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    "slug": "00-rama-the-aryan-cycle",
    "title": "Rama: The Aryan Cycle",
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    "text": "## Rama: The Aryan Cycle\n\n\nThe Aryan Cycle\n\nZoroaster asked Ormuzd, the Great Creator,\n\"Who is the first man with whom you conversed?\"\n\nOrmuzd answered, \"Noble Yima, the one who was in command of the Courageous. I told him to\nwatch over the worlds which belong to me, and I gave him a saber of gold and a sword of victory.\"\nAnd Yima moved forward on the way of the sun and assembled the courageous men in the famous\nAiryana-Vaeja, created pure.\n\n—Zend Avesta (Vendidad-Sadé 2nd Fargard)\n\nO Agni, Holy Fire! Purifying fire! You who sleep in the wood, and ascend in shining flames on the\naltar, you are the heart of sacrifice, the fearless wings of prayer, the divine spark hidden in\neverything, and the glorious soul of the sun!\n\n— Vedic Hymn\n\n1. The Races of Mankind and the Origins of Religion\n\n\"Heaven is my Father, it engendered me. I have this entire celestial circle as my family. My Mother\nis the noble Earth. The highest part of its surface is her womb; there the Father makes fruitful the\nwomb of the one who is his wife and daughter.\"\n\nThus the Vedic poet sang four or five thousand years ago, before an earth altar where a fire of dry\nherbs flamed. A profound divination, a sublime consciousness is expressed in these strange words.\nThey contain the secret of the double origin of mankind. Anterior to and superior to the earth is the\ndivine archetype of man; celestial is the origin of his soul. But his body is the product of earthly\nelements fecundated by a cosmic essence. The embraces of Uranus and the Great Mother, in the\nlanguage of the Mysteries, signify the showers of souls or of spiritual monads which come to\nfertilize terrestrial seeds; they are the organizing principles without which matter would be only an\ninactive and diffused mass. The highest part of the earth's surface, which the Vedic poet calls the\nwomb of the earth, designates the continents and mountains, cradles of the races of man. As for\nHeaven, Varuna, the Uranus of the Greeks, this represents the invisible order, super-physical, eternal\nand intellectual; it embraces the entire infinity of space and time.\n\nIn this chapter we shall consider only the terrestrial origins of humanity according to esoteric\ntraditions, confirmed by modern anthropological and ethnological science.\n\nThe four races which share the globe today are daughters of varied lands. Successive creations, slow\nelaborations of the earth at work, the continents have emerged from the seas at great intervals of\ntime, which the ancient priests of India called interdiluvian cycles. During thousands of years, each\ncontinent produced its flora and fauna, culminating in a human race of a different color.\n\nThe southern continent, engulfed by the last great flood, was the cradle of the primitive red race of\nwhich the American Indians are but the remnants, descended from the troglodytes, who reached the\ntop of the mountains when their continent sank. Africa is the mother of the black race, called the\nEthiopian by the Greeks. Asia gave birth to the yellow race, preserved in the Chinese. The last\narrival, the white race, came from the forests of Europe, between the tempests of the Atlantic and the\nlaughter of the Mediterranean. All human types are the result of mixtures, combinations,\ndegeneracies or selections of these four great races. In the preceding cycles, red and black races\nruled successively with powerful civilizations which have left traces in Cyclopean structures as well\nas in the architecture of Mexico. The temples of India and Egypt had traditions concerning these\nvanished civilizations. -- In our cycle the white race is predominant, and if one calculates the\nprobable antiquity of India and Egypt, one will find that its preponderance dates back seven or eight\nthousand years.\n\nAccording to Brahmanic traditions, civilization probably began on our globe five thousand years\nago, with the red race on the southern continent, while all of Europe and part of Asia were still under\nwater. These myths also speak of an earlier race of giants. Gigantic human bones, whose formation\nresembles the monkey more than man, have been found in caves of Tibet. These creatures were\nrelated to a primitive humanity, intermediate, and still akin to animal life, possessing neither\narticulated speech, social organization, nor religion. For these three things always appear at the same\ntime, and this is the meaning of that remarkable bardic triad which says, \"Three things come into\nexistence at the same time: God, light and freedom.\" With the first stammering of speech, society is\nborn and the vague hint of a divine order appears. It is the breath of Jehova in the mouth of Adam,\nthe word of Hermes, the law of the first Manu, the fire of Prometheus. A God trembles in the human\nfaun. The red race, as we have said, inhabited the southern continent, now engulfed, called Atlantis\nby Plato, in keeping with Egyptian traditions. A great earthquake destroyed part of this continent,\nand scattered the remainder. Several Polynesian races, as well as the Indians of North America and\nthe Aztecs whom the Spanish conquerors found in Mexico, are the survivors of this ancient red race\nwhose civilization, lost forever, had its days of glory and material splendor. All these people carry in\ntheir souls the incurable melancholy of old races which die without hope.\n\nAfter the red race, the black race dominated the globe. One must look for the superior species, the\nbest of the race, in the Abyssinian and the Nubian, in whom is preserved the type of this race at its\nheight. The latter invaded southern Europe in prehistoric times, and were driven back by the\ninhabitants. Their trace has been completely erased from our popular traditions. During the period of\ntheir supremacy, they had religious centers in Upper Egypt and in India. Their Cyclopean cities\ncrenelated the mountains of Africa, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Their social organization was an\nabsolute theocracy. At the top were priests who were feared like the gods; at the bottom were\ngroveling tribes without any acknowledged family. The women were slaves. These priests possessed\nprofound knowledge, the principle of the divine unity of the universe, and the worship of the stars\nwhich, under the name of Sabeanism, spread among the white peoples.\" But between the knowledge\nof the priests and the crude fetishism of the masses, there was no middle ground, no idealistic art, no\nvivid mythology. Moreover, they possessed an already scientific industry, especially the art of\nhandling huge stones by means of the ballista, and of melting metals in immense furnaces, at which\nthey used prisoners of war. Among this race, strong in physical resistance, passionate energy and the\ncapacity for affection, religion therefore was the reign of power, through terror. The nature of God\nhardly affected the consciousness of these childlike peoples except in the form of a dragon, a terrible\nantediluvian animal which the kings had painted on their banners, and the priests carved on the\nportals of their temples.\n\nIf the sun of Africa helped give birth to the black race, it can be said that the glaciers of the arctic\nregions witness the advent of the white race. The latter are the Hyperboreans of whom Greek\nmythology speaks. These sandy-haired, blue-eyed men came from the north through forests\nilluminated by the aurora borealis, accompanied by dogs and reindeer, directed by bold leaders and\nguided by clairvoyant women. Shaggy hair of gold, and eyes of azure: these were their\npredetermined colors. This race is to invent the worship of the sun and of the sacred fire, and will\nbring into the world the longing for heaven. Sometimes these people will rebel against heaven to the\npoint of wishing to climb up to it; at other times they will bow before its splendors in absolute\nadoration.\n\nLike the others, the white race also had to tear itself away from the savage state before becoming\naware of itself. -- Its distinctive characteristics are the love of individual freedom, reflective\nsensitivity which creates the power of sympathy, and supremacy of the intellect, which gives the\nimagination an idealistic and symbolic turn. -- Spiritual sensitivity brought about affection -- man's\npreference for but one wife; from this came this race's tendency toward monogamy, the conjugal\nprinciple and the family. -- The need for freedom, coupled with that of sociability created the clan,\nwith its elective principle. Visionary imagination created ancestor worship, which forms the root and\ncenter of religion among white people.\n\nThe social and political principle is manifest the day some half-savage men, besieged by an enemy\npeople, instinctively assemble and choose the strongest and most intelligent among them to defend\nand lead them. On that day society is born. The chief is a king in embryo; his companions are future\nnoblemen. The deliberating old men, unable to march, already form a kind of senate or assembly of\nelders. -- But how was religion born? It has been said that it arose out of the fear of primitive man,\nface to face with nature. But fear has nothing in common with reverence and love. It does not unite\nfact and idea, visible and invisible, man and God. As long as man did nothing but tremble before\nnature, he was not yet man. He became man when he seized the link which connected him with the\npast and future, with something superior and beneficent, and when he worshiped that mysterious\nunknown. But how did he worship for the first time?\n\nFabre d Olivet offers a supremely astute and thought-provoking hypothesis on how ancestor worship\nmust have been established among the white race.? In a quarrelsome clan, two rival warriors are\narguing. Raging, they are about to fight, and are already grappling with one another. At that moment,\na dishevelled woman throws herself between them and separates them. Her eyes are aflame; her\nvoice has the tone of authority. In panting, cutting words she says that in the forest she has just seen\nthe ancestor of the race, the victorious warrior of yesteryear, the Herôll, appear before her. He does\nnot wish two brother warriors to fight, but to unite against the common enemy. \"The ghost of the\ngreat ancestor, the Herôll, told me so,\" exclaims the excited woman. \"He spoke to me; I saw him!\"\nWhat she says, she believes. Convinced, she convinces. Moved, astonished, and as though overcome\nby an invincible force, the reconciled rivals regard this inspired woman as a kind of divinity.\n\nSuch inspirations, followed by abrupt changes, must have occurred frequently and in many diverse\nforms in the prehistoric life of the white race. Among savage people it is the woman who, in her\nexcitable sensitivity, first senses the spiritual, affirms the unseen.\n\nLet us now consider the unexpected and enormous consequences of an event similar to the one about\nwhich we are speaking. In the clan, in the tribe, everyone is talking about the marvelous event. The\noak tree where the inspired woman saw the vision, becomes sacred. She is taken back to it, and\nthere, under the hypnotic influence of the moon, which plunges her into a visionary state, she\ncontinues to prophesy in the name of the great ancestor. Soon this woman and others like her,\nstanding on rocks in the middle of forest glades, at the sound of the wind and the distant ocean, call\nforth the diaphanous souls of ancestors before quivering crowds who, charmed by magic\nincantations, see them or think they see them amidst the mists drifting in the moonlight. Ossian, the\n\nlast of the great Celts, will summon Fingal and his companions in the gathering clouds. Thus at the\nvery origin of social life, ancestor worship is established among the white race. The great ancestor\nbecomes the god of the tribe. This was the beginning of religion.\n\nBut this is not all. Around the prophetess old men group themselves and observe her in her deep\nsleep and in her prophetic ecstasies. They study her divers states, examine her revelations, interpret\nher oracles. They observe that when she prophesies in the visionary state, her face is transfigured.\nHer speech becomes rhythmical, and her raised voice pronounces her oracles as she sings a serious\nand meaningful melody.* From this come the lines, verses, poetry and music, whose origins are\nconsidered divine among the people of the Aryan race. The idea of revelation could occur only with\nrespect to facts of this kind. At the same time we see religion and worship, priests and poetry arise.\n\nIn Asia, Iran and India, where peoples of the white race established the first Aryan civilization,\nmixing with people of different colors, men quickly gained ascendancy over women in religious\ninsight. There we no longer hear anyone speak except wise men, Rishis and prophets. Woman,\nsubjugated, submissive, is no longer priestess except in the home. But in Europe the trace of the\nimportant role of woman is found among peoples of the same origin who remained savage for\nthousands of years. It appears in the Scandinavian Pythoness, in the Voluspa of the Edda, in the\nCeltic Druidesses, in the women diviners who accompanied the Germanic armies and decided the\nday of battle, and even in the Thracian Bacchantes who survive in the legend of Orpheus. The\nprehistoric clairvoyant is continued in the Pythia of Delphi.\n\nThe first prophetesses of the white race are organized in Druidess schools under the supervision of\ninformed elders or Druids, men of the oak tree. At first they were only doers of good deeds. Through\ntheir intuition, their divination and their enthusiasm, they gave a great impetus to the race. But rapid\ncorruption and tremendous abuses of this institution were inevitable. Feeling that they were\nmistresses of the destinies of the people, the Druidesses wanted to rule the latter at any cost. Lacking\ninspiration, they tried to reign by terror. They demanded human sacrifices, making these the\nessential element of their cult. In this, the heroic instincts of their race worked in their favor. The\npeople were courageous, their warriors held death in contempt; at the first call they came voluntarily\nand bravely threw themselves beneath the knives of bloodthirsty priestesses. Through human\nhecatombs the latter hurried the living to join the dead as messengers, for it was believed that in this\nmanner one gained the protection of the ancestors. This activity on the part of the prophetesses and\nDruids became a fearful means of domination.\n\nThis is the first example of the perversion the noblest instincts of human nature inevitably undergo\nwhen they are not controlled by a wise authority or guided toward the good by a higher conscience.\nLeft to the mercy of ambition and individual passion, inspiration degenerates into superstition,\ncourage into ferocity, the sublime ideal of sacrifice into an instrument of tyranny and of sinister and\ncruel exploitation.\n\nBut the white race was only in its violent, wild youth. Passionate in the spiritual sphere, it had yet to\nundergo many other and more bloody crises. It had just been awakened by the attacks of the black\nrace, which was beginning to invade the south of Europe. This was an unequal struggle from the\nbeginning. The half-savage whites, just emerging from their forests and their lacustrine homes, had\nno other means of defense than their spears and stone-tipped arrows. The blacks had iron weapons,\narmor of brass, all the resources of their industrial civilization and their Cyclopean cities. Defeated\nin the first encounter, the white captives became the slaves of the black men, who forced them to\nquarry stone and to carry crude ore into their furnaces. Escaped captives brought back to their own\ncountry the customs, skills and fragments of the science of their conquerors. They learned two things\nfrom the black men: the smelting of metals, and holy writing, that is, the art of recording certain\nideas by means of mysterious hieroglyphic signs which they inscribed on the skins of beasts, on\nstone, or the bark of the ash tree. From this we get the runes of the Celts. Smelted, forged metal was\n\nthe instrument of war; sacred writing was the origin of science and of religious tradition. The\nstruggle between the white and black races wavered back and forth for many centuries from the\nPyrenees to the Caucasus, and from the Caucasus to the Himalayas. The salvation of the white men\nwas in their forests. There, like wild animals, they could hide themselves, reappearing at a suitable\nmoment. Emboldened, disciplined and better armed as the centuries progressed, they finally took\nrevenge, overthrew the cities of the black men, drove them from the coasts of Europe, later invading\nNorth Africa and Central Asia, then inhabited by black peoples.\n\nThe mixture of the two races was effected either by peaceful colonization or by military conquest.\nFabre d Olivet, that wonderful seer of the prehistoric past of mankind, starts with this idea in order to\nset forth a clear view of the origin of the people called the Semitic and also of the Aryans. Wherever\nthe white colonists yielded to the black peoples, accepting their rule and receiving religious initiation\nfrom their priests, there Semitic peoples such as the pre-Menes Egyptians, the Arabs, the\nPhoenicians, Chaldeans and Jews probably came into being. The Aryan civilizations, on the other\nhand, probably were formed where the white men ruled the black men as a result of war or conquests\n-- as in the case of the Iranians, Hindus, Greeks and Etruscans. In addition, among Aryan peoples we\nalso include all the whites who remained in a savage and nomadic state in antiquity such as the\nScythians, the Getae, the Celts, and later the Germans.\n\nIn this way the basic diversity between religions and sacred writing of these two great categories of\nnations can be explained. Among the Semites, where the intellectuality of the black race originally\npredominated, over and above the popular idolatry a tendency toward monotheism can be observed.\nThe principle of the oneness of the hidden, absolute and formless God was one of the essential\ndogmas of the priests of the black race and of their secret initiation. Among the white men who were\nconquerors or who remained of pure blood, one observes on the contrary, a tendency toward\npolytheism, mythology and personification of divinity, stemming from their love of nature and their\nimpassioned ancestor worship.\n\nThe main difference between the style of writing of the Semites and the Aryans probably resulted\nfrom the same cause. Why do all Semitic people write from right to left, and why do all Aryan\npeople write from left to right? The reason Fabre d'Olivet gives is as curious as it is original. It calls\nbefore our eyes a real vision of the forgotten past.\n\nEveryone knows that in prehistoric times no writing at all was done by the general masses of the\npeople. The custom only spread with phonetic script, or the art of representing the sounds of words\nby letters. But hieroglyphic script, or the art of representing things by arbitrary signs, is as old as\nhuman civilization. And always in those primitive times, such writing was the privilege of the\npriesthood, since it was considered a sacred thing, a religious function, and originally a divine\ninspiration. When, in the Southern Hemisphere, the priests of the black or southern race drew their\nmysterious signs on animal skins or on stone slabs, they used to face the South Pole, the lines of\ntheir handwriting directed toward the east, the source of light. Therefore they wrote from right to\nleft. The priests of the white or Nordic race learned writing from the black priests and at first wrote\nlike them. But when the sense of their origin was developed in them, along with national\nconsciousness and racial pride, they invented their own signs, and instead of facing the south, the\ncountry of the black men, they faced the north, the country of their ancestors, while continuing to\nwrite in the direction of the east. Their characters then ran from left to right, the direction of Celtic\nrunes, of Zend, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and all writings of the Aryan races. The letters move toward\nthe rising sun, the source of terrestrial life, but the people face the north, the country of their\nancestors and the mysterious source of the aurora borealis.\n\nThe Semitic and the Aryan currents are the two rivers upon which all our ideas, mythology, religion,\n\nart, science and philosophy have come to us. Each of these streams carries with it a different\nconception of life; the reconciliation and balance of the two would be truth itself. The Semitic\n\ncurrent contains absolute and superior principles: the idea of unity and universality in the name of a\nsupreme Principle which, in its application, leads to the unification of the human family. The Aryan\ncurrent contains the idea of ascending evolution in all terrestrial and supra-terrestrial kingdoms, and\nits application leads to an infinite diversity of developments in the richness of nature and the many\naspirations of the soul. Semitic genius descends from God to man; Aryan genius ascends from man\nto God. One is represented by the punishing archangel who descends to earth, armed with sword and\nthunder; the other by Prometheus, who holds in his hand the fire snatched from heaven and surveys\nOlympus with his glance.\n\nWe bear these two geniuses within us. We think and act under the influence of the one or the other in\nturn. But they are not harmoniously blended within us. They contradict and fight each other in our\ninner feelings, in our subtle thoughts, as well as in our social life and institutions. Hidden beneath\nmany forms which can be summarized under the generic terms spirituality and naturalism, they\ncontrol our discussions and struggles. Irreconcilable and invincible, who will unite them? And yet\nthe progress, the salvation of mankind depends upon their reconciliation and synthesis. For this\nreason, in this book we would like to go back to the source of the two streams, to the birth of the two\ngeniuses. Beyond the conflicts of history, the wars of cults, the contradictions of sacred texts, we\nshall enter the very consciousness of the founders and prophets who gave religions their initial\nimpetus. From above, these men received keen intuition and inspiration, that burning light which\nleads to fruitful action. Indeed, synthesis pre-existed in them. The divine ray dimmed and darkened\nwith their successors, but it reappears, it shines whenever a prophet, hero or seer returns to his life\norigin. For only from this point of departure does one see the goal; from the shining sun, the path of\nthe planets.\n\nThus revelation in history is continuous, graduated, multiform, like nature, but identical in its source,\none like Truth, unchangeable as God.\n\nIn following back along the Semitic stream, by way of Moses we come to Egypt, whose temples,\naccording to Manetho, embodied a tradition thirty thousand years old. In tracing back along the\nAryan stream, we come to India, where as a result of the conquest of the white race, the first great\ncivilization developed. India and Egypt were the two great mothers of religions. They knew the\nsecret of the great initiation. We shall enter their sanctuaries.\n\nBut their traditions will carry us back even further to an earlier period when the two rival geniuses of\nwhich we spoke, appear united in a primeval innocence and a marvelous harmony. This is the\nprimitive Aryan period. Thanks to the wonderful achievements of modern science, thanks to\nphilology, mythology and comparative ethnology, today we are able partly to envision this period. It\nis outlined in the Vedic hymns, which nevertheless, in their patriarchal simplicity and sublime\npurity, are but a reflection. It was a virile and serious age, resembling nothing less than the Golden\nAge dreamed of by the poets. Grief and strife are by no means absent, but within men is a\nconfidence, a strength and a serenity which mankind has never recaptured.\n\nIn India, thought will become more profound, feelings will be refined. In Greece, passions and ideas\nwill be clothed in the charm of art and the magic cloak of beauty. But no poetry surpasses certain\nVedic hymns in moral loftiness, in eminence and intellectual breadth. In them breathes the feeling of\nthe Divine in nature, the Unseen surrounding it and the great Unity pervading the whole.\n\nHow was such a civilization born? How did such a superior intellectuality develop in the midst of\nwars between races and the battle against nature? Here the investigations and conjectures of\ncontemporary science stop. But the religious traditions of people, interpreted according to their\nesoteric meaning, go further and allow us to imagine that the first concentration of the Aryan nucleus\nin Iran took place through a kind of selection. This latter was worked out in the very center of the\n\nwhite race, under the leadership of a conquering lawmaker who gave his people a religion and a law\nin harmony with the genius of the white race.\n\nThe holy book of the Persians, the Zend-Avesta, speaks of this ancient legislator under the name of\nYima, and Zoroaster, in founding a new religion refers to him as the first man to whom Ormuzd, the\nliving God, spoke. Jesus Christ refers to Moses in the same manner. -- The Persian poet Firdausi\ncalls this same lawmaker Djem, the conqueror of black men. -- In the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, he\nappears under the name Rama, is dressed like an Indian king, is surrounded by the splendors of a\nprogressive civilization, but he retains his two distinctive characteristics of reforming conqueror and\ninitiate. -- In the Egyptian traditions, the time of Rama is indicated by the reign of Osiris, Lord of\nLight, which precedes the reign of Isis, Queen of Mysteries. -- Finally, in Greece, the ancient hero-\ndemigod was honored under the name Dionysius, which comes from the Sanskrit Deva Nahusha, the\ndivine restorer. Orpheus even gave this name to the divine Intelligence, and the poet Nonnus sang of\nthe conquest of India by Dionysius, according to the tradition of Eleusis.\n\nLike radii of the same circle, all these traditions indicate a common center. By following their path\none can reach it. Then, long before the India of the Vedas, before the Iran of Zoroaster, in the early\ndawn of the white race, one sees the first creator of the Aryan religion emerging from the forests of\nancient Scythia, crowned with his twin tiara of conqueror and initiate, and bearing in his hand the\nmystical fire, the holy fire which will illumine all races.\n\nIt is to Fabre d Olivet that the honor is due for having discovered this personality.° He marked out\nthe bright path which leads to him, and in following this path I, in turn, shall attempt to call him\nforth.\n\nNotes for this chapter:\n\n1. This division of mankind into four successive, primitive races was accepted by the oldest priests\nof Egypt. They are represented by four figures of different types and skin colors in the paintings of\nthe tomb of Seti I at Thebes. The red race bears the name Rot; the Asiatic race with yellow skin,\nAmu; the African race with black skin, Halasiu; the Lybico European race with white skin and blond\nhair, Tamahu -- Lenormant, History of the Peoples of the Orient, Vol. 1.\n\n2. Refer to the Arabian historians, as well as Abul Ghazi, Genealogical History of the Tartars and\nworks of Mohammed Moshen, historian of the Persians. William Jones, Asiatic Researches 1.\nDiscourse on the Tartars and Persians.\n\n3. Histoire philosophique du genre humain, Vol. 1..\n\n4. All who have seen a real sleep walker have been struck by the unusual intellectual excitement\nwhich is brought about during sleep. For those who have not witnessed such a phenomenon and who\ndoubt it, we will quote a passage from the famous David Strauss. At the house of his friend, Dr.\nJustinus Kerner, he saw the famous Clairvoyant of Prevorst and describes her in the following\nmanner:\n\n\"Shortly afterward, the seer fell into a hypnotic sleep. Thus for the first time I viewed this unusual\nstate, and, I can say, in its purest and loveliest manifestation. The face bore a suffering yet exalted\nand tender expression and was as if bathed in heavenly light; the speech was pure, cadenced and\nrhythmical, a sort of recitative, an abundance of overflowing feelings which might have been\ncompared to masses of clouds, sometimes bright, sometimes dark, gliding over the soul, or better\nstill, to quiet, melancholy breezes caught up in the strings of a marvelous aeolian harp.\" (Trans. by\nR. Lindau, Biographie Generale, art. Kerner)\n\n5. Refer to the last battle between Ariovistus and Caesar in the latter's Commentaries.\n\n6. Historie philosophique du genre humain. Vol. 1.\n\n2. The Mission of Rama\n\nFour or five thousand years before our time, dense forest still covered ancient Scythia, which\nextended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arctic Seas. This continent, which the black men had seen\ndevelop island by island, they called, \"land emerging from the waves.\" How this land contrasted\nwith their white soil, bleached by the sun, this Europe of green coasts, with humid, deeply indented\nbays, of dreamy rivers, somber lakes, and of mists, forever clinging to the sides of its mountains! On\nthe grassy, uncultivated plains, vast like the pampas, one heard nothing but the call of deer, the\nroaring of buffalo and the gallop of the great herds of wild horses, shaking their manes in the wind.\nThe white man who lived in the forests of ancient Scythia was no longer a cave man. Already he\ncould call himself master of this land. He had invented flint knives and hatchets, bow and arrow,\nsling and bowstring. Finally he had found two battle companions, two excellent, incomparable,\nlifelong friends: the dog and the horse. The domesticated dog, having become the faithful guardian\nof his forest home, gave a sense of security to his house. In taming the horse, man had conquered the\nland and subjugated the other animals; he had become the king of space. Mounted on wild horses,\nthese sandy-haired men rode like the lightning. They killed the bear, the wolf, the aurochs and\nfrightened the panther and the lion who lived in our forests at that time.\n\nCivilization had begun; the embryonic family, the clan and the tribe existed. Everywhere the\nScythians, sons of the Hyperboreans, erected huge menhirs to their ancestors.\n\nWhen a leader died, his arms and horse were buried with him so that, it was said, the warrior could\nride across the clouds and chase the dragon of fire in the other world. Hence the custom of\nsacrificing the horse, which plays such an important role in the Vedas and among the Scandinavians.\n\nReligion thus began in the worship of ancestors. The Semites found the one God, the universal\nSpirit, in the desert, on the mountain tops, in the immensity of stellar space. The Scythians and the\nCelts found their gods in the form of many spirits, in the heart of their forests. There they heard\nvoices; there they experienced the first thrills of the Unseen, visions of the great Beyond. This is\nwhy the forest -- delightful or dreadful -- has remained dear to the white race. Charmed by the music\nof the leaves and the magic of the moon, in the course of the ages, men always return to it as to a\nfountain of youth, the temple of the great mother Hertha. There sleep men's gods, their loves, their\nlost Mysteries.\n\nFrom the most remote times, visionary women prophesied under trees. Each tribe had its great\nprophetess, like the Voluspa of the Scandinavians, with her school of Druidesses. But these women,\nat first nobly inspired, became ambitious and cruel. The good prophetesses changed into evil\nmagicians. They instituted human sacrifices, and the blood of their Herôlls flowed continuously over\nthe dolmens, to the sinister chants of the priests and the approving shouts of the ferocious Scythians.\n\nAmong these priests was a young man in the prime of life; his name was Ram. Though he had been\ndestined for the priesthood, his contemplative soul and penetrating mind rebelled against this bloody\ncult.\n\nThe young Druid was gentle and serious. Early in life he had shown remarkable knowledge of\n\nplants, their marvelous powers, the distilling and preparation of their juices, as well as the study of\nstars and their forces. He seemed to divine, to see far-off things. Hence his premature authority over\n\nthe older Druids. A kindly greatness emanated from his words and his being. His wisdom contrasted\nwith the madness of the Druidesses, those screechers of curses who pronounced their inauspicious\noracles during convulsions of delirium. The Druids had called him \"the one who knows,\" and the\npeople called him \"the inspired one of peace.\"\n\nNevertheless, Ram, striving after divine science, had travelled over all of Scythia and the southern\ncountries. Fascinated by his personal knowledge and his modesty, the priests of the black men had\nrevealed a part of their secret knowledge to him. When he returned to the northern country, Ram was\nfrightened at seeing the cult of human sacrifices increasing more and more among his people. He\nsaw in it the ruin of his race. But how could he fight this custom propagated by the arrogance of the\nDruidesses, the ambition of the Druids, and the superstition of the people? Then another calamity\nbefell the white men, and Ram thought he saw in it heaven's punishment of the sacrilegious cult.\nFrom their expeditions into the southern countries and from their contact with the black men, the\nwhite men had brought back a terrible disease, a kind of plague. It infected men through the\nbloodstream, through the sources of life. The entire body became covered with black spots. The\nbreath became foul, the swollen limbs, eaten by ulcers, became deformed, and the sick person died\nin excruciating pain. The breath of the living and the smell of the dead spread the plague widely.\nAnd white men, stupefied, fell and died by the thousands in their forests, abandoned even by birds of\n\nprey.\nDeeply sorrowful, Ram vainly looked for a means of salvation.\n\nHe was in the habit of meditating under an oak tree in a glade. One evening, during which he had\npondered for a long time over the evils of his race, he fell asleep at the foot of the tree. In his sleep it\nseemed to him that a loud voice was calling him by name, and he thought he awakened. Then he saw\nbefore him a man of majestic height, clothed like himself in the white robe of the Druids. He carried\na rod, around which a snake was coiled. The astonished Ram was about to ask the stranger what it\nmeant, but the latter, taking him by the hand, made him stand up and showed him a beautiful branch\nof mistletoe on the very tree at the foot of which he had been resting. \"O Ram!\" he said, \"There is\nthe remedy you seek.\" Then he took from his breast a little gold pruning knife, cut the branch, and\ngave it to him. He murmured a few words about the way to prepare the mistletoe, and disappeared.\n\nThen Ram awakened fully, feeling very deeply comforted. An inner voice told him that he had found\nsalvation. He prepared the mistletoe according to the instructions of the divine friend with the golden\nsickle. Then he made a sick man drink this brew in a fermented liquor, and the patient was cured.\nThe marvelous healings he brought about made Ram famous in all Scythia. He was summoned\neverywhere for healing work. When consulted by the Druids of his tribe, he shared his discovery\nwith them, adding that it must remain the secret of the priestly caste in order to insure its power.\nRam's disciples, traveling over all Scythia with branches of mistletoe, were considered divine\nmessengers and their master a demigod.\n\nThis event marked the origin of a new cult. From this time on, the mistletoe became a sacred plant.\nRam perpetuated its fame by instituting the holiday of Noel, or of the new salvation, which he placed\nat the beginning of the year, calling it the Night Mother of the universe, or of the great renewal. As\nfor the mysterious being whom Ram had seen in a dream and who had shown him the mistletoe, in\nthe esoteric tradition of the white men of Europe he is called Aesc-heyl-hopa, which means \"hope for\nsalvation is in the forests.\" The Greeks called him Aesculapius, the genius of medicine who holds\nthe magic rod in the form of a caduceus.\n\nNevertheless, Ram, \"the inspired one of peace,\" had broader plans. He wanted to cure his people of a\nmoral wound more disastrous than the plague. Chosen chief of the priests of his tribe, he issued an\norder that all the schools of the Druids and Druidesses were to stop making human sacrifices. This\nnews spread to the ocean, hailed as a joyful event by some, as an outrageous sacrilege by others.\n\nTheir power threatened, the Druidesses began to scream curses upon the presumptuous man, to hurl\ndeath sentences against him. Many Druids who saw in human sacrifices their only means of power,\njoined them. Ram, extolled by a large group, was hated by others. But rather than withdraw from the\nbattle, he aggravated it by establishing a new symbol.\n\nAt that time each white tribe had its rallying sign in the form of an animal which symbolized its\nchosen qualities. Some of the chiefs nailed cranes, eagles or vultures to the framework of their\nwooden houses; others, the heads of wild boars or buffalo. This is the origin of the coat-of-arms. But\nthe chosen emblem of the Scythians was the bull, which they called Thor, the sign of brute force and\nviolence. Ram took the figure of the ram, the courageous, peaceful leader of the flock, in place of the\nbull, and made it the rallying sign of his followers. This emblem, established in the midst of Scythia,\nbecame the signal for a great clamor and an actual revolution in men's thought. The white people\ndivided into two camps. The very soul of the white race was split in half, in order to free itself from\nanimality, so that it might climb the first step of the invisible sanctuary which leads to divine\nmankind. \"Death to the Ram!\" shouted Thor's supporters. \"War on the Bull!\" shouted Ram's friends.\nA fearful war was imminent.\n\nIn the face of this threat, Ram hesitated. If war were let loose, would this not intensify the evil and\nforce his race to destroy itself? At this moment he had another dream.\n\nThe stormy heaven was filled with dark clouds which swept over the mountains and moved above\nthe bending trees of the forest. Standing on a rock, a wild-haired woman was about to strike a fine\nwarrior who was tied before her. \"In the name of the ancestors, Stop!\" shouted Ram, throwing\nhimself upon the woman. The Druidess, threatening her adversary, gave Ram a look as piercing as\nthe blade of a knife. But the thunder rolled in the thick clouds, and amidst a flash of lightning a\ndazzling figure appeared. The forest paled before it. The Druidess fell as if thunderstruck, and the\nbonds of the captive having been broken, he looked at the shining giant with a gesture of defiance.\nRam did not tremble, for in the features of the apparition he recognized the divine being who had\nalready spoken to him beneath the oak tree. This time he appeared more beautiful, for his entire body\nshone with light. And Ram saw that he was in an open temple with broad columns. In the place of\nthe sacrificial stone, an altar was raised. Nearby stood the warrior whose eyes still feared death. The\nwoman lying on the flagstones, appeared to be dead. And now the heavenly genius carried a torch in\nhis right hand; in his left hand was a cup. He smiled benevolently, saying, \"Ram, I am pleased with\nyou. Do you see this torch? It is the sacred fire of the divine Spirit. Do you see this cup? It is the cup\nof Life and Love. Give the torch to the man, the cup to the woman.\" Ram did as his genius\ncommanded him. Hardly was the torch in the man's hand and the cup in the woman', than the fire\nlighted of itself on the altar, and both shone transfigured in the light, like the divine husband and\nwife. At the same time the temple grew larger; its columns mounted to heaven; its vault became the\nfirmament. Then, carried by his dream, Ram saw himself borne to the top of a mountain under the\nstarry sky. Standing near him, his genius explained the meaning of the constellations, and in the\nflaming signs of the zodiac Ram read the destinies of mankind.\n\n\"Wonderful spirit, who are you?\" Ram asked the genius. And the genius replied, \"I am called Deva\n\nNahusha, divine Intelligence. You will spread my light over the earth, and I shall always come at\nyour call. Now, be on your way. Go!\" And with his hand, the genius pointed toward the East.\n\n3. Exodus and Conquest\n\nIn this dream, as in a flash of lightning, Ram saw his mission and the great destiny of his race. From\nthat moment he no longer hesitated. Instead of igniting the spark of war among the peoples of\nEurope, he decided to take the best of his race into Asia. He announced to his people that he would\ninstitute the cult of the sacred fire, which would bring about mankind's happiness; that human\nsacrifices would be abolished forever; that ancestors would be invoked no longer by bloodthirsty\npriestesses beside savage rocks dripping with human blood, but in each home, by husband and wife\njoined in a single prayer, in a hymn of adoration, near the fire which purifies. Yes, the visible fire of\nthe altar, symbol and conductor of the invisible celestial fire, would unite family, clan, tribe and all\npeoples -- a center of the living God on earth. But in order to reap this harvest, it was necessary to\nseparate the good grain from the tares; it was necessary for the bravest to prepare themselves to\nleave Europe in order to conquer a new land, a virgin country. There he would issue his law; there he\nwould establish the cult of the regenerating fire.\n\nThis proposal was received enthusiastically by a young people, yearning for adventure. Lighted fires,\nkept burning for several months on the mountains, were the signal for the mass migration of all who\nwished to follow the Ram. The tremendous migration, directed by that great shepherd of peoples,\nslowly started to move, departing in the direction of Central Asia. Among the Caucasus Mountains\nwere several Cyclopean strongholds of the black men which had to be captured. In memory of these\nvictories, the white people later carved huge rams' heads in the rocks of the Caucasus.\n\nRam proved himself worthy of his great mission. He smoothed out difficulties, read thoughts,\npredicted the future, healed the sick, calmed the rebels, set courage aflame. Thus the heavenly\npowers which we call Providence willed the rule of the northern race on earth, and by means of\nRam's wisdom, cast shining light upon its path. Lesser inspired leaders had already rescued this race\nfrom its savage state. But Ram, who first conceived of social law as an expression of divine law, was\ntruly a straightforward, inspired man of the highest order.\n\nHe made friends with the Turanians, old Scythian tribes who inhabited upper Asia, and led them in\nthe conquest of Iran, where he completely repelled the black men, for he intended that a people of\nunmixed white race would inhabit Central Asia and become a center of light for all others. He\nfounded the city of Ver, which Zoroaster called an admirable city. He taught men how to till and sow\nseed in the soil; he was the father of cultivated wheat and of the vine. He created classes according to\noccupations and divided the people into priests, warriors, laborers and artisans. In the beginning, the\nclasses were not at all rivals. The hereditary privilege, source of hatred and jealousy, was introduced\nonly later. He forbade slavery as well as murder, stating that slavery was the cause of all evils. As for\nthe tribe, that primitive grouping of the white race, he preserved it as it was, allowing it to elect its\nleaders and judges.\n\nRam's crowning work, the pre-eminently civilizing instrument created by him, was the new role he\ngave to woman. Until that time, man had considered woman either as a wretched slave whom he\noverburdened and brutally mistreated, or as the turbulent priestess of the oak tree and rock, from\nwhom he sought protection and who ruled him in spite of himself -- a fascinating, dreadful sorceress\nwhose oracles he feared and before whom his superstitious heart trembled. Human sacrifice was\nwoman's revenge against man, when she sank the knife into the fierce male tyrant's heart. Outlawing\nthis horrible cult and reestablishing woman in man's estimation in her divine function as wife and\nmother, Ram made her the priestess of the hearth, the guardian of the sacred fire, the equal of her\nhusband, the one who joined with him in calling upon the souls of the ancestors.\n\nLike all great legislators, Ram did nothing more than develop and organize the great instincts of his\nrace. In order to enhance and beautify life, Ram ordained four great yearly festivals. The first was\n\nthat of the spring or of generations. It was dedicated to the love of husband and wife. The festival of\nsummer or of harvest belonged to the sons and daughters, who offered the fruit of their labor to the\nparents. The festival of autumn feted fathers and mothers; they then gave fruit to their children as a\nsign of rejoicing. The holiest and most mysterious of festivals was Noel, or the great sowing-time.\nRam dedicated it both to new-born children, the fruits of love conceived in spring, and to the souls of\nthe dead, to the ancestors. A point of connection between the visible and the invisible, this religious\nobservance was both a farewell to souls in flight, and a mystical greeting to those who returned to be\nreincarnated in the mothers, to be reborn in children. On this holy night, the ancient Aryans\nassembled in the sanctuaries of Airyana-Vaeia as they had formerly in their forests. With fires and\nchants they celebrated the renewal of the earthly and solar year, the germination of nature in the\nheart of winter, the trembling of life before the abyss of death. They sang of the universal kiss of\nheaven given to earth, and the triumphant birth of the new sun from the great Night-Mother.\n\nThus Ram linked human life with the cycle of the seasons and with the movements of the stars. At\nthe same time he emphasized its divine significance. Because he founded such productive\ninstitutions, Zoroaster called him \"the leader of peoples, the most blessed monarch.\" This is why the\nHindu poet Valmiki, who places the ancient hero in a much more recent period, surrounded by the\nluxury of a more advanced civilization, nevertheless preserves in him the characteristics of such a\nhigh ideal. \"Rama with lotus blue eyes,\" said Valmiki, \"was lord of the world, master of his soul, and\nthe object of men's love. He was the father and mother of his subjects. He knew how to bestow upon\nall beings the bond of love.\"\n\nOnce settled in Iran, at the gates of the Himalaya Mountains, the white race was not yet ruler of the\nworld. It was necessary that its vanguard push onward into India, the main center of the black men,\nancient conquerors of the red and yellow races. The Zend-Avesta speaks of this march of Rama? on\nIndia. The Hindu epic makes it one of its favorite themes. Rama was the conqueror of the land which\nthe Himavat encircles, the land of elephants, tigers and gazelles. He ordered the first attack, and led\nthe first thrust of this colossal battle in which two races unconsciously contended for the scepter of\nthe world. Poetic tradition of India, elaborating upon the secret traditions of the temples, transformed\ntheir struggle into a fight between black and white magic. In his war against the peoples and kings of\nthe land of the Jambus, as it was then called, Ram or Rama, as the Orientals named him, employed\nmeans which appear miraculous simply because they are beyond the ordinary capacities of mankind.\nOther great initiates attain similar results, due to their knowledge and manipulation of the hidden\nforces of nature. Here tradition shows Rama causing streams to burst forth in the desert, finding in\nthese unexpected resources a kind of balm whose use he taught; elsewhere he puts an end to an\nepidemic with a plant called homa (Greek amomon, Egyptian persea) from which he extracted a\nhealing essence. This plant became sacred among his followers, replacing the mistletoe of the oak\ntree, preserved by the Celts of Europe.\n\nRama made use of all kinds of magic spells against his enemies. The priests of the black men ruled\nonly by means of a decadent cult. In their temples they were in the habit of keeping enormous snakes\nand pterodactyls, rare survivors of antediluvian animals, which were worshiped like gods, and which\nterrified the masses. They made these snakes eat the flesh of captives. Sometimes Rama appeared\nunexpectedly in these temples with torches, driving out, frightening and subduing both serpents and\npriests. Sometimes he appeared in the midst of his enemies, exposed and defenseless among those\nwho sought his death, departing again without anyone having dared touch him. When those who had\nallowed him to escape were questioned, they answered that upon meeting his gaze they were\npetrified, or that, while he was speaking, a mountain of brass was placed between them and him and\nthey could not see him. Finally, as a consummation of his work, the epic tradition of India attributed\nto Rama the conquest of Ceylon, last refuge of the black magician Ravana, on whom the white\nmagician showered down fire, first having formed a bridge over the sea by means of an army of\nmonkeys closely resembling some primitive tribe of bimanous savages, led and inspired by this great\ncharmer of nations.\n\nNotes for this chapter:\n\n7. It is noteworthy that the Zend Avesta, the sacred book of the Parsis, while considering Zoroaster as\nthe one inspired by Ormuzd and the prophet of God's law, makes him the successor of a much more\nancient prophet. Behind the symbolism of the ancient temples one grasps here the chain of the great\nrevelation of mankind, uniting all true initiates. Here is the important passage:\n\n1. Zarathustra (Zoroaster) asked Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd, God of Light): Ahura-Mazda, holy and\nmost sacred creator of all corporeal beings:\n\n2. Who is the first man with whom you spoke, Ahura-Mazda?\n\n4. Then Ahura-Mazda answered: With the noble Yima, he who was at the head of an assembly\nworthy of praises, O pure Zarathastra.\n\n13. And I said to him: Watch over the worlds which belong to me, make them fertile in your role of\nprotector.\n\n17. And I brought him the arms of victory, I who am Ahura-Mazda:\n\n18. A golden lance and a golden spear ...\n\n31. Then Yima raised himself up to the stars in the south, on the path which the sun takes.\n37. He walked over this land which he had made fertile. It was one-third larger than before.\n\n43. And the radiant Yima called together the assembly of the most virtuous men in the famous\nAiryana Vaeja, created pure.\n(Vendidad Sade, 2nd Fargard Trans. by Anquetil Duperron)\n\n4. The Last Will of the Great Ancestor\n\nThrough his strength, genius and kindness, say the sacred books of the Orient, Rama became master\nof India and spiritual king of the earth. Priests, kings and people bowed down before him as before a\nheavenly benefactor. Under the sign of the ram his missionaries spread afar the Aryan law which\nproclaimed equality of conquerors and conquered, the abolition of human sacrifice and slavery,\nrespect for the woman in the home, the worship of ancestors and the institution of the sacred fire,\nvisible symbol of the nameless God.\n\nRama had grown old. His beard had become white, but the strength had not left his body and the\nmajesty of the pontiffs of truth reposed on his forehead. The kings and the representatives of the\npeople offered him absolute authority. He requested one year to think it over, and again had a dream.\nThe genius who inspired him, spoke to him in his sleep.\n\nHe saw himself once more in the forests of his youth. He had become young again, and was wearing\nthe linen robe of the Druids. The moon was shining. It was the holy night, the Night-Mother, when\npeople await the rebirth of the sun and the year. Rama was walking under the oak trees, listening to\nthe voices of the forest. A beautiful woman came to him. She was wearing a magnificent crown. Her\nhair was the color of gold, her skin the whiteness of snow, and her eyes had the deep luster of the\n\nsky after a storm. She said to him, \"I was the savage Druidess; through you I have become the\nradiant wife. And now my name is Sita. I am the woman glorified by you. I am the white race; I am\nyour wife. O, my master and my king, is it not for my sake that you crossed rivers, charmed peoples\nand deposed kings? This is the reward. Take this crown in your hand, put it on your head and rule\nthe world with me.\" She knelt humbly and submissively, offering him the crown of the earth. Its\nprecious stones radiated a thousand lights, the rapture of love smiled in the woman's eyes and the\nsoul of the great Rama, shepherd of the peoples, was touched. But, above the forests, Deva Nahusha,\nhis genius, appeared and said to him, \"If you place that crown upon your head, divine Intelligence\nwill leave you; you will see me no longer. If you clasp this woman in your arms, she will die of your\nhappiness. But if you refuse to possess her she will live happy and free on earth, and your invisible\nspirit will reign over her. Choose! Either listen to her or follow me.\" Sita, still kneeling, looked at\nher master, her eyes overflowing with love, pleadingly awaiting his answer. Rama remained silent\nfor a moment. He looked deep into Sita's eyes, considering the gulf which separates complete\npossession from an everlasting farewell. But feeling that supreme love is supreme abnegation, he\nplaced his liberating hand on the white woman's forehead, blessed her, and said, \"Farewell! You are\nfree. Do not forget me!\"\n\nImmediately the woman disappeared like a lunar phantom. Young Aurora raised her magic wand\nabove the ancient forest. The king became old again. A shower of tears bathed his white beard, and\nfrom the depths of the woods a mournful voice called \"Rama, Rama!\"\n\nBut Deva Nahusha, the genius shining with light, exclaimed, \"Come to me!\" And the divine spirit\ncarried Rama off to a mountain in the north of Himavat.\n\nAfter this dream which showed him the fulfilment of his mission, Rama assembled the kings and\nrepresentatives of the people, saying to them, \"I do not desire the supreme power you offer me. Keep\nyour crowns and observe my law. My task is finished. I am retiring forever with my fellow initiates\nto a mountain of Airyana-Vaeia. From there I shall watch over you. Guard the sacred fire! If it\nshould happen to die out, I shall reappear among you as a judge and terrible avenger!\" After this he\nwithdrew with his intimate followers to Mount Albori between Balk and Bamyan, and entered into a\nretreat known to the initiates alone. There he taught his disciples what he knew of the earth and the\nGreat Being. Then they went out to carry into Egypt and as far as Occitania the sacred fire, symbol\nof the divine unity of things, and the horns of the ram, emblem of the Aryan religion. These horns\nbecame the insignia of initiation and later of priestly and royal power. From a distance Rama\ncontinued to watch over his people and over his beloved white race. The last years of his life were\nspent in arranging the calendar of the Aryans. We owe the signs of the zodiac to him. It is the last\nwork of the patriarch of the initiates, a strange book, written with stars in heavenly hieroglyphics in\nthe immeasurable, boundless firmament, by the Ancient of Days of our race. In establishing the\ntwelve signs of the zodiac, Ram attributed a triple meaning to them. The first referred to the powers\nof the sun during the twelve months of the year; the second, to a certain extent told his own story;\nthe third indicated the secret means he had used to attain his goal. This is why the signs, read in\nreverse order, later became the secret emblems of progressive initiation.\" He ordered his friends to\nkeep his death secret and to continue his work by perpetuating their brotherhood. For centuries\npeople believed that Rama, wearing the tiara of ram's horns, was still alive on the holy mountain. In\nVedic times the Great Ancestor became Yama, the judge of the dead, the psychopomp Hermes of the\nHindus.\n\nNotes for this chapter:\n\n8. The horns of the ram are found on the heads of many human figures carved on Egyptian\nmonuments. This headgear of kings and high priests is the mark of priestly and royal initiation. The\ntwo horns of the papal tiara are derived from it.\n\n9. This is how the signs of the Zodiac represent Rams life, according to Fabre d'Olivet, that thinker\nand genius who knew how to interpret the symbols of the past according to esoteric tradition: 1.\nAries, The Ram which is fleeing with head turned backward, indicates Ram's position when leaving\nhis country, his eye fixed on the land behind him. 2. The Raging Bull (Taurus) stands in the way of\nhis march, but half of his body, held fast in the mud prevents him from executing his plan; he falls\nupon his knees. These are the Celts, represented by their own symbol, who in spite of their efforts,\nfinally yield. 3. Gemini express the alliance of Ram with the Turanians. 4. Cancer, Ram's\nmeditations and inner reflections. 5. The Lion, his battles against his enemies. 6. The Winged Virgin,\nvictory. 7. The Scales, the equality of conquerors and conquered. 8. The Scorpion, rebellion and\ntreason. 9. Sagittarius, the revenge he takes. 10. Capricorn. 11. Aquarius, the Waterman. 12. The\nsign of Pisces refers to the moral side of his story.\n\nOne may find this explanation of the Zodiac both daring and strange. However, never has any\nastronomer or mythologist explained to us the origin or meaning of these mysterious signs of the\nheavenly map, adopted and revered by humanity since the beginning of our Aryan cycle. Fabre\ndOlivet's hypothesis at least has the merit of opening new and broad perspectives. I have said that\nthese signs, when read in reverse order in the Orient and in Greece, later marked the ascending steps\nnecessary to reach supreme initiation. Let us remember only the most famous of these emblems: The\nWinged Virgin meant the purity which gives victory; The Lion, moral strength; The Twins, the union\nof man and a divine spirit, together forming two invincible fighters; The subdued Bull, mastery over\nnature; The Ram, the constellation of Fire or of the universal Spirit, giving supreme initiation\nthrough the knowledge of Truth.\n\n5. The Vedic Religion\n\nThrough his genius for organizing, the great initiator of the Aryans had created in Central Asia and\nIran, a people, a society, a living impulse which was to radiate in all directions. The colonies of the\nprimitive Aryans spread into Asia and Europe, carrying with them their customs, cults and gods. Of\nall the colonies, the branch of the Aryans of India most closely resembles the primitive Aryans.\n\nThe sacred books of the Hindus, the Vedas, have a threefold value for us. First, they lead us to the\nhome of the ancient, pure Aryan religion, of which the Vedic hymns are brilliant rays. In addition,\nthey give us the key to India. Finally, they show us an initial crystallization of basic ideas of esoteric\ndoctrine and of all Aryan religions.\"\n\nLet us confine ourselves to a brief sketch of both the exterior and the heart of the Vedic religion.\n\nThere is nothing simpler and greater than this religion, in which an intense naturalism is mixed with\na transcendent spirituality. Before sunrise, a man -- the head of a family -- is standing before an earth\naltar where a fire, lighted with two pieces of wood, burns. At one and the same time this man is\nfather, priest and king of the sacrifice. \"While Dawn disrobes,\" as a Vedic poet says, \"like a woman\nleaving her bath: -- Dawn who has woven the loveliest of cloths,\" the leader repeats a prayer, an\ninvocation to Usha (the Dawn), to Savitar (the Sun), and the Asuras (the spirits of life). The mother\nand sons pour the fermented liquors of the asclepus, the soma, into Agni, the fire, and the rising\n\nflame carries to the invisible gods the purified prayer spoken by the patriarch and the heart of the\nfamily.\n\nThe state of mind of the Vedic poet is far removed from both Hellenic sensualism (I refer to the\npopular cults of Greece, not the doctrine of the Greek initiates) and from the Judaic monotheism\nwhich worships the formless, omnipresent Lord.\n\nFor the Vedic poet, nature resembles a transparent veil, behind which move imponderable divine\nforces. These powers are the forces he calls upon, worships and personifies, but without being\ndeceived by his metaphors. For him Savitar is less sun than Vivasvat, the creative power of life, who\nanimates man and who moves the solar system. Indra, the divine warrior, crossing the sky in his\ngilded chariot, hurling thunder and making the clouds burst, personifies the powers of this same sun\nin atmospheric life, in \"the great transparency of the atmosphere.\" When they call upon Varuna, the\nGreek Uranus, god of the vast, luminous sky, who embraces everything, the Vedic poets go even\nhigher. \"If Indra represents the active, militant life of heaven, Varuna represents its unchangeable\nmajesty. Nothing equals the magnificence of the descriptions the hymns give of him. The sun is his\neye, the sky his clothing, the hurricane his breath. It is he who established heaven and earth on\nunshakeable foundations, and who keeps them separate. He made everything and preserves\neverything. No one can touch the works of Varuna, no one fathoms him, but he knows all and sees\nall that is and will be. In the heights of heaven he lives in a palace with a thousand doors; he watches\nthe path of the birds in the air and of ships on the seas. From that point, from the height of his golden\nthrone with its brass foundation, he surveys and judges the deeds of men. He is the preserver of order\nin the universe and in society; he punishes the guilty; he is merciful to the man who repents. And to\nhim the anguished cry of remorse is raised; before his presence the sinner comes to rid himself of the\nweight of his error. Elsewhere Vedic religion is ritualistic, sometimes highly speculative. With\nVaruna it goes down into the depths of consciousness and realizes the notion of holiness.\" In\naddition, it elevates itself to the pure idea of one God who permeates and overlooks the great All.\n\nNevertheless, the imposing pictures the Vedic hymns unroll in great quantity like bountiful rivers,\npresent to us only the exterior sheath of the Vedas. With the conception of Agni, the divine fire, we\nare very close to the core of the doctrine and its esoteric, transcendent foundation. In fact, Agni is the\ncosmic agent, the principle of the universe, par excellence. \"It is not only the terrestrial fire of\nlightning and the sun. Its true domain is the unseen, mystical heaven, temporary dwelling-place of\nthe eternal light and of the first principles of all things. Its births are infinite, whether it bursts forth\nfrom the piece of wood in which it sleeps like the embryo in the womb, or whether as a 'child of the\nwaves,' it issues with the noise of thunder from celestial rivers where the Acvins (celestial horsemen)\nengendered it with aranis of gold. Agni is the eldest of the gods, ruler in heaven as well as on earth,\nand he officiated in the abode of Vivasvat (the sky or sun) long before Matharicva (the lightning)\nbrought him to mortals and Atharvan and the Angiras, ancient high priests, appointed him here\nbelow as protector, host and friend of men. Master and generator of the sacrifice, Agni becomes the\nbearer of all mystical speculations of which sacrifice is the purpose. He engenders the gods, he\norganizes the world, he produces and preserves universal life; in short, he is cosmogonic power.\n\n\"Soma is the teardrop of Agni. In reality it is the drink of a fermented plant poured as a libation to the\ngods during the sacrifice. But, like Agni, it has a mystical existence. Its supreme abode is in the\ndepths of the third heaven where Surya, daughter of the sun, filtered it, and where Pushan, food-\ngiving god, bound it. It is from there that the Falcon, a symbol of lightning, or Agni himself went and\nsnatched it from the heavenly Archer, from Gandharva its guardian, and brought it to men. The gods\ndrank it and became immortal; men also will become immortal when they drink it in the home of\nYama, dwelling-place of the happy. In the meantime, here below it gives them vigor and fullness of\nlife; it is ambrosia and the water of youth. It nourishes, permeates plants, invigorates the semen of\nanimals, inspires the poet and provides wings for prayer. Soul of heaven and of earth, of Indra and\nVishnu, with Agni, it forms an inseparable couple; this couple that lighted the sun and stars.\"\n\nThe conception of Agni and Soma contains the two essential principles of the universe, according to\nesoteric doctrine and all living philosophy. Agni is the Eternal Masculine, the creative intellect, pure\nspirit; Soma is the Eternal Feminine, the soul of the world, or the ethereal substance, womb of all the\nvisible and invisible worlds before the eyes of the flesh, and finally nature, or subtle matter in its\ninfinite transformations.' And the perfect union of these two beings constitutes the supreme being\nand essence of God.\n\nFrom these two major ideas springs a third and no less fecund one. The Vedas make of the\ncosmogonic act a perpetual sacrifice. In order to produce all that exists, the supreme being sacrifices\nhimself; he divides himself in order to emerge from his unity. This sacrifice therefore is considered\nthe vital point of all the functions of nature. This idea, surprising at first, very profound when one\nconsiders it further, contains in embryo the entire theosophic teaching of the evolution of God in the\nworld, the esoteric synthesis of polytheism and monotheism. It will lead to the Dionysiac teaching of\nthe fall and redemption of souls, which will have full expression in Hermes and Orpheus. From this\nwill arise the doctrine of the Holy Word, proclaimed by Krishna and fulfilled by Jesus Christ.\n\nThe fire sacrifice with its ceremonies and prayers, the unchangeable center of the Vedic cult, thus\nbecomes the reflection of this great cosmogonic act. The Vedas attach a capital importance to prayer,\nto the form of invocation which accompanies sacrifice. For this reason they make a goddess of\nprayer, Brahmanaspati. Faith in the evocative and creative power of human speech, accompanied by\na powerful activity of the soul or an intense projection of will is the source of all cults, and the\nreason for the Egyptian and Chaldean doctrine of magic. For the Vedic and Brahmanic priests, by\nmeans of fire, chants and prayers, called upon the Asuras, the invisible Lords, and the Pitris or souls\nof ancestors, whom they believed seated themselves upon the grass during the sacrifice, attracted by\nthe fire, the songs and the prayers. The science relating to this aspect of the cult involves the\nhierarchy of spirits of every rank.\n\nAs for the immortality of the soul, the Vedas confirm this with unmistakable clarity. \"There is an\nimmortal side to man; that is the one, O Agni, which you must warm with your rays and quicken\nwith your fires. O Jatavedas, in the glorious body, formed by you, carry it to the world of the godly.\"\nThe Vedic poets not only indicate the destiny of the soul, but are also concerned with its origin.\n\"Where were souls born? There are those who come to us and return, who return and come back\nagain.\" That in brief is the doctrine of reincarnation, which will play a major role in Brahmanism and\nBuddhism, among the Egyptians and the Orphics, in the philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato, the\nmystery of mysteries, the secret of secrets.\n\nAfter this, how can one not recognize in the Vedas the broad lines of an organic religious system, a\nphilosophic concept of the universe? In them is not only the profound intuition of anterior\nintellectual truth, superior to the observation, but also unity and breadth of vision in the\nunderstanding of nature and in the coordination of its phenomena. Like a beautiful rock crystal, the\nconsciousness of the Vedic poet reflects the sunshine of eternal truth, and in this brilliant prism shine\nall the rays of a universal theosophy. The principles of the eternal teaching are even more visible\nhere than in the other sacred books of India and in the other Semitic or Aryan religions, because of\nthe extraordinary directness of the Vedic poets and the clarity of this primitive religion, so lofty and\nso pure. At that time, the distinction between the mysteries and popular worship did not exist. But in\ncarefully reading the Vedas, behind the father of the family or the officiating poet of the hymns, one\nalready perceives another more important person. One glimpses the Rishi, the wise man, the initiate,\nfrom whom he received the truth. One also observes that this truth was transmitted by an\nuninterrupted tradition which dates back to the beginnings of the Aryan race.\n\nThus, then, is the Aryan people launched in its conquering, civilizing career along the Indus and\n\nGanges. Rama's invisible genius, the knowledge of things divine, Deva Nahusha rules over it. Agni,\nthe sacred fire, flows in its veins. A rose-tinted aura surrounds this age of youth, power and virility.\n\nThe family is established, the woman respected. Priestess of the home, sometimes she herself\ncomposes and sings the hymns. \"May this wife and husband live one hundred autumns,\" said a poet.\nThey love life, but they also believe in the after-life. The king lives in a castle on a hill which\noverlooks the village. In war he is set upon a splendid chariot, clothed in shining armor, wearing a\ntiara; he shines like the god Indra.\n\nLater, when the Brahmans have established their authority, near the magnificent palace of the\nmaharaja or great king, one sees the stone pagoda from which come the arts, the poetry and drama\nof the gods, pantomimed and danced by sacred dancers. Castes exist for the moment, but not in a\nstrict sense and without absolute boundaries. The warrior is priest, and the priest, warrior; more often\nhe is the chief or king's officiating priest.\n\nNow here comes an individual, poor in appearance but with a rich future. His hair and beard are\nunkempt, he is half-clothed in red rags. This muni, this recluse, lives near the holy lakes, in a wild\nplace where he gives himself to meditation and the ascetic life. From time to time he comes to\nadmonish the leader or king. Often he is pushed aside and disobeyed, but he is respected and feared.\nAlready he exercises a terrible power.\n\nBetween the king on his gilded chariot, surrounded by warriors, and the almost naked muni, having\nno weapons other than his thought, his speech and his gaze, a battle will take place. And the\nconqueror will not be the king; it will be the recluse, the almost fleshless, emaciated beggar, because\nhe will have knowledge and strength.\n\nThe story of this battle is the same as that of Brahmanism, as later it will be that of Buddhism. In it is\nsummed up almost all of India's history.\n\nNotes for this chapter:\n\n10. The Brahmans considered the Vedas their holy books par excellence. They found in them the\nscience of sciences. The word Veda means knowledge. The scientists of Europe have been justifiably\ndrawn to these texts by a kind of fascination. At first they saw in them only a patriarchal poetry; then\nthey discovered in them not only the origin of the great Indo-European myths and our classic gods,\nbut also a wisely organized cult, a profoundly religious and metaphysical system (See Bergaigne, La\nreligion des Vedas, as well as the excellent and enlightening work of August Barth, Les religions de\nl'Inde.) The future perhaps still holds a final surprise, which will be to find in the Vedas the\ndefinition of that secret power of nature which modern science is in the process of rediscovering.\n\n11. What clearly proves that Soma represented the absolute feminine principle is the fact that the\n\nBrahmins later identified it with the Moon. As the Moon symbolizes the feminine principle in all\nancient religions, so the Sun symbolizes the masculine principle.",
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