dogma of Transubstantiation. As it is written, "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." If, then, a mere assembly, with the common object of prayer and worship, can call down the Divine Presence, how much more will that Presence be invoked, by the exalted feelings of communicants, whose minds are attuned to the still more sacred character of the Eucharistic rite? Though not in the bread, or in the wine, the Real Presence is there, and that in exact proportion to the intensity of the aspiration that invoked It.

All through the ages, too, the words used in the rite of the Christian Eucharist have been more or less significant of the original meaning -the fact that is of the underlying unity in this complex and multiform creation, while the sacrificial character of the ceremony hints vaguely at that mysterious sacrifice, which will be dwelt on in the concluding chapters-the mystery of the body and the blood-the body of our Logos self-crucified in space-the blood of the Lamb slain "from the foundation of the world." "The body of our Lord, which was given for thee the blood of our Lord, which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life," are the words of our modern ritual,

expressive of the hope of that ultimate union, which, as we have seen, is also symbolised by the "Ascension"-the preservation of the

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body," that is, of the personality which our real Self projects into physical form, at each successive birth, and of their ultimate union with the "soul"-our true Self, or individuality -in other words, a unity attained "by taking of the manhood into God."

To sum up the foregoing, we find that the rite of baptism practised by all nations, is to be traced to the baptismal ceremony, which used to be performed at one of the early rites of initiation, while the sacrament of the Eucharist was similarly derived from the custom, on those occasions, of partaking of bread and wine.

We also find that the ideas, which in each and every religion have become crystallised into dogmas concerning the death-often by crucifixion-the burial, and the resurrection on the third day, of a divine Saviour, while symbolising cyclic and cosmic realities as well, received their chief vitality and sanction, from the death unto sin and the new birth unto righteousness, which the rites at one of the great initiations were also meant to typify; and finally that that dogma known in some religions as the "ascension into heaven" is similarly to be traced to

that union of the personality with the divine individuality, which is symbolised in the still loftier ceremony, when, the "ten fetters" binding to earthly life having been cast off, the Master of Wisdom attains practical omniscience. as regards our planetary chain, standing, as he then does, on the heights of moral perfection.

That this investigation into the origin of religions is, as above said, no mere process of destructive criticism, should now be apparent, for the facts underlying the world-wide myth of the death, burial, and resurrection of a crucified Saviour, are surely of infinitely more value and life-giving power than the symbolic myth itself in which they were enshrined. When the kernel is reached, the husk may be thrown away. Freed from the dead letter interpretation, the notable words of the initiate St. Paul in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians (in spite of the distortion and interpolation to which it has been subjected), stand out with a deeper and more spiritual meaning. It was no resurrection of the mere physical body to which he alluded, but the "taking of the manhood into God"-the attainment of the stage of initiation last referred to.

Through the eyes of the world's religions men saw darkly, but now they may see with

clearer vision. For long centuries, the cloud of ignorance and materialism has hung like a pall over our western world, but there are signs of the clouds breaking, and the sunshine of a brighter day will show this Path of spiritual advancement, though steep and difficult, to be the only path worth treading.

With equal truth may it be described as a battle-the battle that is ever being waged. But the guardians of man's welfare, the fighters for his liberation, are all too few in number. Nothing but welcome, then, can be extended to any who are ready and willing to join their ranks. It is indeed written that "no warrior volunteering fight in the fierce strife between the living and the dead-not one recruit can ever be refused the right to enter on the path that leads towards the field of battle."

The noblest hope that can inspire the heart of man is thus the heritage of the human race, and each one of us may to-day embark on the conquest of that wider empire of Love, Wisdom, and Power, whose gateway is the "Second Birth."

CHAPTER XV

THE REAL MEANING OF THE TRINITY

Ir will have been already realised that the doctrine of a trinity, which every religion has enshrined, is not traceable to any system of symbolism (save in so far as all human words are symbolic of realities), but takes its rise in the Ultimate Reality Itself. Deeply mystical as all reference to such a subject is bound to be, the mind of man must still in some way be capable of grasping the idea, for it must be remembered that essentially he is one with that Infinite Reality Itself.

The first Trinity that can be conceived of, will find its best expression in the form of a triangle whose apex is lost in the Inconceivable Unmanifested Godhead, and whose lower angles represent Its first manifestation of spirit and

matter.

The triangle, with its apex pointing downwards, may also be regarded as symbolising a trinity. Spirit and matter are in this case represented by the two upper angles, while the