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Article GEOMETRICAL AND OTHER SYMBOLS. ← Page 5 of 7 →
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Geometrical And Other Symbols.
point star )( X as a symbol of the perfect Godhead in all His attributes and works . If we surround this figure with a circle , there will be seven points in it if we in-• clude the centre point of the circle ; which represents "the sacred number seven . "
On this interpretation of the symbolical meaning of the triangle it may be observed , that various explanations of what the ancient Egyptians symboli-• cally meant b y it are given : and according to Oliver Trimself , " in the hieroglyphics of Egypt we sometimes see the suppliant presenting a triangle to his God . " Surelthenthe devotee did not conceive that his
y , , : triangle represented either " the origin of all things , " — " the kind , good , gracious , and merciful God ,- —or - " the just and and angry God : " none of these could he be " presenting to his God . " It is much more likely that this presentation was meant to denote his own human life or personin order that it miht
be-, g come God possessed , or "become the God , " as Iamblichus describes the true chief purpose of all i ; heir devotional acts . Oliver , also , in his Masonic plates , says , — " The equilateral triangle , with H T in the centre , signifies Holy Temple ; or this temple shall be holy : this triangle was cast in gold . " And
then , again , if the triangle has been adopted as the symbol of the triune God , does the interlacement of two triangles , or the hexalpha , denote two triune Gods ? Much more likely is it here , too ; that while the one triangle may denote the nature of the Deity , or the divine Siritthe other may denote his " hol
p , y temple" or the human nature ; since the true grand purpose of all religion is the accomplishment of a conjunction of the divine nature with the human ; ias is implied , for example , in all such Scri p tural passages as these : — "We dwell in him and he in us ,
because he has given us of his Spirit" ( 1 John , iv 13 ) . " God dwelleth in him and he in God " ( 1 John , iv . 15 ) . " For ye are the temple of the living God ; . as God hath said , I dwell in them , and walk in them " ( 2 Corinth ., vi . 16 ) . Again , the ancient Egyytians are said to have ¦ denoted ecstacy or joy by the triangle ; and this
they may have done on the Buddhist and mystical princi ple of the Deity is himself the Rest or Repose in ecstacy which he gives to the human soul ; and " This is the Rest wherewith ye inay cause the weary to rest ! This is the refreshing ; " for , " in returning and in rest shall ye be saved : " " Return to me and I
will return to you , saith the Lord : " " Return to thy Rest , 0 my soul . " But this Rest is only given by vfche Holy Spirit , who is " the Spirit of Rest , " as well . as " a Spirit of Watching ; " so that , on this idea , what the Egyptians ought , properly speaking , to have meant , and what they probably did mean , was just
that the triangle here referred to symbolized the divine Spirit itself ; and this would be quite in accordance with the Christian symbol of a triangle surrounded by rays , and sometimes surmounted by a dove , to show that it denoted the holy spirit . Kircher , thereforeis probably somewhat more corrector less
, , dneorrect or inexplicit , when he puts it thus ; that the . Egyptian symbol of the Deity was a triangle . But Tve have alread y seen that it is probable the ancient ^ Egyptians also denoted the human nature as well as the divinine by a triangle . There would thus be two
symbolical triangles , just such as we find in the hexalpha of the Egyptians themselves , as well as of their cognote religionists , the Hindus , and others , denotive of the marriage conjuction of the human nature with the divine , as in God jiossession , or the invocation of the oracular and ecstatic Spirit in the human body , as its "Jholy temple . " This idea of the true meaning of the
hexalpha is corroborated , as we shall see , by other evidence and reasoning . Speaking of the equilateral triangle , Maurice , in his "Indian Antiquities , " says that "when illuminated with a single jod , this initial letter , jod , denotes the thought—the idea—of God ; it is a ray of Lig ht , say the
enraptured Cabalists , which darts a lustre too transeendant to be contemplated by mortal eye . " The triangle , " now called the trowel , " according to Oliver , in his Signs and Symbols , " signified equally the Deity , Creation , and Eire . " Elsewhere he tells us that " a single triangle , bearing the secret name of God , was
given to the Israelites on Mount Horeb . " In the " Asiatic Journal of Bengal , " vol . xiv ., pp . 633-40 , 1 find it stated that " among the Cabalists , as well as among others whose systems originated in the same source , the triangle , with its apex ivpwards , typified fire , as did that with its apeoo downwards water . " This so far accords with Gadieke ' s intimation as to
the ancient Egyptians , that " the kind , good gracious , and merciful God they delineated by the water triangle V ; and the just and angry God b y tbej ^ re triangle A . " It was the water triangle , then , or the triangle with its apex downwards , that must have denoted the ecstatic divinity , divine Spirit , or "Living Water " with the Egyptians ; and this identification of the
Holy Spirit , " the Comforter " with the attributes of kindness , grace , and mercy , as the highest good , or simmv / m lonum , and the beneficent restorer , of man , in this " weary world , "—while the just and angry , or wrathful principles is something very like its antithesis , and identifiable with' the Father—accords , so
far , with Christian doctrine . The Christian mystics , moreover , taught that the human Soulier se , or without the divine illuminating Spirit , is a dark and cold princi ple , of the nature of the wrathful principle itself ; and the arch-mystic , Jacob Behmen or Bohme , identifies this wrathful and cold yet fiery princip le not only with the human soul but with the attractive force
throughout all creation ; and it was this view of Bohme ' s that is said to have led Newton to investigate the nature and law of the Cosmical princip le of attraction . This fiery principle Bohme , too , calls the dark princi ple , while "the Divine Sophia , " or Divine Wisdom , " the spouse of the Soul , " he identifies with
the principle of Light , as the Holy Spirit , and Sabbath of Rest ; and declares that the fire of the Soul ought to be alig ht with the illuminative S p irit , or " wrapped up into the holy Sabbath of Rest , " as St . Paul was " caught up into Paradise . the third heaven , " within him , entranced in the hi g hest state of perfection ;
" whether in the body or out of the body , " as "a g lorious church , without spot or wrinkle ; " so that , here , too , on the whole , we find the conjunction of the human nature with the divine to what the two embracing triangles of the hexalpha probably denote in the architecture of the inward man and the temple of the Lord and Master of all . Of the hexalpha , itself , which Mr . Oliver improperly calls the pentalpha and the pentangle he say , —
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Geometrical And Other Symbols.
point star )( X as a symbol of the perfect Godhead in all His attributes and works . If we surround this figure with a circle , there will be seven points in it if we in-• clude the centre point of the circle ; which represents "the sacred number seven . "
On this interpretation of the symbolical meaning of the triangle it may be observed , that various explanations of what the ancient Egyptians symboli-• cally meant b y it are given : and according to Oliver Trimself , " in the hieroglyphics of Egypt we sometimes see the suppliant presenting a triangle to his God . " Surelthenthe devotee did not conceive that his
y , , : triangle represented either " the origin of all things , " — " the kind , good , gracious , and merciful God ,- —or - " the just and and angry God : " none of these could he be " presenting to his God . " It is much more likely that this presentation was meant to denote his own human life or personin order that it miht
be-, g come God possessed , or "become the God , " as Iamblichus describes the true chief purpose of all i ; heir devotional acts . Oliver , also , in his Masonic plates , says , — " The equilateral triangle , with H T in the centre , signifies Holy Temple ; or this temple shall be holy : this triangle was cast in gold . " And
then , again , if the triangle has been adopted as the symbol of the triune God , does the interlacement of two triangles , or the hexalpha , denote two triune Gods ? Much more likely is it here , too ; that while the one triangle may denote the nature of the Deity , or the divine Siritthe other may denote his " hol
p , y temple" or the human nature ; since the true grand purpose of all religion is the accomplishment of a conjunction of the divine nature with the human ; ias is implied , for example , in all such Scri p tural passages as these : — "We dwell in him and he in us ,
because he has given us of his Spirit" ( 1 John , iv 13 ) . " God dwelleth in him and he in God " ( 1 John , iv . 15 ) . " For ye are the temple of the living God ; . as God hath said , I dwell in them , and walk in them " ( 2 Corinth ., vi . 16 ) . Again , the ancient Egyytians are said to have ¦ denoted ecstacy or joy by the triangle ; and this
they may have done on the Buddhist and mystical princi ple of the Deity is himself the Rest or Repose in ecstacy which he gives to the human soul ; and " This is the Rest wherewith ye inay cause the weary to rest ! This is the refreshing ; " for , " in returning and in rest shall ye be saved : " " Return to me and I
will return to you , saith the Lord : " " Return to thy Rest , 0 my soul . " But this Rest is only given by vfche Holy Spirit , who is " the Spirit of Rest , " as well . as " a Spirit of Watching ; " so that , on this idea , what the Egyptians ought , properly speaking , to have meant , and what they probably did mean , was just
that the triangle here referred to symbolized the divine Spirit itself ; and this would be quite in accordance with the Christian symbol of a triangle surrounded by rays , and sometimes surmounted by a dove , to show that it denoted the holy spirit . Kircher , thereforeis probably somewhat more corrector less
, , dneorrect or inexplicit , when he puts it thus ; that the . Egyptian symbol of the Deity was a triangle . But Tve have alread y seen that it is probable the ancient ^ Egyptians also denoted the human nature as well as the divinine by a triangle . There would thus be two
symbolical triangles , just such as we find in the hexalpha of the Egyptians themselves , as well as of their cognote religionists , the Hindus , and others , denotive of the marriage conjuction of the human nature with the divine , as in God jiossession , or the invocation of the oracular and ecstatic Spirit in the human body , as its "Jholy temple . " This idea of the true meaning of the
hexalpha is corroborated , as we shall see , by other evidence and reasoning . Speaking of the equilateral triangle , Maurice , in his "Indian Antiquities , " says that "when illuminated with a single jod , this initial letter , jod , denotes the thought—the idea—of God ; it is a ray of Lig ht , say the
enraptured Cabalists , which darts a lustre too transeendant to be contemplated by mortal eye . " The triangle , " now called the trowel , " according to Oliver , in his Signs and Symbols , " signified equally the Deity , Creation , and Eire . " Elsewhere he tells us that " a single triangle , bearing the secret name of God , was
given to the Israelites on Mount Horeb . " In the " Asiatic Journal of Bengal , " vol . xiv ., pp . 633-40 , 1 find it stated that " among the Cabalists , as well as among others whose systems originated in the same source , the triangle , with its apex ivpwards , typified fire , as did that with its apeoo downwards water . " This so far accords with Gadieke ' s intimation as to
the ancient Egyptians , that " the kind , good gracious , and merciful God they delineated by the water triangle V ; and the just and angry God b y tbej ^ re triangle A . " It was the water triangle , then , or the triangle with its apex downwards , that must have denoted the ecstatic divinity , divine Spirit , or "Living Water " with the Egyptians ; and this identification of the
Holy Spirit , " the Comforter " with the attributes of kindness , grace , and mercy , as the highest good , or simmv / m lonum , and the beneficent restorer , of man , in this " weary world , "—while the just and angry , or wrathful principles is something very like its antithesis , and identifiable with' the Father—accords , so
far , with Christian doctrine . The Christian mystics , moreover , taught that the human Soulier se , or without the divine illuminating Spirit , is a dark and cold princi ple , of the nature of the wrathful principle itself ; and the arch-mystic , Jacob Behmen or Bohme , identifies this wrathful and cold yet fiery princip le not only with the human soul but with the attractive force
throughout all creation ; and it was this view of Bohme ' s that is said to have led Newton to investigate the nature and law of the Cosmical princip le of attraction . This fiery principle Bohme , too , calls the dark princi ple , while "the Divine Sophia , " or Divine Wisdom , " the spouse of the Soul , " he identifies with
the principle of Light , as the Holy Spirit , and Sabbath of Rest ; and declares that the fire of the Soul ought to be alig ht with the illuminative S p irit , or " wrapped up into the holy Sabbath of Rest , " as St . Paul was " caught up into Paradise . the third heaven , " within him , entranced in the hi g hest state of perfection ;
" whether in the body or out of the body , " as "a g lorious church , without spot or wrinkle ; " so that , here , too , on the whole , we find the conjunction of the human nature with the divine to what the two embracing triangles of the hexalpha probably denote in the architecture of the inward man and the temple of the Lord and Master of all . Of the hexalpha , itself , which Mr . Oliver improperly calls the pentalpha and the pentangle he say , —