The Order of the Lily and the Eagle

Information bulletin I

We take great pleasure in giving you all the necessary information about the Order which has aroused your interest.

The traditional teachings we are in possession of, were placed in our custody by our Venerated Masters who desired that we carry on their great work, by transmitting to all aspirants such knowledge as they were prepared to receive. Indeed, we are glad to assure you that the transmission of the traditional teachings is one of the chief aims of our Venerable Order.

It is needless to ask us why we do not give out our teachings promiscuously. Have we not been taught that meat is not the proper food for babes? In the Gospel according to St Matthew Ch. IX, Verse 17, we find the following:

"...Neither do men put new wine into old bottles else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles and both are preserved..."

Indeed, in order to be fit to receive the "new wine" of the Eonian Tradition, it is necessary for one to transform himself and become a free man. But who can be called a "free man"? Any person who has liberated himself from prejudices, preconceived opinions, as well as from every alien influence; but this is not all. The best result will not be attained until one is emancipated from his own lower self:-from his faults, passions and vices. Of what use can Initiation, this formidable and two-edged weapon, be to a person who is still a slave to prejudices and to his own preconceived opinions, to say nothing of one who is a slave of some vice or passion which makes him more like a beast than a man?

This is one reason why the preliminary studies of our disciples treat definitely of this beneficial transformation, which tends to the liberation and affirmation of the personality - the first step on the Path of Initiation. These preliminary instructions are accompanied by historical studies on ancient Initiatic Schools, especially those which are almost unknown to profane science, in order to show the student that Truth is always One, though manifested in different ways, according to the prevailing customs of different epochs and places.

When the next stage is reached, the disciples get lessons in Initiatic philosophy, to be followed by deeper and practical instructions in such branches of Occult Science as Orphic Astrosophy, Social Science, Psychurgy, Alchemy, Theurgy, etc. These lectures are divided into seven Grades and contain a great amount of information and numerous illustrations. The duration of studies is of 100 days minimum in the first grade, and of one year minimum in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Grades. The duration of studies in the 6th and 7th Grades is unlimited.

The Source of our Venerable Order, as well as the value of its teachings, enables us to satisfy every desire of our Knights and to answer even the most difficult questions. Such a possibility will be greatly appreciated by those of our students who have failed to find an answer in numberless volumes dedicated to so-called "Occult Science", volumes the best of which present only fragments of Truth, hidden among heaps of rubbish. All of these erroneous and contradictory teachings are not only defended by a "school" but raised by the latter to a dogma, the belief in which is demanded from every neophyte.

This tendency to dogmatise is almost universal. We have noticed it among most of the societies addicted to "occult science" and in philosophical movements which have their origin in the great Religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Mohammedanism and – alas – even in modern Christianity, which, we must confess has but very little to do with primitive Christianity as it was established by the Apostles.

The ORDER OF THE LILY AND THE EAGLE - as such is the name of our Venerable Order - has no dogmas. It is the guardian of the Eonian Tradition, the cradle of which was India and, later on, Egypt; its Masters were Elias, John the Baptist and St John, his disciple, who became, some years later the beloved Apostle of the Sublime Master.

Its most renowned members were Orpheus, Hermes, Moses, Socrates, Pythagoras, Plotinus; and in modern times; Christopher Columbus, the Initiate who was known under the name of Christian Rosenkreuz, Louis-Claude de Saint Martin (the founder of the Martinism) etc.

The ORDER OF THE LILY AND THE EAGLE has very seldom used this name or that of the BRETHREN OF THE EAST, preferring to keep these two appellations secret. Instead, when acting among the profane, they created new Orders which were governed by it own senior Brethren. Thus were created the Knight Templars, the Fraternity of Strict Observance, Primitive Masonry etc. Even these Orders did not operate openly, preferring to remain few in number and to meet in secret, but they represented the nuclei of their Brethren among the chiefs of different secret societies having received only a partial Initiation or even none at all.

About the year 1915, the ORDER OF THE LILY AND THE EAGLE received the Mandate to begin a new dispensation. Our Masters, DEON - the prototype of WISDOM and DEA the prototype of LOVE, revived the Ancient and Secret ORDER OF LILY AND THE EAGLE, which presided once at the Regeneration of the World and guided it for more than twenty centuries, under different appellation. Before passing on, (DEA left us in 1918 and DEON in 1924) our late Masters left to their disciples the task of revealing and transmitting the Eonian Tradition to all men of good will, who would work for the liberation of Humanity and announce the coming of the HOLY MOST, the PARACLETE, promised by our SAVIOUR.

THE ORDER OF THE LILY AND THE EAGLE considers the liberty and the independence of the individual as the latter's inalienable rights. Basing our activity on this principle, we refuse to interfere with the freedom and complete independence of those who become Members of our Order. And, as we consider all human beings equal, regardless of sex, caste, race or nationality, we permit every one to maintain his own beliefs and particular conceptions in matters relating to philosophy, religion and politics. Indeed Initiation was closely linked to the different local religious and civil bodies. Thus to be admitted to the Hebraic Initiation one had to belong to the Jewish race, the Moslem (Sufi) Initiation was granted only to Mohammedans, although the Sufi are the only ones to admit the conversion of an "unbeliever" in order to confer upon him their particular Initiation. Even Buddhism regardless of the philosophy, taught by some modern schools, did not open itself to profanity by strangers. Christianity had their Initiation rite strictly reserved for Christians alone, and for quite a long period of time, it was attached in a special way to the Greek Orthodox Rite.

Our Venerated Masters, having received the Mandate to unite in one beautiful synthesis the religions aspirations of the whole world, adapted the ancestral Rites of Ancient Initiations to our New Humanity and opened the door of the Inner Temple to supporters of every Religion. But besides continuing the work of the Johannites our Venerated Masters united the Hebraic Initiation to the Original Christian one, restoring to both of them what time and men have corrupted.

On the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6^th 1915, our Venerated Founder, whom we name DEA, assisted by our Venerated Master DEON, both of them being representatives of the Superior Will on Earth, assembled their first disciples and O.V.M. DEA read them the following manifesto:

"My dear sons: On this day of Epiphany 1915, it did please me to summon you under our familiar Vault, to hand over to you, in trust, a Sacred Rite, so that, making use of all the energy of your body, soul and spirit, you would propagate it between those who are in quest of the Source of Truth".
"My dear sons: Our aim shall be protection of the weak; charity to the poor, to the needy, to widows and to orphans; assistance to the weak and the suffering".
"It's on a basis of a matchless love and of a strict and severe ethics, that you shall be successful in the work I have entrusted to you".
"My dear sons: The Laws I have chosen to impose on you as means of realization of this work, you shall promise to maintain at the cost of your blood".
"Let GOD the UNIQUE and the MIGHTY deign to crown your work with success, cover you with his protection, enlighten you, and mark the path to be cleared out before you".

MARIE.

In the following year, 1916, our Venerated Master issued the following manifesto:

"The ancient and primitive Christian Tradition raises its voice today for the sixth time since the Salvation of Mankind, and draws the attention of Humanity to its sacred voice".
"It calls out to those, who, by their mentality, are of a superior origin and able to assemble under the banner of the new regeneration of the Spirit".
"The danger is imminent. We, mandated by the Masters who, by the mercy of our Saviour - to whom once more we turn ourselves in expectance of salvation-, hold visibly and invisibly their see in Attica, we invite all men to have reverence and pure worship for the Holy Spirit, the PARACLETE promised by the Saviour. We instruct every one in the deepest mysteries of GOD's greatness; we teach the Elect a perfect healing of body soul and spirit, so that this knowledge might be made use of for the benefit of our fellow man and without any hope of reward". "Our Master commands goodness, charity and mercy".

In 1918, after our Venerated Mother, DEA's departure, our Venerated Master DEON assembled her disciples and untied the two Works constitutive of the Eonian Tradition, that of Love and that of Wisdom, under the shield of the Order of the Lily and the Eagle.

The Order's principle and motto is: "Love and Reciprocity established in the heart of Humanity".

The Order acknowledges the existence of a spiritual hierarchy in mankind. But this hierarchy should in no way influence material conditions of life in society.

The Order acknowledges EQUALITY of life of all human beings animated with the sentiment of RECIPROCITY, and disapproves of all those who, in a society, arrogate to themselves special rights and privileges in their material existence.

The Order of the Lily and the Eagle inculcates in every individual the sentiments of Love and of moral perfection, so that society may enjoy conditions of life which will result in making men happy.

We don't think useful to tell you any more at this time about our origins, but we shall endeavour now to explain to you what we believe to be the duties of a new Initiate, as well as the conditions in which he might get the best profit from the teachings of our Order.

Initiation, High Science, Ideal, - these words sound quite familiar to your ear. You have heard them many times before you got in touch with us: no doubt that other Societies or Brotherhoods have solicited your attention in the same way as we did. It is even probable that some of them tried to captivate you by means of boastful and false promises; but what have they been telling you? They might have been trying to extol your pride by saying: “Thou art a superior being and thou knowest it not; thou hest powers and thou dost not know to use them; thou art a king and thou dost not reign; thou art a priest and thou dost not know where thy altar is.” Did not they offer to teach you the “laws” of success, to show you how to become illustrious, eminent, happy rich - by the proper use of the “secret knowledge” of which they claim to be the only possessors? And so as to prove that they are neither liars nor vulgar jugglers, they make the delusion complete by assuring you that they are not only direct descendants of ancient and venerable fraternities, but that they have "exclusive rights" to such a claim. As a proof, they display "charters" and some of them go as far as impressing on you the idea that the sumptuousness of their premises and the great number of their members are the best proof of the authenticity of their teachings. Charters might be either forged or delivered by other bogus societies; as to exterior prosperity, it never proved initiatic value, and we have more often seen it to be the lot of gangsters than that of the Initiates.

We shall speak to you with the utmost sincerity and if you possess enough discernment to see where Truth lies, you will profit by it. If, though, acting like a child, or an ignorant person, you prefer illusion to reality and high-flown lies to the plain truth - cast aside these pages or give them to someone else.

We do hope though, that you are a sensible person, that you wish to hear the truth from us, and that you desire to be useful while here below. This is why we shall tell you who you are and what you are, and that in all sincerity, without meaning I delude you, or to make of you our friend, our admirer by influencing you favourably. We shall talk to you as man to man, no matter if what we have to say will please you or displease you. By telling you what we know to be the bare truth, we but accomplish our duty; if you do sincerely wish it, you will be enabled to get evidence of the reality of our assertions.

You are living in a society in which you experience at the same time happiness and unhappiness, modesty and immodesty, good and evil, free mind and stubborn prejudices. You see a great number of people being oppressed by the egoism of the mighty; many of them suffer also from racial, religious, notional and other prejudices. A human being lost among millions of others, you strive to excel, to distinguish your-self from your fellow-creatures, to know things ignored by others, and thus get superior to them. It is even likely that you wish to be admired esteemed, and to have a successful career. How many men and women were brought up on the example of such a millionaire who started from nought, or of such a statesman who inaugurated his social activity as a boot-cleaner? And did it never occur to you to think; "Why shall I not try it too?" No one is satisfied with his standing and everybody strives to ascend continually and this not only in the "social hierarchy", but even in, a domain in which our earthy personality feels quite extraneous - in the domain of the Unknown of the Supernatural.

Though, before setting out for the conquest of this Unknown, have you asked yourselves this simple question: "Why are you on Earth and what is your mission here? Indeed everything on Earth has a purpose of its own, as well as its own and particular utility to man. Animals and vegetables nourish your body, plants and minerals preserve you from sickness and furnish you with materials which enable you to build your home and furnish it according to your needs. And what about Man? What are his virtues? What are the qualities with which he is endowed? What is his utility in God's Creation? Few are those who know how to answer this question correctly; most people only think they do know, but they don't in reality. Still fewer are those who seek to be of use to their neighbours, most people find them worthy of interest only if they may be of any use in their turn.

Clerks and workers are under the oppression of their "bosses" who use the intelligence and strength of the former for increasing their personal fortune. Nevertheless every worker every clerk is patiently toiling with the secret hope to become one day his own master, and when this happens, he oppresses his fellow-creatures in the same way and for a like aim. When making the most of their intelligence, their skill and their learning, some men become physicians, professors etc. - do they consider, before starting to make as much money as possible out of their profession, that the gifts, which allowed them to enter a privileged career, were granted to them not for their personal benefit, but for that of their neighbours? Don't you think that if they would have considered this question seriously, they would endeavour to help their fellow-creatures in need, rather than to get rich on them?

Friend, if you wish, you can become a MAN, you can become GOD's friend, you can feel HIM near you and receive HIS gifts.

You know that there have been Initiates in past ages who performed "miracles" made gold out of base metals, displayed extraordinary powers etc. no doubt that at the bottom of your heart you wish to do the same things. We affirm that it is possible; when speaking of their Art, Initiates always said and wrote "Thou wilst never attain the summit of the GNOSIS, unless thou sincerely forsaketh this attainment. Then thou shalt realize POWER in thee, which will be a result of thy liberation from lower sentiments, exalt in thee LOVE first and WISDOM thereafter. And, above all thou shalt be totally disinterested, even mentally".

Therefore your first task should be to redeem your Ego your real I, from the dross in which it is imprisoned and to ennoble it by a continuous effort towards perfection.

You have, without any doubt, heard a lot about "initiatic ascesis"^[1], but real ascesis is based, first of all as we have been saying already, on the liberation of the individual from his defects his passions and his vices. An individual who has not liberated himself from these; shall always remain a "profane", no matter how advanced he might be in theoretical knowledge. If you have preconceived ideas if you indulge in riding a hobby of your own, if you are a blind and sectarian follower of such or such other school or theory, if your heart and mind are not always opened for a new theory which you should always examine with utmost impartiality and disinterestedness, you will be but an egoist, fit only for social success and useless (if not harmful) for the Universal Work, the MAGNUM OPUS of the Initiates.

Don't forget easy enticing methods are not the best ones; true Initiation may be attained only by those who banish all pride from their heart and who are impelled by an intense and disinterested desire to work for Humanity's welfare, and are ready to make constant efforts in that direction.

Why, do you think, does suffering exist on Earth? Why poverty and disease? Because man is cultivating evil instead of seeking for good. Because too, man is but a wind-vane, but a toy in the hands of Nature. Though, if he would claim his real place in Creation, if he would organize Society with LOVE and WISDOM, if he would not let himself become an accomplice of oppressors, if he would endeavour to do his duty in all circumstances, if Egoism would not be the rule of his life, and pride - his impeller - suffering would be banished forever from our planet.

Beware to fall still lower if you cover personal knowledge! Be virtuous, good, compassionate and unselfish - and you shall possess the real formula, which you are uselessly seeking with those who keep up your delusions, flatter your defects and enslave you (not to mention the money they are asking from you); the formula, which opens the way to the Summits of Initiation.

It is our duty to warn you: you shall never become an Initiate if you do not bring in yourself into being the same degree of perfection as that attained by the Great Initiates of past ages. Indeed what is the use of descanting about Christ, Buddha, Socrates, Pythagoras, Orpheus and Moses, what is the use of quoting their teachings and those of their disciples? Are you prepared to undergo all the sufferings which they endured? Do you possess their goodness, their love of Humanity, their simplicity all the virtues these sublime Masters and Initiates possessed? No, you don't, but it does not stop you from wanting to find out all about Magic, Theurgy, Alchemy and what not. Beware! You may receive the sublime gift of this knowledge but if you are not perfect, if you are not thoroughly prepared, up to the details which seem at first to be of no or little importance - you will be unable to let your fellow-creatures make profit of your knowledge. Verily, if you don't follow the path of HUMILITY and that of SERVICE, you may attain to notoriety as a "learned occultist", but you will never become an Initiate.

How many are satisfied to got degrees, charters and honours, how many content themselves with being called "initiates" by those who take from them money for doing so; they forget the first rule of every true Initiate - the everlasting "Man, know Thyself".

If you wish so, we shall help you in your way towards real Initiation, as it is our duty to do so. Do not forget though that our help is purely theoretical; we can tell you what has to be done, but it is necessary for you to carry our advices into execution. Knowledge is not worth anything unless set in action; don't ever forget that it is by your deeds that you shall be judged. What do you want other people's approbation or disproval for? Isn't your own conscience sufficient? Will it not give you the peace of the righteous or leave you to repentance?

That is the RE-BIRTH you have certainly heard of; it must be preceded by a complete purification of your past. It's this re-birth, this purification, that the Initiates of past ages symbolized by their white garments. And who is worthy nowadays to wear a white garment?

Perhaps these pages will destroy your delusions and you may think that we don't know anything about Initiation, seeing that we are in contradiction with what so many seekers think Initiation is? The word "Initiation" has been, indeed, so often profaned by all kinds of jugglers and speculators, that we believe it to be our first duty to show you what the word really means, and we do it now and shall do it always, against all professionals of the offence against the Holy Spirit, against all those who, like owls, are afraid of the Light of the Truth.

Most people try to make a success of their lives, success usually summarised in three words: Fortune, Power, Renown. They seek them even in Initiation (and a number of pseudo-initiatic schools offer their students to lead them to power and success!), forgetting that CHRIST taught us that what is contrary- Charity, Humility and Submission.

You certainly admit that an extreme unhappiness, caused by oppression and a real slavery exists on Earth. Why then seek for a personal success? Why not begin to work in order to free the whole of Humanity from the misery which oppresses it? Why not strive to become a beacon guiding it; a Lieutenant of GOD on Earth; why not give your fellowmen some of the comfort and bliss they want so sorely?

Be sure though, you begin with yourself. One cannot attempt to heal others, unless one is in a state of absolute purity; otherwise you contaminate them, as your own contaminated fluid is noxious. This is why, by the way, magnetism and hypnotism do much more harm than good to people. One cannot show people the way of Truth unless he has dominated himself and eliminated all preconceived ideas and theories. As to the passive way - an inconsiderate search for the marvellous and the unknown is but a form of mental suicide.

Friend, if you are sincere, broad minded and unselfish if you are seeking for Truth in order to help Humanity, then we invite you to join us in our work. Remember though, before doing so, that Initiation isn't a science to study, but a way of life to be led, so as to get able to accomplish the aim of our existence on Earth. We are enclosing two forms and as soon as we have returned to us, duly filled in and signed, we shall send you your first lessons. If you feel strong enough to undertake a long travel over the arduous path of real Initiation - be welcome among us. If not - better choose another Path.

In keeping with Ancient Tradition, we ask no fees from our disciples. However, as the cost of printing the lessons, postage and other expenses are high, we will be grateful to all our disciples who may wish to send us gifts and contributions in order to help us defray expenses and enable us to initiate those who cannot send us any contributions. We wish however to make it clear that all contributions are absolutely voluntary.

We Resume: The MAGNUM OPUS of an Initiate consists of:

• attaining the cognizance of himself, of the place from where he comes and where he goes to, of what he can do, as well as of what he wants,

• getting a perfect knowledge of the Laws of Nature (usually referred to as her "secrets" or "mysteries",

• struggling against EVIL under everyone of its forms, intrusting, enlightening and advising all human beings, healing the mind the soul and the body of his fellow creatures,

• using Initiation and Initiatic Sciences (Astrosophy, Psychurgy, Talismanic Art, Alchemy and Theurgy) for the above purposes and for them only,

• uniting with the Invisible World and our Venerated Masters by practicing daily prayer and, afterwards, Theurgy.