and attached to the Temple of the Sun where she was brought up in all the learning of the priesthood, and in time was made their High Priestess and was married to the king. Under the guidance of her divine inspiration the nation grew and prospered to such extent that it became the leader in learning, civilization and power. But at the death of the king the Priestess-queen was betrayed and murdered at the instigation of the king's sister who desired to inherit the throne. After the tragedy it was found that a miracle had taken place, for although the Priestess was stabbed to the heart, no blood had flowed. The priests then took charge of the body and claimed that it would remain in a state of suspended animation and perfect preservation until the Soul of the Priestess returned. During the centuries that have elapsed, the nation has gradually declined until it is now composed of but a few insignificant tribes buried in the mysterious mountain fastnesses into which no white man has ever been permitted to penetrate. But the priests still declare that the Priestess-queen will some day return and restore the glory of the nation.

The legend further states that through caring for the body of the Priestess, the attendant priests have learned certain secrets of regeneration by which they utilize the planetary and zodiacal forces to renew their bodies continually, just as the same forces renew the life of the earth each season. It is said they have thus been enabled to prolong life in the same bodies to an unbelievable length of time, although their bodies are gaunt, wasted and shrivelled. If there is any truth in this legend it is indeed a sad one. No doubt their Priestess-queen will return, but in a new incarnation in a new body, again to lift up the nation through the light of her inspiration. Hence all the magical forces used to keep her old form from disintegration but hamper the work which only the reincarnated Soul of the Priestess can complete. If any of our readers know anything about this legend, the authors would be especially glad to hear from them concerning it.1

1 Such letters may be addressed in care of the Publisher.

To sum up the meaning of Number 13, let us emphasize that the number symbolizes the descent of the Divine into manifestation on the physical plane. Hence 13 can be used to attract to earth forces from above the earth, and its influence may be used-if the one seeking to correlate with the number mediates upon the Sun in the center of the zodiac, the Christ in the midst of His disciples, or the center between the eyes of the "Vast Countenance"-to manifest more perfectly the divine One Life within himself and thus help to redeem and uplift the very substance of the globe, as well as the matter composing man and his bodies. Or its power can be reversed if the idea held is to produce phenomena with which to satisfy curiosity, to attain prestige and power over both the forces working in the matter composing the various planes of the globe or for any other selfish purposes. Number 13 will prove a veritable whip of scorpions, driving into the abyss of darkness all who seek to attain power from the Prince of Darkness instead of the Prince of Light.

It can be used to bring forth in humanity either the positive force of theophany-the overshadowing and shining through the purified man of the God-consciousness-or it can bring forth the negative force of necromancy, which is but man's effort to gain sensation and power by drawing to earth the departed and disintegrating soulless shades from the graveyards of the astral world through dabbling in elemental forces. And it must be remembered that the negative side is the one most easily attained because the nearest the earth. To attain the overshadowing of the Divine man must lift himself up in love, aspiration and purity of thought to the God-consciousness, while in the negative manifestation man but draws down to himself entities which are seeking an avenue for the expression of their unsatisfied desires and lusts in the flesh. In both cases an avenue of desire or a pathway of force must be created according to that which it is desired to draw down. The first can be attained only by the balancing of the forces of the zodiac and by a heart full of love, ardent aspiration

and will to realize the Divine. These will never attract the forces of evil; while no amount of lip-service will avail to attract the Divine Consciousness if the pathway of emanations from the heart is composed of anything but love and purity.

There are 13 recorded appearances of Jesus after His resurrection.

1. The first appearance was to Mary Magdalene on the first day of the resurrection (John, XX, 15-17). On that occasion He spoke to her three times (a) "Woman why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?" (b) "Mary" and (c) “Touch me not," an occult injunction it is well to remember when encountering the newly risen astral bodies of our loved ones. For no matter how pure or loving they may be, as Jesus said, until they have risen into the higher psychic realms, they cannot contact a mortal aura without casting over it the conditions of suffering with which they passed out of physical life.2

2. The second appearance (Matthew, XXVIII, 9) was to the two Marys on their return from the tomb. The message was: "Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."

3. The third appearance (Luke, XXIV, 13) was to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus. They did not recognize Him, even when He walked and talked with them, expounding the teachings He had given them. Only when He had opened their understanding did they recognize who had been teaching them. Thus does the Christ often walk with His disciples in their daily round today, but must wait for recognition until their awakened understanding shall recognize Him through His teachings.

4. The fourth appearance (Luke, XXIV, 34) was to Simon Peter or Cephas (I Cor. XV, 5).

5. The fifth appearance was to the 10 apostles in an upper

2 See Realms of the Living Dead, Curtiss, 89.

room (John, XX, 19; Luke, XXIV, 36). His message was, "Peace be unto you: As my Father hath sent me, even so send Receive ye the Holy Ghost."

I you.

...

6. The sixth was to the 11 apostles as they sat at meat (Mark, XVI, 14).

7. The seventh was to the disciples "and Thomas was with them" (John, XX, 26). His message was "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side. . . . Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." This seventh message was like number 7 itself, most blessed and comforting. Although the world is full of doubters, here we have the assurance that every honest doubt shall be satisfied if the doubters will but put forth their powers (fingers) and investigate thoroughly for themselves. There is a great difference between the honest doubter who, though he has not yet had the inner personal experience which settles all his doubts, yet goes on doing his work in the world with an open mind awaiting his illumination, and the scoffer who refuses to believe that anyone could have an experience which he could not share or demonstrate to himself.

8. The eighth appearance was to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias (John, XXI, 12) where He asked for meat, eating with them broiled fish and bread, His message being: "Come and dine."

9. The ninth was to the 11 apostles on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew, XXVIII, 16), His message being, "All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. . . . Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

10. The tenth was to 500 brethren at once (I Cor., XV, 6). No message was recorded.

11. The eleventh was to James (I Cor., XV, 7) and then to all the apostles. No message recorded.

12. The twelfth was at His ascension (Acts, I, 11) while He

blessed them a cloud received Him out of their sight. The message was: "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

13. The thirteenth was to Saul of Tarsus (Paul) while on his way to Damascus. (Acts, IX, 3-4). The message was: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"

Apollonius calls number 13 the fourth hour. In it "the neophyte wanders in the sepulchers, and it will injure him; he will experience horror and fear of visions; he should devote himself to magic and to geotie." 3 Here he must be able to face fearlessly the forces which in the 12 hours he has invoked, and the first that appears is always the lowest and most antagonistic, such as elementals who stand ready to carry out man's unuttered and ofttimes unrecognized thoughts either good or evil. Also since at this step the door is open to the remains of the dead astral corpses which are often galvanized into a semblance of life, he must be fearless and know how to discriminate. But if he has completed the task of the third hour and has killed all sense of the personality as a separate entity, he here experiences a sense of utter loneliness. For although the Celestial Man has been born from the terrestrial, yet in this hour he is but a helpless babe, crying out for the love of the Great Mother whom he knows is near, but whom as yet he cannot fully see.

Papus says of this step: "The foundations of the Universe are now reached; the Neophyte touches the extremity of the terrestrial aura, the sublunar atmosphere which surrounds each planet, like the reservoir of the elements of its life; he has now reached a terrible moment when he must lose the earth to launch out into the ocean of space; a formidable crisis, to which two periods are consecrated."

3 The magic which evokes the evil genii who injure man.-A. P. M.

4 The Tarot of the Bohemians, Papus, 267-8.