Nature was silent and at rest when the Decalogue was given
upon Mount Sinai. No animal made sound, no fowl flew, the very
angels kept silent and desisted from praises before God. The billows
ofthe sea became calm and at rest and no creature uttered a sound
while God proclaimed His mandate, "I am the Lord, thy God.
— Thorah
It was a great moment in human evolution when the fundamental laws governing racial progress entered consciously into the mind of man. It will be a yet greater moment when the laws will be transferred from mind to heart, and when conduct will be guided, not merely by intellectually accepted codes, but by an infallible, intuitive knowledge arising from within the very heart of man.
Two tablets contain the ten laws of the Old Dispensation; two contain the additional two laws of the New — "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." These two commandments — and "There is none other commandment greater than these" — added to the ten previously given, complete the circle of twelve.
The ethical basis of the post-Atlantean civilization, as given to Moses on Mount Sinai, is set to the rhythm of ten. It is the dominant number of the Old Testament as twelve is of the New. The new ever builds upon the old.
When the Ten Commandments are obeyed, not from outer compulsion or from fear of painful consequences, but because they are recognized as the right and desirable way of life, then the tenfold "shalt not" yields to the twofold "shalt." Ethics pass from negative to positive. Lesser law is swallowed up in a greater. The veil of the Moon that shielded the glory of the Sun is removed, and man begins to live in the light "as He is in the light."
The significance of committing the Commandments on two tables is the same as the placement of the two pillars of brass cast by Hiram on the porch of Solomon's Temple. Through them a candidate for Initiation passed bearing the mystic rose, emblematic of unfolded spiritual powers. There columns were representative of masculine and feminine principles which had to be brought into equilibrium before higher degrees of illumination were attainable.
The same symbolism is retained to this day by the Masonic Order, which places two pillars, the Jachin and Boaz of Solomon's porch, before its temples. Through them pass modern seekers after more of the divine light. The dual principles signified by these two pillars have been, and are, variously represented in Mystery Schools of all times and peoples.
The law was given to those who had come out of Egyptian bondage (material mindedness) when the Lord (Law) revealed the laws by which they could progress upward to the summit of light even as had Moses, their Illumined Leader.
The Ten Commandments are more than moral precepts. They are cosmic principles governing the evolution of the post-Atlantean, or Fifth Root Race; and as applicable today an on the day they were enunciated. More than this, in their esoteric significance they enfold the method whereby one may pass from faith to first-hand knowledge. They are keys to Initiation. From cover to cover the Bible deals with that one subject as its dominant theme, its chief revelation.
Everything that had occurred in the life of Moses previous to his sublime experience on Mount Sinai was preparation for that revelatory event. He then became the focal character for striking the keynote of an age.
As the Law was delivered to Moses the elect were permitted to look upon the screen of time and behold some added features of things yet to be. The Torah states: "Every prophecy uttered afterward by the various prophets was given at the time of the receiving of the Decalogue." To which it adds: "For it was a gracious Law which was contained in these First Tables."
Moses ascended the mount arrayed in garments of the Shekinah, and the purpose of the magical Ten Words he delivered to the people was to aid them in their aspirations to mount to the same height of lnitiation. Those who qualified for admission into the deeper Mysteries were called in the time of Moses the "sons of the Doctrine."
The two tablets on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed are, in terms of principles, Fire and Water. Those belonging to the Fire table have to do with man's obligation to his fellow man.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. — Exodus 20:3
The first Commandment is attuned to the first sign, Aries. This is the zodiacal power under which the Fire principle of the Elohim made its initial manifestation. Primal substance was then in an undifferentiated state. Divine life was equally present in all spirit-matter throughout universal space. The purpose of evolution is to bring individual self-consciousness, and from that state, universal self-consciousness.
In moving toward the goal of realizing God as the one and only ensouling life in all the universe, the second commandment requires that no part be worshiped as the whole. No graven image, no humanly conceived object, can circumscribe Deity.
God is Light; He is Fire — an all consuming Fire. He is a "jealous God," and forbids setting up any images in other elements. It must not be done in heaven (Air; mind), or on Earth (physical possessions, personalities, material things), or in Water (excessive emotional adorations or idealisms).
In its highest spiritual significance the second Commandment has to do with the original primal pattern in the likeness of which all things are created. Taurus, the second sign, is feminine. It is the home of the image-building faculty in man. It was this faculty, linked to the heart or love principle, that fell in man. Consequently, the ability to image forth a perfect pattern has been lost. Meanwhile, awaiting the time when the lost power shall be regained, the command goes forth to make no "graven images," since all such are imperfect representations of the Perfect One.
To bow down before imperfect images conceived by man brings discord and inharmony; to live in accord with the perfect pattern is to receive His mercy and dwell in harmony with cosmic Law.
This Commandment applies to the power of speech, for speech is creative and sacred. But it covers much more. Speech is one expression of the creative force in man; physical generation is another. To use that force for any idle or illegitimate purpose is to take the name of the Lord God in vain.
That name is I AM. It is the creating and building God-power within. To misuse that force is to break this Commandment, and for that wrong God does not hold man guiltless. This is the unforgivable sin that must be expiated by a weakened mind and body until the law of life is scrupulously respected.
The name I AM bore the same significance for an Initiate of the Old Dispensation that the name Christ Jesus does for an Initiate of the New. Whatsoever we ask in that name shall come to pass, according to the Master's promise. "In His name" the initiated followers of the Christ healed the sick and brought new life to the dead —those dead to the realization of their true spiritual nature.
Gemini, the third sign, correlates to this Commandment. It governs speech. It is dual. On its higher side it recognizes the sanctity of the I AM; on its lower side it takes that sacred name (force) in vain (misuse).
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. — Exodus 20:8
The Sabbath is the seventh day, the number representing the completion of a cycle. It is, therefore, the day on which God "rested." Creative Activity was stilled in its outer manifestations. The purpose of evolution is to enable man, a god-in-the-making, to express progressively his latent divine powers in the production of the "new heaven and new earth," a spiritualized mind and a regenerate body. That this sublime work may be consummated, it is necessary for humanity to so live that every moment in this vast sevenfold cycle of time is devoted to high and holy purpose.
The word sabbath is composed of the Hebrew letters Shin (Sun), Beth (house) and Tau (Ego or spirit). With the dawning of the Sabbath Day, the end of the present cycle, the light of spirit will illumine the body (house) of man with the radiance of the Sun. The god within shall then have come into complete manifestation and "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
Cancer is the sign of the home (body) in which dwells the Ego. This is the sign of the Cherubim, wardens of the sacred life force. The way of holiness as outlined in the fourth of the cosmic Words, is to be found through the conservation of that creative fire. "Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death."
This Commandment is keyed to the love sign, Leo. Honor to parents, the earthly reflectors of our Father-Mother God, is based on love. Ancestor worship among earlier races — and its survival among their lineal descendants, the Mongolians — is based on a realization of this correspondence and the sacredness of the relationship between Creator and the thing created.
Cosmically, father refers to the masculine Fire principle, mother the feminine Water principle. The one is spirit projected by will; the other is matter receptive in love. The first is Leo, the second Cancer. The fifth Word unites the two tables of the law by the unifying, cohesive power of love.
When the Sun passes through Cancer and Leo it reaches its northernmost declination. The exact time is midsummer, season of the Summer Solstice. Fire and Water meet at that point, alchemically speaking. The powers operating on Earth and its life waves are most potent at that time. Cosmically, to honor father and mother is to establish equilibrium in nature between these two forces; mystically, it is the blending of the principles within the body of man. Its perfect accomplishment means Initiation. Such a one will be "long upon the land which the Law" establishes for him.
Virgo, the Virgin, is the sign of chaste and harmless life. She brings the death-dealing beast under control. Ancient Wise Men declared that those who had come into possession of the inner powers of Virgo could handle venomous serpents without injury. This was the significance of the pictorial symbol for the sign used in early Mystery Schools, representing the Virgin as closing the mouth of a lion.
Scorpio was once counted as the sixth sign. It governs generation, from which humanity either falls into degeneration or arises through regeneration. Before the Fall, Scorpio embraced all that is now governed by Virgo. The two signs were one. After the Fall came separation- Scorpio governing what henceforth became known as the carnal nature; Virgo, the spiritual. About 600 B.C. the Greeks placed a sign between the two. This was Libra, the scales, wherein man is weighed in the balance to determine whether he goes the way of the flesh (Scorpio) or the way of spirit (Virgo). Libra was called the Trial Gate by the ancients for the same reason.
A realization of Virgo's ideal brings a compassion that forbids needless injury to the least of God's creatures. All forms of life are recognized as various manifestations of the One Life and, therefore, sacred. Through many forms in all the kingdoms of nature life in manifestation is struggling ever upward to develop its potential powers and consciously reunite itself with its source. When man awakens to this truth there will be no more homicides, no capital punishment, no war, no wanton destruction of life in any form. The voice of Virgo commands, "Thou shalt not kill."
As the sixth Commandment relates, astrologically, to the forces of the three signs, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio, the seventh relates to the ninth sign in the Zodiacal Circle of Twelve.
Sagittarius is not associated with adultery in the sense that the term is ordinarily used. Its significance in this commandment is more extensive, embracing not only adultery of the carnal nature but also of the mind. Mind is the Path. If mind leads in forbidden directions the purposes of spirit working through it are frustrated.
Sagittarius rules the higher mind. To misuse its forces — which are of the same nature as those used for physical generation — is to commit adultery on mental levels with consequences similar to those resulting from its commission on the physical level, only raised to a higher power. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time," declared Christ Jesus in the sermon on the Mount, "Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." The seventh Commandment will be obeyed in all its implications when we have fulfilled Paul's Sagittarian injunction: "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."
When consciousness transcends separative, personal functioning and enters into the universal and impersonal, there can be no more commission of theft. The higher knowing which forbids this comes under the rays of Capricorn. Under that sign the Master Jesus incarnated; in that sign the Christ within awakens. When this higher consciousness is developed all things are viewed as existing for the benefit of the whole. Seeking nothing for himself alone, a person shares in the universal wealth. He holds nothing as his only and, therefore, possesses all. Having all, there is nothing to steal.
In the Christ concept, thought is centered on giving, not getting. There is a realization that all men stand or fall together, that the gain of one is the gain of all and the loss of one is the loss of all. The soul that functions on this level of spiritual realization shares in the strength and the weakness, the victories and the defeats of all. Knowing himself to be a part of the whole, he labors for the redemption of all. Together with the Christ, in whose spirit he works, he takes upon himself the burden of the world and is committed to the cause of humanity's liberation therefrom.
Aquarius is the sign of brotherhood and friendship. There can be no false witness borne by those living true to its ideals. The spirit of fellowship, the sign of the Son of Man in manifestation, forbids it; moreover, this highly keyed sign, of which Uranus is the ruler, governs the finer forces in nature and the psychic faculties in man. Thus it reveals truth and exposes error, rendering false witness of no avail. As Aquarius gains in strength in the consciousness of man, thoughts will be seen as words are now heard, and a thing will be recognized for what it really is.
Disobedience of the tenth Word results in breaking of every Commandment that is written on the second Table of the Law. There is a sense in which it includes the preceding six laws.
Covetousness is often the reason for dishonoring parents. Indulgence in this sin many times results in the taking of life and is often the reason for committing adultery. The subtle and insidious sin of covetousness frequently motivates theft and the bearing of false witness. Every phase of human relationship is thrown into inharmonious reaction by the breaking of this Commandment, the most far-reaching in effect of the Ten Words.
The last Commandment comes under the last sign, Pisces. So too, does the human race. Jupiter, ruler of Pisces, inspires generosity; Neptune, exalted in Pisces, impresses the race consciousness with the spiritual unity of all Egos in the body of God. Jupiter's influence touches the masses; Neptune's, the sensitive few. Together they create the type of consciousness wherein covetousness cannot dwell.
— Corinne Heline
