LESSON XIII.
THE WATERY TRIPLICITY.
♋ ♏
♓, OR VANQUISHING.
As the mists and the shadows of the battlefield clear away the warrior pauses, and from his height views the mighty field of conflict and weighs and considers the results from the twelve mansions of his dominion. Each has been penetrated and the fruits gathered and garnered and he has partaken thereof. The illusions and delusions of the battlefield have been perceived and their nothingness realized, and the warrior has now to vanquish them by the laws he has learned in watching, listening, patient and cautious advancement and reconnoitering, aspiring while attacking, and in his engagements in battle.
He has plenty of time to reflect while the atmosphere is clearing. His journey has led him to the last rung of the exoteric ladder.
The mists of seeming and sense begin to pass away, all preconceptions have vanished, he has climbed the exoteric ladder, and now he is about to face the realms of realities and to place his foot upon the first rung of the esoteric ladder.
Has he been released from all exoteric burdens, his bundles of loves, of hates, of revenge, of false conceptions and conclusions that were drawn from the realm of effects and dropped by the wayside? These are the mists and shadows of the battlefield, that have clung so tenaciously to the warrior’s outward self.
What are the considerations of his reflections?
Knowledge has been his lot and portion, and he is now fitted to proclaim his kingship, his queen by his side, the equilibrium gained, the fight for freedom won.
Having triumphantly conquered all upon the field of warfare and conflict he rests, to behold his victories’ trophies. The law of contradictories and correspondences guides him in judging of results, in drawing conclusions from being able to see both ends of his simple staff that he started out with. Cause rests upon one end and effects upon the other. Both lie within his grasp, and are obedient to all commands.
The last external life of the embodied human soul has been experienced, the lessons learned, the fruits of good and evil partaken of and fully accepted as the Divine Fiat of God; “Man, know thyself, and thus know thy God.”
As the warrior steps from the last rung of the exoteric onto the first rung of the esoteric ladder his works do follow him, and these will constitute the enemies and friends of the new battle ground in another sphere. But when he consciously realizes which are the illusions and delusions, that which is mortal from the immortal, the seeming from the real, then all foes are put to Right and he henceforth dwells in the land of realities.
The mists of the battlefield having passed away, the country lies exposed to the scanning eye of its king. He looks upon his works. It calls forth the resolute courage of a well-trained, unfaltering will to behold and to hold in check the emotions of awe, consternation, sadness and joy that would fill his heart.
His own creations stand at his feet. The children created, born and reared in matter appeal to his care.
Can his soul fly from its own creations, whether of good or evil? No. And while some may be beautiful, encouraging and divinely inspiring, others will prove rebellious, and cling as a millstone about his neck, impeding his progress in his spiral Mazy Wheel of Necessity.
Vanquishing is the next step, the spirals have become large and expansive, taking in a vast domain, for he has not been a slothful warrior. His days of traveling have been filled with an unceasing activity that grew and broadened as he journeyed. He chose to know as he proceeded, and knowledge gained expands the field of vision, investigations and creations.
Now his domains have become a mighty kingdom. His aspirations set his mark high. The Pole-Star of Truth is his goal, and that star stands in the center of his empire, and when each spiral of the exoteric ladder has been traversed with but one motive, and that motive Truth, he can view, from the outward circle, or spiral of his ladder, the center.
This Pole-Star, which illumines the whole field of battle, exposes to the esoteric vision his possessions. Is it as he would wish? If it were so, vanquishing would not be necessary.
We have followed him thus far. The veil is drawn to other eyes than his own.
What his visions are we cannot see; but, taking courage, we can begin to prepare to enter on an investigating tour of our own country, and learn its circumference, the health of its soil and the products that may belong to it.
The Pole-Star of Love is in the center, filled with the radiance that can only be seen by climbing, and thus obtain “the glory forever and ever. Amen.”