Moreover, it is worth noting in this connection that the Hebraic doctrine speaks of a ‘dew of light’ emanating
And we should add that Melek, ‘king’, and Malak, ‘angel’ or ‘messenger’, are really two forms of one and the same word; and in addition, Malaki, ‘my messenger’ (that is, the messenger of God, or the ‘angel in whom God dwells’, Malak ha-Elohim), is an anagram of Mikaël.
According to Saint Hippolytus, ‘the Messiah and the Antichrist both have the lion for their emblem,’19 and it, too, is a solar symbol; and the same could be said of the serpent20 and of many other symbols.
- Besides, there is a great difference of meaning between ‘the World’ and ‘this world’, so much so that in certain languages two entirely distinct terms are used to designate them: thus, in Arabic ‘the World’ is al-’ālam, while ‘this world’ is addunyā. 2. The Gospels themselves quite explicitly declare moreover that what is in question is not peace as understood by the profane world (John 14:27). 3. La Kabbale juive, VI, p503.
4 The Three Supreme Functions
It is important to note that these terms, in Sanskrit, properly denote principles, and that they cannot be applied to human beings except insofar as they represent these principles, so that, even in such cases, they are attached essentially to functions and not to individualities.
‘As he comes forth from the temple,’ writes Ossendowski, ‘the King of the World radiates Divine Light.’
The King of the World [said a Lama to Ossendowski] is in contact with the thoughts of all the men who influence the lot and life of all humankind… He realizes all their thoughts and plans. If these be pleasing before God, the King of the World will invisibly help them; if they are unpleasant in the sight of God, the King will bring them to destruction. This power is given to Agharti by the mysterious science of Om, with which we begin all our prayers.
‘This one is the Lord of all; this one is the Omniscient [who sees at once all effects in their cause]; this one is the inner Director of all [who resides at the center of the world and governs it from within, directing its movement without participating in it]; this one is the Source of all [legitimate power]; this one is verily the place of origin and dissolution of all beings [of the cyclical manifestation whose Law he represents].’12
The Mahānga offers gold to Christ and hails him as ‘King’; the Mahātmā offers incense and hails him as ‘Priest’; and finally the Brahātmā, hailing him as ‘Prophet’, or Spiritual Master par excellence, offers myrrh (the balm of incorruptibility, symbol of Amrita).14
the Dalai Lama, ‘realizing the saintliness [or pure spirituality] of Buddha’; the Tashi-Lama, ‘realizing his science’ [not ‘magic’ as he appears to think but, rather, ‘theurgy’]; and the Bogdo-Khan, ‘representing his material and warlike strength’—exactly the same distribution according
divisions of time, ends by saying that ‘the highest circle, and the one nearest to the mysterious center, is composed of twelve parts, which represent the supreme initiation and correspond to the zodiac, among other things.’
just as all particular traditions are finally only adaptations of the great, primordial tradition.
5 Symbolism Of The Grail
amounts to the loss of tradition, along with all that it conveys; but in fact it is more true to say that the tradition is hidden rather than lost, or at least that it can be lost only to certain secondary spiritual centers that have ceased to maintain a direct contact with the supreme center.
‘touches the lunar sphere’, that is, lies beyond the domain of change (the sublunary world), at the meeting-point of the Earth and the Heavens.
Returning to the Grail itself, we can easily see that its primary significance is basically the same as that of the sacred vase, wherever it is found, and which, notably in the East, is that of the sacrificial vessel that originally held the Vedic Soma or Mazdean Haoma, the ‘draught of immortality’ that bestows upon or restores to those who take it with the requisite disposition, the ‘sense of eternity’. A
- Concerning this ‘primordial’ or ‘edenic’ state, see The Esoterism of Dante, chaps. 6 and 8, and Man and His Becoming according to the Vedānta, chap. 23.
6 MELKI-TSEDEQ EASTERN traditions relate that at a certain time the Soma became unknown, so that in sacrificial rites it was necessary to substitute for it another beverage that was no more than a symbol of the original;1 this was the role played principally by wine, to which a large part of the Greek legend of Dionysos is devoted. Now wine is often taken to represent the authentic initiatic tradition. In Hebrew the words yayin, ‘wine’, and sod, ‘mystery’, share the same number3 and are thus interchangeable, and among the Sufis, wine symbolizes esoteric knowledge, that is, the doctrine reserved for the elite and not suitable for everyone, just as everyone cannot drink wine with impunity.
Near Luz there is purported to be an almond tree (also called luz in Hebrew), at the base of which is a hollow through which one enters an underground passage;5 this passage leads to the city itself, which remains completely hidden. Moreover, in its various meanings the word luz appears to be derived from a root denoting everything that is hidden, covered, enveloped, silent, and secret; and it is interesting to note that words designating the heavens originally had the same meaning.