/> of the people of destroyed Atlantis, the home of the Ancient Wisdom--or

whether they were a new people who had rediscovered the old

doctrines--the fact remains that when tracing back any old occult or

mystic doctrine we find ourselves gradually led toward the land of the

Sphinx as the source of that hidden truth. The Sphinx is a fit emblem of

that wonderful race--its sealed lips seem to invite the ultimate

questions, and one feels that there may be a whispered answer wafted

from those tightly closed lips toward the ear that is prepared to hear

and receive it. And so, in our search for the origin of Reincarnation,

we find ourselves once more confronting the Egyptian Sphinx as we have

done so often before in our search after Truth.



Notwithstanding its obvious prehistoric origin, many have claimed that

Metempsychosis has its birthplace in old Egypt, on the banks of the

Nile. India disputes this claim, holding that the Ganges, not the Nile,

gave birth to the doctrine. Be that as it may, we shall treat the

Egyptian conception at this place, among the ancient lands holding the

doctrine, for in India it is not a thing of the past, but a doctrine

which has its full flower at the present time, and which flower is

sending forth its subtle odor to all parts of the civilized world. And

so we shall defer our consideration of India's teachings until we reach

the present stage of the history of Reincarnation. Herodotus, many

centuries ago, said of the Egyptians that: "The Egyptians are the first

who propounded the theory that the human soul is imperishable, and that

where the body of any one dies it enters into some other body that may

be ready to receive it; and that when it has gone the round of all

created forms on land, in water, and in air, then it once more enters

the human body born for it; and that this cycle of existence for the

soul takes place in three thousand years."



The doctrine of Reincarnation is discernible though hidden away amidst

the mass of esoteric doctrine back of the exoteric teachings of the

Egyptians, which latter were expounded to the common people, while the

truth was reserved for the few who were ready for it. The inner circles

of the Egyptian mystics believed in and understood the inner truths of

Reincarnation, and although they guarded the esoteric teachings

carefully, still fragments fell from the table and were greedily taken

up by the masses, as we may see by an examination of the scraps of

historical records which have been preserved, graven in the stone, and

imprinted on the bricks. Not only did these people accept the doctrine

of Reincarnation, but Egypt was really the home of the highest occult

teachings. The doctrines and teachings regarding several "sheaths" or

"bodies" of man, which are taught by occultists of all times and races,

are believed to have been fully taught in their original purity on the

banks of the Nile, and in the shadow of the Pyramids--yes, even before

the days of the Pyramids. Their forty centuries of history saw many

modifications of the philosophical and religious beliefs, but the

fundamental doctrine of Reincarnation was held to during the entire

period of history in Ancient Egypt, and was not discarded until the

decadent descendants of the once mighty race were overwhelmed by

stronger races, whose religions and beliefs superseded the vestiges of

the Ancient Doctrine. The Egyptians held that there was "Ka," the divine

spirit in man; "Ab," the intellect or will; "Hati," the vitality; "Tet,"

the astral body; "Sahu," the etheric double; and "Xa," the physical body

(some authorities forming a slightly different arrangement), which

correspond to the various "bodies of man" as recognized by occultists

to-day.



The Ancient Chaldeans also taught the doctrine of Rebirth. The body of

Persian and Chaldean mystics and occultists, known as "the Magi," who

were masters of the Hidden Wisdom, held to the doctrine of Reincarnation

as one of their fundamental truths. In fact, they managed to educate the

masses of their people to a much higher point than the masses of the

Egyptians, and, escaping the idolatrous tendencies of the Egyptian

populace, they manifested a very high degree of pure philosophical,

occult, and religious knowledge. The Magi taught that the soul was a

complex being, and that certain portions of it perished, while certain

other parts survived and passed on through a series of earth and

"other-world" existences, until finally it attained such a degree of

purity that it was relieved of the necessity for further incarnation,

and thenceforth dwelt in the region of ineffable bliss--the region of

light eternal. The teaching also held that just before entering into

the state of bliss, the soul was able to review its previous

incarnations, seeing distinctly the connection between them, and thus

gaining a store of the wisdom of experience, which would aid it in its

future work as a helper of future races which would appear on the face

of the earth. The Magi taught that as all living things--nay, all things

having existence, organic or inorganic--were but varying manifestations

of the One Life and Being, therefore the highest knowledge implied a

feeling of conscious brotherhood and relationship toward and with all.



Even among the Chinese there was an esoteric teaching concerning

Reincarnation, beneath the outer teaching of ages past. It may be

discerned in the teachings of the early philosophers and seers of the

race, notably in the work of Lao-Tze, the great Chinese sage and

teacher. Lao-Tze, whose great work, the "Tao-Teh-King," is a classic,

taught Reincarnation to his inner circle of students and adherents, at

least so many authorities claim. He taught that there existed a

fundamental principle called "Tao," which is held to have been identical

with the "primordial reason," a manifestation of which was the "Teh," or

the creative activity of the universe. From the union and action of the

"Tao" and the "Teh" proceeded the universe, including the human soul,

which he taught was composed of several parts, among them being the

"huen," or spiritual principle; and the "phi," or semi-material vital

principle, which together animate the body. Lao-Tze said: "To be

ignorant that the true self is immortal, is to remain in a grievous

state of error, and to experience many calamities by reason thereof.

Know ye, that there is a part of man which is subtle and spiritual, and

which is the heaven-bound portion of himself; that which has to do with

flesh, bones, and body, belongs to the earth; earthly to earth--heavenly

to heaven. Such is the Law." Some have held that Lao-Tze taught the

immediate return of the "huen" to the "tao" after death, but from the

writings of his early followers it may be seen that he really taught

that the "huen" persisted in individual existence, throughout repeated

incarnations, returning to the "tao" only when it had completed its

round of experience-life. For instance, in the Si Haei, it is said that:

"The vital essence is dispersed after death together with the body,

bones and flesh; but the soul, or knowing principle of the self, is

preserved and does not perish. There is no immediate absorption of the

individuality into the Tao, for individuality persists, and manifests

itself according to the Law." And Chuang-Tze said: "Death is but the

commencement of a new life." It was also taught by the early Taoists,

that the deeds, good and evil, of the present life would bear fruit in

future existences; in addition to the orthodox heavens and hells, in

which the Chinese believed, and of which they had a great variety

adapted to the requirements of the various grades of saints and sinners,

the minute details of which places being described with that attention

to minor details and particulars peculiar to the Chinese mind. The

teachings of a later date, that the soul of the ancestor abided in the

hall of the ancestors, etc., were a corruption of the ancient teaching.

Other Chinese teachers taught that the soul consists of three parts, the

first being the "kuei," which had its seat in the belly, and which

perished with the body; the second being the "ling," which had its seat

in the heart or chest, and which persisted for some time after death,

but which eventually disintegrated; and the third, or "huen," which had

its seat in the brain, and which survived the disintegration of its

companions, and then passed on to other existences.



As strange as it may appear to many readers unfamiliar with the subject,

the ancient Druids, particularly those dwelling in ancient Gaul, were

familiar with the doctrine of Reincarnation, and believed in its tenets.

These people, generally regarded as ancient barbarians, really possessed

a philosophy of a high order, which merged into a mystic form of

religion. Many of the Romans, upon their conquest of Gallia, were

surprised at the degree and character of the philosophical knowledge

possessed by the Druids, and many of them have left written records of

the same, notably in the case of Aristotle, Caesar, Lucan, and Valerius

Maximus. The Christian teachers who succeeded them also bore witness to

these facts, as may be seen by reference to the works of St. Clement,

St. Cyril, and other of the early Christian Fathers. These ancient

"barbarians" entertained some of the highest spiritual conceptions of

life and immortality--the mind and the soul. Reynaud has written of

them, basing his statements upon a careful study of the ancient beliefs

of this race: "If Judea represents in the world, with a tenacity of its

own the idea of a personal and absolute God; if Greece and Rome

represent the idea of society, Gaul represents, just as particularly,

the idea of immortality. Nothing characterized it better, as all the

ancients admit. That mysterious folk was looked upon as the privileged

possessor of the secrets of death, and its unwavering instinctive faith

in the persistence of life never ceased to be a cause of astonishment,

and sometimes of fear, in the eyes of the heathen." The Gauls possessed

an occult philosophy, and a mystic religion, which were destroyed by the

influences of the Roman Conquest.



The philosophy of the Druids bore a remarkable resemblance to the Inner

Doctrine of the Egyptians, and their successors, the Grecian Mystics.

Traces of Hermeticism and Pythagoreanism are clearly discernible,

although the connecting link that bound them together has been lost to

history. Legends among the Druids connected their order with the ancient

Aryan creeds and teachings, and there seems to have been a very close

connection between these priests and those of Ancient Greece, for there

are tales of offerings being sent to the temples of Greece from the

priests of Gaul. And it is also related that on the island of Delphos

there was once a Druidic tomb in the shape of a monument, believed to

have been erected over the remains of Druid priestesses. Herodotus and

others speak of a secret alliance between the priests of Greece and

those of the Druids. Some of the ancient legends hold that Pythagoras

was the instructor of the Druidic priests, and that Pythagoras himself

was in close communication with the Brahmins of India, and the

Hermetists of Egypt. Other legends have it that the Druids received

their first instruction from Zamolais, who had been a slave and student

of Pythagoras. At any rate, the correspondence between the two schools

of philosophy is remarkable.



Much of the Druidic teachings has been lost, and it is difficult to

piece together the fragments. But enough is known to indicate the above

mentioned relationship to the Pythagorean school, and of the firm hold

of the doctrine of Reincarnation upon the Druids. The preserved

fragments show that the Druids taught that there was in man an

immaterial, spiritual part, called "Awen," which proceeded from an

Universal Spiritual Principle of Life. They taught that this "Awen" had

animated the lower forms of life, mineral, vegetable and animal, before

incarnating as man. In those conditions it was entangled and imprisoned

in the state of "abysmal circling," called "Anufu," from which it

finally escaped and entered into the "circle of freedom," called

"Abred," or human incarnation and beyond. This state of "Abred" includes

life in the various human races on this and other planets, until finally

there is a further liberation of the "Awen," which then passes on to the

"Circle of Bliss," or "Gwynfid," where it abides for aeons in a state of

ecstatic being. But, beyond even this transcendent state, there is

another, which is called the "Circle of the Infinite," or "Ceugant,"

which is identical with the "Union with God" of the Persians and Greek

Mystics, or the "Nirvana" of the Hindus. Rather an advanced form of

philosophy for "barbarians," is it not? Particularly when contrasted

with the crude mythology of the Roman conquerors!



The Gauls were so advanced in the practical phases of occultism that

they gave every condemned criminal a respite of five years, after

sentence of death, before execution, in order that he might prepare

himself for a future state by meditation, instruction and other

preparation; and also to prevent ushering an unprepared and guilty soul

into the plane of the departed--the advantages of which plan is apparent

to every student of occultism who accepts the teaching regarding the

astral planes.



The reader will understand, of course, that the degree of advancement in

spiritual and philosophical matters evidenced by the Gauls was due not

to the fact that these people were generally so far advanced beyond

their neighbors, but rather to the fact that they had been instructed by

the Druid priests among them. Tradition has it that the original Druidic

priests came to Gaul and other countries from some far-off land,

probably from Egypt or Greece. We have spoken of the connection between

their teachings and that of the Pythagoreans, and there was undoubtedly

a strong bond of relationship between these priests and the occultists

of other lands. The Druidic priests were well versed in astronomy and

astrology, and the planets had an important part in the teachings. A

portion of their ritual is said to have correspondences with the early

Jewish rites and worship. Their favorite symbol--the mistletoe--was used

as indicating re-birth, the mistletoe being the new life springing forth

from the old one, typified by the oak. The Druids traveled into Ancient

Britain and Ireland, and many traces of their religious rites may still

be found there, not only in the shape of the stone places-of-worship,

but also in many curious local customs among the peasantry. Many a bit

of English folk-lore--many an odd Irish fancy concerning fairies and the

like; symbols of good-luck; banshees and "the little-folk"--came

honestly to these people from the days of the Druids. And from the same

source came the many whispered tales among both races regarding the

birth of children who seemed to have remembrances of former lives on

earth, which memory faded away as they grew older. Among these people

there is always an undercurrent of mystic ideas about souls "coming

back" in some mysterious way not fully understood. It is the inheritance

from the Druids.