with the heart of the viper or the parts thereof, it immediately ceased to beat.
One cannot but be reminded at this point of the statement of Heraclitus to the
effect that souls are bound to bodies by moisture and that any structure possess
ing a humid vehicle may through this moisture bind a soul or energy to itself.
Having refuted the errors of all his predecessors, Sir Digby then advances the
strange theory of his own, namely. that the action of the heart is caused by
gravity, derived, in turn, from the gravity of the earth, closing his speculations
160 MAN-THE GRAND SYMBOL OF THE MYSTERIES
thereon by referring to the heart as a "furnace" or "cauldron" in which the blood is "boiled" and "spiritualized."
Mohammed received his flrst enlightenment in the cave on Mount Hira. It has already been noted that the WIOrd cave has occasionally been used to signify the heart. The most secret rituals of ancient initiation were performed in subterranean crypts, which were called "caverns of the Mysteries." In the Gothic rites, the final ceremony in which the new initiate was invested with the insignia of his order took place in a high, vaulted, cavernous chamber in the presence of the luminous statue of Balder the Beautiful-the Nordic Christ. In the midst of this vaulted compartment grew a tree of gold which bore jewels for blossoms and fruit. This is the tree of the Seven Logoi, the roots of which are in Eternity and the branches in Time. This golden tree was the seven-branched candlestick of the Tabernacle Mysteries of the Israel· ites. Josephus tells us that this candlestick represented the planets. so it is taking no liberty with tradition to interpret the lamps burning on the candlestick as typifying the Seven Glorious Ones who are the light of the world (micro cosm). Here also are the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus and the cave.dwelling Rishis of India-the seven original beings who in the mythology of Central America were the cave-born progenitors of the races.
In one of the Hermetic fragments, Hermes says that the Father sowed lives into the sphere of the world and "shut them up as in a cave." In his essay
ON THE CAVE OP THE NYMPHS,
Porphyry quotes Eubulus as authority that "Zoroaster was the first who consecrated, in the neighboring mountains of Persia, a spontaneously produced cave, florid and having fountains," and in a later place is described as having the zodiacal symbols about its walls. Here again is the Rosicrucian heart previously mentioned, with the signs of the zodiac about its dark wall. When the elements and climates are intimated, the Greek description corresponds exactly with the veils and elemental compart. ments set forth by Boehme. "Let; therefore," concludes Porphyry, "this present cavern be consecrated to souls, and among the more partial powers, to nymphs (souls in generation). that' preside over streams and fountains."In
ANACALYPSIS,
Godfrey Higgins inquires into the mystery of the Mer· cavah, which is interpreted by Maimonides as the chariot of Ezekiel. The CabaJists were most reticent in discussing the mystery of the Mercavah, declaring that only to those who had found God in their "hearts" was it permissible even to read aloud the names of the chapters concerned with the subject. Higgins ventured in where angels fear to tread. By analyzing the word, he discovered that it can be interpreted as a cave or circular vault sacred to Om. We believe the Heart Mystery to be definitely indicated by the entire vision of the Mercavah. In every way this would be consistent with the Rabbinical symbolism, for the heavenly throne is often described as "being in the midst of the world," and the radiant figure in the Mercavah is the Lord ofTHE HEART, THE SEAT OF LIFE 161 the World enthroned in the midst of the four elements and above them. In at least one of its interpretations, the Mercavah is the lower quaternary in man-the vehicle of the soul-even as in the alchemical symbolism the four elements are the
vahan,
or carrier, of the fifth (ether) ."The principal part in the human body, namely, the heart," writes Moses Maimonides in his
GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED,
"is in constant motion, and is the source of every motion noticed in the body: it rules over the other members, and communicates to them through its own pulsations the force required for their functions. The outermost sphere [Primum Mobile] by its motion rules in a similar way over all other parts of the universe, and supplies all things with their special properties. Every motiQJl in the universe has thus its origin in the motion of that sphere; and the soul of every animate being derives its origin from the soul of that same sphere." The heart is an epitome of the whole body. It, therefore, consists of an inner, middle, and outer part cor responding to the three great cavities of the body--cerebral. thoracic, and abdominal--as W;ell as to the three main divisions into mind, spirit, and body. In the heart, says the Secret Work, is the only manifested God. The two higher aspects of Divinity-Atman (consciousness) and Buddhi (intelligence) -are utterly invisible and beyond the limitations of generation. "The 'First Born'," saysTHE SECRET DOCTRINE,
"are theLIFE,
the heart and pulse." To some degree, therefore, the "being in the heart" is Shiva, the third and lowest aspect of Brahma-force, or mind. Shiva is the Lord of the pulse. the only direct manifestation of spirit in matter. The pulse has often been referred to as the heavenly breath and certain esoteric systems of time calculation are based upon the duration of the pulse beat. It is the rhythm of the Infinite. The pulse point also has been properly termed the drum of Shiva-the drum that beats the doom of every man. It is of this mystery that Sankaracharya writes when he says: "Unless Shiva be united to Shakti, he cannot produce even the tlutter of well-being." In Israel's Holy of Holies could be heard the soft flutter of angels' wings, the whisper and the rustling of the curtains, and in the midst the flame of the Covenant-God in His world. The beart, then, is not only the seat of the emotions so-called, but also high Olympus, for it is said that the mountain of the gods rises above the four elements until its peak is in ether. And there in the utter tranquillity of the fifth element the gods reside. This ether is not the ether of science but that "small ether" wherein is concealed a spirit so vast that the universe can scarcely contain it.\Proporlionum �11-rATIS
\
in Ptu.SIBl.LS&ala.
.
'
,- . - --
-From Collectio Opcrum.
CHAPTER XII