CHAPTER X.

EZEKIEL'S WHEEL—WHAT IT SIGNIFIES.—ASTROI- OLOGY IN PROPHECY.

Among the many remarkable chapters in the amazingly symbolic book of the Prophet Ezekiel, the Tenth is in some respects the most highly emblematical of all, and, unless it is clearly understood that it describes a vivid vision and is in no sense intended to be taken literally, it must certainly appear entirely incomprehensible. But let us make an endeavor to interpret, in some degree at least, its marvellous imagery, and as we peer below the depths of its astounding letter we shall soon begin to catch some glimpses of its many deeper aspects. Were we to attempt to exhaust the meaning of the vision by any single attempt at interpretation we should defeat the very end we have in view, which is only to suggest some few thoughts which may be helpful to students who are seeking a key to the inner sanctuary of symbolic literature which is now beginning to be widely dealt with in an entirely superhistorical manner. Prophetical imagery may have both a local and a superlocal significance, by which we mean that certain events symbolically described or foretold may have particular reference to a special age and people in an immediate sense, and at the same time be susceptible of much wider application. The writers of headings of pages in the King James version of the English Bible took amazing, and often entirely unwarranted, liberties with their often very poor translation of the Hebrew text, and it is these chapter-headings which have led to a vast amount of the misapprehension which extensively prevails as to the real meaning of the original. In the case of the chapter now before us this annoyance is not encountered, for the headings are simply descriptive, viz., “Vision of the coals of fire and of the Cherubim.” The man clothed with linen, who is a very prominent character in many of Ezekiel's visions, may fairly be considered as one of those many angelic messengers of whom we read continually, all of whom are described as clad in pure white raiment, for at least two reasons: First, because all ambassadors sent forth by esoteric confraternities are invariably clad in white garments, and, secondly, because clairvoyant vision in all ages has enabled seers to behold the luminous white aura which radiates from all celestial messengers whether in the incarnate or excarnate state. The cherubs, who also play an important part among the characters in the vision, represented in olden times souls not yet terrestrially embodied, but awaiting incarnation, for the seers of every age and country have testified unanimously to spiritual pre-existence. The resemblance traced between a sapphire and a celestial throne suggests immediately the time-honored significance of that extremely beauteous gem, always a type of wisdom, sincerity, and constancy Obtaining fire from heaven and scattering it over the earth is a symbol to be met with throughout almost the entire range of classic literature, the well-known story of Prometheus being a highly typical example. Fire has occupied a place of singular honor among all nations, and as a religious emblem it has always held the center of the stage, and deservedly so when we consider its three leading and distinctive properties, which are to enlighten, to purify, and to warm. Heat, light and purification are instantly suggested with the thought of fire, and therefore the great alchemical work of transmutation is symbolized thereby. Much that refers to profound and awe-inspiring initiatory rites is conveyed by this far-reaching symbol. The man in white raiment going in and out of the mystic flame represents a thoroughly developed hierophant, one who has truly passed through the mystic death and attained to the glorious freedom of the new life of the risen and regenerate. The wings of the cherubim denote ability to pass through air or ether as easily as birds can fly and fishes swim, and doubtless with far greater rapidity. A comparison of the sound made by the motion of the wings of the cherubim to the voice of the Almighty when speaking, is a clear reference to the very ancient and wide-spread idea that GOD speaks to humanity on earth through the agency of angels. All revelations must of necessity be accommodated to the state of receptivity of those to whom they are addressed, for where there is no comprehension there can be no revelation, a revelation necessitating a comprehender as well as a revelator. According to some commentators the wheels among which the man in white raiment stands have an astrological significance, and in that curious book, “Art Magic,” which gives much information of an unusual character, we find an illustration of Ezekiel's Wheel intended to set forth the astrological idea of ascending Macrocosmos and descending Microcosmos. Six signs of the Zodiac, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, are on the line of ascent. Libra, the seventh sign, is the turning-point or balance of the scale. Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, are on the descending line. The wheels within wheels according to this rendering refer plainly to the different Houses of the Sun, as the twelve signs of the Zodiac are termed. In each of these Houses humanity accomplishes some special work, and during each Grand Cycle of 25,840 years our Sun passes through these twelve Houses, just as our little earth goes through them in a trifle over 365 days.

The four special signs described as having respectively the face of a cherub, a man, a lion, and an eagle, are the four so-called Fixed Signs of the Zodiac. These are Aquarius, Scorpio, Leo, Taurus. Aquarius is familiar to all of us as the man with the watering-pot; Leo is the lion, Taurus is the winged cherub as frequently represented in ancient symbolic art; Scorpio is the eagle and has been so represented as to its spiritual significance from ages immemorial. Christian art has employed these symbols to characterize the four Evangelists, that is why we so frequently behold an eagle lectern in a Christian church; though its more ancient and universal significance is rarely mentioned except by students of astrology, who naturally wish to prove the relationship between their own modern teaching and the wisdom of the ancient prophets. Astrology must always be to some extent under a ban until its professors everywhere disclaim all connection with fatalism and with pessimism, for these twin errors rob astrology of all the good it might otherwise accomplish. Idle curiosity may prompt many people to pry into the future without any belief that they can profitably utilize the knowledge they obtain, but the serious-minded, who are ever seeking for profitable instruction, can never take interest in any predictions which do not serve to encourage those who listen to them to buckle on their spiritual armor and conquer whatever conditions would prove adverse did we allow them to triumph over us when it is our mission and prerogative to rise above them, by meeting these seeming adversaries not as foes to be exterminated but as necessary material for purposes of eventual transmutation into forms as unlike the original as an eagle is unlike a scorpion. These four very extraordinary Living Creatures mentioned in Ezekiel reappear in the Apocalypse, which is a most significant illustration of the widespread use of an identical symbology. These are Masonic as well as Astrologic emblems and are doubtless well comprehended by those comparatively few really distinguished Masons who peer into the esoteric meaning of Masonic rites and are far from satisfied with bare initiation into the outer fringe of the Masonic garment. But however deeply versed in Masonic lore the ancient prophets may have been, they were before and above all else exhorters of the people unto civic as well as private righteousness.

The highly important significance of the transformation of Scorpio into Aquilla (the Eagle) has always been regarded as the accomplishment of the Magnum Opus of the Alchemists, who were always accustomed to veil their profound esoteric teachings concerning human regeneration under a general symbolism pertaining to the literal transmutation of metals, a feat which doubtless was, to some extent, actually accomplished by those well versed in mystic chemistry. But as the noblest and most trustworthy Rosicrucians, and all other students of genuine alchemy, invariably declared that no one could become a true White Magician until he had overcome all cupidity, the literal production of material gold was a decidedly unimportant work in the estimation of those great Magicians who made the regeneration of humanity, individually and collectively, the one supreme object of their indefatigable exertions. Earth, Air, Fire, Water, like North, South, East, West, are employed in mystical writings as significant of the four chief divisions of human life in all directions. The four typical rivers watering the Garden of Eden are, alchemically considered, the four great arteries which are the river-courses of the blood. The four rivers enumerated in Genesis may well be thought to have some connection with the four Living Creatures mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. Pison stands for the innominate artery which supplies blood to the right side of the head and to the right arm and hand. Gihon represents the second great artery at the arch of the aorta—the left common carotid—which supplies the left side of the head and, through the “Circle of Willis,” can also supply the right side of the brain. Hiddekel refers to that which furnishes blood to the upper portion of the left hand. Euphrates stands for the descending aorta, which supplies the lungs and all organs below them, including the major sections of the chest and stomach. Keeping in constant remembrance the relation between Macrocosm and Microcosm we shall experience little, if any, difficulty in tracing the vital unity of these several correspondences, for though at first there may appear but a very slight and chiefly fanciful connection between the Signs of the Zodiac and the different sections of the human body, no sooner have we grasped something of the inevitable implications of the microcosmical idea than we see at once that the constellations and all they signify are not only without, but also most verily within every one of us. At the very outset of any practical instruction in astrology it is highly essential that the teacher should seek to remove the prevailing fallacy that when we are treating of planetary influences we are alluding only to such as are exerted over us by bodies distant many millions of miles from this earth.

Every influence exerted upon us from without must have its correspondence within, otherwise we could not be affected by it. It is because we are universes in minimum that we can know and feel something of the greater Universe outside. Hermetic Philosophy is the only adequate reconciler of physics with metaphysics and of idealistic with realistic philosophy, for in the light of Hermetism we can readily comprehend how our bodily senses can be entirely trustworthy, so far as their testimony extends, and at the same time agree with the idealist who insists that all that we perceive is within the consciousness of the percipient, for it is within us and without us at the same instant, precisely as there is air in our bodies at the same time there must ever be a far greater volume of atmosphere outside. Prophetic visions always introduce us to that universal sign and symbol language in which we usually dream, and which generally greatly baffles us until we have found a key to its interpretation.