And so, too, when the Cosmic night approaches will the Great Logoi themselves return to That from which They came forth. Manifestation

will be merged in the Non-manifest, and the Son will return into the bosom of the Father. For "when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." 1

1

And thus the Unity in Trinity, in other words the Trinity in manifestation, becomes again the Trinity in Unity.

11 Cor., chap. xv. 28.

CHAPTER XVI

THE LAW OF SACRIFICE

THE idea lying at the root of all religion is, as we have seen, the idea of sacrifice. It is the central and fundamental conception, round which are grouped all dogmas and all rites.

At its one extreme lies the savage ceremony of slaying the totem god, while the great doctrine of a crucified Saviour represents its higher aspect. In it, too, is contained the vital principle of the Eucharistic Sacrament, which indeed in the Roman Church is entitled a "sacrifice." The mere ritual of the celebration has been traced to an ancient rite of partaking of bread and wine at certain ceremonies of initiation ; but, as in other cases, the rite had a dual origin, and its essence consists in the underlying idea of the sacrifice of the god. All through the ages, and in every land, has this underlying idea been traced. The bloodcovenants of primitive peoples have their

root in it. The tearing in pieces and devouring the still palpitating flesh of the victim at the Dionysiac festival, bears witness to the idea, as also do the kneeling figures of the worshippers at our own communion tables.

It is a momentous fact, that while the origin of the idea of sacrifice has been entirely lost sight of, the meaning ascribed to it has undergone a complete transformation. The idea has, indeed, been degraded almost out of recognition in blood-stained rituals, while the misunderstanding of it still exists in the most advanced religions.

It will be well to consider first how sacrifice became so uniformly associated with suffering and blood-shedding. The blood in connection with sacrifice is a confusing symbol. "The blood is the life," but while on the higher planes, as we shall see, life is the living, giving force poured out, the blood-giving on the physical plane implies pain and death, the taking of life. In early times, in token of a great offering of himself for the service of others, it was customary for a man to draw some drops of his own blood. This was doubtless the origin of the blood covenant, in which the neophyte identified himself with, and

devoted himself to, the welfare of the tribe into which he was admitted. Though practised among races who had attained no high stage of development, the original meaning of sacrifice is still fairly apparent in the rite. It was still a free gift, as well as a binding together.

shed

But when the blood which men was no longer their own, the degradation of the blood-symbol was accomplished. The idea was, in fact, fundamentally altered, and the original meaning of sacrifice was replaced by one of a totally different character. This was the case when men began to slay animals in sacrifice, in order that they might gain something for themselves, or unite themselves with the god for their own benefit. At a still later date it was imagined that if the blood of animals was efficacious, the blood of a man should be much more so, and thus were the horrors of human sacrifices instituted.

Great, indeed, is the gulf that lies between sacrifice in its sublime origin, and the terrible travesty that mankind have made of it. The explanation will lead us to the very heart of things, and will necessitate a further reference to the most exalted Beings on whom man's

thought can dwell. The consideration of the subject will also render still more apparent the appropriateness of the choice of the solar symbolism, when first arose the necessity of implanting religious ideas in the minds and hearts of mankind.

The Law of Sacrifice might perhaps more truly be called the Law of Manifestation, or the Law of Love and of Life, for throughout the Universe, from the highest to the lowest, it is the cause of manifestation and life.

The Supreme Sacrifice is the first self-limitation of the great First Cause-the putting forth of Itself as the Logos that is Itself when It poured Itself forth in a supreme act of giving, in order that, in the fulness of time, many individualities should be drawn back to share with It that bliss, which is Its very nature and

essence.

In turn, the manifested Logos puts Himself forth in the Solar Logoi, one of whom stands behind our solar system, which He holds in manifestation by His outbreathed energy. The whole solar system is upheld and manifested through, and in, His aura, which embraces its uttermost limits, and the life-forces of ourselves