CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
RAHULA’S DENUNCIATION OF YERMAH—AT THE FUNERAL OF ORONDO
The Azes believed that every part of a man’s body had a counterpart in the world of matter. At the moment of dissolution, the individual ego was thought to be reunited to the Absolute, if Will, which is the real body of the individualized spirit, is free from Desire. If bound by these ties, it must reincarnate again, and it was thought possible to sink so low in the scale that the life principle would contact the animal kingdom.
These people did not practice cremation of the dead, because they did not think it right to skip all the intervening purgations, or reincarnations, by projecting the ego back into the Absolute at once.
They embalmed their honored dead and mummified their bodies in order that the individuality might be preserved, so that in the next incarnation memory might function on the physical plane.
There are excellent examples of this practice found in the catacombs in Mexico and Peru as well as in Egypt where the descendants of Atlantis employed the same rites. The Egyptian “Book of the Dead” pertains entirely to initiation, or the finding of the Perfect Way in this life; and the well-known portions of it found with mummies are simply certificates of initiation.
It is a curious fact in psychology that, so long as the physical body is preserved, the astral counterpart cannot disintegrate; and as memory is a function of the astral man, the Egyptian adepts expect to take up their life work again with a full knowledge of the past.
The negative magnetic laws govern the astral and psychic qualities of man, while the positive electric currents control the physical. Time and space have no influence over the former conditions—facts which were well known to primitive civilizations.
The papakoo, or cemetery of Tlamco, was a terraced range of hills, south of Mountain Lake, then called the River of Mystery, which still lies between Golden Gate Park and the ocean on the north. It is much shrunken in proportions and depth, though retaining the same oblong outline. The hills form a natural divide between the Park and Sutro Heights, and then as now jutted into the ocean at their northern extremity.
For six weeks the embalmers were engaged with the body of Orondo, and when they had finished, it was completely mummified. They put salt on his breast, as an emblem of immortality, and a gold gorget around his neck, with the inscription:
“O Hidden Being! Turn thy face toward the body of thy son!”
The corpse was wrapped in fine linen bandelettes, and a Saint Andrew’s cross of copper was laid over the region of the heart outside the enveloping swathes.
In the northwestern portion of the city, at the upper end of the lake, was the Temple of Uranus, where dwelt the priesthood who had charge of the dead.
This mound had a circular earth vallum seven hundred feet in diameter, which is one three-hundred-thousandths of the diameter of the planet Uranus.
It was here that Orondo’s body was prepared for burial, and it was from this place that the funeral cortége embarked. While it was being rowed across the lake, the mourners scattered rushes on its smooth surface as a sacrifice and peace-offering.
Yermah, Setos, Imos and Hanabusa rowed the funeral barge; and when it landed at the opposite end, they lifted the mummy onto the catafalque standing ready to receive it.
All that was mortal of Orondo was laid in a bed of aloe, yew, cypress, weeping-willow, rosemary and yellow marigolds, while over him was spread the fated mantle given to him by Yermah. On top of this was the sword, helmet and shield of the deceased.
A long line of warriors, with reversed spears, whose pennants trailed in the dust, marched up a long line of mastodon-headed sphinxes, to the judgment hall of Hirach, where the deceased would be tried for the deeds done in the body.
“O Maker of the material world! Thou Holy One! Whither shall we bring, where shall we lay, the bodies of our dead?”
After the body came Yermah, Setos, Imos and Hanabusa, followed by civic deputations, priests and priestesses, and a great concourse of people.
The judgment hall stood on the south side of Mountain Lake, near the plowed out Golden Gate, and had a rock foundation which the Azes called Gharepo. The building was erected in the exact center of a huge pentagram, the apex of which was on the rock Gharepo, the east foot on the north peak of Las Papas, and the west in the ocean, near the Cliff House shore. The feet of Hirach were correlated to those of the pentagram. He was stepping from the ocean to the mountain, signifying the involution of the ego from the astral universe into the material world. Hirach was a counterpart of the Amen of Revelation, who had “one foot on the sea and one on solid land,” etc.
The circle surrounding Hirach described the orbit of Mars, which corresponds to the body of Desire. The sixth labor crushes this principle, but in so doing opens the path for the initiate to measure the proportions of the cosmos; and properly adjust them one to the other.
Mars is the planetary phase of the Red Dragon, the eating of whose heart forms the means by which Sigierd, the Norse hero, attained Wisdom. The heart is triple, emblematic of the three cardinal virtues, Will, Aspiration and Harmony, and their common center—the spirit, was the altar in the middle of the judgment hall.
From the center of the holy of holies were struck the distances of the four inner planets; hence it not only showed the three radii of the earth, but the three phases of Hermes, or Wisdom, and the ego in the three worlds, which in this instance was the higher personality sitting in judgment on the deeds done in the body.
The relative size of the earth was represented by the tip of the devotee’s forefinger as he entered the western door and held up his hand in adoration and salutation to Deity.
The structure was shaped like a cross, and was surmounted by tall spires. Over the entrance was an entablature propped by two square capitals. Above this was a frieze with the hieroglyphs of Truth, Fire and Light surrounded by twelve symbolical groups.
Between the sixth and seventh, a figure knelt and stretched out its arms above the two sacred eyes, symbolizing the north and south. This alluded to the diurnal motion of the sun, which is an implicit promise of resurrection, from the sky above us.
At the ends of the emblematic row was another figure, poising a pair of balances.
In the western arm of the cross was a throne, surmounted by a canopy representing the Tree of Life. The golden fleece hung in its branches, and in the center was the lamb immeshed in a nimbus.
Seated on the throne was Hirach, a priest from the Temple of Neptune, whose face was hidden by a green mask. On his head was a tall conical hat made of alternating stripes of red and green, and the same combination of color was observable in his costume.
The mantle was green; the tunic, red; while the arms and legs were covered with striped cloth, as he sat with arms crossed over his breast. In his right hand was a crook, while in his left was a flail.
Hirach, or Conscious Life, personated the higher self of the dead man, and it was his office to weigh the thoughts, words and deeds of Orondo, against the image of Truth. On each side of him stood a priestess, representing the two phases of truth. One held a lily in her hand, to show that she stood for Truth in Action; while the other held the quill of an eagle, signifying that she was Truth in Thought, itself.
The two attendants were clothed in trailing white draperies, and their hands were crossed over their breasts. The sleeves came only to the elbow, but were long and wide, like those worn by Japanese women. Only the throat was revealed at the neck, and there was a peculiar allegorical girdle around the waist. These figures were known as Ma.
When we call our mothers “Ma,” we are addressing them as the Principle of Truth—a singularly fitting name; since the mother is the literal image of Truth to the child, until he is old enough to discover it by reasoning processes.
Osiris, the spirit within the earth, draws every soul to him with a crook, and repulses it with a flail.
The ceremony about to be enacted quaintly set forth the trials by the law of causation, or experience, undergone by the individual in the process of being drawn into and thrown out of earth life. It was an enactment of the tragedy within each human heart.
On a square lectern in front of Hirach was a huge parchment scroll, tied with seven seals. By an ingenious arrangement, the lectern was also a support for a pair of balances. On the left side was a gold vase containing the heart of Orondo, which was soon to be weighed against a small image of Truth, on the right scale.
Between Hirach and the altar of offerings sat four intercessors, or Associate Judges, representing the material body, the astral body, soul and spirit. They were dressed in black, gray, purple and green.
The official mourners, selected from each of the guilds, and from the priesthood, made offerings to the four elements in nature corresponding to the four attributes of man. That to earth was a bunch of bearded wheat; that to water, a pond-lily; that to air, a white dove; while that to fire was a chalice of bergamot oil. After being consecrated and blessed, the offerings were brought forward by men dressed in blue, and laid upon the altar in their proper succession. The fires in the sacred urns in the burial service were used, in order that the life-principle present in fire might find the individual body it once inhabited.
Along the outer wall, in a semi-circle, were seated the forty-two assessors who were to try this novel case. They wore cloth-of-gold robes, and had a golden feather of Truth in the headbands over their closely curled hair, to show that they represented mental traits, and corresponded to the forty-two phrenological organs of the brain.
These assessors were divided into three groups, distinguishable by the color of their mantles. The first typified the psychic attributes, and pertained to the front of the cerebrum; the mental to the middle part of the head; while the material stood for the cerebellum.
The problem of the perfect life is solved by the even balance of these parts of the brain with the corresponding worlds of cosmic essence.
When the remains were placed between the altar of offerings and the lectern, the priestesses knelt on each side, followed by the official mourners.
Every eye was turned anxiously toward the Left-Hand Path, as the second entrance was called. Any citizen who had been wronged by the deceased in his lifetime, had a right to come into the temple and accuse him.
There had been mutterings and ominous shakings of the head, but no one seemed to be able to make definite statements.
Suddenly the door was flung open, and Rahula came in with an angry scowl on her face. She had on the mantle and red cap of the accuser of souls, and back of her was a numerous following; they, also, were dressed in red.
Each face whitened, and there was a tense, apprehensive feeling everywhere.
Yermah and Setos supported Ildiko, who rushed forward and threw herself at the foot of the bier. She was completely shrouded in black. On her head was a round wreath of black ivy, having a crown and long pennants of white gauze in the back. Her close-cropped hair was still better concealed by a broad band of the gauze which fastened to the wreath and came down under the chin, hiding the ears.
Ben Hu Barabe and Alcyesta stood near Ildiko, ready to offer assistance and sympathy, while Hanabusa supported Setos.
Oahspe, the Sun Virgin, enveloped in black, and wearing a gold mask for unknowable Deity, broke the seal and unrolled the parchment. As she did so, Imos prepared to record the verdict. Flinging his arms out on either side, he exclaimed:
“I give glory to Hirach, lord of the essences, living in truth! I have come to thee, bringing to thee truth. Where art thy attendant gods? Grant that I may be with them in thy company.”
A deep guttural voice behind the mask responded:
“Peace will not abide with thee until thou hast overthrown thine enemies.”
From out the phalanx on the right, Yermah stepped forward and lifted a determined face, pale as the linen robes he wore. Bringing his hands together high over his head, he said:
“Homage to thee, O Master of Truth! I come toward thee! I am here to contemplate thy splendor!”
“Give thy tongue truthful license, but speak no evil of the dead,” was the admonition of the Hirach.
Repeating the sign of asseveration, the Dorado began:
“Great and mighty Hirach, thou knowest that the gloom of the tomb is but the cradle of the sun. Before thee lies a pure, unsullied soul.
“Orondo had the three cardinal virtues of piety, because he loved his Creator, loved virtue, and loved man. He gave bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, garments to the naked. He who perceives him says he comes in peace.
“May he enter into rest, praised; may he go out, beloved—for there is no more fault or evil in him. Save him; protect him; for his mouth is clean and his hands are pure. He was free from the oppression of the widow and the fatherless.
“There was not by his fault either a fearful, or poor, or suffering or wretched one. He did not cause any one to weep.[22] He—”
Rahula who had been growing more and more excited, rushed to Yermah’s side, and throwing her hands up wildly, cried out:
“Hirach, thou who art mirrored in truth, palsy the tongue departing from thy formula! Orondo merits not an honored place in the Vale of Peace. The fishes yearn for his body. He lived not in truth, nor walked in the ways acceptable to the gods of magic mystery.”
What more she would have said was drowned in a chorus of protest from the warrior-priests. The mourners added their supplications, and the priestesses murmured:
“Om—ah! Om—ah! Om—ah!”
Without noticing the interruption, Yermah completed his sentence.
“Orondo did no evil. Nothing can be produced against him. He committed no violence, nor did he torment any heart. No one was by him treacherously slain.”
“Hear him, O just powers! This man stands here and claims to be a vehicle for truth! How darest thou say that Orondo caused no man to be treacherously killed?
“On both thy heads lie the curse of Alcamayn’s death. Robbed of his own by Orondo, and done to death by thee!
“Thou art a mighty representative in the Hall of the Two Truths. Hear me, Yermah!—A mother’s curse is on thee! Thou art a doomed man!”
“A mother’s curse!” exclaimed Yermah, in a whisper, sharing the consternation around him.
A curse in the time of the Dorado was a thing of fearful import.
The intemperance of her speech showed the uncontrollable rage of Rahula.
“Yes,” she screamed,—“a mother’s curse! Alcamayn was my first and only born. Oh, there is no need of thy horrid looks! He never knew the relationship. Because of thy spiritual father, Akaza, thou hast a heritage of my hate. But for him I should have claimed my son.”
Seeming to realize that temper had carried her too far, Rahula tried to repair what she had already said. Setos made a threatening gesture toward her, while every one looked at his neighbor, and said in an undertone:
“She is a black magician. Akaza was obliged to take her child away from her.”
Her attendants hissed angrily and stamped with their feet to prevent Yermah from being heard. He realized that the demonstration was against himself personally, and was appalled at the virulence of the attack, but went bravely on.
“Orondo afflicted no one; neither did he commit perfidy. He was never an accuser, and was only angry when there was just cause—”
“Thou art a monstrous liar! He had just cause to be angry with thee, who enticed his first love away, and repaid him with another man’s choice.”
Crossing over to him and shaking her finger in his face, defiantly, Rahula fairly shrieked:
“Thou hast imperiled thy immortal soul! Dearly shalt thou pay for thine own perfidy! I dare tell thee to thy face, thou art guilty of the unpardonable sin! Thou who wert coward enough to compel thy dead friend to marry this poor misguided creature lying at thy feet! For this cause my Alcamayn died in dishonor!”
The warrior-priests clanked their swords angrily, and the smoldering disloyalty was like a tinderbox to the furious gestures and acts of the factions.
Setos grabbed Rahula by the arm and shook her violently before she would heed him.
“Hast thou no sense of decency, Rahula? Cease thy upbraidings, else wilt thou ruin all!”
She quailed before his determined look and was silent.
Shaking like a leaf and wounded to the death in his tenderest parts, Yermah once more essayed to speak.
Finding that he could not command his voice, he turned appealingly to the musicians, who responded with a funeral air. When they had finished, Yermah, with tears coursing down his cheeks—which he made no effort to conceal, said:
“Hirach, as I expect to stand face to face with thee finally, hear me! In that I love Orondo well, conscience doth acquit me of evil intent toward him. Whatever service he rendered me was a pleasure to him, and was of his own choosing. That he preferred duty to success, is one more reason why his bones should be interred with the blessed. There was no guile in him.
“He was as tender as a woman, as simple as a child, and faithful unto death. The heart weighing even in the scales of Truth was burst in twain by the sorrows which oppressed his high courage. Struck down in the flower of manhood, hurled through the Gates of Light by unseemly circumstance, Orondo, the soul of honor, merits the rite of consecration. Hear, Hirach, as thou wouldst in turn be heard, and grant as thine own hope of future reward may prompt thee!”
The non-resistance and manliness of Yermah did not fail to appeal to a people equable in temper and given to just decision. The waves of feeling which surged through the temple made him aware of this, though the sounds were almost inaudible.
Every one waited in dread suspense for Rahula’s final plea. She was still laboring under ill-suppressed excitement, and resentment blazed anew as she spoke.
“Hirach, thou who art unshaken by emotion or desire, hear and give heed! Orondo was ever the craven tool of him who stands here in his defense. He sought more to obey the will of his master than the will of the gods. Once again I beseech thee, give his body to the fishes!”
“No! no! no!” burst from the lips of the mourners, the priestesses, and the warrior-priests, augmented by the intercessors, too.
Yermah stood with his hands clasped and head bowed low. His dejection and silence angered Rahula still more, because she instinctively felt that he was right, and that she could not provoke him into a show of resistance. She hated him for the sympathy he had unconsciously aroused.
“Finally, I demand this body of thee, Hirach!
“Bloody deeds shall follow thy refusal. Never canst thou make it right to bless this man, while Alcamayn’s shade is doomed to wander through myriad years because of him. I charge thee to weigh and consider thy decision!”
Hirach, using the flail for a baton, waved for silence.
Then the two intercessors, earth and water, arose and pointed to the left. Thus far the decision was against Orondo.
The kneeling figures arose and joined the warrior-priests in supplication. The remaining intercessors, air and fire, stood and pointed to the right.
With bated breath they waited for Hirach’s action. In an impressive silence he arose and pointed to the right.
“Haille! Haille! Haille!” cried the people, in a spontaneous outburst, which a sense of decorum quickly quelled.
“Let the heart of Orondo be given back to him. Let him go into the Hall of Mystery by the Right-Hand Path,” read Imos in a sonorous voice.
As soon as the verdict was announced, the funeral cortége formed as it came, and filed out of the temple. Rahula and her followers departed to the left, with their arms crossed before their faces, and their heads drooping under the knowledge of defeat.
A granite sarcophagus was placed at the entrance of the long tunnel-like tomb, cut deep into the side of the mountain. Here was deposited all of the personal belongings of Orondo, sealed up in curious-shaped jars and baskets. After the body was placed in the tomb, these were laid around it, and the whole securely sealed.
A never-dying perfume-lamp of wrought bronze was suspended over the head, which was laid to the west. The granite doors were hermetically closed, and Orondo was finally left to sleep with the justified.