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Bible Self-Study Supplement

Further Meditation on Initiation by Fire

   As has been previously said, the first Initiation given to man under the guidance of the Hierarchy was that of Water. In this early day it was a prime necessity that man be taught how to control his emotional life, so the Initiations were correlated with the element of Water. As evolution proceeded and the link of mind was given to the human race, a further step in spiritual progress was fostered by the Great Ones. This is known as the Fire Initiation. During the ages of Lemuria and Atlantis the Water Initiation was paramount. With the new post-Atlantean, Fifth Epoch, Initiation by Fire was introduced, since it had become necessary for man to learn how to control his desire nature. (Desires are correlated with Fire.)

   Moses was the pioneer leader of the currrent Fifth Epoch. His mission was to guide the Israelites from the mists of Atlantis into the clear sunlit air of post-Atlantean Earth. The pillars of cloud and of fire are magnificent symbols of this great transition. The "pillar of cloud" represents the Water Initiation being left behind, while the "pillar of fire" represents the spiritual attainment toward which man was travelling. Hence, the two pillars signify a bridge between the Water and Fire Initiations. Transition from the Water Initiation was the main spiritual work of Atlantis. Initiation by Fire is the most prominent work of the present post-Atlantean Age. This is most interestingly described in the Apocryphal Book of II Esdras:

   As previously stated, Fire Initiation embraces the principal spiritual work given to the pioneers of the present Fifth Root Race. Hence, in the Bible, textbook of this Race, we find it most frequently mentioned and the work of its various stages most prominently depicted in the lives of its outstanding characters.

   Herein is recounted one of the most stupendous events that occurred in the life of the great pioneer Teacher. At this time he was inducted into the first Mysteries of the Fire Initiation. Truly, the bush burned but was not consumed, for this Initiation deals not with Fire as heat but as Light — a Light that does not burn, but exalts. The veils between different planes of being are dissolved in its splendor and an aspirant becomes one with the powers of spirit. Whatever he sees is infinite; whatever he hears is immortal; whatever be now cognizes is eternal. The glory of the Light enfolding Moses never yet lay on land or sea. He was caught up into the very presence of the mighty Sun Spirit, the Christ, whose Light then enfolded the earth preparatory to His descent as the Saviour of the world. It was to this divine Light that Moses made his life's dedication.

   Throughout the Bible fire is referred to as the great element of purification, since the purpose of Initiation by Fire is purification of man's carnal nature. In the day of Moses desire was — and it continues to be even today — the principal motive power actuating humanity. For this reason the Bible is largely concerned with Initiation by Fire.

   To repeat, there are three Degrees in this Initiation. The First is Calcination, the elimination of all dross in the aspirant's nature. All burnt offerings and sacrifices by fire mentioned in the Bible refer to the Degree of Calcination.

   The Second Degree is Transmutation. Through the First Degree an aspirant learns to cultivate the force of will power essential to self-mastery. In the Second Degree the essence of this force is transmuted into spiritual power and incorporated into the individual's ego, giving him abilities far beyond those of an ordinary person. He also learns to commune with Divinity.

   The recipient of this Degree develops power to read the Akashic Records (the Memory of Nature) and to contact various celestial Hierarchies.

   This Second Degree of Transmutation is referred to in the Twelve Labors of Hercules as slaying the Nemean Lion. When Hercules was unable to capture this fierce beast with the aid of weapons, he cast them aside and the final conquest was made with his bare hands. The lion symbolizes the fire force within man; its mastery and transmutation can be effected only by the aspirant himself. Hercules made a coat of the lion's skin, and when he wore it he was invulnerable to all external injuries. This coat represents the glorious aura of Love which the Second Degree weaves about a successful candidate — an attainment of St. Paul whereof he declared, "None of these things move me." And the Psalmist sings: "Be still and know that I am god."

   The Three Friends of Daniel passed through the Degree of Transmutation when they entered the fiery furnace unafraid and remained there for many hours unharmed.

   The Third Degree of the Fire Initiation is Sublimation. It was of this attainment that the Christ spoke when He said: "Many be called, but few chosen."

   The translation of Elijah represents the highest phase of Fire Initiation, the supreme culmination of the Christian religion, for it depicts complete mastery over death. St. Paul states that the last enemy to be overcome is death. The victory over death does not mean perpetuation of a physical body; it means the development of a consciousness that will span the interval between so-called death and the awakening into a new and larger expression of life. Ability to bridge this interval in complete consciousness is the highest attainment of the Fire Initiation — described in the Old Testament by the translation of Elijah in a chariot of fire and in the New Testament in the blessing bestowed by the Christ upon His most advanced Disciple, St. John.

The Feast of Pentecost
Initiation by Air

   The highest phases of Fire Initiation belong essentially to the Christ Dispensation. This sublime work attained its culmination in the Transfiguration as manifested upon earth by the Christ, the most exalted Initiate of the Spirit of Fire (the archangelic Host). The religion of Christ and this Initiation center primarily in the heart. The religion of God the Father, the next step in spiritual progression, will usher in the highest phases of Initiation by Air. That work will center in the spiritualizing of man's mind. The Feast of Pentecost is a bridge connecting the Christ Dispensation with the Dispensation of the Father, conjoining the work of the two Initiations.

   Through His cosmic Sacrifice the Lord Christ passed into the glories of the Dispensation of the Father. He obtained liberation from the cross when He chanted in ecstasy: "My God, how Thou hast glorified me." His disciples touched the threshold of this attainment amid the Feast of Pentecost. It was there that the power of Fire (heart) mingled with the illumined mind (Air).

   Full spiritualizing of the mind lifts one into fields of endeavor past all human describing. The disciples knew this exalted experience and were transformed from mere mortal men into God-men possessing dominion over all things and over all eventualities they were to encounter, for with the spiritualizing of the mind is born a great sense of unity. A person then lives only in a sense of the Oneness of the All and the Allness of the One. This sublime experience gave the Disciples the ability to speak in all tongues and to read cosmic records of both past and future events.

   Full spiritualizing, or Christing, of the mind, the highest phase of Initiation by Air, places the aspirant into harmonious attunement with the Infinite. The illumined mind of such an one now takes wings and he is no longer bound by limitations of the earth plane. Nor is he circumscribed by the solar system. He is free to roam at will through an infinity of space and any of its multitudinous solar systems becomes his home at will.

   With inspired vision the great Psalmist sang of such glory:

   The Path leads always from glory to added glory, from manhood to Godhood, from the finite to the infinite, from mortality to Immortality. There is no end. There is only eternal Beginning!

 — Corinne Heline

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