Hiereus, at the words “Bow my neck” places the flat of his sword on the nape of candidate’s neck.
HIERO: Rise, Neophyte, of the 0° = 0 grade of the Order of the Stella Matutina.
Hierophant returns to his throne. Hiereus removes hassock and returns to his throne. Hegemon assists candidate to rise. The other officers resume their seats.
HIERO: Honoured Hegemon, you will now place the Neophyte in the northern part of the hall—the place of forgetfulness, dumbness, and necessity, and of the greatest symbolical darkness.
Hegemon takes candidate to the north and faces him east. Kerux goes with lamp and wand to the northeast. Stolistes and Dadouchos stand ready to follow in the procession.
HIERO: The voice of my undying and secret soul said unto me—“Let me enter the path of darkness and, peradventure, there shall I find the light. I am the only being in an abyss of darkness; from an abyss of darkness came I forth ere my birth, from the silence of a primal sleep.”
And the voice of ages answered to my soul—“I am He who formulates in darkness—the light that shineth in darkness, yet the darkness comprehendeth it not.”
Let the mystical circumambulation take place in the path of knowledge that leadeth unto light, with the lamp of hidden knowledge to guide us.
Kerux leads forward, followed by Hegemon with candidate—Stolistes and Dadouchos coming last. As they pass Hierophant gives one knock, just as candidate passes. They pass on by south and west and passing Hiereus he also gives one knock as candidate passes. They pass on by the north and on passing east again Hierophant gives one knock as candidate passes. Kerux stops in the south after the second passing of Hierophant and barring the way with his wand, says:
KERUX: Unpurified and unconsecrated, thou canst not enter the path of the west!
Stolistes comes forward and, dipping his thumb in water, makes a cross on candidate’s brow, sprinkles three times, and says:
STOL: I purify thee with water.
Dadouchos comes forward, censes in the form of a cross, waves incense three times, and says:
DAD: I consecrate thee with fire.
Stolistes and Dadouchos then step back to their places in the procession.
HEG: Child of Earth, twice purified and twice consecrated, thou mayest approach the gateway of the west.
Kerux leads the procession to throne of Hiereus. Hegemon raises the hoodwink for a moment. Hiereus stands threatening with his sword.
HIEREUS: Thou canst not pass by me, saith the guardian of the west, unless thou canst tell me my name.
HEG: Darkness is thy name, thou great one of the paths of the shades.
HIEREUS: Thou hast known me now, so pass thou on. Fear is failure so be thou without fear. For he who trembles at the flame and at the flood and at the shadows of the air, hath no part in God.
Kerux leads on. They pass Hierophant who gives one knock. Hiereus gives one knock as they pass. After this passing, Kerux halts in the north, and raises his wand.
KERUX: Unpurified and unconsecrated, thou canst not enter the path of the east!
STOL: I purify thee with water. (Cross and sprinkling as before.)
DAD: I consecrate thee with fire. (Cross and censing as before.)
HEG: Child of Earth, thrice purified and thrice consecrated, thou mayest approach the gateway of the east!
Kerux leads the procession forward to Hierophant who stands threatening with his sceptre. The hoodwink is again raised for a moment.
HIERO: Thou canst not pass by me, saith the guardian of the east, unless thou canst tell me my name.
HEG: Light dawning in darkness is thy name, the light of a golden day!
HIERO: Unbalanced power is the ebbing away of life. Unbalanced mercy is weakness and the fading out of the will. Unbalanced severity is cruelty and the barrenness of mind. Thou hast known me now, so pass thou on to the cubical altar of the universe.
The hoodwink is replaced.
Kerux leads the procession to the altar. Candidate is placed exactly west of the altar—Hegemon on his right—Hiereus on his left; Kerux, Stolistes, and Dadouchos at the rear form a supporting triangle. Hierophant, holding sceptre in his right hand and the Banner of the East in his left, advances between the pillars and comes to the east of the altar, saying:
HIERO: I come in the power of the light.
I come in the light of wisdom.
I come in the mercy of the light.
The light hath healing in its wings.
The officers now form a hexagram round the altar. Hiereus holds his sword in his right hand, the Banner of the West in his left. All the officers except Hierophant kneel down. Candidate is assisted to kneel. Hierophant stands, raising his hands, holding sceptre and Banner for the Invocation as follows.
HIERO: Lord of the Universe—the vast and the mighty one! Ruler of the light and of the darkness! We adore Thee and we invoke Thee! Look with favour on this Neophyte who now kneeleth before Thee, and grant Thine aid unto the higher aspirations of his soul, so that he may prove a true and faithful frater Neophyte among us. To the glory of Thine ineffable name. Amen!
All rise, candidate is assisted to rise and is brought close to the altar. Hierophant, Hiereus, and Hegemon raise their wands and sword to touch each other over the head of candidate. Kerux, at the word “Darkness,” removes the hoodwink.
HEG: Inheritor of a dying world, we call thee to the living beauty.
HIEREUS: Wanderer in the wild darkness, we call thee to the gentle light. (Hoodwink removed.)
HIERO: Long hast thou dwelt in darkness—quit the night and seek the day.
HEG
HIEREUS} (Together) We receive thee into the Order of the Stella Matutina.
HIERO
HIERO: Khabs.
HIEREUS: Am.
HEG: Pekht.
HIEREUS: Konx.
HEG: Om.
HIERO: Pax.
HEG: Light.
HIERO: In.
HIEREUS: Extension.
The officers take down their sceptres and sword. Kerux moves to northeast of the altar and raises his lamp. Hierophant points to the lamp to direct candidate’s attention.
HIERO: In all thy wandering in darkness, the lamp of the Kerux went before thee, though it was not seen by thine eyes. It is the symbol of the light of the hidden knowledge.
The officers return to their places, Hierophant to his throne. Hegemon and candidate remain west of the altar.
Let the Neophyte be led to the east of the altar.
Hegemon places him to the east, near but not between the pillars, and then he takes his place outside the white pillar.
Honoured Hiereus, give the Neophyte the secret signs, token, and words, together with the present password of the 0° = 0 grade of the Stella Matutina. Place him between the mystical pillars and superintend his fourth and final consecration.
Hiereus passes by the north to the black pillar. He comes round to the east. Hegemon advances to meet him and take from him his sword and banner. Hiereus steps between the pillars, and facing candidate, says:
HIEREUS: Frater (name), I shall now proceed to instruct you in the secret step, signs, grip, and words of this grade.
Firstly, advance your left foot a short space, as if entering a portal. This is the step.
The signs are two. The first or saluting sign is given thus: Lean forward and stretch both arms out thus: (make Neophyte do this). It alludes to your condition in a state of darkness, groping for light. The second sign is the Sign of Silence, and is given by placing the left forefinger on your lip thus (makes Neophyte do it). It is the position shown in many ancient statues of Harpocrates, and it alludes to the silence you have sworn to maintain concerning everything connected with this Order. The first sign is always answered by the second.
The grip or token is given thus: advance your left foot touching mine, toe and heel, extend your right hand to grasp mine, fail, try again, and then succeed in touching the fingers only. It alludes to the seeking guidance in dar
kness.
The grand word is Har-Par-Krat, and it is whispered in this position mouth to ear, in syllables. (They exchange the word.) It is the Egyptian name for the god of silence, and should always remind you of the strict silence you have sworn to maintain.
The password is (word). It is periodically changed each equinox, so that a member who has resigned, demitted, or been expelled, may be in ignorance of the existing password.
I now place you between the two pillars of Hermes and of Solomon in the symbolical gateway of occult wisdom.
Hiereus leads Neophyte forward and then takes back the sword and banner as Hegemon hands them to him. He stands northeast of the black pillar and says:
HIEREUS: Let the final consecration take place.
Stolistes and Dadouchos come forward and purify and consecrate the hall as in the opening, but on returning to the east, Stolistes turns round to Neophyte, makes a cross of water on his brow, sprinkles three times, and says:
STOL: I purify thee with water.
Dadouchos likewise turns round from the east and says after making a cross and censing three times:
DAD: I consecrate thee with fire. (They return to their places.)
HIERO: Honoured Hegemon, I command you to remove the rope, last remaining symbol of the path of darkness, and to invest our frater with the badge of this degree.
Hegemon comes forward and hands his sceptre and ritual to Hiereus. He removes the rope and puts on the sash over the left shoulder.
HEG: By command of the very honoured Hierophant, I invest you with the badge of this degree. It symbolises light dawning in darkness.
Hegemon takes sceptre, etc. and returns to white pillar.
HIERO: Let the mystical circumambulation take place in the pathway of light.
Kerux goes to the northeast. Hegemon takes candidate behind black pillar, and stands behind Kerux. Hiereus comes next, followed by Stolistes and Dadouchos. Kerux leads off, all salute on passing Hierophant who stands holding sceptre and banner as in the opening. Hiereus drops out on reaching his throne. Hegemon returns to between the pillars after passing Hierophant twice. He directs Neophyte to follow Kerux, who with the other officers passes Hierophant thrice. After the third passing, Hierophant says:
HIERO: Take your place northwest of the Stolistes.
Kerux indicates this and goes on followed by Stolistes who falls out in the north and returns to his place.
Hegemon replaces his chair between the pillars and sits down. Kerux replaces the rose, lamp, cup, and paten in their proper places on the altar.
All are seated.
HIERO: The threefold cord bound about your waist was an image of the threefold bondage of mortality, which amongst the initiated is called earthly or material inclination, that has bound into a narrow place the once far-wandering soul; and the hoodwink was an image of the darkness, of ignorance, of mortality that has blinded men to the happiness and beauty their eyes once looked upon.
The double cubical altar in the centre of the hall is an emblem of visible nature or the material universe, concealing within herself the mysteries of all dimensions, while revealing her surface to the exterior senses. It is a double cube because, as the Emerald Tablet has said, “The things that are below are a reflection of the things that are above.” The world of men and women created to unhappiness is a reflection of the world of divine beings created to happiness. It is described in the Sepher Yetzirah, or the Book of Formation, as “an abyss of height” and as “an abyss of depth,” “an abyss of the east” and “an abyss of the west,” “an abyss of the north” and “an abyss of the south.” The altar is black because, unlike divine beings who unfold in the element of light, the fires of created beings arise from darkness and obscurity.
On the altar is a white triangle to be the image of that immortal light, that triune light, which moved in darkness and formed the world of darkness and out of darkness. There are two contending forces and one always uniting them; and these three have their image in the threefold flame of our being and in the threefold wave of the sensual world.
Hierophant stands in the form of cross, saying:
HIERO: Glory be to Thee, Father of the undying. For Thy glory flows out rejoicing to the ends of the earth!
He reseats himself.
The red cross above the white triangle is an image of Him who was unfolded in the light. At its east, south, west, and north angles are a rose, fire, cup of wine, and bread and salt. These allude to the four elements: air, fire, water, earth.
The mystical words—Khabs Am Pekht—are ancient Egyptian, and are the origin of the Greek “Konx Om Pax” which was uttered at the Eleusinian Mysteries. A literal translation would be “light rushing out in one ray,” and they signify the same form of light as that symbolised by the staff of the Kerux.
East of the double cubical altar of created things are the pillars of Hermes and of Solomon. On these are painted certain hieroglyphics from the 17th and the 125th chapters of the Book of the Dead. They are the symbols of the two powers of day and night, love and hate, work and rest, the subtle force of the lodestone and the eternal outpouring and inpouring of the heart of God.
The lamps that burn, though with a veiled light, upon their summits show that the pathway to hidden knowledge, unlike the pathway of nature—which is a continual undulation, the winding hither and thither of the serpent—is the straight and narrow way between them.
It was because of this that I passed between them, when you came to the light, and it was because of this that you were placed between them to receive the final consecration.
Two contending forces and one which unites them eternally. Two basal angles of the triangle and one which forms the apex. Such is the origin of creation—it is the triad of life.
My throne at the gate of the east is the place of the guardian of the dawning sun.
The throne of the Hiereus at the gate of the west is the place of the guardian against the multitudes that sleep through the light and awaken at the twilight.
The throne of the Hegemon seated between the columns is the place of balanced power, between the ultimate light and the ultimate darkness. These meanings are shown in detail and by the colour of our robes.
The wand of the Kerux is the beam of light from the hidden wisdom, and his lamp is an emblem of the ever-burning lamp of the guardian of the mysteries.
The seat of the Stolistes at the gate of the north is the place of the guardian of the cauldron and the well of water—of cold and moisture. The seat of the Dadouchos at the gate of the south is the place of the guardian of the lake of fire and the burning bush.
Frater Kerux, I command you to declare that the Neophyte has been initiated into the mysteries of the 0° = 0 grade.
Kerux advances to the northeast, faces west, raises his wand, and says:
KERUX: In the name of the Lord of the Universe, who works in silence and whom naught but silence can express, and by command of the very honoured Hierophant, hear ye all, that I proclaim that (name), who will henceforth be known to you by the motto (motto), has been duly admitted to the 0° = 0 grade as a Neophyte of the Order of the Stella Matutina.
Kerux returns to his place.
HIERO: Honoured Hiereus, I delegate to you the duty of pronouncing a short address to our frater on his admission.
HIEREUS: Frater (motto), it is my duty to deliver this exhortation to you. Remember your obligation in this Order to secrecy—for strength is in silence, and the seed of wisdom is sown in silence and grows in darkness and mystery.
Remember that you hold all religions in reverence, for there is none but contains a ray from the ineffable light that you are seeking. Remember the penalty that awaits the breaker of his oath. Remember the mystery that you have received, and that the secret of wisdom can be discerned only from the place of balanced powers.
Study well the great arcanum of the proper equilibrium of severity and mercy, for either unbalanced is not good. Unbalanced severity is cruelty and oppression; unbal
anced mercy is but weakness and would permit evil to exist unchecked, thus making itself, as it were, the accomplice of that evil.
Remember that things divine are not attained by mortals who understand the body alone, for only those who are lightly armed can attain the summit.
Remember that God alone is our light and the bestower of perfect wisdom, and that no mortal power can do more than bring you to the pathway of that wisdom, which He could, if it so pleased Him, put into the heart of a child. For as the whole is greater than the part, so are we but sparks from the unsupportable light which is in Him.
The ends of the earth are swept by the borders of His garment of flame—from Him all things proceed, and unto Him all things return.
Therefore, we invoke Him. Therefore even the Banner of the East falls in adoration before Him.
HIERO: Before you can ask to pass to a higher grade, you will have to commit certain rudiments of occult knowledge to memory. A manuscript lecture in these subjects will be supplied you by the chief in whose charge they are. When you can pass an examination in this elementary Qabalistic knowledge, you will inform the member in whose charge you are, and arrangements will be made for you to sit for examination. If you are found perfect you will then apply for admission to the next degree. Remember, that without a dispensation from the Second Order, no person can be admitted or advanced to a grade of the First Order.
Kerux conducts Neophyte to his table and gives him one of the small dishes of solution to hold.
KERUX: Nature is harmonious in all her workings, and that which is above is as that which is below. Thus also, the truths which by material science we investigate, are but special examples of the all-pervading laws of the universe. So, within this pure and limpid fluid, lie hidden and unperceived of mortal eyes, the elements bearing the semblance of blood, even as within the mind and brain of the initiate lie concealed the divine secrets of the hidden knowledge. Yet if the oath be forgotten, and the solemn pledge broken, then that which is secret shall be revealed, even as this pure fluid reveals the semblance of blood.
Kerux adds fluid from the other dish.
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