The Initiates of the Flame

by Manly P. Hall

The Sphinx again symbolizes man, with the mind and spirit of the human rising out of the animal desires and emotions. It is the riddle of the ages, and man is once more the answer.

It is said that in ancient times the Sphinx was the gateway of the pyramid, and that there was an underground passage which led from the Sphinx to Cheops. This would make the symbolism even more perfect, for the gateway to the spirit is through the bodies according to the ancients.

Let us now enter the pyramid and passing through the corridors come to the King’s Chamber as it is called. There are three great rooms in the pyramid which are of great interest to the student. The highest is the King’s Chamber, then below that is the Queen’s Chamber, and down below the surface of the earth is the Pit. Here we again find the great correlation between the pyramid and man. The three rooms are the three great divisions in man which are the seats of the threefold spirit. The lower room is the generative system under the control of Jehovah. The center room or Queen’s Chamber is the heart, under the control of the Christ; and the upper room or the King’s Chamber is the brain, which is under the control of the Father. In this upper room is the coffer made of stone, the meaning of which has never been explained, but which the student recognizes as the third ventricle in the brain.

It is quite certain also that this coffer was used as a tomb during initiation, when as is the case in the Masonic initiations of today, (which are the remnants of the ancient mysteries) the candidate was buried in the earth and resurrected, a symbol of the death of the lower man and the liberation of the higher.

It is said that Moses was initiated in the Great Pyramid, and some also say that Jesus was instructed there also. Be that as it may, we know that for thousands of years since the time it was built by the Atlanteans it has been the greatest temple of Initiation in the world. It seems also that its work is not yet done, for mutely it is teaching those who will see the mysteries of creation.

It is said by many that it is the original Solomon’s Temple, but this we know is not true, for while it may be the first and original material temple, the true temple of Solomon is the universe, the Solarman’s temple, which is slowly being rebuilt in man as the temple of the Soul of Man.

There is probably no point that is as important in connection with the pyramid as that of the corner stone. On the very top of the great pyramid is a comparatively flat place about thirty feet square. In other words the TRUE STONE WHICH IS THE HEAD OF ALL THE CORNERS IS MISSING. If we look at the reverse side of the United States seal, we find again the pyramid from which the top is separated. Omar Khayyam, the Persian Poet, gives us the secret of the keystone when he says:

“From my base metal shall be filed a key,

Which shall unlock the door he howls without.”

The value of the stone is better understood when you understand that it completes all of the triangles at once, and without it none of them are complete.