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Man the Grand Symbol of the Mysteries

By Manly P. Hall

Pythagoras said that the universal Creator had formed two things in His own image:  The first was the cosmic system with its myriads of suns, moons, and planets; the second was man, in whose nature the entire universe existed in miniature.  Long before the introduction of idolatry into religion, the early priests to facilitate their study of the natural sciences caused the statue of man to be place in the sanctuary of their temples, using the human figure to symbolize the Divine Power in all its intricate manifestations.  Thus the priests of antiquity accepted man as their text-books, and through the study of him learned to understand the greater and more abstruse mysteries of the celestial scheme of which they were a part.  It is not improbable that this mysterious figure standing over the primitive alters was made in the nature of a mannequin and, like certain emblematic hands in the Mystery Schools, was covered with hieroglyphs either carved upon its surface or painted there-on with everlasting pigments.  The statue may have opened, thus showing the relative positions of the organs, bones, muscles, nerves and other parts.

The present generation is prone to underestimate the knowledge of anatomy possessed by ancient races.  Owing to destruction by time and vandalism, the available records do not adequately represent the learning of antiquity.  Professor James H. Breasted, archeologist of the University of Chicago, recently stated that his investigations showed that the learned doctors of Egypt during the 18^th dynasty----that is, about seventeen centuries be Christ----had a medical knowledge comparable to that of the twentieth century.  Professor Breasted is quoted as follows:  "For instance in it (the Dewin Smith papyrus, an early scientific document) the word' brain' appears for the first time recorded in human speech, and there is evidence that the Egyptians understood the localization of brain control of muscles----a knowledge that is only been rediscovered within the last generation."

The knowledge which the Egyptian priest-physicians possessed concerning the functions of the several parts of the human body not only equaled that of many modern scientists, but as regards those functions and powers concerned with the spiritual nature of man and organs and centers through which the spiritual essences control the body, their knowledge exceeded that of the modern world.

During ages of research, much was contributed to fundamental principles of the early philosophers, and at the time Egypt reached the crowning glory of her civilization the manikin was a mass of intricate hieroglyphs and symbolic figures.  Every part had its secret meaning.  The measurements of this stone figure formed a basic standard by means of which it was possible to measure all parts of cosmos.  It was a glorious composite emblem of all the knowledge possessed by the sages and hierophants of Isis, Osiris, and Serapis.

Then came the time of idolatry.  The Mysteries decayed from within.  The secret meanings were lost and none knew the identity of the mysterious man who stood over the altar.  It was only remembered that the figure was a sacred and glorious symbol of the universal power.  This figure came to be looked upon as a god, the one in whose image man was made.  The secret knowledge of the purpose for which the manikin was constructed being lost, the priests worshipped the actual wood and stone, until finally their lack of spiritual understanding brought the temple down in ruins about their heads and the statue crumbled with the civilization which had forgotten its meaning.

Today the great faith of the white race----Christianity----is served by a great number of honest, sincere, devout men and women.  While devoted to their task, they are only partly efficient, because the majority of them are totally ignorant of the fact that so-called Biblical Christianity is an allegory concerning the true spirit of Christianity and of that esoteric doctrine evolved in the temple by the initiated minds of pagandom, and promulgated to serve the religious needs of the human race.  Today this faith is served by millions and understood by only a handful, for while the Mystery temple no longer exists as an institution on the corners of the streets as it did in the ancient world, the Mystery School still exists as an invisible, philosophical structure.  It admits into the knowledge of its secrets only a few, permitting the great mass to enter only the outer courtyard and make its offering upon the brazen altar.  Christianity is essentially a Mystery School, but most of its adherents do not understand it well enough to realize that there are secrets concealed behind the parables and allegories which are an important part of its dogma.

Why should Christianity not be a Mystery School?  Its founder was an initiate of the Essenian Mysteries.  The Essences were disciples of the great Pythagoras and were also connected with the Secret Schools of India.  The Master Jesus was himself a hierophant, deeply versed in the ancient Arcanum.  St. John by his writing proves himself to be acquainted with the ritualism of the Egyptian cult, and it is contended that St. Matthew was the teacher of Basilides, the immortal Egyptian sage, co-founder with Simon Magus of Gnosticism, the most elaborate system of Christian mysticism that has ever evolved fro the main stem of St. Peter's church.  During its early history in Rome, Christianity was in constant contact with Mithraism, the fire philosophy of Persia, from which it borrowed no small part of its rituals and ceremonials.

If Christianity were looked upon less as a church and more aw a Mystery School, the modern world would rapidly gain a clearer understanding of its tenets.  Every priest of Christendom, every minister of the gospel should be an anatomist and a physiologist, a biologist and a chemist, a physician and an astronomer, and mathematician and a musician, and above all, a philosopher.  By a philosopher we mean one who could study intelligently all these different lines of thought and discover the interrelationship existing between them, and use all the arts and sciences as methods by which to interpret the magnificent emblematic pageant and mystery drama of the
Christian faith.  If they were to intelligently consider the secrets handed down from the priests of pagan antiquity (whose stupendous genius soared far above the rutted prejudices of modern thought), they would make a number of important discoveries.

First of all, they would discover that in the present translation of both the Old and New Testaments are numerous mistakes, owing to the fact that the translators were not spiritually competent to interpret the secret mysteries of the Hebrew and Greek languages.  They would find numberless contradictions caused by misunderstanding and would also discover that the so-called Apocryphal books (rejected as uninspired) contain some of the most important keys which have descended to us from antiquity.

They would learn that the Old Testament was not to be considered literally; that concealed between its lines were certain secret teachings without which the true meaning of the Hebrew writings cannot be discovered.  They would no longer laugh at the pagans for their plurality of gods, for they would discover that they themselves, if faithful followers of their Scriptures, are polytheists.  The word "Elohim" as used in the early chapters of Genesis and translated "God," is a masculine-feminine plural word meaning a number of gods who are androgynous, and not one Supreme Deity.  They would realize that Adam was not a man, but a species----a race of creatures; they would also realize that the Garden of Eden was not located in Asia Minor.

Even if some men knew these things to be true, a great part of humanity would still reject them, because they would disagree with the accepted traditions, venerated not because they are true but because they have been accepted for generations.  They would crown their discoveries by a realization that the Holy Land of all nations is the human body; thus this is sacred earth, consecrated to the gods.  They would realize that their own bodies were the Holy Sepulchres that have long been in the hands of the infidel, and they would realize that there is no infidel of any race half so heartless as the infidel which dwells in the heart of man himself; that there is no enemy to the faith like the lower nature of the individual; there is no Judas like selfishness, no betrayer like ignorance, no tyrant like pride, no Red Sea to be crossed like that which comprises the emotional nature of man, surging outward from the red blood-forming centers in the human liver.

If the modern theologians could see the ancient mannequin over the altar, they would clearly understand all this, but not realizing that there is a secret doctrine they do not seek for it.  Yet who can read the Book of Ezekiel and Revelation and not realize that the Beloved Disciple, John, transcending all the others in his vision, was indeed lifted up, or "raised" as the modern Mason might say, and beheld the pageantry of the Mysteries.  The allegories of St John are drawn from every religion of the ancient world.  The drama which he unfolds in Revelation is synthetic and therefore truly Christian in that it includes the great teachings of all ages.  Some believe that God has not willed that man should understand the mystery of his own destiny, but let these recall those immortal words; "There is nothing concealed that shall not be revealed; there is nothing hidden that shall not be made known."  This being true, let us take up the labor of solving, or unveiling, of reconstructing.  Following in the footsteps of the illumined of all ages, we too shall discover truth, by following the winding stairs up which the candidates of every nation and religion have passed, wearing ruts in the stones.