The Mahdi Times The Mahdi Times Issue #26 January 2015 | Page 50

before the Christian era.
And this policy of careful
dissemination of the truth
has always characterized
the Hermetics, even unto
the present day. The
Hermetic Teachings are to
be found in all lands,
among all religions, but
never identified with any
particular country, nor
with any particular
religious sect. This because
of the warning of the
ancient teachers against
allowing the Secret
Doctrine to become
crystallized into a creed.
The wisdom of this caution
is apparent to all students
of history. The ancient
occultism of India and
Persia degenerated and was
largely lost, owing to the
fact that the teachers
became priests and so
mixed theology with the
philosophy, the result
being that the occultism of
India and Persia has been
gradually lost amidst the
mass of religious
superstition, cults, creeds
and "gods." So it was with
Ancient Greece and Rome.
So it was with the Hermetic

Teachings of the Gnostics
and Early Christians, which
were lost at the time of
Constantine, whose iron
hand smothered
philosophy with the
blanket of theology, losing
to the Christian Church
that which was its very
essence and spirit and
causing it to grope
throughout several
centuries before it found
the way back to its ancient
faith, the indications
apparent to all careful
observers in this Twentieth
Century being that the
Church is now struggling to
get back to its ancient
mystic teachings.
But there were always a few
faithful souls who kept
alive the Flame, tending it
carefully and not allowing
its light to become
extinguished. And thanks
to these staunch hearts and
fearless minds, we have the
truth still with us. But it is
not found in books, to any
great extent. It has been
passed along from Master
to Student; from Initiate to
Hierophant; from lip to ear.
When it was written down