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A Treatise on White Magic - Rule Thirteen - The Quaternaries to be Recognized
The clue to the requirements of a more esoteric kind is given to us in Rule XIII. "The magician must recognize the four." He has presumably built up a fine character. He has educated himself for service. His aspiration is true and steady. He is living purely and unselfishly. He has mastered somewhat the meaning of meditation. He now has to begin to train himself in what is called "occult recognition." This rule is a most interesting example of the many connotations and numerous correspondences which can be conveyed in a few simple words. We are told that he must "recognize the four". The Treatise on Cosmic Fire tells us: "This means literally that the magician must be in a position to discriminate between the different ethers and to note the special hue of the different levels, thereby insuring a balanced building of the 'shadow.' He 'recognizes' them, in the occult sense; that is, he knows their note [546] and key and is aware of the particular type of energy they embody. Enough emphasis has not been laid upon the fact that the three higher levels of the etheric plane are in vibratory communication with the three higher planes of the cosmic physical plane, and they (with their ensphering fourth level) have been called in the occult books 'the inverted Tetraktys.' It is this knowledge which puts the magician in possession of the three types of planetary force and their combination, or the fourth type, and thus releases for him that vital energy which will drive this idea into objectivity. As the different types of forces meet and coalesce, a dim shadowy form clothes itself upon the vibrating astral and mental sheath, and the idea of the solar Angel is attaining definite concretion." The obvious and most apparent meaning is, therefore, recognition of the four ethers, but this is in its turn dependent upon other meanings and based upon the recognition of other quaternaries. I would like to give a short résumé of some of the qualifications needed by the white magician and of some of the recognitions which will gradually emerge in his consciousness. First, he must recognize "the four that constitute the One." In other words, the first quaternary that he must know and know well is that which he is essentially himself: Physical body, sensitive emotional nature, mind and soul; Soul, mind, brain and the outer world of forces; Spirit, soul and body within the great Whole. This presupposes real spiritual attainment and the capacity, therefore, to function as a soul. Until this has been achieved, one can be an aspirant to the practice of white magic, but one is not yet a white magician. Second, he must recognize "the city that stands foursquare." He must understand the meaning, of "man, the cube", and this in three ways: Himself as a human being; His fellow man in relation to himself and the Whole; The fourth kingdom in nature, the human kingdom, viewing that entire kingdom as an entity, an organized life functioning on the physical plane, indwelt by soul, animated by spirit. This means, therefore, that as a man he is responsive to his kind and is aware also of the purpose of the kingdom to which he belongs. This can best be expressed in some wonderful words from an ancient writing in the Masters Archives. It is said to date back to early Atlantean times. The material on which the writing is found is so old and so frail that all that the Masters themselves can touch and see is a precipitation made from it, the original being kept at Shamballa. It runs thus, with certain deletions, which it is wiser not to insert: "At the four corners of the square, the four angelic... are seen. Orange they are, but veiled in rosy light. Within each form the yellow flame is seen and round each form the blue... "Four words they utter forth, one for each human race, but not the sacred sound which bringeth forth the seventh. Two words have died away, four sound today. One sounds in realms so high that man can enter not as man. Thus are the seven words of man ringing around the square, passing from mouth to mouth. "Each day of man the words take form and different seem. In... the words will be as follows. "From out the North a word is chanted forth which means... be pure. "From out the South the word peals out: I dedicate and... "From out the East, bringing a light divine, the word comes swinging round the square: Love all. "From out the West, answer is thrown back: I serve." This is a faint effort to express in English these ancient Atlantean phrases, older than Sanskrit or Senzar, and [548] known only to a mere handful of the members of the present hierarchy. But in the thoughts of purity, dedication, love and service, are summed up the nature and the destiny of man, and it should be remembered that they do not stand for so-called spiritual qualities, but for potent occult forces, dynamic in their incentive and creative in their result. This should be pondered on carefully by all aspirants. We have, consequently, with these four, added to the first one, spiritual attainment, five of the qualifications of the white magician.
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