THE MYSTERIES OF EROS The Grades of Eros The grand object of the mysteries of Eros is to build up_the individuality of each Acolyte to the end of evolving the latent powers within the human soul. And this must be done by impartial study of ‘Surself. Each person is a miniature universe that he (his Ego) must Jearn to rule justly. Each individual is a responsible being, working out the problem of his own redemption from the thraldom inherited from ancestry and the dead ‘ages, and forced upon him by external conditions. These mysteries indicate the way, furnish a chart, and bid him square his sails and depart for the shining shores of immor- tality. ie Arcana of Eros is divided into three separate grades, and for int of better terms can only be described as Formulation, Vitaliza- tion and Realization, ‘The first two are triune qualities and contain ‘three principles each. The last is the sum total of the other two and contains but one definition, thus making up a total of seven, which ber is the symbol of action and completion of all mundane af- Taking the principles as they stand in the order of their relative importance we first come to the grand doctrine and science of Formu- lation. ~ I FORMULATION ..The three sub-principles of formulation (mental conceptions) Formation, Execution and Reception. They each deal specifi- lly upon their own special lines with one of the triune attributes man’s internal nature. Formation is the Creative attribute whereby in imitates deity. Execution is the controlling attribute whereby an receives, conserves or stores up the deific energies and then tates the laws of his own creation by radiating and projecting s borrowed energy upon the lines, and in the special forms and gles of his own formation (mental creation). Reception is the re- ive quality of the soul, whereby man receives and again trans- to the planes below him the grosser forms or the finer essences 49of the great life-force of the Kosmos, in the exact proportion and ratio of his soul-development and the higher laws of his mentality. From this it will be seen that Formulation is not only the first principle of man’s being, but, that it is at the same time the most vital one with which we have to deal in soul-development. It is the absolute foundation of all power, knowledge and energy possible to embodied humanity. Formulation then, in every instance, is to be taken absolutely as the first grand principle to be mastered, studied and applied, in the search for knowledge, and the endeavor to enlarge the scope and range of individual power, mental and psychological, and to this end the following definitions are presented,—(Ist. we must know what we desire to accomplish) a. The Formative (negative) principle, is the quiet, steady, calm, non-turbulent, non-muscular exertion of the human Will. To in- crease this power and render it practically and magnetically service- able, a regular daily practice is required. Observe and follow these rules; Place a round white card with a black centre against the wall, and gaze at it calmly ‘and steadily one minute, willing at the same gaze _at it one_minute time to increase the Attention, Concentration and Abstraction; then slowly turn’ the eyes to the blank wall; the optical effect will be an _apparition of the card, (colors reversed) passing slowly across the line of vision. This may not occur on the first trial, or there may be no more than one or two appear; but after practice the number should and will increase to four, seven or even more. The card may be of any other colors, and the phantoms will be the exact site ‘or complementary hue. This exercise is intended to delon the above named power, and its ultimate end and purpose is to enable the acolyte to fix his mind on anything living or dead and will its phantom (in the Iatter case, itself) to_appear. Excellent results may be sooner obtained by using a good magnetic mirror with a_white wafer affixed in the centre thereof. Do not permit the mind to be disturbed or startled if a face or figure appears upon the black-white, magnetic séa_of the mirror. ~~~ If the acolyte does not possess the necessary nerve for this he had better at once abandon the study of High Magic, which requires 50heart, courage and persistence for its noblest and most successful cul- ture. After the card has been in daily use for_six months or more it may be abandoned either for the wafered mirror, the head of a brass_nail, or better still, three nails; zinc, copper and iron (horse- ‘shoe nail) arranged in a triangle whose sides are one inch in length; one end of a fine copper wire should be wound around the three nails and the other held in the left han ing. The effect is ‘Wiagnetic and serves to render the attention more firm, positive and concentrated in a receptive mood. It may and probably will require from two to three years practice before mental conceptions can be successfully substituted for those herein recommended. One great object for the Neophyte to achieve in this steady practice of formation, is to gradually enable his mind to pierce the Astral light. When the eye is taken from the card, remember that that object has become a thing of the Past;—reproducing it again in the phantoms upon the wall is in reality reproducing the past vividly before yan. It may be only a few seconds of time, still no matter how brief, it is still the past, and careful daily practice will enable the Neophyte to become more and more potent in this realm of Psychol- ogy, and render it possible for him to reproduce instantly any ob- dect or scene of his experience, no matter how remote. This will gradu- ally lead the soul into the state of not only reading and producing its own past experience, but of delineating the past history of any other object or person in all its ‘original reality, through the law of psychometry. Therefore, simple as this principle of Formation may seem, it is the first stepping stone in the path of the soul's ultimate State of perfection, which is that of the real Master of Mysteries, the exalted Adept. b. The executive is the second principle, and is purely volitional (positive). It is the projecting, ordering, commanding and mentally enforcing the behests of Desire and Will;—to say, think, feel and ordain a thing to be or an‘action to occur, and as such, is the opposite pole ad The fist oiinedple Formation. It is the must and shall be idea in action, the positive, executive force of the human soul, without 4 proper culture and activity of which no great thing, whether within or without the path of White Magic, can be accomplished. It is the ie blessing or cursing energy of soul and is at once the grandest 51and most terrible force, alike potent for good or evil. Its action is periodical, its orbit elliptical and its effect magnetic; therefore, what it takes from you it-always _returns_with interest;—if good, then good; if evil, then added evil; so beware. ‘Great care must be taken that there is no other emotion or action going on in the mind during the executive instant, for this ordaining power, (especially after the exercise of the Formative), leaps from the soul like a flash of vivid lighting, traversing space and centering on its object though oceans Tow ‘between, or Vast spaces divide; yet its period of activity and duration never exceeds three to seven sec- onds of earthly time. c. The third or Receptive principle consists in placing one's self in a receptive position, state, frame of body, mind and feeling, to receive the message. It is the most important and difficult of the three great principles, and its results;—especially in affectional lines; correspond (good attracts good, evil attracts more evil). To exert it successfully requires a fair development of attention, concentration and abstraction, in addition to the exercise of the Formative and Ex- ecutive principles, not merely as regards any special object or power to be sought, but to induce the Receptive condition itself. When we strike or sustain a blow we pose the body, hands, face, eyes, nostrils and mouth; even so is the same rule imperative in the higher or su- perphysical, metaphysical, mental and ethereal regions of our vast being, and it must be enforced in order to reach the sublimest of all receptive powers. There is no Magic save in Formation, Execution and Reception; and their foundation is Love. To illustrate our meaning, let us say for example, air and heat rush in to fill a vacuum, and there can be no vacuum if anything is there. Similarly one cannot wholly either notice, wish for, will, decree, or receive the full measure of anything sought, or power desired, or the entire weight of any mental or metaphysical desideratum, if half or more of the mind is already occupied by something else which receives a proportion of its attention and of the heart's desire. The vacuum is created by a sincere desire to receive what is sought, ‘This principle requires the entire devotion, absorption and con- centration of all the inner being. When a thing is to be done, an Energy (individual in both senses), hierarchy or special power is to be invoked and brought down from the aerial kingdoms of the spaces, 52or evolved and called up from within, the mind must not only be brought to wholly bear upon the reception thereof, but room within the Odyllic sphere must be provided for the expected visitor and the entire attention of the soul be withdrawn and vacated, except for that special thing, gift, energy or power then sought through the mysteries of Eros, This road is a royal one; the weak minded, blind or credulous can never travel its imperial path, because the higher powers only fave an alfifity With those capable of appreciating them; they never coalesce with starviing souls, and never at all, unless the laws of their evocation, development, operation and evolution, are earnestly, calmly, steadily, persistently followed and implicitly obeyed. Il VITALIZATION The second of the three great principles of the triune soul _is_ Vitalization, which means life giving. Everything is vitalized in ex- act proportion to the capacity of reception and transmission. Every spirit atom or Divine Ego, is in reality a central point or Focus of Deity for the transmission of life, The sou] Monad projected into matter, in order to evolve the latent attributes of the divine spirit, is supplied incessantly from its own state and center with the life force required, and it in return transmits it to planes and states still lower than itself, involuntarily, in most instances, Everything, from the highest Arch-Angelhood to the cold granite rock and dense veins of mineral, ix in a state of reception and trans- mission. That ail human beings in the natural state are mediumistic (except avaricious misers), some in excess of others, must, to be in accord with the laws herein revealed, appear perfectly plain, es- pecially so, when we comprehend the relationship of humanity to Deity. In a similar manner all material substances are mediumistic in this sense of the term, viz.; in the degree in which they are capable of receiving and transmitting Force. In this connection, Hermetic Science teaches, that active spirit inheres in every grade of matter as the instigator of life, force and motion, being an attendant upon the ethereal forces that permeate all worlds and every atom of space, For in proportion to the refinement of substance is the sphere Vitalized by spirit. 53In the brain and nervous system of the human being the Climax of Material Vitalization is reached, hence as the Neophyte by training gradually builds up his individuality, and refines his physical_or- nism_by throwing off the grosser particles and replacing them with qnore ethereal ones, he becomes capable of receiving, retaining and transmitting the finer and more potential essences of the Astral Light; consequently his will_is correspondingly potent within the ‘Fealms of White Magic. ee ‘Taken in a genera! sense Vitalization may be divided into three separate sections, viz; Inspiration, Exspiration and Breathing. The latter as the most external embraces the two former, Considered separately, we have first, Inspiration “The simple senses crowned his Head, ‘Omega, thou art Lord’, they said.” “Who forged that other influence That heat of inward evidence?” Tennyson. The discriminating student will not fail to note much signifi- cance in the four lines quoted above. The sentiment of the first couplet is declarative, affirmative, positive, assertive, active, or briefly, Male. The second couplet is equally distinctive in its senti- ment, but’ ‘the diametrical opposite, being that of inquiry, solicitation, invitation, negation, or Female. Considered relatively they are polar opposites, They also possess a broad generalization, or, more properly, a classification of the world’s creeds and doctrines upon inspiration, its sources and rank, One class claiming that inspiration is of the senses and intellect; another, that it is external to the senses and intellect. Hermetic science does not join in alliance with either one of the two doctrines ” as against the other, but teaches that both are the complimentary halves of a complete truth; expressed otherwise, a unity under two modes of action. When the mode of action is considered, duality stands squarely before us. Indeed, consciousness itself is due to the ebb and flow of the energies that pertain to duality. Inspiration means in-breathing. We inspire the essences and forces of the One Life ac- cording to our refinement of material structure and adaptation for receiving it. 54The Gates of Heaven open inwardly; so does inspiration, and when we have in-breathed and replenished the body, soul and spirit, the action becomes polarized, reaction sets in, and we throw off and transmit all that our system is unable to neutralize or assimilate. This brings us to the second section of our subject, namely, Exspiration. EXSPIRATION Exspiration means out-breathing, out-flowing thoughts, or expul- sion of any fluidic substance or essence. It also takes the meaning of Joss or extinguishment, and herein stands as the antithesis of inspira- tion, which is so significant of cumulation and gain. When we further consider that the framers of our linguistic symbols spoke of breath, and air or wind, as being or containing the intrinsic Potencies, the inspira- tion and exspiration of this kind, meant flatly, either gain or loss of power. Exspiration is the emission, loss or expenditure of power, The Joss or absence of power leaves behind it the attribute or correlative state, which we call coldness. It is not mere verbal fancy to speak of the heat and fires of inspiration, for herein we have a veritable trath. Inspiration and Exspiration are related as the Vishnu and Siva, preseryer and destroyer in oriental religion. — Tt has been said that no man can serve two masters; but herein is a paradox, for it is plain that we do seventy times every minute transfer our subserviency from one to the other of these two + Sovereigns; one brings us emancipation and the other takes it away. The pulse of the heart and the exspiration of spirit is our inspiration, while we expire to lower forms of life. “Tantalus, thou art living still.” But the philosopher, looking beyond the scope of the present ‘times, sees therein the law of faithful compensation and the equipoise of beneficence, for we are not privileged to reap unless we likewise sow. It is also an exposition of that law, “Give all thou hast of breath, or power, or life, in just duty and lawful motive; expire honestly © the corrupted or contaminated matter, and you shall instantly be filled with the celestial fire and become refined.” Too much inspira- tion es levitation, tod Wiuch exspiration, gravitation. "We now come to the realization of these two sections, the ac- tuality of both inspiration and exspiration, and which may be total- ized as Breathing. 55BREATHING There are two results.of breathing; the first is from the inspiration of common atmosphere which sustains the life of matter, sensation, The second result is from the inspiration of the magnetic, electric, more ethercal particles of the air, which support the Dfe-of soul and emotion the higher, inner, deeper part of man which concerns itself about infinite and etemal interests. The first gives force, the second generates power. It is possible to fill the Jungs, therefore the brain, with this last, sifted from the first, and thus the soul, with ascensive inclination and ability, with the Joftier kind of trance-power, known as the “Sacred Steep of Sialam,” in which the soul bids defiance to all barriers which, awake, asleep, or in the mesmeric states, limit and bound it; with that grand flight-power whereby it can reach infinite altitudes and sweep with masterly vision the realm of stellar galaxies; that Sleep of Sialam, in which man may gain whatsoever of knowl edge and power be wills, provided it lies within his soul's capacity of comprehending and using. ee By slowly, regularly breathing, two things occur; to give strength and power. First, a gain of vitality, therefore, physical life, The organs instantly extract the vif of the air and discharge their accumulated load. The exhalent movement is always the longer in natural breathing; but, if you wish to gain power and have more ethereal than physical life, the heaving of the chest should be regular and its inspirations and exspirations of equal duration to obtain a more harmonious influence and the slow breathing must_go on from ten to twenty_minutes ata time, Fix some desired object in the mind “and the ethereal air will be retained in the lungs, brain and nerves until sufficient reserve force is gained to add new power, thus en- abling the sou! to subdue sense and affording the pure intellect ability to take lofty, prolonged, and heaven-sublimed flights into the Empy- ‘Jean; or, in any direction fancy or inclination prompts or necessity suggests. ‘This is one of the most potential powers within the human soul. The term AETH signifies that finer essence which the soul breathes: it fills the spaces, cushions the worlds and penetrates the outer air just as odors do. It is inhaled by Aethercal_beings precisely as we of earth inhale the influence oF matter in its grosser and lower 56