Book of Saphah

These that follow are the first three rites of Emethachavah, that is to say: M’git’ow (Dawn)

M’git’ow said: A baker came to sell me bread. I said: Sell your bread to my wife. She and I are one.

The baker said: The two are one?

This was the beginning of wisdom. I went into a field and heard the birds singing:

The Unknown said: The two are one!

I said: If you could, O Father, make all men as one, there would be peace and joy! No war!

The Unknown said: Make the Family of the Ancients! Husband and wife shall be your key. Husband, wife and children shall be your model.

I said: I cannot make all men think alike, act alike, do alike.

A vision came upon me. I saw a score of musicians, and every one had a different instrument, and they set about tuning their instruments, every one his own way, saying: Unless we have our instruments tuned as one instrument, there can be no music; tune, therefore, your instrument to mine.

After a long while they wearied, for they were no nearer than when they started. And every one said: It is impossible to attune them! It is useless to try anymore.

The Unknown spoke out of the firmament, saying: Choose one instrument first, and then attune another one to it. This accomplished, attune then a third instrument to them; after that a fourth, and so on, and you shall be all attuned alike.

So the musicians set to work, but could not agree whose should be the first instrument.

A pillar of fire descended from heaven and stood in the midst of the musicians; and in the center of the pillar of fire there appeared an instrument called the All Perfect.

The instrument gave forth one note, and all the musicians attuned to it. The Voice said: I have given the KEYNOTE, you find the rest.

The pillar of fire departed. The instruments, thus attuned in harmony, played rapturously. The vision then departed.

This I perceive: To make the man and wife one; to make the man, wife and child one; to make the village one; to make the state one; to make the empire one; all in harmony, as one instrument, cannot be done without a Central Sun, a Creator, to attune to. When a man is attuned to Him, and a woman attuned to Him, they will, themselves, be as one. When the family and the village are attuned to Him, it is easy. Without Him harmony cannot be.

He, the Creator, then, must be first in all things, first in all places. He must be the nearest of all things, nearest of all places. In our rites and ceremonies, He must be the All Ideal Perfection! The embodiment of a Perfect Person. (End of prelude.) (T. goes to the altar and lights the incense, and the priests come and stand beside the altar; they, and the initiates with them, saying:)

Emblem of worlds moldering into dust and of the harvest of souls ascending to the etherean realms above; emblem of my own mortal dissolution and of the ascent of my soul, but where, O Jehovih!

In You, Jehovih, I will have faith. In You only. Emeth (Faith) shall be my name, the foundation of my soul.

From this time forward I will eschew fame and the applause of men. I will fold my hands against earthly fame, and in Your name, prepare my soul for heaven! (Signs withheld from publication.)

EAST: Into man’s hands I gave dominion over all the earth; but I rule over man both on earth and in heaven, says Jehovih. I fashioned the earth and breathed upon it, and man came forth a living soul. I made the veins in his body, and I made him conscious that he is. I speak into his ear, and hold up My hand before him so that he may not err, but rejoice that he lives, and so that he may glorify Me and My works. But he turns aside and boasts there is no one greater than man.

P. AND I: O Jehovih, mighty in heaven, hallowed be Your name! May I never forget You nor set myself up against You or Your kingdoms! (One bell.)

E: Who are these that call on Jehovih’s name?

P.: Wanderers on the earth who are unappeased with corporeal things. In Jehovih’s name we turn from Corpor to Es.

E: For what purpose are you in this holy chamber?

I: To be initiated into the light and dominions of heaven.

E: Have you been prepared for this?

I: Yes.

E: How have you been prepared?

I: We abstain from flesh food and from strong drink, and endeavor to purify our corporeal bodies.

E: Man may be pure in the corporeal body, but unprepared to receive the wisdom of high heaven. How else have you been prepared?

I: We have witnessed the spirits of the dead who have returned to the earth, re-clothed in corporeal appearances. We have talked with them in the presence of witnesses.

E: My friends, since you live on the earth and can commune with the spirits of heaven, why are you still unappeased?

I: The people of the earth lust after the things of the earth, and deceive us on all occasions. The spirits who manifest are of little wisdom; they know only a little of heaven.

E: Since your faith in mortals is nothing, and your faith in spirits from heaven little more, how do you hope to gain wisdom and truth by calling on the name of Jehovih?

I: We know there are angels in heaven who have risen above the bondage of earth. We aim to purify ourselves, so that they may come to us and give us light. By attuning ourselves to Jehovih, we have faith that He will provide us according to our talents, which we received from His hand.

E: Have you not called for the spirits of the well-known?

I: Alas, we find that spirits can assume any name and form, and so, deceive us. We have no faith in names; they are like the wind. Some spirits have kingdoms in the lower heavens, and they seek to win subjects for themselves in time to come.

E: How do you hope to distinguish free spirits from the bound?

I: Spirits who talk of their own earthly lives, and of earthly things, are familiar spirits who abide with mortals. There are spirits above them who can come and teach us about things in heaven. By serving Jehovih, we hope to adapt ourselves to their presence.

E: Have Osiris, Baal, Dagon and Ashtaroth, not appeared in many places?

I: It is said so, but they have shown no wisdom, nor have they come except through deceivers and persons who lust after earthly things.

E: Unless you become workers for Jehovih, by lifting up your fellow-men, how can you hope for good angels to come and lift you up?

I: What shall we do? Give us light?

E: Make a covenant with Jehovih so that your pledges can be recorded in high heaven. Consider your words, for Jehovih is ever present and hears all done in His name. Angels are also present, who have no interest in the affairs of men, except for the redemption of their souls. That which you swear, you shall do from this time forward forever!

P. AND I: This, then, is my covenant: I will serve You, O Jehovih, and no other God or Lord, nor any other person born of woman, who professes to save the souls of men; nor will I pray to them nor adore them; for by their names, the nations of the earth have been accursed with war and destruction. But to You only, O Jehovih, I will pay homage and adoration, now and forever. For You, I will labor, by doing righteously toward all men, and equally with all these my brethren, the Emeth in one Everlasting Father, Creator of worlds! With all my might, wisdom and love, I will strive to enlighten my fellow-men and to lift them up out of darkness. My labor shall be more for others than for myself, from this time forward forever! And my substance shall be given to relieve the helpless and distressed. Help me, O Jehovih, and make me strong in this my covenant, now and forever. Amen.

E: This is the Dawn! Behold the rising Sun! (The salutation withheld from publication.)

You are now on the road of everlasting light. Do not swerve from your covenant with Jehovih, and the spirits from the second heaven will abide with you. He who taught you before will invest you with, etc. (Withheld from publication.)

In the name of Eolin, and by His power and wisdom vested in me, I receive you as my brother (or sister, as the case may be), of the Ancient Order of Dawn of the Brotherhood of Emeth, and I salute you with the rod, etc. (Withheld from publication.) Hi’dang (High Noon) [High Noon, or Sun Degree. The same Tablet is used in this degree as in Dawn. The children of Dawn always used the sacred name of Eolin, while the sons and daughters of the All Light say, Eloih or Jehovih. For the full reading of the Tablet Emeth, the student will find assistance in the preceding tablets. – Ed.]