perfect equilibrium between man and woman can be accomplished. The man stands with bent arm (strength bent to execute) and hand (accomplishment) cupped to receive the downpouring of the higher forces that by the awakening of the Mercury-center (thought) in both, united they shall solve the riddle of the universe. The woman must uplift thought, center it upon spiritual things in both and create the higher ideals for the life-force to animate, strengthen and manifest. Her other hand is pointed to the earth to accomplish by bringing forth more spiritual children, not alone through physical birth, but also by the birth of ideals and the birth of higher standards and of reforms.

This perfectly balanced pair are here represented as having created the Philosopher's Stone which turns everything into gold. And it is the work of the feminine to see to it that everything the two aspects of the Philosopher's Stone touches shall be transmuted into pure spiritual gold. Thus will man take his true place in the universe as "the lord of creation" or the distributor of God's divine forces on the mundane plane. Then in a very practical way will "all things work together for good."

CHAPTER XL.

The Number 20. THE DISPENSER OF WISDOM.

"If thou woulds't have that stream of hard-earn'd knowledge, of Wisdom heaven-born, remain sweet running waters, thou shoulds't not leave it to become a stagnant pond. Know, if of Amitabha, the 'Boundless Age,' thou would'st become co-worker, then must thou shed the light acquired, like to the Bodhisattvas twain, upon the span of all three worlds."The Voice of the Silence, Blavatsky, 70.

"God operates by His works-in heaven by Angels, and on earth by men."-Eliphas Lévi.

The number 20 is composed of two complete cycles of 10, each containing the experience of the 9 digits. But unlike 10, which has the 1 or the Divine standing at the right hand of the circle of unmanifested forces, in 20 we find 2 or the number of the mundane or differentiation. Here the One Life has become thoroughly materialized. It has not only entered into matter but has evolved through it until man, the highest expression of duality (male and female) has realized his position and responsibility, and has completed his cycle, hence in this number he stands as the representative of God to all below him.

In 20 therefore we must consider man as God's Ambassador, responsible for his works and also responsible to God for the kingdoms and inhabitants of earth entrusted to him. In short, man has now "become as one of us" (the Elohim). In this present state of the world it is only one here and there during the ages who has reached this state of attainment, yet there has never been an age which has not produced its Initiates. And since the truth is recognized that "power belongs to him who knows," so is it equally true that he who knows is responsible, in exact proportion to the amount of his knowledge, for the use he makes of his power, for personal responsibilities cannot be evaded if true progress is to be attained. Therefore the Initiate is one who by toil, self

sacrifice and suffering has sought out the hidden mysteries of life and has, like Job, stood face to face with the Lord (the Great Law which spoke out of the whirlwind) and at his command: "Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me," has fearlessly answered, "Here am I." Such an one has never been wanting in any age of the world and in the early days of mankind such Initiates were the rulers of mankind. And as mankind advanced in intellectual knowledge the greatest of all mysteries was given to all who could receive it, namely, the truth that God dwelt in man, be he ever so seemingly separated from God; that mankind are not separated atoms of matter driven helplessly hither and thither, nor are they children to be ruled and governed even by the Elders Brothers of the Race, but are now responsible beings, Rays from the One Divine Light, the God or the Spiritual Sun. "The only begotten Son of the Father" incarnate in the flesh has a dwelling place within each Soul, hence through this divine indwelling Christ each man and woman has the power of reaching to the fullness of the Father. This doctrine has been universally taught by the wise men of all ages.

Once man had reached the stage of individual responsibility, the close personal guidance given him in his child-stage has little by little been superseded by the guidance from within. When this stage is reached he must begin to recognize the God-power within and learn to trust it as a sure guide and pathway to knowledge, and not look without to any superhuman guidance. Only thus will the mass of mankind reach the step symbolized by number 20, for its primal meaning is that God has fully clothed himself in man, the Word has been made flesh and dwells among us, not only in the great divine Avatar, Jesus, whose life-story was given us as an example of what each Soul must attain, but God has touched the physical plane in each man. From this point on number 2

1 Job, XL, 7.

must be looked upon not as the Number of Separation or departure from the 1, but as made up of two ones; God and man united in one figure.

Number 20 must also be considered from the aspect of the knowledge of good and evil. But in 20, having passed 2 cycles of 10, it stands for one who has eaten of the Tree of Good and Evil and has become as one of the Elohim, hence has the power to walk either in the right hand path or the left according to his own Will, but this he now does consciously, not ignorantly, as before.

The law of the physical plane is duality, hence the number 2 or the God-man now stands where the 1 stood in the first cycle. "Throughout the whole mystic literature of the ancient world we detect the same idea of spiritual Esoterism, that the personal God exists within, nowhere outside, the worshipper. That personal Deity is no vain breath, or a fiction, but an immortal Entity, the Initiator of the Initiates, now that the heavenly or Celestial Initiators of primitive humanity. are no more among us."2 Note well that this does not say that there is no manifestation of God outside of man, but no personal God outside.

This Immortal Entity spoken of is the Ray of God which has become the Father-in-Heaven or personal God of each man and woman, just as surely as a ray of sunlight is an individualized expression of the Sun. Yet just as the ray of sunshine has become embodied in a flower or fruit so the Immortal Ray of God has become flesh of our flesh, is dwelling within each Soul; in fact is the Real or Divine Self of each one. Hence only as we listen, obey and identify ourselves with this divine incarnate Ray can we, like the flower or fruit, unfold our perfect pattern or become an Initiate. This, however, does not postulate that we are Gods now at the present stage of development, except potentially. We are only such when we demonstrate that the lower self has

2 The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, III, 62.

ceased to be the governing power and the God in us sits on his throne and rules our lives in the sight of men. Only this incarnate God-power can initiate us into all mysteries of being and make us one with all that is, so we can rule, firstly ourselves— our bodies, our minds, our forces-then rule the forces of nature. Only when we have touched within ourselves the Source of all forces in nature can we open the Book of Life, read and understand its concealed mysteries, converse with the bee and ant and understand the music of the spheres.

Therefore to the majority of students 20 must stand as a great ultimate possibility, yet it must point to a positive fact, i.e., that they have with them "the power of the Christ"; that through this power of the Christ they can conquer, beginning with the little things that come to them day by day, realizing that Mastery is a growth; that a fault once mastered never has to be mastered again, but it is stored up as power and lends its aid to master the next difficulty. A God-like quality such as love, compassion or unselfishness once built into our character, has strengthened the expression of our God-nature just that much more and has given us power to attain to a new step.

But this number must also remind us that, being a human or mundane number, it comes under the law of duality, hence must have within it the two opposites. Since it stands at the right hand of the circle of unmanifested possibilities, thus, 20, there must be 2 ways in which this circle can be manifested, either good or bad, black or white. Hence number 20 stands for free-will, or man with his developed Will and the power to use it in deciding which Path he shall tread, for this new circle is as yet unmanifested.

Kabalistically number 20 is called the Breaker of the Elements i.e., one who has separated the elements and has gained control over them.

According to Kabalistic teachings each Soul has two angels, a good and an evil one. "From Ruach (reason) and Nephesch (passion), influenced by the good aspirations of