CHAPTER XXXII. The Number 17. THE DISPOSING INTELLIGENCE. "The Seventeenth Path is the Disposing Intelligence, which provides Faith to the Righteous, and they are clothed with the Holy Spirit by it, and it is called the Foundation of Excellence in the state of higher things."-Sepher Yetzirah, 30. In the above quotation we find the mystical meaning of Number 17, namely, the Disposing Intelligence which provides Faith to the Righteous. This indeed expresses the full meaning of 17, for only the righteous or those who are not only on the right Path, but who have been able to manifest this Disposing Intelligence even in the little things of life, can have the faith which Jesus referred to when he said. "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."1 A Disposing Intelligence formulates an intellectual conception of truth which then has to be weighed, tested and freed from all error. It must prove that from the heart alone can come the Foundation of Excellence. Hence one who has thus intellectually sifted all knowledge and disposed of all that stands in the way of revealed truth is clothed with the Holy Ghost. This is the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit of which Jesus said: "Even the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."2 And again "But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." "2 The formation of 17 (10+7=17=8) shows that it is an important step in evolution; 8 being the Number of Evolution. 1 St. Matthew, XVII, 20. 2 St. John, XIV, 17-26. In number 7 we saw the Perfection of the seven-fold Elohim which had created man in their image and started him out on his triumphal journey through the Cycle of Necessity armed as a warrior to go forth to Victory. In 17 we see the 10 or Completion added to Perfection, thus 10+7=17. In 7 we saw the Soul resting on its Sabbath Day ere it essayed its journey. The Soul in this seventh day is looked upon by the Lord and is pronounced very good. Hence we might say that 7 marks the perfect Soul as God made it, unsullied by contact with its garment of flesh, while 17 is that same Soul when it has completed the cycle of 10 and gained the Victory over the flesh, having added a cycle of experience to its pristine purity. The Initiate has entered into his kingdom of flesh, has struggled with it and compelled it to obey his mandates. He has faced temptations, felt the chill of the night of darkness, doubts and fears and the thirst for power and has made his choice. His feet (understanding) have been "washed in the blood of his heart," hence he can now stand in the presence of the Masters, i. e., the blood of the heart which has bathed his feet is the spiritual life-stream which flows through the heart rather than the head, and has now bathed and washed clean his understanding of truth. However, 17 is but another rest-house although far up on the rugged mountainside. Here the pilgrim may abide for a night and listen to the wise discourse of the Masters who have gone before. This is a most important step, for here he must begin to recognize himself as a creator, a mighty factor in the Great Army of the Voice. Not only must he be accountable for the creative thoughts and words in himself, but must be held responsible for their effect on his fellow men and the whole planet. The evolution of 17 as 8 is not only the personal evolution of number 8 already described, but is the evolution of the Race, hence one who has reached this point must become an active factor in helping on this 3 The Key to the Universe, Curtiss, 102-134. evolution. Here he must be consciously clothed with the Holy Ghost, not in a vague way, but as a recognized force, a guide and a Comforter on whom he can rely. He must also be in a definite relationship with those Rulers in each kingdom whose duty it is to sound and express and pass on "the Creative Word." "In each kingdom there are the Rulers called by various names: Dhyan Chohans, Devas, et cetera, in regular orders, each with his special field of operation and each subject to a still higher intelligence above him, all obeying and passing on the Word, the lower expression of these rulers being Nature Sprites or nature elementals, while the Highest are Planetary Rulers." When man reaches the step symbolized by 17 he comes into conscious at-one-ment with this mighty army of workers and should take his place, realize and accept his responsibilities and work with the Law toward the manifestation of Divine Perfection. For on the step symbolized by 17 man himself becomes a sort of rest-house for the creative force; that is, here man must consciously touch the Higher Intelligences and must stand as a distributor to the lower. He does this through the power of his now spiritualized Will and the Victory he has gained over his thoughts. This function is called creating through the power of Kriyashakti. "The first step towards the accomplishment of Kriyashakti is the use of the Imagination. To imagine a thing is to firmly create a model of what you desire, perfect in all its details. The Will is then brought into action, and the form is thereby transferred to the objective world. This is creation by Kriyashakti." 4 While man can and must become an active participator either for good or evil in the evolution of the planet, yet each kingdom is subject to the Dhyan Chohan ruling that kingdom. "The whole Kosmos is guided, controlled, and animated by almost endless series of Hierarchies of sentient Beings, each 4 The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, III, 561. having a mission to perform, and who-whether we give them one name or another, whether we call them Dhyan Chohans or Angels are 'Messengers,' in the sense only that they are the agents of Karmic and Cosmic Laws."5 For instance, all animals of the one species are subject to the Group Soul (Dhyan Chohan) of that species, yet each Group Soul owes obedience to the Planetary Ruler of that Hierarchy from which it emanated. While each of the lower kingdoms has its rulers, Nature Sprites, et cetera, yet the influence of the Ruler of the Hierarchy is supreme, i. e., the kingdoms can only evolve through obedience to the laws governing the Hierarchy to which they belong. Each human Soul also belongs to a certain Planetary Hierarchy which gives him his dominant characteristics, yet in the course of his pilgrimage through matter he will be born under all the various planetary conditions. In fact, ere he becomes the victor over planetary influences he must have passed through all the 12 houses and mastered the influences of all the 12 signs, no matter how many hundreds of incarnations this may require. When these cycles have been completed he shall then become one of the 144,000 (12×12=144), a perfected Master. And 1+4+4-9, the number of the Initiates who were the first to be sealed from all the tribes of the Children of Israel (the 12 houses). As we have said in our lectures on Bible interpretation: "To understand this 144,000 we must realize that each Soul that is born is an emanation from one of the great Spiritual Beings which rule the universe, called in our Bible the Elohim or the Seven Angels of the Presence, which rule the signs of the zodiac. Each Soul incarnates under a particular sign to learn the lessons which are the degree of manifestation of that particular force. After he has passed an incarnation in that sign, learning as much as he can little by little, he incarnates in another sign with all the experience he has gained 5 The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, I, 295. in the first sign built into the new body as inherent faculties and abilities: and so he goes on around the entire zodiac. When he comes back again to the first sign in which he started he has the added powers that he has gained in passing through all the other signs and hence can take up the same lessons on a higher plane and with a greater power to manifest the positive aspect of the forces of that sign. Thus must each Soul pass around the zodiac and learn the lessons of the forces from each of the 12 signs. This will require at least 12 incarnations in each sign, the 12×12 making in all 144. The thousands are simply the ciphers relating to certain mystic eras in his perfection. "Therefore those who were sealed out of the different tribes were those who had completed this twelve-fold cycle, who had gained the power out of each sign twelve different times. or in its twelve different phases. They may have made 1,000 incarnations in one sign before they were able to conquer its characteristics, but symbolically they must have passed through it at least twelve times. Hence those sealed out of the twelve tribes means that out of each phase of humanity there will be those who reach Mastery and are able to be sealed with the seal of the Lord. "This has a very particular help in your daily life. We hear so many people say, 'I was born under Libra (or Capricorn or Scorpio, et cetera) and of course I cannot conquer in this incarnation in such a sign. You cannot expect me to conquer. I am not responsible for my failure.' And immediately there sets in a phase of discouragement. But we see that since you pass through every sign it does not make any difference what sign you are in now. You can conquer if you look to the Lamb. If you use the power of 'the root of David.' No matter what sign you are in, no matter what particular lesson you must learn, it is possible for you to conquer, in that sign." "After the twelve thousand were sealed out of each tribe we find there was a great company besides. Those who have |