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WOR ( S B( THE S AME
AUTH OR
THE
GNOSTIC
CRUCL
FI( ION
THE LONDONTHEOSOPHICAL
BENARE S
ECHOES FROM THE
GNOSIS.
Under this general title is now being publisheda series of small volumes, drawn from,
or basedupon,
the mystic, theosophic and gnostic writingsof the ancients
,so as to make more easily audible
for the ever-widening circle of those who love suchthings
,some echoes of the mystic experiences and
initiatory lore of their spi ritual ancestry . Thereare many who love the life of the spirit, and wholong for the light of gnostic illumination
,but who
are not suificiently e( uipped to study the writingsof the ancients at first hand, or to follow un
aided the labours of scholars . These little volumesare therefore intended to serve as introductionto the study of the more di fficult literature of thesubj ect ( and it is hoped that at the same timethey may become for some, who have, as yet, noteven heard of the Gnosis
,stepping-stones to
higher things .
G . R . S . M .
THE GNOSTIC CRUCIFI( ION
CONTENTS
PREFACE
THE VIS ION or THE CROS SCOMMENTSPosrcmpr
TE ( TS
Bonnet Acta Apostolom m Apocrypha (Leipz ig ,
1898»
James (M . Apocrypha Anecdota , T . 6» S . , v . i .(Cambridge ,
F . F ragments o; a F aith Forgotten ,z ud . ed .
(London ,
E CH O E S FR O M TH E
GN O S I S
VOL. I. THE GNOSIS OF THE MIND .
VOL. II. THE H( MNS OF HERMES.
VOL . III . THE VISION OF ARIDE US .
VOL . IV . THE H ( MN OF JESUS.
VOL . V . THE M( STERIES OF MITHRA .
VOL . VI. A MITHRIAC RITUAL .
VOL . VII. THE GNOSTIC CRUCIF I ( ION .
THE GNOSTIC CRUCIFI( ION .
PREFACE.
The Gnostic Mystery of the Crucifixionis most clearly set forth in the new-foundfragments of The Acts of john , andfollows immediately on the Sacred Danceand Ritual of Initiation which we en
deavoured to elucidate in Vol . IV . of theselittle books , in treating of The Hymnof jesus .
The reader is,therefore
,referred to
the Preamble of that volume for ashort introduction concerning the natureof the Gnostic Acts in general and of theLeucian Acts of john in particular . I
would , however, add a point of interestbearing on the date which was forgotten ,
though I have frequently remarked uponit when lecturing on the subj ect .
9
The strongest proof that we have inour fragment very early material is foundin the text itself, when it relates thefollowing simple form of the miracle ofthe loaves .
Now if at any time He were invitedby one of the Pharisees and went to thebidding , we used to go with Him . And
before each was set a single loaf by thehost ; and of them He. Himself alsoreceived one . Then He would give thanksand divide His loaf among us and fromthis little each had enough , and our ownloaves were saved whole
,so that those
who bade Him were amazed .
If the marvellous narratives of the
feeding of the five thousand had beenalready in circulation , it is incrediblethat this simple story , which we may soeasily believe , should have been invented .
Of what use , when the minds of thehearers had been strung to the pitch offaith which had already accepted thefeeding of the five thousand as an actualphysical occurrence , would it have been
to invent comparatively so small awonder On the other hand
,it is easy
to believe that from similar simple storiesof the power of the Master , which werefirst of all circulated in the inner circles
,
the popular narratives of the multitudefeeding miracles could be developed .
We , therefore , conclude , with every probability,
that we have here an indicationof material of very early date .
Nevertheless when we come to theMystery of the Crucifixion as set forthin our fragment , we are not entitled toargue that the popular history wasdeveloped from it in a similar fashion .
The problem it raises is of ano ther order,
and to it we will return when the readerhas been put in possession of the narrative
,as translated from Bonnet ’s text .
John is supposed to be the narrator .
(The Arabic figures and the Romanfig ures in square brackets refer respec
tively to Bonnet’s and James ’ texts . I
have added the side figures for convenience of reference in the comments . )
THE VIS ION OF THE CROS S.
[97 And having danced thesethings with us , Beloved , the Lordwent out . And we , as though besideourselves , or wakened out of sleep , ’
fled each our several ways .
2 . I , however, though I saw the beginning of His passion could not stayto the end
,but fled unto the Mount
of Olives weeping over that whichhad befallen .
3 . And when He was hung on the treeof the cross , at the sixth hour of theday darkness came over the wholeearth .
And my Lord stood in the midst ofthe Cave , and filled it with light ,and saidJohn , to the multitude below , inJerusalem , I am being crucified ,
and pierced with spears and reeds ,and vinegar and gall is being givenMe to drink . To thee now I speak,and give ear to what I say .
’TwasI who put it in thy heart to ascendthis Mount , that thou mightest hearwhat disciple should learn fromMaster, and man from God .
(
[98 And having thus spoken , Heshowed me a Cross of Light set up,and round the Cross a vast mul titude ,and therein one form and a similarappearance , and in the Cross anothermultitude not having one form .
6. And I beheld the Lord Himself abovethe Cross . He had , however, noshape , but only as it were a voicenot , however , this voice to whichwe are accustomed , but one of itsown kind and beneficent and trulyof God , saying unto meJohn , one there needs must be tohear those things
,from Me ; for
I long for one who will hear .This Cross of Light is called by Me
I3
for your sakes sometimes Word(Logos ) , sometimes Mind , sometimesJesus , sometimes Christ , sometimesDoor, sometimes Way, sometimesBread, sometimes Seed, sometimesResurrection , sometimes Son , sometimes Father , sometimes Spirit , sometimes Life , sometimes Truth , sometimes Faith , sometimes Grace .
9. Now those things [it is called] as
towards men ; but as to what it isin truth , itself in its own meaningto itself, and declared unto Us,
[it is] the defining (or delim itation )of all things , both the firm necessityof things fixed from things unstable ,and the harmony of Wisdom .
IO. And as it is Wisdom in harmony,’
there are those on the Right andthose on the Left—powers , authorities
,principalities , and daemons ,
energies,threats
,powers of wrath ,
slanderings—and the Lower . Root
from which hath come forth thethings in genesis
I I This,then
,is the Cross which
by the Word (Logos ) hath beenthe means of cross-beaming allthings—at the same time separatingoff the things that proceed fromgenesis and those below it [from thoseabove] , and also compacting themall into one .
1 2 . But this is not the cross of woodwhich thou shalt see when thoudescendest hence nor am I he thatis upon the cross— [I] whom nowthou seest not
,but only hearest a
voice .
1 3 . I was held [to be] what I am not ,not being what I was to many othersnay , they will call Me somethingelse , abj ect and not worthy of Me .
As, then , the Place of Rest is neitherseen nor spoken of
,much more shall
I , the Lord of it , be neither seen
[nor spoken of] .I4 . [ 1 00
( Now the multitude of
one appearance round the Cross isthe Lower Nature And as to those
whom thou seest in the Cross,if
they have not also one form , [it isbecause] the whole Race (or everyLimb ) of Him who descended hathnot yet been gathered together .
But when the Upper Nature,yea
,
the Race that is coming untoMe , in obedience to My Voice , istaken up
,then thou who now heark
enest to Me , shalt become it , and itshall no longer be what it is now
,
but above them as I am now .
For so long as thou callest notthyself Mine
,I am not what I am .
But if thou hearkenest unto Me ,hearing, thou , too , shal t be as I
[am] , and I shall be what I was ,when thou [art] as I am with Myself for from this thou art .
Pay no attention,then , to the
many,and them that are W ithout
the mystery think little of ; forknow that I am wholly with theFather and the Father with Me .
[ 1 0 1 Nothing,then , of the
16
suffered . Now what they are I willriddle for thee for I know that thouwilt understand .
Understand , therefore , in Me , theslaying of a Word (Logos ) , thepiercing of a Word, the blood of aWord
,the wounding of a Word, the
hanging of a Word, the passion of aWord
,the nailing (or putting to
gether) of a Word , the death of aWord .
And thus I speak separating off
the man . First , then , understandthe Word , then shalt thou understand the Lord , and in the thirdplace [only] the man and what hesuffered .
(
[1 02 And having said thesethings to me
,and others which I
know not how to say as He Himselfwould have it , He was taken up, noone of the multitude beholding Him .
And when I descended I laughedat them all , when they told Me whatthey did concerning Him
,firmly
1 8
possessed in myself of this [truth]only, that the Lord contrived allthings sym bolically
,and according FI( ION.
to [His] dispensation for thesion and of man .
COMMENTS .
The translation is frequently a matterof difficulty, for the text has been copiedin a most careless and unintelligentfashion , so that the ingenuity of theeditors has often been taxed to theutmost and has not infrequently com
pletely broken down . It is of coursequite natural that orthodox scribes shouldblunder when transcribing Gnostic documents
,owing to their ignorance of the
subj ect and their strangeness to theideas ; but this particular copyist isat times quite barbarous
,and as the
subj ect is deeply mystical and deals withthe unexpected , the reconstruction ofthe original reading is a matter of greatdifficul ty . With a number of passagesI am still unsatisfied
,though I hope they
are somewhat nearer the spirit of the
original than other reconstructions whichhave been attempted .
It is always a matter of difficulty forthe rigidly obj ective mind to understandthe point of view of the Gnostic scripturewriters . One thing , however, is certainthey lived in times when the rigid orthodoxy of the canon was not yet established .
They were in the closest touch with theliving tradition of scripture-writing , andthey knew the manner of it .The probability is that paragraphs
1—3 are from the pen of the redactor orcompiler of the Acts, and that the narrative
,beginning with the words And
my Lord stood in the midst of the Cave,
is incorporated from prior material—a
mystic vision or apocalvpse circulatedin the inner circles .The compiler knows the general Gospel
story , and seems prepared to admit itshistorical basis at the same time heknows well that the story circulatedamong the people is but the outer veil ofthe mystery , and so he hands on what
B
we may well believe was but one ofmany visions of the mystic crucifixion .
The gentle contempt of those who hadentered into the mystery, for those un
knowing ones who would fain limit thecrucifixion to one brief historic event
,
is brought out strongly, and savours ,though mildly, of the bitterness of thestruggle between the two great forcesof the inner and spiritualiz ing and the
outer and materializing traditions .1 . The disciples flee after beholding
the inner mystery of the Passion andAt-one-ment as set forth in the initiatingdrama of the Mystic Dance which formedthe subj ect of our fourth volume .
2 . ( et even John the Beloved, in spiteof this initiation , cannot yet bear thethought that his Master did actuallysuffer historically as a malefactor onthe physical cross . In his distress heflees unto the Mount of Olives, aboveJerusalem .
But to the Gnostic the Mount of Oliveswas no physical hill , though it was a
22
mount in the physical , and Jerusalem nophysical city , though a city in the physical .The Mount , however it might be distinguished locally, was the Height ofContemplation , and the bringing intoactivity of a certain inner consciousness ;even as Jerusalem here was the Jerusalembelow , the physical consciousness .
3 . The sentence when He was hungon the tree of the Cross contains agreat puzzle . The word for tree inthe original is batos this may mean thebush or tree of the cross . But
the Cross for the Gnostics was a livingsymbol . It was not only the cross of
dead wood , or the dead trunk of a treelopped of its branches—a symbol ofOsiris in death it was also the Tree ofLife , and was equated with the FieryBush out of which the Angel of Godspake to Moses—that is the Tree of FieryLife , in the Paradise of man ’s innernature , whence the Word of God expressesitself to one who is worthy to hear .And this Tree of Life was also
,as the
23
Cross, the Tree of Knowledge of Goodand Evil ; indeed , both are but oneTree , for the fruit of the Tree of Life isthe knowledge of good and evil , the crossof the Opposites .
But seeing that the word batos inGreek had also another meaning
,the
Gnostics , by their method of mysticalword-play, based on the power of sound ,brought this further meaning into usefor the expansion of the idea . Thedifference of accentuation and of gender
(though the reading of the Septuagint ismascul ine and not feminine as is usualwith batos in the sense of bush or tree )presented no difficulty to the wordalchemy of these allegorists .Hippolytus, in his Refutation of all
Heretics, attempts to summarize a system of the Christianized Gnosis whichis assigned to the Docetae and Docetismis precisely the chief characteristic of
our Acts of john,as we have already
pointed out in Vol . IV . In this unsympathetic summary there is a passage
24
That is , presumably, the material Air
,
Air of the Darkness , as compared withthe spiritual Air or Air of the Light .The Docetic writer , Hippolytus says ,explained the use of the term as followsMoses called it Batos, because , in
their passing from Above , Below,all the
Ideas of the Light [that is, the Lightsparks or spirits of men] used the Air astheir means of passage (batos) .In other words Batos, as Air, was the
link between Light and Darkness , whichDarkness was regarded as essentially aflowing or Watery chaos . The Batoswas the Way Down and the Way Up ofsouls .
We are not , however, to suppose thatthe origin of this idea was the text ofExodus . By no means ; the idea camefirst
,indeed was fundamental with the
Gnosis ; the mystic exegesis of the burning bush passage was an exerc1se in
ingenuity . For the Gnosis, the thatwhich at once separated and united theLight and the Darkness was the Cross .
26
The Angel of God speaking to Mosesout of the Fiery Batos was for theChristian Gnostics one of the most striking apocalypses of ancient Jewishscripture ; and it was primarily one of
the chief functions of the Gnosis to throwlight on the under-meaning . This theDocetic exegete does in his own fashion ,using the reading of the Greek Targumor Translation of the Seventy, in thiswise ( Batos P Batos does not meanbush really, but medium of transmission ,
’ It is by means of this thatthe Word of God comes unto us—namely
,
by the mystery of the uniter-separatorin one , which was called by manynames .For instance , in sett ing forth theSophia-mythus , or Wisdom-story
,or mys
tery of cosmogenesis, of the Valentinianschool , Hippolytus (op. cit , vi . treatsof the Cross as the final mystery of all .With original documents before him ,
hewrites
Now it is called Boundary,because
27
it bounds off the Deficiency from theFullness [so as to make it] exterior to it ;it is called Partaker because it partakesof the Deficiency as well and it is calledCross (or Stock) because it hath beenfixed immovably and unchangeably
,
so that nothing of the Deficiency shouldbe able to approach the eternities withinthe Fulln ess .
(
Here it is useless to tie oneself to thephysical symbol of a cross . The S tauros
(Cross ) in its true self is a living idea, areality or root-principle . It is the principle of separation and limit , dividingentity from non-entity, being from nonbeing
,perfection from imperfection , full
ness or sufficiency from deficiency orinsufliciency
—Light from Darkness . Itis the that which causes all Opposites .At the same time it shares in all opposites ,for it is the immediate emanation of theFather Himself
,and therefore unites
while separating . It is, therefore , theprinciple of participation or sharing in ,sharing in both the Fullness and the
28
Deficiency . Finally, it is the Stock orPillar as that which has stood , standsand will stand -the principle of immobility
,as the energy of the Father
in His aspect of the supreme Individualitythat changes not , because he is Lord of
the ever-changing .
That such a master-idea is difficult tograsp goes without saying ; it was con
fessedly the supreme mystery . From itthe mind , the formal mind of man ,
( fallsback unable to grasp it for it is precisely this personal mind that createsduality, and insinuates itself betweencause and effect . The spiri tual Mindalone can embrace the oppositesBut to return to our text . WhenHe was hung on the batos of the Cross—when He had reached the state of
balance , was in the mystic centre- thenat the sixth hour, that is mid-day, whenthere was greatest light , there was al sogreatest darkness .And then when the Lord , the Higher
Self of the. man , was balanced and
29
j ustified, the man, the disciple , becameconscious, in the cave of his heart—thatis to say, in his inmost substantial nature—of the Presence of Light .4 . Thereon follow the illumination andthe explanation of the familiar dramaof appearance taught to those withoutthe mystery .
(
The mul titude below in Jerusalemis the lower nature of the man
,his unJ
illumined mind .
( Jerusalem Below ( isset over against Jerusalem Above ,
(
the City of God . Jerusalem Below isthat nature in him that is still unorderedand unpurified ; while Jerusalem Aboveis that ordered and purified portion ofhis substance that can respond to theimmediate shining of the Light
,which
further orders it according to the Orderingof Heaven .
And yet the drama below is real enough ;there are ever crucifixion and piercingand the drinking of vinegar and gall ,before the triumphant Christ is born .
It is by such means that ( His Body is
conformed ; it is the mystery of thetransformation of what we call evil intogood . The Body of the Christ is perfected by the absorption of the impersonalevil of the world , which He transmutesinto blessing .
’Twas I who put it in thy heart toascend this Mount .
( I am thy Self, thytrue God ’twas I energizing in thee whoenabled thee to rise to the height ofcontemplation , where thou canst hearwhat disciple should learn from Masterand man from God .
( The man has nowreached the stage of Hearer in the SpiritualMysteries .5 . There then follows the vision of the
great Cross of Light , fixed firm,and
stretching from earth to heaven . Roundits foot on earth is a vast multitude of
all the nations of the world ; theyresemble one another in that they areconfigured according to the Darkness
,
their Spark burns low.
( On the Cross,
or in it , for doubtless the seer saw withinas well as without , was another multitude
of various grades of light , being formedinto some marvellous Image like untothe Divine , but not yet completed—as itmight be the Rose on the Cross
,in the
famous symbol of the Rosicrucians .
6. And above the Cross,lost in the
dazzling brilliancy of the Fullness,John
beheld the Lord ; he beheld but couldnot see, because of the Great Light
,as
we are told in another great vision of the(Master in the Pistz
’
s S ophia . He canhear only a Voice . But this Voice is novoice of man , but one truly of God—a Bath-kol or Heavenly Voice ,
( asthe Rabbis called it—a Voice Of sweetestreasonableness , using no words , but of ahigher order of utterance , that can makethe man speak to himself in his own
language , using his own terms .7 . The sentence I long for one who
will hear,( is instinct with the yearning
of the Divine Love , the eagerness tobestow, the longing to speak if only therebe one to hear .
8 . There then follows a list of synonyms
The Door is the Door of the Two inOne, the state of equilibrium of theOpposites which opens out into the allembracing consciousness and understanding of all oppositions .
The Cross is the Way on which thereis no travelling , for it perpetually entersinto itself ; it is the true Meth-od, not somuch in the sense of the Way-be tweenor the Medium or Mediator, as in the
’
sense of the Means of Gnosis .It is also called Seed because it is the
mystery of the power of growth anddevelopment ; it is self-initiative .
And if the Cross be Son and Father inseparation and union , or as simultaneouslyCause and Resul t , it is likewise Spiritor Atman
,and therefore Life .
It is also Truth or the PerpetualParadox
,distinguishing and uniting in
itself all pros and cons,and all analysis
and synthesis in simultaneous Operation .
Therefore also is it called Faith , because it is the that which is stable andunchanging amid perpetual change .
Faith in its true mystic meaning seemsto denote the power of withdrawing thepersonal consciousness from between thepairs of opposites , where these appearexternal and other than oneself, andembracing the opposites within thegreater consciousness , when they arewithin oneself and appear as naturalprocesses in the great economy .
Faith is of the contemplative mind ;it embraces , it includes . It is thereforeof the Great Mother , as the life and substance of the Cross ; so also is it ofGrace , elsewhere called Wisdom .
Finally, the Cross regarded from thispoint of view is called Bread , the substance of Life .
In a remarkable paper in The Theo
sophical Review, Nov . , 1 907 , E . R . Innesspeaks of a vision of a great dr ama ofthose Powers beyond the mind-spheres
,
which in the Indian scriptures are calledFood and Eater—that is to say
,the
mystical union between the Not-selfand the Self .
In the Chhdndogyopanishad, for ih
stance , we read of one who had passedinto the heaven-world possessing a knowledge oi the identity of the Self andNot-self . The transformations of hisvehicles that thus occur in the innerstates or worlds become as it were processes of natural digestion in his GreatBody, for we readHaving what food he wills , what form
he wills , this song he singing sitsO wonder , wonder , wonderFood I ; food I ; food IFood-eater I ; food-eater I ; food
eater I
(See my World-Mystery, 2nd cd ., p .
Our author in similar fashion writesof a soul watching the processes of itsown substance in the heaven-world .
She watched the interaction of thosetwo great currents of. the One Great LifeForce- the Life-Force as Supporter, theLife-Force as Sustainer . She watchedthe great transfiguration of the crossingover of the surface-forms as life met life
36
in perfect mystic union . As the currents crossed the forms changed, butwithout loss of life or consciousness .The Powers crossed and recrossed ; andwith each appearance of that sacredsymbol there was further expansion andintensification of the Life-Force . At eachpiercing or insinuation of the one intothe other, that which had been two
became one , yet there still remained thetwo . She watched the great mysteryof that Cross on which the HeavenlyMan dies in order to live again .
In heaven you do not demolish formsin order to sustain life , you daily insinuateyourself into all the forms you meet
,and
thus by supplying them with food, thefood of your own greater life , you becomeeach separate obj ect
,and gain in power
and expansiveness . Thus in heaven bysacrifice do you grow and live , andslowly become the world . Thus in heavendo you give life to others in order to liveyourself ; thus do the many rebecomethe One . The Great Mystery of thec
Bread of Life which must be partakenof by all before the Day of Triumph wasacted out before her eyes . (
And it might be added that as heavenis a state and not a place
,the mystery
can be consummated on earth , and thatthis is the true sacrifice of the Christ andthe Way to become a Christ .9. Ideas of this or a similar order may
be held not rashly to underlie the wordsof our text . The Cross of Life may wellbe called the Harmony—or articulation
,
or j oining-together—of Wisdom , for itis by means of Wisdom that all thecontraries are j oined together , and thisArticulation constitutes the ( firm neces
sity of Fate , which was also called inthe Gnostic schools the Harmony . And
if it is a Cross of Life , it is also a Cross ofLight , for Life and Light are the eternallyunited twin-natures
,female and male , of
the Logos,the Good . Life is Passion
and Light is Understanding . The Logosdivides Himself to experience and knowHimself .
1 0 . All opposites unite in Wisdom as aground ; she is the pure substance inwhich all the powers play . It is onlywhen the Cross is regarded as a separator
,
that it may be said to have a right anda left with good forces on the one handand evil on the other . The forces arein reality in themselves the same forces ;it is the personality of the man (represented by the upright of the Cross) , whichrefers all things to its incomplete self
,
that regards them as good and evil .This personality is rooted in the LowerRoot or lower nature, and stretchesupward towards the Above .
But in reality there are roots aboveand branches below,
or roots below andbranches above , of the trunk of this Treeof Life and Light . Though the nomenclature is somewhat different , I cannotrefrain from quoting a striking passagefrom a Gnostic scripture to give thereader some idea of the lofty region ofthought to which the Gnosis accustomedits disciples .
It is taken from The Great Announce
ment, a document ascribed by Hippolytusto the very beginning of the ChristianizedGnosis . Strong efforts have been madeto question this ascription , and to provethe document to be of a later date
,but
I think I have established a high probability that it may be even a preChristian writing (see H i .The text is to be found in Hippolytus ’
Refutation of all Heresies (vi . ,To you , therefore , I say what I say
and write what I write . And the writingis thisOf the universal ZEons (E ternities )
there are two Branchings , without beginning or end , from one Root , which isthe Power unseeable
,incomprehensible
Silence .
Of these Branchings one is manifested from Above— the Great Power ,Mind of the universals
,ordering all
things , male and the other from BelowGreat Thought , femal e , generating allthings .
Father till Thought named HimFather . ’
As, therefore , Himself pro-ducingHimself by means of Himself
,He mani
tested to Himself His own Thought ;so also His Thought on manifesting didnot make [Him] , but beholding Him ,
she conceal ed the Father, that is thePower
,in Herself, and is [thus] male
female,Power and Thought .
Thence is it that they partner oneanother (for Power in no way differs fromThought ) and yet are one . From thethings Above is discovered Power , andfrom those Below Thought .
( So is it , too , with,
that which ismanifested from them ; namely, thatthough it (sci. the Middle Distance , Incomprehensible Air) is one , it is foundto be two , male-female , having thefemale in itself .Thus is Mind in Thought—inseparable
from one another , which though one areyet found to be two .
(
I believe that our Vision of the Cross
sets forth in living symbol precisely whatis explained above in more abstractterms . It would , however , be a mistaketo make abstractions of these sublimeideas they must be realized as fullnesses , as transcendent real ities . TheAir, the Batos , the Middle Distance , isthe manifestation , or thinking-manifest ,of the Divine to Itself, the true meaningof mil-yd . (See the Trismegistic Sermon ,Though Unmanifest God is most Manifest ,
( and the commentary ,H ii . , 991 1 . I have translated the term (icom f
duevog by( cross-beaming ,
( for slam/mu
is a cross-beam and I would refer thereader to the famous myth of Platoknown as The Vision of Er, where thesame idea is set forth when we readThere they saw the extremities of
the Boundaries of the Heaven , extendedin the midst of the Light for this Lightwas the final Boundary of Heavensomewhat like the undergirdlngs of shipsand thus confined its whole revolution .
(See H . , i. ,
This cross-beaming or operation of
the Cross is the mode of the energizingof the Logos . It is the simultaneousseparating and j oining of the generableand the ingenerable , the two modes ofthe Self-generable it is the link betweenpersonal and impersonal , bound and free ,finite and infinite . It is the instrumentof creation , male-female in one .
1 2 . There is little surprise , therefore ,in learning that this mystery is not thecross of wood which the disciple willsee and has seen in the pictures framedby his lower mind , when reading thehistoricized narrative of the mysterydrama or hearing the great story . Noris it to be imagined that the Lord couldbe hung upon such a cross of wood
,
seeing that He is crucified in all men—He whom even the disciple in con
templation cannot see as He is , but canonly hear the Wisdom of His Voice .
1 3 .
( I was held to be what I am not .
As to what the many say concerning themystery
,they speak as the many vain
44
and contradictory opinions . Nay, eventhose who believed in Him have not
understood ; they have been contentwith a poor and unworthy conceptionof the mystery .
The teaching seems to be that as theChrist-story was intended to be thesetting-forth of an exemplar of whatperfected man might be—namely , thatthe path was fully opened for him all theway up to God—it was spiritual suicideto rest content with a limited and pre
judiced V iew . Every mould of thoughtwas to be broken , every imperfect conception was to be transcended , if therewas to be realization .
For those who cling to the outwardforms and symbols the Place of Restis neither seen nor spoken of . ThisPlace of Rest , this Home of Peace , isin reality the very Cross itself
,the Firm
Foundation , the that on which the wholecreation rests . And if the Place of Rest
,
where all things cross , and unite, theMystic Centre of the whole system ,
which
is everywhere , is not seen or spoken of,
much more shall the Lord of it beneither seen nor spoken of —He who hasthe power of the Centre , who can adjustHis ( centre of gravity ( at every momentof time , and therewith the attitude ofthis Great Body or, if it be preferred, ofhis Mind, and thus be in perpetual balance ,as the Justified and the Just One .
1 4 . The interpretation of the Visionthat follows in the text may in its turnbe interpreted from several standpoints .
It may be regarded cosmicly accordingto the restauratz
’
o omnium , when thewhole creation becomes the object of theGreat Mercy, as Basilides calls it ; orit may be taken soteriologically as referring to the salvation or the making safeor sure of our humanity, or it may bereferred to the perfection of the individualman .
The multitude of one appearance arethe Earth-bound, the Hylics as theGnostics called them that is , those whoare immersed in things of matter , the
46
delights of the world . They are theDead , because they are under the swayof birth-and-death , the spheres of Fate .
They have not yet risen from theDead , and consciously ascended theCross of Light and Life .
Thus in the preface to The Book of theGnoses of the Invisible God, that is to say,The Book of the Gnosis of Jesus theLiving One -which begins with thebeautiful words I have loved you andlonged to give you Life —we read thefollowing Saying of the LordJesus saith Blessed is the man who
crucifieth the world,and doth not let
the world crucify him .
(
And later on the mystery is set forthin another Saying
( Jesus saith Blessed is the man whoknoweth this Word , and hath broughtdown the Heaven , and borne the Earthand raised it heavenwards ; and hebecometh the Midst , for it (the Midst ) isa nothing .
’
(F . , 5 1 8,Those who have become spiritual
,
who have risen from the Dead , are
born into the Race of the Logos,they
become kin with Him .
Of this Race much has been writtenby the mystics of the many differentschools of these early days .
Thus the Jewish Gnostic commentatorof the Naassene Document writes (One is the Nature Below which is
subj ect to Death and one is the Racewithout a king [that is , those who arekings of themselves] which is born Above(H . , i. ,And the Christian Gnostic commentator
refers to the ineffable Race of perfectmen (H . , i. , who are in the Logos .
Such illuminati were called by onetradition of the Christianized Gnosis theRace of Elxai, the Hidden Power or HolySpirit
,the Spouse of Iexai, the Hidden
Lord or Logos . (H .,ii . , 242 ; see my
Did jesus live 1 00 B .C. P chap . xviii . )Philo of Alexandria tells us thatWisdom , who , after the fashion of amother
,brings forth the self-taught Race ,
48
And so in one of the Hymns of ThriceGreatest Hermes , after the triple trisagion ,
the Hermes or Illuminated prays (And fill me with Thy Power and with
this Grace of Thine,that I may give the
Light to those in ignorance of the Racemy Brethren and Thy Sons . (H ii .
,
Philo calls it self-taught,j ust as the
Buddhists speak of the Arhats as asekhaand the Trismegistic teacher writesThis Race
,my sons
,is never taught
but when He willeth it,its memory is
restored by God .
(
(H . ,
The E lect Race of Valentinus is theSonship ( of Basilides that incam ates onearth for the abolition of Death . (FIn the Pistis S ophia document , the
Sophia,or the soul turning towards the
Light,
first utters seven repentances,
or turnings-of—the-mind,or rather
of the whole nature . At the fourth ofthese
,the turning-point of some sub
cycle of the great Return, she prays thatthe Image of the Light may not be turned
50
or averted from her, for the time is comewhen those who turn in the lowestregions should be regarded themystery which is made the type of theRace .
(
(F . ,
Again in the introduction to The Bookof the Great Logos according to theMystery,
the disciples beg the Master to explainthe Mystery of the Word . Jesus answersthat the Life of His Father consists intheir purifying their souls from all earthlystain, and making them to become theRace of the Mind
,so that they may be
filled with understanding and by Histeaching perfect themselves . (F . ,
Finally in the marvellous Untitled Apocalypse of the Bruce Codex we readThese words said the Lord of the
Universe to them , and disappeared fromthem , and hid Himself from them .
(
And the Births-of-matter rej oicedthat they had been remembered
,and
were glad that they had come out of thenarrow and difficult place , and prayedto the Hidden Mystery
5 1
Give us authority that we maycreate for ourselves aeons and worldsaccording to Thy Word, upon whichThou didst agree with Thy servantfor Thou alone art the changeless One
,
Thou alone the boundless , the uncontainable , self-taught , self-born Self-fatherThou alone art the unshakeable andunknowable Thou alone art Silence andLove , and Source of all Thou alone artvirgin of matter, spotless ; whose Raceno man can tell , whose manifestation noman can comprehend .
’
(FTo understand
,man must pass beyond
the stage of man,and self-realize himself
as kin to Him —the Logos .
It is,however
,doubtful whether
Race is the correct reading in ourtext but as it is the clear reading in 1 5the above notes are germane to our study .
The MS . apparently reads every Limb .
This again is one of the most generalGnost ic mystical terms , and is taken overfrom the Osiric Mysteries . The Limbsof the God are scattered abroad , and
collected together again in the resurrec
tion . The inner meaning of this graphicsymbolism may be gleaned from thefollowing striking passages .In a MS . of the Gnostic Marcus there
is a description of the method of symboliz ing the Great Body of the HeavenlyMan , whereby the twenty-four letters ofthe Greek alphabet were assigned inpairs to the twelve Limbs . This Bodywas the symbol of the ideal economy,dispensation or ordering of the universe ,its planes , regions , hierarchies , andpowers . (F . ,
This also is the true Body of man , theSource of all his bodies . And so we readthe following mystery-saying in The
Gospel of Eve (I stood on a lofty mountain and saw
a Great Man , and another, a dwarf, andheard as it were a Voice of thunder, anddrew nigh for to hear . And He spakeunto me and said (
( I am thou, andthou art I ; and wheresoever thou art ,I am there , and in all am I sown
D
(or scattered ) . And whencesoever thouwillest, thou gatherest Me ; and gatheringMe , thou gatherest Thyself .
(
(FThis is a vision of the Great Personand little person , of the Higher Self andlower self . It may also be interpretedin terms of the Logos and humanity ;but it comes nearer home to think of itas the mystery of the individual manthe scattering of the Limbs of the ( h eatPerson in the personalities that have beenhis in many births .This idea is brought out more clearly
in a passage from The Gospel of Philip .
It is an apology or defence , as it wascalled, a formula to be used by the soulin its ascent above , as it passed throughthe space of the Midst ; and for themystic it is a declaration of the state ofa man who is in his last compulsoryearth-life .
I have recognised myself, andgathered myself together from all sides .I have sown no children for the Ruler,but have torn up his roots, and have
54
gathered together my Limbs that werescattered abroad . I know Thee whoThou art for I am of those from Above .
(
(Ibid. )He has sown no children to the Ruler
,
the Lord of Death he has not contractedany fresh debt , or created a new form ofpersonality, into which he must againincarnate . But he has torn up the rootsof Death, by shattering the form ofegoity, and bursting the bonds of Fate .
He has gathered together his Limbs ,completed the articulation of his PerfectBody .
The Limbs were according to certainorderings, one of which was the configuration of the five-fold Star, the five
limbed Man . Thus in TheActs of Thomaswe readCome Thou who art more ancient
far than the five holy Limbs—Mind,
Thought , Reflection , Thinking,Rea
soning ( Commune with them of laterbirth (F . ,
These five Limbs are also the five
55
Words of the mystery of the Vesture ofLight in the Pistis S ophia (p . withwhich the Christ is clothed in power onthe Day of Triumph , the Great DayCome unto us ,
( when His Limbs aregathered together and the Song of thePowers beginsCome unto us , for we are Thy Fellow
Limbs . We are al l one with thee . Weare one and the same , and Thou art (oneand the same .
(
In the whole document much is saidof the sweet mysteries that are in theLimbs of the Ineffable ,
( but it would betoo long to repeat it here . It will beperhaps of greater service to append avery striking passage
,from The Books of
the S aviour , which has been copied intothe MS . of the Fislis S ophia (pp . 253 ,254 )
And they who are worthy of theMysteries that dwell in the Ineffable ,which are those that have not emanatedthese are prior to the First Mystery .
To use a similitude and correspondence
Now, therefore , Blessed is he who hathfound the Words of the Mysteries of theSpace towards the exterior . He is aGod who hath found the Words of theMysteries of the second Space, in themidst . He is a Saviour and free of everyspace who hath found the Words of theMysteries of the third Space towards theinterior .
But He , on the other hand, who hathfound the Words of the Mysteries whichI have set forth for you according to asimilitude—namely
,the Limbs of the
Ineffable—Am( n I say unto you , thatman who hath found the Words of thoseMysteries in the Truth of God, he is theFirst in Truth
,and like unto Him ; for
it is through these Words and Mysteriesthat [all things are made] and the universeitself stands through that First One .
Therefore is he who hath found theWords of these Mysteries , like unto theFirst . For it is the gnosis of the Gnosisof the Ineffable in which I have spokenwith you this day
It is thus seen that the means used inreveal ing the manner of the highestMysteries of the Ineffable was by thesim ilitude of the Limbs or Members ofthe Body . It , therefore , follows , as wehave already seen , that this symbolismwas one of the most , if not the most ,fundamental in this Gnosis . The threestages of perfectioning are those of theSaint
, God and Saviour . But these are stillstages in evolution or process , no matterhow sublime they be . The fourth orconsummation is other ; it transcendsprocess , it is ever itself with itself, embracing all processes and all powerssimultaneously . But we must not betempted to comment on this instructivepassage , for there is quite enough materialin it to develop into a small treatise initself . For an admirable intuition of theMystery of the Limbs of the Ineffable
,
and the meaning of the words the Headis according to the dignity of the Head
,
etc the reader is referred to the beautiful passage in The Untitled Apocalypse
59
of the Bruce Codex , quoted in the comments on TheHymn of j esus (pp . 54,The Gnostic seers lost themselves in
the contemplation of the simultaneoussimplicity and multiplicity of these Mysteries . Thus again in the same UntitledApocalypse we readHe it is whose Limbs (Members )
make a myriad of myriads of Powers,
each one of which comes from Him.
(
(F . ,
This graphic symbolism of the Limbsis derived from the tradition of theOsirio Mysteries . Many a passage couldbe quoted in illustration from The Book
of the Coming-forth by Day, that strangeand marvellous collection of EgyptianRituals commonly known as the Bookof the Dead but perhaps the undermeaning of the mystery is nowhere moreclearly shown than in the followingmagnificent passage from The Litanyof the S un , inscribed on the Tombs of theKings of ancient Thebes (The Kingly Osiris is an intelligent
60
Essence . His Limbs conduct Him ; HisFleshes Open the way for Him . Thosewho are born from Him create Him .
They rest when they have caused theKingly Osiris to be born .
It is He who causes them to be born .
It is He who engenders them . It is Hewho causes them to exist . His Birth isthe Birth of Rs in Amenti . He causesthe Kingly Osiris to be born He causesthe Birth of Himself . (
(See my World-Mystery, zud ed . , p .
It requires no elaboration to show thatthis is precisely the same mystery as thesecret set forth in our Vi
(
sion of the Cross .
The Kingly Osiris is Atman , the Self ,the True Man , the Monad . This is theKingly Osiris in his male-female nature
,
self-creative . Atman is both the producerand product of evolution . In a re
stricted sense the above may be interpreted from the standpoint of the individuality and its series of personal itiesin incarnation .
1 5 . And now to return to the text .The Race is the Upper Nature , now
scattered abroad in the hearts of men ;it is the true Spirit of man the hiddenDivinity within him . It is this whichre-turns , and so causes the man to turnor repent . It is obedient , that is audient ,to the Voice of the Self, the compellingUtterance of the Logos . He who notonly hears , but hearkens to or obeysthe sweet counsels of this Great Persuasion , becomes this Upper Nature consciously ; and therefore it no longeris what it was , for it is conscious in theman
,and so the man is above men of
the lower nature .
16. These mysterious sentences all setforth the state of true Self-consciousness .So long as man is not conscious that heis Divine
,so long is the Divine in him
not what it really is ; the lower( limits the higher . ( Union is at
tained by hearkening , by( attention .
Then it is that the man becomes hisHigher Self , and that Higher Self be
62
comes in its turn the S elf, having takenhis self in separation into his Self as
union .
1 7 . This attention is the strainingor striving towards the One and therefore no attention must be paid to themany . The whole strife of warringopinions and doubts must be reconciled ,or at-oned, within the Mystery . Thethought must be allowed to dwell butlittle on those without . ( A height mustbe reached from which the whole humandrama can be seen as a spectacle belowand within this height is not with regardto space and place , but with respect toconsciousness and realization that all istaking place within the man ’s GreatBody as the operations of the Divineeconomy . They who are without themystery are not arbitrarily excluded
,
but are those who prefer to go forthwithout instead of returning within .
1 8 . They who have re-turned , or turnedback on themselves , and entered intothemselves for the realiz ation of true
63
Self-consciousness , alone can understandthe meaning of the Great Passion
,as
has been so admirably set forth in theMystery-Ritual of the Dance .
Those who have consciousness of thesespiritual verities, nay, even those whohave but dimly felt their greatness , willeasily understand that the story of thecrucifixion as believed in by the masseswas for the Gnostics but the shadow Of
an eternal happening that most ih
timately concerned every man in hisinmost nature .
1 9. The outer story was centred rounda dramatic crisis of death on a stationarycross —a dead symbol
,and a sym bol of
death . But the inner rite was one of
movement and dancing,( a living sym
bol and a symbol of life . This was
shown to the disciple—indeed , as we haveseen , he was made in the Dance to partake in it—that he might know the mysteryof suffering in a moment of Great Experience . He saw it and became it it wasshown him in action . He had seen
64
to greater and greater impulses or vibrations . (
The consummation is that he becomescapable of experiencing j oy in sorrow andsorrow in j oy ; and thus reaches to thegnosis that these are inseparables , andthat the solution of the mystery is thepower of ever experiencing both simultaneously.
2 1 . It may thus to some extent becomeclear that what is asserted of the Christin the general Gospel-story is typicallytrue and yet is not true . Those wholook at one side only of the living picturesee in a glass darkly .
If we could only realiz e that all theugliness and misery and confusion of lifeis but the underside , as it were , of apattern woven on the Great Loom orembroidered by Divine Fingers We canin our imperfect consciousness see onlythe underside
,the medley of crossing of
threads,the knots and finishings-off ; we
cannot see the pattern . Neverthelessit exists simultaneously with the under
66
side . The Christ sees both sides simultaneously, and understands .22 . But the term that our Gnostic
writer chooses with which to depict thisgrade of being is not Christ , but Word orReason (Logos) . This Reason is not theratiocinative faculty in man which conditions him as a duality ; it is rathermore as a Divine Monad , as Pure Reason ,or that which can hold all opposites in one .
It is called Word because it is the immediate intelligible Utterance of God .
23 . This is the first mystery thatman must learn to understand ; thenwill he be able to understand God asunity ; and only finally will he understand the greatest mystery oi all—man ,the personal man , the thing we each ofus now are , God in multiplicity, and whythere is suffering .
24 . With this the writer breaks off,knowing fully how difficult it is to expressin human speech the living ideas that havecome to birth in him
,and knowing that
there are still more marvellous truths67
of which he has caught some glimpse orheard some echo , but which he feels hecan in no way set forth in proper decency .
And so he tells us the Lord istaken up, unseen by the multitudes .
That is to say, presumably, no one in thestate of the multiplicity of the lowernature can behold the vision of unity .
25 . When he descends from the heightof contemplation , however, he remembersenough to enable him to laugh at theechoes of his former doubts and fanciesand misconceptions, and to make himrealiz e the marvellous power of thenatural living symbolic language thatunderlies the words of the mysterynarrative that sets forth the story ofthe Christ .
POSTCRIPT
The vision itself is not so marvellousas the instruction ; nevertheless it allowsus to see that the Cross in its supernalnature is the Heavenly Man with armsoutstretched in blessing , showering benefits on all—the perpetual Self-sacrifice(F . ,
And in this connection weshould remind ourselves of the followingstriking sentence from The Untitled
Apocalypse of the Bruce Codex, anapocalypse which contains perhaps themost sublime visions that have survivedto us from the GnosisThe Outspreading of His Hands is
the manifestation of the Cross .
And then follows the key of the mysteryThe Source of the Cross is the Man
[Logos] whom no man can comprehend .
(
(See Hymn of jesus, p .
E 69
No man can comprehend Man ; thelittle cannot contain the Great , exceptpotentially .
It was some echo of this sublimeteaching that found its way into thenaive though allegorical narrative ofThe Acts of Philip . When Philip wascrucified he cursed his enemies .
And behold suddenly the abyss wasopened, and the whole of the place in
which the proconsul was sitting wasswallowed up, and the whole of thetemple, and the viper which they worshipped
,and great crowds, and the priests
of the viper, about seven thousand men ,besides women and children , except wherethe apostles were ; they remained un
shaken .
(
This is a cataclysm in which the lowernature of the man is engulfed . Theapostles are his higher powers ; the restthe Opposing forces . The latter plungeinto Hades and experience the punishments of those who crucify the Christ
70
and his apostles . They are thus converted and sing their repentance . Whereupon a Voice was heard saying ( Ishall be merciful to you in the Crossof Light . (
Philip is reproved by the Saviour forhis unmerciful spirit .
But I , 0 Philip , will not endure thee ,because thou hast swallowed up the menin the abyss but behold My Spirit is inthem
,and I will bring
(
them up from thedead ; and thus they, seeing thee , shallbelieve in the Glory of Him that sent thee .
And the Saviour having turned,stretched up His hand, and marked aCross in the Air coming down from Aboveeven unto the Abyss , and it was full ofLight
,and had its form after the like
ness of a ladder . And all the multitudethat had gone down from the City intothe Abyss came up on the Ladder of theCross of Light ; but there remainedbelow the proconsul and the viper whichthese worshipped . And when the mul titude had come up , having looked upon
71
Philip hanging head downwards , theylamented with great lamentation at thelawless action which they had done .
The doers of the ( lawless deed arethe same as the ( lawless Jews in theActs of john thosewho are under thelaw of the lawless Serpent that is tosay, those who are under the sway of
Generation , as contrasted with those underthe law of Re-generation (see Hymn ofjesus, pp . 28,Philip stands for the man learning the
last lesson of divine mercy . The Proconsuland the Viper are the antitypes of theSaviour and the Serpent of Wisdom .
The crucifixion of Philip is,however, not
the same as the crucifixion of the Christhe is hanged reversed , his head to theearth and not towards heaven . It isa lower grade of the mysteries .Concerning the mystery of the cruci
fixion of the Christ we learn somewhat ofits inner nature from the doctrines ofthe Docetae .
His baptism was on this wise ( He
72
explains a famous passage in the PaulineLetter to the Ephesians as follows
For this cause I bow my knees tothe God and Father and Lord of our
Lord Jesus Christ , that God may vouchsafe to you that Christ may dwell inyour inner man - that is to say
,the
psychic and not the bodily man thatye may be strong to know what is theDepth ’ that is , the Father of theuniversals and what is the Breadth—that is the Cross , the Boundary of thePleroma [or Fullness] and what is theGreatness —that is , the Pleroma of theaeons [the eternities or universal s , theLimbs of the Body of the
(F 532 )To be closely compared with the
Vision in The Acts of john is the Addressof Andrew to the Cross in The Acts ofAndrew . They both plainly belong tothe same tradition , and might indeedhave been written by the same hand .
Rej oicing I come to thee , ThouCross, the Life-giver , Cross whom I now
know to be mine . I know thy mysteryfor thou hast been planted in the worldto make-fast things unstable .
Thy head stretcheth up into heaven ,
that thou mayest symbol-forth theHeavenly Logos
,the Head of all things .
Thy middle parts are stretched forth ,as it were hands to right and left , to putto flight the envious and hostile powerof the Evil One , that thou mayest gathertogether into one them [sci . , the Limbs]that are scattered abroad .
( Thy foot is set in the earth , sunkin the deep abyss] , that thou mayestdraw up those that lie beneath theearth and are held fast in the regionsbeneath it , and mayest j oin them tothose in heaven .
0 Cross , engine , most skilfully devised , of Salvation , given unto men bythe Highest 0 Cross , invincible trophyof the Conquest of Christ o ’er His foes ;0 Cross , thou life-giving tree , rootsplanted on earth , fruit treasured inheaven ; 0 Cross most venerable , sweet
thing and sweet name ; 0 Cross mostworshipful , who bearest as grapes theMaster, the true vine , who dost bear ,too , the Thief as thy fruit , fruitage of
faith through confession ; thou whobringest the worthy to God through theGnosis and summonest sinners homethrough repentanceA magnificent address indeed . The
identification of the Master and the manwith the Cross and in the Cross is hardlydisguised . The Cross is the Tree of Lifeand the tree of death simultaneously .
Give up thy life that thou mayestlive ,
( says that inspired mystic treatise ,The Voice of the S ilence, and this is noother than the secret of the Mysteryof the Cross . The Master is hangedbetween two thieves , the one repentantand the other obdurate , the soul turnedtowards the Light and towards theDarkness
,all united in the one Mystery
of the Cross—the Mystery of Man .
We have seen above that Philip is
hanged head downwards , but he is(
not
76
the most famous instance of this reversal .
The best known is associated with thename of Peter in the mystic romances .Thus in a fragment of the Linus
collection called The Martyrdom of Peter ,we learn the doctrine as set forth in aspeech put into the mouth of Peterthus crucifiedFitly wast Thou alone stretched on
the Cross with head on high , 0 Lord ,
who hast redeemed all of the world fromsm .
( I have desired to imitate Thee inThy Passron too ; yet would I not takeon myself to be hanged upright .
For( we , pure men and sinners , are
born from Adam , but Thou art God ofGod , Light of true Light , before all aeonsand after them ; thought worthy tobecome for men Man without strain ofman , Thou has stood forth man
’s gloriousSaviour—Thou ever upright , ever raisedon high , eternally AboveWe, men according to the flesh, are
sons of the First Man (Adam ) , who sank
his being in the earth , whose fal l inhuman generation is shown forth .
For we are brought to birth in sucha way, that we do seem to be poured intoearth , so that the right is left , the leftdoth right become ; in that our stateis changed in those who are the authorsof this life .
For this world down below doththink the right what is the left—thisworld in which Thou , Lord , hast foundus like the Ninevites , and by Thy holypreaching hast thou rescued these aboutto die .
(
The authors of this life of reversal ,are the parents of the lower naturenot our natural parents whom we areto love
,but the powers of illusion we are
to abandon . The Jonah-myth was usedas a type of the Initiate , who after beingthree days in the Belly of the Fish ,
the Great Life or Animal that dwellsin the Ocean or Great Water, is vomitedforth re-generate , and so a fit vehiclefor preaching with compelling words or
78
acts for the benefit of those in Ninevehor the Jerusalem Below, or this world .
But for those who had ears to hearthere was a st ill further instruction concerning the secret of the Mystic Cross .
But ye , my brothers , who have theright to hear, lend me the ears of yourheart
,and understand what now must
be revealed to you—the hidden mysteryof every nature and secret source ofevery thing composed .
For the First Man , whose race Irepresent by my position , with head re
versed , doth symbolize the birth intodestruction ; for that his birth wasdeath and lacked the Life-stream .
But of His own compassion thePower Above came down into the world
,
by means of corporal substance , to himwho by a j ust decree had been cast downinto the earth, and hanged upon theCross, and by the means of this most holycalling [the Cross] He did restore us ,and did make for us these present things(which had till then remained unchanged
by men ’s unrighteous error) into theLeft , and those that men had takenfor the Left into eternal things .
In exaltation of the Right He hathchanged all the signs into their propernature , considering as good those thoughtnot good, and those men thought malefic
most benign .
Whence in a mystery the Lord hathsaid ( If ye make not the Right liketo the Left , the Left like to the Right ,Above as the Below, Before as the Behind,ye shall not know God ’s Kingdom .
’
(This saying is from The Gospel according to the Egyptians . )This saying have I made manifest
in myself, my brothers this is the wayin which your eyes of flesh behold mehanging . It figures forth the Way ofthe First Man .
But ye , beloved , hearing these words,and, by conversion of your nature andchanging of your life, perfecting them,
even as ye have turned you from thatWay of Error where ye trod , unto the
80
strained towards the end . The reversedhanging typified the man of sex , or theman still under the sway of generation ,separated into male and female . Suchhang head-downwards in the GreatWomb of Nature , and all is reversed forthem . Hanged upright , the re-generateman contains in himself in active operation the twin powers in union , now usedfor spiritual creation , and self-perfection .
And if it be thought that there isabandonment of any thing in this consummation , then let it be known thatit is only a giving up of the part for thewhole
,the passing from the state of
separation to the realization of inex
pressible bliss for as the inspired writerof The Untitled Apocalypse phrases it inan ecstasy of enthusiasmThis is the eternal Father ; this the
ineffable , unthinkable , incomprehensible ,untranscendible Father . He it is inwhom the All became j oyous it rej oicedand was j oyful , and brought forth inits j oy myriads of myriads of ZEons ;
they were called the Births of Joy,’
because the All had joyed with theFather .These are the worlds from which
the Cross upsprang ; out of these incorporeal Members did the Man arise .
(
(F 550 )
