And the angel said: 'This Messenger of God hath received great exaltation. He is clothed by the Holy Spirit and proclaimed through the mouths of the divine ones.'

   And I heard a voice of music say unto this Messenger: 'Go, descend through the heavens and through the firmament of the spheres descend. Assimilate thyself in appearance unto all who abide in the heavens and the circles, and go down upon the earth and free it from the fetters of darkness.'

   Thus the voice spake; and immediately we descended into the Sixth Heaven and to the Fifth and the Fourth and to all the others and so downward through a multitude of circles. But whithersoever we came, the dwellers in the place recognized not the Messenger of God. They believed Him to be as one with themselves, for He assumed the forms that belong to the various spheres. And He passed into the elemental circles and into the firmament and so upon the earth. And He took the appearance of a man upon Him and was believed by man to be one with themselves.

   And He lived upon the earth and announced the Message. And He passed away from earth and ascended. Then the spirits of the firmament and the elemental circles saw Him pass but with unchanged aspect. And they venerated Him, saying: 'How hath He descended and we saw Him not? And how hath He passed and we discovered not the splendor with which the Lord clothed Him?' And he ascended through the innumerable spheres and through the various heavens of Paradise and they wondered, saying, 'How hath He ascended and how knew we not the Messenger of Heaven?' And when He ascended into the Seventh Heaven, He came into the Great Glory, and of the Holy Spirit was received with great gladness, for He hath done the Message of the Most High.

   And to me the angel said: 'Great are these things which now have been manifest to thee. Thou has seen and known secrets which have been kept from the children of men!'

   The most important work of the pre-Christian Mystery Schools was to prepare the world for the acceptance of the Christ at His coming. The Initiates of these schools knew that His advent on Earth meant the inauguration of a new Dispensation for humanity. The coming One was also universally recognized by the Illumined Teachers as the Solar Logos. The Sun gods of the so-called pagan Mysteries were prototypes of the Christ. The uninitiated masses, reflecting outwardly the inner knowledge of an enlightened few, paid homage in gorgeous ceremonials to the Sun in the heavens. But in the Temples of Wisdom neophytes were being taught the Mysteries of the Christ and were prepared to receive Him when He should descend and walk among them in the "appearance of a man."

   Such was the instruction imparted in the Schools of the Prophets, some of which survive in both the apochryphal and canonical records of the Old Testament Dispensation. Enoch is among those prophets whose writings have come down to us, as are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and a number of Minor Prophets.

   The four principal characters introduced into the earler portions of Genesis are Adam, Cain, Noah and Enoch. They embody and manifest, respectively, the powers of Earth, Fire, Water and Air. Each of these four characters exhibits mastery of one of the four fundamental principles in nature.

   Earth: Adam. The name means red earth. The Lord gave him dominion over the Earth. He named the creatures thereon and thereby had them under his control. This ability in manipulating the forces of Earth was an evidence of powers acquired in the Earth Initiation.

   Fire: Cain. The Fire forces are manipulated by Cain and those of his line. The fiery passions that lead to anger, rebellion and murder, when transmuted, are the forces that make "two blades of grass grow where only one grew before." They are at the forge molding the raw materials of Earth into forms of usefulness and beauty. Hiram Abiff, the master builder, was one of the line of Cain; without him the Temple of Solomon could not have been built.

   Water: Noah. The events of Noah's life typifying mastery of Water and worthiness to undergo Initiation by that element. This is made plain by his ability to build an Ark capable of successfully riding the turbulent waters of the Flood.

   Air: Enoch. The life and works of Enoch typify man and his labors in the coming Air Age. He ascended into the higher elements. Without a break in consciousness he was translated from an earthly body to a vehicle of immortal spirit. Such will be the supreme attainment of humanity during the Aquarian Age now dawning.

 — Corinne Heline