The Three Worlds

[Frater G]

Here is another chapter from The Occult Anatomy of Man by Manly P. Hall.

THE THREE WORLDS

According to the mystery schools the human body is divided into three major parts and in the analogy with this the universe without is said to be composed of three worlds: heaven, earth, hell. Heaven is the superior world and for some unknown reason is supposed to be above, although Ingersoll proved conclusively that owing to the rotation of the earth, up and down are always changing places. Nearly all religions teach that God dwells in the heavens. Their members are taught to believe that God is above them, so they raise their hands in prayer and lift their eyes to the heavens when they implore or petition him. Among some nations he is supposed to dwell on the tops of mountains, which are the highest places in the world. Wherever he is and whatever he is, his place of domicile is above, overshadowing the world below.

Between heaven above and hell beneath is the earth which the Scandinavians call Midgard, or the middle garden. It is suspended in space and forms the dwelling place of men and other living creatures. It is connected to the heavens by a rainbow bridge down which the gods descend. Its volcanic craters and fissures are said to connect it with hell, the land of darkness and oblivion. Here, “twixt heaven and earth dominion wielding,” as Goethe said, exists nature. The green grass, the flowing rivers, the mighty ocean, exist only in the middle world, which is a sort of neutral ground where the hosts of good and evil fight their eternal battle of Armageddon.

Below, in darkness and flames, torment and suffering, is the world of Hel, which we have interpreted as hell. It is the great beneath; for as surely as we think of heaven as up, we think of hell as down, while this middle place (earth) seems to be the dividing line between them. In hell are the forces of evil, the tearing, rending, destroying powers which are always bringing sorrow to the earth and which struggle untiringly to overthrow the throne of the gods in heaven.

The entire system is an anatomical myth, for the heaven world of the ancients—the domed temple on the top of the mountain—was the skull with its divine contents. This is the home of the gods in man. It is termed up because it occupies the northern end of the human spine. The temple of the gods who rule the earth is said to be at the North Pole, which also, by the way, is the home of Santa Claus, because the North Pole represents the positive end of the spinal column of the planetary lord. Santa Claus, coming down the chimney with his sprig of evergreen (the Christmas tree) at the season of the year when nature is dead, has a fine Masonic interpretation for those who wish to study it.

The same is true of the manna that descended to feed the children of Israel in the wilderness, for the manna is a substance which comes down the spinal cord from the brain. The Hindus symbolized the spine as the stem of the sacred lotus; therefore the skull and contents are symbolized by the flower. The spinal column is Jacob’s ladder connecting heaven and earth, while its thirty three segments are the degrees of Masonry and the number of years of the life of Christ. Up these segments the candidate ascends in consciousness to reach the temple of initiation located on the top of the mountain. It is in this domed room with a hole in the floor (foramen magnum) that the great mystery initiations are given. The Himalaya Mountains rise above the earth, representing the shoulders and upper half of the body. They are the highest mountains of the world. Somewhere upon their summit stands the temple, resting (like the heavens of the Greeks) upon the shoulders of Atlas. It is interesting to note that the atlas is the upper vertebra of the human spine upon which the condyles of the skull rest. In the brain there are a number of caves (ventricles and folds), and in them (according to Eastern legends) live the wise men—the yogis and hermits. The caves of the yogis are said to be located at the head of the Ganges River. Every religion has its sacred river. To the Christians it is the Jordan; to the Egyptians it is the Nile; while to the Hindus it is the Ganges. The sacred river is the spinal canal, which has its source among the peaks of the mountains. The holy men in their retreats represent the spiritual eye sense centers in the human brain and are the seven sleepers of the Koran who must remain in the darkness of the caves until the spirit fire vitalizes them.

The brain is the upper room referred to in the Gospels where Jesus met with his disciples, and it is said that the disciples themselves represent the twelve convolutions of the brain. It is these twelve convolutions which later send their messages by means of the nerves into the body below to convert the Gentiles, or to preach the gospel in the middle earth. These twelve convolutions gather around the central opening of the brain (the third ventricle), which is the holy of holies—the mercy seat—where between the spreading wings of the angels Jehovah talks with the high priest, and where both day and night the Shekinah’s glory hovers. From this point also the spirit finally ascends from Golgotha, the place in the skull. It is a clairvoyant fact that the spirit not only leaves but also enters the body through the crown of the head, probably giving rise to Santa Claus and his chimney.

The Trinity in man lives in the three great chambers of the human body, from which they radiate their power throughout the three worlds. These centers are the brain, the heart, and the reproductive system. These are the three main chambers of the pyramid and also the rooms in which are given the Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Masons degrees of Blue Lodge Masonry. In these three chambers dwell the Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost, who are symbolized by the three-lettered word AUM. The transmutation, regeneration, and the unfoldment of these three great centers result in the sounding of the Lost Word, which is the great secret of the Masonic Order. From the spinal nerves come impulses and life forces which make this possible. Therefore the Mason is told to consider carefully his substitute word, which means “the marrow of the bone.”

In the cerebellum, or posterior brain—which has charge of the motive system of the human body and is the only brain developed in the animal—is to be found a little tree-like growth which has long been symbolized by the sprig of the acacia and such is referred to in the Masonic allegory.

The two lobes or the cerebrum were called by the ancients Cain and Abel, and have much to do with the legend of the curse of Cain, which is literally the curse of unbalance. For the murder of the spirit of equilibrium Cain is sent forth a wanderer upon the face of the earth. I have in my possession a very remarkable skull which originally rested on the shoulders of a homicide. It is of high organic quality, but bears the curse of Cain. This individual had a grudge which he nursed very carefully. Nursed grudges sometimes become very dangerous things. This person swore that when he met a certain man he would cut out his heart and throw it in his face. A number of years passed, his hatred grew, and at last meeting his enemy he attacked him and fulfilled his threat. He was hanged for the crime, but the skull bearing the testimony to the brain reveals a very interesting fact. The right half of the brain is under the control of Mercury—the planet of intelligence—and as a result of the crossing of the brain nerves at the base of the skull it rules the left side of the body. The left half of the brain, under the control of Mars—the spirit of anger and impulse—rules the right side of the body and likewise the strong right arm. As the result of his hatred and the rulership of Mars which grew out of that hatred, the left rear side of the brain is fully twice the size of the right side. The individual allowed Mars to control his nature. The impetuosity of Mars ruled him, and he paid with his life for the mark of Cain. Science knows there is a very narrow line between genius and insanity; for any dominating vice or virtue man must pay with unbalance. Unbalance always distorts the viewpoint, and distorted viewpoints are unfailingly productive of misery.

In the skull is the switchboard which controls the activities of the body. Every function of man below the neck is controlled by a center of consciousness in the brain. Proof of this is the fact that injury to certain centers of the brain results in paralysis of various parts of the body. Medical science now knows that the spinal cord is an elongation of the brain, and some authorities even claim the cord is capable of intelligence throughout its entire length. This cord is the flaming sword which is supposed to have stood at the gates of the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden is in the skull, within which is a tree bearing twelve manner of fruit.

The brain is filled with vaulted chambers and passageways which have their correspondence in the spans and arches of the temples, while the third ventricle is undoubtedly the King Chamber of the Great Pyramid. The spinal cord is the serpent of the ancients. In Central and South America the Saviour God is called Quetzalcoatl. His name means a feathered serpent, and this has always been his symbol. This is the brazen serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness. The nine rattles on the tail of the serpent are called the number of man, and they represent the sacral and coccygeal bones within whose centers the secret of human evolution is contained.

Every organ of the physical body is reproduced in the brain, where it can be traced by the law of analogy. There are two embryonic human forms, one male and the other female, twisted together in the brain. These are the Yin and the Yang of China, the black and white dragons biting at each other. One of these figures has its organ of expression the pineal gland, and the other the pituitary body. These two ductless glands are well worth consideration, for they are very important factors in the unfolding of human consciousness. While appearing to have no functions, they have not atrophied; and as nature preserves no unnecessary organs they must have a very important part to play. It is known that these glands are larger and more active in higher grades of mentality than in those of lower quality, and in certain congenial idiots they are very small.

These two little glands are called the head and the tail of the dragon of wisdom. They are the copper and zinc poles of an electric circuit which has the entire body as a human battery.

The pituitary body (which rests in the sella turcica of the sphenoid bone directly behind and just below the bridge of the nose and connected to the third ventricle by a tiny tube called infundibulum) is the feminine pole, or negative center, which has charge of the expressions of physical energy. Its activity also regulates to a large degree the size and weight of the body. It is also a thermometer revealing disorder in any other of the chain of ductless glands. Endocrinology (the study of the ductless glands and their secretions) is still in its embryonic stage, but some day it will be revealed as the most important of all medical sciences. The pituitary body is known under the following symbols by the ancient world: The alchemical retort, the mouth of the dragon, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Grail, the lunar crescent, the laver of purification, one of the cherubim of the Ark, the Isis of Egypt, the Radha of India, and the fish’s mouth. It may well be called the hope of glory of the physical man. At the opposite end of the third ventricle and a little higher is the pineal gland, which looks not unlike a pine cone (from which it secured its name).

[Frater G]

Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge, keeper of the Egyptian antiquities in the British Museum, mentions in one of his works the Egyptian custom of tying pine cones on the tops of their heads. He states that in the papyrus rolls these cones are fastened to the tops of the heads of the dead when taken into the presence of Osiris, lord of the underworld. Undoubtedly this symbol referred to the pineal gland. It was a custom of certain African tribes to fasten pieces of fat to the tops of their heads, and allow it to melt in the sun and run down over them, as part of their religious observances. It is interesting that the American Indian should wear his feather- which was originally symbolical of his Christ- in the same place where the Christian Monk shaves his head. The Hindus teach that the pineal gland is the third eye, called the Eye of Dangma. It is called by the Buddhists the all-seeing eye, and is spoken of in Christianity as the eye single.We are told that ages ago the pineal gland was an organ of sense orientation by which man cognized the spiritual world, but that with the coming of the material senses and the two objective eyes it ceased to be used, and during the time of the Lemurian race retreated to it’s present position in the brain. It is said that children, recapitulating their previous periods of evolution, have a limited use of the third eye up to their seventh year, at which times the skull bones grow together. This accounts for the semi-clairvoyant condition of children, who are far more sensitive than adults along psychic lines. The pineal gland is supposed to secrete an oil, which is called resin, the life of the pine tree. This word is supposed to be involved in the origin of the Rosicrucians, who were working with the secretions of the pineal gland and seeking to open the eye single; for it is said in scripture: “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single thy whole body shall be filled with light.”
The pineal gland is the tail of the dragon and has a tiny finger-like protuberance at one end. This gland is called Joseph, for it is the father of the God-man. The finger like protuberance is called the staff of God, sometimes the holy spear. Its shape is like the evaporating vessels of the alchemists. It is a spiritual organ which is later destined to be what it once was, namely a connecting link between the human and the divine. The vibrating finger on the end of this gland is the rod of Jesse and the scepter of the high priest. Certain exercises as given in the Eastern and Western mystery schools cause this little finger to vibrate, resulting in a buzzing, droning sound in the brain. (G’s input here...Think of just before leaving the body during astral projection...this is the why we hear this sound) This is sometimes very distressing, especially when the individual who experiences this phenomena, in all too many cases, knows nothing about the experiences through which he is passing.

In the middle of the brain and surrounded by the convolutions is the third ventricle, a vaulted chamber of initiation. Around it sit three kings, three great centers of life and power-the pituitary body, the pineal gland, and the optic thalamus. In this chamber also is a small gritty seed which is undoubtedly connected with the king’s coffer in the Great Pyramid. The third ventricle is supposed to be the seat of the soul, and the aura radiating from the heads of saints and sages is said to represent the golden glow pouring from this third ventricle.

Between the eyes and just above the nose is a spreading in the frontal bone of the skull which is called the frontal sinus. The slight bulge caused by the spreading of this bone is known to phrenology as the seat of individuality. It is here that the jewels are placed on the foreheads of the Buddhas, and it is also from this point that the serpent rose from the crown of the ancient Egyptians. Several of the mystery schools teach that this is the seat of Jehovah in the human body. While his function is through the generative system, his center of consciousness as a part of the spirit of man is supposed to be located in the sea of blue ether called the veil of Isis, in the center of the frontal sinus. When clairvoyantly studying the body of man that this little point always shows up as a black dot and cannot be analyzed.

The Palatine hill of the ancients, upon which were built the temples of Jupiter and Juno, also has its place in the human body. The palate bone is a sort of hill shaped structure, and right above it are the orbital cavities containing the two eyes, which are the Jupiter and Juno of the ancient world.

The cross, of course, represents the human body. The upper limb of it is the head of man rising above the horizontal line of his outstretched arms. As already stated, the great churches and cathedrals of the world have been built in the form of a cross, and contain (where the head should be) the altar upon which are burning lighted candles. These candles are symbolic of spiritual sense centers of the brain, while the custom of placing a rose window over the altar suggests the soft place in the top of the skull. The skull—the upper room—is the sanctum sanctorum of the Masonic Temple, and so it only the pure can aspire.

The winged bone, which medical science knows as the sphenoid, is the Egyptian scarab, carrying in its claws the pituitary body and also bearing aloft the gleaming spark of immortality located in the frontal sinus.

We are told in ancient mythologies that the gods came down from heaven and walked with men, instructing them in the arts and sciences. In a similar way the godlike powers in man descend from the heaven world of his brain to carry on the work of constructing and reconstructing natural substances. We are told that in the ultimate of evolution man’s body will slowly be dissolved back again into the brain (which was its origin) until nothing remains but seven globular centers radiating seven perfect sense perceptions, which are the spirits before the throne and the saviors which he is bringing into the world to redeem it through the seven periods of his growth.

Man is an inverted plant, gaining his nourishment from the sun as the plant does from the earth. As the life of the plant ascends its stem to nourish its leaves and branches, so the life of man (rooted in the brain) descends to produce the same result. This life descending is symbolized as the world saviors who come down into the world to die for men. Later these lives are returned again to the brain, where they glorify man before all the worlds of creation. So much for the story of the brain. Now let us consider the next of man’s marvelous parts, namely, the spinal column.




To be continued.... ;D

[elijah]

this is all terribly interesting. Thank you Keep going