anization to which the Magi
belonged, who pointed out to the parents the injustice of the plan of
keeping the lad at the carpenter's bench when He had shown evidences
of such a marvelous spiritual development and such a wonderful
intellectual grasp of weighty subjects. It is told that after a long
and serious consideration of the matter the parents finally consented
to the plan advanced by the Magi, and allowed them to take the lad
with them into their own land and retreats that He might there receive
the instructions for which His soul craved, and for which His mind was
fitted.

It is true that the New Testament does not corroborate these occult
legends, but it is likewise true that it says nothing to the contrary.
It is silent regarding this important period of between seventeen and
eighteen years. It is to be remembered that when He appeared upon the
scene of John's ministration, the latter did not recognize Him,
whereas had Jesus remained about His home, John, his cousin, would
have been acquainted with his features and personal appearance.

The occult teachings inform us that the seventeen or eighteen years of
Jesus' life regarding which the Gospels are silent, were filled with
travels in far and distant lands, where the youth and young man was
instructed in the occult lore and wisdom of the different schools. It
is taught that He was taken into India, and Egypt, and Persia, and
other far regions, living for several years at each important center,
and being initiated into the various brotherhoods, orders, and bodies
having their headquarters there. Some of the Egyptians' orders have
traditions of a young Master who sojourned among them, and such is
likewise the case in Persia and in India. Even among the lamasaries
hidden in Thibet and in the Himalayan Mountains are to be found
legends and stories regarding the marvelous young Master who once
visited there and absorbed their wisdom and secret knowledge.

More than this, there are traditions among the Brahmans, Buddhists and
Zoroastrians, telling of a strange young teacher who appeared among
them, who taught marvelous truths and who aroused great opposition
among the priests of the various religions of India and Persia, owing
to his preaching against priestcraft and formalism, and also by his
bitter opposition to all forms of caste distinctions and restrictions.
And this, too, is in accord with the occult legends which teach that
from about the age of twenty-one