We have looked at four stages of human development through a series of diagrams. One represented a nominal person, and the other four were grades of officers in the Catholic church. Reference was made to the fact that these stages of awakening represented stages along the path travelled by a seeker after the truth. The ritual surrounding these ordinations had a very deep and powerful occult significance, one that was most likely to be obscure to the catholic participants. Diagram H represents someone who has a connection with Christ on Plane 43, but this is not the end of the story.
This last diagram represents what is known as the Perfect Man, which is not only linked with Christ and his own Highest Self, the Monad but also becomes increasingly an epiphany of the Logos or Deity who brought forth the solar system. The seeker becomes the Master for whom incarnation is no longer necessary.
In the Christian religion, priests have the power of Absolution. This power affects the relationship between different aspects of a person. The bodies of a person are not physically separate but are interconnected. However, when viewed from a lower perspective, they appear to be connected by numerous fine lines of energy. Any action that goes against personal development puts a strain on these connections. We have discussed these lines of energy in previous series on the subject. When a person goes astray, the confusion disrupts communication between their higher and lower aspects. This makes it difficult for their true self to manifest, and only their lower characteristics are prominently displayed.
While natural forces will eventually correct the distortion, the Church allows this process to happen more quickly, as priests are specifically empowered to help straighten such tangles. Of course, the individual’s cooperation is also necessary, as stated, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The effect of “absolution” is strictly limited to correcting the distortion described above. It reopens certain channels that have been largely closed by evil thoughts or actions. However, it does not counteract the physical consequences of those actions, nor does it eliminate the need for restitution when wrong has been done. The priest’s action untangles the etheric, emotional, and mental effects produced by the wrong action or by the mental attitude that made the action possible. However, it does not relieve the individual from the karmic penalty of their action. “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a person sows, that they will also reap.” If one approached a priest today and informed them that they were helping their parishioners streamline their chakras, they would look at you in bewilderment. I also suspect that the faithful are expecting to receive a clean bill of health as a result of their piety and possible contrition. There may be oblique references to karma in the Catechisms, but who reads the fine print anyway? One golden nugget I read in the Catholic catechisms is that Mary, the supposed mother of the supposed Jesus was conceived immaculately. The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary’s conception, not Jesus’. It means Mary was free from original sin her entire life, from the moment of her conception onward. The doctrine states Mary was “full of grace” and in a state of sanctifying grace from the first moment of her existence. It shows how closely Catholics pay attention to their instruction manuals.
Continuing our look at the symbology of Catholic liturgy, during the Holy Eucharist, the priest makes three crosses over the offerings, symbolising the movement of spiritual energy through different levels of spiritual matter. The crosses over the wafer and the chalice represent the transfer of spiritual energy to a higher plane. The priest is expected to use the forces of his own causal envelope and direct his thoughts upward as much as possible. The radical presumption here is that the priest actually knows he has a causal envelope.
Moving on to another group of men who like dressing up and play-acting, in Freemasonry, the three Principal Officers of this society represent different aspects of human nature, while the three Assistant Officers represent the lower mind, the emotional nature, and the etheric double. The Outer Guard (O.G.) or Tyler represents the physical envelope. The Junior Warden (J.W.) represents the higher mind, which is the focus of this series of presentations. In Freemasonry, a golden hue is predominant in the devas, nature spirits, and elementals associated with the Junior Warden.
During the First Degree ceremony, when the Worshipful Master creates, receives, and constitutes the candidate as an Entered Apprentice Freemason (E.A.F.), the three touches of the first section of the ceremony convey different aspects of power, corresponding to the three Aspects of the Trinity. The first touch conveys strength to the brain, the second touch conveys love to the heart, and the third touch conveys executive ability to the right arm.
The general effect of this outpouring of force is to widen the communication channel between the individual’s higher self (soul) and their personality. The degree of Entered Apprentice Freemason corresponds to the sub-deacon in the Christian system.
In the second-degree ceremony, there is a more prominent connection between the individual’s higher self and their personality, creating a definite channel for the outpouring of force. The candidate can effectively utilise this channel by working on it. This degree draws a parallel between the Passing of a Fellow Craft and ecclesiastical ordination to the deacon. Additionally, a link is established between the candidate and the Higher Order of Angels in lodges where they are recognised. Were the Freemasons copying the Catholics, as they were originally all Catholics, or did both systems harken back to an esoteric lore that was all but forgotten but somehow clung on in these rituals?
When it comes to expanding consciousness, the connection made is for the candidate to use as they wish. It can greatly benefit them, potentially changing their entire life and enabling rapid progress towards Initiation. Conversely, if they completely ignore it, it may not make much difference.
The ritual of the testing of the Master Mason by the square and compass indicates that a Master Mason may be recognised by the fact that both the higher self and the lower self are functioning together in harmony. The Master Mason symbolises the Initiate of the fourth degree, the Arhat (46). At this stage on the occult path, the battle against the lower self is largely won, and it has become a compliant tool in the hands of the higher triad, which is awake and active in all three parts. How many Master Masons were arhats? Probably none! But if you like dressing up and roleplaying, more power to your elbow. After all, Dungeons and Dragons had not been invented then.
The Master Mason must seek the “greatness” within the cross. In other words, by discovering the deeper Self, known as the Monad, beyond the higher triad, the Master Mason seeks to uncover the supreme secret of life. Through their own lived experience, they will realise that they are and always have been one with God. Amen.
In the earlier degrees, the candidate’s consciousness had to be raised from the square to the compass, from the four-sided figure to the triangle, and from the lower to the higher self. Next, as a Master Mason, it has to be raised from the triangle to the point, as indicated by the Working Tools, from the higher self to the Monad. In what has just been said, you can see references to the four lower and three higher triad centres. Again, it is easy for participants in such rituals to repeat phrases and not realise the esoteric significance that underlies them.
Freemasonry acknowledges that energy forces flow through and around the spine of every human being. These forces are activated to help the candidate evolve. The activation occurs when the Right Worshipful Master (R.W.M.) creates, receives, and constitutes. In the First Degree, it affects Ida, the feminine aspect of the force, making it easier for the candidate to control passion and emotion. In the Second Degree, it is the Pingala, or masculine aspect, which is strengthened to facilitate the control of the mind. In the Third Degree, the central energy itself, the Sushumna, is aroused, opening the way for the pure spirit from on high.
By passing up the Sushumna channel, a yogi can leave his physical body at will, retain full consciousness on higher planes, and bring back a clear memory of his experiences. Ida is crimson in colour, Pingala is yellow, and Sushumna is deep blue.
The R.W.M. confers many benefits when wielding the sword at the moment of admission, including widening the connection between individuality and personality and forming a link between certain principles of the candidate and the corresponding vehicles of the Head of all True Freemasonry throughout the world (H.O.A.T.F.).
It is important to remember that although the effects mentioned are real, unmistakable, and universal, their impact on the spiritual life of the candidate ultimately depends on the individual. The Entered Apprentice should focus on organising their physical life for higher purposes while simultaneously developing active intelligence in their causal envelope, similar to how a pupil of a Master prepares for initiation. Similarly, the Fellow Craft is tasked with organising their emotional life while cultivating intuitional love in their buddhic envelope. In the same vein, the Master Mason should organise their mental life while also strengthening their spiritual will, or Atma, as a soul.
This all relates back to the diagrams used for the Catholic rituals and, further back, to the diagrams used earlier in the series that highlighted how the three triad structures link together. This is the blueprint for our evolution through the solar system, starting as a rock and ending up as a 43-Self.
Enough of these triangles. In the next presentation, we will look at the memory of past lives.