the path1          
recognised as the right one by the      
decisions of councils1 take the place of
 personal investigation4 ,it was for the
 ,church to decide who deviated too far 

from the divine truth which she guarded4
 ,the idea of a heretic took firmer and 
firmer shape4 ,during the first         
centuries of ,christianity1 the search  
for the divine path was a much more     
personal matter than it afterwards      
became4 ,a long distance had been       
travelled before ,augustine's conviction
 became possible3 ,i should not believe 
in the truth of the ,gospels unless the 
authority of the ,catholic ,church      
forced me to do so 7cf4 p4 #adc74  ,the 
conflict between the method of the      
,mysteries and that of the ,christian   
religion acquired a special stamp       
through the various ,gnostic sects and  
writers4 ,we may class as ,gnostics all 
the writers of the first ,christian     
centuries who sought for a deep1        
spiritual meaning in ,christian         
teachings4 7,a brilliant account of the 
development of the ,gnosis is given in  
,g4,r4,s4 ,mead's book mentioned above1 
,fragments of a ,faith ,forgotten47 ,we 
understand the ,gnostics when we look   

upon them as saturated with the ancient 
wisdom of the ,mysteries1 and striving  
to understand ,christianity from that   
point of view4 ,for them1 ,christ was   
the ,logos1 and as such of a spiritual  
nature4 ,in ,his primal essence1 ,he    
cannot approach man from without4 ,he   
must be awakened in the soul4 ,but the  
historical ,jesus must bear some        
relation to the spiritual ,logos4 ,this 
was the crucial point for the ,gnostics4
 ,some settled it in one way1 some in   
another4 ,the essential point common to 
them all was that to arrive at a true   
understanding of the ,christ-idea1 mere 
historical tradition was not enough1 but
 that it must be sought either in the   
wisdom of the ,mysteries1 or in the     
,neo-,platonic philosophy which was     
derived from the same source4 ,the      
,gnostics had confidence in human       
wisdom1 and believed it capable of      
bringing forth a ,christ by whom the    
historical ,christ could be measured3 in
 fact1 through whom alone the latter    

could be understood and beheld in the   
right light4  ,of special interest from 
this point of view is the doctrine given
 in the books of ,dionysius the         
,areopagite4 ,it is true that there is  
no mention of these writings till the   
sixth century2 it matters little when   
and where they were written1 the point  
is that they give an account of         
,christianity which is clothed in the   
language of the ,neo-,platonic          
philosophy and presented in the form of 
a spiritual contemplation of the higher 
world4 ,at all events this is a form of 
delineation which belongs to the first  
,christian centuries4 ,in older times   
the truth was handed on in the form of  
oral tradition2 the most important      
things were not entrusted to writing4   
,the ,christianity described in the     
writings of ,dionysius is set forth in  
the mirror of the ,neo-,platonic        
conception of the world4                
,sense-perception troubles man's        
spiritual vision4 ,he must reach out    

beyond the senses4 ,but all human ideas 
are primarily derived from observation  
by the senses4 ,what man perceives with 
his senses1 he calls existence2 what he 
does not so perceive1 he calls          
non-existence4 ,therefore if he wishes  
to open up an actual view of the        
,divine1 he must rise above existence   
and non-existence1 for these also1 as he
 conceives them1 have their origin in   
the sphere of the senses4 ,in this sense
 ,god is neither existent nor           
non-existent2 he is super-existent4     
,consequently he cannot be attained by  
means of ordinary cognition1 which has  
to do with existing things4 ,we have to 
be raised above ourselves1 above our    
sense-observation1 above our reasoning  
logic1 if we are to find the way to     
spiritual vision4 ,thence we are able to
 get a glimpse into the perspectives of 
the ,divine4  ,but this super-existent  
,divinity has brought forth the ,logos1 
the basis of the universe1 filled with  
wisdom4 ,to him man's lower powers are  

able to attain4 ,he is present in the   
cosmos as the spiritual ,son of ,god1 he
 is the ,mediator between ,god and man4 
,he may be present in man in various    
degrees4 ,he may for instance be        
realised in an external institution1 in 
which those diversely imbued with his   
spirit are grouped into a hierarchy4 ,a 
church of this kind is the outer reality
 of the ,logos1 and the power which     
lives in it lived in a personal way in  
the ,christ become flesh1 in ,jesus4    
,thus the ,church is through ,jesus     
united to ,god3 ,jesus is its meaning   
and crowning-point4  ,one thing was     
clear to all ,gnosis1 that one must come
 to an understanding about the          
personality of ,jesus4 ,christ and      
,jesus must be brought into connection  
with one another4 ,divinity was taken   
away from human personality and must1 in
 one way or another1 be recovered4 ,it  
must be possible to find it again in    
,jesus4 ,the ,mystic had to do with a   
degree of divinity within himself1 and  

with his earthly personality4 ,the      
,christian had to do with the latter1   
and also with a perfect ,god1 far above 
all that is attainable by humanity4 ,if 
we hold firmly to this point of view1 a 
fundamental mystic attitude of the soul 
is only possible when the soul's        
spiritual eyes are opened2 when1 through
 finding higher spiritual possibilities 
within itself1 the soul throws itself   
open to the light which issues from     
,christ in ,jesus4 ,the union of the    
soul with its highest powers is at the  
same time union with the historical     
,christ4 ,for mysticism is an immediate 
consciousness and feeling of the divine 
within the soul4 ,but a ,god far        
transcending everything human can never 
dwell in the soul in the real sense of  
the word4 ,the ,gnosis and all          
subsequent ,christian mysticism         
represent the effort1 in some way or    
other1 to lay hold of that ,god1 and to 
apprehend ,him directly in the soul4  ,a
 conflict in this case was inevitable4  

,it was really only possible for a man  
to find his own divine part1 but this is
 both human and divine1--the divine at a
 certain stage of development4 ,yet the 
,christian ,god is a definite one1      
perfect in himself4 ,it was possible for
 a person to find in himself the power  
to strive upwards to this ,god1 but he  
could not say that what he experienced  
in his own soul1 at any stage of        
development1 was one with ,god4 ,a great
 gulf was fixed between what it was     
possible to find in the soul1 and what  
,christianity called divine4 ,it is the 
gulf between science and faith1 between 
knowledge and religious feeling4  ,this 
gulf does not exist for the ,mystic in  
the old sense of the word4 ,for he knows
 for a certainty that he can only       
comprehend the divine by degrees1 and he
 also knows why this is so4 ,it is clear
 to him that this gradual attainment is 
a real attainment of real divine life1  
and he finds it difficult to speak of a 
perfect1 isolated divine principle4 ,a  

,mystic of this kind does not seek a    
perfect ,god1 but he wishes to          
experience the divine life4 ,he seeks to
 be made divine1 not to gain an external
 relation to the ,godhead4  ,it is of   
the essence of ,christianity that its   
mysticism in this sense starts with an  
assumption4 ,the ,christian ,mystic     
seeks to behold divinity within him1 but
 at the same time he looks up to the    
historical ,christ as his physical eyes 
do to the sun4 ,just as the sun is the  
means by which physical eyes behold     
physical objects1 so does the ,christian
 ,mystic intensify his inner nature that
 it may behold the divine1 and the light
 which makes such vision possible for   
him is the fact of the appearance of    
,christ4 ,it is ,he who enables man to  
attain his highest possibilities4 ,it is
 in this way that the ,christian        
,mystics of the ,middle ,ages differ    
from the ,mystics of the ancient        
,mysteries 7cf4 my book1 ,mystics of the
 ,renaissance74     ,,xii               

,,christianity ,,and ,,heathen ,,wisdom 
,at the time of the first beginnings of 
,christianity1 there appear in heathen  
civilisation conceptions of the universe
 which seem to be a continuation of the 
,platonic philosophy1 and which may also
 be taken as a deepening and            
spiritualisation of the wisdom of the   
,mysteries4 ,the beginning of such      
conceptions is to be dated from ,philo  
of ,alexandria 7,b4,c4 #be-;,a4,d4 #ej74
 ,from his point of view the processes  
which lead to the divine take place in  
the innermost part of the human soul4   
,we might say that the temple in which  
,philo seeks initiation is wholly within
 him1 and his higher experiences are the
 ,mysteries4 ,in his case processes of a
 purely spiritual nature replace the    
initiatory ceremonies of the sanctuary4 
,according to ,philo1 sense-observation 
and knowledge gained through the logical
 intellect do not lead to the divine4   
,they have merely to do with what is    
perishable4 ,but there is a way by which

 the soul may rise above these methods4 
,it must come out of what it calls its  
ordinary self3 from this it must        
withdraw4 ,then it enters a state of    
spiritual exaltation and illumination1  
in which it no longer knows1 thinks1 and
 judges in the ordinary sense of the    
words2 for it has become merged1        
identified with the divine1 which is    
experienced in its essence1 and cannot  
be imparted in thought-concepts or      
abstract ideas4 ,it is experienced1 and 
one who goes through this experience    
knows that no one can impart it1 for the
 only way of reaching it is to live it4 
,the visible world is an image of this  
mystic reality which is experienced in  
the inmost recesses of the soul4 ,the   
world has come forth from the invisible1
 inconceivable ,god4 ,the harmony of the
 cosmos1 which is steeped in wisdom1 and
 to which sense-phenomena are subject1  
is a direct reflection of the ,godhead1 
its spiritual image4 ,it is divine      
spirit poured out into the              

world1--cosmic reason1 the ,logos1 the  
offspring or ,son of ,god4 ,the ,logos  
is the mediator between the world of    
sense and the unimaginable ,god4 ,when  
man steeps himself in knowledge1 he     
becomes united with the ,logos1 which is
 embodied in him4 ,the person who has   
developed spirituality is the vehicle of
 the ,logos4 ,above the ,logos is ,god2 
beneath is the perishable world4 ,it is 
man's vocation to form the link between 
the two4 ,what he experiences in his    
inmost being1 as spirit1 is the         
universal ,spirit4 ,such ideas are      
directly reminiscent of the ,pythagorean
 manner of thinking 7cf4 p4 #eg et      
seq474  ,the centre of existence is     
sought in the inner life1 but this life 
is conscious of its cosmic value4 ,st4  
,augustine was thinking in virtually the
 same way as ,philo1 when he said3 ,we  
see all created things because they are2
 but they are1 because ,god sees them4  
,and he adds1 concerning what and how we
 see3 ,and because they are1 we see them

 outwardly2 because they are perfect1 we
 see them inwardly4  ,plato has the same
 fundamental idea 7cf4 p4 #fc et seq474 
,like ,plato1 ,philo sees in the destiny
 of the human soul the closing act of   
the great cosmic drama1 the awakening of
 the divinity that is under a spell4 ,he
 thus describes the inner actions of the
 soul3 the wisdom in man's inner being  
walks along1 tracing the paths of the   
,father1 and shapes the forms while     
beholding the archetypes4 ,it is no     
personal matter for man to create forms 
in his inner being2 they are the eternal
 wisdom1 they are the cosmic life4      
,this is in harmony with the            
interpretation of the myths of the      
people in the light of the ,mysteries4  
,the ,mystic searches for the deeper    
truth in the myths 7cf4 p4 #id et seq474
 ,and as the ,mystic treats the myths of
 paganism1 ,philo handles ,moses' story 
of the creation4 ,the ,old ,testament   
accounts are for him images of inner    
soul-processes4 ,the ,bible relates the 

creation of the world4 ,one who merely  
takes it as a description of outer      
events only half knows it4 ,it is       
certainly written1 ,in the beginning    
,god created the heaven and the earth4  
,and the earth was without form and     
void1 and darkness was on the face of   
the deep4 ,and the spirit of ,god moved 
on the face of the waters4 ,but the real
 inner meaning of the words must be     
lived in the depths of the soul4 ,god   
must be found within1 then ,he appears  
as the ,primal ,splendour1 who sends out
 innumerable rays1 not perceptible by   
the senses1 but collectively thinkable4 
,this is ,philo's expression4 ,in the   
,timus of ,plato1 the words are almost  
identical with the ,bible ones1 ,now    
when the ,father1 who had created the   
universe1 saw how it had become living  
and animated1 and an image of the       
eternal gods1 he felt pleasure therein4 
,in the ,bible we read1 ,and ,god saw   
that it was good4  ,the recognition of  
the divine is for ,philo1 as well as for

 ,plato and in the wisdom of the        
,mysteries1 to live through the process 
of creation in one's own soul4 ,the     
history of creation and the history of  
the soul which is becoming divine1 in   
this way flow into one4 ,philo is       
convinced that ,moses' account of the   
creation may be used for writing the    
history of the soul which is seeking    
,god4 ,everything in the ,bible thereby 
acquires a profoundly symbolical        
meaning1 of which ,philo becomes the    
interpreter4 ,he reads the ,bible as a  
history of the soul4  ,we may say that  
,philo's manner of reading the ,bible   
corresponds to a feature of his age     
which originated in the wisdom of the   
,mysteries4 ,he indeed relates that the 
,therapeut interpreted ancient writings 
in the same way4 ,they also possess     
works by ancient authors who once       
directed their school and left behind   
many explanations about the customary   
method pursued in allegorical           
writings4444 ,the interpretation of such

 writings is directed to the deeper     
meaning of the allegorical narratives   
7cf4 p4 #bjj74 ,thus ,philo's aim was to
 discover the deeper meaning of the     
allegorical narratives in the ,old      
,testament4  ,let us try to realise     
whither such an interpretation could    
lead4 ,we read the account of creation  
and find in it not only a narrative of  
outward events1 but an indication of the
 way which the soul has to take in order
 to attain to the divine4 ,thus the soul
 must reproduce in itself1 as a         
microcosm1 the ways of ,god1 and in this
 alone can its efforts after wisdom     
consist4 ,the drama of the universe must
 be enacted in each individual soul4    
,the inner life of the mystical sage is 
the realisation of the image given in   
the account of creation4 ,moses wrote   
not only to relate historical facts1 but
 to represent pictorially the paths     
which the soul must travel if it would  
find ,god4  ,all this1 in ,philo's      
conception of the universe1 is enacted  

within the human soul4 ,man experiences 
within himself what ,god has experienced
 in the universe4 ,the word of ,god1 the
 ,logos1 becomes an event in the soul4  
,god brought the ,jews from ,egypt into 
,palestine2 he let them go through      
distress and privation before giving    
them that ,land of ,promise4 ,that is   
the outward event4 ,man must experience 
it inwardly4 ,he goes from the land of  
,egypt1 the perishable world1 through   
the privations which lead to the        
suppression of the sense-nature1 into   
the ,promised ,land of the soul1 he     
attains the eternal4 ,with ,philo it is 
all an inward process4 ,the ,god who    
poured ,himself forth into the world    
consummates ,his resurrection in the    
soul when that soul understands ,his    
creative word and echoes it4 ,then man  
has spiritually given birth within      
himself to divinity1 to the divine      
spirit which became man1 to the ,logos1 
,christ4 ,in this sense knowledge was1  
for ,philo and those who thought like   

him1 the birth of ,christ within the    
world of spirit4 ,the ,neo-,platonic    
philosophy1 which developed             
contemporaneously with ,christianity1   
was an elaboration of ,philo's thought4 
,let us see how ,plotinus 7,a4,d4       
#bjd-bfi7 describes his spiritual       
experiences3  ,often when ,i come to    
myself on awaking from bodily sleep and1
 turning from the outer world1 enter    
into myself1 ,i behold wondrous beauty4 
,then ,i am sure that ,i have been      
conscious of the better part of myself4 
,i live my true life1 ,i am one with the
 divine and1 rooted in the divine1 gain 
the power to transport myself beyond    
even the super-world4 ,after thus       
resting in ,god1 when ,i descend from   
spiritual vision and again form         
thoughts1 ,i ask myself how it has      
happened that ,i now descend and that my
 soul ever entered the body at all1     
since1 in its essence1 it is what it has
 just revealed itself to me4 ,what can  
the reason be for souls forgetting ,god 

the ,father since they come from the    
beyond and belong to ,him1 and1 when    
they forget ,him1 know nothing of ,him  
or of themselves8 ,the first false step 
they take is indulging in presumption1  
the desire to become1 and in            
forgetfulness of their true self and in 
the pleasure of only belonging to       
themselves4 ,they coveted               
self-glorification1 they rushed about in
 pursuit of their desires and thus went 
astray and fell completely away4        
,thereupon they lost all knowledge of   
their origin in the beyond1 just as     
children1 early separated from their    
parents and brought up elsewhere1 do not
 know who they themselves and their     
parents are4 ,plotinus delineates the   
kind of life which the soul should      
strive to develop4 ,the life of the body
 and its longings should be stilled1 the
 soul should see calm in all that       
surrounds it3 in earth1 sea1 air1 and   
heaven itself no movement4 ,it should   
learn to see how the soul pours itself  

from without into the serene cosmos1    
streaming into it from all sides2 as the
 sun's rays illuminate a dark cloud and 
make it golden1 so does the soul1 on    
entering the body of the world encircled
 by the sky1 give it life and           
immortality4  ,it is evident that this  
vision of the world is very similar to  
that of ,christianity4 ,believers of the
 community of ,jesus said3 ,that which  
was from the beginning1 which we have   
heard1 which we have seen with our eyes1
 which we have looked upon1 and our     
hands have handled1 of the ,word of life
 444 declare we unto you4 ,in the same  
way it might be said in the spirit of   
,neo-,platonism1 ,that which was from   
the beginning1 which cannot be heard and
 seen1 must be spiritually experienced  
as the ,word of life4  ,and so the old  
conception of the universe is developed 
and splits into two leading ideas4 ,it  
leads in ,neo-,platonism and similar    
systems to an idea of ,christ which is  
purely spiritual2 on the other hand1 it 

leads to a fusion of the idea of ,christ
 with a historical manifestation1 the   
personality of ,jesus4 ,the writer of   
the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john may be said to
 unite these two conceptions4 ,in the   
beginning was the ,word4 ,he shares this
 conviction with the ,neo-,platonists4  
,the ,word becomes spirit within the    
soul1 thus do the ,neo-,platonists      
conclude4 ,the ,word was made flesh in  
,jesus1 thus does ,st4 ,john conclude1  
and with him the whole ,christian       
community4 ,the inner meaning of the    
manner in which the ,word was made flesh
 was given in all the ancient           
cosmogonies4 ,plato says of the         
macrocosm3 ,god has extended the body of
 the world on the soul of the world in  
the form of a cross4 ,the soul of the   
world is the ,logos4 ,if the ,logos is  
to be made flesh1 he must recapitulate  
the cosmic process in fleshly existence4
 ,he must be nailed to the cross1 and   
rise again4 ,in spiritual form this most
 momentous thought of ,christianity had 

long before been prefigured in the old  
cosmogonies4 ,the ,mystic went through  
it as a personal experience in          
initiation4 ,the ,logos become man had  
to go through it in a way that made this
 fact one that is true for or valid to  
the whole of humanity4 ,something which 
was present under the old dispensation  
as an incident in the ,mysteries becomes
 a historical fact through              
,christianity4 ,hence ,christianity was 
the fulfilment not only of what the     
,jewish prophets had predicted1 but also
 of the truth which had been prefigured 
in the ,mysteries4  ,the ,cross of      
,golgotha gathers together in one fact  
the whole cult of the ,mysteries of     
antiquity4 ,we find the cross first in  
the ancient cosmogonies4 ,at the        
starting-point of ,christianity it      
confronts us in an unique event which   
has supreme value for the whole of      
mankind4 ,it is from this point of view 
that it is possible for the reason to   
apprehend the mystical element in       

,christianity4 ,christianity as a       
mystical fact is a milestone in the     
process of human evolution2 and the     
incidents in the ,mysteries1 with their 
attendant results1 are the preparation  
for that mystical fact4     ,,xiii      
,,st4 ,,augustine ,,and ,,the ,,church  
,the full force of the conflict which   
was enacted in the souls of ,christian  
believers during the transition from    
paganism to the new religion is         
exhibited in the person of ,st4         
,augustine 7,a4,d4 #ced-dcj74 ,the      
spiritual struggles of ,origen1 ,clement
 of ,alexandria1 ,gregory ,nazianzen1   
,jerome1 and others are full of         
mysterious interest when we see them    
calmed and laid to rest in the mind of  
,augustine4  ,in ,augustine's           
personality deep spiritual needs        
developed out of a passionate nature4   
,he passed through pagan and            
semi-,christian ideas4 ,he suffered     
deeply from the most appalling doubts of
 the land which attack one who has felt 

the impotence of many varieties of      
thought in the face of spiritual        
problems1 and who has tasted the        
depressing effect of the question3 ,can 
man know anything whatever8  ,at the    
beginning of his struggles1 ,augustine's
 thoughts clung to the perishable things
 of sense4 ,he could only picture the   
spiritual to himself in material images4
 ,it is a deliverance for him when he   
rises above this stage4 ,he thus        
describes it in his ,confessions3 ,when 
,i wished to think of ,god1 ,i could    
only imagine immense masses of bodies   
and believed that was the only kind of  
thing that could exist4 ,this was the   
chief and almost the only cause of the  
errors which ,i could not avoid4 ,he    
thus indicates the point at which a     
person must arrive who is seeking the   
true life of the spirit4 ,there are     
thinkers1 not a few1 who maintain that  
it is impossible to arrive at pure      
thought1 free from any material         
admixture4 ,these thinkers confuse what 

they feel bound to say about their own  
inner life1 with what is humanly        
possible4 ,the truth rather is that it  
is only possible to arrive at higher    
knowledge when thought has been         
liberated from all material things1 when
 an inner life has been developed in    
which images of reality do not cease    
when their demonstration in             
sense-impressions comes to an end4      
,augustine relates how he attained to   
spiritual vision4 ,everywhere he asked  
where the divine was to be found4 ,i    
asked the earth and she said ',i am not 
it' and all that was upon the earth said
 the same4 ,i asked the ocean and the   
abysses and all that lives in them1     
which said1 ',we are not thy ,god1 seek 
beyond us4' ,i asked the winds1 and the 
whole atmosphere and its inhabitants    
said1 ',the philosophers who sought for 
the essence of things in us were under  
an illusion1 we are not ,god4' ,i asked 
the sun1 moon1 and stars1 which said1   
',we are not ,god whom thou seekest4'   

,and it came home to ,st4 ,augustine    
that there is only one thing which can  
answer his question about the           
divine--his own soul4 ,the soul said1   
,no eyes nor ears can impart to thee    
what is in me4 ,for ,i alone can tell   
thee1 and ,i tell thee in an            
unquestionable way4 ,men may be doubtful
 whether vital force is situate in air  
or in fire1 but who can doubt that he   
himself lives1 remembers1 understands1  
wills1 thinks1 knows1 and judges8 ,if he
 doubts1 it is a proof that he is alive1
 he remembers why he doubts1 he         
understands that he doubts1 he will     
assure himself of things1 he thinks1 he 
knows that he knows nothing1 he judges  
that he must not accept anything        
hastily4 ,outer things do not defend    
themselves when their essence and       
existence are denied1 but the soul does 
defend itself4 ,it could not be doubtful
 of itself unless it existed4 ,by its   
doubt it confirms its own existence4 ,we
 are and we recognise our being1 and we 

love our own being and knowledge4 ,on   
these three points no illusion in the   
garb of truth can trouble us1 for we do 
not apprehend them with our bodily      
senses like external things4 ,man learns
 about the divine by leading his soul to
 know itself as spiritual1 so that it   
may find its way1 as a spirit1 into the 
spiritual world4 ,augustine had battled 
his way through to this knowledge4 ,it  
was out of such an attitude of mind that
 there grew up in pagan nations the     
desire to knock at the gate of the      
,mysteries4 ,in the age of ,augustine1  
such convictions might lead to becoming 
a ,christian4 ,jesus1 the ,logos become 
man had shown the path which must be    
followed by the soul if it would attain 
the goal which it sees when in communion
 with itself4 ,in ,a4,d4 #che1 at       
,milan1 ,augustine was instructed by    
,st4 ,ambrose4 ,all his doubts about the
 ,old and ,new ,testaments vanished when
 his teacher interpreted the most       
important passages1 not merely in a     

literal sense1 but by lifting the mystic
 veil by force of the spirit4  ,what had
 been guarded in the ,mysteries was     
embodied for ,augustine in the          
historical tradition of the ,evangelists
 and in the community where that        
tradition was preserved4 ,he comes by   
degrees to the conviction that the law  
of this tradition1 which consists in    
believing what it has not proved1 is    
moderate and without guile4 ,he arrives 
at the idea1 ,who could be so blind as  
to say that the ,church of the ,apostles
 deserves to have no faith placed in it1
 when it is so loyal and is supported by
 the conformity of so many brethren2    
when these have handed down their       
writings to posterity so                
conscientiously1 and when the ,church   
has so strictly maintained the          
succession of teachers1 down to our     
present bishops8  ,augustine's mode of  
thought told him1 that with the coming  
of ,christ other conditions had set in  
for souls seeking after the spirit than 

those which had previously existed4 ,for
 him it was firmly established that in  
,christ ,jesus had been revealed in     
outer historical fact that which the    
,mystic had sought in the ,mysteries    
through preparation4 ,one of his most   
significant utterances is the following1
 ,what is now called the ,christian     
religion already existed amongst the    
ancients and was not lacking at the very
 beginnings of the human race4 ,when    
,christ appeared in the flesh1 the true 
religion already in existence received  
the name of ,christian4 ,there were two 
ways possible for such a method of      
thought4 ,one way is that if the human  
soul develops within it the forces which
 lead it to the knowledge of its true   
self1 it will1 if it only goes far      
enough1 come also to the knowledge of   
the ,christ and of everything connected 
with him4 ,this would have been a       
mystery-wisdom enriched through the     
,christ event4 ,the other way is taken  
by ,augustine and is that by which he   

became the great model for his          
successors4 ,it consists in cutting off 
the development of the forces of the    
soul at a certain point1 and in         
borrowing the ideas connected with the  
coming of ,christ from written accounts 
and oral traditions4 ,augustine rejected
 the first way as springing from pride  
of the soul2 he thought the second was  
the way of true humility4 ,thus he says 
to those who wished to follow the first 
way3 ,you may find peace in the truth1  
but for that humility is needed1 which  
does not suit your proud neck4 ,on the  
other hand1 he was filled with boundless
 inward happiness by the fact that since
 the coming of ,christ in the flesh1 it 
was possible to say that every soul can 
come to spiritual experience which goes 
as far as it can in seeking within      
itself1 and then1 in order to attain to 
the highest1 has confidence in what the 
written and oral traditions of the      
,christian ,church tell us about the    
,christ and his revelation4 ,he says on 

this point3 ,what bliss1 what abiding   
enjoyment of supreme and true good is   
offered us1 what serenity1 what a breath
 of eternity6 ,how shall ,i describe it8
 ,it has been expressed1 as far as it   
could be1 by those great incomparable   
souls who we admit have beheld and still
 behold4444 ,we reach a point at which  
we acknowledge how true is what we have 
been commanded to believe and how well  
and beneficently we have been brought up
 by our mother1 the ,church1 and of what
 benefit was the milk given by the      
,apostle ,paul to the little ones4444   
7,it is beyond the scope of this book to
 give an account of the alternative     
method which is evolved from the        
,mystery ,wisdom1 enriched through the  
,christ event4 ,the description of this 
method will be found in ,an ,outline of 
,occult ,science1 see advt41 front      
page47 ,whereas in pre-,christian times 
one who wished to seek the spiritual    
basis of existence was necessarily      
directed to the way of the ,mysteries1  

,augustine was able to say1 even to     
those souls who could find no such path 
within themselves1 ,go as far as you can
 on the path of knowledge with your     
human powers1 thence trust 7faith7 will 
carry you up into the higher spiritual  
regions4 ,it was only going one step    
further to say1 it is natural to the    
human soul only to be able to arrive at 
a certain stage of knowledge through its
 own powers3 thence it can only advance 
further through trust1 through faith in 
written and oral tradition4 ,this step  
was taken by the spiritual movement     
which assigned to knowledge a certain   
sphere above which the soul could not   
rise by its own efforts1 but everything 
which lay beyond this domain was made an
 object of faith which has to be        
supported by written and oral tradition 
and by confidence in its                
representatives4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 the  
greatest teacher within the ,church     
7#abbd-abgd71 has set forth this        
doctrine in his writings in a variety of

 ways4 ,his main point is that human    
knowledge can only attain to that which 
led ,augustine to self-knowledge1 to the
 certainty of the divine4 ,the nature of
 the divine and its relation to the     
world is given by revealed theology1    
which is not accessible to man's own    
researches and is1 as the substance of  
faith1 superior to all knowledge4  ,the 
origin of this point of view may be     
studied in the theology of ,john ,scotus
 ,erigena1 who lived in the ninth       
century at the court of ,charles the    
,bald1 and who represents a natural     
transition from the earliest ideas of   
,christianity to the ideas of ,thomas   
,aquinas4 ,his conception of the        
universe is couched in the spirit of    
,neo-,platonism4 ,in his treatise ,de   
,divisione ,natur1 ,erigena has         
elaborated the teaching of ,dionysius   
the ,areopagite4 ,this teaching started 
from a ,god far above the perishable    
things of sense1 and it derived the     
world from ,him 7,cf4 p4 #bjh et seq474 

,man is involved in the transmutation of
 all beings into this ,god1 ,who finally
 becomes what ,he was from the          
beginning4 ,everything falls back again 
into the ,godhead which has passed      
through the universal process and has   
finally become perfected4 ,but in order 
to reach this goal man must find the way
 to the ,logos who was made flesh4 ,in  
,erigena this thought leads to another3 
that what is contained in the writings  
which give an account of the ,logos     
leads1 when received in faith1 to       
salvation4 ,reason and the authority of 
the ,scriptures1 faith and knowledge    
stand on the same level4 ,the one does  
not contradict the other1 but faith must
 bring that to which knowledge never can
 attain by itself4         99       99  
99       99       99  ,the knowledge of 
the eternal which the ancient ,mysteries
 withheld from the multitude became1    
when presented in this way by ,christian
 thought and feeling1 the content of    
faith1 which by its very nature had to  

do with something unattainable by mere  
knowledge4 ,the conviction of the       
pre-,christian ,mystic was that to him  
was given knowledge of the divine1 while
 the people were obliged to have faith  
in its expression in images4            
,christianity came to the conviction    
that ,god has given his wisdom to       
mankind through revelation1 and man     
attains through his knowledge an image  
of this divine revelation4 ,the wisdom  
of the ,mysteries is a hothouse plant1  
which is revealed to a few individuals  
ripe for it4 ,christian wisdom is a     
,mystery revealed as knowledge to none1 
but as a content of faith revealed to   
all4 ,the standpoint of the ,mysteries  
lived on in ,christianity1 but in a     
different form4 ,all1 not only the      
special individual1 were to share in the
 truth1 but the process was that at a   
certain point man owned his inability to
 penetrate farther by means of          
knowledge1 and thence ascended to faith4
 ,christianity brought the content of   

the ,mysteries out of the obscurity of  
the temple into the clear light of day4 
,the one ,christian movement mentioned  
led to the idea that this content must  
necessarily be retained in the form of  
faith4     ,,notes     ,p4 #e--,to one  
who has true perception1 the ,spirit of 
,nature   speaks powerfully in the facts
 currently expressed by the   catchword1
 struggle for existence1 etc42 but not  
in the   opinions which modern science  
deduces from them4 ,in the first        
statement lies the reason why natural   
science is attracting more   and more   
widespread attention4 ,but it follows   
from the second   statement that        
scientific opinions should not be taken 
as if they   necessarily belonged to a  
knowledge of facts4 ,the possibility of 
being led astray by mere opinion is1 in 
these days1 infinitely   great4    ,p4  
#i--;,it should not be concluded from   
these remarks about the   sources of    
,st4 ,luke's ,gospel1 that purely       
historical research is   undervalued by 

the writer of this book4 ,this is not   
the case4   ,historical research is     
absolutely justified1 but it should not 
be   impatient with the method of       
presentation proceeding from a          
spiritual point of view4 ,it is not     
considered of importance to   make      
various kinds of quotations in this     
book2 but one who is   willing will be  
able to see that a really unprejudiced1 
broad-minded judgment will not find     
anything that is here stated   to be    
contrary to what has been actually and  
historically proved4   ,one who will not
 be broad-minded1 but who holds this or 
that   theory to be a firmly-established
 fact1 may easily think that            
assertions made in this book are        
untenable from a scientific point   of  
view1 and are made without any objective
 foundation4    ,p4 #ae--;,it is said   
above that those whose spiritual eyes   
are opened   are able to see into the   
spiritual world4 ,the conclusion must   
not   on this account be drawn that only

 one who possesses spiritual   sight is 
able to form an intelligent opinion     
about the results   arrived at by the   
initiate4 ,spiritual sight belongs only 
to the   investigator4 ,if he afterwards
 communicates what he has   discovered1 
every one can understand it who gives   
fair play to his   reason and preserves 
an unbiassed sense of truth4 ,and such  
an one   may also apply the results of  
research to life and derive             
satisfaction from them without himself  
having spiritual sight4    ,p4 #bj--,the
 sinking into the mire spoken of by     
,plato must also be   interpreted in the
 sense referred to in the last note4    
,p4 #bj--,what is said about the        
impossibility of imparting the          
teaching of the ,mysteries has reference
 to the fact that they   could not be   
communicated to those unprepared in the 
same form in   which the initiate       
experienced them2 but they were always  
communicated to those outside in such a 
form as was possible for   the          

uninitiated to understand4 ,for instance
 the myths gave the old   form1 in order
 to communicate the content of the      
,mysteries in a   way that was generally
 comprehensible4    ,p4                 
#hh--;,everything that relates to       
knowledge gained through the   eyes of  
the spirit is called by ancient         
mysticism ,mantik4   ,telestik1 on the  
other hand1 is the indication of the    
ways which   lead to initiation4    ,p4 
#afh--,kabirs1 according to ancient     
mysticism1 are beings with   a          
consciousness far above the human       
consciousness of to-day4   ,schelling   
means that man through initiation       
ascends to a state of   consciousness   
above his present one4    ,p4 #ahf--;,an
 explanation of the meaning of the      
number seven may be   obtained in ,an   
,outline of ,occult ,science 7see advt41
 front   page74    ,p4 #ahg--,the       
meanings of the ,apocalyptic signs can  
only be given   quite shortly here4 ,of 
course1 all these things might be much  

more   thoroughly explained1 but of this
 the scope of this book does not        
allow4   ,,the ,,end          99        
99       99       99       99           
----------------------------------------
-------------------      ,typographical 
errors corrected in text3               
,page #adj3 ,it can only be as is must  
be replaced with                    ,it 
can only be as it must be               
----------------------------------------
-------------------         99       99 
99       99       99