the _divine Ego_ but of the _earthly body_. It is
the link between the personal Self, the lower consciousness of
_Manas_ and the Body, and is the vehicle of _transitory_, _not
of immortal life_. Like the shadow projected by man, it follows his
movements and impulses slavishly and mechanically, and leans therefore
to matter without ever ascending to Spirit. It is only when the power of
the passions is dead altogether, and when they have been crushed and
annihilated in the retort of an unflinching will; when not only all the
lusts and longings of the flesh are dead, but also the recognition of
the personal Self is killed out and the "astral" has been reduced in
consequence to a cipher, that the Union with the "Higher Self" can take
place. Then when the "astral" reflects only the conquered man, the still
living, but no more the longing, selfish personality, then the brilliant
_Augoeides_, the divine Self, can vibrate in conscious harmony
with both the poles of the human Entity--the man of matter purified, and
the ever pure Spiritual Soul--and stand in the presence of the
Master Self, the Christos of the mystic Gnostics, blended,
merged into, and one with IT for ever.[D]

How then can it be thought possible for a man to enter the "strait gate"
of occultism when his daily and hourly thoughts are bound up with
worldly things, desires of possession and power, with lust, ambition
and duties, which, however honorable, are still of the earth earthy?
Even the love for wife and family--the purest as the most unselfish of
human affections--is a barrier to _real_ occultism. For whether we take
as an example the holy love of a mother for her child, or that of a
husband for his wife, even in these feelings, when analysed to the very
bottom, and thoroughly sifted, there is still _selfishness_ in the
first, and an _egoisme a deux_ in the second instance. What mother would
not sacrifice without a moment's hesitation hundreds and thousands of
lives for that of the child of her heart? and what lover or true husband
would not break the happiness of every other man and woman around him to
satisfy the desire of one whom he loves? This is but natural, we shall
be told. Quite so; in the light of the code of human affections; less
so, in that of divine universal love. For, while the heart is full of
thoughts for a little group of _selves_, near and dear to us, how shall
the rest of mankind fare in our souls? What percentage of love and care
will