JESUS, THE NAZARENE REFORMER - PART FOUR by L. W. de Laurence

From: 1948 - De Laurence's Catalog of Books on Occultism - Magic - Mysticism - Religion - The Cabala - Yoga - Astrology and all related subjects - Occult Students' Equipment - Talismanic and Symbolic Jewelry

L. W. de Laurence

Mystic and Master Occultist, de Laurence is world-famous as an Adept of the Highest Rank. His lifelong study of religious thought and emotion have brought him recognition and renown while his humanistic and sympathetic insight have endeared his name to thousands. His works are everywhere and his name stands high on the roster of independent and intrepid thinkers of all time.

PART FOUR

     On closer inspection, he becomes the double-headed Anubis, having one head human, the other a jackal's, whilst his girdle assumes the form of a serpent rearing aloft its crested head. "This figure," adds the author of the Gnostics, ets., "had two meanings - one obvious for the vulgar; the other mystical, and recognizable by the initiated alone. It was perhaps the signet of some chief teacher or apostle. This affords a fresh proof that the Gnostics and early orthodox (?) Christians were not so wide apart in their secret doctrine. King deduces from a quotation from Epiphanius, that even as late as 400 A.D. it was considered an atrocious sin to attempt to represent the bodily appearance of Christ. Epiphanius brings it as an idolatrous charge against the Carpocratians that "they kept painted portraits, and even gold and silver images, and in other materials, which they pretended to be portraits of Jesus, and made by Pilate after the likeness of Christ... These they keep in secret, along the Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle, and setting them all up together, they worship and offer sacrifices unto them after the Gentiles' fashion."

Epiphanius

     What would the pious Epiphanius say were he to resuscitate and step into St. Peter's Cathedral at Rome! Ambrosius seems also very desperate at the idea - that some persons fully credited that statement of Lampridius that Alexander Severus had in his private chapel an image of Christ among other great philosophers. "That the Pagans should have preserved the likeness of Christ," he exclaimed, "but the disciples have neglected to do so, is a notion the mind shudders to entertain, mush less to believe."

     All this points undeniably to the fact, that except a handful of self-styled Christians who subsequently won the day, all the civilized portion of the Pagans who knew of Jesus, Pythagoras and Apollonius. Whence such a veneration on their part for a man, were he simply, as represented by the Synoptics, a poor, unknown Jewish carpenter from Nazareth?

     As an incarnated God there is no single record of Jesus, on this earth, capable of withstanding the critical examination of science; as one of the greatest reformers, and inveterate enemy of every theological dogmatism, a persecutor of bigotry, a teacher of one of the most sublime codes of ethics, Jesus is one of the grandest and most clearly-defined figures on the panorama of human history. His age may, with every day, he receding farther and farther back into the gloomy and hazy mists of the past; and his theology - based on human fancy and supported by untenable dogmas - may, nay, must with every day lose more of it, unmerited prestige; alone the grand figure of the philosopher and moral reformer instead of growing paler will become with every century more pronounced and more clearly defined. It will reign supreme and universal only on that day when the whole of humanity recognizes but one father - the UNKNOWN ONE above - and one brother - the whole of mankind below.*

Publius Lentulus

In a pretended letter of Lentulus, a senator and a distinguished historian to the Roman senate, there is Jesus. The letter itself, written in horrid Latin is pronounced a bare-faced forgery; but I have found therein an expression which suggests many thoughts. Albeit a forgery it is evident that whosoever invented it has nevertheless tried to follow tradition as closely as possible. The hair of Jesus is represented in it as "wavy and curling... flowing down upon his shoulders." and as "having a parting in the middle of the head after the fashion of the Nazarenes." This last sentence shows: First. That there was such a tradition, based on the biblical description of John the Baptist, the Nazaria, and the custom of this sect. Second. Had Lentulus been the author of this letter, it is difficult to believe that Paul should never have heard of it; and had he known its contents, he would never have pronounced it a shame for men to wear their hair long,** thus shaming his Lord and Christ-God. Third. If Jesus did wear his hair long and parted in the middle of the forehead, after the fashion of the Nazarenes (as well as John, the only one of his apostles who followed it), then I have one good reason more to say that Jesus must have belonged to the sect of the Nazarenes, and been called Nasaria for this reason and not because he was an inhabitant of Nazareth; for they never wore their hair long. The Nazarite, who separated himself unto the Lord, allowed "no razor to come upon his head." "He shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair on his head grow," says Numbers (vi. 5). Samson was a Nazarite, i. e., vowed to the service of God, and in his hair was his strength. "No razor shall come upon his head; the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb" (Judges, xiii., 5). But the final and most reasonable conclusion to be inferred from this is that Jesus, who was so opposed to all the orthodox Jewish practices, would not have allowed his hair to grow had he not belonged to this sect, which in the days of John the Baptist had already become a heresy in the eyes of the Sanhedrim. The Talmud, speaking of the Nazaria, or the Nazarenes (who had abandoned the world like Hindu Yogis or Adepts) calls them a sect of physicians, of wandering exorcists; as also does Jervis. "They went about the country, living on alms and performing cures."*** Epiphanius says that the Nazarenes come next in heresy to the Corinthians whether having existed "before them or after them, nevertheless synchronous," and then adds that "all Christians at that time were equally called Nazarenes!"****
a description of the personal appearance of

   

     In the very first remark made by Jesus about John the Baptist, we find him stating that he is "Elias, which was for to come." This assertion, if it is not a later interpolation for the sake of having a prophecy fulfilled, means again that Jesus was a kabalist; unless indeed we have to adopt the doctrine of the French spiritists and suspect him of believing in reincarnation. Except the kabalistic sects of the Essenes, the Nazarenes, the disciples of Simeon Ben Iochai, and Hillel. Neither the orthodox Jews, nor the Galileans, believed or knew anything about the doctrine of permutation. And the Sadducees rejected even that of the resurrection.
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* Those who would know more of de Laurence's real opinion of Jesus should read his book, "The Immanence Of God," Order No. 22.
** 1 Cor. x i. 14.
*** See the "Israelite Indeed," vol. ii, p. 348; "Treatise Naeir."
**** "Epiph. ed Petar." vol. i, p. 117.

JESUS, THE NAZARENE REFORMER - PART THREE by L. W. de Laurence

From: 1948 - De Laurence's Catalog of Books on Occultism - Magic - Mysticism - Religion - The Cabala - Yoga - Astrology and all related subjects - Occult Students' Equipment - Talismanic and Symbolic Jewelry

L. W. de Laurence

Mystic and Master Occultist, de Laurence is world-famous as an Adept of the Highest Rank. His lifelong study of religious thought and emotion have brought him recognition and renown while his humanistic and sympathetic insight have endeared his name to thousands. His works are everywhere and his name stands high on the roster of independent and intrepid thinkers of all time.

Part Three

     It would be difficult to escape from the well-adduced proofs that the Apocalypse is the production of an initiated kabalist, when this Revelation presents whole passages taken from the Books of Enoch and Daniel, which letter is in itself an abridged imitation of the former and when, furthermore, we ascertain that the Ophite Gnostics who rejected the Old Testament entirely, as "emanating from an inferior being (Jehovah)," accepted the most ancient prophets, such as Enoch, and deduced the strongest support from this book for their religious tenets, the demonstration becomes evident. I will show further how closely related are all these doctrines. Besides, there is the history of Domitian's persecutions of magicians and philosophers, which affords as good a proof as any that John was generally considered a kabalist. As the apostle was included among the number, and moreover, conspicuous, the imperial edict banished him not only from Rome, but even from the continent. It was not the Christians whom - confounding them with the Jews, as some historians will have it - the emperor persecuted, but the astrologers and kabalists.

     The accusations against Jesus of practising the Magic of Egypt were numerous, and at one time universal, in the towns where he was known. The Pharisees, as claimed in the Bible, had been the first to fling it in his face, although Rabbi Wise considers Jesus himself a Pharisee. The Talmud certainly points to James the Just as one of that sect.* But these partisans are known to have always stoned every prophet who denounced their evil ways, and it is not on this fact that I base my assertion. These accused him of sorcery, and or driving out devils by Beelzebub, their prince, with as much justice as later the Catholic clergy had to accuse of the same more than one innocent martyr. But Justin Martyr states on better authority that the men of his time who were not Jews asserted that the miracles of Jesus were performed by magical art - the very expression used by the skeptics of those days to designate the feats of thaumaturgy accomplished in the Pagan temples. "They even ventured to call him a magician and a deceiver of the people," complains the martyr. In the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Jews bring the same accusation before Pilate: "Did we not tell thee he was a magician?" Celeus speaks of the same charge, and as a Neo-platonist believes in it. The Talmudic literature is full of the most minute particulars, and their greatest accusation is that "Jesus could fly as easily in the air as others could walk." St. Austin asserted that it was generally believed that he had been initiated in Egypt, and that he wrote books concerning magic, which he delivered to John.

     There was a work called Magia Jesu Christi, which was attributed to Jesus** himself. In the Clementine Recognitions the charge is brought against Jesus that he did not perform his miracles as a Jewish prophet but as a magician, i. e., an initiate of the "occult" temples.

     It was usual then, as it is now, among the intolerant clergy of opposing religions, as well as among the lower classes of society, and even among those patricians who, for various reasons, had been excluded from any participation in the Occult Mysteries, to accuse, sometimes, the highest Hierophants and Adepts of sorcery and black magic. So Apuleius, who had been initiated, was likewise accused of witchcraft, and of carrying about him the figure of a skeleton - a potent agent, as it is asserted, in the operations of the black art. But one of the best and most unquestionable proofs of my assertion may be found in the so-called Museo Gregoriano. On the sarcophagus, which is panelled with bas-reliefs representing the miracles of Christ,*** may be seen the full figure of Jesus, who, in the resurrection of Lazarus, appears beardless "and equipped with a magic wand in the received guise of a necromancer (?) whilst the corpse of Lazarus is swathed in bandages exactly as an Egyptian mummy."

Had posterity been enabled to have several such representations executed during the first century when the figure, dress, and every-day habits of Jesus, the Nazarene Reformer, were still fresh in the memory of his contemporaries, perhaps the Christian world would be more Christ-like; the dozens of contradictory, groundless, and utterly meaningless speculations about the "Son of God" would have been impossible; and humanity would now have but one religion and one God. It is this absence of all proof, the lack of the least positive clew about him, whom Christianity has deified, that has caused the present state of perplexity. No pictures of Christ were posssible until after the days of Constantine, when the Jewish element was nearly eliminated among the followers of the new religion. The Jews, apostles, and disciples, whom the Zoroastrians and the Parsees and inoculated with a holy horror of any form of images, would have considered it a sacrilegious blasphemy to represent in any way or shape, their master. The only authorized image of Jesus, even in the days of Tertullian, was an allegorical representation of the "Good Shepard", which was no portrait, but the figure of a man with a jackal-head, like Anubis. On this gem, as seen in the collection of Gnostic amulets, the Good Shepherd bears upon his shoulders the losst lamb. He seems to have a human head upon his neck; but, as King correctly observes, "it only seems so to the uninitiated eye."

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* I believe that it was the Sadducees and not the Pharisees who crucified Jesus. They were Zadokites - partisans of the house of Zadok, or the sacerdotal family. In the "Acts" the apostles were said to be persecuted by the Sadducees, but never by the Pharisees. In fact, the latter never persecuted any one. They had the scribes, rabbis, and learned men in their numbers, and were not, like the Sadducees, jealous of their order.
** Cf. "August de Consans, Evang.", i. 9; Fabric. ; "Cod. Ap. N. T.,", p. 305, ff.
*** King's "Gnostics," p. 145 ; the author places this sarcophagus among the earliest productions of that art which inundated later the world with mosaics and engravings, representing the events and personages of the "New Testament."

END OF PART THREE

JESUS, THE NAZARENE REFORMER - PART TWO by L. W. de Laurence

From: 1948 - De Laurence's Catalog of Books on Occultism - Magic - Mysticism - Religion - The Cabala - Yoga - Astrology and all related subjects - Occult Students' Equipment - Talismanic and Symbolic Jewelry

L. W. de Laurence

Mystic and Master Occultist, de Laurence is world-famous as an Adept of the Highest Rank. His lifelong study of religious thought and emotion have brought him recognition and renown while his humanistic and sympathetic insight have endeared his name to thousands. His works are everywhere and his name stands high on the roster of independent and intrepid thinkers of all time.

Part Two

"Because, it is given unto you to know the Mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given," was the reply, which was that of an initiate. "Therefore, I speak unto them in parables; because, they seeing, see not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand." Moreover, we find Jesus expressing his thoughts still clearer - and in sentences which are purely Pythagorean - when, during the Sermon on the Mount, he says:

"Give ye not that which is sacred to the dogs,
Neither cast ye your pearls before swine;
For the swine will tread them under their feet
And the dogs will turn and rend you."

     Professor A. Wilder, the editor of Taylor's Eleusinian Mysteries, observes "a like disposition on the part of Jesus and Paul to classify their doctrines as esoteric and exoteric, the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God 'for the apostles,' and 'parables' for the multitude. 'We speak wisdom,' says Paul, 'among them that are perfect' (or initiated)."

     In the Eleusinian and other Mysteries the participants were always divided into two classes, the newphytes and the perfect. The former were sometimes admitted to the preliminary initiation: the dramatic performance of Ceres, or the soul, descending to Hades.* But it was given only to the 'Perfect" to enjoy and learn the Mysteries of the divine Elysium, the celestial abode of the blessed; this Elysium being unquestionably the same as the "kingdom of Heaven." To contradict or reject the above, would be merely to shut one's eyes to the truth.

     The narrative of the Apostle Paul, in his second Epistle to the Corinthians (xii. 3, 4), has struck several scholars, well versed in the descriptions of the mystical rites of the initiation given by some classics, as alluding most undoubtedly to the final Epopteia.

     "I knew a certain man - whether in body or outside of body. I know not: God knoweth - who was rapt into Paradise, and heard things ineffable which it is not lawful for a man to repeat." These words have rarely, so far as I know, been regarded by commentators as an allusion to the beautific visions of an "initiated" seer. But the phraseology is unequivocal. These things "which it is not lawful to repeat," are hinted at in the same words, and the reason for it assigned,  is the same as that which we find repeatedly expressed by Plato, Proclus, Iamblichus, Herodotus, and other classics. "We speak WISDOM only among them who are PERFECT," says Paul; the plain and undeniable translation of the sentence being: "We speak of the profound (or final) esoteric doctrines of the Mysteries (which were denominated wisdom) only among them who are initiated."** So in relation to the "man who was rapt into Paradise" - and who was evidently Paul himself*** - the Christian word Paradise having replaced that of Elysium. To complete the proof, I might recall the words of Plato, which show that before an initiate could see the gods in their purest light, he had to become liberated from his material body; i. e., to separate his astral body from it. Apuleius also describes his initiation into the Mysteries in the same way:

     "I approached the confines of death; and, having trodden on the threshold of Proserpina, returned, having been carried through all the elements. In the depths of midnight, I saw the sun glittering with a splendid light, together with the infernal and supernal gods, and to these divinities approaching, I paid the tribute of devout adoration."

    Thus, in common with Pythagoras and other hierophant reformers, Jesus divided his teachings into exoteric and esoteric. Following faithfully the Pythagoreo-Essenean ways, he never sat at a meal without saying "grace." "The priest prays before his meal," says Josephus describing the Essenes. Jesus also divided his followers into "neophytes," "brethren," and the "Perfect," if we may judge from the difference he made between them. But his career at least as a public Rabbi, was of too short duration to allow him to establish a regular school of his own; and with the exception, perhaps, of John, it does not seem that he had initiated any other apostle. The Gnostic amulets and talismans are mostly the emblems of the apocalyptic allegories. The "seven vowels" are closely related to the "seven seals"; and the mystic title Abraxas, partakes as much of the composition of Shem Hamphirosh, "the holy word," or ineffable name, as the name called: The word of God, that, "no man knew but he himself," as John expresses it.

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* This descent to Hades signified the inevitable fate of each soul to be united for a time with a terrestrial body. This union, or dark prospect for the soul to find itself imprisoned within the dark tenement of a body, was considered by all the ancient philosophers and is even by the modern Buddhists, as a punishment.

** "The profound or esoteric doctrines of the ancients were denominated wisdom, and afterward philosophy, and also the Gnosis, or knowledge. They related to the human soul, its divine parentage, its supposed degradation from its high estate by becoming connected with "generation" or the physical world, its onward progress and restoration to God by regeneration or... transmigrations." Ibid, p. 2, footnote.

*** Cyril of Jerusalem asserts it. See vi. 10.

END OF PART TWO

JESUS, THE NAZARENE REFORMER - PART ONE by L. W. de Laurence

From: 1948 - De Laurence's Catalog of Books on Occultism - Magic - Mysticism - Religion - The Cabala - Yoga - Astrology and all related subjects - Occult Students' Equipment - Talismanic and Symbolic Jewelry

L. W. de Laurence

Mystic and Master Occultist, de Laurence is world-famous as an Adept of the Highest Rank. His lifelong study of religious thought and emotion have brought him recognition and renown while his humanistic and sympathetic insight have endeared his name to thousands. His works are everywhere and his name stands high on the roster of independent and intrepid thinkers of all time.

Part One

"Give ye not that which is sacred to the dogs,

Neither cast ye your pearls before swine;

For the swine will tread them under their feet

And the dogs will turn and rend you."

(Extract from The Sermon on the Mount.)

FTER nineteen centuries of enforced eliminations from the canonical* books, of the Bible, of every sentence which might put the investigator on the true path, it has become very difficult to show, to the satisfaction of exact science, that the "Pagan" worshippers of Adonis, their neighbors, the Nazarenes and the Pythagorean Essenes, the healing Therapeutes, the Ebionites, and other sects were all, with very slight differences, followers of the ancient Theurgic Mysteries. And yet by analogy and a close study of the hidden sense of their rites and customs, we can trace their kinship.

     It was given to a contemporary of Jesus to become the means of pointing out to posterity, by his interpretation of the oldest literature of Israel, how deeply the kabalistic philosophy agreed in its esoterism with that of the profoundest Greek thinkers. This contemporary, and ardent disciple of Plato and Aristotle, was Philo Judaeus. While explaining the Mosaic books according to a purely kabalistic method, he is the famous Hebrew writer whom Kingsley calls the Father of New Platonism.

     It is evident that Philo Judaeus' Therpeutes are a branch of the Essenes.**

     Their name indicates it - Asaya, Physician. Hence, the contradictions, forgeries, and other desperate expedience to reconcile the prophecies of the Jewish canon with the Galilean nativity and godship.

     Luke, who was a physician, is designated in the Syriac texts as Asaia, the Essaian or Essene. Josephus and Philo Judaeus have sufficiently described this sect to leave no doubt in my mind that Jesus, the Nazarene Reformer, after having received his education in their dwellings in the desert, and been duly initiated in the Mysteries, preferred the free and independent life of a wandering Nazaria, and so separated or inazarenized himself from them, thus becoming a traveling Therapeute, a Nazaria, a healer. Every Therapeute, before quitting his community, had to do the same. Both Jesus and St. John the Baptist preached the end of the age;*** which proves their knowledge of the secret computation of the priests and kabalists, who with the chiefs of the Essene communities alone had the secret of the duration of the cycles. The latter were kabalists and theurgists; "they had their mystic books, and predicted future events."

Dunlap, whose personal researches seem to have been quite successful in that direction traces the Essenes, Nazarenes, Dositheans, and some other sects as having all existed before Christ: "They rejected pleasures, despised riches, loved one another, and more than other sects, neglected wedlock, deeming the conquest of the passions to be virtuous."

These are all virtues preached by Jesus; and if we are to take the gospels as a standard of truth, Christ was a metempsychosist, "or re-incarnationist" -again like these same asserts that the Samian philosopher spent a certain time at Carmel with them.****

     In his discourses and sermons, Jesus always spoke in parables and used metaphors with his audience. This habit was again that of the Essenians and the Nazarenes; the Galileans who dwelt in cities and villages were never known to use such allegorical language. Indeed, some of his disciples being Galileans as well as himself, felt even surprised to find him using with the people such a form of expression. "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?"***** they often inquired.

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*Canonical books or Scriptures, those writings or books of the Bible accepted by the Church as genuine and inspired. The Roman Catholic Church receives as canonical some of the books styled Apocryphal by other Churches.

**Es-sene. One of an ascetic party or sect of the Jews, formed about the 2nd Century before the Christian era, and existing till the fall of Jerusalem. They practiced voluntary poverty, had community of goods, sought higher degrees of holiness, and were mostly celibates. Josephus("Antiquities" xiii) speaks of the Essenes as a sect which had existed in the time of the Maccabees. K.Kohler in Jew. Encyc., Vol. V, p. 228 (F. W. Co. 1903).

***The real meaning of the division into ages is esoteric and Buddhistic. So little did the uninitiated Christians understand it that they accepted the words of Jesus literally and firmly believed that he meant the end of the world. There had been many prophecies about the forthcoming age. Virgil, in the fourth Eclogue, mentions the Metatron - a new offspring, with whom the iron age shall end and a golden one arise.

****"Vit. Pythag." Munk derives the name of the Iessaens or Essenes from the Syriac Asaya - the healers, or physicians, thus showing their identity with the Egyptian Therapeutae. "Palestine," p. 515.

*****Matthew xiii, 10.

END OF PART ONE

EPISTLE TO THE DISCIPLE by L. W. de Laurence

From: 1948 - De Laurence's Catalog of Books on Occultism - Magic - Mysticism - Religion - The Cabala - Yoga - Astrology and all related subjects - Occult Students' Equipment - Talismanic and Symbolic Jewelry

L. W. de Laurence

Mystic and Master Occultist, de Laurence is world-famous as an Adept of the Highest Rank. His lifelong study of religious thought and emotion have brought him recognition and renown while his humanistic and sympathetic insight have endeared his name to thousands. His works are everywhere and his name stands high on the roster of independent and intrepid thinkers of all time.

EPISTLE TO THE DISCIPLE

BY  de LAURENCE

"Thou, O, Disciple! whose mind is high,
"Observe my words, and read them with thine eye (spiritual);
"These Magic secrets in thy sacred breast repone,
"And in thy journey think of God alone'
"The Author of all things, that connot die'
"Of whom I now shall speak----"

     I tell thee here, Disciple, to observe my words, and read them with thine eye, that is, the eye of thine understanding; for, know, there are many that hear me speak, and, pretend to study my writings, that read not the meaning of my words.

     Wherefore shouldst thou contemplate these mysteries, of which, the good books on the subject of Magic, listed in this Great Catalogue teach, with so much constancy of mind, if thou didst not perceive in these works some great good most desirable? -- Listen, then, O young man, or young woman, and hear my words! Study my works; for they will show thee the dangerous precipice of vanity and head-long desire -- The teachings, contained in my books will describe to thee the stubborn and fatal will of thy passions, even with tears of contrition, and heartfelt compassion for thy experience -- I will lead thee, as it were, by the hand, through the labyrinths of vice, wherewith thou art daily surrounded; and, however prejudiced thou mightest be against the receiving of my doctrine, yet be assured, these teachings have in their possession the Magical virtue and power of binding thee to the principles taught therein, and making thee happy, in spite of thyself.

    Here is a great secret! thou shalt say -- every man and woman wishes to be happy - which I grant; but my answer is - most people prevent their own happiness; they destroy it, by suffering themselves to be governed by the outward principle of the flesh, thinking the greatest good to be in the satisfying - of their carnal appetites, or in the amassing together heaps of wealth, whereby they thrust down the meek and poor, raising up the standards of Pride, Envy, and Oppression. These things every day's experience confirms; nay, there are some so blind, that, in the possession of much wealth, they think there is nothing beyond it; insomuch, that they triumph in lust, oppression, revenge, and conumely. But how is it, thou wilt say, that seeing man is a reasonable being, he can possibly give up his government so easily? - I say, when man suffers the unreasonable and bestial part to deprave him, then he immediately becomes a slave, (and the vilest of slavery is that which deprives man of his social virtues;) for then, although in the possession of great worldly things, such as houses, estates, and all other temporal gifts, yet he becomes an immediate instrument to the Evil Astral Spirits and the Powers of Darkness, seeing that those riches he inherits are merely given him in this life, to bestow upon others those necessaries and comforts which he himself does not feel the want of, and by which he might, if not blinded by his passions and lusts, secure himself an eternal and incorruptible treasure. But he who possesses treasures without mercy, liberality, bounty, charity, & robs the Eternal Author of all good, of the honor due unto him, and is working destruction to his own soul; his riches, instead of benefiting himself and others, eventually and finally terminate as a curse; while he lives here he is a scourge to society; and, after he leaves this, it is plain enough pointed out in my writings what will be his situation and condition.

    Therefore, thou young man, or young woman that hast but a few years to live, study how to attain the stone I teach of; it will protract the beauty of thy youth, though thou shouldst live for centuries - it will ever supply thee with the means of comforting the afflicted; insomuch, that when thou hast attained this truly desirable and most perfect talisman, thy life become soft and pleasant; no cares, nor corroding pangs - no self-torment will ever invade thy mind; neither shalt thou want the means to be happy, in respect of the possession of the goods of this life but thou shalt have abundantly. But how and from what source, all this is to proceed - out of what thing or matter thou shalt attain thy wished-for end - the studying of Sacred Magic will sufficiently shew.

                                                                 Thy Friend And Brother In Magic,

                                                                  L. W. de Laurence

GET YOUR LIFE BACK... IT'S TIME ALREADY...

© 2015 - Reprinted with permission from Shining Lotus Metaphysical Bookstore newsletter September 2015

by Mario C. Veo

Have you ever questioned Why you do what you do?... what drives you to respond or be this way...? Some would say that it's your upbringing, your education, your social background or the way you got 'trained' or programmed. To some extent all this does have an influence, but a very small one... you see, there is a much, much greater influence... and it's in you.

The truth is threefold -

Within you are a number of different Archetype Energies each competing to push you one way or another, to guide you to see the world in a specific manner, and respond to it accordingly... some people are driven by the Eternal Optimist, seeing opportunities everywhere, while others seek to comfort everyone, embracing their Mother Archetype... each behaving according to these drives, and happily embracing their function. Archetypes are central to our Consciousness, and interpret the World accordingly... they teach us the Role we are to play in Life, and give us meaning and satisfaction. In the best case these multiple Aspects within us are compatible, and cooperate with each other... unfortunately, the opposite is too often true... enter the Inner Child.

The Inner Child is that playful, innocent, bouncy part of you that is quick to smile and laugh, and wants everyone to be happy. Unfortunately it is also that part which can be too trusting, too vulnerable, and far too easily wounded by our harsh reality... it is this dichotomy which adds to conflicting Archetypes - if you are a Care-Taker Archetype, who takes care of your Inner Child... if born in a dysfunctional family, how can you laugh and play and have everyone be happy... now Life and the future don't have a strong foundation from which to grow and prosper...

Enter the Wounded Self - that 'coping mechanism' which teaches us how to 'shut-off' a part of us, so the rest can get on with what's left of Life... except that this Wounded Self doesn't quite trust anyone or anything, and actually can be an active Saboteur, able to undermine even that which you most yearn for...

It's quite a trip, right...!?

So here you sit, wondering just which part of you is running your Life... and what can you possibly do to create more Peace, more Harmony, more Rewards, how can you get back your Happy Self...?!? The good news is - you most definitely can!... all you need do is meet with your Archetypes, engage them in a cooperative Truce, nurture and reassure your Inner Child, and heal you Wounded Self... all in a day's work!

No, I'm not being funny... it's quite doable... but if you need help we've created a new Series of Workshops to give you more insight and instructions. We have a 3 month program which can either be taken together... or, if you are only interested in one section, you can just do that one.

We meet every Saturday, from 11 to 12:30 - starting in September we will investigate Archetypes, their Role and Function, and how they affect us... in October, we'll take a closer look at the Inner Child - its strengths, purpose and weaknesses... in November, we'll explore the Wounded Self and - finally - how to heal and balance it all.

So, what do you say... are you ready for the most transformative, empowering trip of your Life...?

Mario C. Veo is a teacher of Spiritual Science and a Healing Arts Practitioner. He teaches classes and individuals on Personal Transformation and the Expansion of Consciousness. Mario is available for personal guidance and consultations on Tuesday afternoons at the Shining Lotus™ Bookstore.

WHO ARE YOU REALLY...&, WHAT PLEASES YOU...!?

© 2015 - Reprinted with permission from Shining Lotus Metaphysical Bookstore newsletter September 2015

by Mario C. Veo

We all think that we know Who we are, when in fact what we really 'know' is simply what 'pleases' us! Most of the time we live and act from an Emotional Center - we buy the ice cream we like, the cereal that we are more familiar with, drive the car that best 'appeals' to us, even get the job that closest meets our needs... and settle for friends and lovers that... well, let's just say that 'you get what you think you can get'... Now, some of you will say that there is nothing wrong with that... and you'll be 'right'... if... you believe that "close enough is good enough".

No, this is not me - once again - trying to be funny (or simply contrary), I truly believe that most of us lower our expectations, that we accept 'that which is easiest... or close enough' rather than spend the time going deeper and deeper within, always searching for a better understanding of Who we really are, firmly believing that we deserve the very best... and that good enough simply doesn't cut it!

So, you like vanilla... does this prevent you from exploring other flavors, or even considering that there could be some other exceptional flavor that will knock your socks off? How will you know if you don't allow yourself to even consider the possibility...?

You see, Life is not static - it's continually growing and evolving, blossoming in many unexpected and wonderful ways, discovering and offering new and greater insights... and so should we grow and discover more about ourselves. What might have been acceptable yesterday, may well turn out to be just a stepping stone to an amazing new beginning. How will you know, if you don't go and look (after all, 'safety' sounds too much like 'humdrum compliance')?

So yes, I'm saying that, at best, we only know about our simple pleasures... and totally ignore that magnificent self that has been waiting for you to notice it... (just imagine how much fun you'll have when you do!)

This month's classes are dedicated to our Self Discovery - from examining our unconscious resistance to Changes... to our Karmas and struggles, and rediscovering our Loving Self... and even how to open up our Third Eye (just so you can get a better look at the glorious Creation that awaits).

...and just one last word - I do like vanilla... but chocolate is much, much more fun... (but then, I like fun!!)

Mario C. Veo is a teacher of Spiritual Science and a Healing Arts Practitioner. He teaches classes and individuals on Personal Transformation and the Expansion of Consciousness. Mario is available for personal guidance and consultations on Tuesday afternoons at the Shining Lotus™ Bookstore.