Secret Teachings of All Ages: Table of Contents

DEDICATION

3

PREFACE

5

COLOR PLATES

9

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

11

INTRODUCTION

12

THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES AND SECRET SOCIETIES WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED MODERN MASONIC SYMBOLISM
Ancient systems of education--Celsus concerning the Christians--Knowledge necessary to right living--The Druidic Mysteries of Britain and Gaul--The Rites of Mithras--The Mithraic and Christian Mysteries contrasted.

21

THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES AND SECRET SOCIETIES, PART II
The Gnostic Mysteries--Simon Magus and Basilides--Abraxas, the Gnostic concept of Deity--The Mysteries of Serapis--Labyrinth symbolism--The Odinic, or Gothic, Mysteries.

25

THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES AND SECRET SOCIETIES, PART III
The Eleusinian Mysteries--The Lesser Rites--The Greater Rites--The Orphic Mysteries--The Bacchic Mysteries--The Dionysiac Mysteries.

29

ATLANTIS AND THE GODS OF ANTIQUITY
Plato's Atlantis in the light of modern science-The Myth of the Dying God-The Rite of Tammuz and Ishtar--The Mysteries of Atys and Adonis-The Rites of Sabazius--The Cabiric Mysteries of Samothrace.

33

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF THOTH HERMES TRISMEGISTUS
Suppositions concerning identity of Hermes--The mutilated Hermetic fragments--The Book of Thoth--Poimandres, the Vision of Hermes--The Mystery of Universal Mind--The Seven Governors of the World.

37

THE INITIATION OF THE PYRAMID
The opening of the Great Pyramid by Caliph at Mamoun--The passageways and chambers of the Great Pyramid--The riddle of the Sphinx--The Pyramid Mysteries--The secret of the Pyramid coffer-The dwelling place of the Hidden God.

41

ISIS, THE VIRGIN OF THE WORLD
The birthdays of the gods--The murder of Osiris--The Hermetic Isis--The symbols peculiar to Isis--The Troubadours--The mummification of the dead.

45

THE SUN, A UNIVERSAL DEITY
The Solar Trinity-Christianity and the Sun--The birthday of the Sun--The three Suns--The celestial inhabitants of the Sun--The midnight Sun.

49

THE ZODIAC AND ITS SIGNS
Primitive astronomical instruments--The equinoxes and solstices--The astrological ages of the world--The circular zodiac of Tentyra--An interpretation of the zodiacal signs--The horoscope of the world.

53

THE BEMBINE TABLE OF ISIS
Plato's initiation in the Great Pyramid--The history of the Bembine Table--Platonic theory of ideas--The interplay of the three philosophical zodiacs--The Chaldean philosophy of triads--The Orphic Egg.

57

WONDERS OF ANTIQUITY
The ever-burning lamps--The oracle of Delphi--The Dodonean oracle--The oracle of Trophonius--The initiated architects--The Seven Wonders of the world.

61

THE LIFE AND PHILOSOPHY OF PYTHAGORAS
Pythagoras and the School of Crotona--Pythagoric fundamentals--The symmetrical solids--The symbolic aphorisms of Pythagoras--Pythagorean astronomy--Kepler's theory of the universe.

65

PYTHAGOREAN MATHEMATICS
The theory of numbers--The numerical values of letters--Method of securing the numerical Power of words--An introduction to the Pythagorean theory of numbers--The sieve of Eratosthenes--The meanings of the ten numbers.

69

THE HUMAN BODY IN SYMBOLISM
The philosophical manikin--The three universal centers--The temples of initiation--The hand in symbolism--The greater and lesser man--The Anthropos, or Oversoul.

73

THE HIRAMIC LEGEND
The building of Solomon's Temple--The murder of CHiram Abiff--The martyrdom of Jacques de Molay--The spirit fire and the pineal gland--The wanderings of the astronomical CHiram--Cleopatra's Needle and Masons' marks.

77

THE PYTHAGOREAN THEORY OF MUSIC AND COLOR
Pythagoras and the diatonic scale--Therapeutic music--The music of the spheres--The use of color in symbolism--The colors of the spectrum and the musical scale--Zodiacal and planetary colors.

81

FISHES, INSECTS, ANIMALS, REPTILES, AND BIRDS
Jonah and the whale--The fish the symbol of Christ--The Egyptian scarab--Jupiter's fly--The serpent of wisdom--The sacred crocodile.

85

FISHES, INSECTS, ANIMALS, REPTILES, AND BIRDS, PART II
The dove, the yonic emblem--The self-renewing phœnix--The Great Seal of the United States of America--Bast, the cat goddess of the Ptolemies--Apis, the sacred bull--The monoceros, or unicorn.

89

FLOWERS, PLANTS, FRUITS, AND TREES
The flower, a phallic symbol--The lotus blossom--The Scandinavian World Tree, Yggdrasil--The sprig of acacia--The juice of the grape--The magical powers of the mandrake.

93

STONES, METALS, AND GEMS
Prehistoric monuments--The tablets of the Law--The Holy Grail--The ages of the world--Talismanic jewels--Zodiacal and planetary stones and gems.

97

CEREMONIAL MAGIC AND SORCERY
The black magic of Egypt--Doctor Johannes Faustus--The Mephistopheles of the Grimores--The invocation of spirits--Pacts with demons--The symbolism of the pentagram.

101

THE ELEMENTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS.
The Paracelsian theory of submundanes--The orders of elemental beings--The Gnomes, Undines, Salamanders, and Sylphs--Demonology--The incubus and succubus--Vampirism.

105

HERMETIC PHARMACOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, AND THERAPEUTICS
The healing methods of Paracelsus--Palingenesis--Hermetic theories concerning the cause of disease--Medicinal properties of herbs--The use of drugs in the Mysteries--The sect of the Assassins.

109

THE QABBALAH, THE SECRET DOCTRINE OF ISRAEL
The written and unwritten laws--The origin of the Qabbalistic writings--Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai--The great Qabbalistic books--The divisions of the Qabbalistic system--The Sepher Yetzirah.

113

FUNDAMENTALS OF QABBALISTIC COSMOGONY AIN SOPH
and the Cosmic Egg--The Qabbalistic system of worlds--The Qabbalistic interpretation of Ezekiel's vision--The great image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream--The Grand Man of the universe--The fifty gates of life.

117

THE TREE OF THE SEPHIROTH
The thirty-two paths of wisdom--The Greater and the Lesser Face--Kircher's Sephirothic Tree--The mystery of Daath--The three pillars supporting the Sephirothic Tree--The four letters of the Sacred Name.

121

QABBALISTIC KEYS TO THE CREATION OF MAN
Gematria, Notarikon, and Temurah--The Elohim--The four Adams--Arabian traditions concerning Adam--Adam as the archetype of mankind--The early Christian Church on the subject of marriage.

125

AN ANALYSIS OF THE TAROT CARDS
The origin of playing cards--The rota mundi of the Rosicrucians--The problem of Tarot symbolism--The unnumbered card--The symbolism of the twenty-one major trumps--The suit cards.

129

THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS
Moses, the Egyptian initiate--The building of the Tabernacle--The furnishings of the Tabernacle--The Ark of the Covenant--The Robes of Glory--The Urim and Thummim.

133

THE FRATERNITY OF THE ROSE CROSS
The life of Father C.R.C.--Johann Valentin Andreæ--The alchemical teachings of the Rosicrucians--Significance of the Rose Cross--The Rosicrucian Temple--The adepts of the Rose Cross.

137

ROSICRUCIAN DOCTRINES AND TENETS
The Confessio Fraternitatis--The Anatomy of Melancholy--John Heydon on Rosicrucianism--The three mountains of the wise--The philosophical egg--The objects of the Rosicrucian Order.

141

FIFTEEN ROSICRUCIAN AND QABBALISTIC DIAGRAMS
Schamayim, the Ocean of Spirit--The Seven Days of Creation--The symbolic tomb of Christian Rosencreutz--The regions of the elements--The New Jerusalem--The grand secret of Nature.

145

ALCHEMY AND ITS EXPONENTS
The multiplication of metals--The medal of Emperor Leopold I--Paracelsus of Hohenheim--Raymond Lully--Nicholas Flarnmel--Count Bernard of Treviso.

149

THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ALCHEMY
The origin of alchemical philosophy--Alexander the Great and the talking trees--Nature and art--Alchemical symbolism--The Song of Solomon--The Philosopher's Gold.

153

THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ALCHEMY, PART II
The alchemical prayer--The Emerald Tablet of Hermes--A letter from the Brothers of R.C.--The magical Mountain of the Moon--An alchemical formula--The dew of the sages.

157

THE CHEMICAL MARRIAGE
Christian Rosencreutz is invited to the Chemical Wedding--The Virgo Lucifera--The philosophical Inquisition--The Tower of Olympus--The homunculi--The Knights of the Golden Stone.

161

BACON, SHAKSPEARE, AND THE ROSICRUCIANS
The Rosicrucian mask--Life of William Shakspere--Sir Francis Bacon--The acrostic signatures--The significant number thirty-three--The philosophic death.

165

THE CRYPTOGRAM AS A FACTOR IN SYMBOLIC PHILOSOPHY
Secret alphabets--The biliteral cipher--Pictorial ciphers--Acroamatic ciphers--Numerical and musical ciphers--Code ciphers.

169

FREEMASONIC SYMBOLISM
The pillars raised by the sons of Seth--Enoch and the Royal Arches--The Dionysiac Architects--The Roman Collegia--Solomon, the personification of Universal Wisdom--Freemasonry's priceless heritage.

173

MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY
St. Iranæus on the life of Christ--The original name of Jesus--The Christened man--The Essenes--The Arthurian cycle--Merlin the Mage.

177

THE CROSS AND THE CRUCIFIXION
The Aurea Legenda--The lost libraries of Alexandria--The cross in pagan symbolism--The crucifixion, a cosmic allegory--The crucifixion of Quetzalcoatl--The nails of the Passion.

181

THE MYSTERY OF THE APOCALYPSE
The sacred city of Ephesus--The authorship of the Apocalypse--The Alpha and Omega--The Lamb of God-The Four Horsemen-The number of the beast.

185

THE FAITH OF ISLAM
The life of Mohammed--The revelation of the Koran--The valedictory pilgrimage--The tomb of the Prophet--The Caaba at Mecca--The secret doctrine of Islam.

189

AMERICAN INDIAN SYMBOLISM
The ceremony of the peace pipe--The historical Hiawatha--The Popol Vuh--American Indian sorcery--The Mysteries of Xibalba--The Midewiwin.

193

THE MYSTERIES AND THEIR EMISSARIES
The Golden Chain of Homer--Hypatia, the Alexandrian Neo-Platonist--The "divine" Cagliostro--The Comte de St.-Germain--The designing of the American flag--The Declaration of Independence.

197

CONCLUSION

201

BIBLIOGRAPHY

205

INDEX

207