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570 THE SECRET DOCTRIISrE.
of heavenly fire. The primeval mode of obtaining fire by friction has
its scientific explanation in the Vedas, and is pregnant with meaning
for him who reads between the lines. The Tretagni (sacred triad of
fires) obtained by the attrition of sticks made of the wood of the
Ashvattha tree, the Bo-tree of Wisdom and Knowledge, sticks "as
many finger-breadths long as there are syllables in the Gayatri," must
have a secret meaning, or else the writers of the Vedas and Purdnas
were no sacred writers but mystificators. That it has such a meaning,
the Hindii Occultists are a proof, and they alone are able to enlighten
Science, as to why and how the Fire, that was primevally One, was
made three-fold (treta) in our present Manvantara, by the Son of Ila
(Vach), the Primeval Woman after the Deluge, the wife and daughter
of Vaivasvata Manu. The allegory is suggestive, in whatever Purdna
it may be read and studied.