past, culling for future use the experience from each event, but manfully bearing the results and doing our duty, even though, like Amfortas, the wound bleeds at every step.

Westcott says of number 11, "This seems to be the type of a number with an evil reputation among certain peoples."4 While many unthinking people are given to condemning that which they do not understand, especially anything which imposes on them the responsibility for their own thoughts and actions, among earnest and true-hearted Knights who have kept their night of vigil prayerfully before the altar of their own hearts; who have caught a glimpse of the glory of the Grail as the morning of their new cycle dawns; who have received the accolade upon the shoulder from the hand of the Great Initiator in the silence and sacred hush of their midnight vigil; who have listened enraptured to the mysterious choir of angelic voices bidding them go forth and conquer, to all such number 11 will be as the light of a glorious new day revealing wonderful vistas of great possibilities.

As to an evil reputation, did not Jesus have an evil reputation among the rulers of the synagogue? And every true follower of the Master Jesus who has taken up in earnest this new life of self mastery must expect to face more or less of evil reputation; for did not Jesus tell His disciples: "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!" "The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master," 5 i.e., shall become master of himself. The number 11 has gained its evil reputation, as do all other good things, through misinterpretation and misunderstanding. In this case the old kabalistic teachings which contrast 11 with Perfection as expressed in ten, call it evil because it departs from that Perfection. But they fully understood, and in their quaint language fully set forth its true significance, i.e., that having reached Perfection in ten, number 11 starts out on a new quest for a greater Perfection in a new

4 Numbers, Westcott, 100. 5 St. Luke, VI, 26-40.

and greater cycle. Hence they tried to impress the idea that at this step there may be more or less foreboding of the unknown as the new and unmanifested cycle looms ahead. When he takes the Pilgrim's Staff in hand and starts anew to climb to greater and unknown heights, the Disciple knows well that the road leads uphill all the way and is beset with many dangers and temptations, yet he dares all.

The whole Cycle of Necessity through which the Soul must journey, as expressed in the numbers from 1 to 22, is graphically symbolized in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. On that Journey every Rest House might be compared to a number ten where the Pilgrim having successfully conquered the dangers past may rest and refresh himself and be given wise council and strength for his New Beginning. Number 11 is the Pilgrim starting afresh on his Journey after his first rest. Hence well might the Kabalists say of it that it contains within it the essence of all that is sinful, harmful and imperfect. Yet it also contains the strength, understanding and experience that will conquer all that is met with in the new cycle. He Knows, he Dares, hence can Do, if he has learned sufficient discretion to Keep Silent; and the inherent strength and power of will which has enabled him to come thus far will carry him to the next Rest House.

As the Disciple grasps and begins to use the newly acquired power of the One Life according to the knowledge and strength gained, he makes so many mistakes that at first the new life may seem more inharmonious, difficult and evil than the old. Hence in number 11 the great lesson is that power is attained only by use, and attainment is won only through persistence.

In the Hebrew the word for 11 is Achad, Osher, Ai, or one and ten, God and God. Eliphas Lévi connects 11 with the Astral Light which he calls the great Magical Agent in which all things are reflected. He also calls it manas or man's higher and lower mind. This idea he founds upon the ability of man's mind to reach up to the greatest heights or to descend to the lowest depths. This idea is correct, for at number 11

man has received a new influx of power, and having free-will must decide whether he will use it for good or evil; again the two ones standing side by side and representing force. Lévi also calls it the Magical Chain, claiming that wherever two or more persons stand side by side, united in ideas and lines of action, they form a magic chain capable of influencing others.

Apollonius in treating of the hours of Initiation makes ten the first hour. It is an hour of Joy; the Neophyte has completed his Trial of Initiation and has passed its terrible tests, yet it is also an hour of trial and much depends upon it. Among the Egyptians they set up the Sphinx as a symbol of the first hour and called it the Guardian of Esoteric Wisdom. The human head of the Sphinx at this step says to the Aspirant for the higher cycle "First acquire the Knowledge"; its bull's thighs indicate to him "Be strong and patient in thy work"; its lion's paws say to him "Thou must be brave and defend thyself against every inferior force"; its eagle's wings say "Thou must will to raise thyself towards the transcendent regions which thy Soul already approaches." Number 11 is the second hour and Apollonius calls it the "Abyss of firethe virtues of the stars close as a crown through the dragons and the fire (the magnetic chain)." At this step the Disciple must learn to distinguish the course of the positive and negative currents of force in his own body, also to distinguish between good and evil and to choose between them; not so simple a decision as it sounds.

• See lesson The Message of the Sphinx, Curtiss.

CHAPTER II

The Number 11. THE INITIATE

"Figures are symbols of numbers. Numbers are symbols of Eternal Principles. Principles are unchanging qualities that belong to Being. They cannot be weakened or strengthened in their true nature, but always contain their primal essence."-Numbers and Letters, PEEKE.

There is an 11 year cycle of the Sun which exemplifies all that we have said of number 11; for according to the Secret Wisdom,1 "The Sun is the heart of the Solar World (System) and its brain is hidden behind the (visible) Sun. Thence, sensation is radiated into every nerve-center of the great body, and the waves of life-essence flow into each artery and vein." Like the heart of man this great solar heart circulates the vital life-essence comparable to the blood in man-throughout the entire solar system, and regularly contracts at every return of the vital essence to the sun in a rhythmic cadence corresponding to that of the heart of man. But instead of these rhythmic heart beats taking place in a little less than a second as they do in the heart of man, it requires ten years for the solar blood to circulate through the system and another year, making 11, for it to pass through its auricle and ventricle, be purified in the lungs by the Great Breath and be ready again to be sent out through the arteries of the Cosmos. This is the fixed cycle of 11 years well known to astronomers, during which the sunspots regularly increase in intensity and numbers. "Could the human heart be made luminous, and the living and throbbing organ made visible, so as to have it reflected upon a screen . . . . then everyone would see the sun-spot phenomena reflected every second." 2

Astronomers have also noted that every 11 years the earth

passes through a specially dense stream of meteors, proving that the earth receives a special influx of physical matter from other planets and systems every 11 years, bringing to the earth materials for a new cycle. Thus it will be seen that we have an exact proof in nature of our statement that the fundamental meaning of number 11 is that of a cyclic New Beginning.

The 11th sign of the zodiac is Aquarius, and the kabalistic value of its name is also 11. It is the Sign of the Son of Man and its symbol is a water-bearer, a man pouring forth the Water of Life that the crops for a new season may be fructified and germinate. As we enter upon this new Aquarian Age we almost hold our breath in expectation of the mighty unfoldment which this Great Age will bring forth. Even through the turmoil of battle, through the smoke and din of bursting shells and amid the groans of the dying and the lamentations of the bereaved, we strain our eyes and ears for the first indications of the glory of the coming of the New Age.

As the Cosmos passes through this sign all that is expressed in its symbology will be manifested at least in outline. The Son of Man will indeed come,3 not merely as a sign in the heavens, but as an embodiment of Divine Love to man, for the spiritual Water of Life will be poured out in abundance upon the earth and upon humanity. In fact, if we examine into all that this term Water of Life means we will find that it has many interpretations, but there are three that are of fundamental importance. The Son of Man must come out into manifestation through the three decans or doors of the sign Aquarius and reach perfection in each. The first door is already open and through it the Water of Life is being poured forth in its lowest aspect in the rivers of blood-the physical Water of Life-shed on the battlefields that the earth may be purged of its lower aspects of selfishness, passion, greed, envy, hate and personal aggrandizement. The second

3 See The Voice of Isis, Curtiss, 137; also The Mighty Angel, Curtiss. 4 See lesson Mother Earth, Part II, Curtiss.