In this capacity the initiate is Quetzalcoatl, who, like Osiris, Krishna, etc., was black—that is, the unknowable and mysterious in Deity. This is why Quetzalcoatl is always shown with a black face, although he was called the Fair God. He belonged to the white race, and was the Aztec Yermah.
The antediluvians—the men who invented architecture—used the human form, the pyramid, the pentagram, and the interlaced triangles as a basis of measure and form.
The pyramid and pentagram denote the cone, or center, of sacred fire; the interlaced triangles were the balance of spirit and matter; while the obelisk was intended to show the purified nature of man.
The pillar of fire of Jacob was an obelisk. So were Stonehenge, Ellora, the Babel towers of Central America, Babylon and Judea, the gigantic ruins over all Tartary and India, and the totem-pole of the Eskimo—even the tombstones have the same grand origin.
That the obelisk everywhere outside of Egypt became a sign of the phallus does not alter its primal significance nor militate against it.
The pyramid was often called the Pillar of the Cosmos because it is the ideal form of the principle of stability, and cannot be assailed by any of the four elements.
Its tapering form guards it from destruction by earthquake; nor can it be overturned; and it is probably the only fireproof structure in the world.
The immense base and weight render it secure from floods; nor can the wind get sufficient purchase to do any damage.
Even the insidious encroachments of Time itself are baffled and outwitted by this cunningly constructed pile. It is, also, a perfect instrument for estimating the weight of the earth; and, it is an excellent astronomical observatory.
In its central chamber the temperature never varies.