SPECIAL EDITION

A Secret Meeting in Rome

by Raymond Bernard

FRANCIS BACON LODGE

PUBLICATIONS

The Rosicrucian Order, AMORCKnown as T H E ANCIENT, MYSTICAL ORDER ROSAE CRUCIS th roughou t the world

FRANCIS BACON LODGE 181A Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TE

Secret Meeting in Romeby

Raymond BernardSupreme Legate for Europe Past Grand M aster for Francophone CountriesSPECIAL EDITIO N

WorldConvention London23-26 July 1981RC 3334

Translated and firs t published in Great Britain by Pensatia and Benefactor - 1970 2nd edition. Francis Bacon Lodge AMORC 1978 3rd edition - a special lim ited issue - 1 981

English translation copyright e Francis Bacon Lodge 1981

All rights reserved. No part of th is publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transm itted in any form or by any means, whatsoever, w ithout the prior perm ission of the publisher.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not be re-sold, loaned or circulated in any manner w ith any different form of binding or cover other than that in w hich it is published, w ithou t the prior permission of the publisher. This condition shall apply to all subsequent purchasers or borrowers.

Printed in Great Britain by EPCS, D ingwall Road, Croydon

CONTENTS

Page

F o re w o rd ......................................................................................................................... i

In t ro d u c t io n ................................................................................................................... 1

1 R o m e ...................................................................................................................... 3

2 Beside The F o u n ta in ............................................................................................ 5

3 Secrets and W itc h c ra ft........................................................................................ 9

4 In Expectation o f the N ig h t............................................................................................. 16

5 The Abbey o f San N ilo ........................................................................................ ............. 18

6 The Cardinal in W h ite ........................................................................................................ 22

7 The Times Have C o m e ..................................................................................................... 25

8 The Life And Death o f The Order o f The T e m p le ....................................................30

9 The Mystery of The G r a i l .................................................................................. ............. 36

10 Tunis ...................................................................................................................... .............42

11 And The Door Is Opened To U s ....................................................................... ............. 51

The cover design is that o f an emblem inscribed in the stone arch over the gateway to what was once a Templar establishment, located on the Tours-Navers road in France.

FOREWORD

The thousands o f copies o f this manuscript sold till now, the quotations which have been made w ith great success in writings or heard in lectures, and above all the numerous letters received from my readers, have been fo r me very encouraging and moving evidence. However, some o f my correspondents have been led to such erroneous conclusions that it seemed necessary fo r me to w rite a foreword to be included immediately in this w ork and in all those which treat o f similar subjects, w ith the purpose o f preventing any further tendency to misleading interpretations or simply misunderstandings.

The fundamental purpose o f this manuscript is to transm it certain knowledge o f particular subjects o f mystical trad ition which now-a-days, particularly in France, continue to exercise a strong attraction upon whoever is interested in great questions beyond the lim its o f a non-sensical item in the popular press. It is enough, to be convinced of this, to notice the considerable success met w ith from the general public, by books dealing w ith these subjects. Now, most o f these books are not bu ilt on any foundation. They do not have any basis OF TRUTH fo r meditation and reflection, and they lead their readers towards false and even dangerous conclusions.

It was also necessary to show the importance o f the Rosicrucian Order AMORC in the world, and this manuscript is indeed to put it in its rightfu l place, that is first, regarding its objectives, its w orld ly activities and the number o f its members. In spite of the great tolerance o f our Order and its extreme liberalism, it has sometimes been necessary to show strict severity w ith regard to those who, deceived perhaps by the ir own errors, risk deceiving others and leading them into terrible ways which have no aspect of psychic equilibrium . To warn is a du ty , especially if one such advertisement is directed to one who is on the sure and tru th fu l path offered by the Rosicrucian Order AMORC. To stray from this path o f certainty after assuming it is incontestably to retrogress. My aim has been tha t my Rosicrucian readers may avoid com m itting this regrettable error of seeking elsewhere that which they w ill always find at the most opportune moment, the most efficacious fo r them, in the teachings o f the Rosicrucian Order AMORC.

Such were the reasons which induced me to w rite this manuscript and some others. The manner chosen to communicate this knowledge is im portant. To understand certain subjects, it is not enough to read them, one must experience them, and that is why I adopted this form o f writing. The result is that this manuscript is P A R T IA LLY A LLEG O R IC A L AND P A R T IA LLY ALSO IT RELATES FACTS. It is based on SYMBOLISM, fo r the SYMBOL is, in essence, a language, which each understands according to his development and which the Rosicrucian understands better than most. Thus, through A LLEG O R Y , through SYMBOL and through FACTS, subjects o f the highest interest are examined, and this examination w ill lead you to an understanding more vast, more useful and more true, o f the great questions which trad ition , past and present, has applied itself in solving.

My dearest wish w ill always be tha t this lecture may be fo r you a source o f inspiration, and a constant encouragement to carry on your efforts w ith in the Rosicrucian Order AMORC towards greater light and Peace Profound.

RAYMOND BERNARD Domaine de la Rose-Croix Friday 17th October, 1969

0 Chiunque tu sia, che fuor d'ogni uso Pieghi natura ad opre altere e strane E spiando i segreti, entri al piu chiuso Spazio tua voglia delle menti umane Deh! D im m i!

(Gerusal)

0 thou whoever thou art, who obliges nature to apply itself to thy strange works, and who, master o f their secrets, penetrates at w ill to the hidden depths of the human soul, tell me . . . .

INTRODUCTION

A secret meeting at Rome! The title could surprise or simply intrigue. In the final analysis, I have not been able to find a more appropriate one. Only one other m ight be used and I had chosen it in the beginning, but to call this story "The Cardinal in W hite", as I had the intention o f doing, would have been to run the risk o f a regrettable confusion. The question is, tru ly , to tell here o f my meeting w ith a man whose unique stature in the invisible empire o f in itia tion is such that he fills the role o f "p iv o t" , or a hinge, and my recollection was not able to clothe him w ith a higher or more appropriate d ignity than that of the "W hite Cardinal". But the great Gustave Meyrink had already, in his time, reported the extraordinary message o f a "W hite D om inican". Further the term "C ard ina l" has taken a meaning much more precise in relation to a religious hierarchy in the See o f which my Cardinal had never entered in any way. The fact, also, that all, fo r me, may have happened in Rome, required the prudence o f not using a term which m ight be misunderstood and thus was born the d ifferent and less compromising title o f this manuscript . . . .

Then, here once more I must clothe w ith words that w hich, in me, is only rememberance, sentiment and emotion. Here then to transmit to others the message instilled in my soul by a rare experience, the hour has come to reveal w ithou t betraying much and to give w ithou t abandoning anything. The task would be impossible if it did not deal w ith knowledge, perhaps of wisdom, the only domain where the transmission is so absolute that another becomes himself and that, in the un ity thus realised, he who gives takes part in his own g ift. To share a secret, is w ithou t doubt, esoterically, to delegate a certain power, a form o f authority which is acted upon in our name, because, fo r the initiate, the secret is the very condition o f the sacred mystery and o f the ancient powers in

which he is admitted to take part. But to share a secret is above all to give to others the essential implements which w ill perm it them individually to manufacture the key opening the sublime portal o f the realised consciousness where emerging man is regenerated and forever raises himself.

I am going to relive fo r you, w ith you, certain circumstances. I would have said "an adventure" if this word had not, in our day, lost its profound value o f exceptional occurrence, yet tha t all, in our universe, is so exceptional fo r him who knows how to see and take part, that the qualification here is w ithou t importance. These circumstances, this adventure, they can, at the end o f your reading, become yours, as they were or are mine, fo r they are placed, so to speak, "beyond time and space" where they are unfolded. They are in fact latent in each o f us and the exterior element, that which is produced in the phenomenal w orld, only fu lfills a function o f stim ulation or awakening. The spark is throw n out, facts capable o f an illusory "ou ts ide" enflame the permanent reality in us and illum ine our consciousness. We learn nothing, fo r all is w ith in ourselves, but the veil cannot be torn aside except by the strange and irreplaceable action on us of the exterior w orld such as it appears to us however unreal it may be. In th is regard, my SECRET M EETING IN ROME has caused to resound afresh the echo o f a hidden wisdom at the heart o f the divine essence which I carry w ith in myself just as you carry it w ith in you and I have gathered together, on the conscious plane, a little more light and peace.It w ill be the same fo r you, as I would wish it to be. You can, by means o f this recital, make my Roman adventure YOUR adventure for, after all, the message which I have collected is destined fo r you and it is YOU, EACH ONE OF YOU, who waits at this very instant fo r a secret interview, a sage, an in itiate, a m aster. . . THE WHITE C AR D IN AL.

Raymond Bernard

A SECRET MEETING IN ROME

1 ROME

There are few countries in the w orld where the exigencies o f an existence, at firs t profane, then consecrated to an exceptional mission, have not led me at various times.Few are im portant towns which one could name at random to which I may not have gone at some moment. Of all these countries and o f all these cities, Rome, in my memory, is the Jewel. It was there in October 1955, in an imposing palace w ith an extraordinary silence but which, as promised, I w itho ld the name, I received, in the autumn o f my 32nd year, the in itia tic adjustment o f a secular trad ition. It is there, in which I was led to accomplish in another domain, where "began the destiny" which manifests my present responsibilities. It is there that friendship took fo r me the form o f a friend from whom, ever since, neither time nor distance have separated me but who one day, inescapably, as G ilbert Becaud, w ill be wept "absent". A t least it w ill not be so fo r me. It is there and it is Rome and a road has led me there in order that my soul manifest there in its completeness, in its absoluteness, in its fu ll amount at all levels o f experience and of consciousness. . . However, I feel myself incapable o f describing Rome. While there, what would be the advantage fo r me reader to stroll w ith me in the Borghese gardens to see again the vestiges o f ancient Rome, to visit hastily certain museums, to admire some churches, to descend into some sad catacombs, to enter the Vatican C ity, to walk through the basilica o f St. Peter and come at last exhausted, to look fo r an unattainable rest in a celebrated terrace o f the Via Veneto. To my Roman friend after having visited Rome of the past fo r a long tim e, I said to him one day in jest: "Th is c ity is a museum." He then conducted me to modern Rome where there is nothing to be envied in other foreign capitals. Again jestingly I observed: "Th is c ity is like the o th e r!" He led me towards the ancient ruins. I have understood and I am silent.

Rome, it is the ancient and the modern mixed in the present which sings under the dark and curly heads, whose eyes give life to things and to beings which they touch. It is the reljgious and the profane, the beauty o f a thousand faces, the tru th if it is agreeable, the venial illusion which wishes to make pleasure and which fo r tha t is so sincere that it becomes tru th . Rome, it is a pleasure and a song, sad or gay, more lively than sad and perhaps sad and gay at the same time. The c ity , in the end, w ill be fo r you that which you are yourself, and it is yourself you w ill love through her. As fo r me, it is to the Roman fountains that I take pleasure in confiding myself. True, I never fail to give a piece of money to the Fountain of Trevi so that a favourable departure leads me quickly to Rome, but I have down there MY founta in; the Fountain o f the Tortoise . . . . Why do I prefer it to all others, how should I know? It is sentimental and there are memories.

Naturally, I speak here o f MY Roman fountain because it has a connection w ith my story. When I reflect on it, it could not possibly be otherwise. In Rome, if certain problems assail me, my steps, invariably, lead me towards it. Strangely this time they take me into a journey which w ill culm inate in an exceptional experience.

A SECRET MEETING IN ROME

2BESIDE THE FOUNTAIN

I t is nightime in a Roman spring. From the balcony o f my apartment in the H ilton Hotel Cavalien, admirably situated on the Monte Mario, I contemplate, fo r some time, the lights o f the c ity . . . when I am seized w ith an irresistable impulse to visit MY fountain.I have arrived in the evening and my hotel being some distance from the centre, laziness has been more powerful than the attraction o f the deep bath of which I always feel the need when arriving at some place . . . as much as making or remaking the acquaintance of my hosts o f the moment. But now, the desire is more powerful and it is concentrated w holly on MY founta in. It is late, very late, but am I not, as one says " o f the night"? I w ill perhaps be alone there below . . . w ith my memories, what a privilege! . . . .

The taxi le ft me at the corner o f the street and here I am before it . . . . Oh, I am not alone! Someone is there before me, bu t I do not feel myself troubled by this presence. A ll is so calm here at this late hour. "The O ther", perhaps shares my curious attraction fo r this fountain. A t least, I wish to believe it, and my heart w ithou t any jealousy makes itself a silent accomplice o f the stranger. I come nearer to the fountain . . . and to him. He appears to be far away, wrapped up in himself and his eyes are closed. I make as little noise as possible, but scarcely am I near him when he gives a start and he looks at me fo r a long time. On me! I t is on my eyes, I must be precise . . . like men who stare w ithou t seeing! From the eyes come a mysterious vibrating alchemy whose power is the lo t o f him who knows how to give a meaning to his look and many ignore it. This man knows all which I believe I know myself. His eyes search my soul, and mine his, and all is accomplished in understanding almost as attunement and in a smile.

"D o you speak French?" What could I have said otherwise? One o f us must make the firs t move and why not me . . . w ith a banality? The reply is unexpected: "JE SUIS francais!" I take a better look at my questioner. . . he is more or less my build and clothed in an exquisite way. His grey suit is, in effect, cut in the French fashion and the blue tie is discreet. His face is angular, incisive and his brown eyes which are fixed on mine reflect a great goodness and melancholy.

" I am French," he continued, "b u t often in Rome. My affairs call me here . . . and other things! And you? Is this your firs t stay in Rome?"

"C erta in ly not! Many circumstances lead me to Rome frequently . . . . "

My questioner interrupted me; "The circumstances . . . . religious ones?"

rI smiled; "Religious? Perhaps, but not in the sense you would understand i t "

Who knows! If I meet this man, why should there not be a particular reason? The hazard, after all, only exists as such. I add then, and it is almost a challenge:

" I w ould in preference say circumstances . . . trad itional and esoteric!"

The man gave a slight start; "Esoteric? You know then tha t esotericism exists in Rome! The devil! Our encounter does not want fo r cu rios ity ."

"Experience has taught me that every encounter is curious. Certain ones are even strange . . . " and I add slow ly; "Is it not, in the main, strange tha t at an hour so late at night, we chance to be, you and I, tw o Frenchmen, alone, here, before this fountain in the heart o f Rome, and is it not stranger still tha t we are chattering thus w ith o u t knowing each other, revealing ourselves rapidly one to the other and, fo r my part, showing you my esoteric interest. A llow me to introduce myself . . . . "

W ithout hesitation, moved by an irresistable and profound impulse, I declare my identity, my title and my responsibilities. He regarded me in tently and I suppose w ith surprise until my own surprise reduced to nothing in me some instants quite another feeling. My questioner replied, indeed, to my declaration w ith his, and there was no need whatever to p inpoin t his title or his responsibilities. HIS NAME WAS SUFFICIENT, AND IT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST NAMES IN FRANCE. Ah! When I was talking not long ago o f traditional circumstances, how was I to imagine that the man to whom I was addressing myself represented himself alone, by his name, many many great undertakings in the long h istory o f my country! Meanwhile I reacted very rapidly. Numerous are the great of this w orld who honour me w ith their confidence and some o f them w ith their friendship, more relaxed w ith me than they would be in the ir o ffic ia l position. Otherwise those o f the temporal w orld scarcely impress me always; my veneration goes to the simple ones, to the humble, to the smallest, fo r at the level of the ir reality they are great, much greater than he, proud o f his name and his qualitites, whose pride in the last analysis is only justified by his ancestors and rarely by himself or by the vainness o f an absurd vanity of o ffice. But the man who was there, before me, is o f a sim plicity so vibrant tha t the illustrious name which he has inherited is an ornament fo r his profound personality which becomes him w ithou t reservation.

"Perhaps we could pursue this conversation at my home?" said he, "Unless you feel too tire d ."

I was not tired and the invita tion pleased me.

"O ur conversation w ill be more profitable than sleep. I w ill fo llow . Thank y o u ."

We walked fo r some minutes . . . his car, badly parked but we are in Rome is licensed in Italy and I conclude from that, that he lives here more often than he is w illing to admit. It is one o f my failings, in this incarnation, to appreciate powerful cars. They are a human e ffo rt to overcome the illusion o f time and the mirages o f space. A t the same time they are the admirable fru it o f research and o f the genius o f man who, in his wide awake dream, believes w ith o u t ceasing in going more qu ickly, to come nearer a summit where time and space w ill on ly be un ity . They are so in fact and the mystic knows it from experience but hum anity has chosen the long, the very long road o f materialism and o f sensation. Man, whatever may be his degree o f internal awakening, cannot reject his humanity w ith o u t com m itting an unpardonable sin of proudly supposing himself separated from others. He can only be awakened among the others; and the others, he can only serve them by remaining human himself. The awakened consciousness has no room for hypocrisy. It sees all and at firs t the body which it inhabits tem porarily; this body w ith its appetites and its shortcomings which are not an ill unless thought and remorse consider them so and make them an impediment.

I do not feel it a hindrance to my higher consciousness to appreciate the power of a car. Strange inner experiences have come to me when driving at a very fast pace, and in the same way useful in tu itions have sprung to my thought whose consequences fo r many others have been o f considerable use.

My companion drives w ith a sure and agile hand which requires silence and concentration. During the days which fo llow he w ill give me the pleasure o f driving this exceptional car. This indeed w ill be, on his part, a sign o f confidence and esteem, but both o f us are today concentrated and silent. It is w ithou t doubt during this time o f apparent repose from thought that knowledge and light w ill gather beneath our objective consciousness and w ill spring fo rth from our being, firs t in our conversation and, a little later, in the exceptional circumstances we w ill live through together.

I t is very necessary to give a name to my companion and I decide that there cannot be any question o f giving him HIS OWN name. No particular recommendation has been given me by him on this subject, bu t anonym ity is an im p lic it rule in this kind of adventure, fo r the stronger reason a name risks personalising the story and leading away from the intention. It is not the history o f a man which I w rite, it is the story o f a meeting, where he, like me, is nothing but an actor and not even in the leading role. Thus, my companion cannot be anything else in these pages but a Christian name chosen at random

from a fleeting idea . . . . Robert, Philip, Louis? What m atter! However it is necessary and that is w hy my friend, I have baptised you JOHN.

That John's apartment is situated on one o f the celebrated hills o f Rome is not surprising and it is less surprising when one knows who John is tha t the "V ia " where this apartment is, is one o f the most desirable in Rome. I shall not describe this dwelling except to underline in a few words its discreet luxury, composed o f a s im plic ity and grandeur where one recognises in all circumstances and in every occasion the im prin t of authentic nob ility . Meanwhile, in his other residences, elsewhere in the w orld, I shall later find everywhere tha t which I name to myself "The Sign o f John". This sign I shall also see in the homes of those who encompass him , at the home of his children, certainly, but also at the homes o f those w ho serve him. For example, this manservant who comes in an amiable manner to make sure we are alone in the d im ly lit library where we have sat down, side by side, on a couch w ith glistening designs near an elegant w riting desk . . . .

A SECRET MEETING IN ROME

3SECRETS AND WITCHCRAFT

" In the august lineage which, in our time, has grown dim but which f represent In spite o f everything, an irresistable attraction fo r mystery has been transmitted from one generation to another and I am certainly not, in this regard, an exception."

Does my host intend to do all the talking during the time we are together? . . .I do not know . . . although I am disposed to listen only and to learn. He speaks in a grave voice and the gestures which accompany certain words do not lack in grandeur. That which he goes on to a ffirm is not said in the guise of an excuse. A confession, in whatever form it is clothed, always begins w ith a de fin ition , more or less precise, of self. John was not ignorant that the "o c c u lt" history o f his ancestors is well known to me. Much is known of it and perhaps a litt le more to me who has the privilege of access to rare archives. So I w ill interrupt my questioner as litt le as possible.

" . . . Power in this w orld, political, financial and even religious, concentrates in itself the desire o f a power still greater, for man is ever unsatisfied w ith his lot. Power must have its complement in power. The politician feels the need to dominate the financier, the financier is irresistably inclined to weigh all his gold against the politic ian and as for the church, it aspires often, alas, to temporal power and seeks the favour o f the politician and the financier. What a strange triangle, in tru th , where one of the points can only function w ith the other tw o fo r its proper manifestation! Now, these three points my fam ily has overcome and persevered fo r ages and a far greater compensating power was necessary to it placing itself beyond the temporal triangle. From it has become what I consider to day the quest, so to say, I have thus inherited. . .w ith the rest, and my privilege is assuredly not to have to go over that which was surmounted before my time, after many gropings, mistakes, and even deviations such as one could qualify as "w itc h c ra ft" ."

These last words are accentuated w ith a smile which I share. John is silent fo r a few moments and I ask myself a question. What is he leading to? I would have to ask myself the question very soon, but from habit, I am so curious of others, so adventurous by nature, so eager to share w ith others, that my idle soul refuses to anticipate. Meanwhile, all is at this strange po in t in this adventure and in which is confided to me that questions emerge to my consciousness and that I ask myself why and how I agreed to come here. However this man w ith the illustrious name, who of course is nothing else in this story but "Jo h n ", he was near MY fountain at an unexpected time and, after a few words, received me into his home, treated me as an old friend and that appeared to me normal, coming from him . . . Once again my psychology astonishes me! Unless . . . Unless he A LR EAD Y had knowledge o f the Rosicrucian Order AMORC and to confide in me would allay his restless hope. Why should I at bottom be surprised? I had recently arrived at

Orly, then while waiting to embark, to say a few words to a very old passenger departing fo r another destination and suddenly to listen to him, during some minutes, speaking to me o f "c ry p tic secrets o f Istanbul"! Why then should I be astonished at this adventure which I see at this moment!

I could not however avoid an inner start when my companion continued, seeming to reply to my secret question.

" I have read attentively all the documentation concerning your Order and I have been instructed in your philosophy and your trad ition , in particular w ith regard to the Rosicrucian Manual and the Sanctuary o f self. I could not. imagine meeting you this evening in Rome at this fountain . . . "

I interrupted h im : " I t is MY fountain, charged w ith my memories, w ith my thoughts, perhaps my doubts . . . "

"F o r my part, it is the firs t time that I have stopped there," he replied. "A fte r a late meal, I fe lt the necessity o f taking a walk and my steps took me there by chance . . . "

"B y chance?"

"Y o u are right. Do not let us seek to understand. We have met and there is a profound purpose in everything. I believe you have come to me at the moment when the need has made itself fe lt. I am w ith in a few hours of an IM PORTANT INTERVIEW in the quest o f what I have undertaken many years ago. Now, curiously I have been forewarned THAT I WOULD NOT COME ALONE . . . and you are there! A few hours . . . It is you, assuredly, whom I sought unconsciously near the fountain . . . A t last! Time presses.A llow me to "Place m yself" before you, allow me to unburden my soul o f ITS SECRETS AND OF ITS W ITCHCRAFT! I t is necessary that you should know where my quest has led me, fo r the level attained is fundamental BECAUSE OF W HAT IS PREPARED FOR ME AND FOR YOU . . . "

He rose and opening a drawer in the w riting desk w ith an engraved key taken out of his le ft pocket, he lifted a rolled parchment which he handed to me saying: "R ead". I unrolled the slightly yellow document and as well as having d iffic u lty in scrutinising the fine penmanship and in decyphering certain ancient phrases. I am at the height o f bewilderment . . . I w ill not reproduce here the secret symbols nor the exact titles inserted below the main device (Text?). They have a very considerable importance at the dawn of these new times through which we are passing and THEY BELONG TO "T H A T WHICH COMES". I w ill simply say that " the phoenix is reborn from his ashes" and TWO DECADES Wl LL NOT ROLL BY before all these symbols and titles w ill have a new life in

a w orld where A L L VALUES W ILL BE UPSET TO SUCH A DEGREE that no comparison w ill be possible between this tim e and that, and that, naturally, in the sense o f a GREAT GOOD and since I am in Rome, w ill I dare to reveal so soon that the fa ith fu l o f our epoch, if they still live, w ill have great d iffic u lty then to recognise the ir own church? TWENTY YEARS HENCE . . . and intentionally I prolong the expiration by some years, but what is one year, two o r E IG HT years in an outlook so confused"?

The document then reproduces tw o quatrains from the prophecies of Nostradamus and here they are:

"W ho w ill open the discovered monumentand w ill not come to close it p rom ptlyEvil w ill come to him and w ill not proveWhether it is better fo r Breton or Norman to be King

When the w riting D.M. found And the ancient cave has lamps discovered Law, King, and Prince Ulpian proved Royal pavillion and duke under cover."

Immediately below these incomprehensible words

"N ile has source in Crypta Ferrata."

And at the bo ttom o f the parchment the incredible signature, made authentic by a cross spreading towards the extremities.

LOUIS. Templar

. . . I made appeal w ith in myself to all the knowledge, transmitted or acquired, to all the initiate power accorded or merited. I scrutinise the text and plunge my search into my subconscious memory. I pick up several leads and liberated them to my reasoning, but the road to solution is still not established . . .

N ILE has source in crypta ferrata! What does that Latin quotation mean in relation to the river Nile? It is the firs t time I have seen such an association o f terms so contradictory. The Nile, o f course, who does not know it? was venerated by the ancient Egyptians. It was the servant o f the Gods, the good genie. A t the time o f the pharoahs, it was said that Hapi lived in a grotto at the bottom o f the Nile, in the middle o f the firs t cataract. His nourishing fruitfulness earned him the breast o f an androgine. Those are common notions known to all, and they invade my thoughts of the moment

w ith o u t however enlightening me. Crypta? C rypt, grotto . . . Ah perhaps the legendary grotto o f Hapi? . . . but "fe rra ta ", iron, iron w indow. No link has ever been made between the grotto o f Hapi and an iron w indow, even if one admitted in these far o f f times the unlikely supposition that the Nile could have had its source in this grotto.

I no longer know why, SUDDENLY, t th ink o f Osirian history and the cu lt o f Isis. We are in Rome. Would it be so stupid to believe tha t there was here or in the surroundings a centre o f ancient in itia tion? IS NOT IN IT IA T IO N READY IN A L L THESE PLACES FOR THOSE WHO ARE READY TO SEE? It is then tha t there sprang to my mind THE HYPOTHESIS that the event was to jus tify in a great part but my reasoning still did not recognise it. However IT IS TH A T! IN TU ITIO N HAS SPOKEN! I have said it in other circumstances; I am a creature o f nocturnal habits, and I rejoice this night, to have agreed to keep awake. The talkative heaven has once more revealed to me its secret.

The w orking o f my mind is certainly more rapid than the setting down o f the w ritten explanation, and several minutes have in reality been suffic ient fo r me to understand the parchment, reflect on its contents and return it to my host. He looked at me in tently and murmured;

"Have you understood?"

I replied: " I cannot be sure o f my interpretation. I naturally have an idea, but long m editation would be necessary to define a correct and above all a complete solution. I must say, meanwhile, TH A T I KNOW A PLACE. IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF ROME . . . But I refuse to intervene until you have told me of your own interpretation. I would not wish to be a source o f confusion fo r you. A llow me to listen to y o u ."

" A PLACE IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF ROME! But . . . you are right! How strange is our encounter. Ah! Sir, you would not know how to measure my inner joy ! What an extraordinary universe where THE LAW manifests itself to the po in t o f supposing that all is pre-established, then it is ourselves who, in observing the law and in applying it quite apart from our true selves, form our destiny . . . OUR EXCEPTIONAL MEETINGS . . . In short! Here is the story and the conclusions I have drawn from i t . . .

" I have mentioned to you just now "SECRETS AND W ITC H C R AFT". This document is one o f the secrets o f my fam ily and I shall confide in you others just as surprising, but where do you th ink the w itchcra ft is? This is so mixed up in the secrets that my explanation w ill contain both. I have spoken o f "w itch c ra ft and it is true that, not long ago, TO KNOW, certain o f my people have been adepts . . . let us say, out o f respect, o f lesser theurgy. They sought and refused nothing, not even the aid o f

interested adventurers imputing to themselves the title o f Magi and impressing their ignorant pupils by the unconsidered and anarchical employment o f formulae o f a Kabal o f which they themselves knew nothing. I pass over the alchemical swindling o f which certain relatives o f mine were victims. The swindling was above all moral and it had its uses. I shall show you later on, in France, the private notes of one o f my illustrious ancestors. I also pass over the black masses and other incantations which deceived the curious o f these times. I now come to the essentials: MY FAM ILY , IN SECRET. ALW AYS SOUGHT FOR ITSELF THE ID E AL TEM PLAR. I cannot be more precise and I cannot, in particular, pretend tha t a REAL A F F IL IA T IO N undeniably exists between the Order such as it was and over the period such as its knowledge has come AT LAST TO ME.EVEN IF THIS WAS SO, I WOULD REFUSE TO M AKE A CASE OF IT and I shall leave you then in doubt on this subject. It is not im portant anyway, it is not a fundamental element fo r that which concerns us, you and me, immediately . . .

" \ must however state clearly that a litt le before the PUBLIC disappearance o f the Order o f the Temple, one o f my ancestors at the age o f 11 years, had received from the Grand Master a particular unction and that this unction is perpetuated right down to our days, FOR I MYSELF RECEIVED IT A T ELEVEN YEARS OF AGE. Our times have conferred on me advantages which my predecessors were not able to enjoy. I have passed three years in India and in Tibet and I have been a disciple o f the Sage Atamanda. A certain wisdom was communicated to me during this stay. A fte r that, I took part in the instruction o f other Masters, in the Middle East and in the secret world of Islam. In France I have passed through dangerous experiences, too qu ickly classified as occult and FROM A L L TH A T I HAVE G AINED MUCH KNOWLEDGE AND INNER POWER BUT I HAVE NOT FOUND PEACE . . . A lthough born a Christian, my fa ith is universal. I practice, by tradition and respect for my fam ily, w ithou t ceasing fo r one single instant to vibrate an interior rhythm fo r a belief which I designate as "C osm ic" . . . BUT I HAVE NOT FOUND PEACE, YET. AND I SEEK IT HERE, KNOWING T H A T FOR ME IT IS HERE, SOMEWHERE, and if you ask why, I reply that I do not know . . . "

I rather wanted to say to him that this peace fo r which he sought is neither here nor there, but where he finds it, tha t is to say W ITHIN HIMSELF. But I judged it preferable not to in terrupt him, fo r he was above all speaking at this moment from his inner self.

"Somewhere! I believe I know where and it is there that I am going to seek it . . .This parchment which during the years, I have examined w ithou t understanding the sense and w ithou t evaluating its im port is revealed to me IN ITS TRU TH, today exactly THREE years later. It required all this time fo r me to determine "the m om ent", to define "the w riting D .M . and to place "the ancient cave o f the lamp in the open" THREE YEARS!

Could it be otherwise! The OTHER indications o f the quatrains are applied more to me fo r having been at some time an enigma fo r the seeker that I am, and I have been no more surprised by the signature o f my ancestor and the title he has used since IT IS MV ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO M AKE USE OF THE SAME, as it w ill be that my son and heir after me AND HE HAS KNOWN IT SINCE HIS ELEVENTH B IR TH D AY . , .

" I f you share my attraction fo r the symbolism o f numbers, remember again that it is eleven days since I received the "c a ll'', that it is TO D AY (see the dawn is breaking), this night at ELEVEN o 'clock I am awaited w ith MY COMPANION and this companion, I cannot doubt it , IS YOU! What w ill the ONE say who must receive us? The coming night w ill teach us better than the hypothesis about which our thoughts would be able to unfold the p lot. Where? I believe that you have divined it and I am stupified that you have been able to arrive at i t . . .

"O h ! An association o f ideas has reminded me o f a visit which I made, some time ago, to the Abbey o f "

" . . . o f Saint-Nilo, and tha t is THE PLACE. I know Rome and its outskirts as well as Paris and it has required THREE years to come to this point. Let us say IT WAS W ILLED , otherwise it would be absurd.

"N ilo . . . N ile! And one has made o f it Nile, a saint SAIN T N ILO . I would love to read the biography o f this saint. I would be interested in i t . . . to know the "b o d y " and the "personality where an excess of devotion has been able to reclothe the Nile to make o f it N ilo and reward him w ith Sainthood.

" In any case, 'crypta ferrata designates the village of Grottoferrata w ithou t any possible doubt. There is only one in the whole w orld and it is exceptional! The only agglomeration bearing this name.

"Thus, IN THE GROTTO W ITH THE IRON WINDOW, THE N ILE HAS ITS SOURCE . . . The Nile, the land o f Egypt, the ancient in itia tion . . .

I t is now time fo r us to separate. I shall accompany you to your hotel. Rest during the day. We shall meet this evening at eight o'clock. Wait fo r me in the hall . . . . "

I propose to take a taxi, which would perm it him to retire at once, bu t he refuses and his powerful dark Ferrari, in the calm o f a Roman evening, takes me qu ickly back to the Cavalieri H ilton. In the l i f t , tw o American night birds, bachelors fo r the time being, return to their room . They suppose me to be th e ir . . . accomplice and smile at me. A fter

all, they have had th e ir . . . experience and w ill remember the Roman "dolce v ita ".I have also had my adventure and i t is equally an experience. Then, beyond them, it is to San NiJo that I send m y own smile. . . and our dreams, in a moment w ill be joined to gether, perhaps.. . .

A SECRET MEETING IN ROME

4 IN EXPECTATION OF THE NIGHT

I wake up at tw o o'clock in the afternoon! Lucky tha t I am not o f the morning, it is a record fo r me w ithou t precedent but I absolve myself at once in th inking that the coming night w ill allow me litt le sleep. I order my breakfast and I surprise nobody. In Rome, as in Madrid, one does not rise early . . . I would rather be born Roman than Madrilanian! The next time perhaps.

Quite naturally my thoughts return to the preceding night, I promise never to relate such an adventure to anyone, and fo r all that, today, I w rite it fo r a great number. True it is a common saying to say that tru th is stranger than fic tion , in the emergency, I do not feel any need fo r such justifica tion. My Roman founta in, if I were a poet again and I had sung o f it, your soul would have been able, reader, to know the embrace and joy o f the voluptuous secret. I am no longer a poet and I do not dedicate an ode to the Fountain of the Tortoise. I feel some jealousy in having had to reveal publicly in these pages, the love tha t I bear fo r it but I have not been able to do otherwise in order to be tru th fu l. It has been the meeting place and from it this adventure was born. Pardon my memories! I have only betrayed my fountain . . .

To believe or not to believe, to be or not to be, the dilemma is the same . . . This tale, I proclaim it TRUE! For you, friend, may it be what you wish, but consider carefully your own life, see if, o ften, it is not interspersed w ith mystery, and tha t which, fo r others than yourself, would be improbable . . . in case you would tell it. Then my im probability would rejoin yours and both, the one fo r the other, w ill be TRU TH.

I shall speak in a moment o f the Abbey o f San N ilo and it is in this enchanting atmosphere tha t together we shall meet the C A R D IN A L IN W HITE. It would have been wrong to present it otherwise than I have done. I was not put suddenly in his august presence. It is slowly that I have been led near to him and it is thus that w ith an illustrious companion, I have been to collect his message and draw from it a veritable spiritual pro fit.I respect you too much, reader, not to wish that you benefit yourself IN THE SAME CONDITIONS AS MYSELF o f what I have learned fo r the enrichment o f my soul, and that is why I conduct you to THE EXPERIENCE exactly as I was myself. Ah! if, at the tim e o f your reading, YOU BECAME ME; if this story could be YOURS; if, by light, I was able in these pages to be YOU; what a sublime end would we have attained together, since I would have received and YOU WOULD BE THE IN IT IA T E ! . . .

Reflect w ith me before the adventure is followed to its end . . .

"Hapi was living in a grotto at the bottom o f the Nile . . . HIS NOURISHING FRUITFULNESS MADE HIM WORTH AN ANDROGINE BREAST". Quite true, you know what the Androgine is. Again tha t often one only considers the principle from one point o f view . . . let us say "b io log ica l". I do not wish to make myself the herald of my own writings, but do you remember what I wrote in "the couple and their problems".You, man, you believe yourself to be a man, and you are woman ALSO. You, woman, you believe yourself to be a woman and you are man ALSO. According to your sex, your complementary masculine or fem inine part is IN YOURSELF, at the level, if you wish, of your subconsciousness and IT IS FROM THEIR REFOUND U N ITY THAT ONE DAY W ILL SPRING FORTH YOUR R EA LITY .

Each being is complete in himself and have you understood at last that this illusory world which surrounds you AND IS NOTHING ELSE BUT W HAT YOU ARE, has no other reason fo r being than to make you perceive and REALISE YOUR OWN UNITY? . . .

Also remember the long alchemical monologue o f a Father Rosencreutz in the Secret Houses o f the Rose-Croix. He also, by his explanations, symbolised YOUR androgine. These are w ith o u t ceasing THE SAME THINGS which are said to you w ith d ifferent words, in various circumstances, w ith a changing ceremonial. It w ill always be thus until the flash o f the awakening thunders w ith in you, and that w ill not be until the moment where having known A L L , proved A L L , Mastered A L L , you w ill be ready, in a RECEPTIVITY which is not what you suppose as yet. You w ill then understand that ONE WORD was sufficient, o r rather ONE attitude, or simply ONE gesture. D IVERSITY was necessary fo r you to recover U N ITY and that was inescapable. There is no quick way. It is necessary to fo llow the horizontal line and then the vertical in order that they rejoin at the proper tim e and at the ir intersection the rose o f YOUR reality flourishes, forgotten but NEVER lo s t . . .

The Cardinal in White has other revelations to transmit to us. You foresee that, by his voice, THE TEMPLE w ill teach us and your presentiment is justified . . .

Besides, the time has come and the waiting is over. In a few moments it w ill be eight o'clock. Come . . . He who comes is not of those one can keep waiting.

5 THE ABBEY OF SAN NILO

Some th irty kilometres from Rome . . . the Abbey o f Saint-Nilo! at Grottoferrata, the Italian version o f the ancient crypta ferrata, the grotto or c ryp t w ith the iron w indow s. . . the Abbey, has it conferred its name on the village, or on the contrary, in selecting the place, gathered its history and its name? My soul has chosen to throw itself on an assault o f the past and dig in it fo r remains in order to attem pt to extract from it the true secret, and here is what I saw . . .

I see advancing towards these solitary places, in the night, the solemn procession o f the forgotten wisdom gathering together around the gro tto the postulants to the mysteries. The grotto on the outside, w ith in becomes the c ryp t whose altar is the heart where three lighted candles pour ou t in silence their waxen tears.

The shadow o f the Master who awaits falls on the circular wall in m ultip le silhouettes which occasionally die in the obscurity behind the iron bars o f non-existent windows. Is it the sacred wailing o f Isis or the psalmody o f Eleusis which here strikes the echo of the eternal tradition? In an instant, resigned to the gesture of the supplication and guided by the one who has elected him and judged him w orthy, the in itia te, bending low, w ill cross the narrow doorway, and descending seven steps, and suddenly before the in itia to r, he w ill fall to his knees, his hands clasped on the altar, his head on his hands, ready to die or to live as the sage in white decides, who, in this instant, reads his soul to the smallest detail . . . Then, the mantle o f light descends on the in itia te, fo r the master has extended his hands over him . . . and the GREAT LESSON is learned; death and life are ONE. There is only PERMANENCE, One does not die nor does one live; ONE IS and only the w orking o f the mind creates the artific ia l d isfunction o f life and death, o f animation or inertia, in a world where man dreams in an illusion which he believes is life until the sublime instant where, the veil is to rn , eternity and consciousness w ith o u t aspect BECOMES KNOWN.

The in itia te rises again now powerful, but WITH POWER. He has not obtained any right to the tru th not tru th itself. HE IS TRUTH and the Master, upright before him, in his immaculate robe, is no longer another but HIM-SELF, the in itia to r and the initiate now manifest the same inseparable TR U TH , THE UNIQUE word which has been pronounced, the three sounds which have been em itted, the seven gestures which the fingers have accomplished, all tha t is shaded o ff in a cloud which the consciousness fo r EVER AFTER awakened dissolves . . . a postulant has recently entered, the in itia te goes out towards the world . . . the "cryp ta ferra ta" has fu lfilled its w ork o f wisdom: it has liberated a man from his earthly ties and has loaded him w ith fetters of freedom fo r the service of hum anity.

Thus, the monks, who, in the Abbey o f Saint-Nilo, render to the creator a cult recognised here by the Catholic Church, but which in other places one would call "o rth o d o x ", and observe a strict oriental rite as much by their ecclesiastical robes and their physical appearance, whose long beard one knows is a distinctive element, as by their furnishings, the icons, and the diverse phases o f their ceremonies. These monks, w ithou t knowing it, perpetuate, in their em otion provoking chapel, the memory o f an ancient in itia tion and prolong the beneficent effect on those who come to these places, the simple fa ith fu l or the in itiated pilgrim .

I shall always remember my firs t visit to the Abbey of Saint-Nilo. My Roman friend had conducted me there, so to say by surprise, knowing that he would thus add to me inner enchantment. It was a Sunday and the monks were celebrating their own very attractive service. I was at the same time impressed by the unforgettable atmosphere which impregnated each stone o f the church whose style was very d iffe ren t from that which the tru ly catholic church o f Ita ly offered fo r comparison. I seemed to be abruptly transported to some oriental church, and I experienced no astonishment, once inside, in assisting at the sacred pageantry o f an orthodox service. I had a presentiment then that I would one day learn something HERE but I naturally did not know the nature o f what would be revealed to me.

However it remains in my memory tha t on leaving these pleasant places we were plunged extra-murally into an atmosphere o f the market place. It was market day and the greater part o f the merchants were offering the fru its o f their harvest to the passers by. W ithout reflecting very much, I came to a halt before a stall w ith tools fo r the garden. I bought a little wooden fo rk w ith three prongs, quite inoffensive, and I offered it to my friend who accepted it laughingly and placed it immediately on the back seat o f his c a r . . . Now one w ill see it is a utensil very similar, although smaller, which I shall soon perceive on the le ft hand side of the w riting table o f HIM whom my friend now reveres as the Cardinal in White. A ll is sacred, even the pebble which a careless foo t displaces in the course o f a walk! To distinguish the sacred value o f an object supposedly profane is one stage and not the least on the Path. The fork which one used fo r eating is forgotten in the automatism o f movement and habit. Is it not meanwhile the essential instrument employed to offer a SACRIFICE, bearer o f v ita lity , to the body, SACRED cathedral o f a soul in quest o f itself? and is not that but an example?

Today, anew, sees me at the Abbey o f Saint-Nilo, and fo r him who accompanies me, it is the end o f a long inner search. We go to discover together A SECRET. For him, assuredly, this secret is THE secret in his completeness o f the moment. Will I dare to a ffirm tha t this w ill be fo r me ONE secret after many others? In this case, our meeting has an end more far reaching and this discovery mastered, my role more particularly that

o f our Order w ill begin fo r him. The fu ture w ill indicate the time . . . and I m urm ur: "So Mote It Be."

We have arrived and then the darkness o f the night descended after a dusk whose rapid ity made sport o f our rapid journey in the quiet Roman countryside. My companion was driving, his gaze fixed on the assumed road, but his thoughts, I fe lt, were echoing w ith mine. It was only at the entrance to Grottogerrata tha t he had murmured: We are there " and I could add nothing more to the pointless remark than, "So we are."

The market place seemed deserted and any way it is early in the season. It is true that television, here as in other places, has transformed habits. Then, passively, one sinks deeper and deeper w ith in oneself and one is more than ever, perhaps more, separated from others. We have not entered the gateway. The car is parked at the fo o t o f the road. It is on foo t that we shall go to the Abbey close by, a massive shadow formed there, before us, in a sky fu ll o f clouds. John has quite correctly thought tha t to break the silence of these places where we were secretly awaited would arouse the curiosity o f some of the monks and compromise our undertaking. He has not received any precise orders and these questions were le ft to his judgement which could only be of goodness and grandeur. The tim e only was fixed and it was only five minutes to the appointed hour o f eleven o'clock.

We hastened our steps, the shadow became darker and darker. Here we are beyond the gateway, here we are in the vast courtyard, then near the church and . . . someone approaches us, as if emerging from the night o f a neighbouring colum n. It is a monk in his dark robe, his hat thrust down on his long dark hair and his beard added to the severity of his young face where, alone, lived his b rillian t dark eyes:

"F o llo w me."

The door o f the church is half open. He enters first, and hardly daring to breathe, we enter in our turn . . .

On the occasion o f your next visit to Ita ly , it is in this extraordinary church of G rottoferrata that I suggest to you tha t you give yourself over to the deepest of meditations. If you find yourself there at the tim e when the orthodox service is performed, take part in it w ith all your being. Analyse each move o f the offic iants AND SEE BEYOND. Beyond the icons, perceive THE IN TEN TIO N. Transport yourselves by means of the ritua l, TO THE V IB R A TO R Y PLANE TO WHICH THESE PLACES PERMIT YOU TO A TT A IN . You w ill be bathed in the ONENESS and in the U N ITY and you w ill have, fo r some moments, perceived in yourself THE IN TEG R AL R E A LITY OF THE COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS. But before this participation in the rite, try to realise intensely WHAT

THIS CENTRE REPRESENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE T R A D IT IO N . The 'crypta ferrata' fo r you w ill remain UNKNOWN. It exists meanwhile, SECRET, FORGOTTEN, DISOWNED and it is from it tha t these places have THEIR POWER.

It is to th i ' cryp t tha t my illustrious companion and myself are conducted at this moment. Why must we, in order to arrive there, to pass by AT FIRST, this sacred enclosure, where in the obscurity, the red, flickering flame which symbolises THE PRESENCE, shines in the background.

We have stopped fo r scarcely the time o f a prayer, the monk between us, who had taken our hand and almost as qu ickly released it I only understood later this gesture of p o w e r. . . we go forward again in silence, inside and out, like a minute in heaven, and the narrow doorway appeared suddenly before us; a litt le door set in a low and enormous doorway which, by reason o f the immensity from the other side, awaits our littleness.

My hands are clasped over my heart which does not feel any fear. I experienced meanwhile a sensation which I know well, since it is a privilege o f my position, of my function ; my eyes seem to tremble from "w ith in " at the level o f my neck and ears, a scarcely percept'ile quivering begins and I KNOW that from this moment THE EXCHANGE HAS BEEN MADE nd that my psychic being, my true self, has taken CONTROL. I am from that moment myself and a little more, that is to say, in the state which I have always designated in my personal terminology under the name of TO TAL and where, w ithou t losing the faculty o f reasoning and discrim ination, the consciousness impregnates every sentiment fe lt and every sensation perceived, at the same time that the being lives and knows the universal diapason o f the absolute.

The monk opens the door, and withdraws slightly to allow us to pass. Bowed down, we cross the threshold and here we are, my companion and I, he on the second step and I on the firs t o f this stone stairway which descends towards that which we know nothing and a w a it. . . the unforeseen. The monk closes the door behind us, the vigilant guardian, silent and discreet watcher, he w ill keep guard outside the portal until our return. FOR US, TIME IS NO LONGER, THE WORLD HAS BECOME SILENT . . . AT THE "OPEN SESAME" OF OUR INNER APPEAL, THE CRYPT IS OPENED . . . AND THE WISE MAN IS THERE. WHO REGARDS US IN TEN TLY.

A SECRET MEETING IN ROME

6 THE CARDINAL IN WHITE

The cryp t is really a gro tto . A t least it ought to be such from the beginning, at that long ago epoch where the postulant came to receive the light in the form dispensed at that time. One still perceives the openings which not long ago had an iron grating, but they have all been filled in w ith the exception o f one. The door by which we entered should itself be one o f the windows, which would explain its reduced dimensions.

We had to descend eleven steps, cut in to the rock at certain spots, so rough, that it seemed to constitute one more obstacle to overcome. But from the firs t steps, on glancing below to the right of the staircase in to the crypt, I have been struck by the extraordinary sight which was offered to our eyes and the hesitation, qu ick ly overcome by my companion, marked also his surprise . . .

The grotto is only lighted by three torches supported by rings sealed in the wall one torch at the end, another at the le ft and the last on the opposite side. In the middle of the crypt, which was seen to be circular, d irectly below the well supported arch, which we were near, is a rectangular block o f granite worked by human hands and covered throughout its length by a spotless cloth in the centre o f which a great cross o f metal glitters. To the le ft o f the cross, on this w riting table, on this altar, is placed a large wooden coffer and it is to the right tha t I see tha t which resembles a fo rk w ith three fla t teeth.

On the side opposite to us, prom inent w ith the w hite cloth, a red w riting pad and alongside a sword w ith an ornamental grip placed horizonta lly at the very fo o t o f the cross. But all that IS NOTHING , scarcely a furnishing which might blend harmoniously w ith the arrangement of this strange place which one would call a cavern, which is a grotto and its function invested w ith the sacred character o f a cryp t NOT A T A L L , because everything here appears to be nothing else than the background o f him, seated before the w riting desk which I prefer to call the A ltar, his arms resting on the armchair w ith a rounded back, whose eyes never le ft us while we descended towards him.

HE IS THERE, PALE, HIS HEAD AND FACE SHAVED, HIEROPHANT, and HIS IM M O B ILITY IS SUCH, HIS BEARING SO NOBLE, TH A T ONE WOULD HAVE SAID HE WAS A STATUE WERE IT NOT T H A T HIS EYES WERE SO A L IV E . Over the ample white robe, a cross o f a red colour, near the heart, is a stigmata which designates the rank, the quality of him who wears it and whose collar of interlaced rings supporting a seal reveal a function . . . Not once during the course of our interview did he mention the title or the responsibilities he was able to assume.

That is why although A L L in him , be it deportment, the insignia, or the purple ring which I soon perceive on the th ird finger o f his right hand, would form erly have signified that we were in the presence o f the highest SECRET dignitary o f THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE. I shall designate this being o f majesty and power under the sole name o f the C AR D IN A L IN W HITE, and tha t whatever I may be able to know and whatever may be the secret o f which my heart hereafter the loyal casket.

He had not as yet pronounced one single word. Meanwhile my companion is now near him and I a litt le behind him. His eyes le ft us fo r a moment, fixed themselves on the cross, and then returned to us. He rose at last and faced us. How tall he is in his immaculate robe and the extreme fineness o f his ascetic face. W ith a slight movement o f his hand he seems to bless us, then to John he motions to a stool at his right w ith one w ord: "Monseigneur," and to me the neighbouring stool. And he reseated himself after having turned his heavy armchair towards us . . .

For once, I am not alone in undergoing a strange experience and one would be able to suppose tha t I would p ro fit from it by regulating my attitude to that of my companion. Such is not the case. In fact, we have reacted, BOTH OF US, in the same way, that is to say, that WE HAVE NOT HAD AN Y REACTION, AN Y GESTURE, A N Y WORD, as such, after our admission into the crypta ferrata, we were PH YSIC ALLY subdued by a supreme w ill surpassing EVEN tha t which welcomed us, and this w ill, I recognised it to belong TO THIS SAME PLACE and to the vibratory force which accumulated there in the past AND THE PRESENT by the visible and IN V IS IBLE action o f those who have the sacred charge o f this exalted place.

The triangle which we fo rm in this same moment is a COMPLETE M ANIFESTATIO N o f which only the Cardinal in White knows the meaning and I understand w hy " tw o visitors" were awaited here. W ithout me or another, the th ird point would have been missing and TH A T AT WHICH WE WERE NOW SERVING WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE TO ACCOMPLISH.

Our shadows which are visible round about and which project bizarre silhouettes towards the dome, make me th ink, and I do not altogether know why. o f the cavern of Plato, and the image is perhaps true, bu t we are here and it is outside these walls that illusion abides . . .

By the movement o f his lips, it is certain tha t our host prays in silence and secretly I join my prayer to his. I feel suddenly that he is about to speak and his voice, in effect, raises itself, sweet and incisive at the same time. W ith his hands clasped and his eyes closed, does he speak to us. to others or to himself? No matter! WE UNDERSTAND, WE

ARE ABO UT TO LEARN, WE ARE GOING TO KNOW . . . fo r from this instant, nothing but ourselves exists in the crypta ferrata bu t the voice o f him who TRANSM ITS AND TEACHES, the voice o f the SAGE, the voice o f the MASTER at whose feet, awaits our soul, humble and thirsting.

7 THE TIMES HAVE COME

"There is no need o f presentation and certainly not o f history. I know you BOTH, as fo r me, I must not be FOR YOU anything but HE WHO TRANSM ITS, and that is whatI must be fo r others. From our meetings you w ill make thereafter perhaps certain deductions. Whether they are correct or not, there is what is I believe o f the domain o f the relative, but the im portant thing is what I shall say or SUGGEST IN THIS interview which fo r you, Monseigneur (he looks fo r several seconds at my companion) is a growing up and fo r you Frater, (he looks at me fo r a tw inkling) . . . also a growing up, in a certain measure. But let us leave at once on one side these EXTERIOR considerations, that each instant of your presence here and o f mine may be usefully employed . . .

"The precise spot where we find ourselves at this moment IS ONE OF THE TWELVE EXALTED SECRET PLACES OF AN ILLU S IV E TR A D IT IO N . . . T rad ition! The word is at once too defin ite and too vague. I th ink it preferable to explain it first. By de fin ition , it describes an O R AL trad ition during a long space o f time. It is true fo r that which concerns us here, but is insufficient. I wish, by trad ition, to refer to consciousness, and more exactly, A PAR TIC ULAR STATEM ENT OF THE DOCTRINE OF CONSCIOUSNESS. Consciousness, in its absolute form , is itself THE PERCEPTION OF THE ETER NAL WISDOM SUCH AS IT IS ABLE TO BE UNDERSTOOD BY MAN. In other words, there is, on one part, the PERMANENCE o f the eternal wisdom THE R EA LITY OF THE ABSOLUTE FOR EVER A LIK E TO ITSELF BECAUSE IT IS A L L - and, on the other part, that which incarnate man is able to know o f it in proportion to his collective or individual evolution. I mean, like every mystic, the state o f CONSCIOUS KNOWING of a STATE which, being itself ETERNAL, can neither dim inish nor increase. Tradition is b u ilt up FROM THE MOMENT WHERE MAN H AVIN G BECOME A CONSCIOUS CREATURE HAS BEGUN TO TAK E HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD AND THE UNIVERSE OF WHICH HE KNOWS HIMSELF TO BE AN ELEMENT. My purpose is not to look fo r the origins o f the trad ition . It is to SPECIFY that which represents the eleven exalted secret places o f which I speak. It is necessary meanwhile fo r you to understand clearly tha t the trad ition is opened up w ith the expansion o f the human consciousness and that since the beginning of time when MAN HAS BEEN MAN.

" A t a determined stage in the state o f human consciousness the LAWS AND PRINCIPLES drawn up in due fo rm by a progressive access to more CONSCIOUSNESS and submitted to the tria l o f LIFE, have been GATHERED AND REASSEMBLED by the wisest o f men and they have been PRESERVED AND TRAN SM ITTED more and more secretly in proportion as H U M A N ITY SINKS IN ITS IN VO LU TED CYCLE TOWARDS THE DENSE AND M A T E R IA L. I t is thus that were born, as you know, the

M YSTERY SCHOOLS and it was in fact A tlantis which one calls so prematurely "legendary" which sheltered them.

"A tla n tis is the FIRST C O N TINEN T where the form ation (of laws) o f consciousness took the form o f a group, if you are w illing to accept this curious expression. A L L the authentic sages which the w orld could produce at that tim e WERE IN EFFECT REGROUPED IN THIS VANISHED COUNTRY and in itia lly the mystery schools were in consequence A COLLEGE OF SAGES rather than a centre where one could reseek the light o f in itia tion . THIS COLLEGE, at the moment o f its final disappearance from Atlantis, was composed o f ELEVEN Sages and their MISSION has been above all to GATHER AND REASSEMBLE all the knowledge, to which hum anity in its elite, let us say mystique, had had access up to tha t time and this ACQUIRED consciousness was TO TAL, ABSOLUTE. I mean by tha t that this "College o f Sages" had reunited the IN TEG R AL FORM ATION OF THE ETER NAL WISDOM, tha t is to say KNOWLEDGE which was in the power o f man to acquire and which he would never be able to go beyond in his human state. It is at this state o f the absolute attained by the college o f Sages that there was bu ilt, under the ir d irection, the SPHINX o f Egypt and it is towards the same epoch that, knowing by foreknowledge the end o f the continent o f A tlantis, where, after all was achieved, THE FUNCTION, THE CEN TRALISIN G MISSION led to its end by the College o f Sages, that the ELEVEN le ft A tlantis fo r Egypt where the Sphinx was to symbolise fo r ever fo r the World T H A T THE ETER NAL WISDOM HAD TAKEN SHAPE FOR H U M A N ITY AND ITS IN IT IA L PROPAGATION MUST BE EFFECTED FROM THE COUNTRY KNO W INGLY DESIGNATED BY THE COLLEGE OF THE SAGES: EGYPT.

"A nd the E LEVEN, in the land o f Egypt d id not experience any d iffic u lty in convincing the pharoah o f tha t tim e so much less that this pharaoh was o f a lineage of which the w orld would say "predestined" and who, fo r decades, HAD PREPARED FOR THE COMING OF WISDOM . . . and the ELEVEN BECAME TW ELVE, the TWELVE who are the source o f A L L SACRED SCIENCE. A litt le later FIVE set o ff across the w orld, one in each o f what are known as the continents, in order to examine there not knowledge but the MEANS OF D ISTR IBU TIN G IT THERE. The others remained in Egypt which became the centre o f the sixth continent and, at the same time the HEART WHERE ACTION had its source after the THO UG HT had taken form in the HEAD which constituted A tlantis . . . and the same knowledge, over the whole w orld, incorporated itself EVERYWHERE in exterior and secret SYMBOLS corresponding to the profound nature of the peoples to whom it was addressed but w ith certain fundamental elements and signs revealing fo r ever, from one side o f the world to the other, a un ity tha t the astonished man of our days calls S IM ILA R IT Y . These fundamental elements and signs are those naturally which "EXPRESS" man in his inner tru th and no t in his tendencies and aspects submitted to the variations o f tim e and space.

"The era o f gestation had in all cases term inated; the hour o f INSTRUCTION had sounded. The cycle must become expansive FOR THOSE WHO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES, having taken account o f their "previous preparation" and it is thus that, finding their origin in the sacred centre formed by Egypt and from the supreme school of the mysteries which was operating there other schools in Greece and in other countries in Europe took the ir impulse adapting THE MEANS o f bringing knowledge to the conditions o f the territories o f which they had charge. .

I listened w ith eagerness to this pleasing voice which this long explanation did not seem in any way to make more feeble and which gave inflections to certain words as if to impress them on us in an unforgettable manner. "M y purpose," this sage had said, "is not to seek the origins o f trad itions," and he was refusing also all history . . . he seems to have done up to this po in t, exactly the contrary to tha t which he was affirm ing . . . but noJ He has not sought the origins o f trad ition ; HE KNEW THEM ! He is not making h is to ry; HE RECITES HIS HISTORY! I wish to be more attentive to his intonations, I try but I cannot. The voice absorbs me to ta lly and I am nothing BUT WHAT HE WISHES.

"Each o f them had a PLACE KNOWN TO A L L and it was the one where 'THE IN IT IA T IO N ' was unfolded, Eleusis, fo r example, and AN EXALTED SECRET PLACE TO WHICH IT WAS ATTACHED. It is in this EXALTED PLACE that there reunited round the INSTRUCTORS o f the SUPREME RESPONSIBILITY, the most im portant o f the in itia tic schools dependent on it. These exalted places were ELEVEN in number, I have said, and fo r the "Ins truc to rs" o f whom I speak they were 'the temple' o f their highest in itia tion. A 'tem ple' which represented, 'materialised if you wish in a d ifferent surrounding the central 'TEM PLE' o f Egypt.

"Such places had not been chosen by hazard. They had been 'localised' thanks to the knowledge o f the Sages reunited in Egypt. These exalted places, in fact, are the ONLY points where the w ork fo r which they were destined could be accomplished. They were the receptacle where the universal force is transmitted in a defin ite action tied to the particular work pursued.

"O h! How our world is a marvellous keyboard fo r the universe such as it manifests itself to man. Itabounds w ith points where the cosmic power awaits, to materialise itself^ the occasion which only man can supply by his presence and an intention directed towards the good. THERE ARE OTHER HIGH PLACES TH AN THE ELEVEN OF WHICH I SPEAK. CERTAIN OF THEM TRANSM UTE THE SAME ENERGY FOR ENDS OF LESSER IMPORTANCE, OTHERS, ON THE CONTRARY, TRANSM UTE IT FOR ENDS CONSIDERABLY HIGHER. THE 'R E A LIS ED ' ROSE-CROIX FOR EXAMPLE.DISPOSE. AMONG THEM. OF TW ELVE HIGH PLACES BUT THEY ARE UNKNOWN

BY A L L , EXCEPT AMONG THEMSELVES AND T H A T IS EXPLAINED BY THE HEIG HT THEY HAVE A TTA IN E D BY THEIR M ER IT AND WHICH ASSURES THEM THE PLENITUDE OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE SHARING IN THE ETERNAL W ISD O M ."

"U nknow n by all except among themselves." I feel a profound emotion w ith in myself. I t seemed to me at these words. The Cardinal in White, once again, gave me a brief glance . . . was I going to sink in to memory and EXPERIENCE? No! my w ill is opposed to it. This is neither the place nor the moment. "U nknow n by all except among themselves!" There are at least some who know these places OUTSIDE OF THEMSELVES, but it is true that the LAW OF SI LENCE, in tha t which concerns the site, is equivalent to FORGETFULNESS of what it constrains. It is true then that THEY ALONE know them, if to know is to TAKE PART. Better to forget THE OTHERS and listen HERE . . .

"The eleven places have thus their particular function. They are SECRET but contrary to the twelve high places o f the REALISED whom I have just mentioned, they can be 'revealed' to certain ones in case o f necessity fo r the accomplishment o f the 'mission'. They can even at times be commissioned fo r a defin ite task in keeping w ith the exterior w orld o f in itia tion by the twelve high places o f the Realised and they then operate as a medium or intermediary, although those, 'from outside' called to receive from them their instructions do no t know th a t the confidentia l mission had its origin among the twelve whose secret is inviolable . . .

" I t is thus tha t on the mandate o f one o f the eleven high places and on occasions of exceptional importance, on the general mandate o f the eleven high places, 'missionaries' have been sent to the world and to certain organisations 'to set the lost ones back on the narrow path.' It is also from the eleven secret high places tha t great movements have 'set o u t' whose end was to reassemble tha t which was scattered or to regive body to a saviour fo r whom the moment has come to relive, to 'rise up ' in the service o f hum anity, and here is what fo r you w ill be a revelation . . .

" I t is in this secret high place where we are now, in this CRYPTA FERRATA that THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE was decided. I see your stupefaction but this revelation HAD to be made. It HAD to be made, TO D AY , THIS N IG HT AND HERE. FOR THE TIM E HAS COME . . . Let us p ray!

A t these words, in his impressive white robe, after having taken hold o f the sword on which he then supported himself, he knelt down, we did the same and the three o f us prayed in silence. A fte r some minutes the Cardinal in White raised his voice. It appeared d iffe ren t and the c ryp t seemed to vibrate under the impact o f THE SACRED O R D IN ATIO N OF THE TEMPLE whiah was given at this moment.

Nomine dei om nipotenti et vigore mei o ffic ii aperitur capitalum hoc m ilitum christi tempiique Salomoni ci secundum ritus ordinis sacriticissim i!"

In the name o f God all powerful and by virtue o f my function, may this chapter o f the soldiers o f Christ and o f the Temple o f Salomon be open according to the rite o f the VER Y SACRED ORDER.

On rising, he murmured:

"A pertum esto" (May it be open.)

How strange it would have appeared to us tha t these words should be pronounced in these places if the revelation had not been made to us o f that which happened before . . . He has declared "V igore mei o ff ic i i" " in virtue o f my fu n c tio n ", o f my office . . . The latin of the Templars, everyone knows it, was uncertain but this short phrase does not lead to any confusion . . . " In virtue o f my fu n c tio n " . . . Who is the Cardinal in White? He does not say and my heart cannot be deceived . . . IT KNOWS!

8 LIFE AND DEATH OF THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE

We are once again, my companion and I, listening to the Sage . . . Each o f us has again seated himself and he immediately continues w ith his explanation:

"W hy not link the WHY o f the Order o f the Temple to the universal quest o f the Grail! But what is the Grail? For many, a legend and fo r all an enigma. THE G R A IL NEVERTHELESS IS NOT A LEGEND AND IT DOES NOT CONCEAL AN ENIGMA. IT HAS BEEN AS MUCH MISUNDERSTOOD BY THE IN IT IA T E AS BY THE PROFANE . . . W ITHOUT DOUBT BECAUSE IT IS THE U LTIM A TE EXPLANATIO N AND SYMBOL OF THE ABSOLUTE R EVELATIO N .

"L e t us firs t brie fly review what we have jo in tly considered until now . . . Here are the ELEVEN SAGES o f Atlantis in Egypt. Here is the stage set by this chosen land and FIVE of the eleven that had become twelve sent as missionaries to the entire world. Here are the other six 'operating' on Egyptian soil through the Pharaoh who had become one of them and in all Europe through the secret high places defined from their sublime knowledge eleven secret high places on which depend the in itia tic centres to which the prepared man could have access.

These centres are born WHERE AND WHEN necessary. They exist as long as it is necessary then they disappear and their masters return to the supreme centre as long as it was in Egypt.

"B u t at a precise epoch, A L L BEING EVERYWHERE ESTABLISHED. IT IS NECESSARY T H A T A L L IS CONSUMATED E XO TER IC A LLY. THE COMPLETE SACRED MISSION RETIRES FROM THE W ORLD. THE IN IT IA T IC EGYPT DISAPPEARS AND THE CENTRES WHICH DEPEND ON THEM DIE IN THEIR TURN. THE WHOLE WORLD ENTERS THE OBSCURE NIG HT OF PUR IFIC ATIO N , AFTER H AVIN G A TTA IN E D THE EXACT STAGE OF EVO LUTION WHERE THIS FIRST GREAT STEP HAD LED THEM.

The obscure night commenced EXAC TLY at the instant o f the death o f the Fourth Amenhotep. It is this death which marked the retirement o f the entire sacred mission which retired from the world AT THE SAME TIM E as Amenhotep, after he had given to the world the last message of the Sages o f knowledge; THE ONE GOD . . .

"A fterw ards there remained in the world only, let us say . . . "CENTRES FOR THE PRESERVATION OF KNO W LED G E" and the eleven secret high places are among the

highest o f them . . . and the knowledge is thus perpetuated IN THE SILENCE AND SECRECY OF THOSE O N LY who fu lf i l l the conditions of ADEPTS and they are rare! Meanwhile, EXO TER IC ALLY, the preparation is maintained. It is under a d ifferent form , "sym bolised" so to say, among the corporation o f humanity.

"Yes, it is really THE OBSCURE N IG H T fo r the w orld, and it was to last a long time but the hour o f the Golden Dawn w ill come one day and the sacred mission W ILL INCARNATE ANEW, completely, fo r a new stage. This came about in 1096 in Constantinople begun by the Crusaders whose mission has been, from this po in t of view, TO PREPARE THE W AY such as, in the last analysis, the Roman conquest had fo r a fundamental end to reveal to the w orld the GOOD NEWS sown in Palestine, which, otherwise, would have run the risk o f not being understood . . .

"1096! Constantinople! THE MEETING OF THE ENVOY, OF THE SUPREME SAGE WHOSE NAME CANNOT BE KNOWN EXCEPT AS ONE OF THE HIGHEST RESPONSIBLE SECRETS OF THE TEMPLE, WITH THE SEVEN IN IT IATES OF WESTERN C H R ISTIAN ITY AND THE IN IT IATE S OF THE WORLD OF ISLAM.

"1096! CONSTANTINOPLE! It was there that the bases were formed that would come to Jerusalem, tw enty tw o years later, in 1118, THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE, under the double investiture given to those o f these initiates; Hugues de Paynes and Geoffroi de Samt-Omer, the SECRET investiture o f the Patriarch Theocletes, sixty seventh successor o f the Apostle John and THEN the PUBLIC investiture o f the Patriarch Garimond, representing the o ffic ia l w orld . . . In 1127 the Order was to take its flight, protected by the GREAT IN IT IA T E SAINT-BERNARD.

"1096! Constantinople! THE REALISED CONJUNCTION OF C H R IS TIA N ITY AND ISLAM . . . THE SECOND STAGE OF THE GREAT RETURN OF THE SACRED MASTERS.

"The second stage! THE FIRST WAS FRANCHISED IN ONE OF THE SECRET HIGH PLACES S IM ILAR IN A L L POINTS TO THE FORMER! It is in this secret high place that the missions conducted by Hugues de Paynes and delegates fo r the "centres of preservation and knowledge" to which all belonged, received IN IT IA T IO N , SECRET INVESTITURE, POWER AND INSTRUCTION.

"The fundamental tie w ith the vanished mission was thus established in the secret high place chosen in KNOWLEDGE of cause. This was the FI RST POINT. This same place was reinforced in Constantinople; this was the SECOND POINT. The mission took possession o f its NEW BODY in Jerusalem, AND THIS was THE TH IR D POINT. The

manifestation was finished, the work was able to be undertaken, and it was, in 1127, on the stability and solid foundation o f the FOURTH and last echelon o f the preparation then plainly achieved.

It is in 1087 that the in itia l investiture took place in the secret high place designated fo r this purpose and in the presence of the supreme representatives o f the ten others.NINE years were to run by before the meeting in Constantinople. Two times ELEVEN years passed before the firs t bases were established in Jerusalem, and again nine years were necessary before the work properly speaking could commence. Meditate one day on the symbolism o f these numbers. It w ill be A R EVELATIO N fo r you . . .

"The public history o f the Order o f the Temple, you already know in its essentials.I w ill presently clear up a few of its SECRET aspects. Before all, allow your soul to understand. The Order born in 1118, a number whose theosophical addition is ELEVEN, (1+1+ 1+8 = 1 1 ), died in 1314 fo r IT IS WITH THE LAST BREATH OF THE GRAND MASTER JACQUES DE M O LAY T H A T THE COMPLETE MISSION FOR A SECOND TIME w ithdrew, AS IT HAD RETIRED WITH AMENHOTEP IV. The Order then had known a PUBLIC life o f 196 years.

" In 1962, a NOTABLE date in the occult history o f mankind, and the beginning of the era o f Aquarius, it had disappeared 648 years previously, that is to say SIX TIMES 108 years ago and I send you back once again to the sacred study o f the numbers which were so im portant fo r the initiates o f the Temple!

"A few decades ago, the mission has again taken force and vigour in the world, after having fused, if this term is perm itted, w ith the POWER o f the traditional school o f the world whose twelve secret high places which I have said to be those of the Rose-Croix Masters are so to say the "IN N E R LO C A LIZ A T IO N . THERE IS THUS HENCEFORTH A REUNION OF THE TWO PLANS, ABSOLUTE CONJUNCTION, A U N ITY OF FORCE AND POWER, such as was DEM ANDED in view o f the work to be accomplished in the new era o f Aquarius. M EANW HILE, in this body, actually at w ork, where the mission is incorporated, THE TEMPLE TOOK ITS PLACE. It became PART OF IT, IT IS RECOGNISED . . . AND THE OR G AN ISATIO N , CONSTITUTED AND STRUCTURED, T H A T IT GIVES LIFE TO THE WORLD AND FOR THE WORLD M AY CARRY IN ITS BREAST THE TORCH OF THE TEM PLAR.

"Since February 5th 1962, there is a resurgence of the thought o f the Temple. That was established and this RESURGENCE IS THE EFFECT OF THE ASPECT TEMPLAR o f the reunified mission. Now this aspect must materialise and it w ill do it better IN THE BODY STRUCTURE A LR E A D Y ESTABLISHED. The force is such that, perceived FROM

OUTSIDE, it gives b irth to laudable endeavours which, not being supported by the TO TAL mission, naturally cannot come to anything and which are the source o f regrettable errors.. . . But EVEN T H A T is useful IN ORDER T H A T H U M AN ITY M AY KNOW! In any case, the time has come FOR THE R EH A BIL ITA TIO N OF THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE IN ORDER T H A T THE LIG HT OF THE TEMPLE M AY GROW, TH A T WHICH HAD CONDEMNED IT W lLL GROW LESS AND LESS. For those who in the w orld can understand, know: THE HOUR OF JUDGMENT HAS SOUNDED, THE TEMPLE, MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER, DIFFUSES OVER THE EARTH ITS FORCE AND ITS VIGOUR . . . and in the eleven secret high places the torch in spite o f all gives fo rth its brilliance . . . Once again, brothers, let us pray."

As before, he knelt down, his two hands placed on the sword before him , and it is on our knees that we also await the word.

Oremus charissimi fratres praesta quaesumus omnipotens deus ut ordo noster et aeternis profic ia t institu tis et temporalibus non destituatur auxiliis.

Let us pray very dear brothers; God all powerful, make it come about we pray you tha t our Order may be useful in the eternal designs and never be abandoned by its earthly helpers.

Strangely. I do not perceive the sound o f his "A m e n " until the moment he is seated and it must have been the same fo r my companion as fo r me, in reseating ourselves, that he repeated in a low voice; "A m en".

That was the second time the Cardinal in White had invited us to pray and EACH TIME he has pronounced the WORLD OF THE TEMPLE. It seemed to me that IN THIS SAME MOMENT that we are taking part IN AN IN IT IA T IO N w ithou t having objective consciousness o f it, o r a R ITU A L ADJUSTM ENT, the explanations, "the instructions", being nothing more than "IN C ID E N T S " and simply completing the attitude and the sacred gesture as if to make, THE END TO BE A TTA IN E D rise up afterwards to the critical faculties. But already he is speaking.

"TH E CIRCLE IS CLOSED A G A IN ! That which you were able to know on the Order o f the Temple is NOW cleared up by a greater knowledge. YOU HAVE THE BASES WHICH U N TIL NOW HAD TO REMAIN THE SECRET OF OUR HIGH PLACES. The Order of the Temple has taken ITS PLACE fo r you in the filia tion o f the absolute tradition. THERE IS NO LONGER "S EP A R A TIO N ", THERE IS U N ITY , and thus.

Monseignor, the document which came in to your possession is explained as is explained the adjustment perpetuated to each generation o f your illustrious fam ily and to you at the age o f eleven years. Your predecessors have received the M ARK OF THE TEMPLE AND YOU HAVE RECEIVED IT YOURSELF, but being concerned, by reason o f the time in which you live, BY THE RESURGENCE, the document is cleared up fo r you O N LY at a recent date. You have come here later than your ancestors BUT your presence in this place is MORE SIGNI FI CANT AND OF AN IMPORT MORE FAR REACHING than theirs, when, one by one, ONCE IN THEIR LIFE, they were admitted in one o f the secret high places . . . As fo r you Frater, (and I knew that now he was addressing me) YOU SHOULD be w ith us, fo r THE TEMPLE IS YOUR TEMPLE AS IT IS THE TEMPLE OF EVERY SERVANT OF THE CAUSE, OF EVERY SERVANT OF MAN AND WHERE YOU SERVE, THERE IS THE KNOWLEDGE . . .

"L e t us pray fo r the last tim e ."

A last tim e! THE TH IR D ! It is now in me a certainty. We are adjusted. Does my companion understand? I have a sudden impression TH A T HE HAD KNOWN IT SINCE OUR MEETING NEAR THE FO U N TAIN ! He however w ill never adm it it. In effect,THIS TIM E IT IS I WHO IN STIN C TIVELY REPRODUCE HIS GESTURES. The Cardinal in White has not knelt. He is standing, ta ll, immense in his white robe, the sword raised above our bowed heads, whilst kneeling, our hands palm to palm before our breast, we are w ith in ourselves in silent prayer o f surrender and communion:

"U t gladius nisi fo r t i et intrepida manu geritur de fin it esse timendum sici ordo nisi superiores regulae quoe eum d irigunt non potest subsistere."

In the same way that the blade ceases to be redoubtable if it is not directed by a firm and resolute hand so in the same way the Order cannot continue well w ithou t the superior RULERS who direct it.

And the fo llow ing phrase, I only understood the beginning:

"ECCE VESTIM ENTA TEM PLA R II. NOMINE DEI OMNIPOTENTE ET VOGORE MEI OFFICCII . . . "

fo r the sword, then, touched my le ft shoulder, then my head and my right shou lder. . . AND I FEEL T H A T MY SOUL IS REJOICING . . .

AND I feel tha t I am weeping . . .

Seated now at the side o f my companion, he himself still a prey to an unspeakable emotion as if the sword had pierced his soul, delivering thus from all its lim itations and from the veil o f error, I feel fo r my part, A PROFOUND PEACE. Before us, the Sage does not seem to feel any fatigue and it is however THREE o'clock in the morning. During FOUR hours HE HAS DISCOURSED AND FU LF ILLE D W HAT I KNOW IN W ARD LY TO BE HIS OFFICE. W ithout doubt, THE TIME OF THE PRAYER - OF THE OFFICE- HAS BEEN LONG, LONGER TH AN HAS BEEN SAID IN THESE PAGES . . . But my own experience permits me not to ig