[40] The 28th March, 1880. S.H.H.
[41] The name by which I was thus addressed had been given me by our illuminators as an initiation name, as that of "Mary" to her. It denoted love as the dominant note of our work, and was an equivalent for "John the Beloved," who—we were given to understand—is one of the two controlling "angels" of the new illumination—Daniel being the other—in accordance with the intimations given by Jesus, one to His disciples and the other to the Seer of the Apocalypse himself, that John should tarry within reach of the earth-plane to bear part in the event which was to constitute the second advent of Christ. These names had a further correspondence in the Greek parable of Eros and Psyche, which denotes love as the vivifying principle of the soul. E.M.
[42] Materialism and Superstition.
[43] The name Esther denotes a star or fountain of light, a dawn or rising.
[44] The spelling of the names is that of the Douay Version, the Protestants having relegated the second part of the book of Esther, in which the latter part of this narrative occurs, to the Apocrypha. As also that of Ezra above cited. E.M.
[45] These are disclosed in "The Life of A.K." The personality referred to on this occasion was "Faustine, the Roman," the Empress of Marcus Aurelius. (Life A.K. Vol. I. pp. 353-354.) S.H.H.
[46] The "Hymn of Aphrodite," including the "Discourse of the Communion of Souls, and of the Uses of Love between Creature and Creature; being part of the Golden Book of Venus," from which latter the above is taken, is given in full in the P.W. pp. 350-356.
[47] The instruction concerning inspiration and prophesying was received by A.K. in Paris on the 7th February, 1880. S.H.H.
[48] P.W. pp. 311-314. Life A.K. Vol. I. pp. 344-345.
[49] The occasion of the receipt by A.K. and E.M. of the above was one of peculiar interest. It was given in reference to a visit from the late Laurence Oliphant, an account of which will be found in "The Life of A.K." It will suffice to say here that, having heard of their work, Oliphant came to them as an emissary from his chief in America, Thomas Lake Harris, to summon them to place themselves and all that they were and had, at his disposal as the king and Christ of the new dispensation. The above instruction was given to them in direct reference to this incident. It was followed by others fully exposing the delusive source and nature of the doctrine and practice of Laurence Oliphant and Thomas Lake Harris. The above Exhortation of Hermes to his Neophytes is now given in full in this book for the first time. It is taken from "The Life of A.K." Vol. I. pp. 282-283. S.H.H.