he people," but as a
living force in the invisible worlds. It is not used to hide knowledge
from the people, but in order that certain vibrations may be set up in
the invisible worlds which cannot be set up in the ordinary languages of
Europe, unless a great Occultist should compose in them the necessary
successions of sounds. To translate a mantra is to change it from a
"Word of Power" into an ordinary sentence; the sounds being changed,
other sound-forms are created.

Some of the arrangements of Latin words, with the music wedded to them
in Christian worship, cause the most marked effects in the
supra-physical worlds, and any one who is at all sensitive will be
conscious of peculiar effects caused by the chanting of some of the most
sacred sentences, especially in the Mass. Vibratory effects may be felt
by any one who will sit quiet and receptive as some of these sentences
are uttered by priest or choristers. And at the same time effects are
caused in the higher worlds directly affecting the subtle bodies of the
worshippers in the way above described, and also appealing to the
Intelligences in those worlds with a meaning as definite as the words
addressed by one person to another on the physical plane, whether as
prayer or, in some cases, as command. The sounds, causing active
flashing forms, rise through the worlds, affecting the consciousness of
the Intelligences residing in them, and bringing some of them to render
the definite services required by those who are taking part in the
church office.

Such mantras form an essential part of every Sacrament.

The next essential part of the Sacrament, in its outward and visible
form, are certain gestures. These are called Signs, or Seals, or
Sigils--the three words meaning the same thing in a Sacrament. Each sign
has its own particular meaning, and marks the direction imposed on the
invisible forces with which the celebrant is dealing, whether those
forces be his own or poured through him. In any case, they are needed to
bring about the desired result, and they are an essential portion of the
sacramental rite. Such a sign is called a "Sign of Power," as the mantra
is a "Word of Power."

It is interesting to read in occult works of the past references to
these facts, true then as now, true now as then. In the Egyptian _Book
of the Dead_ is described the _post-mortem_ journey of the Soul, and we
read how he is stopped and challenged at various stages of that journey.
He