The Golden Star

VISION 7

The Symbol of the Cross

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“In the Chaldean Book of Numbers it is the ‘Worker’s Hammer’; it is the ‘Hammer’ in the Book of Concealed Mystery, which striketh sparks from the flint—or Space—and these Sparks become Worlds. It is Thor’s hammer, a magic weapon forged by the Dwarfs against the Giants, or the Pre-Cosmic Titanic Forces of Nature.

“It is at one and the same time an Alchemical, Cosmogonical, Anthropological, and Magical Sign; with seven keys to its meaning.

“Applied to the microcosm, Man, it shows him to be a link between Heaven and Earth, the right hand pointing to heaven, the left pointing to earth. It is the key to the cycle of science, divine and human; and he who comprehends its meaning fully is for ever liberated from the toils of the great Illusion, whilst the light that shines from under it is sufficient to dissipate the darkness of any human schemes and fictions.

“To the esoteric as well as the exoteric learned Oriental, it means the ‘ten-thousand Truths,’ which belong to the mysteries of the Unseen Universe and the Primordial Cosmogony and Theogony.

“In Tibet and Mongolia it is found on the heart of the images and statues of Buddha, and it is always placed on the breast of the defunct Mystics—as the ansated cross was so placed in ancient Egypt.

“There are two types of Swastika, and variations of same in design and position, etc. The one we are concerned with now is formed as shown: with the upper arm pointing to the right. It is used in this form in all White Ceremonial Magic, Rites or Principles.

“But should it be reversed, with the upper arm pointing towards the left, the lower to the right, and so on, then it is an evil symbol. Any form of Swastika different from the ‘White’ type has to do with black and evil conditions and will bring disaster to the wearer or user.

“There are always two sides to all laws, as you know: good and bad; or positive and negative; and this applies to symbols as well as to everything else.

“In its perfect form the Swastika is used by the Occultists and Mystics of the ‘Right-Hand Path.’ It is the seal placed on the hearts of the living Initiates, and burnt into the flesh for ever with some, as a symbol and reminder that when they have learned the secrets of the ten-thousand perfections they must never reveal them to the unworthy.

“The septenary harmony of the cross in its so-called Christian form is analogous to the seven-piped flute of Pan, the emblem of the seven forces of Nature; to the seven planets; the seven rays that are reflected in the seven colours of the spectrum; the seven musical notes; in the golden Temple-Candlesticks of the Jews, with three sockets on one side and four on the other, making the number seven, the feminine number of generation; the six days of the week in Genesis, crowned by the seventh, which was used by itself as a base of circular measure.

“The circle, cross and seven are the first primordial symbols. Pythagoras and his followers regarded the number 7 as a compound of numbers 3 and 4, which they explained in a dual manner. To them the triangle was, as the first conception of the manifested Deity, its image: ‘Father–Mother–Son’; and the square, the perfect number, was the ideal root of all numbers and things on the material plane. But the square was of secondary perfection; having to do with the physical worlds, whereas the triangle, the Greek letter Delta Δ was the vehicle of the unknown God. This was proved even in the spelling of God’s name, Zeus, which was spelled Deus (Δευς) by the Boetians, thence the Deus of the Latins. This was the metaphysical conception of the number 7 in relation to the meaning of the septenary in the phenomenal world; but for purposes of profane or exoteric interpretation the symbolism was changed. The triangle, or the number 3, became the symbol of the three material elements—Air, Water, Earth; and the square, or the number 4, became the principle of all incorporeal and unseen things and conditions.

“But for themselves the Pythagoreans regarded the number 7 as a compound of 6 and 1, the Senary and the Unity, and it became the invisible centre, the Spirit of everything, as there exists no hexagonal body without a seventh property being found as the central point in it. This number 7, of which the cross is the symbol, and the cross the symbol of the number 7, has all the perfection of the unit—the number of numbers. For, as absolute unity is uncreated and impartite, hence number-less and no number can produce it, so is the seven; no digit contained within the Decad can beget or produce it.

“The Triangle with one of its points downwards is the symbol of the Moist Principle and Water, the first Element, in which Fire was present in a latent state; as into Water, or Chaos, the first seed of the Universe was thrown. The Triangle with one of its points upward is the symbol of Fire. When these two symbols are interlaced, they produce the so-called Solomon’s Seal—which it is not, nor ever was—and this symbol produces all the ten numbers. With a point in its centre, it is a sevenfold sign, or septenary; man, the cross, and so on. The two triangles show the presence of the Binary, or two; its triangles represent the number three; the two main triangles with the central point common to both yield the Quaternary, or four; the Quinary is traced by combination as a compound of two triangles and three sides to each triangle, making five; the six points represent the Senary, or number six; the complete sign itself is sevenfold, with its point in the centre, and therefore Septenary, which gives the number seven; this last number contains all others.

“When the Cube is unfolded and the Cross is formed it will be seen that the vertical stem, which is the male symbol, becomes a four-partitioned line; four being the female number, while the horizontal bar (the line of matter) becomes three-divisioned. This shows an apparent contradiction in terms, but, since the middle face of the unfolded cube is common to both the vertical stem and horizontal bar, it becomes neutral ground and belongs to neither, although both share it. The Male or Spirit stem therefore remains triadic, and the line of matter two-fold, and an even number, and therefore female. The central point is the point of the union of the male and female principles, or of Spirit and Matter: a symbol of creation. The numbers three and four, thus combined in the cross, give harmony to both and are the symbol of Nature’s creative forces, and the central point is Love Sublime, Love in its highest aspect, equal to the Love of God Himself, when that Love is purified in Service, Sacrifice and Devotion. Then it will blossom forth on that central point like a Divine Rose, and its perfume will ascend to Heaven, immaculate in its aroma of Sanctity, Benevolence and Dedication.

“And all Nature will rejoice, and its melodious Voice will sound in union with the Music of the Seven Planets, swinging along their orbits, each blending its own ringing triumphant note with those of the rest, in perfect diapason.

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