xSYNEJJC

1“The Book of Splendours:  
2containing The Judaic Sun, the Christian Glory and the Flaming Star”  
3 
4[English translation of “Le Livre des Splendeurs:  
5contenant Le Soleil Judaïque, La Gloire Chrétienne et L'Étoile Flamboyante”]  
6 
7(1894)  
8 
9by Eliphas Lévi 
10 
11 
12 
13TABLE OF CONTENTS 
14 
15 
16 
17Part One: The Idra Suta or The Great Synod — Commentary on the Siphra 
18Dzeniuta by Simeon Ben-Jochai 
19 
20Part I……………………………………………………......................................................  1 
21Part II……………………………………………………....................................................  4 
22Part III……………………………………………………...................................................  5 
23Part IV……………………………………………………...................................................  6 
24Part V…………………………………………………….....................................................  7 
25Part VI……………………………………………………...................................................  8 
26Part VII……………………………………………………..................................................  9 
27 
28The Colloquy 
29Part I……………………………………………………....................................................  11 
30Part II……………………………………………………...................................................  13 
31Part III……………………………………………………..................................................  15 
32 
33The Mysteries of the While Beard…………………………………………………………….. 17 
34 
35Mystery of the Black Beard…………………………………………………………………….. 19 
36 
37Details Concerning the Great White Beard 
38Part One………………………………………………………………………………………. 21 
39Part Two………………………………………………………………………………………. 23 
40The Other Parts……………………………………………………………………………… 25 
41 
42Conclusion Concerning the Allegorical Figure of the Macroprosopopcia……………….. 27 
43 
44The Microprosopopeia…………………………………………………………………………… 29 
45 
46The Text of the Sohar Continued — Prologue Concerning the Microprosopopeia…….. 31 
47 
48The Kings of Edom………………………………………………………………………………. 32 
49 
50The Skull of the Microprosopopeia (Air.  Fire, and Dew)………………………………….. 33 
51 
52The Hair of the Microprosopopeia…………………………………………………………….. 34 
53 
54The Forehead of the Microprosopopeia (The Eyes and Their Colour)…………………… 35 
55 
56The Eyes…………………………………………………………………………………………… 36 
57 
58The Nose and the Beard - Analysis…………………………………………………………… 38 
59 
60The Microprosopopcia Considered as Androgynous………………………………………... 41 
61Commentary………………………………………………………………………………….. 41 
62Osiris is a Dark God…………………………………………………………………………. 41 
63Continuation of the Text……………………………………………………………………. 42 
64Commentary………………………………………………………………………………….. 43 
65On Justice - Following the Text of Rabbi Simeon………………………………………. 44 
66 
67Final Words - On the Supreme Man………………………………………………………….. 46 
68 
69Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………… 50 
70 
71 
72 
73 
74Part Two: Christian Glory  
75 
76[Christian Glory]…………………………………………………………………………………. 55 
77 
78The Legend of Krishna — Selection from the Bhagavadam  
79I The Conception…………………………………………………………………………….. 65 
80II The Nativity……………………………………………………………………………….. 66 
81III The Massacre of the Innocents………………………………………………………… 67 
82IV Childhood Anecdotes Similar to Those of the Gospels……………………………... 68 
83V The Baptism……………………………………………………………………………….. 69 
84VI The Song of Songs………………………………………………………………………... 70 
85VII The Transfiguration……………………………………………………………………. 71 
86VIII The Triumphal Entry…………………………………………………………………. 72 
87IX Krishna Triumphs Over All the Giants………………………………………………. 73 
88X Words Before the Passion………………………………………………………………... 74 
89XI The Death of Krishna……………………………………………………………………. 76 
90 
91 
92 
93 
94Part Three: The Flaming Star  
95 
96[The Flaming Star]………………………………………………………………………………. 77 
97 
98Masonic Legends - Extracts from a Ritual Manuscript of the Eighth Century  
99First Legend………………………………………………………………………………….. 79 
100Second Legend……………………………………………………………………………….. 83 
101Third Legend…………………………………………………………………………………. 85 
102Fourth Legend………………………………………………………………………………... 87 
103History of the Knight of the Lion………………………………………………………….. 89 
104The Key to the Masonic Parables…………………………………………………………. 91 
105 
106The Story of Phaleg……………………………………………………………………………… 95 
107 
108The Crossing of the River Nabuzanai………………………………………………………… 97 
109 
110Baphomet………………………………………………………………………………………….. 99 
111 
112Profession of Faith……………………………………………………………………………….103 
113 
114Elements of the Qabalah in Ten Lessons - Letters of Eliphas Levi  
115First Lesson - General Prolegomena……………………………………………………..107 
116Second Lesson - The Qabalah - Goal and Method……………………………………...109 
117Third Lesson - Use of the Method…………………………………………………………111 
118Fourth Lesson - The Qabalah I……………………………………………………………113 
119Fifth Lesson - The Qabalah II……………………………………………………………..115 
120Sixth Lesson - The Qabalah III……………………………………………………………117 
121Seventh Lesson - The Qabalah IV………………………………………………………...119 
122Eighth Lesson - The Qabalah V…………………………………………………………...121 
123Ninth Lesson - The Qabalah VI…………………………………………………………...123 
124Tenth Lesson - The Qabalah VII………………………………………………………….124 
125 
126                                                                               1
127Part One 
128 
129The Idra Suta 
130or The Great Synod 
131 
132Commentary on the Siphra Dzeniuta 
133by Simeon Ben-Jochai 
134 
135Part I 
136 
137 
138Jerusalem had just been destroyed by the Romans.  It was forbidden to the Jews, on pain 
139of death, to return to mourn the ruins of their homeland.  The entire nation had been 
140dispersed, the holy traditions lost.  The true Qabalah had given way to puerile and 
141superstitious subtleties.  Those who claimed to preserve the heritage of hidden doctrine 
142were nothing more than sorcerers and fortune-tellers, justly proscribed by the laws of 
143nations.  It was then chat a venerable rabbi named Simeon Ben-Jochai gathered round 
144him the last initiates of primitive science, laving resolved to explain to them the book of 
145high theogony called the Book of Mystery.  Each of them knew the text by heart, but only 
146the rabbi Simeon was acquainted with the profound meaning of this book which had, up to 
147this time, been transmitted from mouth to mouth, from memory to memory, without 
148explication or even benefit of the written word. 
149 
150In order to assemble them round him, here are the words he sent them: 
151 
152“Why, in these days of great torment, should we remain as a house supported by a 
153single column, or as a man who stands on only one foot?  It is time to take action for 
154the Lord, for men have lost the true sense of the law.   
155 
156Our days grow short, the master calls; the harvest has been abandoned, the reapers 
157have strayed far from the ripened vine. 
158 
159Come together in this same countryside where so much has so lately gone undone.  
160Come, as if for combat, armed with wisdom, counsel, intelligence, knowledge and 
161attention; let your feet be as unencumbered as your hands.   
162 
163Acknowledge as your only master he who holds sway over life and death, and 
164together we shall utter the words of truth which heaven's saints are wont to hear, 
165and they will come down among us to hear us.” 
166 
167On the appointed day, the rabbis assembled in the fields, in a circular space enclosed by a 
168high wall. 
169 
170They arrived in silence.  Rabbi Simeon sat down in the midst of them, and seeing them all 
171together, he wept. 
172 
173                                                                               2
174“I am lost,” he cried, “if I reveal the great mysteries!  I am lost if I leave them 
175unexplained!” 
176 
177The rabbis remained silent. 
178 
179At last one of them, named Rabbi Abba, spoke, saying: 
180 
181“With the master's permission.  Is it not written: "The secrets of the Lord belong to 
182those who fear him"?  And all we who are here, do we not fear the Lord, and are we 
183not already privy to the secrets of the Temple?” 
184 
185Now here are the names of those who were present: Rabbi Eleazar, son of Rabbi Simeon, 
186Rabbi Abba, Rabbi Jehuda, Rabbi Jose, son of Jacob, Rabbi Isaac, Rabbi Thiskia, son of 
187Raf, Rabbi Jose and Rabbi Jesa. 
188 
189All, binding themselves to secrecy, put their hand in that of Rabbi Simeon and with him 
190pointed towards heaven.  Then they took their seats in the circumscribed area, where they 
191were well hidden by large trees. 
192 
193Rabbi Simeon stood and prayed; then he sat down again and said to them:  
194 
195“Come, all of you, and place your right hand on my breast.” 
196 
197They did so; and he, taking all these hands in his own, said solemnly:  
198 
199“Cursed be he who makes for himself an idol and hides it!  Woe unto him who 
200covers falsehood with the veils of mystery!” 
201 
202The eight rabbis answered:  
203 
204“Amen.” 
205 
206Rabbi Simeon went on:  
207 
208“There is only one true God, before whom no other gods exist, and there is only one 
209true people, the body of those who worship the one true God.” 
210 
211Then he called his son Elcazar and had him seat himself before him.  Near him, he placed 
212Rabbi Abba and said:  
213 
214“We now form a triangle, the primordial figure of all that exists; we represent the 
215door of the temple and its two columns.” 
216 
217Rabbi Simeon then refrained from speaking, and his disciples likewise.  An obscure 
218murmur made itself heard, like that of a large gathering.  It was the spirits of heaven who 
219had come down to listen. 
220 
221                                                                               3
222The disciples trembled, but Rabbi Simeon said to them: 
223 
224“Fear nothing and rejoice.  For it is written: ‘"Lord, I have heard the sound of your 
225presence and I trembled." 
226 
227‘Formerly God ruled over man through fear, but now his reign is that of love.  Has 
228it not been said: "You shall love your God"?  And did he not himself say: "I have 
229loved you"?” 
230 
231Then he added:  
232 
233“The secret doctrine is for reflective souls; the troubled and restless soul cannot 
234understand it.  Can one have confidence in a nail fixed to a moving wail, ready as it 
235is to crumble at the slightest shock? 
236 
237The whole world is founded on mystery, and if discretion is necessary in worldly 
238affairs, how much greater should be our reserve when dealing with the mysterious 
239dogmas which God does not even reveal to the highest of his angels? 
240 
241Heaven bends down to listen to us, but my words must remain veiled.  The earth 
242moves in order to hear, but what I say will be in symbols. 
243 
244We are, at this very moment, the gate and the columns of the universe.” 
245 
246At last Rabbi Simeon spoke, and tradition preserved in the mystery of mysteries assures 
247us that when he opened his mouth, the earth trembled beneath his feet and that his 
248disciples felt its trembling. 
249 
250                                                                               4
251The Idra Suta 
252or The Great Synod 
253 
254Commentary on the Siphra Dzeniuta 
255by Simeon Ben-Jochai 
256 
257Part II 
258 
259 
260He spoke first of the kings who ruled over Edom before the coming of the king Israel, 
261symbols of the unbalanced powers which manifested themselves at the beginning of the 
262universe, before the triumph of harmony. 
263 
264“God,” said he, “when he wished to create, threw over his radiance a veil and in its 
265folds, he cast his shadow.  From this shadow there arose giants who said: "We are 
266kings": but they were nothing more than phantoms.  They appeared because God 
267had hidden himself by creating night within chaos; they disappeared when there 
268was brought forth in the east that luminous head, that glowing head that humanity 
269gives itself by proclaiming the existence of God, the sun, governor of our aspirations 
270and our thoughts. 
271 
272The gods are mirages made of shadow, and God is the synthesis of splendours.  
273Usurpers fall away when the king mounts his throne, and when God appears, the 
274gods are banished.” 
275 
276                                                                               5
277The Idra Suta 
278or The Great Synod 
279 
280Commentary on the Siphra Dzeniuta 
281by Simeon Ben-Jochai 
282 
283Part III 
284 
285 
286“Thus, when God had permitted the night to exist, in order that the stars might 
287appear, he turned towards the shadow he had made and considered it, to give it a 
288face. 
289 
290He formed an image on the veil with which he had covered his glory, and this image 
291smiled at him, and he regarded this image as his own, so that he might create man 
292in accordance with it. 
293 
294In a manner of speaking, he tried out this prison reserved for created spirits.  He 
295looked at this face that was to become one day the face of man, and his heart was 
296moved, for already he seemed to hear the lamentations of his creations. 
297 
298You who wish to subject me to the law, it seemed to say, give me proof that this law 
299is just, by subjecting yourself to it as well. 
300 
301And so God became man in order that he might be loved and understood by men. 
302 
303Now, of him we know only this image, formed on the veil which hides his splendour.  
304This image is our own, and he wishes that we recognize it to be also his. 
305 
306Thus we know him without knowing him; he shows us a form and possesses none.  
307We have given him the image of an old man, he who has no age. 
308 
309He is seated on a throne from which escape eternally sparks of light by the millions, 
310and he commands them to become worlds.  His hair radiates and stirs the stars. 
311 
312Universes revolve around his head, and suns bathe themselves in his light.” 
313                                                                               6
314The Idra Suta 
315or The Great Synod 
316 
317Commentary on the Siphra Dzeniuta 
318by Simeon Ben-Jochai 
319 
320Part IV 
321 
322 
323“The divine image is a double one.  There are the heads of light and of shadow, the 
324white ideal and the black ideal, the upper head and the lower.  One is the dream of 
325the Man-God, the other is the invention of the God-Man.  One represents the God of 
326the wise, and the other, the idol of the lowly. 
327 
328All light, in truth, implies shadow and possesses its brilliance only in opposition to 
329that shadow. 
330 
331The luminous head pours out upon the dark one a constant dew of splendour.  "Let 
332me in, my beloved," says God to intelligence, "for my head is filled with dew, and 
333among the curls of my hair wander the tears of night." 
334 
335This dew is the manna by which the souls of the just are nourished.  The elect are 
336hungry for it and gather it abundantly in the fields of heaven. 
337 
338These drops are round pearls, brilliant as diamonds and clear as crystal.  They are 
339white and glow with all colours, for there is one simple truth alone: the splendour of 
340all things.” 
341                                                                               7
342The Idra Suta 
343or The Great Synod 
344 
345Commentary on the Siphra Dzeniuta 
346by Simeon Ben-Jochai 
347 
348Part V 
349 
350 
351“The divine image has thirteen rays: four on each side of the triangle in which we 
352enclose it and one at its uppermost point. 
353 
354Draw it in the sky with your thought, trace its lines from star to star, it will contain 
355three hundred and sixty multitudes of worlds. 
356 
357For the high old one called the Macroprosopopeia or the great creative hypothesis is 
358also called Arich-Anphin, the immense countenance.  The other, the human god, 
359the face of shadow, the Microprosopopeia, the limiting hypothesis, is called Seir-
360Anphin or the contracted countenance. 
361 
362When this countenance beholds the face of light, it grows and becomes harmonious.  
363Order is thus restored; but this cannot last, for the thoughts of man are as 
364changeable as man himself. 
365 
366But there is always a luminous thread which attaches shadow to light.  This thread 
367runs through the innumerable conceptions of human thought, linking them all to 
368divine splendour. 
369 
370The head of light sends out its whiteness to all thinking heads or entities, when 
371they follow the path of law and reason.” 
372 
373                                                                               8
374The Idra Suta 
375or The Great Synod 
376 
377Commentary on the Siphra Dzeniuta 
378by Simeon Ben-Jochai 
379 
380Part VI 
381 
382 
383“The head of the supreme old one is a closed receptacle, where infinite wisdom lies 
384at rest like a fine wine whose lees cannot be disturbed. 
385 
386This wisdom is impenetrable, possessor of itself in silence within eternity, 
387inaccessible to the vicissitudes of time. 
388 
389It is the light, but it is the dark head which is the lamp.  The oil of intelligence is 
390meted out, and its brilliance, by thirty-two ways, is made manifest. 
391 
392God revealed is God hidden.  This human shadow of God is like the mysterious 
393Eden from which there issued a spring that divided itself into four rivers. 
394 
395Nothing pours forth from God himself.  His substance is without issue.  Nothing 
396departs from him and nothing enters in, for he is impenetrable and immutable.  All 
397that begins, all that appears, all that is divided, all that flows and passes, begins, 
398appears, is divided, flows and passes in his shadow.  He is, unto himself, immovable 
399in his light, and he remains thus, like an old wine laid to rest.” 
400                                                                               9
401The Idra Suta 
402or The Great Synod 
403 
404Commentary on the Siphra Dzeniuta 
405by Simeon Ben-Jochai 
406 
407Part VII 
408 
409 
410Do not seek to penetrate the thoughts of the mysterious head.  Its intimate 
411thoughts are hidden, but its exterior, creative thoughts shine forth like a head of 
412hair.  White hair without shadow and whose strands are never tangled. 
413 
414Each strand is a thread of light attached to millions of worlds.  The hairs are 
415divided at the forehead and descend on either side; but each side is the right side.  
416For in the divine image which constitutes this head of light, the left side has no 
417place. 
418 
419The left side of the head of light is the dark head, for in traditional symbolism, the 
420lower reaches are the equivalent of the left. 
421 
422Now, between the heights and the depths of the image of God there must be no 
423more antagonism than between the left hand and right hand of man, since harmony 
424results from the analogy or opposites. 
425 
426Israel in the desert grew discouraged and asked: "Is God with us or against us?"  
427 
428Thus they spoke of him whom one knows and of him who is not known. 
429 
430Thus they separated the white head from the dark head. 
431 
432The god of shadow became, then, an exterminating phantom. 
433 
434They were punished because they had doubted through lack of confidence and love. 
435 
436One does not understand God, but one loves him; and it is love that produces faith. 
437 
438God hides from the mind of man, but reveals himself to the heart. 
439 
440When man says: "I do not believe in God," it is as if he were to say: ''I do not love." 
441 
442And the voice of shadow answers: "You will die because your heart renounces life." 
443 
444The Microprosopopeia is the great night of faith, and it is in faith that the just live 
445and breathe.  They stretch forth their hands and take hold of the hair of the father, 
446and from these splendid strands fall drops of light which come to illuminate their 
447night. 
448                                                                              10
449 
450Between the two sides of these divided strands is the pathway of initiation, the 
451middle path, the path of opposites in harmony. 
452 
453There, all is reconciled and understood.  There, only good triumphs and evil is no 
454longer. 
455 
456This pathway is that of supreme balance and is called the last judgment of God. 
457 
458The hairs of the white head spread out in perfect order on all sides, but do not cover 
459the ears. 
460 
461For the ears of the Lord are always open to prayer.  And nothing can prevent them 
462from hearing the orphan's cry or the wail of the oppressed.” 
463                                                                              11
464THE COLLOQUY 
465 
466Part I 
467 
468 
469On the forehead of the supreme head resides the majesty of majesties, the goodness of all 
470goodnesses united, the true pleasure of all true pleasures. 
471 
472“This is love, whose power is created and shared by all those who love. 
473 
474Humanity's will, symbolized by the forehead of the Microprosopopeia, must 
475correspond to this love. 
476 
477The forehead of collective man is called Reason.  It is often veiled in shadow, but 
478when it shows itself, God gives ear to the prayers of Israel.  When, then, does it 
479show itself?” 
480 
481Rabbi Simeon paused a moment, then reiterated his question:  
482 
483“Yes, when?” 
484 
485And turning toward Rabbi Eleazar, his son, he repeated:  
486 
487“When does it show itself?” 
488 
489“At the time of common prayer on the day of the Lord,” answered Rabbi Eleazar. 
490 
491“How?” asked the master. 
492 
493“Men, when they pray, prostrate themselves before God whom they imagine as 
494angry; the forehead of the head of shadow is then covered with clouds and it seems 
495that thunder and lightning must issue from them. 
496 
497But the shadows part, struck by a ray from the supreme face: eternal serenity 
498imprints its image on them and even the dark face grows brighter. 
499 
500When the just pray, they address divine goodness, and this sentiment of goodness 
501drives away from them all shadows of fear.  Serenity on the face of man is the 
502radiating light of the divine countenance. 
503 
504When anger is stilled in the heart of man, he dreams of God's forgiveness; but it is 
505man alone who pardons, for God is never angered. 
506 
507Adam is driven from earthly paradise by the anger and maliciousness of the head of 
508shadow, but the face of light smiles on him ceaselessly from its celestial paradise. 
509 
510                                                                              12
511Eden, divided by four rivers, is a mystery of the head of shadow.  Obscure symbols 
512come from obscure thought, the dogmatic god is the father of mysterious allegories. 
513 
514The higher Eden has no divisions or exclusions: there are no poisoned apples in the 
515garden of the supreme God. 
516 
517But only the father knows this Eden, he alone understands his love, pitiless for all 
518eternity, for he is without weakness and without anger.” 
519 
520                                                                              13
521THE COLLOQUY 
522 
523Part II 
524 
525 
526“Let us continue mentally to draw the hieroglyphic head which symbolizes the 
527father.  What eyes shall we give him? 
528 
529Eyes other than mortal eyes, eyes without lids and lashes. 
530 
531For God never sleeps; his eyes are never closed. 
532 
533Is it not written: "The guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps"? 
534 
535It is also written: "The eyes of the Lord gaze without ceasing throughout the 
536expanse of the universe." 
537 
538And yet it is said: "The gaze of the Lord falls on those who fear him, the eye of 
539Adonai is fixed on Israel." 
540 
541Is this a contradiction?  No, in truth.  For the Lord who sees the entire universe is 
542the god of light; he who sees and prefers a single people is the god of shadow. 
543 
544The preference accorded Israel would be an injustice and hence a lie, if God did not 
545look at the same throughout the whole of the universe.  The eye of privilege would 
546see poorly if he were not sustained, rectified by the eye of justice.  It is for this 
547reason that we give two eyes to the supreme head; but these two eyes are the two 
548ends of an ellipse, and this ellipse of two eyes makes only one eye in all. 
549 
550This single eye has three rays and three halos. 
551 
552These halos are crowns which constitute the triple kingdom of all things visible to 
553God. 
554 
555There are two eyes, but should one wish to distinguish between them, they merge 
556into one. 
557 
558This is the right eye of the single face composed of light and shadow, for the two 
559faces are in fact one, as the two eyes are one eye. 
560 
561The left eye, this is the Microprosopopeia, and it has eyebrows which frown and 
562eyelids which close. 
563 
564This one slumbers often, for it is made in the image of man, and it is this one we 
565address when we say: "Lord, awake!  and turn your eye upon us." 
566 
567Woe to the man who sees the eye of God as red, inflamed with anger! 
568                                                                              14
569 
570He who believes in a wrathful God, where will he seek his pardon? 
571 
572The Ancient of days is all goodness, and the beam of his eye is always the whitest 
573and purest of lights. 
574 
575Happy is the lot of the just and wise man, who views all with this same purity and 
576whiteness! 
577 
578It is written: "Come, family of Jacob, and walk in the light of Adonai." 
579 
580The name of the supreme master remains, however, shrouded in mystery. 
581 
582Nowhere in the law is it explained, except in this passage where God says to 
583Abraham: "I swear by my own self that through you shall Israel be blessed." 
584 
585Who can so bind himself by an oath, if not the human God?  And what is Israel in 
586the divine order, if not the divine faith of Israel? 
587 
588And if God says through the mouth of the prophet: "Israel, you shall be my glory," is 
589this not the God of shadow who wishes to glorify himself in the splendour of Israel's 
590God of light? 
591 
592To give him a name, we call him the Ancient of days.   As it is said in the prophecy 
593of Daniel: "I have seen thrones overturned and the Ancient of days sit down." 
594 
595Stand up, Rabbi Jehuda, and tell us what are these thrones which are overturned.” 
596 
597“It is written,” said Rabbi Jehuda:  
598 
599“His throne is the seat of life-giving fire.  God sits on the throne and fire gives life 
600instead of devouring and destroying. 
601 
602If God leaves the throne, the fire is extinguished; otherwise whole worlds might be 
603consumed. 
604 
605Where God is seated, there is balance. 
606 
607When his power makes for itself a centre, it creates a new universe, and all the 
608others displace themselves to rotate around it.  For God moves in order to seat 
609himself, and he seats himself in order to move.” 
610 
611And Rabbi Simeon said to Rabbi Jehuda:  
612 
613“May God direct you in the eternal ways and may he remain in your thoughts.” 
614 
615                                                                              15
616THE COLLOQUY 
617 
618Part III 
619 
620 
621“Come and see.  It is written: "I am, before all things, myself.  In the beginning I 
622am, and at the end of all I am myself, wholly." 
623 
624Everything is him, for everything reveals him.  He hides within all that is.  His 
625breath gives life to all that breathes, and this is why, among the mysteries of his 
626allegorical face, we shall now speak of the symbolism of the nose. 
627 
628It is the nose, above all, on which the character of a face depends. 
629 
630Now, the head of light and the head of shadow are of quite different characters. 
631 
632The nose of the supreme head breathes life toward the lower head. 
633 
634From one nostril comes personal life, from the other, collective life. 
635 
636But the unique spirit of this double breath is appeasement and pardon. 
637 
638It is this breath which, in the time of the Messiah, is to still all storms and quiet all 
639angers. 
640 
641The spirit of wisdom and intelligence, 
642 
643The spirit of counsel and strength. 
644 
645The spirit of knowledge and awe of the Lord. 
646 
647Are these different spirits?  We have said the breath of the father is single.  Stand 
648up.  Rabbi Jose.” 
649 
650Rabbi Jose got up and from his place said:  
651 
652“In the days of the Messiah, wisdom will no longer be hidden, for understanding 
653will flower. 
654 
655The breath of the father, the spirit of God will come with the six spirits that are in 
656actuality one, like the six steps of Solomon's single throne. 
657 
658Thus are explained the seven spirits of the throne spoken of by the ancient 
659prophets.  These are the seven hues of light, the seven notes of music, the seven 
660breathings which form the one breath of spirit.” 
661 
662“May yours,” said Rabbi Simeon,  
663                                                                              16
664 
665“rest in peace in the world to come! 
666 
667Come now and see: When the prophet Ezekiel invokes spirit to bring the dead back 
668to life, he summons the four breaths which make up the spirit of life. 
669 
670What are these four quickening breaths?  That of God towards man, that of man 
671towards God, that which results from their mingling, and lastly, the immense and 
672eternal breath of God which circles around all worlds and returns to the mouth of 
673the father. 
674 
675These four breaths are in reality one: the spirit of life.  Thus the prophet, turning to 
676face the four cardinal points, summons only a single spirit. 
677 
678Is it not said that in the time of the Messiah's reign, when the spirit of 
679understanding and knowledge shall be infused into all flesh, each human soul, 
680without need of teaching, shall know the truth. 
681 
682For at that time, when the veils of falsehood will be forever torn asunder, souls will 
683no longer be separated by error in all its forms and will live one through the other, 
684looking freely one within another. 
685 
686Each will radiate and receive the light of all others, by a sort of universal 
687inhalation and exhalation.  Thus in all things is the spirit of life composed of four 
688breaths. 
689 
690There will come a time of universal resurrection for the life of the intelligence. 
691 
692For these four spirits in one are symbolized by the square which encloses the 
693triangle, and thus is explained, in the symbolism of numbers, the mystery of the 
694seven spirits. 
695 
696The nose of the white-haired old one, the nose of the supreme head, breathes 
697creations that are forever new.  That of the head of shadow breathes destruction 
698and consuming fire.  The dark head breathes in life and exhales death; the white 
699head takes in death and breathes out life. 
700 
701Who can conceive of these strange and monstrous heads?  Who has ever seen them, 
702and who will ever understand them? 
703 
704The kings of kings, that is, the masters of science and wisdom, can alone 
705understand where and why the imagination draws their outlines and how it can be 
706so that, at one and the same time, they do and do not exist.” 
707 
708                                                                              17
709The Mysteries  
710of the White Beard 
711 
712 
713Rabbi Simeon had paused a moment; he took up again where he had left off, saying:  
714 
715“Woe to him who reaches with profane hands towards the majestic beard of the 
716father of fathers!  For this beard is glorious beyond all glory, a mystery which 
717enfolds all mysteries.  No one has seen it, no one may touch it. 
718 
719The beard is the adornment of adornments, the majesty of majesties. 
720 
721The beard forms the link between the ears and mouth, it radiates from the lips like 
722the word which gives light and life to the soul. 
723 
724It is for this reason that we take it as a symbol of the Word. 
725 
726It contains all mysteries and teaches all truths. 
727 
728It is white as snow and casts a shadow darker than night. 
729 
730It is divided into thirteen parts on which are poured the most precious of perfumes: 
731the two parts descending from the nose to the comers of the mouth, separated by a 
732scant space of flesh; the two parts which join the beard to the beginning of the ears; 
733the beard itself, divided into three sections, each divided again into three. 
734 
735This beard is perfect, since we take it to be the Word, which is, itself, perfect. 
736 
737It is all beauty, all balance, all rightness. 
738 
739The cheeks shine forth from above, like two scarlet apples, projecting the light of 
740life on to the somber Microprosopopeia. 
741 
742White and red combined are the colour of the mysterious rose, the whiteness of 
743milk and the redness of blood, the white of light and the redness of fire. 
744 
745All in nature that is white and red derives from the supreme rose. 
746 
747The thirteen parts of the white beard represent the synthesis of all truths, and the 
748man who understands this allegorical beard is a man full of truth. 
749 
750Do we not say proverbially of a wise, strong man, of a man who lowers his eyes 
751reflectively before undertaking an enterprise: This is a man who considers his 
752beard! 
753 
754And those who raise a hand and swear on oath on the beard of the old man, these 
755swear on the truth itself, symbolized by the thirteen sections of the supreme beard.   
756                                                                              18
757 
758Four, the four letters of the holy name, the four elements, the four comers of a 
759square, the four cardinal points of heaven, and nine, that is, three multiplied by 
760three: the active and the passive and the equilibrium they create as they reproduce 
761themselves.” 
762                                                                              19
763Mystery of the Black Beard 
764 
765 
766“Does the beard of the Microprosopopeia possess such a system and orderly 
767disposition?  Stand up, Rabbi Isaac, and speak to us of the parts of the black beard.” 
768 
769Rabbi Isaac stood and began:  
770 
771“Listen to these thirteen sayings of the prophet Micah: 
772 
773I.         Is there any who can be likened to you, Lord? 
774II.       You take away injustice and cause it to disappear.   
775III.      You pass, treading on sin. 
776IV.      For it is your desire in the end, that your people be saved. 
777V.        You will not for ever remain angry.   
778VI.      For your wish is for forgiveness.   
779VII.     Mercy will come to us again. 
780VIII.   Our iniquities shall be vanquished  
781IX.      Even the last memory of our faults shall be buried in the very bottom of the 
782sea.   
783X.        To the family of Jacob shall be given the heritage of truth.   
784XI.      And to the family of Abraham, eternal mercy.   
785XII.     We trust in the oath which you gave to our fathers.   
786XIII.   We believe in the promise made in olden times.” 
787 
788“These,” continued Rabbi Isaac, “are thirteen drops of precious balm, fallen from the 
789thirteen parts of the supreme beard, and which bring order to the chaos of the lower 
790beard. 
791 
792The dark beard is made up of coarse, unwieldy hairs, tangled together. 
793 
794But the thirteen drops of the balm of mercy force them to adapt to the harmonious 
795disposition of the higher beard. 
796 
797For the white beard sends down to the black its long, supple, silken strands, and its 
798rivers of gentleness soften the coarseness of this dark fleece. 
799 
800Thick twisted hairs are often a mark of intellectual servitude. 
801 
802And if one considers the hair an extension of the brain, a quiet, lucid thought must be 
803represented by a head of hair that is even, supple and soft. 
804 
805Now, the mouth is analogous to, yet distinct from, the hair.  The hair takes up its 
806growth behind the ears, and near the ears begins the beard which radiates outwards 
807from the mouth. 
808 
809                                                                              20
810The black beard is the shadow of the white, as the law is the shadow of freedom, and as 
811a threat is the shadow of forgiveness and love. 
812 
813Now, we have said that light and shadow are necessary to the manifestation of day, 
814and that all illumination is perceived as a mixture of light and shade. 
815 
816Thus can we say that, in divine revelation, absolute shadow does not exist: all is light. 
817 
818The light which shines is the white light; and the light which envelops itself in shadow 
819is the black light. 
820 
821The law is written on a white page with black coals, taken from the altar with tongs by 
822the Seraphim. 
823 
824This is the great sheet of light, bearing characters of fire. 
825 
826It is for this reason we represent divine thought, the spirit of the scriptures, by a soft, 
827white beard, in contrast to the other, both tangled and rough. 
828 
829For one is an image of spirit, the other, the letter of the law. 
830 
831The same can be said for the heads of hair.  That of the God of light is as white as 
832snow, its strands even and flowing. 
833 
834That of the God of shadow is as black as a raven's wing, and its locks are twisted and 
835snarled. 
836 
837But the white beard impregnates the black beard with its perfumes, and the hair of the 
838head of light permeates the hair of shadows with its splendour, so that the two heads 
839of hair and the two beards belong to a sole identical head, which is the symbolic and 
840allegorical image of God.” 
841 
842 
843                                                                              21
844Details 
845Concerning the Great White Beard 
846 
847Part One 
848 
849 
850The first part of the mysterious beard is that which begins near the right ear, descending 
851to the comer of the mouth.   
852 
853“The beard has its origin in the virile heat of the blood, thus we may call it the 
854daughter of the heart of man; but here, since it more or less continues the hair, 
855itself a radiation of the brain, we may also call it the daughter of thought. 
856 
857The hairs are tender, soft, they have attained no great length.  This is the Word in 
858divine generation. 
859 
860There are thirty-one small curls, arranged in perfect order, and each curl is made 
861up of three hundred and ninety hairs. 
862 
863These numbers represent worlds of intellect which God wishes to bring into being 
864by means of the Word.  Each world is to engender other worlds, multiplied by the 
865mysterious figure, two, and the holy figure, three. 
866 
867From tens to hundreds, from hundreds to myriads, worlds are multiplied by reason 
868of creative ideas, in exact proportion to the germinal origins already formed.’ 
869 
870Each hair of the young-growing beard ends in a point of light, and each point of 
871light works to produce a sun. 
872 
873For each sun there comes into being a night, which this new star will enliven, a 
874night filled with phantoms and horrors that the nascent sun illumines and 
875dissipates with a smile. 
876 
877It is thus that the glowing beard of the father streams out toward the rough, black 
878beard of the God of darkness. 
879 
880And one cannot perceive the supreme beard, except in the brilliance it gives to the 
881beard of shadow. 
882 
883Is it not said in the book of Psalms: "The perfume of the supreme head is poured out 
884on to the beard of the father, and from there, on to the beard of Aaron"? 
885 
886What is Aaron?  He is the great priest.  And what is the great priest, if not the 
887shadow and human personification of the dark God? 
888 
889The psalm we have quoted begins by saying that the perfection of good and the 
890triumph of happiness lies in the remaining together of brothers. 
891                                                                              22
892 
893Who are these brothers, if not the two old ones? 
894 
895For us, God has need of a high priest, but this high priest would become the night 
896of death, were he to be separated from God. 
897 
898God gives his light to the priest, and the priest lends to God his shadow. 
899 
900The priest is the brother of God, as shadow is the sister of light. 
901 
902What the priest does on earth in the exercise of his ministry, God performs in 
903heaven, with a difference as that of right to left, of day to night, of reproachful 
904anger to peace-giving mercy. 
905 
906And it is thus that religious harmony results from the analogy of opposites. 
907 
908May supreme harmony shine down on you!” said Rabbi Simeon to Rabbi Isaac.   
909 
910“May the glowing beard be the sign of your eternal strength!  May we together see 
911the face of the Ancient of days, and may the peace and joy of righteous souls be your 
912lot and mine in the world to come!” 
913 
914                                                                              23
915Details 
916Concerning the Great White Beard 
917 
918Part Two 
919 
920 
921“Stand, Rabbi Chiskija, and from where you are tell us the glories of one part of the 
922holy beard.” 
923 
924Rabbi Chiskija got up and said:  
925 
926“It is written: "I am my beloved's, and his good will is turned toward me." 
927 
928It is for man, for each one of us, that the supreme thought becomes the Word, the 
929creator of all thoughts and all substance. 
930 
931I see a river of light, descending from divine understanding and changing into three 
932hundred and thirty-five harmonious voices. 
933 
934In this light, night comes to bathe, cleansing itself of shadow. 
935 
936I saw shadowy forms plunge deep in the white waves, coming out again as white as 
937the waves themselves. 
938 
939And I prayed the higher intelligences to explain to me what I had seen. 
940 
941And I was answered: "You see in what manner injustice is effaced by God. 
942 
943"For between his ear and his mouth, between his understanding and his Word, 
944there is no place for falsehood. 
945 
946"In the living light, in the light which reaches everywhere, shadow cannot exist; 
947and should it wish to, it must necessarily take on a whiteness, transforming itself 
948to light. 
949 
950"Now, it is thus that God will one day change man's evil into good." 
951 
952This is what I am inspired to say by the second part of the holy beard, analogous 
953and parallel to the first.” 
954 
955Rabbi Chiskija, having so spoken, regained his seat. 
956 
957Rabbi Simeon said then:  
958 
959“The world is no longer for us an enigma nor a hell.  Be blessed, oh Rabbi Chiskija, 
960by the supreme old one, for you have consoled our hearts. 
961 
962                                                                              24
963All the rays converge towards their centre: I see the harmonious totality of the 
964Creator's work.  From the heights we occupy we can already see the holy land in 
965the impending flowering of its destiny. 
966 
967We can see that which Moses himself was denied when he went up a second time 
968into Mount Sinai: the sun of justice in which we believe, the sun which is to come, 
969illuminating our faces. 
970 
971I feel mine growing with faith and hope, and more fortunate than Moses, I know 
972why it is so.  Moses did not even know that his face had grown luminous through 
973contemplation of God. 
974 
975I see before my eyes this allegorical beard, as if it had been sculpted by a capable 
976hand in thirteen parts, representing the whole of truth. 
977 
978As you explain them, I see all these parts arrange themselves in orderly fashion, 
979firmly attached to the ideal head which supports the mysterious crown. 
980 
981The king appears to me, then, as if from a mid-point in his uncountable years.  
982Effects come together with causes, causes are united, set forth by principles, and 
983the principle of principles reigns with sovereign dominion from its centre which is 
984everywhere. 
985 
986Rejoice, my companions, in this holy revelation, for the world surely will not 
987understand what we have been given to understand, nor see what we can now see, 
988before the Messiah's reign!” 
989 
990                                                                              25
991Details 
992Concerning the Great White Beard 
993 
994The Other Parts 
995 
996 
997Thus, one by one, the great rabbis analysed the holy beard.  Explanation must now be 
998given directly, summarizing, as it were, the vague subtlety and lengthiness of their exact 
999words. 
1000 
1001The hair, radiating outwards from the skull, is for these great priests an image of divine 
1002thought; likewise is the beard, radiating outwards from the mouth, a symbol of the holy 
1003word.  The hair is the Word of God in its own awareness of itself; the beard is the Word 
1004made manifest, in works or in inspired writings.  This beard is divided into thirteen parts 
1005because the secret theology of the Qabalists is inextricably bound to the nine ciphers 
1006which make up all numbers and to the four letters which make up the name of Jehovah. 
1007 
1008The science of numbers, taken as the algebra of ideas, is the Beraschith; the science of the 
1009letters of the sacred name is the Mercavah.  Beraschith or Bereschith means genesis, 
1010generation or gencology.  Mercavah means chariot, as if the four symbolic letters were the 
1011wheels of God's chariot which Ezekiel saw in a vision.  These were wheels of light, turning 
1012one in another, celestial spheres, intersecting circles whose centres are everywhere, whose 
1013circumferences are everywhere, whose common centre is everywhere, and whose final, 
1014definitive circumference is nowhere. 
1015 
1016But the name of Jehovah has in reality only three letters, since the fourth is a repetition of 
1017the second: Jod-Hé-Van-Hé, 
1018 
1019Thus the thirteen sections of the supreme beard are the equivalent of the cycle of twelve, 
1020plus the centre which must be given to these numbers in order to arrange them in a circle 
1021on the clock of time. 
1022 
1023These theological subtleties linked to numerical abstractions were, so to speak, the 
1024scholastic system of the ancient rabbis, fathers of Qabalistic philosophy.  The result of this 
1025method was deductions which, often sublime, sometimes puerile, were nevertheless exact.  
1026'God,' said Solomon, 'created everything with weight, measure and number.' It was the 
1027natural conclusion in the thought of certain naive thinkers that algebra was the sacred 
1028fire of Prometheus and that men could be created by pronouncing words.  This is 
1029sometimes true, as great orators know so well, but only in a metaphorical, figurative 
1030sense.  Doubtless matter obeys the movement resulting from forces which can be 
1031determined by numbers.  For the Hebrews, numbers are symbolized by the letters of the 
1032alphabet, and thus it was by means of these letters that God created space and worlds.  
1033The letter is, in fact, the conventional sign of power, but a sign only, not power itself.  In 
1034similar fashion, in the book of the Sohar which we are examining, the great rabbis 
1035assembled round Rabbi Simeon attach their ideas on divinity to the allegorical figure of a 
1036human head, whose eyes and ears represent understanding, whose hair represents 
1037thought, whose beard represents the word, or rather, the expression and manifestation of 
1038                                                                              26
1039truth.  They have said repeatedly that this head has no existence in visible or tangible 
1040reality, that God is inaccessible to our senses and even to our thought, that we can 
1041understand him only through his action upon us and relative to us.  All of which has not 
1042kept a great number of superstitious men from attributing a human visage to God, and 
1043not only in far-off times, but recently as well. 
1044 
1045Swedenborg, for example, this otherwise astonishing and admirable mystic, maintains 
1046that the universe is in reality an immense man with hair of light, with legs and arms of 
1047stars, truly made in the image of God, who is himself so great and so brilliant a man that 
1048no human eye can see him.  The Mormons, in these very days in which we live, believe 
1049that the universe is limited and that God, in the form of a gigantic man, occupies the 
1050centre, seated on a colossal Urim-Thummim, that is, on two great precious stones with 
1051innumerable facets in which are reflected all that comes to pass in the existing worlds.  
1052This thought is scarcely more advanced than that of the Scandinavians in which Odin is 
1053seated beneath an oak along whose branches there scampers eternally a squirrel who 
1054comes to whisper in his ear all that happens in the universe. 
1055 
1056Let us pass over the details of the thirteen sections of the allegorical beard so as not to tire 
1057our readers, examining only the conclusions which Rabbi Simeon draws from them.   
1058                                                                              27
1059Conclusion 
1060Concerning the Allegorical Figure of the Macroprosopopeia 
1061 
1062 
1063Then said Rabbi Simeon to his companions:  
1064 
1065“Your words are like embroidery on the great veil which permits us, without being 
1066dazed and blinded, to lift our eyes towards the eternal light. 
1067 
1068I saw this work being done as you spoke: your thoughts determined the image, and 
1069the image came of itself to take its place in this wondrous tapestry. 
1070 
1071It was thus that in former times Moses had the holy tabernacle's veil embroidered 
1072and hung from four columns by rings of gold. 
1073 
1074Thus the sacrificial altar had four corners, like the square that can be drawn in all 
1075the circles of the heavens; and there was in the middle of the altar a hooked bar 
1076which served to stir the sacrificial fire, for this fire could not be touched by human 
1077hands. 
1078 
1079Our allegories are like this bar, allowing us to touch the burning truth.  We 
1080progress, with well-ordered imagination, thanks to the law of analogies and the 
1081exactness of numbers.  What we know serves as a basis for what we believe.  The 
1082order which we see calls for the order we suppose exists in the heights beyond our 
1083comprehension.  Thus, nothing in our images is left to chance, all is fixed in a 
1084harmonious and justifiable order.  You speak and the picture takes shape.  Your 
1085voice determines the forms which appear, and they arrange themselves in all 
1086magnificence, like the ornaments of a crown. 
1087 
1088The columns of the temple are moved: they seem reborn, emerging from the ground 
1089to hear you. 
1090 
1091The armies of heaven surround you, and their admirable discipline justifies your 
1092words. 
1093 
1094Oh!  be happy in the world to come, for the words which come out of your mouth are 
1095fore-ordained by truth and justice, following the path of righteousness without fail, 
1096straying neither to the right nor to the left. 
1097 
1098The most holy God, whom you bless, rejoices to hear them, and he listens to them 
1099that they may be accomplished. 
1100 
1101For, in the world to come, all good words spoken in the world at hand will take on 
1102living forms, and you are creatures of goodness, you who manifest through the 
1103Word that which is true! 
1104 
1105                                                                              28
1106The truth is a fine wine which never vanishes.  It falls drop by drop from the cup of 
1107the wise, reaching even beyond the grave to moisten the lips of the dead.  It 
1108descends even to the hearts of our sleeping fathers, making them speak again, as in 
1109a dream. 
1110 
1111For the truth is always alive, it abandons no one once it has touched him. 
1112 
1113And when the children on earth give living testimony to it, the fathers who sleep 
1114beneath the earth begin to smile, answering softly: "Amen!"” 
1115 
1116 
1117                                                                              29
1118The Microprosopopeia 
1119 
1120 
1121We know of nothing in the ancient books as great as this great council of initiates, busying 
1122themselves, in truth and reason, with the creation of a hieroglyphic figure of God.  They 
1123know that any form, in order to be seen, must have light and cast a shadow.  But can 
1124shadow represent supreme intelligence?  No, of course not.  It can only represent its veil.  
1125The ancient Isis was veiled; Moses, speaking of God, covered his head with a veil.  All 
1126theology of the ancients is veiled with more or less transparent allegories: mythology is 
1127nothing other than this.  To mythology there succeeded the mysteries, which are the 
1128darkened veil, stripped of its adornments, pointing more and more to the face of shadow 
1129outlined by the great Rabbi Simeon.  But all this harkens back to the first, the earliest 
1130imagery, so that the pages we translate here, by analysing them, seem to be the origin of 
1131all symbolisms and the fundamental principle of all dogmas. 
1132 
1133Nothing is as beautiful nor as encouraging as this explanation given to certain images of 
1134the Bible, representing God as wrathful, repentant or changeable, in the manner of man.  
1135Such emotional behaviour, Simeon Ben-Jochai would say, belongs only to the face of 
1136shadow: it is the mirror of human passion.  The face of light is always peaceful and 
1137radiant, but God, who has no face, remains unchanging above this light and shadow.  The 
1138man who seeks God can find only man's ideal; how can the finite conceive of the infinite? 
1139 
1140Ordinary man must have a God which resembles himself.  If the master did not grow 
1141angry when men do evil, they would believe that evil goes unpunished, and thus would 
1142remain unchecked in their wickedness.  If the master were not harsh, severe, mysterious, 
1143difficult to satisfy and to understand, they would easily fall prey to indifference and 
1144indolence.  Troublesome childhood has need of the rod, and the father must know how to 
1145feign anger, even though he may wish to smile at the mischievousness of his children. 
1146 
1147Thus, according to our ancient masters, the image of divinity has two faces, one which 
1148surveys the faults of man and becomes angry, the other which contemplates eternal justice 
1149and smiles. 
1150 
1151This mystery of higher initiation was known even to the Greeks, who sometimes gave to 
1152Pluto the attributes of Jupiter.  Egypt prayed to the black Serapis, and images of Bacchus 
1153have been preserved wherein this god whose adventures recall the story of Moses, this god 
1154whose celebrations brought forth the cry Io Evohé (Jod hé Van hé), the four letters of 
1155Jehovah's name, is shown like Janus with two faces.  One is young and fair like that of 
1156Apollo, the other, grotesque and frowning like that of Silenus. 
1157 
1158Apollo and Bacchus characterize the two principles of exaltation in mankind: enthusiasm 
1159and drunkenness.  Sublime souls find intoxication in poetry and beauty, vulgar souls seek 
1160enthusiasm in the drunkenness that wine produces. 
1161 
1162But for the vulgar man, wine is not the only source of exaltation.  Lowly men grow drunk 
1163on all 'vapours' which affect the brain: insatiable greed, undisciplined lusts, vain glory, 
1164fanaticism.  There exist ascetic imaginations even wilder and madder than those of the 
1165                                                                              30
1166Bacchantes; there are self-styled protectors of the faith who, changing sweetness to 
1167bitterness and true preaching to satire, are condemned by incorruptible nature to wear the 
1168satyr's mask.  Insolence, like red-hot iron, has burned their lips, and their guarded eyes 
1169denounce, in spite of them, the perversity of their hearts. 
1170 
1171The face of shadow which our rabbis describe is not, however, the God of Garasse, of 
1172Patouillet or Veuillot; it is the veiled god of Moses, the after-God, if I may refer to him 
1173thus, thereby alluding to a Biblical allegory.  Moses prayed to God, to the invisible God, to 
1174appear.  'Look in the cleft of this rock,' said the Lord.  'I will pass and lay my hand 
1175thereon, and when I will have passed, you shall see me from behind.' 
1176 
1177Moses, writing this page, was conscious of the symbolism of the head of shadow, the only 
1178one which it is given to man to look upon without being blinded by light.  The God of light 
1179is he of whom the wise man dreams; the God of shadow is the dream of the foolish.  
1180Human folly sees everything in reverse, and if we may use the daring metaphor of Moses, 
1181the face which the multitudes worship is only the divine image glimpsed from behind, the 
1182after-shadow of God.' Videbis posteriora mea.' 
1183                                                                              31
1184The Text of the Sohar Continued 
1185Prologue concerning the Microprosopopeia 
1186 
1187 
1188Ready yourselves now, and give your attention to a symbolic description of the 
1189Microprosopopeia, this veil of shadow fitted to cover a shape of light, this visible fiction 
1190which makes the splendour of the invisible accessible to our eyes, the dark old one who 
1191gathers in and reflects the light of the white old one. 
1192 
1193“Wisdom is your guide, your tools are order, justice and beauty. 
1194 
1195Give a form to the whole body of human thought which ascends toward the invisible 
1196author of all forms. 
1197 
1198And let this form be a human one, for we seek the king who shall reign over all 
1199men. 
1200 
1201A human form, so that we can seat it on a throne and worship it. 
1202 
1203Has not the prophet said: "I saw a throne in the heavens, and on this throne some 
1204immense thing resembling a human form"? 
1205 
1206Let us use the human form, for this is for us the synthesis of all forms. 
1207 
1208For the name of man is for us the synthesis of all names. 
1209 
1210Let us use the human form, for the human idea contains for us all the secrets of 
1211thought, and all the mysteries of the ancient world, the world created before man, 
1212the world in which no balance could be attained until the appearance of the form 
1213called Adam.” 
1214 
1215                                                                              32
1216The Kings of Edom 
1217 
1218 
1219“We read in the book of Mystery: "Before the Ancient of ancients revealed his 
1220grandeur, he let there come into being gigantic forces which, before the advent of 
1221the people of God, reigned like kings in the land of Edom." 
1222 
1223Nature was given over to the spirit of their enmity, and they eventually destroyed 
1224each other.  For they could not reach an agreement as to how to form a human 
1225body, seeing as how they, themselves, lacked a head. 
1226 
1227The human head was missing from all living nature, and nature was in a state of 
1228chaos, like the human mind when it lacks the idea of God! 
1229 
1230Thus these terrestrial Elohims, these anarchic kings of the world, were destroyed. 
1231 
1232They were destroyed, but they were not annihilated. 
1233 
1234Destroyed as reckless powers, they were preserved as powers which must be 
1235controlled. 
1236 
1237And they took their place in the order of things, when order was created. 
1238 
1239As a matter of fact, nothing is ever destroyed, everything simply changes place, 
1240shifts position, and when beings change in obedience to the eternal order, it is this 
1241which we, as men, call dying. 
1242 
1243Even the king of Egypt is not dead, he has come down from his throne to make 
1244place for the Eternal. 
1245 
1246It is said that Adam named all beings, for at the time of his coming a hierarchy 
1247instigated itself in nature, and all beings, finding themselves for the first time in 
1248their appointed place, had just reason to be called and determined by a name.’ 
1249 
1250Only one of the pre-Adamite monsters was not destroyed, the great Androgyn, male 
1251and female like the palm tree. 
1252 
1253This is the productive, generative force which existed before Adam and which God 
1254will not destroy. 
1255 
1256It existed, but it was not controlled; it was at work, but the law of its working was 
1257not fixed until it had produced its master work: the living form of Adam.” 
1258 
1259                                                                              33
1260The Skull of the Microprosopopeia 
1261 
1262(Air, Fire and Dew) 
1263 
1264 
1265“When the white head decided to add to its beauty with an ornament, it sent out a 
1266spark from its own light. 
1267 
1268It breathed on the spark to cool it, and the spark grew firm. 
1269 
1270It expanded and hollowed itself out, like a blue, transparent skull enclosing 
1271thousands, myriads of worlds. 
1272 
1273This cavity is full of eternal dew, white on the side of the father, red on the side of 
1274the son.  It is the dew of light and life, the dew that engenders universes and 
1275resurrects the dead. 
1276 
1277Some are resurrected in light, and the others in fire. 
1278 
1279Some in the eternal whiteness of peace, the others in the redness of fire and the 
1280torments of war. 
1281 
1282The wicked are the disgrace, so to speak, of their father, and it is they who cover 
1283the face with its redness. 
1284 
1285In this skull of universal man, only begotten son of God, resides knowledge, with its 
1286thirty-two paths and its fifty gates.” 
1287 
1288                                                                              34
1289The Hair of the Microprosopopeia 
1290 
1291 
1292“Hair represents thoughts, as it radiates outward from the head. 
1293 
1294The head of the Microprosopopeia is surrounded by myriads of myriads and 
1295millions of millions of black hairs, coarse and kinked and tangled together. 
1296 
1297There, intermingled, are to be found the bright and the dark, the true and the false, 
1298the just and the unjust. 
1299 
1300These hairs are divided in the centre by a single straight line, corresponding 
1301identically to one on the white head. 
1302 
1303For balance is the same for God and for man, and the laws which govern balance 
1304are no different in heaven than on earth. 
1305 
1306Among human thoughts, some are harsh and pitiless, others are soft and pliable. 
1307 
1308The same sense of balance weighs them and modifies the rigidity of the left by the 
1309mercifulness of the right.” 
1310                                                                              35
1311The Forehead of the Microprosopopeia 
1312 
1313(The Eyes and their Colour) 
1314 
1315 
1316“When the forehead of light, is shining, the forehead of shadow is bathed in its 
1317glow. 
1318 
1319When anger brings shadows to cover the forehead of the God of man, the dark 
1320twisted hairs stand on end, a breath of ire makes them hiss like serpents. 
1321 
1322Prayers of ignorance rise like a black smoke and cloud the forehead of the idol still 
1323more. 
1324 
1325Then rises the prayer of the just. 
1326 
1327It comes out of the shadow and ascends directly towards the light. 
1328 
1329The celestial head bends down, and the shadowy forehead below is bathed in 
1330splendours. 
1331 
1332Ire ceases, the storm abates and vengeance is changed to forgiveness.” 
1333 
1334                                                                              36
1335The Eyes 
1336 
1337 
1338“He has black, thick eyebrows; round his eyes bristle lashes the colour of shadow. 
1339 
1340When his sombre eyelids open, he seems then to awaken. 
1341 
1342His gaze takes on the reflection of the higher light and resembles the gaze of God. 
1343 
1344It is to him the prophet speaks when he says: "Awake, Lord, why do you sleep so 
1345long?  Is it not time to shake off your sleep at last?" 
1346 
1347During the sleep of the God of shadow, foreign nations gain dominion over Israel. 
1348 
1349The God of man slumbers when man's faith falls asleep. 
1350 
1351But when our God wakes, he rolls his eyes and, casting a scornful glance at the 
1352nations which oppress us, he overwhelms them with his lightning. 
1353 
1354When they are open, his eyes are soft like the eyes of doves, and there are to be 
1355found these basic colours, black, white, yellow, red. 
1356 
1357‘The black of the Microprosopopeia's eyes can be linked to that stone which comes 
1358forth from the abyss once every thousand years, from the abyss of the great sea. 
1359 
1360And when this stone appears, a great tempest arises, the waves are lashed into 
1361fury, and the noise they make is heard by the immense serpent, named Leviathan. 
1362 
1363This stone comes from the deep abyss, it rolls in the boiling torment of the sea, out 
1364of which it rises at last; and darkness covers all, a darkness next to which all other 
1365darknesses seem as nothing.  Now, the initiated know that in this darkness are 
1366hidden all the mysteries of knowledge. 
1367 
1368Such is the darkness of the eye of the old one, a blackness containing and 
1369surpassing all obscurity. 
1370 
1371His whiteness is borrowed from the supreme gaze: it is the milk of mercy, falling 
1372upon him drop by drop like tears. 
1373 
1374His redness is that of fire, which destroys and renews life. 
1375 
1376His look of kindness is burnished yellow, shining like gold. 
1377 
1378When he grows wrathful, when he threatens, in the corners of his flashing eyes 
1379there hang two tears. 
1380 
1381                                                                              37
1382His lightening bursts forth, his anger plunges to the depths of the abyss, fire breaks 
1383out, devouring its victims for ever. 
1384 
1385The powerful of the earth are overthrown, cedars are twisted like blades of grass, 
1386the abyss is gratified, anger is appeased, the sombre God grows calm, and on the 
1387hanging tears glows a brilliant beam from the light of a God of love. 
1388 
1389The eyelids close, the tears fall, and in falling they extinguish the fire of eternal 
1390hell.” 
1391                                                                              38
1392The Nose and the Beard 
1393Analysis 
1394 
1395Simeon Ben-Jochai continued to explain the Book of Mystery, describing the anatomy of 
1396the dark God.  This God is neither the Ahriman of the Persians, nor the evil principle of 
1397the Manicheans: this is a loftier concept, a mediating shade between infinite light and the 
1398feeble eye of man, a veil, made in humanity's image, with which God deigns to veil his 
1399glory.  In this shadow, the meaning of all mysteries is to be found.  This shadow explains 
1400the terrible God of the prophets, the God who threatens and calls for fear.  It is the God of 
1401priests, the God who requires sacrifice, the God who slumbers and wakes to the sound of 
1402trumpets from the temple, the God who repents of having created man, and who, won over 
1403by prayers and offerings, is appeased as he raises his hand to strike. 
1404 
1405It must be remarked here that this obscure conception of divinity, far from seeming a poor 
1406one to the great rabbis and revelators of mystery, appears, rather, just and essential. 
1407 
1408The ancient sanctuary was veiled, and when the veil was torn, this catastrophe heralded 
1409the end of a religion and of a world.  The veil is not torn without the earth trembling: this 
1410happened at the death of Christ; but the sanctuary unveiled is a sanctuary profaned.  
1411Soon Caligula will place his idols there, waiting for the torches fired by Titus's soldiers.  A 
1412voice cries; the gods have taken leave, while Christianity silently prepares another 
1413sanctuary and weaves another veil. 
1414 
1415The two figurative heads of the old ones must be represented as concentric or 
1416superimposed in such a way that one is the reflection of the other, but a reflection in 
1417opposition, the white in the one being black in the other and vice versa. 
1418 
1419The great rabbis apply themselves diligently to detailing the two heads, they count the 
1420tresses of hair and the divisions of the beard, they describe the two noses and the contrary 
1421streams of breath escaping from the four nostrils.  The long and majestic nose of the 
1422supreme father breathes divine and eternal life; the short, wrinkled nose of the irate God 
1423breathes fire and smoke: this is the smouldering volcano of earthly life as well as what the 
1424great rabbis seem to mean by the eternal fire of hell. 
1425 
1426This fire, say they, can be quenched only by the altar's fire, and this smoke dispelled only 
1427by the smoke of sacrifice.  He can be understood, this dark God with the smouldering 
1428nostrils, for ever inflamed for they are the very vents of hell. 
1429 
1430Here the dark God takes on something of our Devil, and it is to this particular fiction of 
1431the rabbis that the Persian Ahriman, the wicked God of the Manicheans, and the 
1432Christian Devil, all owe their common origin.  It is a disfigured symbol: no longer the 
1433shadow of God, but, so to speak, a distorted mask, a caricature of the shadow.  This 
1434misrepresentation, produced by ignorance working on so bold an image, proves the 
1435necessity for occultism and justifies the secrecy of the rabbis in shrouding the Qabalah in 
1436mystery.   
1437 
1438                                                                              39
1439After the nose, the rabbi describes the ears of the dark God.  They are covered with wiry 
1440hairs, for in man, of whom the dark God is the image, understanding is clouded by the 
1441disorder of thought.  When the vulgar God slumbers, his ears do not hear and evil is done 
1442in the world.  The evil which offends and angers the God of shadow does not exist for the 
1443God of light.  Relative to absolute order, disorder does not exist. 
1444 
1445When the God of men awakens, he shakes out his hair, and the sky trembles.  Then his 
1446ears are uncovered and available for prayer.  These are days of victory for Israel: they 
1447triumph over Aman and vanquish their enemies. 
1448 
1449From the ears, Rabbi Simeon passes to the beard, describing its separate sections.  He 
1450counts nine of them, not thirteen as in the white beard of the supreme old one, because the 
1451negative Word of the God of shadow could never explain the divine quaternary.  The 
1452ternary multiplied by itself gives nine, and this is the number for every hierarchy and 
1453classification in the Qabalistic method.  There are nine choirs of angels; there are also 
1454nine classes of demons.  The number nine has, then, its luminous and shadowy sides, but 
1455the divine quaternary is the perfect number which admits no negation.  The negation of 
1456the quaternary would be the monstrous fiction of absolute evil.  This would be the Satan of 
1457the diabolists, an impossible monster, unknown to the ancient masters, the great Hebrew 
1458Qabalists. 
1459 
1460The nine sections of the beard of shadow represent the negative Word.  These are the 
1461shadows of the great lights. 
1462 
1463The great lights are the nine divine conceptions which precede the idea of creation. 
1464 
1465First Light 
1466The crown or supreme power 
1467Shadow of this light 
1468Despotism or absolute power 
1469 
1470Second Light 
1471Eternal wisdom 
1472Shadow of this light 
1473Blind faith 
1474 
1475Third Light 
1476Active intelligence 
1477Shadow of this light 
1478The dogma which claims to be unchanging  
1479and which inevitably develops 
1480 
1481Fourth Light 
1482Spiritual beauty 
1483Shadow of this light 
1484Blind faith 
1485 
1486                                                                              40
1487Fifth Light 
1488Eternal justice 
1489Shadow of this light 
1490Divine vengeance 
1491 
1492Sixth Light 
1493Infinite mercy 
1494Shadow of this lightt 
1495Voluntary sacrifice 
1496 
1497Seventh Light 
1498The eternal victory of good 
1499Shadow of this light 
1500Abnegation and voluntary austerity 
1501 
1502Eighth Light 
1503Eternity of goodness 
1504Shadow of this light 
1505Everlasting hell 
1506 
1507Ninth Light 
1508Fertility of goodness 
1509Shadow of this light 
1510Celibacy and sterility 
1511 
1512Here, necessarily, the dark numbers stop, for the number ten is the number of creation.  
1513But creation cannot be negative.  Celibacy and sterility produce nothing.   
1514 
1515Celibacy has always been mysticism's dream, even in Judaism which formally condemns 
1516sterility.   
1517 
1518Asceticism is in fact incompatible with the duties of the family.  Travelling prophets had 
1519no wives.  The family is the world, and mysticism is the desert. 
1520 
1521The family is true life, and mysticism is dreaming. 
1522 
1523The family necessitates property, and mysticism commands abnegation and voluntary 
1524austerity. 
1525 
1526Mysticism is the religious sentiment pushed to the extreme.  Thus, should it be tempered 
1527and governed by sacerdotal authority; mystics are children whose pedagogues and tutors 
1528are the priests.  We speak here of orthodox mystics who escape the drunkenness of folly 
1529thanks to the limitations of obedience.  Undisciplined mystics are madmen capable of 
1530great fury and which it would be wise to shut away. 
1531 
1532                                                                              41
1533The Microprosopopeia 
1534Considered as Androgynous 
1535 
1536 
1537Here is what we have learned: 
1538 
1539Rabbi Simeon then said:  
1540 
1541“These mysteries of the Word should be revealed only to those who can maintain 
1542equilibrium with one foot on each end of the scale.  They must not be told to those 
1543who have not entered the crypt of great trials, but only to those who have entered 
1544there and come out again 
1545 
1546For he who enters but does not come out again, it would be better were he never to 
1547have been created.” 
1548 
1549 
1550Commentary 
1551 
1552Here we can clearly see that the occult dogma of Moses, professed to by Rabbi Simeon, 
1553comes from the sanctuaries of Egypt.  There, in fact, one was subjected to great trial 
1554before being admitted to initiation.  These trials took place in immense underground 
1555spaces, which those who gave way to fear were never to leave.  The adept who, on the 
1556contrary, came out again triumphant, received the key to all religious mysteries, and the 
1557first great revelation, whispered close to his ear in passing, was contained in this formula: 
1558 
1559 
1560Osiris is a dark God 
1561 
1562That is: the God worshipped by the profane is only a shadow of the true God. 
1563 
1564We give him man's anger so that he may be dreaded by man. 
1565 
1566For if men are not presented with a master who resembles them, the idea of divinity will 
1567so surpass their feeble intelligence that it will escape them completely, and they will fall 
1568into atheism. 
1569 
1570When man does evil, he throws himself into disorder, he transgresses the law which 
1571guards his happiness.  Then he is miserable, dissatisfied with himself, and he is told that 
1572God is angry with him, in order to explain to him the workings of his own angered 
1573conscience.  He must placate God with expiations which, like punishments inflicted on 
1574unreasonable, wilful children, serve to impress on the mind a horror of evil.  He must 
1575above all return to the path of goodness, and then, from the calm he experiences, he feels 
1576that God has forgiven him.  God, however, does not forgive, for he is never angered; but if 
1577you say to the vulgar man that the supreme judge lives in the heart of his own conscience, 
1578he will believe that God is only a word, and he will come to argue with his conscience, 
1579                                                                              42
1580attributing his scruples or his remorse to learned prejudice.  He will thus have no other 
1581guide than the self-interest of his passions which are the harbingers of death. 
1582 
1583 
1584CONTINUATION OF THE TEXT 
1585 
1586“Here is a summary of all these words: 
1587 
1588The Ancient of ancients exists within the Microprosopopeia, light is hidden within 
1589shadow, the large is figured in the small: everything is in supreme unity.  It is here 
1590that all has been, is and will be.  Supreme unity will not change, has not changed, 
1591does not change. 
1592 
1593It has no forms, but conforms to our own.  It takes on for us the form which 
1594contains all forms and the name which holds within it all names. 
1595 
1596This form, by means of which it can appear to us in our thoughts, is not really its 
1597form, it is the analogy of a form.  It is an artificial head on which to place diadems 
1598and crowns. 
1599 
1600Man's form summarizes all forms, of higher as well as lower things. 
1601 
1602And because this form summarizes and represents all that is, we use it to make for 
1603ourselves a representation of God in the form of the supreme old one.   
1604 
1605Then, parallel to this form and as its shadow, our imagination creates the 
1606Microprosopopeia. 
1607 
1608And if you ask me what difference there is between the two old ones, I will answer 
1609that the two represent a single, selfsame thought. 
1610 
1611They are the two sides of an image: turned towards the sky, the image is serene 
1612and splendid; turned towards the ignorance and vice of man, the image is 
1613threatening and cloudy. 
1614 
1615Thus the Lord, during the exodus from Egypt, precedes Israel in a cloud, luminous 
1616from Israel's side, but shadowy on the side of the Egyptians. 
1617 
1618Light and shadow, are they not opposed?   
1619 
1620They seem irreconcilable, contrary to such a degree that when one exists, the other 
1621cannot.   
1622 
1623They coincide admirably, however, and it is their harmonious accord which makes 
1624all forms visible. 
1625 
1626But these mysteries are accessible only to the harvesters of the sacred fields. 
1627                                                                              43
1628 
1629It is written: "The mystery of the Lord belongs to those who fear him." ” 
1630 
1631 
1632Commentary 
1633 
1634Here Rabbi Simeon attempts to explain the mysteries of Genesis where God is represented 
1635in human form creating Adam in his own image.  This human form ascribed to God is the 
1636prototypal form of the great Adam, that is, of humanity in its entirety, pre-existing in the 
1637Word of God. 
1638 
1639Now, by the great Adam whom they call Adam Kadmon or Adam the Protoplast, the 
1640Jewish initiates do not mean, as we do, the first human individual, but rather, have the 
1641entire human race appearing at once on the face of the earth.  By the great Adam, they 
1642mean primitive humanity and even something more, for the body of Adam contains all 
1643animated beings and all the spirits of the universe.  Thus they give to him the most 
1644gigantic proportions.  His forehead touches the sun's zenith, his right hand touches the 
1645east, his left, the west.  When he lifts his foot to walk, the shadow of his heel causes an 
1646eclipse of the sun.  He is androgynous, with two faces, the masculine face in front, the 
1647feminine face behind.  Each face is also androgynous, that is, masculine on the right and 
1648feminine on the left. 
1649 
1650The prototype of the great Adam which is in the Microprosopopeia is likewise androgynous 
1651in front, behind, to the right, to the left, on top and underneath, all of which symbolizes 
1652the universal equilibrium and balance of forces, either active or passive, in the whole of 
1653nature.   
1654 
1655Symbols will make all of this more easily understood, and we can give several here. 
1656 
1657We will not follow Rabbi Simeon in his descriptions of the divine androgyn contained in 
1658the prototype which is the dark old one or the God of shadow.  These are monstrous 
1659anatomical fictions which recall the bizarre combinations of certain hybrid gods of India.  
1660A great thought presides over all these dream images, no doubt, but their expression is too 
1661far removed from our habits and modes of thinking.  Suffice it to say that the rabbi 
1662represents typical couples, the Microprosopopeia with nature, his wife, and Adam Kadmon 
1663together with his Eve, in the act of eternal fertility, explaining their ardours and their 
1664amorous languor, making of immensity an enormous nuptial bed without alcove, covering 
1665or curtain. 
1666 
1667                                                                              44
1668On Justice 
1669Following the Text of Rabbi Simeon 
1670 
1671“Woman does not possess within herself strength and justice, these she must 
1672receive from man. 
1673 
1674She aspires after them with untellable thirst, but cannot receive them until she is 
1675entirely submissive. 
1676 
1677When she rules, she brings about only revolt and violence. 
1678 
1679It is in this way that woman became man's overseer by drawing him into sin. 
1680 
1681In the incontinence of her desires, she became a mother and gave birth to Cain. 
1682 
1683Then she said: "God and I have made a man, and this man is my property." 
1684 
1685She was not yet ready for true maternity, for the serpent had infected her with his 
1686jealousy and anger. 
1687 
1688The birth of the cruel and pitiless Cain was a violent and terrible one, exhausting 
1689all the energies of woman. 
1690 
1691She grew softer then, weaker, and brought forth the gentle Abel. 
1692 
1693These two conflicting generations could not find peace together: the strong, without 
1694measure, was destined to absorb the weak, without defence; and this is what 
1695occurred. 
1696 
1697Then the God of shadow awoke and he tore from the stomach of Cain this latter's 
1698brother whom he had devoured. 
1699 
1700But neither Cain nor Abel were considered just enough to remain alive before him. 
1701 
1702He relegated Abel to life's limbo regions and threw Cain into the great ocean of 
1703tears. 
1704 
1705There, they seek each other still in order to continue their struggle and each, on his 
1706own, produces a spirit of violence and weakness. 
1707 
1708Happy are the souls who descend in a direct line from the great Adam!  For the 
1709children of the useless Abel and those of the criminal Cain are no better one than 
1710the other: they are the unjust, the sinners. 
1711 
1712True justice unites goodness and strength, it is neither violent nor weak. 
1713 
1714                                                                              45
1715Happy are you, you who understand these words, words of the spirit which joins the 
1716right with the left, the higher with the lower. 
1717 
1718Happy are you, you the masters of masters, harvesters of the holy field, who 
1719contemplate and recognize the Lord, looking at him face to face, and who, by your 
1720union with the eternal Word, make yourselves worthy of immortality in the world 
1721to come. 
1722 
1723About you it is written: "From this day forth you will know that the Lord reigns at 
1724one time from the highest heaven and from the deepest earth." 
1725 
1726The Lord, the Ancient of days, God!, that is, the unique, the only, his reign is 
1727everywhere.  May his name be blessed in this century and in the century of 
1728centuries!” 
1729 
1730 
1731                                                                              46
1732Final Words 
1733On the Supreme Man 
1734 
1735Rabbi Simeon said:  
1736 
1737“By looking down on things, we see them from above, and by observing them from 
1738above, we see things which lie below. 
1739 
1740The ten fingers of our hands recall the ten crowns of knowledge, the holy numbers 
1741and their equilibrium, five on one side and five on the other.   
1742 
1743It is the same with our toes: that which is above is like that which is below. 
1744 
1745'The higher forms govern the lower forms, the top is like the bottom, woman is 
1746analogous to man.   
1747 
1748Opposites govern opposites, extremes find contact, and different forms adhere one 
1749to another and act one upon another. 
1750 
1751Man and woman united together form the perfect body of humanity. 
1752 
1753They come one out of the other, they need one another, they act and react one on 
1754the other. 
1755 
1756The life they possess is the same: thus the blood in the body's vessels is distributed 
1757to the right and left throughout the entire body. 
1758 
1759All the vessels of the body intermingle their flow; all the nerves share in the 
1760communication of luminous fluid and sensitivity. 
1761 
1762Like worlds in space, sending each other again and again the light of their suns. 
1763 
1764All that is outside this mutual, universal life of the great body is foul.  Do not go 
1765near spirits who exist outside the great communion, as if they might teach you 
1766something, for you will receive nothing from them but stain and blemish. 
1767 
1768These wandering spirits are like decapitated heads, forever thirsty, but the water 
1769they drink drips away with their blood and does not quench their thirst. 
1770 
1771If it is thus, you say, the very angels are part of the great body of the Synagogue?' 
1772 
1773How could you doubt it? 
1774 
1775If it were not so, they could participate neither in holiness nor in life. 
1776 
1777For the synagogue of the wise is the body of humanity, the body of God. 
1778 
1779                                                                              47
1780The angel of the Lord in the prophecy of Daniel, is he not called Gabriel?  And what 
1781does Gabriel signify if not man par excellence, the man of God, or the Man-God? 
1782 
1783Tradition teaches us that vile spirits cannot take on the beauties of the human 
1784form, for they exist separately from the harmony of the perfect body. 
1785 
1786They are wanderers, flitting here and there throughout the world, unable to 
1787assume specific shape. 
1788 
1789They find themselves rejected everywhere, for they have in them the disobedience 
1790of Cain: they are driven from the field whose brilliant tents are the stars. 
1791 
1792Never can they take their stand within the realm of truth; at one moment they will 
1793hover above it, at another, below, but either way, they are always vile. 
1794 
1795The impure spirits coming from Abel are gentler and can approach the great body, 
1796even, to all appearances, attaching themselves to it. 
1797 
1798But they are as superfluous, artificial limbs: they are added to the body, but cannot 
1799remain there. 
1800 
1801All these spirits are like aborted being?  or detached limbs floating in space: they 
1802listen from the heights or from the depths to all they can hear, but they understand 
1803nothing, as we all know who busy ourselves with the subject.” 
1804 
1805Now, here is the tradition concerning the book's mystery.  When the conjugal 
1806prototype regained its equilibrium through the appeasement of the God of shadow, 
1807the Adamic couple came together for the third time.   
1808 
1809And a balanced generation was made.   
1810 
1811Harmony was then established between heaven and earth.   
1812 
1813The higher world brought life to the lower, for man, the mediator between thought 
1814and form, had at last found peace. 
1815 
1816There was then the divine glory of the upper regions and the divine glory of the 
1817lower, the Shekinah of heaven and the Shekinah of earth. 
1818 
1819Holy is the Lord in the thoughts of heaven, holy is the Lord in the forms of earth, 
1820holy is the Lord whose thought descends from idea to form and back again! 
1821 
1822Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of harmonious beings, well 
1823ordered like armies!   
1824 
1825All the earth is full of his glory, and all that exists is a single body, given life by a 
1826single soul.   
1827                                                                              48
1828 
1829Here is one of our traditions: 
1830 
1831There exists a compensatory balancing of beings one with another. 
1832 
1833It is written in the Song of Songs: "We will make for you gold necklaces inlaid with 
1834silver." 
1835 
1836'It is thus that, to embellish one with the other, mercy and justice are limited. 
1837 
1838And they are like the palm tree which always grows in twos; they are like brother 
1839and sister, ageing equally.   
1840 
1841Thus we know that he who separates himself from humanity by refusing to love, 
1842espousing no one, he will find no place after death in the great human synthesis, 
1843but will remain outside, a stranger to the laws of attraction and to the 
1844transformations of life. 
1845 
1846And nature, ashamed of him, will cause him to disappear, as we hasten to rid 
1847ourselves of the dead. 
1848 
1849Why does the law command that, upon his death, we do not leave the body of a man 
1850to pass the night in the house in which he lived? 
1851 
1852It is out of respect for the human form, become useless, that it may not be 
1853dishonoured. 
1854 
1855It is to prevent that which was once a person from becoming a futile, nameless 
1856thing. 
1857 
1858It is to distinguish the venerable body of man from animal carrion. 
1859 
1860Death must not be allowed authority when it is a question of man: for man is the 
1861scope of immortal spirit.   
1862 
1863A human body without soul is a gap in nature, and yet the corpse is worthy of 
1864honour because of its human shape. 
1865 
1866One must make haste to put an end to this contradiction and it is for this reason 
1867that we bury our dead before the night following their passing. 
1868 
1869Men who renounce their humanity in the hope of conquering heaven are nothing 
1870more than dwarves who wish to bring back the crimes of the giants, unrighteous, 
1871contrary creatures. 
1872 
1873For it is written: "The sons of God, having seen the daughters of man and finding 
1874them beautiful, bent down too far to see them and were hurled into the abyss." 
1875                                                                              49
1876 
1877There they engendered impure spirits and demons, and it was in this time that 
1878there were giants on the earth.   
1879 
1880Their fall, contrary to nature's order and as a consequence, unforeseen by the 
1881supreme orderer of all things, explains the repentance or remorse of God when it is 
1882said that the Lord regretted having created man. 
1883 
1884And the text adds "On earth", for the divine plan remained unaltered in heaven.  
1885The heavenly man had not sinned. 
1886 
1887But the angel, by falling, broke the equilibrium of earth, and God was forced, so to 
1888speak, to act against his own wishes. 
1889 
1890For it is man's equilibrium which makes nature's balance here on earth, and if man 
1891were no longer, there would be no more world. 
1892 
1893For man is the receptacle of divine thought which creates and preserves the world, 
1894man is earth's raison d'etre, all that existed before him was merely in preparation 
1895for his birth, and the entirety of creation without him would have come to nothing. 
1896 
1897It is thus that the prophet, in a vision, saw angels set up a throne on high, and on it 
1898was seated a figure similar to the image of a man. 
1899 
1900And Daniel said that he saw someone like the son of man, walking among the 
1901clouds of the sky, ascending slowly toward the Ancient of days. 
1902 
1903And at length he arrived before him and was made to draw nigh to the face of the 
1904Lord.” 
1905 
1906 
1907                                                                              50
1908Conclusion 
1909 
1910“Up to this point our words have been full of mystery, hiding a higher sense, 
1911outside the grasp of most.  Fortunate is he who can understand them without error! 
1912 
1913For these words have been given only to the masters, to the harvesters of the sacred 
1914field, to those who have undertaken the trial and come through it. 
1915 
1916It is written: "The ways of the Lord are straight, and the just walk in them without 
1917hindrance, but the transgressors of the law must always find there some stumbling 
1918lock." ” 
1919 
1920Having said all these things, Rabbi Simeon wept and raising his voice, said:  
1921 
1922“If some of you, oh, my brothers, are to reveal to the wicked the things you have 
1923heard, may God take you again unto himself and hide you in his glory! 
1924 
1925For it is better that we take leave of this world than to reveal to the children of this 
1926world the most sublime mysteries of heaven. 
1927 
1928I have revealed them to you alone, in the presence of the Ancient of ancients: I have 
1929not done it for my own glory, nor for that of my father's house, nor for the honour of 
1930my brothers gathered here with me.   
1931 
1932But only to prevent them from straying out of the paths of great wisdom, in order 
1933that they may present themselves without shame before the gate of the holy palace, 
1934in order that they shall not be erased, like a badly formed letter, from the pages of 
1935the book of life,” 
1936 
1937Now this is what we have learned: 
1938 
1939Before the departure of the rabbis assembled in the enclosure, three of them died 
1940suddenly.   
1941 
1942They were: Rabbi Jose 
1943 
1944And Rabbi Thiskia 
1945 
1946And Rabbi Jesa. 
1947 
1948Their companions saw them lifted, carried away by holy angels beyond the veil which had 
1949been stretched over their heads. 
1950 
1951Rabbi Simeon spoke briefly and prostrated himself.   
1952 
1953Then he uttered a cry, saying:  
1954 
1955                                                                              51
1956“Is it true, God forgive us, that a death sentence has been pronounced against us for 
1957having revealed mysteries which have remained unknown to all men since the day 
1958when Moses, gazing face to face upon the divine image, stood before the Lord on 
1959Mount Sinai? 
1960 
1961If we are to be punished for this, why has not death befallen me first and why am I 
1962still among the living?” 
1963 
1964And he heard a voice which said: 
1965 
1966“Most fortunate are you.  Rabbi Simeon, and most fortunate is your lot, as well as 
1967that of those who are with you.  For there has just been revealed to you what the 
1968Lord does not reveal to all the army of heaven. 
1969 
1970But come and see! 
1971 
1972It is written: "This doctrine will fall to the eldest son, but before the youngest, the 
1973gates shall be closed." 
1974 
1975Those who have just died were not strong enough to carry such knowledge on the 
1976earth. 
1977 
1978They opened their souls to enchantment and their ecstasy carried them away. 
1979 
1980The holy angels took them and carried them away beyond the veil.” 
1981 
1982Rabbi Simeon answered:  
1983 
1984“They are happy!” 
1985 
1986And the voice took up again:  
1987 
1988“Go now, you who remain, for the Lord has made you strong to withstand both 
1989heaven and earth.  You exist in perfect balance and harmony, and you shall live.” 
1990 
1991They got up then, and everywhere they walked, sweet perfumes came out of the ground. 
1992 
1993And Rabbi Simeon said:  
1994 
1995“I see now that the earth will be blessed on our account.” 
1996 
1997And their faces were so radiant that no one could have looked on them. 
1998 
1999Thus it is that, as we have learned, ten entered the enclosure, but only seven came out. 
2000 
2001Rabbi Simeon was full of joy, but Rabbi Abba felt a great sadness because of those who 
2002were no more. 
2003                                                                              52
2004 
2005But one day while the seven were seated around the master.  Rabbi Simeon uttered a 
2006mysterious word. 
2007 
2008And they saw the three who had been taken from them.   
2009 
2010Highly placed angels waited upon them, and opening golden doors, they showed them the 
2011treasures which had been laid aside for them. 
2012 
2013Then the soul of Rabbi Abba was calmed.   
2014 
2015From that time, the seven masters did not leave the dwelling of Rabbi Simeon. 
2016 
2017And Rabbi Simeon said:  
2018 
2019“We are the eyes of the Lord.” 
2020 
2021Rabbi Abba said:  
2022 
2023“We are six lamps who owe our light to a seventh, and this seventh is you,” 
2024 
2025And Rabbi Jehuda called it the Great Sabbath of the week of mysteries.   
2026 
2027One day Elijah appeared to them in his hair shirt, his face glowing with a triple light. 
2028 
2029And Rabbi Simeon said to him:  
2030 
2031“Were you not with us in the enclosure when we discussed the words of 
2032knowledge?” 
2033 
2034Elijah answered:  
2035 
2036“I wanted to be there, but the angels refused me their wings, as I had another 
2037mission to fulfill.   
2038 
2039On that day I went to console and deliver your brothers who are m captivity.  1 
2040rubbed their chains with a balm which will one day break them. 
2041 
2042For the just should never be chained, unless it is with interlinking crowns. 
2043 
2044Thus are the days of trial linked with those of glory, and following the week of 
2045work, comes the week of rest. 
2046 
2047Then will every chain be as nothing before the throne of God.  And when the last of 
2048the just are saved, how great will be the glory of the righteous. 
2049 
2050                                                                              53
2051The peoples of the earth will be their crown, and they will be likened to the feast 
2052times of the Lord, sparkling from without the crown of the other days. 
2053 
2054A triple banquet awaits the just in the solemn rituals of the future's Great Sabbath. 
2055 
2056It is written: "You will call the sabbath the delight of the just and you will compare 
2057it to the holy one of God." 
2058 
2059Now, who is this holy one of God?   
2060 
2061It is Rabbi Simeon Ben-Jochai, whose name is glorified in this world and shall 
2062gather further glory in the world to come.” 
2063 
2064Thus finishes the holy book of the Great Synod. 
2065 
2066                                                                              54
2067                                                                              55
2068Part Two 
2069Christian Glory 
2070 
2071[Christian Glory] 
2072 
2073 
2074Christian glory is the triumph of intelligence over the beast, of truth over falsehood, of 
2075light over shadow, of humanity over the devil. 
2076 
2077God becomes man to prevent the Devil from becoming God. 
2078 
2079What is the Devil?  It is the beast, it is shadow.  It is falsehood.  Why does it exist? 
2080 
2081Because shadow is necessary as a receptacle and reflector of light, because evil is the 
2082foundation of good. 
2083 
2084Thus are explained the shadows of the old sanctuaries, as well as the obscurities of the 
2085Bible.  A shadow must exist to catch and reflect the light.  The vulgar multitude has need 
2086of a terrible divinity who stirs human passions with his anger and vengeance.  The 
2087exterminating God, the God of calamities is the God of shadow, the God made in the image 
2088of man, and he is the exact opposite of the God of the wise.  The dark face is like a mask 
2089placed over the serene countenance of the eternal father of all beings, in order to inspire 
2090fear in disobedient children.   
2091 
2092This doctrine should have been kept secret, for it could never be understood except by 
2093higher intellects.  Unfortunately it did, in fact, creep into the world, and the result was 
2094precisely that which had been feared.  Limited intellects did not understand this fictitious 
2095God with two so unlike faces, and the idea of an absurd duality sprang up in the minds of 
2096some thinkers.  The dogmas of the false Zoroaster can be traced to this point.  The face of 
2097light was called Ormuzd and the face of shadow became the fatal head of the dark 
2098Ahriman.  Thus was the Devil created.   
2099 
2100Note that the Bible attributes to God himself actions which might be more easily laid to 
2101the account of the usurper of the kingdom of hell.  It is God who hardens Pharaoh's heart 
2102in order to punish him, together with all his people, by terrifying plagues, driving him 
2103finally to his ultimate impenitence.  It is God who sends one of his messengers or angels to 
2104derange the mind of Ahab, pushing him to wage an ill-fated war.  'How will you go about 
2105it?' God asks his messenger.  And the angel answers: 'I will be a spirit of untruth in the 
2106mouths of false prophets.' 'Go,' answers the Lord, 'and you will be victorious.' At this time 
2107it could not yet be imagined that the kingdom of God might be divided, nor that he kept 
2108for himself the light in order to allow his enemy to rule the realm of shadow.  The God of 
2109evil had not yet been invented.   
2110 
2111Evil, being the negation of good, can have no power; for the negation of good implies the 
2112negation of truth, whose force strikes to the very root of our being.  What sort of victories 
2113might be won by a general who inevitably and voluntarily let himself be deceived?  The 
2114existence of the Devil is a drastic lie.  His guiding genius, if it were even possible, would be 
2115                                                                              56
2116an immense madness.  To struggle eternally against God, what a dream!  But for this to at 
2117least appear possible, Satan must make for himself a God in his own image.  He does not 
2118comprehend what even the simplest child can understand.  Spirit of blindness, he is 
2119blindness personified.  Curious power, to say the least: that of a blind monarch in a 
2120kingdom of shadows!  All his thoughts must be false, all his efforts must be in vain: even 
2121the insane inmates of Bedlam would be justified were they to mock him. 
2122 
2123But, one might say, there do exist here below perverse men who deny the existence of God, 
2124or, still more horrible, who believe in him and blaspheme him.  The influence of these men 
2125of falsehood is great.  They have a genius for destruction, they deceive, they mislead, they 
2126devour, and Providence allows them this power.  Their existence and their passing 
2127triumph substantiate Satan's transitory reign.  When they succeed in their calumny, in 
2128their oppression of the just, can one say, without blasphemy, that they owe their victory to 
2129God?  But if it is not God who gives them the power to do evil, there must exist a dark 
2130Providence of shadows, an accursed force which God will one day vanquish, but which, for 
2131the time being, combats the very power of God and triumphs over him as soon as we give 
2132it the complicity of our hearts.   
2133 
2134There does exist, in fact, a power which renders evil possible to a certain degree; but this 
2135power is not cursed of God, otherwise it could not exist: it is the power that God gives to 
2136any intelligent creature, that he may choose between the higher attractions of the soul 
2137and the desires from out of the base instincts of a limited nature bound to terrestrial 
2138needs.  No one can love evil for evil's sake: we find at the root of all vices only ignorance 
2139and error.  When one performs evil, one gives it the guise of goodness, for the very 
2140attraction inherent in disobedience is the love of freedom! 
2141 
2142Freedom!  This is the name of that power which explains evil and renders it necessary. 
2143 
2144Freedom, which could be called man's divinity, the most beautiful, the most superb, the 
2145most irrevocable of all the Creator's gifts.  Freedom which God himself cannot repress 
2146without denying his own existence.  Freedom which must be won through struggle, when 
2147it is not already possessed as the supreme ruler.  Freedom which is a victory, and so 
2148implies combat.  The fatal attraction against which we must fight is not evil, but a blind 
2149force which must be submitted to the power coming from God that he gives to us either as 
2150a treasure or a torment, our motivating drive, which we must take hold of in order to 
2151guide it, so as not to be destroyed by it: it is a mill and we are the grain, unless we possess 
2152sufficient courage and capability to become the millers, the proprietors, those who are in 
2153control. 
2154 
2155Theologians of the Devil, do you suppose that Satan is free?  if he is, there is still time for 
2156him to revert to the paths of goodness; if he is not, he is not responsible for his actions, he 
2157is only the instrument of someone stronger than he: he is the slave of God's justice; he 
2158does nothing which God himself does not wish for.  It is God who, using him, tempts, leads 
2159into sin and torments his weak creatures.  Thus Satan is not the ruler of the realm of 
2160shadows, he is the agent of light behind a veil.  He is of service to God, he performs God's 
2161work: God has not rejected him, for he holds him still in his hand.  If God were to condemn 
2162                                                                              57
2163him, he must necessarily reject him for ever.  But the agent of God is the representative of 
2164God, and in accordance with all laws of logic, the representative of God is God himself. 
2165 
2166What is the Devil, then, in the final analysis?  The Devil is God working evil.  A harsh and 
2167shocking definition, to be sure, for it affirms the impossible.  Let us say it in a better way: 
2168the Devil is the negation of what God affirms.  Now, God affirms being; thus the Devil 
2169must affirm nothingness.  But nothingness can neither affirm nor be affirmed, it is 
2170nothing more than a negation, so that if the ultimate definition of God according to the 
2171Bible is this: 'He who is', the definition of the Devil must necessarily be this: 'He who is 
2172not'. 
2173 
2174Enough, then, against this black idol, against the false god of the Persians and the 
2175Manicheans, against the colossal, nearly omnipotent Satan which superstition still 
2176dreams of.  There remains to be examined Satan, chief of the Eggregores, the fallen angel 
2177who retains a shred of liberty since final judgment has not been pronounced upon him, 
2178and who profits from this delay by drawing the weak into his camp, as if he hoped to 
2179reduce the magnitude of his own sins by augmenting the number of his accomplices. 
2180 
2181Nowhere in Genesis, nor even in the entire Bible, is allusion made to the sinfulness and 
2182fall of the angels: to find traces of this story, one must go to the apocryphal book of Enoch.  
2183This book, obviously predating the Christian era since it is cited by the apostle St Jude, 
2184held great authority in the eyes of the first Christians.  Tertulian mentions it with esteem, 
2185but could not understand it, his bitter, severe genius being so foreign to the mysteries of 
2186the Qabalah, at that time preserved only by the Joannite school, albeit already deformed 
2187and profaned by the errors of Gnosticism. 
2188 
2189The Qabalists refer all absolute ideas to the hieroglyphic and numerical value of the 
2190twenty-two letters of the primitive alphabet, which they believe to have been that of the 
2191Hebrews.  A guiding genius, they say, presides over each of these letters; each letter is 
2192alive, each letter is an angel.  Those who are familiar with oriental poetry should 
2193understand this figure of speech.  But it is a peculiarity of the vulgar to take everything 
2194literally and to render it as tangible as possible.  Now, among these letters, two represent 
2195divinity; these are the first and the last, the aleph and the thau, in Greek, the alpha and 
2196the omega, in Latin, a and z, from which has been formed the word AZOTH, in occult 
2197philosophy the expression of the absolute.   
2198 
2199Now, the book of Enoch tells us that there existed Eggregores, that is, spirits who never 
2200sleep, heads of whole multitudes, and that twenty of these spirits dissociated themselves 
2201from their guiding principle and allowed themselves to fall. 
2202 
2203Here is an image of the obscuring of truth in the world.  Numbers detach themselves from 
2204ultimate unity.  The letters of light become letters of shadow.  But why? 
2205 
2206Because the daughters of men were beautiful and the angels of heaven grew jealous of 
2207their love. 
2208 
2209                                                                              58
2210The idea was then absorbed by form, and the very principle of its beauty, exalted by 
2211beauty itself, abandoned both its guiding spirit and its ends. 
2212 
2213The fallen angels gathered around their chief, Samiaxas, on a high mountain, which has 
2214been called ever since 'the mountain of the Oath', for the Eggregores pledged themselves 
2215there one to the other with a sacrilegious vow. 
2216 
2217A mountain, in symbolism, represents a centre of ideas.  Horeb, Sinai, Zion, Tabor, 
2218Calvary, Olympus, Parnassus, the Vatican, the Revolutionary Mountain are at the same 
2219time real and allegorical. 
2220 
2221Some of these angels have Hebrew names, others, Persian, for in the mysterious book 
2222Abraham and Zoroaster joined forces: 
2223 
2224The first is               Samiaxas 
2225The second               Artakuph 
2226The third                  Arakiel 
2227The fourth                Kababiel 
2228The fifth                   Oramammeh 
2229The sixth                  Ramiel 
2230The seventh             Siupsick 
2231The eighth               Zalchiel 
2232The ninth                 Balchiel 
2233The tenth                 Azazel 
2234 
2235Now, in this inverted hierarchy, the last must necessarily occupy the position of the first.  
2236Azazel deposes Samiaxas and becomes the head of the ten primary demons.  For the 
2237number ten, being the synthesis of all numbers in unity, represents the multitude, and it 
2238is well known that in the Gospels the Devel is called Legion. 
2239 
2240The first, second, fifth and seventh Eggregores have Persian or pagan names.  Why? 
2241Because the veritable names belong to faithful angels and are unfit for fallen spirits, 
2242seeing as how one, two, three and seven are the keys to the holy numbers. 
2243 
2244There is a second half-score of fallen spirits: these are the shadows of shadows, servants of 
2245intellectual revolt.   
2246 
2247The first or the eleventh is called             Pharmarus 
2248The second or the twelfth                         Amariel 
2249The third or thirteenth                             Thanazael 
2250The fourteenth                                          Anaguemas 
2251The fifteenth                                             Samael 
2252The sixteenth                                            Sarinas 
2253The seventeenth                                       Ehumiel 
2254The eighteenth                                          Tyriel 
2255The nineteenth                                         Jamiel 
2256The twentieth                                           Sariel 
2257                                                                              59
2258 
2259The meanings of these names are like those of the sacred letters, but in reverse, that is, 
2260they stand for the opposite of what is represented by pure numbers. 
2261 
2262These spirits materialize, they take on corporeal forms in order to participate in human 
2263beauty, and the result is a race of criminals and giants, grants like the Titans of the myth, 
2264who pile up mountains to climb to heaven; in other words, spirit absorbed by matter gives 
2265disproportionate value to matter and form.  This occurred in olden times and 
2266unfortunately still occurs today. 
2267 
2268Azazel become king of the world by denying God brings dangerous knowledge and war.  
2269He teaches men to use gold, precious stones, and iron: he makes jewellery for women and 
2270weapons for men.  Henceforth, men begin quarrelling over gold and women clamour for 
2271lances and swords; coquetry and dueling are inseparable.  He who was to be the angel of 
2272the kingdom has become the angel of anarchy.  Instead of growing more civilized, men 
2273fight, so that women may be magnificently adorned. 
2274 
2275The eleventh angel, the one who in the Tarot corresponds to strength, taught men the art 
2276of glamour and charm, the false masks of strength.  The ninth, corresponding to the 
2277number of initiation, taught them how to cause the stars to fall from the sky, that is, how 
2278to unseat the most luminous truths and drag them into the way of error.  Men learned 
2279divining, using the air, the earth, the other elements, instead of simply trusting in the 
2280light of the sun.  Oracles were sought in the pale reflections of the moon, and it was the 
2281seventh angel, the one of light with its seven colours, who, apostate to himself, taught this 
2282belief in the changing influences of night's beacon.  Women were then initiated into the 
2283great mysteries, and men, having broken all the bonds of society and of the hierarchy, 
2284were governed by rivalry and uncontrolled greed, devouring each other.  The weakest then 
2285gave forth cries of anguish towards heaven, and the four angels of harmony — those which 
2286represent the letters of the divine Tetragrammation: Michael, the angel of the letter yod, 
2287the father-spirit, creativity as an active force; Gabriel, the angel of the letter he, 
2288representing the mother, creativity as a passive force; Raphael, the angel of the letter van, 
2289the spirit of creative work; and Uriel, the angel of generating fire — touched by the 
2290plaintive cries of man, came to the foot of the throne of God and begged him to put a stop 
2291to the frightful disorderliness of the world.  It was then that God announced his plan to 
2292purify the earth by means of the flood, in order to suppress the cursed race of the giants.  
2293And seeking to save the oppressed, he saw that they also were cowardly and wicked, and 
2294he found only the family of Noah to be worthy of mercy before the Lord. 
2295 
2296And God said to Raphael, the angel of true knowledge and of pure initiation, he who 
2297governs the planet Mercury, the sacred spirit of the triple Hermes: 'Go, lay hold of Azazel 
2298and cast him, bound hand and foot, into the darkness.  You will also bind closed his eyes, 
2299so that henceforth he shall see no more light; then, striking the earth with your foot, you 
2300will make a great abyss in the desert of Dodoel.  There you will hurl him down upon the 
2301sharp rocks and pointed stones, and this will be the end of him for ever. 
2302 
2303“Then, on the day of the great judgment, he will be called to answer for his crimes, 
2304and so condemned to eternal fire. 
2305                                                                              60
2306 
2307As for you, make known on the earth the ways of health, give the world medicine 
2308for its wounds.  And bring back to the side of truth the revelations of Azazel, which 
2309have brought about so many sins among men.” 
2310 
2311Further on, the author of the book of Enoch adds this remarkable passage: 
2312 
2313“The souls of the giants, born of an unholy alliance, are half spiritual and half 
2314material; their impure origin makes them evil, and these are the wicked spirits who 
2315wander through the atmosphere.  Natural enemies of justice, they originate 
2316perverse forces and powerful currents of evil.  They subsist without food and will 
2317not touch sacrificial flesh.  They cause visions and give rise to phantoms whose 
2318property it is to change shape, but with a tendency to dwindle and fade.  They are 
2319dead, moreover, and are to be one day resurrected with the other children of men.” 
2320 
2321Here is certainly a terrifying revelation for raisers of spirits and amateur spiritualists.  
2322What we have called in our earlier works ghosts and vampires, coagulations and 
2323unhealthy projections of astral light, are in reality, according to the book of Enoch, 
2324monstrous hybrid souls formed out of the commerce of the Eggregores with prostitutes of 
2325the ancient world; the souls of giants exterminated in the flood, unwholesome exhalations 
2326of the earth and of the venom of the serpent, Python. 
2327 
2328Three remarks must be made on this obviously ancient legend: 
2329 
23301.  The facts thus recounted are allegorical, as in the Apocalypse and the tales of the 
2331Talmud.  These are metamorphoses after the fashion of Ovid: it is impossible for 
2332beings, whoever and whatever they are, to change their nature.  It would be utterly 
2333in vain for a man to fall in love with a graceful dove, he could never become one 
2334himself, and even if he could, it does not follow that the dove could give birth to 
2335other types of birds.  The same must be said for these so-called angels, immaterial 
2336spirits who mythically fell in love with women and so transformed themselves into 
2337men, thus spawning the race of giants. 
2338 
23392.  It must not be supposed that angels ever wished to dethrone God, revolting against 
2340him: this is a monstrous and impossible idea, borrowed from the Titans of Greek 
2341mythology.  The Titans can, according to legend, climb to the heights of Olympus, 
2342but can one imagine a host of angels declaring war on infinity? 
2343 
23443.  Finally, the spirit of false knowledge (become man, let us not forget), was thrown 
2345before the flood, bound hand and foot, into the abyss where he must remain until 
2346the day of judgment.  Therefore, he has nothing in common with Satan who 
2347wanders about the earth tempting mankind, and the book of Enoch, even were it to 
2348be taken literally rather than apocryphally, proves nothing in favour of the modem 
2349Devil. 
2350 
2351Satan is mentioned in the book of Job, but there he does not play the role of an angel cast 
2352out of the heavens and banned for ever from the presence of God.  He is, rather, a kind of 
2353                                                                              61
2354public prosecutor who dwells among the Beni-Elohim, that is, the sons of God.  The Lord 
2355speaks to him, asks him questions and gives him missions to carry out.  He wanders 
2356through the earth and returns before Adonai to give account of what he has seen.  He is 
2357ordered to test Job, and the power behind all these trials, Satan, bring down upon the 
2358head of this holy man all the evil possible.  Job is victorious over all and God rewards him; 
2359but Satan has gained neither punishment nor blame, he has only obeyed God. 
2360 
2361The book of Job is, moreover, simply an allegory whose meaning is to show that evil on 
2362earth is a test of virtue.  All the characters in this oriental poem are symbolic, even their 
2363names make this clear.  Job, is the afflicted; Satan stands, in general, for the test, and in 
2364particular, for calumny.  The details of the story are as ridiculous as those of a fable, but 
2365the philosophical meaning is quite beautiful.  Out of all this, in any case, nothing 
2366reasonable can be concluded as to the real existence of a being named Satan. 
2367 
2368In Moses's book of Genesis, it is the serpent who tempts woman.  Now, this serpent, in the 
2369sacred myths of antiquity, sometimes represents fire, sometimes the vital fluid, the 
2370flowing force of terrestrial life.  In Greek mythology, Vulcan, god of fire, angers Jupiter 
2371because of his ugliness, and the master of Olympus hurls him down with a single blow.  
2372He is the husband of Venus who tempts mortals and leads them astray, he lives in caverns 
2373full of flames where he busies himself by forging weapons and thunderbolts, thereby 
2374laying the way for war and violent storms. 
2375 
2376In the Gospels, Jesus gives out this profound oracle of eternal wisdom: 
2377 
2378“The Devil is a liar, together with his father.” 
2379 
2380The Devil, whatever he may be, cannot then be one of God's creatures, at least in his 
2381quality as the Devil. 
2382 
2383But what is this father of the Devil?  The father of the Devil is falsehood. 
2384 
2385He is, himself, falsehood and the father of falsehood. 
2386 
2387Compared to He who is, he deserves to be called he who is not; and yet he has an actual 
2388existence. 
2389 
2390Let us explain this seeming contradiction.  He does not exist, cannot exist as a single and 
2391powerful personality. 
2392 
2393Hell is anarchy, and there is no other king of hell than the image of the dark God such as 
2394Rabbi Simeon explains it. 
2395 
2396Satan is not the Ahrim an of the Persians, nor the Anti-god of the Manicheans; he was 
2397never an angel of light, for his light is only an hallucination of the wicked. 
2398 
2399He was never a creative spirit, for he is nothing more than an immense folly. 
2400 
2401                                                                              62
2402But he is a force, a terrible one, calculating, crafty, taking on a thousand forms and 
2403entering freely everywhere, sometimes threatening, sometimes cajoling, always powerful; 
2404a force desired by God when he gave liberty to man, although it is a force which inevitably 
2405produces bondage; a force which takes on a personification among the vast multitudes who 
2406voluntarily go astray.  In the Gospels, the Saviour asks him his name and he answers:  
2407 
2408“I am called Legion, for I am many.” 
2409 
2410The Devil is the beast, or rather, the beastliness, the stupidity which governs the 
2411multitudes: he is the attraction, the fatal magnetism of evil. 
2412 
2413This magnetism of evil makes it possible for all subjects of the dark kingdom, or better, of 
2414shadowy anarchy, to understand each other from one end of the world to the other without 
2415speaking.  It leads astray the pagans, these persecutors of the Christians, as well as the 
2416Christians themselves, persecutors of free-thought.  It has come into the world under the 
2417names of Nero, of Torquemada, of Proud'hon and of Veuillot.  It has furnished soldiers to 
2418the Pope and false prophets to the partisans of independent morality.  It is positivist with 
2419Littré, spiritist with Allan-Kardec, diabolist with de Mirville and Gougenot-
2420Desmousseaux.  It regrets nothing so much as the axes of the Committee for Public 
2421Health, unless it is the pyres of St Dominic and of Pius V.  Under two different guises, it 
2422has presided over the congress of Malines and the congress of Geneva, for its 
2423transformations are prompt and elusive.  It inspires the foolish and attempts to paralyse 
2424the wise.  Its character is always that of evil or stupidity.  It loves despotism and anarchy 
2425equally; what it hates above all is reason.  It is willing that Desbarreaux be an atheist, 
2426provided that Pascal be Jansenist.  With Ravaillac and Damiens it takes the form of 
2427bigotry, with Robespierre and Marat, philosophy.  It is the serpent of a thousand colours 
2428and coils, he guides his forked tongue and flattened head everywhere.  He drools venom on 
2429all that is pure, tears down all that is beautiful, draws to himself all shame and ugliness.  
2430He follows men everywhere, he can be encountered at all times: one might say that the 
2431entire world is his.  He is more horrible than horror, more fearsome than fear, deadlier 
2432than death.  He is the father of nightmares, the king of treacherous visions: he is a dwarf 
2433and a giant.  Now he is a Typhoeus with a thousand heads, now he is an all but invisible 
2434scorpion who scurries beneath your feet.  Callot and Goya only half glimpsed his grotesque 
2435transformations.  Dante in his dream saw only a portion of his dreadfulness, and the 
2436sculptors of our cathedral portals have never succeeded in carving his utter ugliness.  For 
2437who can sound the bottom of all folly?  To whom has fever breathed its final word?  Give a 
2438body of pain and torture to nothingness and tell me just how far towards impossibility 
2439hideous distortion can go.  Then I will answer:  
2440 
2441“There is the Devil, there is the pontiff of black magic; there is the one sorcerers call 
2442up, the one who appears to them, promising treasure, only to cast them into the 
2443abyss!” 
2444 
2445The magnetic force, this powerful vehicle of thought and life, has been placed by nature in 
2446the service of man's will: our virtues and our perversities together determine its currents.  
2447The sacred serpent of Aesculapius has the same symbolic form as the serpents of 
2448Tisiphone, Moses himself, who tells us how a serpent introduced sin and death into the 
2449                                                                              63
2450world, had erected the image of a bronze serpent to cure those victims mortally wounded 
2451by snake-bite in the desert. 
2452 
2453The catholic, that is, universal dogma has not yet been formulated in the Church except as 
2454a mystery.  It is accepted without being understood, even by faith, for it has been imposed 
2455without the acceptance of the free concourse of reason.  It seems, in fact, sometimes to 
2456contradict knowledge, for we have not yet learned to distinguish history from allegory, or 
2457mystic fictions, however perceptive, from scientific realities which remain inaccessible to 
2458the onslaught of faith.  If someone tells me, for example, that a Virgin has become a 
2459mother while remaining a virgin, that a child has come out of her as a ray of sunlight 
2460passes through a crystal without breaking it, I respect and admire this image: but I 
2461cannot, unless I were a fool, believe that it is a question of a material and natural 
2462childbirth, for I know that such circumstances cannot be.  When the Bible tells me that 
2463the mountains leapt like rams and the hills like lambs, I do not like this literally.  When I 
2464find that Joshua stopped the sun in its course (and alas!  It is for this that Galilee has 
2465been condemned!), I understand that we are dealing with an expression characteristic of 
2466oriental poetry and which signifies that the exploits of the Hebrews on that day doubled or 
2467tripled the 'value' of the day.  Napoleon I was perhaps also not far from believing he 
2468commanded the sun on the day of the battle of Austerlitz. 
2469 
2470If we read in the symbolic statement of Nicaea that the son of God was born of the father 
2471before the beginning of all time and if we are simultaneously taught that he is eternal like 
2472the father, we must understand that this birth has nothing whatsoever to do with a 
2473normal, material one, since it is a question of a birth that is not even a beginning.  If we 
2474find later in this same statement that this selfsame son of God came down from heaven for 
2475ourselves and for the salvation of mankind, are we to imagine infinity coming down from 
2476above?  Relative to God, is heaven up above and the earth below?  Expressions of faith, 
2477then, have no connection with those of knowledge or science, and the same words, used in 
2478explaining dogma, do not necessarily always mean the same thing. 
2479 
2480The Church, to use the words of the prophet David, officially calls the Devil the arrow 
2481which flies by day and the nameless thing which wanders by night.  Elsewhere he is 
2482called, still more remarkably, the impetuous current and the spirit of great heat (ab 
2483incursu and daemonio meridiano).  St Paul says we must combat the powers of our 
2484atmosphere (potestates aeris hujus). 
2485 
2486Is it not clear that these designations refer to forces rather than to persons?  And so what 
2487does it matter that in its exorcisms the Church should speak to the demon as to a person 
2488capable of hearing?  Are the sea and the winds also persons?  Yet we see that in the 
2489Gospels Jesus Christ speaks to them, saying, 'Wind, be still; sea, be calm,' and in addition, 
2490that the sea and the wind, as if capable of hearing, quieted immediately. 
2491 
2492The Gospels, which St Jean calls the eternal Gospels, are not the story of a man named 
2493Jesus, but the symbolic history of the son of God, the legend of the eternal Word.  The 
2494stars of the sky wrote this all before the birth of man and the magi had already seen it 
2495there when they came to adore the living materialization.  Egypt's hieroglyphics are full of 
2496it.  Isis nursing Horns is as gentle as the Virgin mother, crowned with stars and with the 
2497                                                                              64
2498moon beneath her feet.  Devaki presenting her chaste breast to Krishna is worshipped by 
2499wise men of India, who have also preserved the story in their gospels.  The stories of 
2500Krishna and Christ seem copied one from the other.  The Indian fable even contains 
2501Moses's serpent and the struggles of the Saviour against Satan.  The Gospels are the 
2502eternal Genesis of liberty; the tender triumph of spirit over brute matter. 
2503 
2504This is a description and a condemnation of the ephemeral reign of Satan, that is, of 
2505falsehood and of tyranny.  In our book entitled The Science of Spirit we discussed this 
2506truth, comparing the texts of the canonical Gospels and the apocryphal Gospels.  We are 
2507going to complete our work here by giving the most remarkable passages of this 
2508marvellous Indian fable which we might be tempted to call the Gospel of Krishna. 
2509                                                                              65
2510The Legend of Krishna 
2511Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2512 
2513CHAPTER I 
2514The Conception 
2515 
2516 
2517The soul of the earth complained to Brahma, saying:  
2518 
2519“The race of giants, the children of iniquity have grown infinitely numerous. 
2520 
2521Their pride is unbearable and I wail, oppressed by the weight of their iniquity.  
2522Come to my aid, on, Brahma!” 
2523 
2524Then Brahma, accompanied by all the gods, betook himself to that mysterious sea whose 
2525waves are of milk and  upon which Vishnu reposes in glory and beatitude. 
2526 
2527Standing near this glitteringly white sea, Brahma meditated upon himself, worshipping 
2528himself in the divine Trimurti; then, revealing the mysteries of supreme will, he said:  
2529 
2530“Vishnu shall become man.” 
2531 
2532Then the serpent, Scissia, made its hiss heard and Brahma said to it: 'You will become 
2533man at the same time, in order to perpetuate his glory, and he will triumph over you and 
2534over fatality, your sister. 
2535 
2536“He will be called Krishna, which is to say.  Azure, for he will be the son of the 
2537heavens. 
2538 
2539“Wisemen and patriarchs, return upon the earth to worship him; make shepherds 
2540of yourselves, for such will he be.” 
2541 
2542Oh!  who can speak worthily of the acts of this God?  Those who fill themselves with this 
2543divine story will be submerged in an ocean of delights.  The evils of this world and those to 
2544come will no longer have a hold on them.  This man-God advances, his large eyes full of 
2545majesty; a smile is on his lips, a mark stands in the centre of his forehead and his curly 
2546hair drifts gracefully down.  Those who have looked upon him cannot ever wish to turn 
2547away their eyes.  May his image be engraved on every heart!  May the memory of this 
2548God, of this infant shepherd, brought up by cattle and lambs, be ever present to all spirits 
2549of heaven and earth! 
2550 
2551 
2552                                                                              66
2553The Legend of Krishna 
2554Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2555 
2556CHAPTER II 
2557The Nativity 
2558 
2559 
2560Cangassem, king of Madura, having learned that the beautiful Devaki, wife of 
2561Vassondeva, was to bring a child into the world who would one day replace him, resolved 
2562to kill the infant as soon as it was born. 
2563 
2564However when the time came, Vishnu filled Vassondeva with his light, and Vassondeva 
2565concentrated and reflected this light into the chaste breast of Devaki. 
2566 
2567Devaki thus became with child in a wholly celestial fashion and without the ordinary 
2568workings of man. 
2569 
2570Cangassem then ordered that she be put in prison; but when the hour of the birth of 
2571Krishna was come, the prison opened of itself, and the infant-God was transported to the 
2572stable of Nanden where he lay surrounded by shepherds. 
2573 
2574Brahma, Shiva and the other gods came to worship him in this humble shelter, showering 
2575him with flowers.  The angels, Gheadaruver, sang, danced and played the most melodious 
2576of instruments.  All stars and planets were at this time aligned in favourable aspect.  
2577Vassondeva prostrated himself before this divine child, worshipped him and said: 
2578 
2579“Oh, you who have engendered Brahma and who are born here among us, here you 
2580lie imprisoned in a mortal body, governed by destiny and open to the accidents 
2581befalling matter, you who are not material, inaccessible to death; the hour draws 
2582nigh when Cangassem will come to kill you.  Make it possible for us to save your 
2583life and ours with you!” 
2584 
2585Devaki made a similar prayer; then Krishna opened his mouth and spoke.  He reassured 
2586his parents, revealed to them the supreme destinies, and having promised them eternal 
2587blessedness, he retreated again into silence, behaving normally as any child. 
2588                                                                              67
2589The Legend of Krishna 
2590Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2591 
2592CHAPTER III 
2593The Massacre of the Innocents 
2594 
2595 
2596Now Cangassem, having learned that Devaki had given birth, ran to the prison and 
2597thought he saw her lying there with a child beside her.  A mule nearby began to bray, and 
2598the tyrant believed this to be a warning from heaven.  He drew his sword.  It was in vain 
2599that Devaki showed him the child was only a girl; Cangassem threw her into the air and 
2600held out his sword in order to catch her again on its point.  But the infant, soaring above 
2601his head, cried,  
2602 
2603“I am Fatality.  Tremble and quake, for your future conqueror is hidden in an 
2604inaccessible retreat, and henceforth until the hour of your punishment, I shall 
2605remain suspended over you.” 
2606 
2607Cangassem was afraid and prostrated himself at Devaki's feet.  He offered her gifts as 
2608well as her freedom to escape with Vassondeva where she might choose.  However Krishna 
2609grew and remained hidden. 
2610 
2611Cangassem was tortured by fear; he grew furious and commanded, throughout all his 
2612states, the massacre of every newborn child. 
2613 
2614Only the young Krishna escaped the king's assassins.  The giants of evil, for their part, 
2615also plotted his loss.  One day one of them came in the form of a terrible chariot, rolling 
2616violently forward towards the infant as if to crush him.  Krishna held out his foot, smiling, 
2617and as soon as this tiny foot touched the chariot, it broke into a thousand pieces which fell 
2618around the divine child without touching him. 
2619 
2620Another giant, running with the speed of the wind, carried off Krishna, setting him on his 
2621shoulders and taking him to the middle of the sea to drown him.  But the child grew so 
2622heavy that the giant, bent beneath the weight, was drowned himself, and Krishna 
2623returned to dry land, walking on the water. 
2624                                                                              68
2625The Legend of Krishna 
2626Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2627 
2628CHAPTER IV 
2629Childhood Anecdotes Similar  
2630to Those of the Gospels 
2631 
2632 
2633Krishna, wishing in his childhood to appear as other children of men, often played 
2634mischievous tricks which astonished his parents themselves, but which always ended 
2635advantageously.  One day, for example, he made off with the clothes of several girls who 
2636were swimming, and to have them back, they were obliged to stand immobile, their eyes 
2637raised towards heaven and their hands joined above their heads.  Thus they were made to 
2638blush over their immodesty, but also were taught the attitude of prayer. 
2639 
2640He took milk and butter from the rich, giving them to the less fortunate.  One day, to 
2641punish him for this, he had been chained to a millstone; he broke his chain, picked up the 
2642stone and threw it against two large trees which were felled by the blow.  But out of these 
2643two trees came two men who worshipped the child and said to him:  
2644 
2645“Be praised!  You are our saviour!  We are Nalacon ben and Manicrida, and as 
2646punishment for our faults, we were imprisoned in these trees.  For us to regain our 
2647freedom, a God had to come and cast them down.” 
2648 
2649Another time, the trees and fields caught fire; the young Krishna, smiling, parted his lips 
2650and gently breathed in the flame.  The entire holocaust detached itself then from the earth 
2651and came to die on the scarlet lips of Krishna. 
2652 
2653Brahma, as a trial, had hidden the flocks which had been entrusted to his guard.  Krishna 
2654made lambs of clay and gave them life.  Brahma declared himself conquered and gave 
2655back the flocks he had hidden, proclaiming Krishna the creator and master of all things. 
2656 
2657Not long after, the animals and shepherds, having drunk from the river of Colinady, died 
2658instantly; for Nakuendra, king of serpents, vanquished by Gheronda, prince of the Misans, 
2659had hid himself in the waters of this river.  Krishna came down to the banks.  
2660Immediately the king of serpents threw himself upon him and surrounded him with his 
2661coils.  But Krishna disengaged himself, forced the reptile to bend down his head, climbed 
2662upon it and, holding himself thus upright in the middle of the waters, began to play the 
2663flute.  Immediately the shepherds and flocks who had died were brought back to life.  
2664Vishnu pardoned the serpent, who, having lost his venom, could do no more harm; but he 
2665ordered him to withdraw to the isle of Ratnagaram. 
2666 
2667                                                                              69
2668The Legend of Krishna 
2669Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2670 
2671CHAPTER V 
2672The Baptism 
2673 
2674 
2675Devendra, god of the waters, feeling himself neglected because of Krishna, the honours 
2676due him unpaid, caused it to rain for seven days and seven nights in order to submerge 
2677the shepherds' fields: but Krishna, lifting with one hand the mountain of Gavertonam, set 
2678it between the sky and the earth.  Devendra then recognized his powerlessness and, 
2679prostrating himself before Krishna, he said to him:  
2680 
2681“Oh, Krishna, you are the supreme Being; you have neither desire nor passion; 
2682however, you act as it you did.  You protect the righteous and punish the wicked.  
2683Only one of your moments contains Brahma in infinite repetition.  Save me, oh, 
2684you, whose eyes have the sweetness of the tamarisk's flower!” 
2685 
2686Krishna smiled and answered:  
2687 
2688“Oh, prince among the gods, I humiliated you to make you greater.  For I bring low 
2689him whom I wash to save: be gentle and humble of heart.” 
2690 
2691Devendra spoke again:  
2692 
2693“I am commanded by Brahma to consecrate you and recognize you as the king of 
2694Brahmins, as the good shepherd of all sheep and as the master of all souls who seek 
2695mildness and peace.” 
2696 
2697Then he arose, gave him holy unction and named him shepherd of shepherds. 
2698                                                                              70
2699The Legend of Krishna 
2700Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2701 
2702CHAPTER VI 
2703The Song of Songs 
2704 
2705 
2706Krishna was playing the pastoral flute and all the young women were following him.  
2707Young girls, in order to hear him, left the homes of their fathers. 
2708 
2709And Krishna said to them: 
2710 
2711“Oh, women, do you not fear the anger of your husbands?  Young maidens, do you 
2712not dread the reproach of your fathers?  Return to those who have reason to be 
2713jealous of your love.” 
2714 
2715And the women said, and the young girls answered: 
2716 
2717“If we left our husbands and fathers for a man, we would be wicked: but how can 
2718mortals have the right to be jealous of the love which draws us to a god?” 
2719 
2720Then Krishna, seeing to what degree their desires were pure, gave them all his 
2721tenderness.  He satisfied them all in his divine embrace, and all of them were happy; but 
2722each of them believed herself alone to be the faithful companion and chaste spouse of 
2723Krishna. 
2724 
2725                                                                              71
2726The Legend of Krishna 
2727Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2728 
2729CHAPTER VII 
2730The Transfiguration 
2731 
2732 
2733A great sacrificial feast was to take place at Madura and the king Cangassem invited 
2734Krishna in order to have an opportunity to kill him. 
2735 
2736The giant Acrura came before him with his cart on which Krishna did not refuse to mount. 
2737 
2738The river Emuneh was on the way, and Acrura, having got down to bathe himself, saw 
2739Krishna mirrored in the waves, glowing with pure light.  On his forehead, the God had a 
2740triple diadem.  His four arms were thickly covered with bracelets of pearls.  Sparkling 
2741eyes glittered like precious stones over his whole body, and his hands stretched in all 
2742directions to the very limits of the universe.  The heart of Acrura was then changed, and 
2743when he found Krishna seated calmly on his cart, he worshipped him sincerely and 
2744washed for him that he escape the traps laid by the old Cangassem and that he exit 
2745victorious from this most dangerous of trials. 
2746 
2747                                                                              72
2748The Legend of Krishna 
2749Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2750 
2751CHAPTER VIII 
2752The Triumphal Entry 
2753 
2754 
2755Then Krishna made his entry into the royal city of Madura.  He was poorly clothed, as are 
2756all shepherds ordinarily, and the first thing he encountered were slaves bearing on a 
2757wagon the clothes of the king.   
2758 
2759“The king's clothes are mine,” said Krishna; but the slaves only laughed at him. 
2760 
2761Then he stretched out his hand and they fell dead, the wagon toppled over and the royal 
2762vestments came by themselves to lie at the feet of Krishna. 
2763 
2764Seeing this, all the inhabitants of the city came to offer him gifts.  Vases of gold and silver, 
2765most precious jewels awaited him along the path he was to take; but he did not deign to 
2766stoop and take them.  A poor gardener named Sandama came in his turn and offered 
2767Krishna his most beautiful flowers.  The God stopped then, gathered up this poor man's 
2768offering and asked him what he might desire in exchange.   
2769 
2770“I ask that your name be glorified,” said Sandama.  
2771 
2772“I ask that the entire world love you; and as for myself, I entreat you to make me 
2773more and more open to the cries of the unfortunate.” 
2774 
2775Krishna saw then that he loved Sandama and came to rest several hours in his house. 
2776                                                                              73
2777The Legend of Krishna 
2778Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2779 
2780CHAPTER IX 
2781Krishna Triumphs Over All the Giants 
2782 
2783 
2784Cangassem perished while seeking to kill Krishna, and the young God freed Cangassem's 
2785father firom prison and restored his kingdom which his son had usurped; then he returned 
2786to solitude and gave himself over to the study of the Vedas.  Giants made war on him and 
2787were all conquered.  One day they had surrounded the mountain where he had retired 
2788with fire and they laid siege to it with innumerable armies.  Krishna rose above the 
2789flames, and having made himself invisible, passed through the very midst of the enemy 
2790and withdrew to another solitary place. 
2791 
2792However it was written in the heavens that Krishna was to die in order to atone for the 
2793sins of his race.  His parents were of the tribe of the Yadavers, which was to grow so 
2794numerous as to cover the whole of the earth.  But proud of their numbers and their riches, 
2795they insulted the prophets of Ixora, and the terrible God caused a great iron sceptre to fall 
2796among them, saying:  
2797 
2798“Here is the rod which shall break the pride and hope of the Yadavers.” 
2799 
2800They consulted Krishna, and he advised them to dissolve the iron rod, reducing it to dust.  
2801They did this and the iron powder was thrown into the water; but as it happened, one 
2802sharp splinter had been overlooked in the dissolving of the sceptre.  A fish, having 
2803swallowed it, was wounded and taken by a fisherman who withdrew the iron needle and 
2804affixed it to the end of an arrow.  And all this was accomplished by the will of the gods 
2805who, for the salvation of the world and the deliverance of Vishnu, were laying plans for the 
2806death of Krishna. 
2807                                                                              74
2808The Legend of Krishna 
2809Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2810 
2811CHAPTER X 
2812Words Before the Passion 
2813 
2814 
2815It is also told that an ugly and misformed woman carrying a vase of sweet-smelling oil of 
2816great price came to Krishna and poured it out upon his head.  Immediately her ugliness 
2817disappeared, her deformities vanished, and she went away endowed with wonderful 
2818beauty. 
2819 
2820However, the hour of the great sacrifice was approaching: signs and wonders appeared in 
2821heaven and on earth.  Owls cried in the full light of day and ravens croaked the night 
2822through; horses spit fire, raw harvested rice sprouted, the globe of the sun was tinged with 
2823many colours. 
2824 
2825Krishna threatened the Yadavers with impending destruction and counselled them to 
2826leave their city in order to escape the plagues which were to befall it; but they did not 
2827listen, and having grown divise among themselves, they took up weapons, hard pointed 
2828sticks like swords which might nave been born from the iron rod that had been ground to 
2829dust and cast upon the water.  The sceptre of despotism had been destroyed, but from its 
2830dust had arisen civil war and anarchy. 
2831 
2832Krishna had a favourite disciple named Ontaven.  This disciple asked him for some 
2833instruction, that he might keep it in his memory, and Krishna said to him:  
2834 
2835“In seven days the city of Danvaragay will be destroyed.  The Calyugam will begin 
2836its course.  In this new age, men will be wicked, without truth and without mutual 
2837goodwill.  They will be physically weak, full of illness and of short life; thus, leave 
2838the world entirely behind and retire to a solitary place; there you will think always 
2839of me, you will  forsake the pleasures of the world and reform your souls through 
2840attentive meditation.  Learn to live in thought; believe that the universe is in me, 
2841that it has no existence except through me; triumph over maya which is only the 
2842illusion of appearances; keep company with wise men, that I may be always in you 
2843and you in me.  He who renounces the vanity of falsehood for the truth which gives 
2844wisdom will draw unto himself the divine light.  His heart will become as pure as a 
2845perfectly calm sea, and he will be a reflection of my image. 
2846 
2847Renounce entirely the spirit of possession of temporal things; this is the first step in 
2848the way of perfection; it is by absolute detachment that the passions can be 
2849mastered. 
2850 
2851The soul is the sovereign of the senses, and I am the sovereign of the soul. 
2852 
2853Space is greater than the elements, and I am greater than space. 
2854 
2855                                                                              75
2856Will is stronger than all obstacles, and I am the master of will. 
2857 
2858Brahma is greater than the gods, and I am greater than Brahma. 
2859 
2860The sun is the most luminous of all the other stars, and I am more luminous and 
2861life-giving than the sun. 
2862 
2863In words, I am truth; in vows, I am he who orders that nothing having life be killed; 
2864in charity.  I am the gift of bread; among the seasons, I am the springtime which 
2865gives life.  Truth, wisdom, love, charity, goodness, prayer, the Vedas, Eternity, 
2866these are my images.” 
2867 
2868Having received these instructions, Ontaven withdrew into the desert of Badary. 
2869                                                                              76
2870The Legend of Krishna 
2871Selection from the Bhagavadam 
2872 
2873CHAPTER XI 
2874The Death of Krishna 
2875 
2876 
2877Krishna then returned to the Yadavers, those of his own race, and found they had 
2878exterminated each other entirely.  The country they had lived in was no longer anything 
2879more than a field covered with bodies of the dead.  He raised his eyes and saw the souls of 
2880those he had loved on earth returning to heaven. 
2881 
2882Finding himself alone and sad, he lay down at the foot of a mysterious bush whose 
2883powerful roots ran visibly along the ground and whose branches, covered with red leaves 
2884and thorns, twisted far away in all directions.  Krishna lay full length near the trunk of 
2885the bush, his feet crossed and of his four hands, two extended in an attitude of worship, 
2886two joined in prayer.  An arrow came then by chance and struck him; an aimless arrow 
2887shot by a hunter came to fasten the crossed feet of Krishna to the bush.  It was the arrow 
2888which had been made with the sharp fragment of the sceptre that Krishna had broken.  
2889This was the final vengeance of tyranny and death. 
2890 
2891Hardly had he died than the thrones of the unjust toppled of themselves, his body 
2892disappeared suddenly and was miraculously found in Geganadam where a temple was 
2893built to him and where he has since been worshipped under the name of Jagganath. 
2894 
2895This legend is taken from the Baghavadam, one of the Puranas, the holy books of the 
2896Indians, to which they attribute the very greatest antiquity.  We have divided it into 
2897chapters to which we have given titles indicative of the connections that may be made 
2898with our Gospels, whose spirit is clearly manifest in this wonderful ideal of divine 
2899incarnation.  What foolish brahmin could ever take this sacred poetry for history?  None-
2900the-less, will not India someday produce its own Renan who will write, choosing this and 
2901ignoring that, a colourless and prosaic life of Krishna? 
2902                                                                              77
2903Part Three 
2904The Flaming Star 
2905 
2906[The Flaming Star] 
2907 
2908 
2909The flaming star is a Masonic symbol which represents the absolute in being, in truth, in 
2910reality, in reason and in justice.  (See the figure at the beginning of our history of magic.) 
2911 
2912 
2913[this is the image at the beginning of the “History of Magic”] 
2914 
2915Among the mysteries of Masonic initiation, there is a mysterious and obviously quite 
2916ancient legend which sheds light on the high philosophy of the Gospels and which tells of 
2917the eternal martyrdom of righteousness for ever oppressed by evil, but for ever 
2918triumphant over it.  In this legend, it is envy, cupidity and pride which are the three heads 
2919of the infernal demon, but this demon is the spirit-genius of perverse men, represented by 
2920the three traitors.  We are speaking here of the legend of Hiram.   
2921 
2922Masonic philosophy, the Same as that of the ancient Qabalah, is a protestation against 
2923cults which constitute an outrage to nature.  Its basis is eternal order.  Its guiding 
2924Principle is the immutable justice which presides over the laws of the universe; it rejects 
2925all idea of caprice and privilege; it teaches equality within the hierarchic order, it regards 
2926                                                                              78
2927as a necessity the degrees of initiation and the classification of brothers by order of 
2928knowledge and merit; it admits, finally, all beliefs, but it rectifies them through faith in 
2929the eternal order. 
2930 
2931Among its symbols, it admits the cross, sign of sacrifice and death, but united with the 
2932rose, which represents love and life.  The square and the compass, these represent 
2933justliness united with justness.  Masonic philosophy points out the dogmas which divide 
2934priests and pastors into factions, these men who exist ostensibly to bring unity to 
2935mankind.  It preaches to all charity and goodwill. 
2936 
2937Freemasonry is the first attempt at universal synthesis and truly catholic association.  We 
2938are aware that this name seems to belie the thing; but this illogicity must be taken into 
2939consideration: the so-called Catholics are the most exclusive of men and the Freemasons 
2940who, under the guise of the profane, seem to exist at the fringes of human majority, are in 
2941reality the only serious partisans of universal alliance. 
2942 
2943To reconcile Freemasonry and Catholicism what would be necessary?  Bringing mutual 
2944distrust to a halt and the cultivation of mutual understanding.  For these two contrary but 
2945not contradictory doctrines are at bottom the double solution of a single problem: the 
2946reconciliation of reason and faith.  But how to reconcile opposites?  We have already said 
2947it: never to confuse them, but always to associate them, remembering this great axiom of 
2948occult philosophy — harmony results from the analogy of opposites. 
2949                                                                              79
2950Masonic Legends 
2951 
2952Extracts from a Ritual 
2953Manuscript of the Eighth Century 
2954 
2955First Legend 
2956 
2957 
2958Solomon, the wisest of all the kings of his time, wanting to build a temple to the Eternal, 
2959assembled together in Jerusalem all suitable workers for the construction of this edifice.  
2960He had an edict published throughout his kingdom and which spread thence over the 
2961entire world: that whoever wished to come to Jerusalem to work on the building of the 
2962temple would be well received and recompensed, on the condition that he be virtuous, full 
2963of zeal and courage and not subject to any vice.  Soon Jerusalem was filled with a 
2964multitude of men who were aware of the noble virtues of Solomon and who asked to be 
2965inscribed as workers on the temple.  Solomon, having thus assured himself of a large 
2966number of workmen, made treaties with all the neighbouring kings, in particular with the 
2967king of Tyre, to the effect that he might select from Mount Lebanon all the cedars and 
2968other woods and materials necessary. 
2969 
2970The work was already under way when Solomon remembered a man named Hiram, in 
2971architecture the most knowledgeable man of his time, and wise and virtuous as well, one 
2972who, because of his fine qualities, had found favour with the king of Tyre.  He noted also 
2973that so great a number of workers could not carry on their work without a great deal of 
2974difficulty and confusion; thus the temple's progress was beginning to be greatly hampered 
2975by the discussions which took place among them.  Solomon resolved, then, to give them a 
2976chief capable of maintaining order, and chose this man Hiram, an Ethirian by nationality. 
2977 
2978He sent deputies loaded with gifts to the king of Tyre, asking him to send the famous 
2979architect called Hiram.  The king of Tyre, delighted with the esteem Solomon showed him, 
2980accorded his request, sending him back Hiram and his deputies burdened with riches and 
2981instructed to tell the ruler that beyond the treaty they had made together, he accorded 
2982Solomon an alliance for ever, placing at his disposition all that might be found in his 
2983kingdom which could prove useful.  The deputies arrived in Jerusalem, along with Hiram, 
2984on 15 July .  .  .  , a beautiful summer day.  They entered Solomon's palace.  Hiram was 
2985received with all the pomp and magnificence due his great virtues.  The same day Solomon 
2986gave a feast for all the temple workers in honour of his arrival. 
2987 
2988The next day Solomon called together the Chamber of Advisers to settle matters of 
2989importance; Hiram was among them and received with favour.  Solomon said to him 
2990before all present:  
2991 
2992“Hiram, I chose you as chief and head architect for the temple, as I chose each of 
2993the workers.  I give you full power over them, your decisions will be final; thus I 
2994regard you as my friend to whom I would confide the greatest of my secrets.” 
2995 
2996                                                                              80
2997Next they left the council chamber and went to the temple's site where Solomon himself 
2998said in a loud and intelligible voice to all the workers, showing Hiram to them:  
2999 
3000“Here is the man I have chosen as your chief, it is he who shall guide you; you will 
3001obey him as you would me.  I give him full power over you and over the work.  All 
3002dissention as regards my orders or his shall be punished in whatever manner he 
3003sees fit.” 
3004 
3005Then they made a tour of the work that had been done; and all was put into Hiram's 
3006hands, and Hiram promised the king that all would soon return to order. 
3007 
3008The following day Hiram called together all the workers and said to them:  
3009 
3010“My friends, the King, our master, has put me in charge of maintaining order 
3011among you and of regulating all work on the temple.  I have no doubt that all of you 
3012are filled with zeal to execute his orders and mine.  There are those among you who 
3013deserve distinguished salaries; each of you may achieve this, the proof will be in 
3014your work.  It is for your own peace of mind and to honour your zeal that I am going 
3015to form three classes out of all of you: the first will be composed of apprentices, the 
3016second, of fellows, and the third, of masters. 
3017 
3018The first will be paid accordingly and will receive its salary at the gate of the 
3019temple, column J. 
3020 
3021Likewise the second at the gate of the temple, column B. 
3022 
3023And the third in the sanctuary of the temple.” 
3024 
3025Payment was higher in accordance with rank, and each of the workers was happy to 
3026accept the authority of so worthy a chief.  Peace, friendship and concord reigned among 
3027them.  The good Hiram, wanting that all remain orderly and wishing to prevent any 
3028confusion among the workers, applied to each rank signs, words and gestures by which its 
3029members could recognize each other.  They were prohibited, however, from confiding these 
3030to any others without express permission of the king or of their chief.  Thus they received 
3031their salary only upon giving their sign; and the masters were paid as masters, the fellows 
3032as fellows, and the apprentices as apprentices.  In accordance with so perfect a system, 
3033each continued in peace, and the work progressed steadily as Solomon desired it should. 
3034 
3035But could so fine an order remain for long without upset and revolution?  No.  Three 
3036fellows, impelled by avarice and envy to receive the pay of masters, resolved to learn the 
3037necessary word; and as they could only obtain it from the respectable master Hiram, it 
3038became their design to get it from him either willingly or by force.  Since the good Hiram 
3039went daily into the sanctuary of the temple towards five o'clock in the evening in order to 
3040make his prayers to the Eternal, they agreed together to wait for his exit, and then to ask 
3041him the word of the masters.  There being three doors to the temple, one to the east, one to 
3042the west and the other to the south, they stationed themselves individually, one at each of 
3043                                                                              81
3044the doors, armed respectively with a measuring stick, an iron rod and a mallet; and they 
3045waited. 
3046 
3047Hiram, having finished his prayer, made to exit by the southern door where he 
3048encountered one of the traitors, armed with a measuring stick, who stopped him and 
3049demanded to know the master's word.  Hiram, astonished, was quick to point out that it 
3050was not in this way that he might obtain the secret, that he would, in fact, sooner die than 
3051give it out.  The traitor, maddened by this refusal, struck him with his stick.  Hiram, 
3052stunned by the blow, withdrew into the temple and made for the western door where he 
3053met with the second traitor who demanded the same as the first.  Hiram remained firm in 
3054his refusal, angering this second man who struck him a blow with his metal bar.  Hiram 
3055stumbled back inside and, certain of success this time, made his way to the eastern door.  
3056But here he encountered the third traitor who repeated the same demand.  Hiram told 
3057him that he preferred death to revealing to him a secret he did not yet merit, and this 
3058traitor, outraged by such a refusal, gave him so great a blow with his mallet that he killed 
3059him.  As it was still day, the traitors took the body of Hiram and hid it in a pile of waste 
3060north of the temple, waiting for the fall of night in order to transport it further away.  And 
3061accordingly, when it was dark, they carried it out of the city on to a high mountain where 
3062they buried it.  Deciding that they would take it even further away one day, they planted 
3063on the grave an acacia branch so as to be able to recognize the place, and then they 
3064returned to Jerusalem. 
3065 
3066The good Hiram was in the habit of going daily, first thing in the morning, to Solomon, 
3067giving him an account of the work, and receiving his orders.  Not seeing Hiram on the 
3068following day, Solomon sent one of his officers to fetch him, but the man returned saying 
3069he had searched everywhere and that no one had been able to find him.  This answer 
3070saddened Solomon, who went himself to look for him in the temple and had a thorough 
3071search made of all the city.  The third day, Solomon, having gone to pray in the temple's 
3072sanctuary, came out by the eastern door.  There he was surprised to see a few traces of 
3073blood.  He followed them to the pile of waste on the building's northern side, and had it 
3074searched, nothing was found, except that the rubbish itself had been recently disturbed. 
3075He trembled with horror and concluded that Hiram had been murdered.  He went back 
3076into the sanctuary to mourn the loss of so great a man, then out into the court of the 
3077temple where he called together all the masters, saying to them:  
3078 
3079“My brothers, the loss of your chief is a certainty.” 
3080 
3081At these words, each of them fell into a deep sadness, which brought about a long period of 
3082silence, interrupted at last by Solomon, saying that nine from among them must leave in 
3083search of Hiram's body, which once found should be brought back inside the temple. 
3084 
3085Solomon had scarcely finished speaking when all the masters voiced their desire to go, 
3086even the oldest, without regard for difficulty of the surrounding roads.  Seeing their zeal, 
3087Solomon repeated that only nine of them would leave and these would be chosen by vote.  
3088Those whom chance selected for the search were so transported by joy that they undid 
3089their sandals so as to be more agile and set out directly.  Three took the road to the south, 
3090three the road to the west, and three that to the east, promising one another to meet in 
3091                                                                              82
3092the north on the ninth day of their walk.  Eventually one of them sat down to rest, and 
3093finding himself quite tired and wishing to stretch out on the ground, took hold of an acacia 
3094branch for support; but the ranch, freshly planted, remained in his hand.  This, of course, 
3095surprised him, and it was then that he saw a rather large space of newly turned earth and 
3096deduced that Hiram was buried in this place. 
3097 
3098His strength renewed and animated by courage, he rejoined the other masters who came 
3099together, explained what had happened, and they all began to dig in the ground, enlivened 
3100with a single purpose.  The body of the good Hiram was, in fact, buried in this spot, and 
3101when they uncovered it at last, they recoiled in horror, trembling.  Then sorrow took hold 
3102of their hearts and they wept a long time; but at last they found again their courage.  One 
3103of them went into the grave and took hold of Hiram by the right index finger, thinking to 
3104raise him.  But Hiram's flesh was already in a state of decomposition and foul smelling, 
3105which made him fall back, saying 'Iclinque', which means 'he smells'.  Another took hold of 
3106him by the finger next to the index; but the same thing happened to him as had happened 
3107to the first, and he withdrew, saying 'Jakin'.  (The response is: Boaz.) 
3108 
3109The masters held a consultation.  Since they did not know that in dying, Hiram had 
3110preserved the secrecy of the master's word, they resolved to change it, deciding that the 
3111first word uttered when the body was raised from its tomb would be the new word from 
3112then on.  Then the oldest one of them entered the grave and gripped the good Hiram just 
3113above the right wrist, pressing their chests together, his left hand behind the cadaver's 
3114back and against its shoulder, and in this way he lifted Hiram from the ground.  His body 
3115made a muffled sound which frightened them, but the master, still full of courage, cried 
3116'Mac-Benack', which means, 'the flesh comes away from the bones'.  Next they repeated 
3117the word one to another, embracing one another, then took up the body of the good Hiram 
3118and transported it back to Jerusalem.  They arrived in the middle of the night, but the 
3119moon was exceedingly bright, and they entered the temple where they set the body down.  
3120Informed of their arrival, Solomon came to the temple, accompanied by all the masters, all 
3121attired in an apron and white gloves, where they gave the last honours to the good Hiram.  
3122Solomon had him buried in the sanctuary and had placed on his tomb a gold plate, 
3123triangular in shape, wherein was engraved in Hebrew the name of the Eternal.  Then he 
3124rewarded the masters with compasses of gold which they attached to their garments by 
3125means of a blue ribbon; and they exchanged the new words, signs and gestures. 
3126 
3127These same ceremonies are performed when, on the occasion of his reception, the 
3128candidate is lifted from a coffin. 
3129 
3130The password is Gibline, the name of the village nearest to where Hiram's body was 
3131found. 
3132                                                                              83
3133Masonic Legends 
3134 
3135Extracts from a Ritual 
3136Manuscript of the Eighth Century 
3137 
3138Second Legend 
3139 
3140 
3141Having laid Hiram's body to rest in the sanctuary with all due pomp and magnificence, 
3142Solomon called all the masters together and said:  
3143 
3144“My brothers, the traitors who committed this murder must not go unpunished.  
3145Their identity can be discovered, this is why I command you to carry out a search 
3146with all the ardour and care possible.  And when they are discovered, I wish no 
3147harm to befall them; they should be brought to me alive so that whatever 
3148vengeance is undertaken, it will be mine.  To this effect, then, I command twenty-
3149seven of you to carry out this search, taking care to obey my orders exactly.” 
3150 
3151Each of them wished to be included, but Solomon, always just and moderate in his desires, 
3152repeated that only twenty-seven were needed and that nine would take the eastern road, 
3153nine the southern road, and the others the western road, and that they would all be armed 
3154with cudgels against whatever dangers they might encounter.  He had them named 
3155directly, by general vote, and those who were chosen left immediately, promising to carry 
3156out the king's orders to the letter. 
3157 
3158The three traitors, Hiram's murderers, having resumed work following their crime, and 
3159seeing that Hiram's body had been discovered, felt certain that Solomon would proceed to 
3160an investigation in order to determine who the killers were, which is precisely what did 
3161occur.  They left Jerusalem at nightfall, splitting up so that were they to be discovered, 
3162they would be Jess suspect.  Each fled, going far from Jerusalem and hiding in foreign 
3163lands. 
3164 
3165The fourth day of walking was scarcely over when nine of the masters found themselves, 
3166utterly fatigued, surrounded by the rocks of a valley at the foot of the Lebanon Mountains.  
3167They rested there, and as night was falling, one of them stood guard somewhat ahead of 
3168the others.  The watch he was keeping caused him to walk some distance away and he 
3169perceived a far-off tiny light, gleaming through a crack in the rock.  He was surprised and 
3170he trembled, but at last took courage and ran to the spot, resolved to find out what it was.  
3171As soon as he drew near, a cold sweat broke out all over his body, but at last he again took 
3172courage and made ready to enter what had turned out to be the entrance of a cave from 
3173which the light was shining.  The entrance was narrow and very low so that he had to 
3174bend over, his right hand extended before his head as protection against the points of rock, 
3175placing one foot ahead of the other, making as little noise as possible.  In this way, he 
3176came finally to the heart of the cave where he saw a man lying asleep.  He recognized him 
3177immediately as one of the workers at the temple site in Jerusalem, one of the class of 
3178fellows, and certain that he had come upon one of the assassins, his desire to avenge the 
3179death of Hiram made him forget Solomon's commands, and arming himself with a dagger 
3180                                                                              84
3181which he found lying at the traitor's feet, he plunged it into his body, then cut off his head.  
3182Having done this, he felt himself suddenly thirsty, then seeing a spring that bubbled at 
3183the traitor's feet, he quenched his thirst before leaving the cave, the dagger in one hand, 
3184the head of the traitor in the other, holding it by the hair. 
3185 
3186In this way he rejoined his comrades, who were seized with horror at the sight.  He told 
3187what had occurred in the cave and how he had come upon the traitor who had sought 
3188refuge there.  But his comrades explained to him that his too-great zeal had caused him to 
3189disobey the orders of the king.  Realizing his fault, he stood speechless, but his comrades, 
3190familiar with the goodness and mercy of the king, promised him to obtain his pardon.  
3191They immediately took the road back to Jerusalem, accompanied by he who still held the 
3192traitor's head in one hand and the dagger in the other.  They arrived nine days after their 
3193initial departure, at the moment when Solomon, as was his custom, had closed himself in 
3194the sanctuary with the masters to mourn for the good and worthy master Hiram.  All nine 
3195went in, that is, eight together, and the ninth brandishing the head and the dagger and 
3196crying three times, 'mecum', which means vengeance, making a genu-flexion at each cry.  
3197But Solomon trembled at the sight and said: 'Wretch, what have you done?  Did I not tell 
3198you that all vengeance was to be mine?' 
3199 
3200Immediately all the masters placed one knee on the ground and cried: 'Be merciful to him!' 
3201explaining that it was his too-great zeal alone which had caused him to forget his orders.  
3202Full of kindness, Solomon pardoned him and ordered that the traitor's head be exposed on 
3203the end of an iron pole at one of the doors of the temple, in full sight of all the workers.  
3204This was immediately carried out, and attention was directed to the discovery of the two 
3205remaining traitors. 
3206                                                                              85
3207Masonic Legends 
3208 
3209Extracts from a Ritual 
3210Manuscript of the Eighth Century 
3211 
3212Third Legend 
3213 
3214 
3215Seeing that the traitors had split up, Solomon believed it would be difficult to find the two 
3216others, and so he had an edict published throughout his kingdom, prohibiting anyone from 
3217opening his door to a stranger and promising huge rewards to those who might bring the 
3218traitors to Jerusalem or give knowledge of their whereabouts.  A worker in the quarries of 
3219Tyre was well acquainted with a foreign man who had taken refuge in a cave near the 
3220quarries and who had confided his secret, making the worker promise to guard it with his 
3221life.  Since this man came daily to the next village in order to procure food for the fugitive 
3222in the cave, he found himself therein at precisely the moment that Solomon's edict was 
3223made known and thought long about the rewards promised to those who would assist in 
3224the discovery of Hiram's murderers.  Personal interest eventually won out over fidelity to 
3225the promise he had made.  Thereupon he left, taking the road to Jerusalem. 
3226 
3227Soon he met up with nine masters, deputized to search for the guilty ones, and seeing that 
3228their presence made him change colour, these men asked him where he came from and 
3229where he was going.  He made a gesture as if to tear out his tongue, placed one knee on 
3230the ground and kissing the right hand of his interlocutor, said:  
3231 
3232“I believe you to be the envoys of Solomon, seeking the traitors who murdered the 
3233architect of the temple.  I have something to say, although I promised to keep 
3234silence.  I cannot do otherwise than to follow the orders of king Solomon which he 
3235has made known to us in an edict.  One of the traitors you seek is a day's walk from 
3236here, hiding in a cave among the rocks near the quarries of Tyre and next to a large 
3237bush.  A doe is stationed at the entrance of the cave in order to warn of anyone's 
3238approach.” 
3239 
3240Hearing this, the masters commanded him to lead them to this cave.  He obeyed and took 
3241them to the quarries of Tyre, pointing out the place where the traitor lay in hiding.  They 
3242had been gone from Jerusalem fourteen days when they discovered the traitor.  Night was 
3243falling, the sky was overcast and a rainbow had formed above the bush, making it seem to 
3244bum.  As they stared, they became aware of the entrance of the cave.  They drew closer, 
3245saw the dog asleep, and took off their shoes so as not to be heard by him.  A few of them 
3246went into the cave where they found the traitor asleep.  They bound him and led him back 
3247to Jerusalem along with the man who had taken them to him. 
3248 
3249They arrived on the eighteenth day following their departure just at the time when work 
3250on the temple was ceasing.  Solomon and all the masters were in the sanctuary, mourning 
3251Hiram as was their custom.  The nine went in, presenting the traitor to Solomon, who 
3252questioned him and made him admit his guilt.  Solomon passed sentence that his body be 
3253laid open, his heart torn out, his head cut off and placed on the end of a metal bar, like the 
3254                                                                              86
3255first, in full view of the workers.  And his body was thrown on a rubbish heap to serve as 
3256fodder for scavengers.  Solomon then rewarded the quarry worker and sent him, satisfied, 
3257back to his country.  And attention turned to the search for the third and final traitor. 
3258 
3259                                                                              87
3260Masonic Legends 
3261 
3262Extracts from a Ritual 
3263Manuscript of the Eighth Century 
3264 
3265Fourth Legend 
3266 
3267 
3268The last nine masters had begun to despair of ever finding the third traitor when on the 
3269twenty-second day of their search they found themselves lost in a forest of Lebanon and 
3270obliged to cross over several perilous places.  They had to spend the night there; they 
3271naturally chose spots where they could rest assured of protection from the wild beasts that 
3272roamed the countryside.  The next morning as day was beginning to break, one of them set 
3273out to explore a little this place in which they were.  From a distance he spied a man with 
3274an axe who lay at the foot of a rock.  It was the traitor they were looking for, who, having 
3275learned of the arrest of his accomplices, was fleeing into the desert to hide.  Seeing one of 
3276the masters coming towards him and recognizing him from the site of the temple in 
3277Jerusalem, he got up and came forward, thinking he had nothing to fear from a single 
3278man.  But then noticing the eight others further off, he turned and fled with all his 
3279strength, all of which only served to prove his guilt to the masters, indicating he was, in 
3280fact, the one they were seeking. 
3281 
3282They gave pursuit.  At last the traitor, fatigued by the difficult terrain he was obliged to 
3283cross, could do nothing more than wait for them resolutely, determined to defend himself 
3284and die rather than be taken.  As he was armed with an axe, he threatened to spare none 
3285of them.  Paying no attention, the masters, armed with their cudgels, drew closer to him, 
3286telling him to give himself up.  But stubborn in his resolve, he jumped into the midst of 
3287them and defended himself furiously for a long time, without wounding any of them, for 
3288the masters only warded off his blows, wishing to bring him back alive to Solomon in 
3289Jerusalem.  And to this end, half of them rested while the others fought. 
3290 
3291Night was beginning to fall when the masters, fearful lest the darkness allow the traitor's 
3292escape, attacked him in full force, seizing him at the very moment he wished to jump from 
3293the edge of a high rock.  Then they disarmed him, bound him and led him back to 
3294Jerusalem where they arrived on the twenty-seventh day following their departure, at 
3295that same time of day when Solomon and the other masters were in the sanctuary, 
3296praying to the Eternal and mourning Hiram.  The returning masters went in and 
3297presented the traitor to Solomon, who questioned him and found he was unable to justify 
3298himself.  He was condemned to have his stomach opened, his entrails torn out, his head 
3299cut off and the remainder of his body burned and the ashes scattered to the four corners of 
3300the earth.  His head was exposed on the end of an iron bar.  The names of the traitors 
3301were written out and hung from each pole, with tools like those they had used in the 
3302murder of Hiram.  All three were of the tribe of Judah: the oldest was named Sebal, the 
3303second, Oterlut, and the third, Stokin.  For three days the three heads remained in sight 
3304of all the workers on the temple.  The third day, Solomon had a great fire lit and the three 
3305heads, the tools and the written names cast into it where all was burned, entirely 
3306consumed.  The ashes were scattered to the four comers or the earth. 
3307                                                                              88
3308 
3309All these things being accomplished, Solomon directed the work on the temple with the aid 
3310of all the masters, and peace was restored. 
3311 
3312                                                                              89
3313Masonic Legends 
3314 
3315Extracts from a Ritual 
3316Manuscript of the Eighth Century 
3317 
3318History of the Knight of the Lion 
3319 
3320 
3321It is said that when Solomon had pardoned the fellows who had considered revolt and had 
3322made certain they had returned to their duties, one of these same fellows who could not 
3323forget the punishment meted out to his three companions and finding it unjust, resolved 
3324himself to make an attempt on the life of Solomon.  He entered his palace with a dagger 
3325and killed one of the king's officers who tried to stop him.  He then fought with Solomon 
3326who forced him to take flight and to flee to a hiding place in the mountains.  Solomon's 
3327guards spent twelve days in pursuit of him with no success, when one of them named 
3328Boece saw a lion dragging a man into its lair.  He fought with the lion and killed it and 
3329recognized the man as he whom they were seeking, choked to death by the lion.  Boece cut 
3330off his head and carried it to Solomon, who rewarded him by giving him a ribbon, symbol 
3331of virtue, from which hung a golden lion, symbol of velour; and in its mouth the lion held 
3332the cudgel with which it had been killed. 
3333 
3334After the temple was finished, several workers placed themselves under a single leader 
3335and worked for the reformation of moral behaviour, building spiritual edifices and gaining 
3336a reputation for their charity.  They were called the Kadosh Fathers, which means 
3337'detached by the holiness of their lives'. 
3338 
3339They did not last too long a time, however, for they forgot their duty and their obligations, 
3340and avarice made them hypocrites. 
3341 
3342The Ptolemy Philadelphians, kings of Egypt, princes of astrologers, were among the most 
3343celebrated and constant friends of truth; they ordered that sixty brothers work on a 
3344translation of the holy Scriptures. 
3345 
3346The Kadosh Fathers soon strayed from their duties by over-reaching the limits of decency.  
3347Nevertheless, the order was preserved, for several of them, devoted observers of the laws 
3348they had originated, withdrew to themselves.  They elected a grand master for life; one 
3349part remained in Syria and Sicily, centering their lives on good works; the other part went 
3350to live in the lands which they held in Lybia and Thebaid.  These same solitary places 
3351were later inhabited by recluses known as Fathers of the Desert [aka “the Desert 
3352Fathers”]; once again they were called Kadosh, meaning 'holy' or 'separate'. 
3353 
3354Neither Jews nor Christians have ever said anything bad of them.  Their grand master 
3355was named Manchemm. 
3356 
3357After the destruction of the temple, several embraced Christianity, adopting it because 
3358they saw nothing in it which was not in conformity to their way.  They formed groups, 
3359members of a single larger family.  All they possessed became common property.  
3360                                                                              90
3361Alexander, patriarch of Alexandria, was the movement's greatest partisan and ornament.  
3362They passed their lives praising and blessing God and helping the poor whom they 
3363considered their own brothers.  It is in this way that this respectable order maintained 
3364itself until near the end of the sixth century; and all brothers today seek to enhance its 
3365honored reputation. 
3366                                                                              91
3367Masonic Legends 
3368 
3369Extracts from a Ritual 
3370Manuscript of the Eighth Century 
3371 
3372The Key to the Masonic Parables 
3373 
3374 
3375Solomon is the personification of supreme knowledge and wisdom. 
3376 
3377The temple is the realization and image of the hierarchic reign of truth and reason on the 
3378earth. 
3379 
3380Hiram is man, come to power through knowledge and wisdom. 
3381 
3382He governs with reason and order, giving to each according to his works. 
3383 
3384Each degree of the order has a word which expresses its capacity for understanding. 
3385 
3386There is only one word for Hiram; but this word can be pronounced in three different 
3387ways. 
3388 
3389One way is for the apprentices; 
3390 
3391And pronounced by them it signifies — nature, 
3392 
3393And is explained through work. 
3394 
3395Another way is for the fellows. 
3396 
3397And with them it signifies - thought, explained through study. 
3398 
3399Still another way is for the masters; and, in their mouths, the word signifies truth and is 
3400explained through wisdom. 
3401 
3402There are three degrees in the hierarchy of beings; 
3403 
3404There are three gates to the temple; 
3405 
3406There are three rays in a beam of light; 
3407 
3408There are three forces in nature. 
3409 
3410These forces are symbolized by the measuring stick which unites, by the metal rod or lever 
3411which elevates, and the mallet which steadies and makes firm. 
3412 
3413                                                                              92
3414The rebellion of brute instinct against the autocracy of wisdom arms itself successively 
3415with these three forces. 
3416 
3417There are three rebels: 
3418 
3419The rebel against nature, 
3420 
3421The rebel against knowledge, 
3422 
3423The rebel against truth. 
3424 
3425They were symbolized in the hell of the ancients by the three heads of Cerberus. 
3426 
3427In the Bible they are symbolized by Corea, Dathan and Abiron. 
3428 
3429In Masonic legend they are designated by symbols whose Qabalistic combinations vary 
3430according to the degree of initiation. 
3431 
3432The first, ordinarily called Abiram or murderer of Hiram, strikes the grand master with 
3433the measuring stick. 
3434 
3435It is in this way that so many of the just were sacrificed in the name of the law. 
3436 
3437The second, named Miphiboseth, from the name of an absurd pretender to David's throne, 
3438strikes Hiram with the iron rod. 
3439 
3440It is thus that popular reaction to tyranny becomes another tyranny and proves even 
3441deadlier to the reign of wisdom and virtue. 
3442 
3443Finally, the third puts an end to Hiram with the mallet, as do the brutal restorers of so 
3444called order, who ensure their authority by crushing and oppressing intelligence. 
3445 
3446The acacia branch on Hiram's grave is like the cross on the altars of Christ. 
3447 
3448This is the symbol of knowledge which survives knowledge itself and which for ever 
3449protests against the murderers of thought. 
3450 
3451When man's errors have disturbed the order of things, nature intervenes, like Solomon in 
3452the temple. 
3453 
3454The death of Hiram must always be avenged, the murderers may go unpunished for a 
3455while, but their time will come. 
3456 
3457He who struck with the measuring stick provoked the dagger's blow. 
3458 
3459He who struck with the iron rod will die by the axe. 
3460 
3461                                                                              93
3462He who was momentarily victorious with the mallet will fall victim to the force he misused 
3463and will be choked by the lion. 
3464 
3465The murderer of the measuring stick is unmasked by the very lamp which gives him light 
3466and by the spring where he quenches his own thirst, that is, he cannot escape retaliation. 
3467 
3468The murderer of the iron bar will be taken by surprise when his watchfulness fails, like 
3469that of a sleeping dog.   
3470 
3471The lion who devours the murderer of the mallet is one of the forms of the Sphinx of 
3472Oedipus; and he who conquers him deserves to succeed Hiram. 
3473 
3474The putrefied body of Hiram shows that dead, exhausted forms are not resurrected.  
3475Hiram is the only true, the only Ultimate king of the world, and it is of him one should 
3476speak in saying: 
3477 
3478The king is dead! 
3479 
3480Long live the king! 
3481 
3482Freemasonry has as its goal the reconstitution of Hiram's monarchy. 
3483 
3484And the spiritual rebuilding of the temple. 
3485 
3486Then the three-headed dragon will be bound in chains. 
3487 
3488Then the shadows of the three murderers will be confined to darkness. 
3489 
3490Then the living stone, the cubic stone, the golden cube, the cube with twelve doors, the 
3491new Jerusalem will come down to earth from heaven, according to the Qabalistic prophecy 
3492of St John. 
3493 
3494The spring, flowing near the first murderer, shows that the rebellion of the first age was 
3495punished by the flood.   
3496 
3497The burning bush and rainbow which lead to the discovery of the second murderer 
3498represent the holy Qabalah which rises in opposition to the hypocritical, idolatrous 
3499dogmas of the second age. 
3500 
3501Finally, the vanquished lion represents the triumph of mind over matter and the 
3502submission of brute force to intelligence, which is to be a sign of consummation and of the 
3503coming of the sanctum regnum. 
3504 
3505Since the beginning, by creative mind, of work on the building of the temple of truth, 
3506Hiram has been killed many times, and always resurrected. 
3507 
3508Hiram is Adonis killed by the bear. 
3509                                                                              94
3510 
3511He is Osiris, murdered by Set,  
3512 
3513He is Pythagoras outlawed, 
3514 
3515He is Orpheus torn to pieces by the Bacchantes, 
3516 
3517He is Moses, buried, alive perhaps, in the caves of Mount Nebo, 
3518 
3519He is Jesus, murdered by three traitors, Caiphus, Judas Iscariot and Pilate, 
3520 
3521He is Jacques de Molay, condemned by a Pope, denounced by a false brother, and burned 
3522by order of a king. 
3523 
3524The work of the temple is that of Messianism, that is, the accomplishment of Israelite and 
3525Christian symbolism. 
3526 
3527It is order maintained through the equilibrium of duty and right, unshakeable foundations 
3528of power. 
3529 
3530It is the re-establishment of the hierarchic initiation and of the ministry of thought, ruling 
3531the monarchy of strength and intelligence. 
3532 
3533Everything that is done in the world would lack meaning if this work were not some day 
3534accomplished. 
3535 
3536                                                                              95
3537The Story of Phaleg 
3538 
3539 
3540When all men were gathered together on the plain of Sennar, under the reign of Nimrod, 
3541there was a great architect named Phaleg. 
3542 
3543He was the son of Eber, father of the Hebrews, and to protect mankind from a new flood, 
3544he drew the plan of a tower. 
3545 
3546The first section of the tower was to be round, having twelve doors and seventy-two 
3547pillars. 
3548 
3549The second was to be square with nine stories, the third, a triangular spiral with forty-two 
3550turns.   
3551 
3552The fourth was to be cylindrical with seventy-two stories. 
3553 
3554Seven staircases joined each of the stories to the others. 
3555 
3556The doors of each storey were to be opened and closed by means of mechanisms whose 
3557functioning was to be guarded as a hierarchic secret. 
3558 
3559All inhabitants of the tower were to have equal civil rights, for those at the top could not 
3560live without the assistance of those at the bottom, and those below could not protect 
3561themselves from surprise attack without the vigilance of those above. 
3562 
3563Such was the plan of Phaleg. 
3564 
3565But the workers were disloyal to the great architect. 
3566 
3567Secrets from above were revealed to those who worked below, the doors would no longer 
3568close, some tried to barricade them, others forced an entry in order to regain the safety of 
3569the heights. 
3570 
3571And in addition, all wished to work as they liked, without consulting the plans of Phaleg. 
3572 
3573Confusion sprang up in their language as it did in their work, and part of the tower 
3574collapsed while the rest remained unfinished, for the workers refused to aid one another. 
3575 
3576And confusion reigned in their language for there was no more unity in their thought. 
3577 
3578Phaleg then understood that he had hoped for too much from men in thinking they would 
3579understand one another. 
3580 
3581But these men transferred the fault to him and denounced him to Nimrod. 
3582 
3583Nimrod condemned him to death. 
3584                                                                              96
3585 
3586Phaleg disappeared and it was not known what happened to him. 
3587 
3588Nimrod believed he had had him killed and he erected an idol to which he gave the name 
3589Phaleg and which gave out oracles in favour of Nimrod's tyranny.  But in reality Phaleg 
3590had fled into the desert. 
3591 
3592He made a trip round the known world as expiation for the too generous error he had 
3593committed. 
3594 
3595And everywhere he stopped, he built a triangular tabernacle. 
3596 
3597One of these monuments was rediscovered in Prussia in 553 in the digs of a salt mine. 
3598 
3599Fifteen cubits below ground level a triangular building was found; inside it there was a 
3600white marble column on whose base the entire story was written in Hebrew. 
3601 
3602Beside this column a tombstone was discovered, covered with dust, but under which lay an 
3603agate panel bearing the following epitaph: 
3604 
3605Here lie the ashes of our C∴A∴  of the Tower of Babel.  .  . 
3606 
3607Adonai has forgiven him the sins of men, for he loved them. 
3608 
3609In humiliation he died for them, and thus he has paid for the magnificence of the idols of 
3610Nimrod. 
3611 
3612                                                                              97
3613The Crossing of the River Nabuzanai 
3614 
3615 
3616In the seventieth year of the captivity of the Israelites in Babylon, King Cyrus, lying in his 
3617bed in the palace, had a dream which troubled him. 
3618 
3619He saw a dove hovering above his head and a terrible lion coming towards him. 
3620 
3621And as he sought for a means to escape the lion's ferocity, he heard the dove say: 'Give the 
3622captives their freedom.' 
3623 
3624The king arose, heavy with thought, and was told that a wise Israelite, born on the other 
3625side of the river Nabuzanai, had asked to speak with the king. 
3626 
3627The king bid this wise man enter, and having recounted the dream he had had, he asked 
3628for its interpretation. 
3629 
3630Zorobabel (for such was the Israelite's name) said to the king that the Jews must be sent 
3631back to their own land and the temple of God rebuilt. 
3632 
3633“Oh, king!” said he.  “To hold a people captive by force is to misuse force, itself. 
3634 
3635Force is the lion you saw in your dream.  He must be conquered by justice. 
3636 
3637The dove is understanding and mercy and light.” 
3638 
3639Cyrus said to him:  
3640 
3641“Go, then, assemble all your brothers and rebuild the temple of God.” 
3642 
3643Then he gave him a sword, a trowel and a key. 
3644 
3645He also gathered together the spoils of the temple which had been pillaged by his 
3646predecessors and gave them to Zorobabel. 
3647 
3648Then the Israelites came together and made ready to cross the river Nabuzanai. 
3649 
3650The first to set foot in the water were devoured by monsters who came out of the deep. 
3651 
3652Others arrived and saw that the river bore a hideous collection of bones and other debris. 
3653 
3654Now, the monsters who had devoured these victims were a crocodile and a serpent. 
3655 
3656The crocodile wore a gold crown on his head; the serpent, a diadem. 
3657 
3658It was the evil spirits of the river, the water-demons who, under a thousand frightening 
3659forms, offered them all the men who attempted to cross to the other side. 
3660                                                                              98
3661 
3662When these things were reported to Zorobabel, he had large fires built on the river banks.  
3663Then he had a floating bridge constructed and cast in the middle of the waters. 
3664 
3665Thus the bridge found its way on to the river without the demons being aware of its 
3666construction, for their attention was occupied elsewhere, being attracted by the fires on 
3667the banks. 
3668 
3669The people of Israel crossed over. 
3670 
3671On the bridge were traced three magic letters which served as talismans for the captives 
3672returning to their land. 
3673 
3674These were the letters L∴D∴P∴ 
3675 
3676They stood for the cross, the angular stone and the Word of Truth. 
3677 
3678The cross is an expression of creation and sacrifice. 
3679 
3680The angular stone is the foundation of the temple, and the Word of Truth presides over 
3681the acts of all workers. 
3682 
3683The angular stone is called Kether; the cross is Chokmah, and the Word of life is named 
3684Binah. 
3685 
3686It was by means of these signs that the deliverance of Israel was to be accomplished. 
3687 
3688These three letters can be combined in three ways: 
3689 
3690These are the signs of the nine masters who avenged the death of Hiram. 
3691 
3692These are the hieroglyphs of the three grades of Freemasonry. 
3693 
3694In modern terms they signify: Liberty, duty, power. 
3695 
3696And Qabalistically they are written thus: 
3697 
3698P 
3699L      D 
3700 
3701Or: power upheld by duty and liberty. 
3702 
3703For the vulgar, these letters mean: liberty of passage. 
3704 
3705For apprentices and fellows, they mean: liberty of thought. 
3706                                                                              99
3707Baphomet 
3708 
3709Tem∴ o∴ h∴p∴ Abb∴ 
3710 
3711Binario Verbum Vitae Mortem 
3712et Vitam Aequilibrans 
3713 
3714 
3715Several figures of Baphomet* exist. 
3716 
3717 
3718[From Levi’s “Dogma & Ritual of High Magic Vol.  2”] 
3719 
3720Sometimes he is shown with a beard, the horns of a male goat, the face of a man, the 
3721breast of a woman, the mane and claws of a lion, the wings of an eagle and the hooves of a 
3722bull. 
3723 
3724His is the resurrected sphinx of Thebes, Oedipus's monster, by turns captive and 
3725conqueror.   
3726 
3727He is knowledge rising in opposition to idolatry, protesting through the very monstrosity 
3728of the idol. 
3729 
3730*For the figure of Baphomet, see Dogma and Ritual of High Magic, II. 
3731                                                                             100
3732 
3733Between his horns he carries the torch of life, and the living soul of this torch is God. 
3734 
3735The Israelites were forbidden to give divine concepts the figure of man or of any animal; 
3736thus, on the ark of the covenant and in the sanctuary, they dared sculpt only cherubs, that 
3737is, sphinxes with the bodies of bulls and the heads of men, eagles or lions. 
3738 
3739These mixed figures reproduced neither the complete form of man, nor that of any animal. 
3740 
3741These hybrid creations of impossible animals gave to understand that the image was not 
3742an idol or reproduction of a living thing, but rather a character or representation of 
3743something having its existence in thought. 
3744 
3745Baphomet is not worshipped; it is God who is worshipped, the faceless God behind this 
3746formless form, this image which resembles no created being. 
3747 
3748Baphomet is not a God: he is the sign of initiation.  He is also the hieroglyphic figure of the 
3749great divine Tetragrammaton. 
3750 
3751He is a hold-over from the Cherbus of the ark and the Holy of holies. 
3752 
3753He is the guardian of the key to the temple. 
3754 
3755Baphomet is analogous to the dark God of Rabbi Simeon. 
3756 
3757He is the dark side of the divine face.  This is why, during initiation ceremonies, the 
3758member elect must kiss the hind-face of Baphomet or, to give him a more vulgar name, the 
3759Devil.  Now, in the symbolism of the two faces, the hind-face of God is the Devil and the 
3760hind-face of the Devil is the hieroglyphic face of God. 
3761 
3762Why the name of Freemasons?  Free from what?  From the fear of God?  Yes, doubtless, for 
3763when one fears God, one is looking at him from behind.  The dreadful God is the black 
3764God, the Devil.  The Freemasons wish to build a spiritual temple to the one God, the God 
3765of light, the God of understanding and philanthropy.  They oppose the God of the Devil 
3766and the Devil of God.  But they respect the pious beliefs of Socrates, of Vincent de Paul 
3767and of Fenelon.  What they would willingly, with Voltaire, call the 'vile infamy' is this face, 
3768or better, this foolishness which during the Middle Ages took the place of God. 
3769 
3770The brighter the light, the darker its bordering shadow.  Christianity is at the same time 
3771the salvation and the scourge of the world.  It is the most sublime of wisdoms and the 
3772most frightening of follies.  If Jesus was not God, he was the most dangerous of evil-doers.  
3773The Jesus of Veuillot is execrable.  Renan's is inexcusable.  The Gospels' is unexplainable, 
3774but the Jesus of Vincent de Paul and of Fenelon is lovable and can be worshipped.  If 
3775Christianity is for you the condemnation of reason, the despotism of ignorance and of the 
3776majority of mankind, you are the enemy of humanity.  But if by Christianity you mean the 
3777life of God in humanity, the heroism of philanthropy, the reign of charity which gives 
3778                                                                             101
3779divinity to the sacrifices of men and through communion makes them live the same life, 
3780inspired with the same love, then you are a saviour of the world. 
3781 
3782The religion of Moses is a truth; the so-called Mosaic religion of the Pharisees was a lie. 
3783 
3784The religion of Jesus is the same truth, having progressed a step forward, revealing itself 
3785to man in a new manifestation.  The religion of the inquisitors and oppressors of human 
3786consciousness is a lie. 
3787 
3788The Catholicism of the Church Fathers and the saints is a truth.  The Catholicism of 
3789Veuillot is a lie. 
3790 
3791It is this lie that Freemasonry has taken upon itself to combat in favour of truth. 
3792 
3793Freemasonry wants nothing to do with the doctrines of men like Torquemada and 
3794Escobar, but it does admit among its symbols those of Hermes, Moses and Jesus Christ.  
3795The pelican at the foot of the cross is embroidered on the ribbon of its initiates of the 
3796highest grade.  It excludes only fanaticism, ignorance, foolish credulity, and hate; but it 
3797believes in one dogma, single in spirit though multiple in form, that of humanity.  Its 
3798religion is not Judaism, enemy of all other peoples, nor exclusive Catholicism, nor strict 
3799Protestantism, but true catholicity worthy of this name, that is, universal philanthropy!  
3800This is the Messianism of the Hebrews! 
3801 
3802Everything is true in the books of Hermes.  But attempts to keep them from the profane 
3803have rendered them useless, so to speak, to the world. 
3804 
3805Everything is true in the dogma of Moses; what is false is the exclusivity and despotism of 
3806some rabbis.  Everything is true in the Christian dogma; but Catholic priests have 
3807committed the same faults as the rabbis of Judaism. 
3808 
3809These dogmas complete and explain one another and their synthesis will be the religion of 
3810the future. 
3811 
3812The error of the disciples of Hermes was this: error must be left to the profane and truth 
3813should be rendered impenetrable to everyone, except priest and kings. 
3814 
3815Idolatry, despotism and attempts to destroy the priesthood were the bitter fruits of this 
3816doctrine. 
3817 
3818The error of the Jews was to claim to be a unique and privileged nation, all other peoples 
3819being accursed and they alone being God's elect. 
3820 
3821And the Jews, victims of a cruel twist of fate, have been cursed and persecuted by all other 
3822nations. 
3823 
3824The Catholics have been deceived by three fundamental errors: 
3825 
3826                                                                             102
38271.  They believed that faith must at all costs be imposed on reason and even on science, 
3828whose progress they have combated. 
3829 
38302.  They attributed to the Pope an infallibility which was not only conservative and 
3831disciplinary, but absolute, like that of God. 
3832 
38333.  They thought that man should revile himself, deny his own importance and make 
3834himself unhappy as a preparation for the life to come; whereas quite the contrary is 
3835true.  Man should cultivate all his faculties, develop them, fill out his soul, learn, 
3836know and love his life, in a word: be happy.  For this present life is in fact a 
3837preparation for the future life and man's eternal happiness begins only when he 
3838has acquired the profound peace which results from perfect balance. 
3839 
3840These errors have caused nature, science and reason to protest against them, thereby 
3841making it momentarily appear that all faith has been lost and all religion fled from the 
3842face of the earth. 
3843 
3844But the world could no more survive without religion than man could live without a heart.  
3845When all religions are dead, the unique and universal religion will live on.  This will occur 
3846when there is one accord among all men in their belief in universal solidarity, unity of 
3847aspiration, diversity of expression, faith in a single God, freedom for symbolism and 
3848tolerance of images, orthodoxy in charity, with universality always at the heart of all and, 
3849not to say indifference, deference to the spirit, analogous in all peoples, working variously 
3850among them, the perfectability of dogma, the possible amelioration of cults, but still 
3851behind all this the great and unchanging faith of Israel in one single God at once 
3852immaterial, immutable and insubstantial, all of whose conventional representations are 
3853idols, a faith in reason, the universal law and in the existence of one nation alone, the 
3854instrument of God for the creation and conservation of both insects and galaxies! 
3855 
3856And it is also under Israel's auspices and by means of its commercial influence that we 
3857hope to see established on earth: 
3858 
3859The association of all financial interests; 
3860 
3861The federation of peoples; 
3862 
3863The alliance of all religious cults; 
3864 
3865And universal solidarity. 
3866 
3867                                                                             103
3868Profession of Faith*1 
3869 
3870We believe in the eternal and infinite sovereignty of unchanging wisdom and creative 
3871intelligence. 
3872 
3873We believe in the supreme beauty of equitable goodness and merciful, loving justice. 
3874 
3875We believe in the productivity of progress within order and in an order which is eternally 
3876progressing. 
3877 
3878We believe in the principle of universal life, in the principle of Being and beings for ever 
3879distinct from Being and beings, but necessarily present within Being and within beings. 
3880 
3881We believe that the entire principle, within everything and everywhere, cannot be 
3882contained, enclosed, limited, determined or defined in any way, and that as a consequence, 
3883any form, any special name, any personal exclusive revelation of this principle is idolatry 
3884and error. 
3885 
3886We believe that principle resides in all of us and speaks to each one of us through the voice 
3887of consciousness; 
3888 
3889That consciousness cannot be enlightened without the participation of faith, of reason, of 
3890science and of spirituality. 
3891 
3892We believe in absolute reason which must guide and correct particular reasonings, which 
3893must be the basis for faith and the standard for all dogmas, lest there be fanaticism, folly 
3894and error. 
3895 
3896We believe in absolute love which is called charity and inspires sacrifice. 
3897 
3898We believe that, in order to grow, one must give, that one is happy as a result of others' 
3899happiness, and that well-regulated egoism must begin with one's neighbour.   
3900 
3901We believe in liberty, in absolute independence, even in the royalty of self, the relative 
3902divinity of the human will when it is governed by sovereign reason. 
3903 
3904We believe that God himself - the great undefinable principle — can be neither the 
3905despotic ruler nor the executioner-judge of his creatures; that he can neither reward nor 
3906punish them, but that the law carries within itself its own consequence, so that good is of 
3907itself the reward for good and evil, the punishment but also the remedy, for evil. 
3908 
3909We believe that the spirit of charity alone is inflexible when it inspires devotion and peace, 
3910but that all men can fall prey to error, above all when acting on things they do not know 
3911and so do not comprehend. 
3912                                                 
39131 * These pages are taken from the Letters of Eliphas Levi which Monsieur le Baron de Spedadieri has kindly 
3914transmitted to us.  They are unpublished and we believe our readers will welcome these extracts; we hope later to 
3915publish the letters themselves in extenso.  Editor's Note 
3916                                                                             104
3917We believe in the catholicity, that is, universality, of dogma. 
3918 
3919We believe that in religion all intelligent men accept the same truths and only disagree 
3920regarding errors. 
3921 
3922We believe that the most reasonable men are also the most patient, and that the 
3923persecutors of those whose beliefs differ prove by the very violence of their persecution 
3924that they are in error. 
3925 
3926We believe that all gods are phantoms and that all idols are nothing; that established 
3927faiths should make place for others, and that the wise man can prey in a mosque or church 
3928indifferently.  However we prefer the mosque to the pagoda and the church to the mosque, 
3929provided that the church remain unsullied by the presence of a bad priest. 
3930 
3931In a word, we believe in a single God and in a single religion.  In God blessing all gods and 
3932in religion absorbing or annihilating all religions. 
3933 
3934We believe in universal, absolute and infinite being, demonstrated by the impossibility of 
3935nothingness, and we do not accept that nothing can exist, nor that it can become 
3936something. 
3937 
3938We recognize in Being two essential modes of existence, idea and form, intelligence and 
3939action. 
3940 
3941We believe in truth, which is Being conceived by Idea;  
3942 
3943In reality, which is Idea demonstrated or capable of demonstration by science; 
3944 
3945In Justice, which is Being put into action in accordance with its true nature and 
3946reasonable proportions. 
3947 
3948We believe in the perpetual, progressive revelation of God in the developments of our 
3949intelligence and of our love. 
3950 
3951We believe in the spirit of truth as inseparable from the spirit of charity, and we refer to 
3952this, along with the Catholic Church, as: 
3953 
3954“The spirit of science opposed to the obscurantism of bad priests; 
3955 
3956The spirit of intelligence opposed to the foolishness of superstition; 
3957 
3958The spirit of force to withstand the prejudices and calumny of false believers; 
3959 
3960The spirit of piety, filial, social or humanitarian, opposed to the impious egoism of 
3961those who would let all else perish in order to save their souls; 
3962 
3963                                                                             105
3964The spirit of wise counsel, for true charity begins with the spirit and brings its first 
3965assistance to the soul;” 
3966 
3967And finally, “The spirit of the fear of evil, which tramples down the fear of men and 
3968teaches us not to render unto evil a sacrilegious cult based on a capricious and 
3969wicked God.” 
3970 
3971We believe that this Spirit is that of the Gospels and of Jesus Christ. 
3972 
3973This is why we worship the living, acting God in Jesus Christ, without making him a 
3974distinct God, separable from God, himself.  For Jesus was a true man and completely 
3975human, as we are, but sanctified by the plenitude of the divine Spirit speaking through his 
3976mouth, living and acting through him. 
3977 
3978We believe in the moral and divine sense of the legendary Gospels whose letter is 
3979imperfect, but whose spirit is eternal. 
3980 
3981We believe the laws of Moses, of the Apostles and of their successors, the Popes, to have 
3982been transitory, but that the law of charity is eternal. 
3983 
3984This is why we reject and condemn no one. 
3985 
3986We believe that well-ordered egoism begins with others and the truly rich are those who 
3987give. 
3988 
3989We believe in the infallibility of the spirit of charity, and not in the dogmatic temerity of a 
3990few men. 
3991 
3992We believe in the eternal life.  Thus we do not fear death for ourselves or for those we love. 
3993 
3994We ascribe integrally to the thirteen articles of the Symbol of Maimonides, and as a 
3995consequence we regard the Israelites as our brothers. 
3996 
3997We believe that God alone is God, and that Mohammed was one of precursory words 
3998(which is what the word prophet signifies), and we are sympathetic to the Muslims. 
3999 
4000But we both pity and blame the Jews for calling us goy and the Muslims for calling us 
4001giaours.  In this we cannot be in sympathy with them, for in this they are outside the 
4002bounds of charity. 
4003 
4004We ascribe to the Symbol of the Apostles, of St Athanasius and of Nicaea, recognizing, 
4005however, that they must be explained in a hierarchical manner and that they express the 
4006highest mysteries of occult philosophy. 
4007 
4008But we reprove reprobation and we excommunicate excommunication as offences against 
4009charity and universal solidarity. 
4010 
4011                                                                             106
4012We admit the arbitral and disciplinary infallibility of the head of the Church, but we 
4013consider it foolish to ascribe to him an arbitrary infallibility in the creation of dogma. 
4014 
4015The Pope is the legal interpreter and preserver of ancient beliefs; but should he wish to 
4016impose new ones, he strays from his path of duty and has no more authority than any 
4017other speaker of foolishness. 
4018 
4019We study tradition, but we do not judge it a critical authority, for it is the common 
4020receptacle of antiquity's errors as well as its truths. 
4021 
4022 
4023Such is the profession of faith which should unite and slowly absorb all others.  Such is 
4024the religion of great souls to come.  How many men are presently capable of 
4025understanding it?  I cannot say; but I think that if a prophet were to speak of it aloud 
4026before all assembled peoples, he would be stoned by the priests, disdained by the people 
4027and briefly regretted by a few wise men. 
4028 
4029In the meantime, the Pope raises troops and invents dogma.  Veuillot distills his gall and 
4030analyses the smells of Paris.  In its turn, Paris holds its nose against the smell of Veuillot.  
4031Veuillot washes his hands of it all and says: this is only the perfume of Rome! 
4032 
4033And temporal sovereignty, the Vatican's prostitute, does not blush at having Veuillot for 
4034her souteneur! 
4035 
4036In Paris, censorship forbids the representation of Ponsard's Galilée.  Truly, has the world 
4037come to an end? 
4038 
4039Oh, reign of fear for ever reborn, continual revolt of beast against angel, inevitable 
4040alliance of tyrannies against intelligence however free, licensed stupidity, condemned 
4041spirit, how long will you continue to hold this poor world upside down? 
4042 
4043Eliphas Lévi  
4044                                                                             107
4045Elements of the Qabalah 
4046in Ten Lessons 
4047 
4048Letters of Eliphas Levi*2 
4049 
4050First Lesson 
4051GENERAL PROLEGOMENA 
4052 
4053 
4054Friend and Brother, 
4055 
4056I can give you this title because you are searching for the truth in the sincerity of your 
4057heart, ready to make the necessary sacrifices in order to find it. 
4058 
4059Truth, being the essence of all that is, is not difficult to find: it is within us and we are 
4060within it.  It is like light and the blind do not see it. 
4061 
4062Being is.  This is incontestable and absolute.  The exact idea of Being is truth; its 
4063knowledge is science; its ideal expression is reason; its activity is creation and justice.   
4064 
4065You wish to believe, you say.  For this, it is enough to know and to love truth.  For the true 
4066faith is the unshakeable adhesion of the mind to the necessary deductions of science in 
4067conjectural infinity. 
4068 
4069Only occult sciences give certitude, for they have their bases in realities and not in 
4070dreams. 
4071 
4072In every religious symbol, they bring out the true and the false.  What is true is the same 
4073everywhere, but falsehoods spring up according to places, times and people. 
4074 
4075These sciences are three: the Qabalah, Magic and Hermeticism. 
4076 
4077The Qabalah, or traditional science of the Hebrews, might be called the mathematics of 
4078human thought.  It is the algebra of faith.  It solves all problems of the soul as equations, 
4079by isolating the unknowns.  It gives to ideas the  clarity and rigorous exactitude of 
4080numbers; its results, for the mind, are infallibility (always relative, however, to the sphere 
4081of human knowledge) and for the heart, profound peace. 
4082 
4083Magic, or the science of the magi, has its ancient representatives in the disciples, and 
4084perhaps the teachers, of Zoroaster.  It is the knowledge of secret and particular laws of 
4085nature which produce hidden forces, magnets and loadstones which may exist even 
4086outside the realm of metal.  In a word, and to use a modern expression, it is the science of 
4087universal magnetism. 
4088 
4089                                                 
40902 * These letters were kindly brought to our attention by a student of Eliphas Lévi, Monsieur Montaut.  They appeared 
4091in the magazine, Initiation in 1891. 
4092                                                                             108
4093Hermeticism is the science of nature hidden in the hieroglypics and symbols of the ancient 
4094world.  It is the search for the principle of life, along with the dream (for those who have 
4095not yet achieved it) of accomplishing the great work, that is the reproduction by man or 
4096the divine, natural fire which creates and recreates beings. 
4097 
4098Here, my friend, are the things you desire to study.  The circle they enclose is immense, 
4099but the principles are so simple that they are represented and contained in the signs of the 
4100numbers and in the letters of the alphabet.   
4101 
4102“It is a about of Hercules that is also a child's game,’ say the masters of holy 
4103science.” 
4104 
4105Characteristics necessary to success in this study are a great rectitude of judgment and a 
4106great independence of mind.  One must rid oneself of all prejudice and every preconceived 
4107notion, and it is for this reason that Christ said:  
4108 
4109“Unless you become as a little child, you cannot enter the Malkouht,” that is, “the 
4110kingdom of knowledge.” 
4111 
4112We will begin with the Qabalah, whose divisions are these: Berechith, Mercavah, 
4113Gematria and Lemurah. 
4114 
4115Yours in the holy science, 
4116 
4117Eliphas Lévi 
4118 
4119                                                                             109
4120Elements of the Qabalah 
4121in Ten Lessons 
4122 
4123Letters of Eliphas Levi 
4124 
4125Second Lesson 
4126The Qabalah - Goal and Method 
4127 
4128 
4129In studying the Qabalah, one should strive to arrive at profound peace by means of 
4130tranquillity of mind and peace of heart. 
4131 
4132Tranquillity of mind is an effect of certainty; peace of leart comes from patience and faith. 
4133Without faith, science leads to doubt; without science, faith leads to superstition.  Uniting 
4134them brings certainty, put in so doing they must never be confused with each other.  The 
4135object of faith is hypothesis, and this becomes certitude when the hypothesis is 
4136necessitated by evidence or by the demonstrations of science. 
4137 
4138Science establishes facts.  From the repetition of facts, it presupposes laws.  The 
4139generality of facts in the presence of such and such a force demonstrates the existence of 
4140laws.  Intelligent laws are necessarily imposed and governed by intelligence.  Unity within 
4141the laws presupposes the unity of legislative intelligence.  This intelligence, which we are 
4142forced to imagine, only seeing it at work in external manifestations, and which we can in 
4143no way define, is what we call God! 
4144 
4145You receive my letter; there is an obvious fact.  You recognize my handwriting and my 
4146thoughts and you conclude from this that it is indeed I who have written to you.  This is a 
4147reasonable hypothesis, but the necessary hypothesis is that someone wrote the letter.  It 
4148could be counterfeit, though you have no reason to suppose it is.  Were you to suppose so, 
4149groundlessly, you would be making a very doubtful hypothesis.  Were you to claim that the 
4150letter, fully written, fell from the sky, you would be making an absurd hypothesis. 
4151 
4152Here is, then, according to Qabalistic method, how certitude is formed: 
4153 
4154Evidence                                         
4155Scientific demonstration               certitude 
4156Necessary hypothesis 
4157Reasonable hypothesis                  probability 
4158Doubtful hypothesis                       doubt  
4159Absurd hypothesis                         error 
4160 
4161By keeping to this method, the mind acquires a veritable infallibility, for it affirms what it 
4162knows, believes what it must necessarily suppose, admits reasonable suppositions, 
4163examines doubtful ones, and rejects those which are absurd. 
4164 
4165All the Qabalah is contained in what the masters call the thirty-two roads and the fifty 
4166gates. 
4167                                                                             110
4168 
4169The thirty-two roads are thirty-two absolute and real ideas attached to the signs of the ten 
4170arithmetical numbers and to the twenty-two letters of the Hebraic alphabet. 
4171 
4172Here are these ideas: 
4173 
4174NUMBERS 
4175 
41761 Supreme power                6 Beauty 
41772 Absolute wisdom              7 Victory 
41783 Infinite intelligence         8 Eternity 
41794 Goodness                          9 Productivity 
41805 Justice or harshness        10 Reality 
4181 
4182 
4183LETTERS 
4184 
4185Aleph            Father                      Lamed           Sacrifice 
4186Beth              Mother                     Mem              Death 
4187Gimel            Nature                      Nun               Reversibility 
4188Daleth           Authority                 Samekh         Universal being 
4189He                 Religion                    Pe                  Immortality   
4190Vav                Liberty                     Ayin              Balance 
4191Zayin             Ownership               Sadhe            Shadow and reflection 
4192Cheth            Distribution             Koph             Light 
4193Teth              Prudence                  Resh              Recognition 
4194Yod                Order                       [Shin             ?] 
4195Kaph             Force                        Tav                Synthesis 
4196 
4197 
4198                                                                             111
4199Elements of the Qabalah 
4200in Ten Lessons 
4201 
4202Letters of Eliphas Levi 
4203 
4204Third Lesson 
4205Use of the Method 
4206 
4207 
4208In the preceding lesson I spoke only of the thirty-two roads; later I will talk of the fifty 
4209gates. 
4210 
4211The ideas expressed by numbers and letters are incontestable realities.  These ideas follow 
4212from one another and agree like the numbers, themselves- One proceeds logically from one 
4213to the next.  Man is the son of woman, but woman comes out of man as number comes out 
4214of unity.  Woman clarifies nature, nature reveals authority, which creates religion, basis 
4215for liberty, which makes man master of himself and of the universe, etc - .  .  (Get hold of a 
4216Tarot - I believe in fact you already have one - and, in two series, lay out the ten 
4217allegorical cards numbered from one to twenty-one.  You will see all the figures which 
4218correspond to the letters.  As for the numbers from one to ten, you will find them repeated 
4219four times with the symbols of the baton or sceptre of the father, the cup or délices of the 
4220mother, the sword of love and the coins of productivity.  The Tarot is included in the 
4221hieroglyphic book of the thirty-two roads, and its summary explanation can be found in 
4222the book attributed to the patriarch, Abraham, which is called Sepher-Jezirah. 
4223 
4224The savant Court de Gebelin was the first to discover the importance of the Tarot, which 
4225is the great key to the hieratic hieroglyphs.  Its symbols and numbers are to be found in 
4226the prophecies of Ezekiel and of St John.  The Bible is an inspired book, but the Tarot is 
4227the book of inspiration.  It has also been called the wheel, rota, whence tarot and torah.  
4228The ancient Rosicrucians knew it well and the Marquis de Suchet speaks of it in his book 
4229on visionaries. 
4230 
4231It is from this book that our card games have come.  Spanish cards still bear the principal 
4232signs of the primitive Tarot and they are used to play the game of the hombre or man, 
4233vague reminiscence of the early use of a mysterious book, containing oracular decrees 
4234about all human divinities. 
4235 
4236The earliest Tarots were medals which have since become talismans.  The clavicules or 
4237little keys of Solomon were made up of thirty-six talismans bearing seventy-two 
4238engravings analogous to the hieroglyphic figures of the Tarot.  These figures, altered by 
4239copyists, can still be found on ancient clavicules which exist in some libraries, A 
4240manuscript of this type exists in the Bibliothèque Nationale and another in the 
4241Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal.  The only authentic manuscripts of the clavicules are those 
4242which give the series of thirty-six talismans with the seventy-two mysterious names; the 
4243others, however ancient they may be, belong to fantasies of black magic and contain 
4244nothing more than clever tricks. 
4245 
4246                                                                             112
4247For an explanation of the Tarot, see my Dogma and Ritual of True Magic. 
4248 
4249Yours in the holy science, 
4250 
4251Eliphas Lévi 
4252 
4253 
4254 
4255 
4256[Given as examples of Levi’s Tarot:] 
4257 
4258 
4259 
4260 
4261[“Seventh key of the Tarot”]                                    [“The Tenth key of the Tarot”] 
4262 
4263                                                                             113
4264Elements of the Qabalah 
4265in Ten Lessons 
4266 
4267Letters of Eliphas Levi 
4268 
4269Fourth Lesson 
4270The Qabalah I 
4271 
4272 
4273Brother and Friend, 
4274 
4275Bereschith means 'genesis'; Mercavah means 'chariot'; alluding to the wheels and 
4276mysterious animals of Ezekiel. 
4277 
4278The Bereschith and the Mercavah summarize the science of God and of the world. 
4279 
4280I say ‘science of God’ and yet God is infinitely unknowable.  His nature entirely escapes 
4281our investigations.  He is the absolute principle of being and of beings and must not be 
4282confused with the effects he produces; and it can be said, affirming his existence all the 
4283while, that he is neither being nor a being.  Such a definition confounds reason, without 
4284however causing us to go astray, and keeps us for ever from all idolatry. 
4285 
4286God is the only absolute postulatum of all science, the entirely necessary hypothesis which 
4287serves as a basis for any certainty; and here is how our ancient masters established, above 
4288science itself, this assured hypothesis of faith: Being is.  In Being is life.  Life is made 
4289manifest by movement.  Movement is perpetuated by the balancing of forces.  Harmony 
4290results from the analogy of opposites.  There are, in nature, an immutable law and an 
4291undefinable progress.  A perpetual changing of forms and the indestructibility of 
4292substance, this is what one finds upon observing the physical world. 
4293 
4294Metaphysics presents us with analogous laws and facts either in an intellectual or a moral 
4295order, on one side, unchanging truth, on the other, fantasy and imagination.  On one side 
4296there is goodness which is truth, on the other, evil, which is false, and from these apparent 
4297conflicts arise both judgment and virtue.  Virtue is composed of goodness and justice.  Its 
4298goodness makes it indulgent.  Its justice makes it harsh.  Good because it is just and just 
4299because it is good: it is always beautiful. 
4300 
4301This great harmony of the physical and moral worlds, incapable of having a cause superior 
4302to itself, reveals and demonstrates to us the existence of an unchanging wisdom and of an 
4303infinitely active creative intelligence.  Upon this wisdom and this intelligence, each 
4304inseparable from the other, reposes the supreme power which the Hebrews have named 
4305the crown, The crown and not the king, for the idea of a king would imply an idol.  For 
4306Qabalists, the supreme power is the crown of the universe and the entirety of creation is 
4307the kingdom, or if you prefer, the domain of this crown. 
4308 
4309No one can give what he has not, thus we can assume that what we see manifested in 
4310effects is also present in the cause. 
4311                                                                             114
4312 
4313God, Then, is the supreme power or crown (Kether) which sits upon immutable wisdom 
4314(Chokmah) and creative intelligence (Binah); in him are goodness (Hesed) and justice 
4315(Geburah) which are the ideal of beauty (Tiphereth).  In him are for ever victorious 
4316movement (Netzach) and the great eternal rest (Hod).  His desire is a continual giving of 
4317life (Yesod) and his kingdom (Malkuth) is the immensity which populates the universe. 
4318Enough: we are acquainted with God! 
4319 
4320Yours in the holy science, 
4321 
4322Eliphas Lévi 
4323 
4324[Given as examples of Levi’s Qabalah Tree:] 
4325 
4326 
4327 
4328[“The Metallic Sephiroth”]                             [“The Sephiroth with the divine names”] 
4329[“Key of the theological notions following the Hebrews”] 
4330                                                                             115
4331Elements of the Qabalah 
4332in Ten Lessons 
4333 
4334Letters of Eliphas Levi 
4335 
4336Fifth Lesson 
4337The Qabalah II 
4338 
4339 
4340Brother and Friend, 
4341 
4342This rational conscience of divinity, spread over the ten ciphers which compose all 
4343numbers, give you the whole method of Qabalistic philosophy.  This method is composed of 
4344thirty-two means or instruments of knowledge which are called the thirty-two roads, and 
4345of fifty subjects to which the science may be applied and that are called the fifty gates. 
4346 
4347Universal synthetic science is thus regarded as a temple to which there lead thirty-two 
4348paths and which may be entered through thirty-two doors. 
4349 
4350This numerical system, which could also be called decimal since it is based on the number 
4351ten, establishes by means of analogies an exact classification of all human knowledge.  
4352Nothing is more ingenious, but likewise nothing is more logical and exact. 
4353 
4354This number ten applied to absolute notions of being in the divine order, in the 
4355metaphysical order and in the natural order is thus repeated three times which gives 
4356thirty for purposes of analysis; add syllepsis and synthesis, that is, unity which begins as 
4357a concept in the mind and unity which brings together as one all that is, and you have the 
4358thirty-two roads. 
4359 
4360The fifty gates are a classification of all being into five series of ten each and which 
4361embraces all one can know and extends into the entire body of knowledge. 
4362 
4363But it is not enough to have found an exact mathematical method; in order to be perfect, 
4364this method must be progressively revelatory, that is, it must give us the means of making 
4365all possible deductions unerringly, of obtaining new knowledge and of developing the mind 
4366without leaving anything to the capriciousness of the imagination. 
4367 
4368This is what one obtains through the Gematria and the Lemurah, which are the 
4369mathematics of idea.  The Qabalah has its ideal geometry, its philosophical algebra and its 
4370analogic trigonometry.  It is thus that, so to speak, it obliges nature to render up her 
4371secrets. 
4372 
4373Once such high knowledge is acquired, one goes on to the final revelations of the 
4374transcendental Qabalah, studying in the schememamphorash the source and reason of all 
4375dogmas. 
4376 
4377                                                                             116
4378There, brother and friend, is what there is for you to earn.  Does it frighten you?  My 
4379letters are short, but concise, and say much.  I have spaced my first five lessons rather far 
4380apart so as to give you time for reflection.  I can write to you more often if you so desire. 
4381 
4382With the ardent wish of being useful to you, I remain, your devoted servant in the holy 
4383science, 
4384 
4385Eliphas Lévi 
4386 
4387 
4388                                                                             117
4389Elements of the Qabalah 
4390in Ten Lessons 
4391 
4392Letters of Eliphas Levi 
4393 
4394Sixth Lesson 
4395The Qabalah III 
4396 
4397 
4398Brother and Friend, 
4399 
4400The Bible gives man two names.  The first is Adam, which means 'drawn from the earth' 
4401or 'man of earth'; the second is Enos or Enoch, which means 'divine man' or lifted to God', 
4402According to Genesis it is Enos who first spoke publicly on the principle of beings and this 
4403same Enos was, it is said, taken alive up into heaven after having engraved the primitive 
4404elements of religion and universal science on two stones which are called the columns or 
4405pillars of Enoch. 
4406 
4407This Enoch is not a person, but a personification of humanity uplifted by religion and 
4408science to a sense of immortality.  At the time designated by the name of Enos or Enoch, 
4409the cult of God appears on earth and ritual worship begins.  This time also marks the 
4410beginning of civilization with writing and the hieratic movements. 
4411 
4412The civilizing genius which the Hebrews personify in Enoch was named Trismegistus by 
4413the Egyptians, and by the Greeks, Kadmos or Cadmus, he who saw the living stones of 
4414Thebes rise of themselves and take their place to the accompaniment of Amphion's lyre. 
4415 
4416The primitive sacred book, the book that Postel calls the genesis of Enoch, is the first 
4417source of the Qabalah, tradition at once divine, human and religious.  Here in all its 
4418simplicity appears the revelation of supreme intelligence to reason and to the love of man, 
4419the eternal law governing infinite expansion, the numbers in infinite expansion, the 
4420numbers in immensity and immensity in numbers, poetry in mathematics and 
4421mathematics in poetry. 
4422 
4423Who would believe chat the book which inspired all these theories and religious symbols 
4424has been preserved, coming down to us in the form of a deck of strange cards?  Nothing is 
4425truer, however, and Court de Gebelin, since followed by all those who have seriously 
4426studied the symbolism of these cards, was the first to discover it, in the last century. 
4427 
4428The alphabet and the ten numerical signs are of course the basic elements of alt sciences.  
4429Add to them the signs of the four cardinal points of heaven or of the four seasons and you 
4430have the book of Enoch in its entirety.  But each sign represents an absolute or, if you will, 
4431essential idea.   
4432 
4433The form of each cipher and of each letter has its mathematical reason and hieroglyphic 
4434significance, ideas, inseparable from numbers, follow their movement, by addition, 
4435multiplication, etc., and acquire their exactitude. 
4436                                                                             118
4437 
4438The book of Enoch is the arithmetic of thought. 
4439 
4440Yours in the holy science, 
4441 
4442Eliphas Lévi 
4443                                                                             119
4444Elements of the Qabalah 
4445in Ten Lessons 
4446 
4447Letters of Eliphas Levi 
4448 
4449Seventh Lesson 
4450The Qabalah IV 
4451 
4452 
4453Brother and Friend, 
4454 
4455In the twenty-two keys of the Tarot, Court de Gebelin saw the representation of Egyptian 
4456mysteries and attributed their invention to Hermes Trismegistus, who was also called 
4457Thoth.  It is certain that the hieroglyphs of the Tarot can be found on the ancient 
4458monuments of Egypt; it is certain that the signs of this book, traced in synoptic ensembles 
4459on steles or metal tables similar to the Isiac table of Bembo, were separately reproduced 
4460on engraved stones or medals which later became amulets and talismans.  Thus the pages 
4461of the infinite book were separated into diverse combinations in order to assemble, 
4462transpose and re-transpose them for the obtaining of inexhaustible oracles of truth. 
4463 
4464I have in my possession one of these ancient talismans which a travelling friend brought 
4465me from Egypt.  It shows the two of coins, the figurative expression of the great law of 
4466polarity and equilibrium, producing harmony through the analogy of opposites.  Here is 
4467how this symbol is shown in the Tarot which we possess and which is sold today.  S The 
4468medallion I have is rather worn, about as big as a silver five-franc piece, but thicker.  The 
4469two polaric points are shown exactly as in our Italian Tarot, a lotus flower with a halo. 
4470 
4471The astral current which separates and at the same time attracts the two polaric seats is 
4472represented on our Egyptian talisman by the Goat of Mendes placed between two vipers 
4473analogous to the serpents of the caduceus.  On the reverse side, one sees an adept or 
4474Egyptian priest who, having substituted himself for Mendes between the two points of 
4475universal equilibrium, is leading the goat, now simply a docile animal governed by man 
4476the imitator of God, down a long avenue planted with trees. 
4477 
4478The ten numerical signs, the twenty-two letters of the alphabet and the four astronomical 
4479signs of the seasons are the summary of the entire Qabalah. 
4480 
4481Twenty-two letters and ten numbers give the thirty-two ways of the Sepher Jetzirah; four 
4482gives the mercavah and the shememamphorash. 
4483 
4484It is as simple as a child's game and as complicated as the most arduous problem of pure 
4485mathematics.   
4486 
4487It is as profound and naive as truth and nature. 
4488 
4489These four elementary, astronomical signs are the four forms of the sphinx and the four 
4490animals of Ezekiel and St John. 
4491                                                                             120
4492 
4493Yours in the holy science, 
4494 
4495Eliphas Lévi 
4496                                                                             121
4497Elements of the Qabalah 
4498in Ten Lessons 
4499 
4500Letters of Eliphas Levi 
4501 
4502Eighth Lesson 
4503The Qabalah V 
4504 
4505 
4506Brother and Friend, 
4507 
4508The science of the Qabalah makes doubt, as regards religion, impossible, for it alone 
4509reconciles reason with faith by showing that universal dogma, at bottom always and 
4510everywhere the same, though formulated differently in certain times and places, is the 
4511purest expression of the aspirations of the human mind, enlightened by a necessary faith.  
4512It points out the usefulness of religious practices which fortify will by fixing the attention, 
4513throwing light on all the cults.  It proves that the most effective cult is that which brings 
4514together, so to speak, divinity and man, making him see it, touch it and incorporate it into 
4515himself. 
4516 
4517It is enough to say that I am speaking here of the Catholic religion. 
4518 
4519This religion, to the vulgar mind, appears to be the most absurd of all, for it is the most 
4520revealed; I use the word in its veritable sense, revelare, to re-veil, to veil again.  You know 
4521that, according to the Gospels, at the death of Christ the veil of the temple was rent 
4522asunder, and all down the ages the Church has worked dogmatically to weave a new one. 
4523 
4524It is true that the heads of the sanctuary, themselves, having wished to become its 
4525princes, long ago lost keys of high initiation.  This does not, however, prevent the letter of 
4526dogma from being sacred, nor the sacraments from having their effect.  I have set forth in 
4527my books that the Christian-Catholic cult is high magic organized and regularized by 
4528symbolism and hierarchy.  It is a safety device offered to human weakness so as to fortify 
4529the desire for good. 
4530 
4531Nothing has been forgotten, neither the dark mysterious temple, nor the incense, both 
4532calming and exalting, nor the long monotonous chants which rock the brain into a kind 
4533of semi-somnambulism.  The dogma, whose obscure formulae appear to be the despair of 
4534all reason, serves as a barrier to the quibblings of inexperienced and indiscreet criticism.  
4535These formulae seem incomprehensible so as to better represent infinity.  The mass itself, 
4536celebrated in a language which most of the people do not understand, gives width to the 
4537thought of he who officiates and allows him to satisfy, through prayer, all the needs of his 
4538mind and heart.  This is why the Catholic religion resembles this sphinx of the fable who, 
4539century after century, becomes its own successor, always arising from its ashes; this great 
4540mystery of faith is simply a mystery of nature. 
4541 
4542                                                                             122
4543It would seem an enormous paradox were one to say that the Catholic religion is the only 
4544one which can justifiably be called natural, and yet, this is true, for it alone satisfies with 
4545any fulness at all this natural need of man, which is the religious sense. 
4546 
4547Yours in the holy science, 
4548 
4549Eliphas Lévi 
4550 
4551                                                                             123
4552Elements of the Qabalah 
4553in Ten Lessons 
4554 
4555Letters of Eliphas Levi 
4556 
4557Ninth Lesson 
4558The Qabalah VI 
4559 
4560 
4561Brother and Friend, 
4562 
4563If the Catholic-Christian dogma is entirely Qabalistic, the same must be said for the great 
4564religions of the ancient world.  The legend of Krishna as it is recounted in the 
4565Bhagavadam, is a veritable Gospel, similar to ours, but more naïve, more brilliant.  The 
4566incarnations of Vishnu number ten like the Sephiroth of the Qabalah and in some ways 
4567form a more complete revelation than ours- Osiris killed by Typhon, then resurrected by 
4568Isis, is Christ denied by the Jews, then honored in the person of his mother.  The Thebaid 
4569is a great religious epic which must be placed beside the great symbol of Prometheus.  
4570Antigone is as pure a type of divine woman as Mary.  Everywhere good triumphs through 
4571voluntary sacrifice, after having been temporarily subjected to the wild assaults of evil.  
4572Even the rites are symbolic and are transmitted from one religion to another.  Diadems, 
4573mitres, surplices belong to all the great religions.  And so the conclusion is that all of them 
4574are false; whereas it is only this conclusion which is false.  The truth is that religion, like 
4575humanity, is one, always progressing, always changing, always the same. 
4576 
4577If, with the Egyptians, Jesus Christ is named Osiris, for the Scandinavians, Osiris is 
4578named Balder.  He is killed by the wolf, Jeuris, but Odin calls him back to life, and the 
4579Valkyries themselves serve him hydromel in Valhalla, The skalds, the druids, the bards 
4580sing of the death and resurrection of Tarenis or of Tetenus, distribute to their faithful a 
4581sprig of holy mistletoe as we dispense the sacred palm during feasts of the summer 
4582solstice, and maintain a cult to virginity inspired by the priestesses of the isle of Seyne. 
4583 
4584We can then, in all fair conscience, set about performing the duties imposed on us by our 
4585native religion.  Religious practices are collective acts, repeated with direct, persevering 
4586intention.  Such acts are always useful in that they strengthen the will, they are in a sense 
4587its gymnastics, and they bring us eventually to the spiritual goal which we wish to attain.  
4588Magic practices have the same end and give results analogous to religious practices, but 
4589less perfect. 
4590 
4591How many men do not have the energy to do what they would tike and what they ought to 
4592do?  And there are such great numbers of women who devote themselves unflaggingly to 
4593labours as repugnant as those of the hospital or of teaching!  Where do they find such 
4594strength?  In small repeated religious practices.  Each day they say their rosary, kneeling 
4595in prayer. 
4596 
4597Yours in the holy science, 
4598 
4599Eliphas Lévi 
4600                                                                             124
4601Elements of the Qabalah 
4602in Ten Lessons 
4603 
4604Letters of Eliphas Levi 
4605 
4606Eighth Lesson 
4607The Qabalah VII 
4608 
4609 
4610Brother and Friend, 
4611 
4612Religion is not a servitude imposed on man, but an aid which has been offered him.  From 
4613time immemorial, sacerdotal castes have sought to exploit, sell and transform this aid into 
4614an unbearable yoke and burden; and the evangelical work of Jesus had as its aim the 
4615separation of the priest from religion, or at least, the return of the priest to his place as 
4616the minister, the servant of religion, by giving back to human consciousness all its liberty 
4617and reason.  Look at the parable of the Good Samaritan and at these precious words: the 
4618law was made for man and not man for the law.  Woe to you who lay upon others burdens 
4619you would not so much as touch with the tip of your finger, etc.  The official Church which 
4620declares itself infallible in the Apocalypse, the Qabalistic key to the Gospels, has always 
4621existed side by side with occult strains of Christianity that maintained an interpretation 
4622of dogma quite different from that given out to the vulgar. 
4623 
4624The Templars, the Rosicrucians, the Freemasons of high grade, all belonged, before the 
4625French Revolution, to that church which counted among its apostles Pasqualis Martinez, 
4626Saint-Martin and even Mme de Krudemer.   
4627 
4628The distinctive characteristic of this school is to avoid publicity and never to grow into 
4629what might be referred to as a 'dissident sect'.  The count Joseph de Maistre, this radical 
4630Catholic, was far more sympathetic than one might think to the society of the Martinistes, 
4631thus announcing an impending regeneration of dogma through the lights which shine 
4632forth from the sanctuaries of occultism.  There exist today fervent priests initiated into 
4633antique doctrine and one bishop among others has just died who asked me for Qabalistic 
4634information.  The disciples of Saint-Martin called themselves the unknown philosophers, 
4635and now other disciples of a modern master, fortunate enough to remain anonymous, need 
4636take no name at all, for the world does not even suspect their existence, Jesus said that 
4637the yeast must be hidden in the bottom of the trough of dough in order that it may work 
4638night and day in silence until fermentation of the entire mass has taken place. 
4639 
4640An initiate can then with simplicity and sincerity practise the religion into which he was 
4641born, for all rites diversely represent one and the same dogma.  But no initiate should 
4642open the depths of his conscience except to God, nor give account of his most intimate 
4643beliefs to anyone.  The priest cannot judge that which the Pope himself cannot 
4644understand.  The exterior signs of the initiate are modest knowledge, philanthropy 
4645without show, equality of character and the most inalterable goodness. 
4646 
4647Yours in the holy science, 
4648 
4649Eliphas Lévi