THE HOUR OF THE TIME
Tape No. 455:  "The Astral Flame"
Thursday, October 6, 1994

Since the earliest times, man has venerated the element of fire above
all others.  Even the most untutored savage seems to recognize in the
flame something closely resembling the volatile fire that he believes
dwells within his soul.  The mysterious, vibrant, radiant energy of fire
was beyond his ability to analyze; yet he felt its power.

It could be debated that as man sat huddled in the cold and the darkness
of the night, watching as lightening struck a tree and the tree burst
into flames, that man, in his primitive form, believed that he saw the
presence of God.

Indeed, it may have been this fire, in lightening form, that began the
tale of the Angel of Light, flung to the earth after rebelling against
God.

And man, picking up a burning branch, keeping it alive:  the living
fire.  When it began to grow smaller and the light grow dim, he would
quickly rush, and get another branch, and light it afire, and watch it
until maybe he fell asleep and it went out.

And the next time he found a tree burning from a lightening strike,
maybe there were two or three in the party, and maybe they took turns
and kept it going.  And maybe it was this fire that caused man to ignite
the first spark of intelligence, and for the first time, have original
thought.

For the philosophers of fire were certainly the first leaders, the first
priests.  They horded the secret from the others.  And that has been
their pattern on to this day.  The vibrant, mysterious, radiant energy
of fire was beyond his ability to comprehend; yet, he felt its power.

And knowing that the sun was the only thing in the heavens that brought
warmth, it was then a very short distance to the connection that the
fire came from the sun, and the sun was the symbol of the mighty force
of God.

And, of course, many believed that the sun was, indeed, God.

The fact that during thunderstorms fire descended in mighty bolts from
heaven, felling trees and otherwise dealing destruction, caused the
primordial human being to recognize, in its fury, the anger of God.

Later, when man personified the elements and created the multitudinous
pantheons--which now exist and have existed throughout history--he
placed in the hand of his supreme deity the torch, the thunderbolt, or
the flaming sword; and upon his head a crown, its gilded points
symbolizing the flaming rays of the sun.  And all crowns on all of the
heads of kings and emperors and mighty sultans have been the symbols of
the rays of the sun.

The mighty Zeus, who dwelt upon Mount Olympus and was the patriarch of
the gods, held in his hand a bolt of lightening.

Mystics have traced sun worship back to early Limurea and fire worship
to the origin of the human race.  In fact, the element of fire controls,
to a certain degree, both the plant and the animal kingdoms, and is the
only element which can subjugate the metals.

And, indeed, without the sun there would be no life on this planet.
Indeed, if we were just a little closer to the sun, there could be no
life on this planet; and if we were just a little farther away from the
sun, there could be no life on this planet--at least, at least not life
as we know it.

Either consciously or instinctively, every living thing honors the orb
of day.  The sunflower always faces the solar disk.  The Atlantians were
sun worshippers--they say--in the legends of Atlantis.

While the American Indians are remnants at least of the earlier
Atlantian people--they say in The Mysteries--still regard the sun as the
proxy of the supreme light-giver.

And many, many early peoples believed that the sun was a reflector
rather than the source of light, reflecting the power, and the beauty,
and the energy of God Himself.  And it is evidenced by the fact that
they often pictured the sun god as carrying on his arm a highly polished
shield on which was chased the solar face.  Now, this shield, ladies and
gentlemen, catching the light of the Infinite One, reflected it to all
parts of the universe.

During the year, the sun passes through the twelve houses of the heavens
where, like Hercules, it performs twelve labors.  The annual death and
resurrection of the sun has been a favorite theme among unnumbered
religions.

The names of nearly all the great gods and saviors have always been
associated with either the element of fire, the solar light, or its
correlate, the mystic and spiritual "light invisible"--what you may now
call "the ether".

Jupiter, Apollo, Hermes, Mithrais, Bacchus, Dionysus, Odin, Buddha,
Krishna, Zoroaster, Zarathustra, Fohai, Eow, Vishnu, Shiva, Agne,
Balder, Hiram Abif, Moses, Samson, Jason, Vulcan, Uranus, Allah, Osiris,
Ra, Bel, Baal, Nebo, Serapis, and King Solomon--Sol Om On--are some of
the numerous deities and supermen whose symbolic attributes are derived
from the manifestations of the solar power; and whose names, ladies and
gentlemen, indicate their relationship to light and fire.

For Solomon--Sol-Om-On--is the name of the sun in three different
languages.  Most of you were not aware of that.

According to the Greek Mysteries, the gods, gazing down from Mount
Olympus, repented that they had made man--and I bet you they still
do--and never having given to the primitive creature an immortal spirit,
they decided that no harm would be done if the quarrelling, dissenting,
human ingrates, the whimpering sheeple of the world, were destroyed
forever, and the place where they had been left vacant for a nobler
race.

And I bet there are many who believe that today.  Really.  Look around
you.  Why should anybody come to save us?  Are you sick?  Or maybe you
just can't see and can't hear.

Discovering the plans of the gods, Prometheus, in whose heart was a
great love for struggling humanity, determined to bring to mankind the
divine fire which would make the human race immortal, so that not even
the gods could destroy it.

So Prometheus flew to the home of the sun god and, lighting a tiny reed
with the solar fire, he carried it to the children of the earth, warning
them that the fire should always be used for the glorification of the
gods and the unselfish service of each other.

Prometheus, you see, was a tremendous lightening strike.  And the myth,
the story of Prometheus, is the metaphor that the ancients used to
explain what happened because they didn't know anything about
lightening, or electricity or, for that matter, much about fire itself.

They burned the homes of their enemies.

You see, men were thoughtless and unkind.  They took the divine fire
brought them by Prometheus and used it to destroy one another.

They burned the homes of their enemies, most recently, in Switzerland;
before that in Waco, Texas.  I could go on and on and on.

And with the aid of heat, they tempered steel making swords and armor,
and used these instruments to kill each other.  They grew more selfish
and more arrogant, defying the gods, but they could not be destroyed for
they then possessed the sacred fire.

So the story goes.

For his disobedience, Prometheus, like Lucifer--remember, these are all
metaphors for things that man could not understand--for his
disobedience, Prometheus, like Lucifer, was chained and placed upon the
brow of Mount Caucasus, there to remain with a vulture gnawing at his
liver until a human being should master the sacred fire and become
perfect.

This prophecy was fulfilled by Hercules, who climbed Mount Caucasus,
broke the fetters of Prometheus, and liberated the friend of man who had
been in torture for so many ages.

And remember, Prometheus really represents Lucifer.

Hercules represents the initiate who, as his name implies, partakes of
the glory of light.

Prometheus is the vehicle of solar energy.

The divine fire which he brought to men is a mystic essence in their own
natures which they must redeem and regenerate if they would liberate
their own crucified souls from the rock of their base, physical natures.

Remember what I told you?

You see, according to occult philosophy, the sun, in reality, is a
three-fold orb--two parts of its nature being invisible.  The globe
which we see is merely the lowest phase of the solar nature and is the
body of the "dimiurgis", or as the Jews call him, "Jehovah", and the
Brahmins, "Shiva".

The sun, being symbolized by an equilateral triangle, the three powers
of the solar disk are said to be co-equal.  The three phases of the sun
are called "will", "wisdom" and "action".

"Will" is related to the principle of life;

"Wisdom" to the principle of light; and

"Action", or friction, to the principle of heat.

You see, by will they believed the heavens were created and the eternal
life continued in supreme existence.  In other words, the creation of
the universe came from an original, spontaneous thought, and by desire,
swept into action; and by action, friction.  In striving, the earth was
formed and the physical universe molded by the lords of the fire.

The fire mist passed gradually from the molten condition into its
present, more orderly, state.  Thus, heaven and nature were formed.

But between these two was a great void, for God did not comprehend
nature and nature did not comprehend the deity.  The lack, the lack of
intercourse between these two spheres of consciousness was similar to
the condition of paralysis in which the consciousness realizes the
condition of its body; but you see, owing to the lack of nerve
connection, is incapable of governing or directing the activities of the
body.

Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, they believed that between life and
action there came a mediator which was called "light", or
"intelligence", "Prometheus", "Lucifer"--it matters not what you call
it.

Light partakes of both life and action.  They believe it is the sphere
of blending.  And intelligence stood between heaven and earth, for
through its medium man learned of the existence of his God, and God
began his ministrations to the needs of men.

And while both life and action were simple substances, light was a
compound, for they believed the invisible part of light was of the
nature of heaven; and the visible part, of the nature of earth.

So down through the ages, this light is said to have taken upon itself
bodies.  And although these bodies have borne witness to that light, the
great spiritual truth of The Mysteries, behind the symbol of the
embodied light, is that in the soul they believe of every creature
within whose mind intelligence is born.

There dwells a spirit which assumes the nature of this intelligence.

And they believe that every truly intelligent man and woman who is
working to spread light in the world is "christ-ened" or "light-ened" by
the actual labor which he or she is seeking to perform.

The fact that light, which represents intelligence, partakes of the
natures of both God and the earth, is proved--they believe--by the names
given to the personifications of this light; for at one time, they were
called "the sons of men", and at another time, "the sons of God".

The initiate in The Mysteries was always instructed concerning the
existence of three suns:

The first of which, the vehicle for God the Father, enlightened and
warmed his spirit;

The second, the vehicle of God the Son, enfolded and broadened his mind;

The third, the vehicle of God the Holy Spirit, nourished and
strengthened his body.

Light is not only a physical element to these people, it is also a
mental and spiritual element.  And in the temple, the disciple is told
to revere the invisible sun even more than the visible one; for every
visible thing is only an effect of the invisible or causal; the
generative force, represented by an obelisk; and as God, is the cause of
all causes.  He dwells in the invisible world of causation, and always
in the trinity, and is represented by the symbol in the Greek alphabet:
"delta".

Delta.

As in Lt. Col. James "Bo Bo Grits" of Delta Force.

Apollius, when initiated into The Mysteries, beheld the sun shining at
midnight; for the chambers of the temple were brilliantly illuminated,
although there were no lamps of any kind.

The invisible sun is not limited by walls, nor even the surface of the
earth itself, because its rays are of a higher vibratory rate than
physical substance.

You see, they say its light passes unimpeded through all the planes of
physical substance. And to those capable of seeing the light of these
spiritual orbs, there is no darkness; for they dwell in the presence of
limitless light, and at midnight, see the sun shining under their feet.

And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you.

You see, they not only lie to you, they lie to themselves.

They not only deceive you, they deceive each other.

They not only manipulate you, but they manipulate all those below them
who have not risen to the degree of initiation where they understand
that they have been deceived in the lower rungs of the ladder and begin
to see the light.

And I can assure you the light they see is not under their feet.

By means of one of the lost arts of antiquity, the priests of the temple
were able to manufacture lamps which would burn for centuries without
replenishment.  The lamps resembled what is commonly called "the virgin
lamps" or those carried by the Vestal Virgins.

They were a little smaller than a human hand, and according to available
records, their wicks were made of asbestos.  It has been maintained that
these lamps have burned for a thousand years or more, one of them found
in the tomb of Christian Rosencruits had burned for 120 years without
the supply of fuel being diminished.

Or at least, so goes the legend.

It is supposed that these lamps, which incidently burned in hermetically
sealed vaults without the aid of oxygen,...  [quiet laughter]

Do you see what I mean?

...it was supposed that they were so constructed that the heat of the
flame extracted from the atmosphere a substance which took the place of
the original fuel as rapidly as the mysterious oil was consumed.

Hargrave Jennings collected many, many years ago numerous references
concerning the times and places where these lamps have been found.  And
in the majority of cases, however, they went out shortly after the
vaults were opened, or else were broken in some strange way so the
secret was not discovered.  Or maybe there just was no secret at all.
And maybe those who opened the vault and said they found the lamp
burning were lying.  No one really knows, and no one is likely to, since
there is no proof of any of this at all.

Concerning these lamps, Mr. Jennings writes, quote:

"The ancient Romans are said to have preserved lights in their
sepulchres many ages by the oiliness of gold."

And here steps in the art of the Rosicrucians:  alchemy.

And remember what I told you:  these are all metaphors for something
much deeper that mean quite a different story than what you may
perceive.

This oiliness of gold resolved by hermetic methods into a liquid
substance;. and it is reported that at the dissolution of the
monasteries in the time of Henry VIII, there was found a lamp which had
then burned in a tomb about 300 years after Christ, nearly 1,200 years.
And two of these subterranean lamps are to be seen in the Museum of
Rarities at Leyden in Holland, the Netherlands.  And one of these lamps
in the papacy of Paul III was found in the Tomb of Tulia, so-named,
Cicero's daughter, which had been shut up 1,550 years.

Now, Madame Blavatsky, in her tome entitled "Isis Unveiled", gives a
number of formulae for the making of ever-burning lamps, and states in a
footnote that she, herself, saw one made by a disciple of the hermetic
arts which, she claims, had burned steadily without fuel for six years
previous to the publication of her book.

It's sad, however, that upon publication of her book, those who asked to
see the lamp were told that the fire had gone out.  So, the ever-burning
lamp was, of course, a most appropriate symbol, ladies and gentlemen, of
the eternal fire in the universe.

Remember, all of these stories are metaphors.

And while chemistry has denied the possibility of manufacturing one, the
fact that many have been made and seen over a period of thousands of
years is a warning against dogmatizing.

Against dogmatizing.

Get the message?

In Tibet, the lama magicians have discovered a system of lighting rooms
by means of a luminous ball of phosphorescent, greenish-white color,
which increases in luminosity when ordered to do so by the priests.  And
after the departure of those in the chamber, it gradually becomes
fainter until only a spark remains which burns continuously.

But since Tibet has been occupied by Communist China for so many years,
there is no way to check this or determine whether or not it is true.

And after seeing the Dalai Lama at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, I
wouldn't believe anything that he said.

This apparent miracle is no more difficult, according to The Mysteries,
to explain than another performed by the Tibetans.  You see, there is in
Tibet a sacred tree--another metaphor--which sheds its bark annually,
and as the old bark peels off, an inscription written in Tibetan
characters is found upon the new bark underneath.

These secrets of so-called savage and primitive peoples incessantly
refute the ridicule with which Caucasians almost invariably view the
culture of other races.

The Druid priests in Britain, recognizing the sun as the proxy of the
supreme deity, used a ray of solar light to start their altar fires.
They did this by concentrating the ray upon a specially cut crystal, or
aquamarine, set in the form of a brooch, or buckle, upon the front of
the belt of the arch-druid, and this brooch was called the "Liath
Meisicith"--and I believe that I pronounced that sort of right.

It's spelled L-I-A-T-H.  The second word:  M-E-I-S-I-C-I-T-H.

And this was supposed to possess the power of drawing the divine fire of
the gods down from heaven and concentrating its energies for the service
of men.

And this is a prime example of how ancient man, in his misunderstanding
of science and what he was really dealing with, concocted a metaphor to
explain how this crystal was able to start a fire.

The buckle was, as we all know of course, a burning glass, or a
magnifying glass; and many of the nations of antiquity so revered the
fire and light of the sun that they would not permit their altars to be
lighted by any other means than the concentration of the sun's rays
through a burning glass.

And in certain of the ancient temples, ladies and gentlemen,
specially-arranged lenses were placed in the ceiling at various angles
so that each year at the vernal equinox, the sun at high noon would send
its rays through these glasses and light the altar fires which had been
specially prepared for this occasion.  The priest considered this
process equivalent to the gods having actually lighted the fires for
themselves; and the son was said to be doing the father's work at the
most high.

In other legends, the most high God, represented by the sun in its
highest position in the sky...

[END OF SIDE ONE OF THE TAPE]

...in honor of Hu (spelled H-U), the supreme deity of the druids, the
people of Britain and Gaul celebrated an annual lighting of fires on
what they termed "midsummer's day".

One of the reasons why mistletoe was sacred to the druids was because
many of the priests believed that this peculiar parasitic plant fell to
the earth in the form of lightening bolts.

Sound familiar?

And that wherever a tree was struck by lightening, the seed of the
mistletoe was placed within its bark.  And the great length of time the
mistletoe remained alive after being cut from the tree had much to do
with the veneration showered upon it by the Druids.

That this plant was also a powerful medium for the collection of the
mysterious cosmic fire circulated through the ethers was discovered by
the early priests who believed this and who valued the mistletoe because
of its close connection with the mysterious astral light, which is in
reality the astral body of the earth.

And concerning this, Eliphas Levy writes in his "History of Magic", and
I quote:

"The Druids were priests and physicians, curing by magnetism, and
charging amulets with their fluidic influence.  Their universal remedies
were mistletoe and  serpent's eggs because these substances attract the
astral light in a special manner."

The solemnity with which mistletoe was cut down--they believed--drew
upon this plant the popular confidence and rendered it powerfully
magnetic.

Magnetic.

The progress of magnetism--they believed--would someday reveal the
absorbing properties of mistletoe.  So, they understood, and believe
that they still understand, the secret of those spongy growths that draw
the unused virtues of plants and become surcharged with tinctures and
saviors.

Mushrooms, truffles, gall on trees, and the different kinds of mistletoe
are employed in The Mysteries with understanding by a medical science
which will be new because it is old.

Certain plants, minerals and animals have been held sacred among all
nations of the earth because of their peculiar sensitiveness to the
claimed astral fire.

The cat, sacred to the city of Bubastis in Egypt, is an example of a
peculiarly magnetized animal.  You see, anyone stroking the fur of a
domestic cat in a dark room can see the electrical emanations in the
form of green, phosphorescent light, and this must have surely
titillated the ancient priests.  And in the temples of Bast, sacred to
the cat goddess, three-colored cats were viewed with unusual veneration,
as was any member of the feline family whose two eyes were of different
colors.

Lodestone and radium in the mineral kingdom, and various parasitic
growths in the plant kingdom are strangely susceptible to the cosmic
fire which today we know as phosphorescence.

The magicians of the Middle Ages surrounded themselves with certain
animals, such as bats, cats, snakes, and monkeys, because they were able
to borrow the power of the astral light from these creatures and
appropriate it to their own uses.

For this same reason, the Egyptians, and certain of the Greeks, kept
cats in the temples, and serpents were always in evidence at the Oracle
of Delphi.

The auric body of a snake, they say, is one of the most remarkable
sights that the clairvoyant will ever see, and the secrets concealed
within its aura demonstrate why the serpent is the symbol of wisdom
among so many nations.

And of course, in The Mysteries, as the snake sheds its skin, it is the
symbol of death and rebirth, or resurrection.

That Christianity has preserved, in part at least, the primitive fire
worship of antiquity is evident in many of its symbols and rituals.

The incense burner so often used in Christian churches is a pagan symbol
relating to the regeneration of the human soul and was in use long
before Christianity even came along.

The incense within the burner, made from the extracted essences of
various plants, represents the life forces within the body of man.

The flaming spark burning in the midst of the incense is emblematic of
the spiritual germ concealed in the midst of the material organism of
man.

You see, the spiritual spark in The Mysteries is an infinitesimal part
of what they call "the divine flame", or the great fire of the universe,
from whose flaming heart the altar fires of all his creatures have been
lighted.

The spark of life gradually consumes the incense.  So the spiritual
nature of man, through the processes of regeneration, gradually consumes
all the gross elements of the body, transmuting them into soul power,
symbolized by the smoke.  And as a person ages, he therefore grows
wiser.

That was their explanation for the wisdom of the old and the
deterioration of the body; for as the person ages, the gross elements
are burned by the life flame which transmutes them into soul power.
Therefore, the body diminishes and the wisdom is increased.

Simple, huh?

So what's all this research into geriatrics?

Although smoke is actually a dense and physical substance, yet light
enough to rise in clouds, they believed the soul was actually a physical
element.  They believed that through purification and the fire of
aspiration it has taken upon itself the nature of intangible
atmosphere.  Though composed of the substance of earth, it becomes light
enough to rise as a fragrant odor into the presence of deity.

Well, some authorities have held that the form of the cross was derived
from an ancient Egyptian instrument called the "nilometer" used for
measuring the inundations of the Nile.  Others hold the opinion that the
symbol had its origin in the two crossed sticks used by primitive
peoples to generate fire by friction.

In the history of Freemasonry, written by Mackey, 33rd degree Freemason,
and this particular edition printed in 1898, there is only one cross
listed in the entire seven volumes and it is the swastika.

The use of the bell towers and campaniles in the construction of the
cathedrals of medieval Christianity, also the more familiar
conventionalized church steeple, may be traced back to the fire obelisks
of Egypt which were placed in front of the temples to the superior
deities representing the generative force, or the rays of the sun, the
male principle.

All pyramids are symbols of fire, while the heart used on valentines is
merely an inverted candle flame and is not in the shape of the human
heart and never has been.

The maypole had its origin in similar antiquity where it is both a
phallic symbol and an emblem of the cosmic fire, the generative force.
And the dancing of the maidens around the maypole was, ladies and
gentlemen, supposed to bring increased fertility to the land, for the
maypole again, in case you've forgotten the last few sentences,
represented nothing less than the phallus.

The prevailing custom of having churches face the east is, of course,
further evidence of the survival of sun worship and in the Masonic
Lodge, the master sits in the east of the lodge.

Practically the only branch of the human race that does not observe this
rule is the Arabic.  The Muhammadins face their mosques toward Mecca,
but still have their appointed hours of prayer governed by the sun.

The rose windows and ivy covered walls are survivals of pagandom; for
ivy was sacred to Bacchus because of the shape of its leaf.  And this
plant was always allowed to trail over the walls of the temple sacred to
the Greek solar deity.  And all over Europe you will see the cathedrals
covered with ivy.

And the golden ornaments upon the altars of Christian churches should
remind the philosophical observer that gold is the sacred metal of the
sun; because, according to alchemists, the sun ray itself crystallized
in the earth thus forming this precious metal which, incidentally folks,
is still being made.

And if you visit a Jewish synagogue, the most elaborate synagogues will
usually contain a huge golden symbol of the sun.

The candles so often seen adorning the altars, and most frequently
appearing in an uneven number, are a reminder that the uneven numbers
are sacred to the sun.

When three candles are used, for instance, they symbolize the three
aspects of the sun:  sunrise, noon and sunset, and are thus emblematic
of the trinity.

When seven are used, they represent the planetary angels called by the
Jews "Elohim" whose numerical and cabalistic values are also seven.

And when the even numbers 12 or 24 appear, they represent the signs of
the Zodiac and the spirits of the hour of the day, called by the ancient
Persians "the izids".

And when only one light is shown, it is the emblem of the supreme,
invisible Father, who is one.

And the little red lamp ever burning over an altar is an offering to the
dimiurgis, Jehovah, the Lord Builder of Forms.

So, what oil is to the flame, ladies and gentlemen, blood is to the
spirit of man.  Therefore, oil is often used in anointing for it is a
fluid sacred to the solar power.

Because oil contains the life of the sun, it is used in large quantities
in far northern lands where it is necessary to generate an abundance of
body heat.  Hence the proclivity of the Eskimos for eating tallow
candles and whale oil.  You see, it has stored energy from the sun.

Now, they say, that the actual word "christ" is itself sufficient proof
that fire and the worship of fire are the two most essential elements of
the Christian faith, for the rays of light pouring from the sun were
viewed by the ancients and--check this if you don't believe it, for it's
true--were viewed by the ancients as the blood of the celestial lamb
which at the vernal equinox died for the sin of the world and redeemed
all humanity through its blood or rays.

And then the world sank into winter.

The Mystery Schools of ancient Egypt taught that the blood was the
vehicle of the consciousness.  The spirit of man travelled through the
bloodstream and therefore was not actually located in any one part of
the compound organism.

You see, they did not know.

They believed that it moved through the body with the rapidity of
thought so that consciousness of self, cognition of externals, and the
sense of perception could be localized in any part of the body by the
exercise of the will power.

The initiates viewed the blood as a mysterious liquid, somewhat gaseous
in nature, which served as a medium for manifesting the fire of man's
spiritual nature.  This fire, coursing through the system, animated and
vitalized all parts of the form, thus keeping the spiritual nature in
touch with all of its physical extremities.

And at one point in history, since life was formed in the womb--and they
believed that it was formed from a clot of blood--and the baby was
imbued with intelligence, at one point in history it was fashionable for
those who could afford it to drink the menstrual blood of virgins,
believing that this would make them wise.

The mystics looked upon the liver as the source of the heat and power in
the blood; hence, the liver is significant that the spear of the
centurion should pierce the liver of Christ, and the vulture should be
placed over the liver of Prometheus to torment him throughout the ages.

I hope you're making connections, ladies and gentlemen.

In this modern world, with the education available to every man and
woman upon this planet, why are we still bowing down to ancient,
ignorant metaphors, created by priests in the dark, dim halls of history
to control the common man and govern him with these stories and myths?

Many of the things that I have revealed to you, you still celebrate, and
you still perform ceremonies around these misconceptions.

And, of course, through the ages, the priests slowly adopt the science
that proves the metaphors and the myths to be wrong, and they change the
dogma of the church.

For instance, Galileo Galilei, who turned the church upon its ear when
he said the earth revolves around the sun, and the sun revolves around
some central core in the universe.  Because the church had always
said--not understanding anything about the universe, and observing the
heavens appearing to revolve around the earth--that the earth was the
center of the universe and everything revolved around it, not realizing
that it was the earth itself that was turning.

Yet the church held that the Pope was infallible and the Pope had
decreed that the earth was the center of the universe, and the universe
rotated around the earth.

And the church still maintains today that the Pope is infallible.
How can this be?

When is man going to grow up?

Why do we need priests and governors?

Why?  Because at the present time and throughout the history of the
earth we have been stupid, ignorant and, for the most part, apathetic.
And remember in The Mysteries:

"A nation or world of people who will not use their intelligence are no
better than animals who do not have intelligence and thus are beasts of
burden and steaks on the table by choice and consent."

It makes you think, doesn't it?

Occultism teaches that it is the presence of the liver which
distinguishes the animal from the plant, and that certain small
creatures, having power of motion but no liver, are actually plants and
spiritual consciousness.

They say that the liver is under the control of the planet Mars which is
the dynamo of this solar system, and which sends a red animating ray to
all the evolving creatures within the solar scheme.

The philosophers taught that the planet Mars, under the control of its
regent Simael, was the transmuted sin-body of the solar logos, which
originally had been the dweller on the threshold of the divine creature,
whose energies are now distributed through the fire of the sun.

Simael, incidently, was the fiery father of Cain through whom a part of
humanity has received the flame of aspiration and is thus separate from
the sons of Seth, whom they say was fathered by Jehovah.

Isn't this strange?

That you were told these things in church, you read these things in the
Bible, they are taught these things in The Mysteries, yet there is no
way for anyone on this earth today to know any of these things.

And if you'll read your Bible in Genesis, you will find that before Eve
was ever created, God made man and woman.  There were men and women on
this earth, according to Genesis, according to those of you who say the
Bible is infallible, and if you believe that, you must believe, because
it says it, that God created man in his image, man and woman, created he
them, and He did this before--before--the people that you've been taught
came first.

Yet, you know, you have a tendency to read the Bible and make it fit
whatever you want to believe rather than believe what it says, and what
I'm telling you is in that dim chapter of history nobody knows, nobody
knew, and nobody's ever going to know.

And there are battles raging on this earth today because there are
people who believe that Cain was sired through a tryst with Eve by
Satan; and that Abel, sired by Adam and Eve, killed by Cain; and then
another son, Seth, made war against the sons of Cain.  They're still
fighting this battle today.  Today, folks.

Metaphors and myths and stories made up by priests in ancient times to
preserve the security of their tribes, to explain away that which could
not be explained.

And I'm not saying that it's bad to believe it.  That's up to you.  I'm
just trying to impart a little intelligence here and there and a little
common sense, as my grandmother would say.

If Jehovah is God, and if you believe as I have been told by many
Christians, that all things were planned from the beginning by God, then
you have to believe that God created Satan and Lucifer.  And if God
created Satan and Lucifer, God is a tool--or I should say, Satan and
Lucifer are tools of God, created for a reason.  So how could they be
evil?

I'm not saying that they are or they're not.  I'm just trying to
generate a little logic here.  I'm trying to make you think.

Think about this tonight, ladies and gentlemen.  If that is true, that
all things were created by God, and that all things were set in motion
from the beginning, what does that mean to all of us, and why do we
believe all of these silly things that make it all mean even sillier
things?

What has happened to us?

Good night.  And yes, I believe in God, and God bless you all.