he foundations of the world.
Fragmentary teachings of occult philosophy seem at first to be no more
than annotations on the canonical doctrine. They may even embellish it
with graceful interpretations of its symbolism, parts of which may have
seemed to require apology, when ignorantly taken at the foot of the
letter. But this is merely the beginning of the attack. If occult
philosophy gets before the world with anything resembling completeness,
it will so command the assent of earnest students that for them nothing
else of that nature will remain standing. And the earnest students in
such eases must multiply. They are multiplying now even, merely on the
strength of the little that has been revealed. True, as yet--for some
time to come--the study will be, as it were, the whim of a few; but
"those who know," know among other things that, give it fair-play, and
it must become the subject of enthusiasm with all advanced thinkers. And
what is to happen when the world is divided into two camps--the whole
forces of intellectuality and culture on the one side, those of
ignorance and superstitious fanaticism on the other? With such a war as
that impending, the adepts, who will be conscious that they prepared the
lists and armed the combatants, will require some better justification
for their policy before their own consciences than the reflection that,
in the beginning, people accused them of selfishness, and of keeping a
miserly guard over their knowledge, and so goaded them with this taunt
that they were induced to set the ball rolling.

There is no question, be it understood, as to the relative merits of the
moral sanctions that are afforded by occult philosophy and those which
are distilled from the worn-out materials of existing creeds. If the
world could conceivably be shunted at one coup from the one code of
morals to the other, the world would be greatly the better for the
change. But the change cannot be made all at once, and the transition
is most dangerous. On the other hand, it is no less dangerous to take
no steps in the direction of that transition. For though existing
religions may be a great power--the Pope ruling still over millions of
consciences if not over towns and States, the name of the Prophet being
still a word to conjure with in war, the forces of Brahmanical custom
holding countless millions in willing subjection--in spite of all this,
the old religions are sapped and past their prime. They ar