The great Master of Christendom is reported to have told his disciples that if they had but faith they should do greater works than even he had done. Either this was false or else the followers have been false to their Teacher. There is no escape from the dilemma. And such "works" are to be wrought by divine Magic alone, or if the term be disliked, by whatever name the great Science of the Soul and Divine things may be called.

For the last two hundred years or so it has been the fashion to deride all such matters, perhaps owing to a reaection against over-credulity on the part of those who held to the letter of the law and forgot its spirit; but to-day it is no longer possible to entirely set aside this all-important part of man's nature, and it now calls for as strict a scientific treatment as the facts of the physical universe have been subjected to.

Hypnotism, Mesmerism, Spiritualism and Psychical Research, are the cloud no bigger than a man's hand that is forcing the facts of Magic again on the attention of both the theological and scientific world. Hypnotism and Psychical Research are already becoming respectable and attracting the attention of the generality of men of science and of our clergy. Spiritualism and Mesmerism are still tabooed, but wait their turn for popular recognition, having already been recognized by pioneers distinguished in science and other professions.

Of course I speak only of the facts of these arts, I do not speak of the theories put forward.

All these processes are in the very outermost court of the Temple of True Magic, even if they are not outside the precinct. But they are sufficient for our purpose, and should make the serious thinker and unprejudiced enquirer pause before pronouncing the words, superstition and hallucination, in too confident a tone, for he now must see the necessity of having a clear idea of what he means by the terms.

It is not uncommon of late to hear the superficially instructed setting down everything to "suggestion," a word they have picked up from modern hypnotic research, or "telepathy," a name invented by psychical research—the ideas being as old as the world—forgetting that their mind remains in precisely the same attitude with regard to such matters as it was in previously when they utterly denied the possibility of suggestion and telepathy. But to the earnest and patient student hypnotism and the rest are but the public reaeppearance of what has always existed in spite of the denial of two hundred years or so, and instead of covering the whole ground is but the forward spray from the returning wave of psychism which will sweep the nations off their feet and moral balance, if they will not turn to the experience of the past and gain strength to withstand the inrush.

The higher forms of all these things, in the Western World, should have now been in the hands of the ministers of the Church, in which case we should not have had the reaeppearance of such powers in the hands of vulgar stage exhibitions and mercenary public mediumship.

But so it is; and in vain is it any longer to raise the cry of fraud and hallucination on the one hand and of the devil on the other. This is a mere shirking of responsibility, and nothing but a reasonable investigation and an insistence on the highest ideals of life will help humanity.

I do not intend to enter into any review of the "wonders" attributed to Simon, neither to deny them as hallucinations, nor attribute them to the devil, nor explain them away by "suggestion." As a matter of fact we do not even know whether Simon did or pretended to do any of the precise things mentioned. All we are competent to decide is the general question, viz., that any use of abnormal power is pernicious if done for a personal motive, and will assuredly, sooner or later, react on the doer.

Here and there in the patristic accounts we light on a fact worthy of consideration, as, for example, when Simon is reported to have denied that the real soul of a boy could be exorcised, and said that it was only a daemon, in this case a sub-human intelligence or elemental, as the Mediaeval Kabalists called them. Again the Simonians are said to have expelled any from their Mysteries who worshipped the statues of Zeus or Athena as being representatives of Simon and Helen; thus showing that they were symbolical figures for some purpose other than ordinary worship; and probably the sect in its purity possessed a body of teaching which threw light on many of the religious practices of the times, and gave them a rational interpretation, quite at variance with the fantastic diabolism which the Fathers have so loudly charged against them.

The legends of magic are the same in all countries, fantastic enough to us in the nineteenth century, in all conscience, and most probably exaggerated out of all correct resemblance to facts by the excited imagination of the legend-tellers, but still it is not all imagination, and after sifting out even ninety-nine per cent of rubbish, the residue that remains is such vast evidence to the main facts that it is fairly overwhelming, and deserves the investigation of every honest student.

But the study is beset with great difficulty, and if left in the hands of untrained thinkers, as are the majority of those who are interested in such matters in the present day, will only result in a new phase of credulity and superstition. And such a disastrous state of affairs will be the distinct fault of the leaders of thought in the religious, philosophical, and scientific world, if they refuse the task which is naturally theirs, and if they are untrue to the responsibility of their position as the directors, guardians, and adjusters of the popular mind. Denial is useless, mere condemnation is of small value, explanation alone will meet the difficulty.

Thus when we are brought face to face with the recital of magical wonders as attributed to Simon in the patristic legends, it is not sufficient to sweep them on one side and ticket them with the contemptuous label of "superstition." We must recognize that whether or not these things were actually done by Simon, the ancient world both Pagan and Christian firmly believed in their reality, and that if our only attitude towards them is one of blank denial, we include in that denial the possibility of the so-called "miracles" of Christianity and other great religions, and therewith invalidate one of the most important factors of religious thought and history. That the present attitude of denial is owing to the absurd explanation of the phenomena given by the majority of the ancient worthies, is easily admissible, but this is no reason why the denial of the possibilities of the existence of such things should be logical or scientific.

As to the wonders ascribed to Simon, though extraordinary, they are puerile compared to the ideals of the truly religious mind, and if Simon used such marvels as proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he unduly took advantage of the ignorance of the populace and was untrue to his better nature.

Again, setting aside all historical criticism, if Simon, as the Acts report, thought to purchase spiritual powers with money, or that those who were really in possession of such powers would ever sell them, we can understand the righteous indignation of the apostles, though we cannot understand their cursing a brother-man. The view of the Christian writer on this point is a true one, but the dogma that every operation which is not done in the name of the particular Master of Christendom is of the Devil—or, to avoid personifications, is evil—can hardly find favour with those who believe in the brotherhood of the whole race and that Deity is one, no matter under what form worshipped.

Finally, to sum up the matter, we have cited our authorities, and reviewed them, and then endeavoured to sift out what is good from the heap, leaving the rubbish to its fate. Removed as we are by so many centuries from the fierce strife of religious controversy which so deeply marked the rise of Christianity, we can view the matter with impartiality and seek to redress the errors that are patent both on the side of orthodoxy and of heterodoxy. It is true we cannot be free of the past, but it is also true that to identify ourselves with the hates and strifes of the ancients, is merely to retrogress from the path of progress. On the contrary, our duty should be to identify ourselves with all that is good and beautiful and true in the past, and so gleaning it together, bind it into a sheaf of corn that, when ground in the mills of common-sense and practical experience, may feed the millions of every denomination who for the most part are starving on the unsatisfying husks of crude dogmatism. There is no need for a new revelation, in whatever sense the word is understood, but there is every need for an explanation of the old revelations and the undeniable facts of human experience. If the Augean stables of the materialism that is so prevalent in the religion, philosophy and science of to-day, are to be cleansed, the spiritual sources of the world-religions can alone be effectual for their cleansing, but these are at present hidden by the rocks and overgrowth of dogma and ignorance. And this overgrowth can only be removed by explanation and investigation, and each who works at the task is, consciously or unconsciously, in the train of the Hercules who is pioneering the future of humanity.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 96: Julius Caesar, III. ii. 106-8.]

[Footnote 97: Op. cit. i. 4. Compare the Diagram and explanation of the Middle Distance infra. The Moon is the "Lord" of the lower plane of the Middle Distance, the Astral Light of the medieval Kabalists. This is a doctrine common to the Hermetic, Vedantic, and many other schools of Antiquity.]

[Footnote 98: xi. 37.]

[Footnote 99: Philos., ix. 10.]

[Footnote 100: Zohar, i. 50b, Amsterdam and Brody Editions: quoted in Isaac Myer's Qabbalah, pp. 376, 377.]

[Footnote 101: See Cory's Ancient Fragments, 2nd ed.; not the reedited third edition, which is no longer Cory's work.]

[Footnote 102: [Greek: eisi panta puros henos ekgegaota]—Psell. 24—Plet. 30.]

[Footnote 103: Proc. in Theol. 333—in Tim. 157.]

[Footnote 104: [Greek: paegaious krataeras]—I have ventured the above translation for this difficult combination from the meaning of the term [Greek: paegae], found elsewhere in the Oracles, in the metaphorical sense of "source" (compare also Plato, Phaed. 245 C., 856 D., [Greek: paegae kai archae chinaeseos]—"the source and beginning of motion"), and also from the meaning of [Greek: krataer] (crater), as "a cup-shaped hollow."

The idea of this Crater is interestingly exemplified in the Twelfth Book of Hermes Trismegistus, called "His Crater, or Monas," as follows:

"10. Tat. But wherefore, Father, did not God distribute the Mind to all men?

"11. Herm. Because it pleased him, O Son, to set that in the middle among all souls, as a reward to strive for.

"12. Tat. And where hath he set it?

"13. Herm. Filling a large Cup or Bowl (Crater) therewith, he sent it down, giving also a Cryer or Proclaimer.

"14. And he commanded him to proclaim these things to the souls of men.

"15. Dip and wash thyself, thou that art able, in this Cup or Bowl: Thou that believeth that thou shalt return to him that sent this cup; thou that acknowledgest whereunto thou wert made.

"16. As many, therefore, as understood the Proclamation, and were baptized, or dowsed into the Mind, these were made partakers of knowledge, and became perfect men, receiving the Mind."

This striking passage explains the mystic "Baptism of Fire," or Mind, whereby man became one with his Divine Monas, which is indeed his "Mother Vortex" or Source.]

[Footnote 105: Proc. in Parm.]

[Footnote 106: Proc. in Theol. Plat., 171, 172.]

[Footnote 107: Proc. in Tim., 167.]

[Footnote 108: Proc. in Theol., 321.]

[Footnote 109: Proc. in Crat.]

[Footnote 110: Dionys., xiv.]

[Footnote 111: Praep. Evan., i. 10.]

[Footnote 112: The names of these seven flames of the Fire, with their surface translations, are as follows: Kali, Dark-blue; Karali, Terrible; Mano-java, Swift as Thought; Su-lohita, Deep-red colour; Su-dhumra-varna, Deep-purple colour; Ugra or Sphulingini, Hot, Passionate, or Sparkling; Pradipta, Shining, Clear. These are the literal meanings; the mystic meanings are very different, and among other things denote the septenary prismatic colours and other septenaries in nature.]

[Footnote 113: Hibbert lectures, 1887: "Lecture on the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians," pp. 179, 180.]

[Footnote 114: See Schwartze's Pistis-Sophia and Amelineau's Notice sur le Papyrus Gnostique Bruce.]

[Footnote 115: De Mysteriis Liber, vii. 4.]

[Footnote 116: Compare also Herodot. ii, 54—[Greek: phonae anthropaeiae].]

[Footnote 117: Lib. v.]

[Footnote 118: Psel. 7.]

[Footnote 119: Psel. Schol. in Orac. Magic, p. 70.]

[Footnote 120: Theodoret gives [Greek: ennoia].]

[Footnote 121: A. Aphthartos Morphe. B. Nous ton Holon. c. Epinoia Megale. D. Eikon. a. Nous. b. Phone. c. Logismos. d. Enthumesis. e. Onoma. f. Epinoia.]

[Footnote 122: xi. 47.]

[Footnote 123: Ibid., xi. 18, 38.]

[Footnote 124: Wilson's Trans. i. pp. 55 et seqq.]

[Footnote 125: Prabhavapyaya: Pra-bhava=the forth-being or origin, and Apy-aya=the return or reabsorption. It is the same idea as the Simonian Treasure-house.]

[Footnote 126: Ayana simply means "moving."]

[Footnote 127: Manava-Dharma Shastra, i. 10.]

[Footnote 128: Op. cit., iv. 251.]

[Footnote 129: 14.]

[Footnote 130: This Gnostic gospel, together with the treatises entitled, The Book of the Gnoses of the Invisible and The Book of the Great Logos in each Mystery (the Bruce MSS.), is especially referred to, as, with the exception of the Codex Nazaraeus, being the only Gnostic works remaining to us. All else comes from the writings of the Fathers.]

[Footnote 131: xv, 1, 2]

[Footnote 132: The most advanced theory, however, is that the foetus derives nourishment from the amniotic fluid, and Dr. Jerome A. Anderson sums up his highly interesting paper on the "Nutrition of the Foetus" in the American Journal of Obstetrics, Vol. XXI, July, 1888, as follows:

"To briefly sum up the facts supporting amniotic nutrition:

"1st. The constant presence of nutritive substances in the amniotic fluid during the whole period of gestation.

"2nd. The certainty of the absorption by a growing, almost skinless, foetus of any nutritive material in which it is constantly bathed.

"3rd. The permeability of the digestive tract at an early period, and the necessary entrance therein, according to the laws of hydrostatics, of the albuminous amniotic fluid.

"4th. The presence of, as it seems to me, bona fide debris of digestion, or meconium, in the lower intestine.

"5th. The presence of urine in the bladder, and bile in the upper intestine; their normal locations.

"6th. The mechanical difficulties opposing direct nutrition through the placenta, and the impossibility of nourishment by this method during the early stages of embryonic life previous to the formation of the placenta or umbilical vesicle.

"7th. The evident material source of the fluid, as shown by the hydrorrheas of pregnancy, as well as in the exhaustion the mother experiences, in some cases, at least, under its loss and rapid reproduction.

"8th. The entire absence during gestation of any trace of the placenta in certain animals, notably the salamander."]

[Footnote 133: Oratio V, In Matrem Deorum.]

[Footnote 134: De Defectu Oraculorum, xxi.]

[Footnote 135: Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, art. "Four Rivers, The."]

[Footnote 136: The Homeric Cave of Nymphs, [Greek: peri tou en Odusseia Numphon antrou].]

[Footnote 137: [Greek: legousin ek petras gegennaesthai auton]—Just. Mart. Dial. cum. Tryph.]

[Footnote 138: Cabiri, ii, 363.]

THE END