That the Sun in the center of the zodiac is the fundamental meaning of number 13 as a cosmic symbol is evidenced by its universal use in all myths which depict the cycle of manifestation of the Sun-God, no matter what the language, the people or the age in which it is found. As Baldor was betrayed while he gathered the 12 Great Gods around him at meat and as Jesus was betrayed as He gathered His 12 disciples around the table at the Last Supper so "Helios also, the Greek Sun-God, the heavenly physician and savior annually prepared the 'Sun's Table' in nature causing the fruit to ripen, the healing herbs to grow, and inviting mortals to the life-giving repast. This Table of the Sun was always spread in the land of the happy and long-lived Ethiopians; even the 12 Gods journey thither each year with Zeus for 12 days, i. e., in the last Octave of the old and the new year." 2 Again, we find that "Jason or Iasios is only a Greek form of the name Joshua, the Jesus of the Old Testament who has been recognized as an ancient Ephraimitic God of the Sun and Fruitfulness. And just as Jason (13) sets out with 12 companions to obtain the Golden Fleece of the Lamb of Colchis; Just as Joshua (13) crossed the river Jordan with 12 followers and celebrated the Pasch (lamb) on the farther bank, so Jesus (13) with his 12 disciples goes to Jerusalem at the Pasch in order to eat the Easter Lamb there with the twelve. It can scarcely be doubted that in all these cases we have to do with one and the same myth-the myth of the Saving Sun and rejoicer of peoples. It is evident that all these differing versions refer to the annual journey of the Sun (13) through the 12 signs of the Zodiac. Even the names (Iasios, Jason, Joshua, Jesus, also Vishnu, Jesudu) agree, and their common root is contained also in the name Jao (Jahwe)-from which Joshua is derived-the mystical name of Dionysos among the Greeks, as he roamed about in his capacity of travelling physician and redeemer of the

2 The Christ Myth, Drews, 136.

world." "It is as the Sun-God that he (Jesus) is surrounded by 12 disciples; . . . it is as the Sun-God passing through the zodiac that he is represented successively in art and lore by the Lamb and the Fishes," the beginning and the end of the Zodiac. "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last."

The Gospel story of the life of Jesus must therefore be looked upon not only as a new presentation of the world-old "Sun Myth," but also as a mystical allegory representing both the stages of the unfoldment and manifestation of the Spiritual Sun (the Cosmic Christ) in the heart of each Soul, and also hiding within it the attestation to the divinity of Jesus as the Son of God (Sun-God) "the only begotten of the Father." Since the events recorded are almost identical with the events in the lives of all former incarnations of the Spiritual Sun (Sun Initiates) it is evident that all were expressing the same grand truth. It is as though many persons in different lands should recite an allegory depicting the events of a new springtime, the melting of the snow, the early growth and final blooming of the flowers, the bird's songs, etc. All would use their own metaphors and express it in their own languages, yet every nation, tongue and people would recognize in them a description of spring and would thrill to the same truth.

Also the events of the various narratives would all appeal to the human heart because each heart would recognize that it too had its springtime; its cold rains and bitter winds; its warm sunshine; its new growth, and therefore ultimately must have its flowering and fruition. This personal application would in no way vitiate the truth of the various descriptions. Nor would it make the springtime one iota less true and beautiful to know there had been others or that other people in other parts of the world had described its events in slightly different terms; for every springtime is to nature the coming

3 Christianity and Mythology, Robertson, 138.

4 Ibid, 34.

of the Cosmic Christ or a new physical and historical manifestation of the universal Sun Myth, because it is a materialized expression of the great creative drama of Divine Manifestation or the Divine Life manifesting in all worlds.

Hence it must have its expression in nature as well as in the unfolding life of man made in the image of the Divine. This law was the basis for Hermes' axiom, "As it is above, so is it below, for the accomplishment of the one purpose," i. e., the manifestation of the Divine in all worlds.

In the same way every Soul striving to follow the Path of Unfoldment must experience the events depicted in the life of Jesus, because all life must follow the same divine pattern breathed out in the beginning. For this reason we can always find an analogy in every event in nature and apply its truths to man, because in its growth, development and evolution it is pointing the way for him. Its sad and dark days as well as its happy ones touch his heart, because he too is experiencing the corresponding states of joy and sorrow in his expression of the urge of the One Life toward perfection. In fact, man and nature, the earth and the universe, are all expressing but the writing of the wonderful teleautograph in the hands of the Infinite, the One God.

It is evident from the above that the Sun Myth could not have been evolved by primitive man observing the events of nature, for no primitive mind could grasp, much less accurately formulate, so stupendous an allegory, and especially one which would stand not only the test of philosophical examination and the experiences of life in all ages, but also the acid test of mathematics, the cold figures of astronomical and astrological calculations. The Sun of Righteousness as it strives to manifest the Light in each life follows the same law we see exemplified in the physical Sun. Just as the physical Sun at each new springtime awakens to life all that was seemingly dead, be it nourishing grain or noxious weed, so the Spiritual Sun in each heart into which a ray of the Christ Light streams awakens into life and activity all that

seemed dead or dormant in the circle of its life manifestation. For the real Soul-lessons of life must be learned through this process of quickening (redemption) by the Spirit of Life of that which was mystically dead-dead meaning dormant or not in manifestation-just as a latent planet is brought into manifestation and all its latent powers quickened by the descent of the Light. The planet, the Soul and the seed are all sent forth to express the aspect of the Divine Ideal implanted within them, hence all follow the same steps in manifestation, obeying the universal Law of Unfoldment (evolution), i. e., growth from within outward.

The Last Supper is another symbol of the meaning of number 13, although to be correct the table should be a round one with a space for serving in the center, as used in ancient Rome and some oriental countries. The significant words spoken on that occasion by the "Lord of Light," "This do in remembrance of me," have been little understood. For they did not merely mean that the followers of the Son of God were to drink wine and eat broken bread in remembrance of a cowardly betrayal and a cruel death, but that they were to look ever to the Christ for their spiritual bread and wine. If His followers would sit in a circle according to the seats of the 12 signs of the zodiac, with each one earnestly endeavoring to manifest the force of the sign in whose seat he sits-even if he was not born in that sign-and with all their hearts illumined by the radiance of the Spiritual Sun, or truly "in remembrance of Him" who is the Spiritual Sun that must shine in their hearts, they would surely be given to partake of that mystical food of which Jesus spoke when He said: "I have meat to eat that ye know not of."

"There are depths in man that go the lengths of lowest hell, as there are heights that reach highest heaven; for are not both heaven and hell made out of him, made by him, everlasting miracle and mystery that he is?"-Carlyle.

Number 13 has a strong affinity for the astral world because when the forces from the 12 signs are perfectly blended in thirteen the earth-forces blend with the astral forces. Hence, only as we use the positive power of 13 or the power of the Christ within to conquer all that comes to us is 13 helpful, Otherwise it is exceedingly dangerous, for in its negative aspect it is the Number of Necromancy and Evocation whose power can draw to it subtle forces and entities from the astral world to be used for good or evil. In certain regions of the astral1 there are forms which are but the discarded and disintegrating astral corpses left behind as empty shells by those Souls who have passed from the lower realms of the astral into the higher psychic realms, just as the physical body is left behind as an empty shell when the Soul leaves the physical world. These shells are composed of the astral body and lower principles minus the Soul and life-force. Although these corpses are slowly disintegrating they last much longer than do physical corpses, and for a time they may retain a semblance of life through the amount of kamic or lower desire principle still enmeshed in them, just as a physical corpse may retain an amount of life-force sufficient to make the nails and hair grow to a considerable length after burial. These shells are sometimes drawn magnetically into the aura of living persons through the practice of conscious or unconscious necromancy. When thus attracted they automatically absorb from the living the forces of animal

1 See Realms of the Living Dead, Curtiss, 83-4.