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On the Order of the Lily and the Eagle
We take great pleasure in giving you all the necessary information about the Order
which has aroused your interest.
The traditional teachings we are in possession of, were placed in our custody by our
Venerated Masters who desired that we carry on their great work, by transmitting to
all aspirants such knowledge as they were prepared to receive. Indeed, we are glad to
assure you that the transmission of the traditional teachings is one of the chief aims
of our Venerable Order.
It is needless to ask us why we do not give out our teachings promiscuously. Have we
not been taught that meat is not the proper food for babes? In the Gospel according
to St Matthew Ch. IX, Verse 17, we find the following:
"Do men put new wine into old bottles so that the bottles break, and the wine
runs out and the bottles perish. No. They put new wine into new bottles and both
are preserved."
Indeed, in order to be fit to receive the "new wine" of the Eonian Tradition, it is
necessary for one to transform himself and become a free man. But who can be called a
"free man"? Any person who has liberated himself from prejudices, preconceived opinions,
as well as from every alien influence; but this is not all. The best result will not be
attained until one is emancipated from his own lower self:-from his faults, passions
and vices. Of what use can Initiation, this formidable and two-edged weapon, be to a
person who is still a slave to prejudices and to his own preconceived opinions, to say
nothing of one who is a slave of some vice or passion which makes him more like a beast
than a man?
This is one reason why the preliminary studies of our disciples treat definitely of this
beneficial transformation, which tends to the liberation and affirmation of the
personality - the first step on the Path of Initiation. These preliminary instructions
are accompanied by historical studies on ancient Initiatic Schools, especially those
which are almost unknown to profane science, in order to show the student that Truth is
always One, though manifested in different ways, according to the prevailing customs of
different epochs and places.
When the next stage is reached, the disciples get lessons in Initiatic philosophy, to
be followed by deeper and practical instructions in such branches of Occult Science as
Orphic Astrosophy, Social Science, Psychurgy, Alchemy, Theurgy, etc. These lectures are
divided into seven Grades and contain a great amount of information and numerous
illustrations. The duration of studies is of 100 days minimum in the first grade, and
of one year minimum in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th
Grades. The duration of studies in the 6th and 7th Grades is
unlimited.
The Source of our Venerable Order, as well as the value of its teachings, enables us to
satisfy every desire of our Knights and to answer even the most difficult questions.
Such a possibility will be greatly appreciated by those of our students who have failed
to find an answer in numberless volumes dedicated to so-called "Occult Science",
volumes the best of which present only fragments of Truth, hidden among heaps of
rubbish. All of these erroneous and contradictory teachings are not only defended by
a "school" but raised by the latter to a dogma, the belief in which is demanded from
every neophyte.
This tendency to dogmatise is almost universal. We have noticed it among most of the
societies addicted to "occult science" and in philosophical movements which have their
origin in the great Religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Mohammedanism and – alas – even in
modern Christianity, which, we must confess has but very little to do with primitive
Christianity as it was established by the Apostles.
The ORDER OF THE LILY AND THE EAGLE - as such is the name of our Venerable Order - has
no dogmas. It is the guardian of the Eonian Tradition, the cradle of which was India
and, later on, Egypt; its Masters were Elias, John the Baptist and St John, his
disciple, who became, some years later the beloved Apostle of the
Sublime Master.
About the year 1915, DEA the prototype of LOVE and the co-founder DEON the prototype
of WISDOM received the Mandate to begin a new dispensation to revived the Ancient and
Secret ORDER OF LILY AND THE EAGLE. Before passing on, (DEA left us in 1918 and DEON
in 1924) our late Masters left to their disciples, the task of revealing and
transmitting the Eonian Tradition to all men of good will, who would work for the
liberation of Humanity and announce the coming of the PARACLETE, promised by our
Saviour.
THE ORDER OF THE LILY AND THE
EAGLE considers the liberty and the independence of the individual as the latter's
inalienable rights. Basing our activity on this principle, we refuse to interfere
with the freedom and complete independence of those who become Members of our Order.
And, as we consider all human beings equal, regardless of sex, caste, race or nationality,
we permit every one to maintain his own beliefs and particular conceptions in matters
relating to philosophy, religion and politics. Indeed Initiation was closely linked to
the different local religious and civil bodies. Thus to be admitted to the Hebraic
Initiation one had to belong to the Jewish race, the Moslem (Sufi) Initiation was
granted only to Mohammedans, although the Sufi are the only ones to admit the conversion
of an "unbeliever" in order to confer upon him their particular Initiation. Even Buddhism
regardless of the philosophy, taught by some modern schools, did not open itself to
profanity by strangers. Christianity had their Initiation rite strictly reserved for
Christians alone, and for quite a long period of time, it was attached in a special
way to the Greek Orthodox Rite.
Our Venerated Masters, having received the Mandate to unite in one beautiful synthesis
the religions aspirations of the whole world, adapted the ancestral Rites of Ancient
Initiations to our New Humanity and opened the door of the Inner Temple to supporters
of every Religion. But besides continuing the work of the Johannites our Venerated
Masters united the Hebraic Initiation to the Original Christian one, restoring to both
of them what time and men have corrupted.
On the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th 1915, our
Venerated Founder, whom we name DEA, assisted by our Venerated Master
DEON, both of them being representatives of the Superior Will on Earth,
assembled their first disciples and O.V.M. DEA read them the
following manifesto:
"My dear sons: On this day of Epiphany 1915, it did please me to summon you under our
familiar Vault, to hand over to you, in trust, a Sacred Rite, so that, making use of
all the energy of your body, soul and spirit, you would propagate it between those who
are in quest of the Source of Truth".
"My dear sons: Our aim shall be protection of the weak; charity to the poor, to the
needy, to widows and to orphans; assistance to the weak and the suffering".
"It's on a basis of a matchless love and of a strict and severe ethics, that you shall
be successful in the work I have entrusted to you".
"My dear sons: The Laws I have chosen to impose on you as means of realization of this
work, you shall promise to maintain at the cost of your blood".
"Let GOD the UNIQUE and the MIGHTY deign to crown your work with success, cover you with
his protection, enlighten you, and mark the path to be cleared out before you".
MARIE
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We don't think useful to tell you
any more at this time about our origins, but we shall endeavour now to
explain to you what we believe to be the duties of a new Initiate, as
well as the conditions in which he might get the best profit from the
teachings of our Order.
Initiation, High Science, Ideal - these words sound quite familiar to your ear. You
have heard them many times before you got in touch with us: no doubt that other
Societies or Brotherhoods have solicited your attention in the same way as we did.
It is even probable that some of them tried to captivate you by means of boastful and
false promises; but what have they been telling you? They might have been trying to
extol your pride by saying: “Thou art a superior being and thou knowest it not; thou
hest powers and thou dost not know to use them; thou art a king and thou dost not reign;
thou art a priest and thou dost not know where thy altar is.” Did not they offer to
teach you the “laws” of success, to show you how to become illustrious, eminent, happy
rich - by the proper use of the “secret knowledge” of which they claim to be the only
possessors? And so as to prove that they are neither liars nor vulgar jugglers, they
make the delusion complete by assuring you that they are not only direct descendants
of ancient and venerable fraternities, but that they have "exclusive rights" to such a
claim. As a proof, they display "charters" and some of them go as far as impressing on
you the idea that the sumptuousness of their premises and the great number of their
members are the best proof of the authenticity of their teachings. Charters might be
either forged or delivered by other bogus societies; as to exterior prosperity, it
never proved initiatic value, and we have more often seen it to be the lot of
gangsters than that of the Initiates.
We shall speak to you with the utmost sincerity and if you possess enough discernment
to see where Truth lies, you will profit by it. If, though, acting like a child, or
an ignorant person, you prefer illusion to reality and high-flown lies to
the plain truth - cast aside these pages or give them to someone else.
We do hope though, that you are a sensible person, that you wish to hear the truth
from us, and that you desire to be useful while here below. This is why we shall tell
you who you are and what you are, and that in all sincerity, without meaning I
delude you, or to make of you our friend, our admirer by influencing you favourably.
We shall talk to you as man to man, no matter if what we have to say will please you
or displease you. By telling you what we know to be the bare truth, we but accomplish
our duty; if you do sincerely wish it, you will be enabled to get evidence of the
reality of our assertions.
You are living in a society in which you experience at the same time happiness and
unhappiness, modesty and immodesty, good and evil, free mind and stubborn prejudices.
You see a great number of people being oppressed by the egoism of the mighty; many of
them suffer also from racial, religious, notional and other prejudices. A human being
lost among millions of others, you strive to excel, to distinguish your-self from your
fellow-creatures, to know things ignored by others, and thus get superior to them. It
is even likely that you wish to be admired esteemed, and to have a successful career.
How many men and women were brought up on the example of such a millionaire who started
from nought, or of such a statesman who inaugurated his social activity as a
boot cleaner? And did it never occur to you to think; "Why shall I not try it too?"
No one is satisfied with his standing and everybody strives to ascend continually and
this not only in the "social hierarchy", but even in, a domain in which our earthy
personality feels quite extraneous - in the domain of the Unknown of the
Supernatural.
Though, before setting out for the conquest of this Unknown, have you asked yourselves
this simple question: "Why are you on Earth and what is your mission here? Indeed
everything on Earth has a purpose of its own, as well as its own and particular
utility to man. Animals and vegetables nourish your body, plants and minerals
preserve you from sickness and furnish you with materials which enable you to build
your home and furnish it according to your needs. And what about Man? What are his
virtues? What are the qualities with which he is endowed? What is his utility in God's
Creation? Few are those who know how to answer this question correctly; most people
only think they do know, but they don't in reality. Still fewer are those who seek to
be of use to their neighbours, most people find them worthy of interest only if
they may be of any use in their turn.
Clerks and workers are under the oppression of their "bosses" who use the intelligence
and strength of the former for increasing their personal fortune. Nevertheless every
worker every clerk is patiently toiling with the secret hope to become one
day his own master, and when this happens, he oppresses his fellow-creatures
in the same way and for a like aim. When making the most of their intelligence,
their skill and their learning, some men become physicians, professors etc. - do they
consider, before starting to make as much money as possible out of their profession,
that the gifts, which allowed them to enter a privileged career, were granted to them
not for their personal benefit, but for that of their neighbours? Don't you think
that if they would have considered this question seriously, they would endeavour
to help their fellow-creatures in need, rather than to get rich on them?
Friend, if you wish, you can become a MAN, you can become GOD's friend, you can feel
HIM near you and receive HIS gifts.
You know that there have been Initiates in past ages who performed "miracles" made
gold out of base metals, displayed extraordinary powers etc. no doubt that at the
bottom of your heart you wish to do the same things. We affirm that it is possible;
when speaking of their Art, Initiates always said and wrote "Thou wilst never attain
the summit of the GNOSIS, unless thou sincerely forsaketh this attainment. Then thou
shalt realize POWER in thee, which will be a result of thy liberation from lower
sentiments, exalt in thee LOVE first and WISDOM thereafter. And, above all thou
shalt be totally disinterested, even mentally".
Therefore your first task should be to redeem your Ego your real I, from the dross in
which it is imprisoned and to ennoble it by a continuous effort towards perfection.
You have, without any doubt, heard a lot about
"initiatic ascesis"[1], but
real ascesis is based, first of all as we have been saying already, on the liberation
of the individual from his defects his passions and his vices. An individual who has
not liberated himself from these; shall always remain a "profane", no matter how
advanced he might be in theoretical knowledge. If you have preconceived ideas if you
indulge in riding a hobby of your own, if you are a blind and sectarian follower of
such or such other school or theory, if your heart and mind are not always opened for
a new theory which you should always examine with utmost impartiality and
disinterestedness, you will be but an egoist, fit only for social success and
useless (if not harmful) for the Universal Work, the MAGNUM OPUS of
the Initiates.
Don't forget easy enticing methods are not the best ones; true Initiation may be
attained only by those who banish all pride from their heart and who are impelled
by an intense and disinterested desire to work for Humanity's welfare, and are
ready to make constant efforts in that direction.
Why, do you think, does suffering exist on Earth? Why poverty and disease? Because
man is cultivating evil instead of seeking for good. Because too, man is but a
wind-vane, but a toy in the hands of Nature. Though, if he would claim his real
place in Creation, if he would organize Society with LOVE and WISDOM, if he would
not let himself become an accomplice of oppressors, if he would endeavour to do his
duty in all circumstances, if Egoism would not be the rule of his life, and pride -
his impeller - suffering would be banished forever from our planet.
Beware to fall still lower if you cover personal knowledge! Be virtuous, good,
compassionate and unselfish - and you shall possess the real formula, which you are
uselessly seeking with those who keep up your delusions, flatter your defects and
enslave you (not to mention the money they are asking from you); the formula,
which opens the way to the Summits of Initiation.
It is our duty to warn you: you shall never become an Initiate if you do not bring in
yourself into being the same degree of perfection as that attained by the Great
Initiates of past ages. Indeed what is the use of descanting about Christ, Buddha,
Socrates, Pythagoras, Orpheus and Moses, what is the use of quoting their teachings
and those of their disciples? Are you prepared to undergo all the sufferings which
they endured? Do you possess their goodness, their love of Humanity, their simplicity
all the virtues these sublime Masters and Initiates possessed? No, you don't, but it
does not stop you from wanting to find out all about Magic, Theurgy, Alchemy and what
not. Beware! You may receive the sublime gift of this knowledge but if you are not
perfect, if you are not thoroughly prepared, up to the details which seem at first to
be of no or little importance - you will be unable to let your fellow-creatures make
profit of your knowledge. Verily, if you don't follow the path of HUMILITY and that
of SERVICE, you may attain to notoriety as a "learned occultist", but you will
never become an Initiate.
How many are satisfied to got degrees, charters and honours, how many content
themselves with being called "initiates" by those who take from them money for doing
so; they forget the first rule of every true Initiate - the everlasting "Man, know
Thyself".
If you wish so, we shall help you in your way towards real Initiation, as it is our
duty to do so. Do not forget though that our help is purely theoretical; we can tell
you what has to be done, but it is necessary for you to carry our advices into
execution. Knowledge is not worth anything unless set in action; don't ever forget
that it is by your deeds that you shall be judged. What do you want other people's
approbation or disproval for? Isn't your own conscience sufficient? Will it not give
you the peace of the righteous or leave you to repentance?
That is the RE-BIRTH you have certainly heard of; it must be preceded by a complete
purification of your past. It's this re-birth, this purification, that the Initiates
of past ages symbolized by their white garments. And who is worthy nowadays
to wear a white garment?
Perhaps these pages will destroy your delusions and you may think that we don't know
anything about Initiation, seeing that we are in contradiction with what so many
seekers think Initiation is? The word "Initiation" has been, indeed, so often
profaned by all kinds of jugglers and speculators, that we believe it to be our
first duty to show you what the word really means, and we do it now and shall do
it always, against all professionals of the offence against the Holy Spirit, against
all those who, like owls, are afraid of the Light of the Truth.
Most people try to make a success of their lives, success usually summarised in three
words: Fortune, Power, Renown. They seek them even in Initiation (and a number of
pseudo-initiatic schools offer their students to lead them to power and success!),
forgetting that CHRIST taught us that what is contrary- Charity, Humility and
Submission.
You certainly admit that an extreme unhappiness, caused by oppression and a real
slavery exists on Earth. Why then seek for a personal success? Why not begin to work
in order to free the whole of Humanity from the misery which oppresses it?
Why not strive to become a beacon guiding it; a Lieutenant of GOD on Earth; why not
give your fellowmen some of the comfort and bliss they want so sorely?
Be sure though, you begin with yourself. One cannot attempt to heal others, unless one
is in a state of absolute purity; otherwise you contaminate them, as your own
contaminated fluid is noxious. This is why, by the way, magnetism and hypnotism
do much more harm than good to people. One cannot show people the way of Truth unless
he has dominated himself and eliminated all preconceived ideas and theories. As to the
passive way - an inconsiderate search for the marvellous and the unknown is but a
form of mental suicide.
Friend, if you are sincere, broad minded and unselfish if you are seeking for Truth
in order to help Humanity, then we invite you to join us in our work. Remember though,
before doing so, that Initiation isn't a science to study, but a way of life
to be led, so as to get able to accomplish the aim of our existence on Earth.
We are enclosing two forms and as soon as we have returned to us, duly filled in and
signed, we shall send you your first lessons. If you feel strong enough to undertake a
long travel over the arduous path of real Initiation - be welcome among us. If
not - better choose another Path.
In keeping with Ancient Tradition, we ask no fees from our disciples. However, as the
cost of printing the lessons, postage and other expenses are high, we will be grateful
to all our disciples who may wish to send us gifts and contributions in order
to help us defray expenses and enable us to initiate those who cannot send us any
contributions. We wish however to make it clear that all contributions are absolutely
voluntary.
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