PART 1. Here Beginneth Chapter 4 of the Book Which Is Called--"the

Here beginneth Chapter 4 of the Book which is called--"The Tablets of Aeth," wherein is transcribed the Fourth Quadrant of the Twelve Mansions.

"A hair, perhaps, divides the false and true. Yes, and a single alif were the clue-- Could you but find it--to the treasure house, And, peradventure, to THE MASTER, too.

"Beware, O my son, of self-incense. It is the most dangerous on account of its agreeable intoxication. * * * Learn, O my beloved, that the light of Allah's truth will often penetrate an empty head more easily than one too crammed with learning."

TABLET THE TENTH

Capricorn

A deep, black ground, o'er which shimmers a phosphorescent light; at each side an aurora borealis rises, mountain like; above all, a tiny star.

REFLECTION

TABLET THE TENTH

Here is revealed the symbol of the messenger of the Most High. The star hovers over the phosphorescent light cast on the darkness as the spirit hovers over the blackness of matter. The aurora borealis stands as the emblem for the magnetic attraction of Earth on spirit, the Christ soon to be born in the manger of the Goat; the descent of the Holy Ghost into material form, so that heavenly truth may illumine the drear speculum of earthly thought with the Divine iridescence of celestial light. It is the lowest arc of the cycle that reveals the new birth of death unto life--the divine egg of Brahma, containing the promise of the new law: "Peace on Earth, good will towards men."

O child of Adam! Be thou the star, and not a dweller of the outer darkness, and "Let your light so shine before men, that, they may see your good works."

TABLET THE ELEVENTH

Aquarius

SYMBOL

A stormy sea is seen; above it the eight stars shine, brilliant and clear.

REFLECTION

TABLET THE ELEVENTH

This tablet symbolizes the complete materialization of man--man, perfect on the earth and the lord thereof, in so far as material forces are concerned. The storm is the tempest of life, the whirl of the elements of matter in their battle with the spirit. The eight stars, brilliant now (for they are the same stars that were dimly seen in Gemini), show that the conquest of matter is complete, the great fall of spirit finished; the end of involution. And this would bring stagnation and death, if peace now ensued. The lesson taught is that, not in peace and rest can the soul grow; but amidst the earthquakes that shake thrones, the floods that overwhelm countries, the fires that reduce to ashes, has the strong man-soul grown to its present state and power. So fear not the storm, but the calm; not the unrest, but the quiet; fear not the battle, but the ignoble peace of the coward.

O child of Adam! The astral soul must learn to do and dare. Not over the brave man's grave shall it be written, "Rest in peace," but "I will arise, and go to my father."

TABLET THE TWELFTH

Pisces

SYMBOL

A comet, beyond it infinite things, only dreamed of as yet, a world floating in an ocean and in night, beneath are two hands clasped palm to palm.

XII

TABLET THE TWELFTH

A REVELATION OF THE TO BE. The comet is the twelfth Avatar, the herald, coming forth from the starry abyss of the infinite, staying with us a little while, and then flashing on his shining way to other worlds than ours, bearing THE DIVINE WORD from sun to planet, as the fiery messenger of God. And here the soul may well ask: "Who? Where? Whence and Whither?" For behold, he has come, and gone, and

"Earth could not answer; nor the seas that mourn In flowing purple, of their Lord forlorn; Nor rolling Heaven, with all his signs revealed And hidden by the sleeve of night and morn."

The world floating in the sea of the infinite and resting in night shows the present state of humanity. But, "the blush of dawn" is ready to gladden the soul, and the expectant seer, from his lonely vigil on the hilltop, awaits the sunlight which will soon flood the world anew.

The two clasped hands point to many problems, chiefly soul- matehood, the message of the starry messenger, universal brotherhood, and the Father-Motherhood of God.

O child of Adam! Watch and pray, that a voice of the silence may speak unto you.

Here endeth the four Quadrants of the Tablets of the Twelve Mansions, wherein are revealed the signs and symbols thereof, as faithfully transcribed from the sacred roll in the astral records and called "The Tablets of Aeth." April, 1893.