292 APPENDIX 



themselves, and are thus initiated into the kingdom of 

 the Spirit. 



" Initiation is therefore a matter of growth, and cannot 

 be obtained by favour. Ceremonies are only external 

 forms. The true baptism is the baptism of fire, the 

 growth into the spirit of wisdom, the victory of the spirit 

 over the animal nature of man." ^ 



We know that nobody can enjoy the possession of any 

 external sense, such as sight, hearing, &c., unless he has 

 organs adapted for that purpose. The same is true in 

 regard to the inner senses of man, which also require the 

 organisation of a spiritual but nevertheless substantial 

 body ; and as the physical body generates its organs in 

 the womb of its mother, so the spiritual body becomes 

 generated in the astral body of man. 



"The form of man must be adapted to his plane of 

 existence. A horseshoe of iron has a form adapted to 

 its purpose, and so has a goblet of silver. Nature has 

 many strange children, and man must have his shape, 

 and also that wherein he is made. Therefore Christ 

 says, ' He who is with Me denies himself.' This means 

 that he must rise superior to that which belongs to 

 Nature in him. He must take his cross upon his 

 shoulders, namely, the cross which Nature has put upon 

 him. Take Nature upon your shoulders and carry her, 

 but do not identify yourself with her. Love your neigh- 

 bour, and free yourself of that carnal reason which forces 

 you to be a servant of self " {Be Arte Presaga). 



the same way as a decayed part of the physical body becomes separated 

 from the physical organism ; and as such processes going on in the physical 

 form may be observed during the waking state, likewise the corresponding pro- 

 cesses going on in the organism of the soul may be observed during a dream. 

 ^ There are three kinds of baptism, by which three diflferent names are 

 received. The first baptism is only an external form, and the name is 

 optional; the second is the baptism with the "water of truth," or the 

 awakening of the soul to a recognition of the truth, by which a new name 

 is received, expressing the quality and destination of the individual (i 

 Moses xvii. 5) ; the third is the baptism with the "fire of the spirit," and 

 the name which it confers expresses the power of the perfect and immortal 

 divine man (St John's Revelation ii. 17). 



