Human languages shift and change with each generation. Words come and go and their accepted meaning and connotations change for a variety of reasons. This last century has seen significant changes in the connotations and actual definitions of some significant words. Many words which originally had good and civil connotations and meanings have come, through distortion and inadequate public presentation since the 1950's, to have negative and wrong connotations -- making many esoteric writings (i.e., those by H.P.B., A.A.B., etc.) to become the target for much misinterpretation. Some of the words used in these writings which are today often misinterpreted include: esoteric, occult, cult, master, Aryan, the cross called the swastika, initiate, astral, hierarchy, channeling,
magic, disciple and new age.
The word occult has been the most distorted. This word is conceptually related to the root words ocular and ocultarie which have to do with seeing.
Occult philosophy relates to the process of striving to see truth as it is without any of the psychological clouds which often obscure one's vision. The right path of occultism is one of symbolically clearing away the fog so that one may see clearly in order to serve God (the trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit) as best as one is able. The word cult is actually related to the word culture (the crown of civilization) and is used correctly in such phrases as the cult of truth, the cult of goodness, the cult of service and the cult of freedom. The word lucifer originally referred to the principle of wisdom as the "morning star" or the planet Venus symbolically speaking and has to do with Angels who came to earth - not to those of evil intent. This original mythology of the word has been lost in the conventional religious dogma but is used rightly in many theosophical writings.
The word Aryan can be used to refer to either the western races in general and or to all of humanity for this current cycle of evolution. The swastika is used throughout India and many parts of Asia and stands for human evolution through experience in the material world. The use of this cross is quite ancient and was greatly distorted, along with the word Aryan, by the nazis. The word astral refers to the emotional world and the astral plane is the realm of emotional experience.
The word esoteric relates to those processes which are more spiritual or more abstract than is regularly seen in the world. A master is one who has mastered himself in the Love of God or Christ and when a student speaks of his master he is referring to a person who's example he seeks to follow and to whom he is related by shared spiritual interests and devotion to service -- not to one who has any authoritative control over his life. In this spirit of freedom The Son of God known as Christ is the master of the masters. A disciple is one who seeks to be disciplined (non- fanatically it should be noted) so as to follow the spiritual path that all who have mastered themselves in God's Love have also followed. The hierarchy is the realm of relationships between disciples, masters and God and could be referred to as the kingdom of heaven. One's place in the hierarchy is determined by one's love, humility, compassion and interests
as to service in God's Plan. The hierarchy could also be thought of as the next kingdom in nature toward which we all are evolving.
The word channeling has been greatly distorted today. Channeling in relation to true spiritual work simply means being a conduit through which the Love of God can flow. True channeling is completely different from the lower mediumship which is unfortunately all too common today. No real disciple or master ever channels via mediumship or unconscious body possession nor do they make any claims as to self-importance and exclusiveness nor charge any money to see channeling. There can be cases of overshadowing and conscious cooperation through telepathy with members of the kingdom of heaven but never are any self-promoting claims put forth as to this and all that would be noticed by those watching would be that the writer or speaker seems to be radiating greater love and wisdom. An initiate is a disciple who has accepted the Love of God and who has freed his motivation from materialistic interests. Magic is the means of attaining such freedom and the three greatest formulas of white magic which have been given to humanity are as follows: 1 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul; 2 - Love your neighbor as you love yourself; and 3 - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
It is the general practice of this white magic which will make the dawning of the new age a great and good opportunity for humanity – and this is the emphasis of the true theosophical writings and other valid writings on these matters.
Theosophy and A. Bailey
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