Mystic masonry, or, The symbols of freemasonry and the greater ...

The Secret Doctrine. 123
regard these teachings seriously. They will be
derided and rejected, a priori, in this century; but
only in this one. For in the 20th century of our era
scholars will begin to recognize that the Secret
Doctrine has neither been invented nor exaggerated,
but, on the contrary, simply outlined; and finally,
that its teachings antedate the Vedas." And in a
footnote it is said: "This is no pretension to
prophesy, but simply a statement based on the
knowledge of facts."
In speaking of the source from which the present
version of the Secret Doctrine is derived, our author
says, regarding an "old book": "So very old
that our modern antiquarians might ponder over its
pages an indefinite time, and still not quite agree
as to the nature of the fabric upon which it is written.
. . . The most ancient Hebrew document
of occult learning, the Siphrah Dzeniouta, was compiled
from it, and that at a time when the former
was already considered in the light of a literary
relic."
"The days of Constantine were the last turning
point in history. The period of the Supreme struggle
that ended in the Western world throttling the
old religions in favor of the new ones, built on their
bodies. From thence the vista into the far distant