The Chaldean OraclesThe Chaldæan OraclesAttributed To ZoroasterPreface by Sapere AudeTHESE Oracles are considered to embody many of the principalfeatures of Chaldæan philosophy. They have come down to us through Greektranslations and were held in the greatest esteem throughout antiquity, asentiment which was shared alike by the early Christian Fathers and the laterPlatonists. The doctrines contained therein are attributed to Zoroaster throughto which particular Zoroaster is not known; historians give notices of as manyas six different individuals all bearing that name, which was probably the titleof the Prince of the Magi, and a generic term. The word Zoroaster is by variousauthorities differently derived: Kircher furnishes one of the most interestingderivations when he seeks to show that it comes from TzURA = a figure, and TzIUR= to fashion, ASH = fire, and STR = hidden; from these he gets the wordsZairaster = fashioning images of hidden fire;—or Tzuraster = the image ofsecret things. Others derive it from Chaldee and Greek words meaning "acontemplator of the Stars."It is not, of course, pretended that this collection as itstands is other than disjointed and fragmentary, and it is more than probablethat the true sense of many passages has been obscured, and even in some caseshopelessly obliterated, by inadequate translation.Where it has been possible to do so, an attempt has been madeto, elucidate doubtful or ambiguous expressions, either by modifying theexisting translation from the Greek, where deemed permissible, or by appendingannotations.It has been suggested by some that these Oracles are of Greekinvention, but it has already been pointed out by Stanley that Picus deMirandula assured Ficinus that he had the Chaldee Original in his possession,"in which those things which are faulty and defective in the Greek are readperfect and entire," and Ficinus indeed states that he found this MS. uponthe death of Mirandula. In addition to this, it should be noted that here andthere in the original Greek version, words occur which are not of Greekextraction at all, but are Hellenised Chaldee. Berosus is said to be the firstwho introduced the writings of the Chaldæans concerning Astronomy andPhilosophy among the Greeks,* and it is certain that the traditions of Chaldeavery largely influenced Greek thought. Taylor considers that some of thesemystical utterances are the sources whence the sublime conceptions of Plate wereformed, and large commentaries were written upon them by Porphyry, Iamblichus,Proclus, Pletho and Psellus. That men of such great learning and sagacity shouldhave thought so highly of these Oracles, is a fact which in itself shouldcommend then to our attention.The term "Oracles" was probably bestowed upon theseepigrammatic utterances in order to enforce the idea of their profound anddeeply mysterious nature. The Chaldæans, however, had an Oracle, which theyvenerated as highly as the Greeks did that at Delphi."**We are indebted to both Psellus and Pletho, for comments atsome length upon the Chaldaen Oracles, and the collection adduced by thesewriters has been considerably enlarged by Franciscus Patricius, who made manyadditions from Proclus, Hermias, Simplicius, Damascius, Synesius, Olympiodorus,Nicephorus and Arnobius; his collection, which comprised some 324 oracles undergeneral heads, was published in Latin in 1593, and constitutes the groundwork ofthe later classification arrived at by Taylor and Cory; all of these editionshave been utilized in producing the present revise.A certain portion of these Oracles collected by Psellus,appear to be correctly attributed to a Chaldæan Zoroaster of very early date,and are marked "Z," following the method indicated by Taylor, with oneor two exceptions. Another portion is attributed to a sect of philosophers namedTheurgists, who flourished during the reign of Marcus Antoninus, upon theauthority of Proclus,*** and these are marked "T." Oracles additionalto these two series and of less definite source are marked "Z or T."Other oracular passages from miscellaneous authors are indicated by their names.The printed copies of the Oracles to be found in England arethe following:— Oracula Magica , Ludovicus Tiletanus, Paris, 1563. Zoroaster et ejus 320 oracula Chaldaica; by Franciscus Patricius… 1593. Fred. Morellus; Zoroastris oracula. 1597. Supplies about a hundred verses. Otto Heurnius; Barbaricæ Philosophiæ antiquitatum libri duo 1600. Johannes Opsopoeus; Oracula Magica Zoroastris 1599. This includes Commentaries of Pletho and Psellus in Latin. Servatus Gallæus; Sibulliakoi Chresmoi, 1688. Contains a version of the Oracles. Thomas Stanley. The History of the Chaldaic Philosophy, 1701. This treatise contains the Latin of Patricius, and the Commentaries of Pletho and Psellus in English. Johannes Alb. Fabricius, Bibliotheca Græca, 1705–7. Quotes the Oracles. Jacobus Marthanus, 1689. This version contains the Commentary of Gemistus Pletho. Thomas Taylor, The Chaldæan Oracles, in The Monthly Magazine, and published independently, 1806. Biblioteca Classica Latina ; A. Lemaire, volume 124, Paris 1823. Isaac Preston Cory, Ancient Fragments, London, 1828. (A third edition of this work has been published, omitting the Oracles.) Phoenix, New York, 1835. A collection of curious old tracts, among which are the Oracles of Zoroaster, copied from Thomas Taylor and I. P. Cory; with an essay by Edward Gibbon.___________________________NOTES:* Josephus, contra Apion. I.** Stephanus, De Urbibus.*** Vide his Scholia on the Cratylus of Plato. IntroductionBy L. O.It has been believed by many, and not without good reason,that these terse and enigmatic utterances enshrine a profound system of mysticalphilosophy, but that this system demands for its full discernment a refinementof faculty, involving, as it does, a discrete perception of immaterial essences.It has been asserted that the Chaldæan magi* preserved theiroccult learning among their race by continual tradition from Father to Son.Diodorus says: "They learn these things, not after the same fashion as theGreeks: for amongst the Chaldæans, philosophy is delivered by tradition in thefamily, the Son receiving it from his Father, being exempted from all otheremployment; and thus having their parents for their teachers, they learn allthings fully and abundantly, believing more firmly what is communicated tothem."**The remains then of this oral tradition seems to exist inthese Oracles, which should be studied in the light of the Kabalah and ofEgyptian Theology. Students are aware that the Kabalah*** is susceptible ofextraordinary interpretation with the aid of the Tarot, resuming as the latterdoes, the very roots of Egyptian Theology. Had a similar course been adopted bycommentators in the past, the Chaldæan system expounded in these Oracles wouldnot have been distorted in the way it has been.The foundation upon which the whole structure of the HebrewKabalah rests is an exposition of ten deific powers successively emanated by theIllimitable Light which in their varying dispositions are considered as the keyof all things. This divine procession in the form of Three Triads of Powers,synthesized in a tenth, is said to be extended through four worlds, denominatedrespectively Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah and Assiah, a fourfold gradation from thesubtil to the gross. This proposition in its metaphysical roots is pantheistic,though, if it may be so stated, mediately theistic; while the ultimate noumenonof all phenomena is the absolute Deity, whose ideation constitutes the objectiveUniverse.Now these observations apply strictly also to the Chaldæansystem.The accompanying diagrams sufficiently indicate the harmonyand identity of the Chaldæan philosophy with the Hebrew Kabalah. It will beseen that the First Mind and the Intelligible Triad, Pater, Potentia, orMater, and Mens, are allotted to the Intelligible World of Supramundane Light:the "First Mind" represents the archetypal intelligence as an entityin the bosom of the Paternal Depth. This concentrates by reflection into the"Second Mind" representative of the Divine Power in the EmpyraeanWorld which is identified with the second great Triad of divine powers, known asthe Intelligible and at the same time Intellectual Triad: the ÆtherealWorld comprises the dual third Triad denominated Intellectual: while thefourth or Elementary World is governed by Hypezokos, or Flower of Fire, theactual builder of the world. CHALDÆAN SCHEME. The Intelligibles The Paternal Depth World of Supra-mundane Light The First Mind __________ The Intelligible Triad Pater: Mater or Potentia: Mens ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ The Second Mind __________ Intelligibles and Intellectuals Iynges in the Synoches Empyraean World Teletarchæ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ (The Third Mind.) Three Cosmagogi Intellectuals (Intellectual guides inflexible.) in the Three Amilicti Ethereal World (Implacable thunders.) ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Elementary World Hypezokos The Demiurgos of the (Flower of Fire) Material Universe Effable, Essential and Elemental Orders __________ The Earth-Matter KABALISTIC SCHEME. World of Atziluth The Boundless Ain Suph. or of God The Illimitable Ain Suph Aur Light A radiant triangle. ___________________________________________________________________________ Kether World of Briah (crown) Divine Forces Binah Chokmah (Intelligence) (Wisdom) ___________________________________________________________________________ Geburah Chesed World of Yetzirah Tiphereth or of Formation Hod Netzach Yesod ___________________________________________________________________________ Malkuth World of Assiah Ruled by Material Form. Adonai Melekh _________ The Earth-Matter CHALDÆAN SCHEME OF BEINGS.Representatives of the previous classes guiding our universe. I. Hyperarchii—ArchangelsII. Azonæi—Unzoned godsIII. Zonæi—Planetary Deities.______________Higher demons: Angels______________Human Souls______________Lower demons, elementalsFieryAiryEarthyWatery______________Evil demonsLucifugous; the kliphoth______________ Chaldæan Theology contemplated three great divisions ofsupra-mundane things:—the First was Eternal, without beginning or end,being the "Paternal Depth," the bosom of the Deity. The Second wasconceived to be that mode of being having beginning but no end; the CreativeWorld or Empyræum falls under this head, abounding as it does in productions,but its source remaining superior to these. The third and last order of divinethings had a beginning in time and will end, this is the transitory EtherealWorld. Seven spheres extended through these three Worlds, viz., one inthe Empyræum or verging from it, three in the Ethereal and three in theElementary Worlds, while the whole physical realm synthesized the foregoing.These seven spheres are not to be confounded with the Seven material Planets;although the latter are the physical representatives of the former, which canonly be said to be material in the metaphysical sense of the term. Psellusprofessed to identify them but his suggestions are inadequate as Stanley pointedout. But Stanley, although disagreeing with Psellus, is neverthelessinconsistent upon this point, for although he explains the four Worlds of theChaldæans as successively noumenal to the physical realm, he obviouslycontradicts this in saying that one corporeal world is in the Empyræum.Prior to the supramundane Light lay the "PaternalDepth," the Absolute Deity, containing all things "in potentia"and eternally immanent. This is analogous to the Ain Suph Aur of the Kabalah,three triads of three letters, expressing three triads of Powers, which aresubsequently translated into objectivity, and constitute the great Triadic Lawunder the direction of the Demiurgus, or artificer of the Universe.In considering this schema, it must be remembered that thesupramundane Light was regarded as the primal radiation from the Paternal Depthand the archetypal noumenon of the Empyræum, a universal, all-pervading—and,to human comprehension—ultimate essence. The Empyræum again, is a somewhatgrosser though still highly subtilized Fire and creative source, in its turn thenoumenon of the Formative or Ethereal World, as the latter is the noumenon ofthe Elementary World. Through these graduated media the conceptions of thePaternal Mind are ultimately fulfilled in time and space.In some respects it is probable that the Oriental mind todayis not much altered from what it was thousands of years ago, and much that nowappears to us curious and phantastic in Eastern traditions, still findsresponsive echo in the hearts and minds of a vast portion of mankind. A largenumber of thinkers and scientists in modern times have advocated tenets which,while not exactly similar, are parallel, to ancient Chaldæan conceptions; thisis exemplified in the notion that the operation of natural law in the Universeis controlled or operated by conscious and discriminating power which isco-ordinate with intelligence. It is but one step further to admit that forcesare entities, to people the vast spaces of the Universe with the children ofphantasy. Thus history repeats itself, and the old and the new alike reflect themultiform truth.Without entering at length into the metaphysical aspect, itis important to notice the supremacy attributed to the "PaternalMind." The intelligence of the Universe, poetically described as "energisingbefore energy," establishes on high the primordial types or patterns ofthings which are to be, and, then inscrutably latent, vests the development ofthese in the Rectores Mundorum, the divine Regents or powers alreadyreferred to. As it is said, "Mind is with Him, Power with them."The word "Intelligible" is used in the Platonicsense, to denote a mode of being, power or perception, transcending intellectualcomprehension, i.e., wholly distinct from, and superior to,ratiocination. The Chaldæans recognised three modes of perception, viz.,the testimony of the various senses, the ordinary processes of intellectualactivity, and the intelligible conceptions before referred to. Each of theseoperations is distinct from the others, and, moreover, conducted in separatematrices, or vehicula. The anatomy of the Soul was, however, carried muchfarther than this, and, although in its ultimate radix recognised as identicalwith the divinity, yet in manifested being it was conceived to be highlycomplex. The Oracles speak of the "Paths of the Soul," the tracings ofinflexible fire by which its essential parts are associated in integrity; whileits various "summits," "fountains," and "vehicula,"are all traceable by analogy with universal principles. This latter fact is,indeed, not the least remarkable feature of the Chaldæan system. Like severalof the ancient cosmogonies, the principal characteristic of which seems to havebeen a certain adaptability to introversion, Chaldæan metaphysics synthesizemost clearly in the human constitution.In each of the Chaldæan Divine Worlds a trinity of divinepowers operated, which synthetically constituted a fourth term. "In everyWorld," says the Oracle, "a Triad shineth, of which; the Monad is theruling principle." These "Monads" are the divine Vice-gerents bywhich the Universe was conceived to be administered. Each of the four Worlds, viz.,the Empyræan, Ethereal, Elementary and Material, was presided over by a SupremePower, itself in direct rapport with "the Father" and"moved by unspeakable counsels." These are clearly identical with theKabalistic conception of the presidential heads of the four letters composingthe Deity name in so many different languages. A parallel tenet is conveyed inthe Oracle which runs: "There is a Venerable Name projected through theWorlds with a sleepless revolution." The Kabalah again supplies the key tothis utterance, by regarding the Four Worlds as under the presidency of the fourletters of the Venerable Name, a certain letter of tile four being allotted toeach World, as also was a special mode of writing the four lettered nameappropriate thereto; and, indeed in that system it is taught that the order ofthe Elements, both macrocosmic and microcosmic, on every plane, is directlycontrolled by the "revolution of the name." That Name is associatedwith the Æthers of the Elements and is thus considered as a Universal Law; itis the power which marshals the creative host, summed up in the Demiurgus,Hypezokos, or Flower of Fire.Reference may here be made to the psychic anatomy of thehuman being according to Plato. He places the intellect in the head; the Soulendowed with some of the passions, such as fortitude, in the heart; whileanother Soul, of which the appetites, desires and grosser passions are itsfaculties, about the stomach and the spleen.So, the Chaldæan doctrine as recorded by Psellus, consideredman to be composed of three kinds of Souls, which may respectively be called:First, the Intelligible, or divine soul,Second, the Intellect or rational soul, andThird, the Irrational, or passional soul.This latter was regarded as subject to mutation, to bedissolved and perish at the death of the body.Of the Intelligible, or divine soul, the Oracles teach that"It is a bright fire, which, by the power of the Father, remainethimmortal, and is Mistress of Life;" its power may be dimly apprehendedthrough regenerate phantasy and when the sphere of the Intellect has ceased torespond to the images of the passional nature.Concerning the rational soul, the Chaldæans taught that itwas possible for it to assimilate itself unto the divinity on the one hand, orthe irrational soul on the other. "Things divine," we read,"cannot be obtained by mortals whose intellect is directed to the bodyalone, but those only who are stripped of their garments, arrive at thesummit."To the three Souls to which reference has been made, theChaldæans moreover allotted three distinct vehicles: that of the divine Soulwas immortal, that: of the rational soul by approximation became so; while tothe irrational soul was allotted what was called "the image," that is,the astral form of the physical body.Physical life thus integrates three special modes ofactivity, which upon the dissolution of the body are respectively involved inthe web of fate consequent upon incarnate energies in three different destinies.The Oracles urge men to devote themselves to things divine,and not to give way to the promptings of the irrational soul, for, to such asfail herein, it is significantly said, "Thy vessel the beasts of the earthshall inhabit."The Chaldæans assigned the place of the Image, the vehicleof the irrational soul, to the Lunar Sphere; it is probable that by the LunarSphere was meant something more than the orb of the Moon, the whole sublunaryregion, of which the terrestrial earth is, as it were, the centre. At death, therational Soul rose above the lunar influence, provided always the past permittedthat happy release, Great importance was attributed to the way in which thephysical life was passed during the sojourn of the Soul in the tenement offlesh, and frequent are the exhortations to rise to communion with those Divinepowers, to which nought but the highest Theurgy can pretend."Let the immortal depth of your Soul lead you,"says an Oracle, "but earnestly raise your eyes upwards." Taylorcomments upon this in the following beautiful passage: "By the eyes are tobe understood all the gnostic powers of the Soul, for when these are extendedthe Soul becomes replete. with a more excellent life and divine illumination;and is, as it were, raised above itself."Of the Chaldæan Magi it might be truly said that they"among dreams did first discriminate the truthful vision!" for theywere certainly endowed with a far reaching perception both mental and spiritual;attentive to images, and fired with mystic fervours, they mere something morethan mere theorists, but were also practical exemplars of the philosophy theytaught. Life on the plains of Chaldæa, with its mild nights and jewelled skies,tended to foster the interior unfoldment; in early life the disciples of theMagi learnt to resolve the Bonds of proscription and enter the immeasurableregion. One Oracle assures us that, "The girders of the Soul, which giveher; breathing, are easy to be unloosed," and elsewhere we read of the"Melody of the Ether" and of the "Lunar clashings,"experiences which testify to the reality of their occult methods.The Oracles assert that the impressions of characters andother divine visions appear in the Ether. The Chaldæan philosophy recognizedthe ethers of the Elements as the subtil media through which the operation ofthe grosser elements is effected—by the grosser elements I mean what we knowas Earth, Air, Water and Fire—the principles of dryness and moisture, of heatand cold. These subtil ethers are really the elements of the ancients, and seemat an early period to have been connected with the Chaldæan astrology, as thesigns of the Zodiac were connected with them. The twelve signs of the Zodiac arepermutations of the ethers of the elements—four elements with three variationseach; and according to the preponderance of one or another elemental conditionin the constitution of the individual, so were his natural inclinations deducedtherefrom, Thus when in the astrological jargon it was said that a man had Ariesrising, he was said to be of a fiery nature, his natural tendencies beingactive, energetic and fiery, for in the constitution of such a one the fieryether predominates. And these ethers were stimulated, or endowed with a certainkind of vibration, by their Presidents, the Planets; these latter being thussuspended in orderly disposed zones. Unto the Planets, too, colour and soundwere also attributed; the planetary colours are connected with the ethers, andeach of the Planetary forces was said to have special dominion over, or affinitywith, one or other of the Zodiacal constellations. Communion with thehierarchies of these constellations formed part of the Chaldæan theurgy, and ina curious fragment it is said: "If thou often invokest it" (thecelestial constellation called the Lion) "then when no longer is Visibleunto thee the Vault of the Heavens, when the Stars have lost their light thelamp of the Moon is veiled, the Earth abideth not, and around thee darts thelightning flame, then all things will appear to thee in the form of aLion!" The Chaldæans, like the Egyptians, appear to have had a highlydeveloped appreciation of colours, an evidence of their psychic susceptibility.The use of bright colours engenders the recognition of subsisting variety andstimulates that perception of the mind which energizes through imagination, orthe operation of images. The Chaldæan method of contemplation appears to havebeen to identify the self with the object of contemplation; this is of courseidentical with the process of Indian Yoga, and is an idea which appears repletewith suggestion; as it is written "He assimilates the images to himselfcasting them around his own form." But we are told, "All divinenatures are incorporeal, but bodies are bound in them for your sakes."The subtil ethers, of which I have spoken, served is theirturn as it were for the garment of the divine Light; for the Oracles teach thatbeyond these again "A solar world and endless Light subsist!" ThisDivine Light was the object of all veneration. Do not think that what wasintended thereby was the Solar Light we know: "The inerratic sphere of theStarless above" is an unmistakable expression and therein "the moretrue Sun" has place: Theosophists will appreciate the significance of"the more true Sun," for according to The Secret Doctrine theSun we see is but the physical vehicle of a more transcendent splendour.Some strong Souls were able to reach up to the Light by theirown power: "The mortal who approaches the fire shall have Light from thedivinity, and unto the persevering mortal the blessed immortals are swift."But what of those of a lesser stature? Were they, by inability, precluded fromsuch illumination? "Others," we read, "even when asleep, He makesfruitful from his own Strength." That is to say, some men acquire divineknowledge through communion with Divinity in sleep. This idea has given rise tosome of the most magnificent contributions to later literature; it has sincebeen thoroughly elaborated by Porphyry and Synesius. The eleventh Book of the Metamorphosesof Apuleius and the Vision of Scipio ably vindicate this; and, althoughno doubt every Christian has beard that "He giveth unto his beloved insleep," few, indeed, realise the possibility underlying that conception.What, it may be asked, were the views of the Chaldæans withrespect to terrestrial life: Was it a spirit of pessimism, which led them tohold this in light: esteem? Or, should we not rather say that the keynote oftheir philosophy was an immense spiritual optimism? It appeals to me that thelatter is the more true interpretation. They realised that beyond the confinesof matter lay a more perfect existence, a truer realm of which terrestrialadministration is but a too often travestied reflection. They sought, as we seeknow, the Good, the Beautiful and the True, but they did not hasten to the Outerin the thirst for sensation, but with a finer perception realised the trueUtopia to be within.And the first step in that admirable progress was a return tothe simple life; hardly, indeed, a return, for most of the Magi were thusbrought up from birth." **** The hardihoodengendered by the rugged life, coupled with that wisdom which directed theirassociation, rendered these children of Nature peculiarly receptive of Nature'sTruths. "Stoop not down," says the Oracle, "to the darklysplendid World, For a precipice lieth beneath the Earth, a descent of sevensteps, and therein is established the throne of an evil and fatal force. Stoopnot down unto that darkly splendid world, Defile not thy brilliant flame withthe earthly dress of matter, Stoop not down for its splendour is but seeming, Itis but the habitation of the Sons of the Unhappy." No more beautifulformulation of the Great Truth that the exterior and sensuous life is death tothe highest energies of the Soul could possibly have been uttered: but to suchas by purification and the practice of virtue rendered themselves worthy,encouragement was given, for, we read, "The Higher powers build up the bodyof the holy man."The law of Karma was as much a feature of the Chaldæanphilosophy as it is of the Theosophy of today: from a passage in Ficinus,we read, "The Soul perpetually runs and passes through all things in acertain space of time, which being performed it is presently compelled to passback again through all things and unfold a similar web of generation in theWorld, according to Zoroaster, who thinks that as often as the same causesreturn, the same effects will in like manner return."This is of course the explanation of the proverb that"History repeats itself" and is very far from the superstitious viewof fate. Here each one receives his deserts according to merit or demerit, andthese are the bonds of life; but the Oracles say, "Enlarge not thydestiny," and they urge men to "Explore the River of the Soul, so thatalthough you have become a servant to body, you may again rise to the Order fromwhich you descended, joining works to sacred reason!"To this end we are commended to learn the Intelligible whichexists beyond the mind, that divine portion of the being which exists beyondIntellect: and this it is only possible to grasp with the flower of the mind."Understand the intelligible with the extended flame of an extendedintellect." To Zoroaster also was attributed the utterance "who knowshimself knows all things in himself;" while it is elsewhere suggested that"The paternal Mind has sowed symbols in the Soul," But such pricelessknowledge was possible only to the Theurgists Who, we are told, "fall notso as to be ranked with the herd that are in subjection to fate." Thedivine light cannot radiate in an imperfect microcosm, even as the Cloudsobscure the Sun; for of such as make ascent to the most divine of speculationsin a confused and disordered manner, with unhallowed lips, or unwashed feet, theprogressions are imperfect, the impulses are vain and the paths are dark.Although destiny, our destiny, may be "written in theStars" yet it was the mission of the divine Soul to raise the human Soulabove the circle of necessity, and the Oracles give Victory to that MasterlyWill, which"Hews the wall with might of magic,Breaks the palisade in pieces,Hews to atoms seven pickets …Speaks the Master words of knowledge!"The means taken to that consummation consisted in thetraining of the Will and the elevation of the imagination, a divine power whichcontrols consciousness: "Relieve yourself to be above body, and youare," says the Oracle; it might have added "Then shall regeneratephantasy disclose the symbols of the Soul." But it is said "Onbeholding yourself fear!" i.e., the imperfect self.Everything must be viewed as ideal by him who wouldunderstand the ultimate perfection.Will is the grand agent in the mystic progress; its rule isall potent over the nervous system. By Will the fleeting vision is fixed on tiletreacherous waves of the astral Light; by Will the consciousness is impelled tocommune with the divinity: vet there is not One Will, but three Wills—theWills, namely, of the Divine, the Rational and Irrational Souls—to harmonizethese is the difficulty.It is selfishness which impedes the radiation of Thought, andattaches to body. This is scientifically true and irrespective of sentiment, theselfishness which reaches beyond the necessities of body is pure vulgarity.A picture which to the cultured eye beautifully portrays agiven subject, nevertheless appears to the savage a confused patchwork ofstreaks, so the extended perceptions of a citizen of the Universe are notgrasped by those whose thoughts dwell within the sphere of the personal life.The road to the Summum Bonum lies therefore throughself-sacrifice, the sacrifice of the lower to the higher, for behind that HigherSelf lies the concealed form of the Antient of Days, the synthetical Being ofDivine Humanity.These things are grasped by Soul; the song of the Soul isalone heard in the adytum of God-nourished Silence!___________________________ NOTES:* This powerful Guild wasthe guardian of Chaldæan philosophy, which exceeded the bounds of theircountry, and diffused itself into Persia and Arabia that borders upon it; forwhich reason the learning of the Chaldæans, Persians and Arabians iscomprehended under the general title of Chaldæan.**Diodorus, lib. I.***Vide Kabalah Denudata, by MacGregor Mathers.****They renounced rich attire and the wearing of gold, Their raiment waswhite upon occasion; their beds the ground, and their food nothing but herbs,cheese and bread. THE ORACLES OF ZOROASTER.___________CAUSE. GOD.FATHER. MIND. FIREMONAD. DYAD. TRIAD. 1. But God is He having the head of the Hawk. The same isthe first, incorruptible, eternal, unbegotten, indivisible, dissimilar: thedispenser of all good; indestructible; the best of the good, the Wisest of thewise; He is the Father of Equity and Justice, self-taught, physical, perfect,and wise—He who inspires the Sacred Philosophy.– Eusebius. Præparatio Evangelica, Liber. I., chap.X,This Oracle does not appear in either of the ancientcollections, nor in the group of oracles given by any of the mediaevaloccultists. Cory seems to have been the first to discover it in the voluminouswritings of Eusebius, who attributes the authorship to the Persian Zoroaster.___________2. Theurgists assert that He is a God and celebrate him asboth older and younger, as a circulating and eternal God, as understanding thewhole number of all things moving in the World, and moreover infinite throughhis power and energizing a spiral force.– Proclus on the Timæus of Plato, 244. Z. or T.The Egyptian Pantheon had an Elder and a Younger Horus—aGod—son of Osiris and Isis. Taylor suggests that He refers to Kronos, Time, orChronos as the later Platonists wrote the name. Kronos, or Saturnus, of theRomans, was son of Uranos and Gaia, husband of Rhea, father of Zeus.___________3. The God of the Universe, eternal, limitless, both youngand old, having a spiral force.Cory includes this Oracle in his collection, but he gives noauthority for it. Lobek doubted its authenticity.___________ 4. For the Eternal Æon* —according to the Oracle— isthe cause of never failing life, of unwearied power and unsluggish energy.– Taylor.—T.* "For the First Æeon,the Eternal one," or as Taylor gives, "Eternity."___________5. Hence the inscrutable God is called silent by thedivine ones, and is said to consent with Mind, and to be known to human soulsthrough the power of the Mind alone.– Proclus in Theologiam Platonis, 321. T.Inscrutable. Taylor gives "stable;" perhaps"incomprehensible" is better.6. The Chaldæans call the God Dionysos (or Bacchus), Iaoin the Phoenician tongue (instead of the Intelligible Light), and he is alsocalled Sabaoth,* signifying that he is above the Seven poles, that is theDemiurgos.– Lydus, De Mensibus, 83. T.* This word is Chaldee, TzBAUT, meaning hosts; but there isalso a word SHBOH, meaning "The Seven."7. Containing all things in the one summit of his ownHyparxis, He Himself subsists wholly beyond.– Proclus in Theologiam Platonis, 212. T.Hyparxis, is generally deemed to mean"Subsistence." Hupar is Reality as distinct from appearance; Huparcheis a Beginning.8. Measuring and bounding all things.– Proclus in Theologiam Platonis, 386. T."Thus he speaks the words," is omitted by Taylorand Cory, but present in the Greek.9. For nothing imperfect emanates from the PaternalPrinciple,– Psellus, 38 ; Pletho. Z.This implies—but only from a succedent emanation.10. The Father effused not Fear, but He infusedpersuasion.– Pletho. Z,11. The Father hath apprehended Himself and hath notrestricted his Fire to his own intellectual power.– Psellus, 30; Pletho, 33. Z:Taylor gives:—"The Father hath hastily withdrawnHimself, but hath not shut up his own Fire in his intellectual power."The Greek text has no word "hastily," and as to"withdrawn—Arpazo means, grasp of snatch, but also "apprehend withthe mind."12. Such is the Mind which is energized before energy,while yet it had not gone forth, but abode in the Paternal Depth, and in theAdytum of God nourished silence.– Proc. in Tim., 167. T.13. All things have issued from that one Fire. The Fatherperfected all things, and delivered them over to the Second Mind, whom allNations of Men call the First.– Psellus, 24; Pletho, 30. Z.14. The Second Mind conducts the Empyrean. World .– Damascius, De Principiis. T.15. What the Intelligible saith, it saith byunderstanding.– Psellus, 35. Z.16. Power is with them, but Mind is from Him.– Proclus in Platonis Theologiam, 365. T.17. The Mind of the Father riding on the subtle Guiders,which glitter with the tracings of inflexible and relentless Fire.– Proclus on the Cratylus of Plato.18. …After the Paternal Conception I the Soul reside, aheat animating all things. …For he placed the Intelligible in the Soul, andthe Soul in dull body, Even so the Father of Gods and Men placed them in us.– Proclus in Tim., Plat., 124. Z. or T.19. Natural works co-exist with the intellectual light ofthe Father. For it is the Soul which adorned the vast Heaven, and which adornethit after the Father, but her dominion is established on high.– Proclus in Tim., 106. Z. or T.Dominion, krata: some copies give kerata, horus.20. The Soul, being a brilliant Fire, by the power of theFather remaineth immortal, and is Mistress of Life, and filleth up the manyrecesses of the bosom of the World.– Psellus, 28; Pletho, 11. Z.21. The channels being intermixed therein she performeththe works of incorruptible Fire.– Proclus in Politica, p. 399. Z. or T.22. For not in Matter did the Fire which is in the firstbeyond enclose His active Power, but in Mind; for the framer of the Fiery Worldis the Mind of Mind.– Proclus in Theologiam, 333, and Tim., 157. T.23. Who first sprang from Mind, clothing the one Fire withthe other Fire, binding them together, that he might mingle the fountainouscraters, while preserving unsullied the brilliance of His own Fire.– Proclus in Parm. Platonis. T. 24. And thence a Fiery Whirlwind drawing down thebrilliance of the flashing flame, penetrating the abysses of the Universe; forfrom thence downwards do all extend their wondrous rays.– Proclus in Theologiam Platonis, 171 and 172. T.25. The Monad first existed, and the Paternal Monad stillsubsists.– Proclus in Euclidem, 27. T.26. When the Monad is extended, the Dyad is generated.– Proclus in Euclidem, 27. T.Note that "What the Pythagoreans signify by Monad, Duadand Triad, or Plato by Bound, Infinite and Mixed; that the Oracles of the Godsintend by Hyparxis, Power and Energy."– Damascius De Principiis. Taylor.27. And beside Him is seated the Dyad which glitters withintellectual sections, to govern all things, and to order everything notordered.– Proclus in Platonis Theologiam, 376. T.28. The Mind of the Father said that all things should becut into Three, whose Will assented, and immediately all things were so divided.– Proclus in Parmen. T.29. The Mind of the Eternal Father said into Three,governing all things by Mind.– Proclus, Timaeus of Plato. T.30. The Father mingled every Spirit from this Triad.– Lydus, De Mensibus, 20. Taylor.31. All things are supplied from the bosom of this Triad.– Lydus, De Mensibus, 20. Taylor.32. All things are governed and subsist in this Triad.– Proclus in I. Alcibiades. T.33. For thou most know that all things bow before theThree Supernals.– Damascius, De Principiis. T.34. From thence floweth forth the Form of the Triad, beingpreexistent; not the first Essence, but that whereby all things are measured.– Anon. Z. or T.35. And there appeared in it Virtue and Wisdom, andmultiscient Truth.– Anon. Z. or T.36. For in each World shineth the Triad, over which theMonad ruleth.– Damascius in Parmenidem. T.37. The First Course is Sacred, in the middle placecourses the Sun,* in the third the Earth is heated by the internal fire.– Anon. Z. or T.*Jones gives Sun from Hellos, but some Greek versions giveHerios, which Cory translates, air.38. Exalted upon High and animating Light, Fire, Ether andWorlds.– Simplicius in his Physica, 143. Z. or T.  Unattributed Contents © 1997 - 1999 Al Billings |
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