The Golden Star

VISION 7

The Symbol of the Cross

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“The four arms of the decussated cross, and of the Hermetic cross, pointing to the four cardinal points, which, by bending the ends of the cross turns it into the Swastika, presents one of the earliest symbols of the Aryan Races. The Swastika implies that the central point is not limited to one individual, however perfect. It further tells us that The Principle (God) is in Humanity and that Humanity is in IT, as well as all other beings and things which have existence; dwelling within God as drops within the ocean; the four ends, which point towards the four cardinal points, lose themselves in infinity, and the bending of these ends point to the cycles of reincarnation which the human mind must undergo before it can lose itself, or be projected into the mind’s conception of infinity, Heaven, or God.

“The riddle of this cross is contained within these two sentences from the Smaragdine Tablet of Hermes: ‘Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross . . . Ascend with the greatest sagacity from the earth to heaven, and then descend again to the earth.’ Thus the Swastika cross becomes a circle, containing the cross, and we see at once that it has become the astronomical cross of Egypt, the circle containing the Tau in double
aspect and joined together; one of the stems pointing downward, the other upward. The separation of earth from fire, and the subtle from the gross, means the separation of the vital spark and the mind from the mortal, material body, after which they ‘ascend’ from earth to ‘heaven’; and descend back again after a while to earth into the next incarnation. The Tau in its perfect form shows the perpendicular descending male ray, and the horizontal line of matter shows the female principle; whilst the circle above the horizontal line completes the three attributes of Isis, and is the glyph of the Sacred Egg.

“The so-called Christian Cross is of much more ancient origin, and we find Ezekiel stamping the foreheads of the men of Judah, who feared the Lord, with the Signum Thau, as it is translated in the Vulgate. The ancient Hebrews used the sign in this form, and in the Egyptian hieroglyphics it appears in the usual Christian form, and it is called TAT, the emblem of stability. It appears in Revelation where the Alpha and the Omega, or Spirit and Matter , the first and last—spirit being before matter—stamps the name of his Father on the foreheads of the elect.

“When Moses ordered his people to mark their doorposts with blood, in order to distinguish them from the doomed Egyptians, they used the mark of the Tau for that purpose, the identical Egyptian handled cross, with the half of which talisman Horus raised the dead, as can be seen on a sculptured ruin at Philae. The Swastika and the Tau are found everywhere; they can be seen on the statues of Easter Island, in old Egypt, in Central Asia, and in pre-Christian Scandinavia.

“In Numbers 25:4 you can read: ‘Crucify them before the Lord against the Sun.’

“To crucify before (and not against) the Sun is a phrase used in the Initiations of ancient Egypt and India, where the Initiated Adept, after he has successfully passed all the Trials in the Mysteries of Initiation, is attached, or bound, not nailed, onto a couch in the form of a Tau

“There he remained in this state for three days and three nights, during which time his spiritual Self was said to ‘confabulate’ with the ‘Gods,’ descend into Hades, Amenti, or Pâtâla, all according to the country in which the Initiation took place, and serve and perform acts of charity to the invisible Beings in these Worlds, whilst his body remained on the Tau in a Temple crypt, or subterranean cave; or, as in Egypt, when it was placed in the Sarcophagus in the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid, and carried during the night of the approaching third day to the entrance gallery. Here the beams of the rising Sun struck full on the face of the entranced Candidate at the appointed hour, when he awoke to be initiated by Osiris and Thoth, the God of Wisdom, by means of the sacramental words uttered by the Hierophant-Initiators; words spoken ostensibly to the Sun—Osiris, but in reality to the Spirit-Sun within, to enlighten the newly born man.

“The Universal Soul, the material reflection of the material Ideal, is the source of life of all beings and life-principle of the three Kingdoms. This was ‘septenary’ with the Hermetic Philosophers and with all the ancient Sages; being represented as a sevenfold cross, the branches of which stand for light, heat, electricity, terrestrial magnetism, astral radiation, motion and intelligence, or consciousness of Self.

“The sign of the cross was used as a mark of recognition among Adepts and Neophytes long before Christianity adopted it, and the Neophytes were called ‘Chrests.’

“The sign of the cross employed kabalistically, represents the opposition and quaternary equilibrium of the elements.

“When the Initiate or Priest made the sign of the cross, he placed his hand against his forehead and said: ‘To thee belong,’ then he carried his hand to his breast and added: ‘the kingdom,’ then to the left shoulder: ‘Justice,’ then to the right shoulder: ‘and Mercy.’ Then he joined the hands and said: ‘Throughout the generating cycles—Tibi sunt Malchut et Geburah et Chesed per Æonas.’ The other version was given to the neophytes and the vulgar, who were not aware of the first formula.

“The initiation in which the cross was used to lay the aspirant upon was known in South America by the early races living there. Carvings have been discovered there on the crest walls of the mountains, where in a series of drawings the form of a man springs from a cross and vice versa, so that the man can be either taken to be the cross, or the cross to be the man.

“There is also a form of initiation in which a huge golden cross appears in a vision, which cross slowly turns around and reveals the upright form of a black elemental in the form of a man with arms spread wide. He bows to the initiate and silently awaits his commands. This is a test; for if he will, the initiate can command the elemental form to perform certain duties and obey his orders. If he does so, he is in great danger at once, but if he remains silent the form will fade away and the danger is past.

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